PRMR Inc. Blogs

As the president of The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Barbados, I am a strong advocate for uniting for the betterment of the communications profession, professional development, and ethical conduct. In the realm of public relations and communication, adhering to a set of core principles is crucial for success. Having just completed my fifth IABC Gold Quill Evaluation Certification, my brain is full of what it takes, not just to be a good evaluator, but also what is necessary to be the best of the best in the profession.

The start of a new year is a perfect time for companies to take a step back, evaluate their performance, and set targets for the upcoming year. These objectives should not only be related to financial outcomes but also to the image the company portrays to the public. This is where public relations can play a significant role.

In today’s fast-paced corporate environments, it's not a matter of if a crisis will occur, but when. No matter how well-run or successful, every company will face a crisis at some point. It could be anything from a natural disaster to a data breach, public relations nightmare or supply chain disruption. Effective crisis management is the key to surviving these crises and coming out stronger on the other side.

Whatever the size, all businesses should have a public relations strategy. Quite often, the belief is that public relations is only for big businesses. This misconception has led to many micro and small enterprises shying away from actively managing their reputation, thinking that this aspect of the business will take care of itself. 

Companies in Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean are known for not communicating problems to customers. Because the competition, especially in areas such as banking and utilities, is nonexistent or limited rather than multiple choice, companies sometimes decide not to report problems to customers, hoping that there will not be too many complaints or that the complaints will not reach the mass media.

Facebook remains the most common social media platform despite millennials saying it is for their parents and grandparents. Facebook has worked smartly to overcome this relevancy dilemma by acquiring WhatsApp and Instagram. (Interested to see what’s next.) Communicators and marketers alike are busy trying to monitor and sell on Facebook, while the media giant increasingly makes it difficult for sentiment monitoring under the guise of user privacy. According to Pew Research, only YouTube tops Facebook as the most commonly used social media platform up to this year for Americans.  

I believe in the power of words. That is fundamentally the driving force behind my love for public relations and the belief in its power to influence. It was the ideal behind my foray into the previously novel area of gender studies. In my doctoral dissertation, I maintained that this profession of public relations which I love is too narrowly defined, steeped in business issues when it could be so much more, and is so much more for several individuals and organizations that lack the power and agency of mainstream businesses that can well afford formal strategic communications. It was for this reason that I sought to redefine public relations by focusing on a problem that is a worldwide issue, gender-based violence specifically against women and girls. 

About five years ago I wrote a blog on Why Considering the family is important in the communications process. Today, following the COVID-19 pandemic the fact that the family is important to any successful business operation should be more obvious to employers and managers.

In 2020 working from home throughout the world became a norm as employee safety was threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote work activities that some companies previously viewed with skepticism became the savior for some, making them even more efficient than ever before. For example, Sagicor’s Rookie of the Year (Life), Akindele Licorish spoke of the benefits of working from home to his peers as being able to have more meetings with potential clients and being able to get documents approved quicker since corrections and signing could now be done online without the normal time-wasting commutes. 

Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR is related to the discretionary activities a company engages in that contributes positively to society. From the outset let’s make a distinction between CSR and philanthropy. Philanthropy involves gifts that are given occasionally by companies and wealthy individuals. CSR is more sustainable. Just as a company can be socially irresponsible, which takes many forms such as illegal dumping, discrimination due to sex or race, etc., it can also be socially responsible by paying fair wages, contributing to environmental protection, promoting health and wellness, and such like. 

After months of zero community spread of COVID-19, Barbados’ euphoric COVID-19 bubble burst at the end of 2020. This meant that the government and several companies were faced with a new crisis, that if not managed properly, could threaten both political and corporate currencies. While most of the companies directly impacted fared pretty well with their communications efforts, the government, however, lost some goodwill as its initial communication was interpreted negatively by the populace. 

This week starts the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence. I guess that it is fitting that I should be putting the final touches on my dissertation for my Ph.D. from the University of Florida as it looks at the issue of gender-based violence and seeks to create a framework for communicating about the issue in such a way not to re-victimize the estimated 1 in 3 women and girls worldwide who have had this experience.

In times of crisis, top executives try to find solutions to problems considered outside the purview of their daily operations. Suddenly they need someone to help explain who they are, their philosophy and cast them in the best possible light in an effort to stay in business. 

