PR – The Highway to Internationalization
A brand internationalization needs to come as fast as possible – there is no time to be waster in the process of business growth.
The highway is the shortest and the fastest way to reach the destination, of course only if you have a powerful car.
So, is the PR agency the main path to take in going international in the shortest time, without speed limit and making your company even more powerful? IT CERTAINLY IS.
How does globalization influence business opportunities? What strategy is best, and how much planning is required to find the perfect mix for attracting public attention? Will the public react positively to the new products and services, or will it remain impassive?
These questions are just a few of the challenges companies face when they want to internationalize their activity. Every new targeted market lays ahead a set of specific tasks that must be implemented. Every country has a different cultural, social, and economic background, and this creates the necessity for adapted strategies.
Communication is a core element of these strategies, and companies need a unitary set of messages to build their image in new countries. Public relations assumes the responsibility to design the brand’s cohesive image, but the duty they have is more complex than ever.
How do public relations shape the business world?
Every business needs its clients to hear their messages, but there are more complicated tasks, that only a PR specialist can handle. Working in PR means a lot of behind the scene activity – even if it might not seem that way – just as much as being in the spotlight.
- PR specialists try to understand the public and to adapt the company’s message to their expectations but, at the same time, they are responsible for defining the responsibility of management to serve the public interest.
- PR specialists analyze trends and helps the brand to change if the public opinion goes in a different direction.
- A PR specialist is looking into the future and prepares for every scenario.
International business has an essential communication component. PR has the role to align the company’s communication strategy with consumers from the new market in correlation with the targeted results. All market entry strategies necessitate a public relations campaign to create a framework for business expansion.
What challenges raise international companies for PR agencies?
Public relations evolved at the same pace as the business environment. New opportunities and challenges mean new ways to communicate and exciting new situations to manage and control. International clients bring the need for a new, more diverse approach in modeling and transmitting brand’s messages.
Not only the company has to adapt to the new market, but the PR agency has to comply too. It has to understand the client’s needs and to adjust its vision to the local particularities. Every international client represents a chance for the agency to grow and to become more dynamic. Many factors create the need for more flexibility when it comes to international companies. Time zones differences, cultural disparity or the impossibility to meet face to face may require some time, but these are only reasons to learn, and to become more adapted to a globalized world.
At the same time, the agencies that have a good relationship with international clients are the ones that do well in allocating the necessary resources to satisfy the clients’ necessities. Their necessities revolve around aspects like local business behavior and practices or increasing brand awareness.
What do we think about the opportunities for both the agency and the company?
Working with international clients doesn’t mean it has to be complicated, especially if everyone knows all the aspects it needs to be considered. PR specialists who work with international clients have the opportunity to innovate their professional tactics through their new experiences and findings. Moreover, through work with foreign clients, PR specialists can open up new horizons in addressing challenges and issues to which they did not consider. In this way, they are challenged to think about tailored solutions for specific cultures, making them better at their job. Also, PRs are in a perfect position to build relationships with the right influencers for the brands, with the aim of developing partnerships to help directly access to key audiences.
For companies, working with a PR agency, which has international expertise, means having on their side someone who has seen it all, who is always prepared for any situation. No matter if it’s a multinational, or is looking forward to internationalization, having someone with the right know-how can represent the difference between success and anonymity.
What’s next?
Digital channels will dominate even more PR techniques.
Voice will become a tool more used and more PR campaigns will revolve around elements that are discovered by voice activation. Live Streaming will also see an increase in importance for brands who want to transmit their messages on new markets. PR agencies must adjust their practices to include all digital channels of communication because new generations make technology an essential element in their life.
Technology is not the only factor to influence future public relations campaigns. Storytelling, although it has been used for some time now, will remain an important element for agencies. Stories are the most efficient modality to connect with the public and this is why storytelling is invaluable for companies. Creating content is a must in today’s business environment. More and more consumers are interested in brands that advocate for things that they believe in. This is why companies must be involved in social problems.
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