Well, there are two answers to that question. One answer would be that PR stands for PageRank, Google's link analysis algorithm, and the other answer is Public Relations, sometimes called PR. Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing the relationship and image of an organization and the public. Depending on which one you are searching for, depends on what information we have to provide you with.
This week I watched a Wal-Mart commercial on CNN, where a troops are stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan, and it started to snow, then it cut to a scene of a boy and his mom, where the mom says, "What did you ask for?", and the boy says, "Something for dad.". The boy implies that he made it snow in Afghanistan or Iraq because that's what his dad wanted for Christmas. Then it cuts to Wal-Mart's logo while a narrator says, "To all of our troops and their families, Thank You. Because of you we are all living better." Paying MILLIONS of dollars to CNN to thank the troops for protecting our Country, is disgusting. Because, instead of spending that money paying workers a fair wage or sending supplies to the troops would be of much better use.
To think that Wal-mart is more concerned about wasting millions of dollars on trying to maintain good public relations, rather than provide workers with affordable health insurance, is disheartening. This kind of public relations is typically how the big corporate companies try to fool you in thinking that they care about the average Joe. In the end, its just marketing, so what if they are trying to make us think they care about our country so much.
Tiger Woods' recent affair with nearly a dozen women has completely destroyed his image. As Andre Agassi said, "Image is everything.". As Tiger Woods is finding out, a squeaky clean image can be tarnished in a heartbeat. "Brands that planned to use Tiger in any meaningful way in the next few weeks would be looking to perhaps do something else, both out of respect for Tiger and because now isn't the best time to have him out there peddling their product," Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon, told CNNMoney.com. However, Tiger Woods will retain most of his sponsorships, if not all of them. His public relations team is probably already working day and night to fix the fiasco he caused with his image. Tiger Woods' sponsorships with the brands he has been promoting will probably hideout for a while. Tiger Woods is a golfing legend who, like Bill Clinton, David Letterman, and Andre Agassi's images will all rebound eventually.
Recently, Toyota's public image has been tarnished by their massive recalls. Mark Jacobson's Toyota of Durham car dealership is hopefully feeling the pinch. That loser is trying to brand his name and Toyota dealership through Facebook. Mark Jacobson's Toyota fan page on Facebook had 33 fans, not much use from a public relations stand point.
My first experience with public relations was when negative information about my previous company (which is no longer in existence) started appearing on the Internet. Today's business market is driven by online information and exposure. I came across a company called CitySearch. CitySearch is a business' worst nightmare. It seems like a great concept at first, customers can go online and rate a company based on their experience with them. The problem is that in today's economy, everyone is a complainer and no one gives pats on the back. The other problem is that desperate competitors are able to trash your company, pretending to be unhappy clients. I have a number of marketing clients who have had this experience, the problem seems to be that there is very LITTLE you can do about it. CitySearch is an enormous company and is threatened with lawsuits daily. They also defend themselves against lawsuits regularly, and their terms of conditions pretty much limit your ability to do anything about it. From a legal standpoint, a good lawyer would be able to beat them in court.
CitySearch cites the communications decency act as a defense to any libel and slander claims, the problem is that their terms and conditions are not flawless, they have some contradictory information in them, and they are not bulletproof. You see, their disclaimer states that by using (or viewing) their website, you agree to waive your legal rights, except through the Federal Courts of California. The problem is that their reviews replicate to other websites such as Google. The CitySearch reviews appearing on Google, do not require you to view, access, or "use" the CitySearch website. Therefore, you can conceivably sue CitySearch in your local Federal Court and not have to access their website in order to view the slander or defamation being done to your company.
The problem is that lawyers and litigation are expensive, and if the review is based on statements of opinion, it is not slander or defamation, meaning CitySearch has no legal obligation to take it down. I have seen businesses with TONS of bad reviews, mainly restaurants. The thing is, if these people had a bad experience and brought it to the attention of the business, rather than talk shit about them, then the restaurant's owner would most likely have done what he/she could have done to fix the problem. Bad ratings on CitySearch is definitely a Public Relations issue. Developing a good image and positive perception is essential to long term success in whatever industry you are in.
However, bad reviews that are opinion on CitySearch, which are written by competitors, would be legally actionable. The problem again is that you would need to sue CitySearch in order to get subpoenas to find out who was doing it in order to take action against them. Again, if it is a competitor, it is going to get costly to get to the bottom of who is doing it. We would estimate a minimum of $5,000 to $10,000 to hire a lawyer who would take your case.
Reputation Defenders is a service who acts as your advocate to help with problems, such as CitySearch reviews. But remember, even if you hire Reputation Defenders, there is no guarantee that your online reputation can be cleaned up. The other problem is that most companies like Time Warner Cable and other Internet providers, only store information about IP addresses, for around six months time. This means if you don't act immediately to work on resolving the public relations issue, you likely will not be able to doing anything about it, unless they are in fact lies and not opinion. The other problem is that many times you need to prove damages, something that is usually not easy to prove.
Regardless of the reason or how the negative reviews made it to your CitySearch business profile, there is always someone who is not going to like what you have to offer. A good way to manage your public relations campaign is through a good website.
If you are looking for information about Google's PageRank algorithm, please visit this article about Google PageRank. It has more than enough information about Google PR.
This marketing company does not have Raleigh restaurants or a Raleigh restaurant that it works with as far as branding goes. The restaurant business is a cut-throat industry and because of bad public relations, many restaurants suffer. CitySearch pretty much has a strong hold on the restaurant business public relations industry. For whatever the reason, customers love to go on CitySearch and post reviews, many times negative ones, based on their dining experiences. This bad publicity can quickly destroy even the best of restaurants' reputation. There is nothing the restaurants can do about customers publishing their negative experiences, because it is usually freedom of speech. In 2010, unhappy customers are quick to trash a business before trying to resolve their issues with that business. In my experience, I have found that restaurants are usually willing to bend over backwards to resolve problems that occur at their place of business.
From a PR stand point, I would encourage unhappy customers to try to resolve a complaint with the business directly before just outright complaining publicly. After you have failed to get the resolution you are seeking with the business directly, by all means go on a public relations rampage. At that point, they probably deserved it.
So what does pulling an O'Charley's or Ted's Montana Grill mean? Well, click the link in the last sentence, and read about what NOT to do when running a business or restaurant. Minor problems can become enormous public relations problems when they are ignored.
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