A number of companies are using Barbados’ economic recession as an excuse to “retrench” workers. As a public relations practitioner, I avoid the word. I would advise all my clients never to use it. What you call something matters, and your reputation is tied to your words. Google retrench and it would return definitions such as “reduce or diminish”.  

A communications plan is a written strategy of communications actions designed to achieve certain organisational goals or business objectives. Communications planning can be short-term or long-term and can be used for a variety of projects and campaigns, both internally and externally.

As a public relations agency we are regularly contacted by charitable organizations that need help to raise funds or to promote their cause but are cash strapped having very limited funds to hire a communications professional. Most times the organizations have volunteers assigned to the role of public relations officer that lack the necessary skill set to do the job. If you find yourself in this position, here are eight strategies you can adopt, using both traditional and social media tactics, to help gain exposure for your cause.

I had the privilege of participating in a crisis masterclass in February. The one-week “Rapid Response Communication in a New Age” course targeted undergraduates in public relations at the University of Florida, but department chair, Dr. Marcia DiStaso, invited graduate students to attend. I am not going to tell you about the class itself (it was awesome). Instead I will tell you about the five things I learned from Linda Rutherford, Southwest’s chief of communications who flew all the way from Dallas to conduct the one-day crisis simulation, that are important to be successful as a public relations practitioner.

Inside the Games, the major source for sports news around the world top story for its Thursday Febr. 1 newsletter read, "Putin apologises to Russian athletes for failing to protect them during doping scandal".  Could I possibly be reading correctly?  Is one of the most powerful men in the world apologizing to athletes for seemingly doing wrong?  Yes, he was!  But why would he do such a thing?  The fact is "sport and politics are inextricably intertwined and often work to demonstrate social, economic, or political supremacy over another nation."

For more than a year now the South Coast of the island has had a major issue relating to the sewage system, which is posing problems for businesses in that area as a result of foul odours, and rumours relating to food and water safety. This issue has escalated to crisis proportion. Despite this, I am yet to evidence a strategic communications plan from businesses in the area describing the environmental state of their business and what they are doing to protect the interest of stakeholders.

The year 2018 has brought with it all the uncertainties and expectations of a New Year wrapped in a bow of fireworks.  For Barbados and Barbadians, the beginning of this year spells even more uncertainty as there is a pending general elections , the outcome of which will determine how the country is managed for the next five years or so. 

Independence and Christmas are in the air. The colours blue, yellow and black will be a prominent sight as you move around the island. This is one of the busiest times for public relations practitioners and event planners. Normally everywhere is booked up by now and everything that is blue, yellow and black is sold out as planning for this season can start as early as a year in advance. Not to worry, there are still some things you can do if you are off to a slow start, some quite inexpensive or free and some that will demand a budget. Here are six ways to show your love for Barbados this 51st Independence.

Reflecting on the devastation that struck the Caribbean, Mexico and Florida over the past months, especially the catastrophic hurricanes that damaged our neighbouring islands, it is safe to say that Barbados has a lot for which to be thankful.

Good Internal communications can help to build employee engagement, proper training, grow teamwork and achieve company goals. 

While the clear majority of businesses have put the public of Barbados on notice of pending price increases following the announcement of Budget 2017, Courts Barbados, or Unicomer as it is officially known, has taken the high road and has announced to its customers that it will continue to offer them the best market prices. This means that there will be no immediate price increases at Courts.

I was doing my daily dose of reading this morning of news, current affairs and general topics of interest when suddenly a realization hit me – how short all the stories that I was reading were and the fact that most of them were laid out in point form. Of course, me being a thinker, I immediately started musing of what had accounted for this and the word that kept on recurring was the Internet.  

Our subscribers may have noticed that the last couple of PRMR Inc. blogs focused on the general art of communicating to change public behavior. Here, we hone in on the specific example of healthy promotion offering you three ways to promote healthy lifestyles to influence public behavior change:

Advocacy is commonplace. There is a gazillion causes, all of which are important - from the rainforest, water conservation, saving the planet, hunger, AIDS, cancer, stray dogs, to saving the turtles and whales. As many causes as there are out there, there are as many opinions about them.  

As public relations practitioners, our daily roles centre on managing favourable public perceptions of our clients. We use a variety of tactics and mediums to do so, however, when it comes to public education campaigns, the very perceptions we spend so much time trying to shape must be converted into tangible changes in behaviour in order to be successful.

2017 saw PRMR Inc. relocate into a fabulous upscale building called the Atrium in Haggatt Hall, also home to G&A Communications Inc. and FedNav.

