Myths of PR: 2nd term
Inhoud
Myth 12: “good people and products market themselves” .................................................................... 2
Where does this myth come from? ..................................................................................................... 2
The public as the product .................................................................................................................... 2
Growth hacking ................................................................................................................................... 3
To conclude ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Myth 14: PR results are instant ............................................................................................................... 4
Insecurity ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Established expectations ..................................................................................................................... 4
Factors affecting PR results ................................................................................................................. 4
The media agenda ........................................................................................................................... 4
Time-strapped journalists ............................................................................................................... 4
Short and long lead publishing ........................................................................................................ 5
How long before SEO starts working? ............................................................................................. 5
The visibility of other marketing disciplines ........................................................................................ 5
Myth 18: gender wage gap figures .......................................................................................................... 6
Understanding the complexities ......................................................................................................... 6
Case study: explaining the gender pay gap ..................................................................................... 6
So why do the figures say the pay gap is around 20%, then? ......................................................... 6
A ‘men-a-home’ quota .................................................................................................................... 7
How this applies to PR ......................................................................................................................... 8
, Myth 12: “good people and products market themselves”
This myth implies that the hard work of everybody involved doesn’t really matter. If someone is
talented or a business is simply good then fame, fortune, awards,… will follow.
Al Ries is a marketing and branding strategist and an author → he says that most chief executives
believe that ‘the better product always wins in the marketplace’ and that they find ‘marketing, and
especially advertising, is a waste of money’.
This myth says a product will sell itself and is good enough to attract customers or users without the
use of advertising, PR, direct marketing, SEO, etc.
Evidence that says otherwise, both for offline and online brands:
- For every $9 earned, Nike spent $1 on direct-to-customer marketing, brand events and sports
marketing → even the industry leader in sportswear and apparel needs marketing, it won’t sell
itself.
- 1$ out of every $6 spent on restaurant advertising in America was done by McDonald’s → the
company does what it needs to do to stay on top.
- Coca-Cola spent $4 billion on marketing in 2015 and had sales of $44 billion.
- Amazon is the biggest internet company by revenue with $107 billion in 2015. In the final three
months of 2015 it spent £1.75 billion on marketing, which was double what McDonald’s spent
in the entire year.
- Facebook, with a 2015 revenue of $18 billion, spent $772 million on marketing.
➔ These brands are all front-of-mind sector leaders not as a result of quality, innovation, competitive
pricing,… but because they spend money to ensure this position.
Where does this myth come from?
People think it’s impressive to spend little on marketing and still be successful because it doesn’t look
like they tried hard. But what most people don’t realise is that marketing’s more than advertising and
PR. The wider definition encompasses a lot of other things:
- Referral programs
- Branding
- Pricing in relation to rivals
- Customer surveying
- Discounts
- Competitions
- Customer emailing
- A quick message to friends and family to say ‘hey, my business is live!’
- Etc.
Some of the marketing tactics are not that expensive or don’t cost anything up-front, which makes
people think it’s the product that is selling itself. In reality it’s marketing, but people don’t realise this.
Marketing = doing anything to proactively highlight yourself, your product or your service → even the
name a business chooses or setting up a social media account for your business is marketing.
The public as the product
Free products and services like Skype, Spotify and Dropbox have built a user base of advocates who
will spread the word. Millions of people will use these services every day without paying anything. But
this is shadow capitalism = giving users something free to hook you on the product.
Inhoud
Myth 12: “good people and products market themselves” .................................................................... 2
Where does this myth come from? ..................................................................................................... 2
The public as the product .................................................................................................................... 2
Growth hacking ................................................................................................................................... 3
To conclude ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Myth 14: PR results are instant ............................................................................................................... 4
Insecurity ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Established expectations ..................................................................................................................... 4
Factors affecting PR results ................................................................................................................. 4
The media agenda ........................................................................................................................... 4
Time-strapped journalists ............................................................................................................... 4
Short and long lead publishing ........................................................................................................ 5
How long before SEO starts working? ............................................................................................. 5
The visibility of other marketing disciplines ........................................................................................ 5
Myth 18: gender wage gap figures .......................................................................................................... 6
Understanding the complexities ......................................................................................................... 6
Case study: explaining the gender pay gap ..................................................................................... 6
So why do the figures say the pay gap is around 20%, then? ......................................................... 6
A ‘men-a-home’ quota .................................................................................................................... 7
How this applies to PR ......................................................................................................................... 8
, Myth 12: “good people and products market themselves”
This myth implies that the hard work of everybody involved doesn’t really matter. If someone is
talented or a business is simply good then fame, fortune, awards,… will follow.
Al Ries is a marketing and branding strategist and an author → he says that most chief executives
believe that ‘the better product always wins in the marketplace’ and that they find ‘marketing, and
especially advertising, is a waste of money’.
This myth says a product will sell itself and is good enough to attract customers or users without the
use of advertising, PR, direct marketing, SEO, etc.
Evidence that says otherwise, both for offline and online brands:
- For every $9 earned, Nike spent $1 on direct-to-customer marketing, brand events and sports
marketing → even the industry leader in sportswear and apparel needs marketing, it won’t sell
itself.
- 1$ out of every $6 spent on restaurant advertising in America was done by McDonald’s → the
company does what it needs to do to stay on top.
- Coca-Cola spent $4 billion on marketing in 2015 and had sales of $44 billion.
- Amazon is the biggest internet company by revenue with $107 billion in 2015. In the final three
months of 2015 it spent £1.75 billion on marketing, which was double what McDonald’s spent
in the entire year.
- Facebook, with a 2015 revenue of $18 billion, spent $772 million on marketing.
➔ These brands are all front-of-mind sector leaders not as a result of quality, innovation, competitive
pricing,… but because they spend money to ensure this position.
Where does this myth come from?
People think it’s impressive to spend little on marketing and still be successful because it doesn’t look
like they tried hard. But what most people don’t realise is that marketing’s more than advertising and
PR. The wider definition encompasses a lot of other things:
- Referral programs
- Branding
- Pricing in relation to rivals
- Customer surveying
- Discounts
- Competitions
- Customer emailing
- A quick message to friends and family to say ‘hey, my business is live!’
- Etc.
Some of the marketing tactics are not that expensive or don’t cost anything up-front, which makes
people think it’s the product that is selling itself. In reality it’s marketing, but people don’t realise this.
Marketing = doing anything to proactively highlight yourself, your product or your service → even the
name a business chooses or setting up a social media account for your business is marketing.
The public as the product
Free products and services like Skype, Spotify and Dropbox have built a user base of advocates who
will spread the word. Millions of people will use these services every day without paying anything. But
this is shadow capitalism = giving users something free to hook you on the product.
