The well-known saying 'We only remember Santa Barbara when it thunders' could be fully applicable to the relationship between companies and Communication. It is not uncommon to hear some managers say: "We don't need communication, because we are doing so well" ... Until the results stop going so well or some mishap occurs that needs to be explained to employees, customers, suppliers and/or public opinion. It is then that many companies remember Communication and put the responsibility for the solution on that department (internal or external) and, moreover, demand that it be done quickly and efficiently.
Fortunately, this is not the case for all companies, but those that take this attitude demonstrate that they do not have a very deep understanding of the value of intangibles. Communication does not go hand in hand with immediacy. The results of this activity are not achieved from one day to the next; it is a sowing task that takes time and requires certain deadlines to bear fruit. Building a good reputation, which brings credibility and prestige, for which the work of communication is essential, takes years (I am not going to repeat the hackneyed phrase of the American businessman Warren Buffet).
Therefore, it is not possible to go from reporting nothing to appearing every day in the media and, moreover, with the focus that managers want (it is essential to know that Communication is not advertising). For news to be published about a company, it must first have something to communicate and then actually do it. Everyone has an innovative project, an appointment, an expert who can analyse/clarify through an article some specific issue of the sector in which they operate, economic results, corporate social responsibility or sustainability actions, etc.
Nor is it a question of selling information 'by weight'. In other words, you cannot saturate the media with press releases or press releases that are empty of content. To this end, it is essential to take advice from the consultants you work with (if you have any), as they have a relationship and regular dealings with the media and know what is of interest to them and what is not. And they know that burdening journalists with unsubstantiated emails or calls can have the opposite effect to what you are looking for. Candles to Saint Barbara... before the storm breaks.
Cristina García Alonso
Account Director at PROA