This move was nearly ten years in the making because, for the most part, my employees and I were comfortably located at my home in St. James. However, I decided as the business grew and moved closer to its 10th Anniversary, it was time for it to reinvent itself and become better known on the island for our fantastic public relations work.  

Having successfully run a business from home all those years, I have decided to share some tips to help entrepreneurs who may decide to follow this path before taking the leap of faith to buy or rent office space.  

As 2016 draws to a close, now is the time to be lining up some fresh business tactics to roll out as we usher in another year. Our ‘New Year’ business boosting strategies below will ensure your 2017 corporate activities start with a ‘bang’ and set up your year to be a productive and successful one. Here’s how to start 2017 with a bang!:

Although December is well underway, it’s not too late to capitalise on the wealth of PR opportunities that the festive season brings. Ensure you’re making the most of the holiday spirit by incorporating some Christmas cheer into your PR tactics to increase your business’ exposure and profits. Here’s how:

We at PRMR Inc. would like to thank our clients and well wishers for your support throughout the year 2016. Now it's the season of giving and good cheer we thought that we would share this public relations tactics infographic with you to help you make your corporate gift giving decisions.

As a company we prefer to focus on generating traffic and leads through inbound marketing because it builds long term value at a lower cost than advertising.  However, there is no doubt that there is a place for using online Ads for building traffic and leads for your business. According to Moz over 80% of search results now contains AdWords Ad placements. This shows that many companies and thus many of your competitors are using Google Adwords for their online campaigns.

The downside of social media was recently featured in the Nation newspaper.  The central issue was the freedom of persons to misuse social media for malicious ends. What prompted the news stories was a comment that proved to be untrue that was left on the newspaper’s Facebook page.  This comment held the reputation of two companies up to public scrutiny —  the newspaper and the company that was misrepresented.

Sales is the lifeblood for any company. Using SEO for sales online is no longer a fad or add-on but a core requirement for any company especially those engaged in e-commerce.

With the right choice of platform and strategy, making social media one of your go to mediums to marketing your next event is something you should consider.

Telling authentic stories that resonate deeply with target audiences is a key component of what public relations is all about.

Social Media has been in existence for well over 10 years now and yet we at PRMR Inc. will still hear many executives almost proudly declare that they are not on social media. A statistic from the CEO website reveals that over 60% of Fortune 500 CEO’s have zero social media presence.

I ask myself everyday why did I fall in love with a profession that most businesses take for granted, some executives think hairy fairy and others don’t really understand what the hell it is about but are the first to scream, “We Need PR!” in a crisis.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again - internal communications is fundamental to building and maintaining a strong organisation. It is especially critical for larger companies to ensure core messages and business goals are received by a vast number of employees. Smaller and medium-sized businesses also require sufficient internal communications to keep staff informed of daily operations and build team morale.

So, your team has worked weeks, months, or even years, to develop a great new product or service. To ensure its profitability the next step is breathing in the oxygen and magic of marketing and PR to grab the attention of your customers.

How do you get the best media attention for all of your hard work? To help get you started, we’ve listed three ways to earn maximum press coverage for your new product or service below.

With the cost of advertising skyrocketing, internal communicators are always looking for ways to get the most out of their meagre marketing/comms budgets.

Here are three cost effective ways to promote an event to ensure that your next one is a resounding success without breaking the bank.

When people think of public relations it is very unlikely that inbound marketing comes to mind. However, inbound marketing is a new strategy that can strengthen the PR function in helping to drive business growth.

People invest in companies with the ultimate goal of making a return on investment (ROI). Traditionally, responsibility for the company’s ROI was the expressed mandate of sales and
marketing. Today however, all the company’s business units are being called to account for
the company’s profitability, whether in the form of budgetary control, research and
development, public relations or some other strategy.

PRMR Inc. has published its first eBook.  Written by the company’s public relations guru, Pamala Proverbs, it is the first in a series of eBooks to be published by PRMR Inc.

According to Proverbs, “It is meant to be thought provoking, to push public relations to the forefront of business thinking as a bonafide strategy to propel business growth.

Community relations refers to the various methods companies use to establish and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with the communities in which they operate. Building local community relationships can be the most important communication activity undertaken by an organisation, yet it is often overlooked.  

In this four part series of blog posts we take a look at four of the best platforms for making your video content social. In our second post on this topic I took a look at Twitter as an option for showcasing compelling messages via videos to customers and clients. For this week’s article I explore using video on YouTube to drive website visits. 

