22 November 2008 E-MAIL SEARCH Home Page Newsroom From the Top Business Buzz Marketing Mix Financial Focus Management Matters PR Points Web Wisdom Industry Reports Business Glossary Resources U.S. Gov. Resources      Optimizing Your Brand Image in Europe   Being conversant with the cultural differences that exist across Europe is essential in putting together a successful public relations strategy for the European market, according to Charlotte Gutman, managing director of CGP Europe, a pan-European public relations agency. The public relations (PR) profession is at the center of any news today. It influences the way news is presented in the media—regardless of whether in print, online, radio, or TV. Some equate public relations with press relations. If this were the case, it would limit the scope of public relations activities, as the former is much broader than just press-related activities. Indeed, PR is aimed at improving the "goodwill" a company would like to develop in its chosen marketplace. This includes focusing on audiences such as conference organizers, research institutes, consultants, analysts, as well as journalists. Public Relations Is a People Business A PR professional provides public relations expertise and will open doors so that the information reaches the correct target audience and markets, not only horizontal, but vertical as well. Public relations professionals do not (nor are they expected to) have expertise in every client's specialized sector or industry. They do strive to understand the individual working styles of your clients' marketing communications or PR teams.Through mutual respect and a cooperative working relationship, they let each person contribute his or her own "flavor" to the contact, conversation, or meeting. While a PR person is not a spokesperson representing the client to the press, they can help in getting company information to stand out. Editors receive hundreds of press releases each day via regular mail and e-mail. Creativity is the name of the game, and one needs to stand out in the crowd by providing editors or managers with the information they need, in the form they need it, when they need it. It is important not to bury editors under a mountain of time-consuming documents that they will immediately consign to the wastepaper basket. The PR professional can assist in delivering the right goods to the right hands. The Need for Personal Contact There is an ingrained belief that a PR person needs to have ongoing and "friendly" contacts with those in the target audience if they are to be efficient and achieve results. This is one of the cliches surrounding the PR industry. A PR professional can help you succeed with editors in a new market—those with whom they have had absolutely no contact before—via a first press event as long as the event is organized and presented professionally. After all, first impressions do matter. Distributed or Centralized Organization in Europe In virtually all industries there's talk of "economies of scale," yet when dealing with Europe, I must stress the need to cater to the cultural and linguistic differences across the continent. In reality, there is common purpose in that there is the same basic information in all cases. Prior to dissemination, it must then be tailored in a manner that is appropriate to each market. In my experience, this need is best served by a centralized organization, working out of a single office, with a group of multilingual or multicultural people. With each person dealing with their own target country, a rapport is built up just as if they were actually in that country. Such an organizational structure offers appreciable economies of scale so that the company can easily compete with any distributed organization having local offices all over Europe. Furthermore, with the centralized approach, clients only have to communicate with a single account director and do not have the problem of explaining their requirements and goals to a number of different people (possibly in different languages). Similarly, should a question arise, the client's answer is immediately available to all markets. This reduces costs and improves client-agency communications. After all, at the end of the day, it is the client who has to pay. While there are many possible locations across Europe, Belgium is an ideal central location. In addition, it is the country where NATO, the European Union, the European Parliament, and many other European institutions make their home. Building Up and Protecting the Brand Image Is Language Important? A large number of different mentalities exist in the multicultural European market with its multilingual infrastructure. While addressing European audiences in their native tongues is preferable and carries with it a greater chance of success, particularly in Germany, France, and Italy, communicating in English is not necessarily a barrier to effective PR in Europe. No matter which language you choose to communicate in, in the end, it is your honesty that will prevail. Public relations is not just the responsibility of the CEO. Every single employee from the top to the bottom is responsible for building up and protecting the brand image of a company. A momentary failure can easily ruin the goodwill that has taken many years to build up. Teamwork at all levels throughout the company and between the PR department and the PR agency ensures that success is achieved and maintained. U.S. Standards and the European Market Many think that the U.S. approach with its forceful, sales-oriented texts receives more notice from editors. This style is not viewed favorably in Europe where editors expect to receive objective information on products, technologies, and companies. In the past, Israelis have mainly imitated the "American Way," thinking that it enabled them to enter a unique, large, English-speaking market. While this approach has probably helped some companies become successful in the United States, it cannot be adopted for the European market. Increasingly, Israelis understand that European markets are not only closer geographically, but are also closer in mentality. Consequently, the more European the approach to PR, the closer the company can be to customers and potential customers. Don't Cut PR! In these uncertain economic times, many companies are confronted with trimming their budgets. Some hastily decide to cut marketing communications and PR budgets, thereby reducing the exposure that companies give their products or services. Not only can this result in the loss of potential clients, it can undermine the confidence of existing ones who need to be convinced of the long-term viability of their important suppliers and partners. Public relations professionals know it is impossible to quantify the overall losses that result when a company cancels its attendance at a seminar or at a trade show. However, we do know that it undermines confidence and has a negative effect on sales. Especially in today's dramatic times, visibility is vital. It is important to keep the market informed about the company's activities even when the going gets extremely tough. Charlotte Gutman is the founder and managing director of CGP Europe (Communications for Genial Products SA), a pan-European public relations agency created in 1991 and established in Brussels, Belgium, to serve the needs of companies aiming to market their products and services across Europe. The Trendletter team welcomes your comments. ©2002–2008 Trendlines International Ltd. All rights reserved. Phone: +972.4.958.3323 | postmaster@trendlines.com Directions | Privacy Policy | Site Map This site contains material copyrighted by third parties. This site is best viewed in Internet Explorer version 5 or higher.