Positive public relations (PR) for the City and County is an
essential part of our marketing mix and is something that, as I have said time
and time again, we ALL need to be aware of if we are to promote that City and
County in a positive light.
The last seven to ten days have been filled with positive
news stories right across the City and County. From the opening of the Lafcadio
Hearn Japanese styled gardens in Tramore to the Medieval Festivals in the City
and Dungarvan, Dromana 800 in West Waterford to the Promenade Festival in Tramore,
Day Tripper concerts in Bolton Street and the Summer In The City musical treats
in John Roberts Square and Wyse Park, (to name but a few) we really did have an
awful lot to take in over the last seven to ten days.
And all of these events help create a general positive experience
when it comes to making us feel better about our City and County and with the
local papers full of pictures of our smiling sun drenched beaming pasty faces,
eating ice cream, and attending these events, this creates a sense that we are
all very predisposed to the upbeat PR messaging we are reading. These messages
make us feel warm and fuzzy inside and that is good.
These most simple of generic PR messages have reinforced our
knowledge that when all is said and done Waterford really is a great place to
live, work and play.
The opposite side of the coin is of course how we might view
and comprehend the mountains of self generated PR we come across on a daily
basis.
For example, over the last 7 to 10 days we can also throw
into the mix all the media and social media commentary on the appointment of
the Mayor of Waterford City and County and the appointment of the Mayor of the
Waterford Metropolitan area. And when we sit down in the cold light of day to
review this messaging do we all believe that these types’ messages also show
the City and County in the same positive light?
We have one Mayor serving the City and County (who chairs
the main Waterford Council plenary meetings) and one Mayor serving the
Metropolitan area of the City (who chairs the Metropolitan area Council
meetings). This does of course lead to some confusion on behalf of, us, the
members of the public and also leads to a number of protocol issues around who
will or will not wear the ceremonial chains at this event and that event.
There is also another interesting PR dynamic that we will
all see develop over the next ten months with both Mayoral councillors no doubt
keeping one beady eye on the date of the next general election. Councillor
Quinlan has already thrown his hat into the ring and I have no doubt the
Councillor Cummins may well be contemplating doing the same.
With both of these Councillors in opposing political camps
it will be very interesting to see who actually takes the lead in are
a of self generated PR and will the vast pages PR that each will undoubtedly generate be for the benefit of the City and County or the benefit of the individual?
Let us not be fooled as this process has already started and
we have begun to see “the chains” being rolled out at this event and that
event. The race has begun to stake a claim as a preferred candidate for the
next general election and it will be most intriguing to monitor the progress of
these two Councillors as they begin to position themselves with their
respective party hierarchy.
So we must review and interpret the entire mountains of PR
we read and are bombarded with on a daily basis and any messaging contained
therein must be scrutinised and understood. We all must look at what we are
reading and assess if this is, at the time of reading, relevant to “me” and if
it is we will remember the context of what we read and therefore we will be
more apt to regurgitate at a later date. If however, what we are reading is of
no interest whatsoever to us we will conveniently forget what we have read and
have no further interaction with the content of any PR article.
To be able to be interactive with any PR that we come across
it is important that it is of relevance to us and perhaps more importantly it
is vital that what we read connects with us and therefore plays in some way
with our senses. PR will take us through a whole roller coaster of emotions and
cleverly written PR will drive home specific messages that will become
pertinent to us time and time again.
For Waterford City and County to continue to exponentially
grow in importance within ALL of us we must keep reading positive PR messages.
Messages that are not about individual self promotion rather messages that are
about the greater good of Waterford Inc.
Remember to read between the lines to get the real meaning
of any PR.
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