In the third of our regular Podcasts on all things Communications related, Josiah Inbound marketer at PRMR Inc. discusses User Generated Content and its potential use for companies seeking fresh content for their online marketing.

I was tempted to name this blog, ‘PRMR Inc. has rebranded’ but restrained myself because despite my excitement and admiration of our new spruced up logo, a logo change does not a company rebranding make.

As a business owner, or even as a one or two-person communications team, it is difficult to find the time to develop new ways to keep your company top-of-mind and help make it grow.

Most times we pound the pavements depending on sales to grow the business but no one wants to spend their hard-earned money with a stranger.

In this four-part blog series we take a look at four of the best platforms for making your video content social. In our first post on this topic I explored Facebook as an option for showcasing compelling videos to customers and clients. For this week’s article I will take a look at Twitter and how utilising video on this social media channel can be beneficial in driving traffic to your website.

When I saw the title “For Immediate Release - Do’s and Don’ts for Managing Embargoes” on the Bull Dog Reporter email it immediately took me back to the time I tried my first embargoed piece in Barbados. Embargo “is the tactic of distributing news to reporters before a public announcement, with the understanding that the outlet won’t run the story until a specified day and time.” 

In this 4 part series of blog posts we take a look at four of the best platforms for making your video content social and how to boost your marketing performance online. In our first post on this topic I take a look at Facebook as an option for where your brand can showcase its compelling videos to customers and clients. Facebook has over 8 billion daily views on the platform making it the second most popular platform around currently for video after YouTube. 

Think you are currently up to date on all things social media for your business? Take our quick quiz to see how you score.

A big part of what we do at PRMR Inc. is social media and online reputation management.  Our mantra is that we have to do our own social media marketing well as a model for our clients.  

Since hiring a dedicated online/inbound marketer we have been paying even closer attention to our performance.  Recently we noticed that our Twitter Page has been out performing our Facebook page considerably.  

Twitter I have found in my experience is one of the best platforms for building a relationship with potential customers. This social media channel has proved a great help in driving traffic to our website www.prmrinc.net. We have found it to be one of the best platforms for building a relationship with potential customers.  In this post we explore four tips on how to get more Twitter followers and how to ensure that the persons following are your buyer persona.

The Pew Research Institute reckons that two thirds of American Adults are social media users. At first the social media platforms were used to form communities. Companies however quickly started to infiltrate these communities with advertising and triggered a change in the nature of social interaction.

The importance of researching keywords for your blogging titles will play a key part in attracting not just any traffic but the right traffic to your blogs. Having the right keyword is important because when persons type a specific query in their search engines they are more likely to see your results on the first page if you used the right keywords in your blog title. Tools such as Hubspot’s Keywords and Google’s Keyword Planner can help select keywords that will aid in optimising your blog.

In the second of our regular Podcasts on all things Communications related, Pamala founder of Barbadian Communications company PRMR Inc. discusses the role of PR in the digital age and how technologies can be integrated into traditional Public Relations.

There are a plethora of great blogging platforms for your business available in 2016 and determining which option may be best for you can be time consuming. Really, best in this case means what blogging platform best fits your goals and technical skillsets. I will go through five options which I think should cover whatever type of website you want.

In PRMR Inc.’s second podcast we discussed the role of public relations in the digital age.  I felt a sense of déjà vu as I discussed some of the concepts because I remembered similar discussions on the role of PR in the broadcast age, when radio and television started demanding greater accountability from companies.  The Internet, especially social media has intensified the pressure on companies to be responsive to customers and more importantly, be good corporate citizens.  

It is probably one of the first things on the To Do List of persons reaching age 50 in Barbados.

As a matter of fact, if Barbados itself were an individual, it would probably be logged on to
the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP) website right now signing up for membership.

Anyone with an even passing interest in the online world has no doubt heard about blogging by now. A blog is a phenomenal tool for any business but we thought we would share a few questions that you and your marketing team should ask and answer before starting a blog. Using the questions we share in our post below should help your business to come up with a plan for starting your blog that helps you meet your organisation’s online marketing goals.

Email sounds almost old school these days, however, the prolific rate at which social media platforms are springing up has made customised email lists/databases an essential tool for business. When properly leveraged, an opt in Email subscriber list can work hand in hand with your social media strategy by encouraging potential customers on your social media channels to subscribe to your list and alert your customer base of your new product, service or content offerings. Your email list is the beating heart of your company’s online marketing strategy. Here are three reasons why your email list is more important than social media following.  

