The importance of creating a favourable impression is hard to overstate in all walks of life – in business it’s vital to achieve strategic goals. These were the words of Cees B.M. van Riel, a Professor of Corporate Communications at Erasmus University in the Netherlands. In his book, The Alignment Factor, he talks about leveraging the power of total stakeholder support.

Times have been tough for businesses in South Africa. Business confidence is low and as a result, companies are looking to save costs where they can. However, PR is a non-negotiable requirement and is key to sustainability during harsh economic times.

In our fast-paced and digitally driven world, where do our loyalties lie? Are you a social media guru or traditional media whizz? It’s time to realise that we should not choose sides, but rather join forces to make the dream work.

In one of my previous blogs, I addressed why it is important for businesses to ‘up the cheerleading’ when the team is down. A shutdown during a pandemic can certainly be seen as a moment when the ‘team is down.’ Everyone is looking for answers right now with mass fear over the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on business.

Times have been tough for businesses in South Africa. Business confidence is low and as a result, companies are looking to save costs where they can. However, PR is a non-negotiable requirement and is key to sustainability during harsh economic times.

It is no secret that many businesses in South Africa are experiencing difficult trading conditions which is the result of a depressed economy. A knee-jerk reaction is to cut costs in a number of areas, but this is most often seen in the marketing department.

Many companies have a perception of what Public Relations (PR) is. More often than not, they confuse PR with marketing, branding and advertising.

There is always one question on the lips of everyone that I talk to about PR and it is; just why is PR so important anyway? Does PR really have that much of an impact on a business’s bottom line?