PR and the Current Crisis

Let us try  to draw lessons from the financial crisis that now  grips the U.S. and agitates the rest of the world. We in the Philippines are constantly reassured, by government and those in the know, that we should not be in serious trouble soon, unless the recession in the U.S. drags on for a long time,  and if  we keep our fundamentals strong and stay watchful.

The state we are in now reminds us of some of the basic rules that we follow in PR.

1. Know what is going on. Much of what has been going on in the U.S. since September and even before that is complex and may not seem to be relevant to our businesses and lives in the Philippines. Let us try to understand how the problem started, anyway, the sequence of events that exacerbated  it and how the situation continues to unravel.  God forbid, but things have a way of catching up with those who do not care.

2. Stay disciplined, stay focused.  Keep producing, saving and  pegging our costs on reasonable levels.  Hold on to our Clients by providing value services, and helping them maximize their advantages. Dramatize to them, with new practical offerings, how PR can help them gain the upper hand in a difficult, anxiety-ridden market. The time to be ready is when the problem  has not yet come.

3. Be even more nimble, and more creative. Time was when PR was the first thing that got lopped off. The good news is that it no longer is;  bad news is that it still is, as always, vulnerable. Be ready to get axed,  or your budgets reduced,  by keeping your secondary services readily available.  PR is not alone execution, but ideas that help  improve, build, enhance, create and re-create products, businesses and institutions. 

4. Be accountable. Clients are even more miserly  now  to those who cannot account satisfactorily for what they are paid for. Give them facts of your accomplishments that they cannot resist: numbers that they cannot dispute because they represent what you have measured and proven. We call this measurement and evaluation, but all it really means is that we have to keep showing our worth, and when we cease doing that, we may keep our good name, but not their business.

5. Oh, communicate. I like the U.P. economists who try to communicate on TV their understanding of the current crisis, how it evolved, and how it does, or could, affect us. When people are anxious and unsure of themselves they are reassured by  facts and insights delivered responsibly, clearly and on-time, like right now. We in PR must be part of this process. We must be engaged, we must be part of the solution. 

We have been through the likes of this before, but this one may be fuller of mischief, so let us, without being killjoy, brace up.