The Holiday Season is in full force with the lovely spirit of sharing and good cheer that Christmas brings. As a business you may be thinking of unique ways to thank your customers for their fantastic support. Consider an online contest.  Contests are an excellent way to both thank your current awesome customers and to expand your brand to a new audience by going viral.   Here are three great contest tools your business can utilise this holiday season.  We have chosen these three because they can match any budget, big or small.

Have you ever seen 10lbs of public relations? Or, have you ever touched stakeholder engagement? How about a good reputation? Can you physically carry goodwill to the bank, although thankfully nowadays it has made its way onto the balance sheet?

In the first of our regular Podcasts on all things Communications related, Pamala, founder of Barbadian communications company PRMR Inc. is joined by Inbound Marketer Josiah to discuss the topic of using online tools to increase brand awareness for your business.

Social Media has become even more of a buzzword over the last few years with many brands rushing to join various platforms, some of which have well over 1 billion users. If you are deciding which social media platforms your organisation should use, this blog should help to address that.

First, before you make the headlong sprint to have your company on every single social media platform that’s buzzing right now, you should probably ask yourself or your marketing team a few questions.

We at PRMR Inc. would like to thank our clients and well wishers for your support throughout the year 2015. Now it's the season of giving and good cheer we thought that we would share this public relations tactics infographic with you to help you make your corporate gift giving decisions.

Christmas is the one time of the year that everyone feels charitable. However, companies that live us to the title of "good corporate citizen" embrace their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and do good all year long. This type of giving is tied to the business and furthering the business goals. At Christmas time, however, we give ourselves a license to not only give for business reasons but to adopt a truly philanthropic ethos. I encourage you to embrace the season and give generously.  Here are six public relations tactics to use at Christmas to help build goodwill.

So you have invested in a beautifully designed website and feeling really good that you have a professional looking online presence.  But, do you know that there are about a billion websites on the World Wide Web, so is your company's website search engine optimised.  Customers find your physical location because they know the company, are referred, or they research the address online or in the directory (which is now also online).  Online customers, however, are most times searching without knowledge of a name or address.  They just know what product or service they want locally or internationally. 

Blogging is a tool that has been widely underutilised by many businesses, especially in the Caribbean region. Keeping your brand top of mind with customers is vital in the modern crowded marketplace, and with eCommerce being a major driver in boosting extra-regional revenue, Caribbean businesses need to utilise this excellent and virtually free tool. Regular blogging which provides solutions and educates your target persona both enhances your company's thought leadership in the field as well as its SEO. When a current/potential customer searches for a way to address a specific issue in your sector, your business blog should ideally be the one that is found at the top of their search engine result.  

Here are 4 reasons why your business should be blogging.

While all eyes are fixed on how much or little shareholders of Bank Holdings Ltd will receive after the dust is finally settled in and out of court, my interest is on the public relations strategies that the company is engaged in to keep its stakeholders, especially employees, engaged and abreast of new business developments.

With Independence just around the corner and the ‘silly season’ fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about festive content. Although there are still a few weeks until the season gets into full swing, now is the time to be strategising just how your business plans to get festive this year. 

Independence and Christmas are in the air. The colours blue, yellow and black will be a prominent sight as you move around the country. This is one of the busiest times for public relations practitioners and event planners. Normally everywhere is booked up by now and everything that is blue, yellow and black is sold out as planning for this season can start as early as a year in advance. Not to worry, there are still some things you can do if you are a late planner, some quite inexpensive or free and some that will demand a budget. Here are 10 ways to show you love Barbados this Independence.

Image credit: www.sakafete.com

In our last blog, we examined considerations of planning a national anniversary celebration such as the upcoming 49^th year of Independence in Barbados. In this blog, we spread our wings a little wider, taking a look at more general celebrations of national culture.

We answer the question – why plan a national cultural event?

As Barbados approaches its 49^th year of Independence next month, already top of mind for most local companies, and even international ones, is what can we do to demonstrate our nationalism and Bajan pride to recognise the island’s half-century milestone next year?  

One of the most important considerations when planning an event is how you will promote it. Obviously, you want people to come. However, without the appropriate promotion to spread the word about your event, you essentially have no event at all! Some of our previous blogs have briefly touched on the aspect of event promotion, but here we take a more in-depth look.

