Public Relations and other Marketing Communications activities should not be at the bottom of the list of items to consider when envisioning your business, product or service. They should be close, very close, to the top of the to-do list, meaning they should part of the first things to be considered. As a matter of fact, a new business, product or service needs PR and other arms of Marketing Communications like flowers need water.
But the tendency is for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to pay the earliest attention to what are deemed more pressing needs when creating a new business or product/service. The usual sequence, especially in this environment, is CAPITAL – MARKET GAPS- CUSTOMERS -INFRASTRUCTURE -DISTRIBUTION -STAFFING. We consider every element in this sequence before the” small matter” of branding and its tributaries like PR, Advertising and Promotion. But this is an error, especially in a modern age, one that keeps evolving at a dizzying pace.
My recommendation is in that after finding that gap in the market, which is certainly central to founding a new business, the next move- and this is at the same time as you begin digging for capital-should be spending a lot of thinking time on building the brand.
How will the name of this business/product/service impact market entry and penetration? How does colour or label sit with your target consumer? How can you reach consumers with your message and at their convenience? What language do they understand? What will convince them that your company/business/product/service is different? What quality and quantity of excitement do you need for market entry? Are you able to answer all these questions alone? Or do you need a Marketing Communications partner to walk you through them? If you do need a partner, exactly what type of partner do you need?
These are critical questions and how correct the answers are may be the difference between success and failure. They are as important as raising capital and staffing. They, in fact, may impact staffing as they obviously will the customers you need to get a foothold in the market place.
Easier said than done, right? How does a business in its embryonic stage find the money for branding / Marketing Communications activities? Note that I have not recommended a contractor or a service provider. The use of the word partner is deliberate.
Partners trust and believe. Partners invest. Partners take risks.
So, find yourself a partner that suits you.
And be as straightforward and open as possible. This is critical. Very critical. The need ensure that your partner is compatible with you, at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, is similar to what happens before organ donation. For instance, a kidney donor, however willing or eager, is only useful if the organ to be donated is compatible with the prospective recipient. In the event of indifference to compatibility, the outcome, without fail, is problematic if not fatal. This, I wish to submit, underlines why a suitable partner is crucial, as it would help avoid a wasteful expenditure of time, money and everything in between.
Do you want to start your journey of improved marketing communications for your business?