If you work in PR or Marketing, you’ll know it’s all about getting your message across in the right way and at the right time . . . and not just to the customers.
Your carefully-worded slogan and marketing campaign that have been months in the making can quickly come back to bite you in the bahookie, if they’re just a gimmick and not part of your company’s ethos.
The truth is, unless you and your colleagues buy into what you’re selling, you could easily turn hard work on its head.
In the business this is called ‘Doing a Ratner’, after jewellery stores boss Gerald Ratner, who in 1991 joked that his shareholders his earrings were cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich “but probably wouldn’t last as long”.
This was before the internet, when his speech would have gone viral. Even so, in a very short time, £500 million was wiped off the value of the business.
Last month it was the turn of United Airlines to have their Ratner moment when aircrew ignored the company’s ‘Fly the Friendly Skies’ slogan and ejected a passenger who had refused to disembark in order to solve an overbooking problem.
Then just a few days later Pepsi had fizz on many faces when its new £40 million commercial, showing Kendall Jenner defusing a protest by giving a policeman a soft drink, provoked widespread ridicule and left its ‘Live for Now’ slogan flatter than tap water.
When things like this happen it’s often left to the PR department to pick up the pieces, so if you want to make it big in this sector, a thick skin and an ability to think on your feet are essential.
You also need to know how to work your contacts, those media influencers who can quickly swing the tide of popular opinion.
Brand management at this level is for the true PR professionals and to do this job properly you must have the ears of key figures in management and at board level. When you warn them of potential PR disaster, you have to know they will listen because it’s your reputation that’s on the line every bit as much as the brand itself.
Such challenges aside, this remains a fascinating and exciting sector and on s1jobs you can find amazing PR and Marketing opportunities with companies that really will value your experience and skills.