There was a time when officers of the Royal Barbados Police Force actually dreaded seeing me. Yes, the tables had turned. Instead of the police being a signal of trouble, I was their signal that work was on the horizon for yet another Nation Newspaper event – which were at the time some of Barbados’ largest events. These events created lots of fun for participants, but for motorists and local residents of the areas that the Nation Fun Walk and Fun Ride bypassed, for example, they created a temporary invasion or some might even say ‘annoyance’. Therefore, there was a need to work closely with the police to mitigate the disruption that this type of event could otherwise cause.

You’ve decided to host an event for your next business venture. Sounds like a great idea, right? Planning an entire event can sound daunting, but it doesn’t need to be. We’ve created this list of what goes into planning a corporate event to help get you started.

When it comes to hosting an event for your business, the world is your oyster and the possibilities endless. However, there are some ‘core’ types of events that you might like to consider when planning your next business function.

At PRMR Inc., we love Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). And, there are many reasons why you should too.

So, by now you get it that looking out for your employees and the community is good for business.  But, what about the environment?  Being environmentally conscious is also good for business. 
 

The value that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives have on an internal organisational culture is most times overlooked.  Often, so much emphasis is placed on what’s happening on the outside of an organisation that many companies neglect to turn their CSR focus inwards, as well.

It is a myth that a company should not promote its sustainability initiatives.

If you equate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to altruistic giving, then perhaps promoting your actions would seem self-centered. However, if your Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives are strategic as well as enshrined in and support the organization’s objectives, then you would immediately understand the benefits of telling your company’s CSR story.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept that can mean different things, to different people. It’s also known as corporate citizenship, responsible business, corporate sustainability, just to name a few. However, at its essence, what CSR aims to do is represent a company’s sense of social responsibility for its corporate actions.

Internal communications is fundamental to any organisation’s success. Being open and transparent about issues such as organisational changes, special projects, business achievements and challenges, as well as daily operations, are essential. Openness and transparency keep staff informed and motivated and assists them to do their jobs properly.

It is fantastic how our point-of-view changes based on our vantage point.  When I worked in corporate, I thought consultants had it easy, no clock to punch and can send an invoice for all work done.  I was usually looking at the perceived benefit the individual was gaining versus what they brought to the table, a wealth of experience and an outsider’s view at the fraction of the cost of another employee.

Where do you spend most of your time?  Who suffers when you leave home early to get to work on time?  Who is left out when you have to travel for work?  Who ends up waiting because you are late as a result of work?  For all of these questions, the answer is either work or family.  

Ongoing strategic internal communications and positive employee relationships are crucial to achieving any organisation’s mission and vision.

As a public relations practitioner who lives in Barbados, a country in which tourism is its primary industry, I am often questioned by my international colleagues at conferences about my tourism industry clients.  By this, they predominantly mean hotels.  Up to the time of my writing this blog we at PRMR Inc. have not had one hotel as a client and the reason for this became quite clear this week when I approached a senior executive from a West Coast Hotel about offering his company our services, his immediate response to me was that his company does not really do any marketing and public relations on the island since it targets overseas tourists to fill the hotel. My immediate response was what about your staff?  He was dumbstruck. 

Become Easily Recognizable

I was the public relations officer of the Barbados Netball Associations light years ago before I even understood the concept. Our basic understanding of the role of the public relations officer is someone who sends information out from the association, who may get a press release in the media now and then and is the MC at events. Because of this limited scope of our public relations knowledge our associations do not garner the full force of goodwill possible. This is not only true of the public relations position, but a majority of the positions since all our organizations function through the goodwill of volunteers.

I am a firm believer in the concept “perception is reality.”  After all, it is the business that I am in, managing public perceptions.  This concept has even been adopted as PRMR Inc.'s slogan "Managing Perception. Promoting Reality."  

We at PRMR Inc. would like to thank our clients and well wishers for your support throughout the year.  Now it's the season of giving and good cheer we thought that we would share this public relations tactics info graphic with you to help you make your corporate gift giving decisions.

A number of companies wait until they have a media crisis to turn to public relations.  The cat is already out of the bag and the public relations consultant brought in to clean up the mess has to play catch-up to get the company back on track toward rebuilding the brand’s reputation.  Like an individual, a company’s good name and reputation is priceless and needs to be closely monitored and well guarded against reputational threats. Here are 10 public relations tactics to help manage your reputation.

Without bothering to research it and without questioning it, everyone would agree with me based on our tacit knowledge of China that it is one of the oldest civilizations on Earth.

As public relations professionals, you come to dread the cliché “grip and grin” photo opportunity which clients love. And why shouldn’t they?

“You can’t punish me today because it’s International Day of Happiness,” says Karla, after I told her I was going to take off my belt because of the outstanding assignment she was working on. I thought that this was a ruse to get out of the bind she was in but nooooo, it really is international happy day.

Being a professional communicator, I have used Twitter lots of times as a communications tool. I promote it to my clients at PRMR Inc. because social media is important. You need to monitor and respond to your stakeholders, and you need to feed them information in the mode that they prefer. Yada yada yada.

I am an old fashioned Barbadian. What does that mean? Well it means I am really proud and believe in respect and dignity. It also means that I am not star-struck by anyone, not even royalty. In my job at PRMR Inc. and otherwise, I have met stars, authors, international politicians, heads of multinational corporations etc. and do not have a picture to show for it.

Maintaining ethical principles in the pursuit of business goals – A Public Relations Perspective

In Barbados, in secondary school we are required to select subjects early; know and stick to a particular career path, all at the tender age of 13 or 14 despite having no world experience and certainly as the old people would say ‘never even seen a star pitch.’ For students like I was, who were unsure what they wanted to do but felt uncompelled to follow a traditional career as a lawyer, doctor or accountant; this decision probably did not come until late.

An inside joke of the IABC Barbados board is that our Co-VP Professional Development, Jackie Marshall-Clarke is good at finding “good” men. And last night’s presenter at our professional development event “Communicating Change - When Things Fall Apart and Communications Is the Glue That Keeps It Together," lived up to the billing.

"Communicate unto the other person that which you would want him to communicate unto you if your positions were reversed."

— Aaron Goldman

Last week’s total shut down of Internet services in Barbados through telecommunications provider LIME really made me think about how much communication is taken for granted!

There was a time when a press release was a press release, and advertising was advertising. The difference was clear.

The Public Relations Society of America has launched a project to have its members and others submit definitions for Public Relations. I read a number of stories surrounding this project and felt as if all of them were mine. Especially Rosanne Fiske’s story on your family not understanding what you do. When I worked at the Nation Newspaper as it Corporate Communications Manager, my mother was fine with that because she understood the concept of working for a reputable organization no matter the job. When I set up my own PR Agency she was however very worried for me because she could not fathom how I would make money and what service I was truly offering.

Public Relations practitioners and communicators in general took social media for granted for a long time but now these social communities are the best and biggest things since slice bread. Everyday I open my email there is another invitation to attend a conference, seminar, webinar etc. on some social media tool like this one today for example from Amy Jefferies, Communications Director PR News.

In April this year PRMR Inc. launched its new website to the world. In monitoring the web traffic we recognized that we were experiencing a decline in the number of visitors to the site. Also, when searching for public relations firms in Barbados our website was buried under page 4 or 5 in the Google search rankings.

One of my favourite areas in public relations is working with the media. Having worked alongside journalists for 10 years at the Nation newspaper as its communications specialist- “I get them.”

I loved to pass through the newsroom when there was a good story brewing. The discussions, the possible treatments as well as the circulation department’s excitement in the whole matter as it spelt paper sales - the news dynamic is a very enthralling and captivating one.

I was reading an interesting article on two issues close to my heart, the environment and communications/public relations.

Over the past decade, businesses around the world have been focusing on creating products and services, which have very little impact on the environment.

Pamala Proverbs, Managing Director at the communications consultancy, PRMR Inc has earned the Accredited Business Communicator (ABC) designation from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

The Barbados Chapter of IABC was formally launched last Thursday at Herbert House, the home of the Cricket Legends of Barbados .

Well we have made the first step! After a successful meeting of a good mix of Barbados' pr stalwarts, mid-career professionals, newbies, and individuals interested in the profession, a board of management have been chosen to do the work to get the Barbados Chapter of IABC off the ground.

Making responsible social and environmental choices has not always been a first priority for many corporations, but recent history has changed all that.

Bridgetown, Barbados/ Feb. 14/PRMR INC/

Polo at Waterhall last Sunday was spectacular. From the athletic
competitors in body-fitting jodhpurs riding some magnificent
horses, to the Josef’s Restaurant catered sushi, to the
delightful potpourri of spectators, some die hard polo fans and
some first time spectators.