In Homage to Good PR – Advice from Bill Gates

The Legend of Bill Gates, the MS billionaire, gives this advice to aspiring entrepreneurs about the power of PR.  Bill said that if he only had one dollar to spend on promoting his business he’d “spend it on PR”. We’re not too sure what PR he’d buy for a dollar – or a pound even – but we know Mr Gates is right.  Good PR achieves increased sales, greater brand awareness and many ongoing benefits; pro rata costs of PR are less than other marketing spends.

GOOD PR for the Price of a Double Page Spread...

In 2004 Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery commissioned a writer/producer with outstanding PR skills to write an educational show for family audiences.  The total budget for the show from creation to delivery was £3000.  The actor received £1300 of this.  £1,700 covered the remaining costs including PR promotion.

The PR for this show hinged on a planned Press Release.  Although it missed getting on Richard and Judy (just!) it led to quality articles in local papers, estimated at 95,000 distribution, plus half a page with photos in The Birmingham Post (the city’s broad sheet), an appearance on BBC Radio WM (15 minutes drive time) interviewed by Sally (Tiswas!”) James and 30 minutes on Radio Saga.  Similar advertising space and distribution would have cost £20,000 plus.

The press release entitled “Smelly Archaeological Sample Discovered in Art Gallery” built on an educational theme of the show, performed around an exhibition of Art which included a Henry Moore sculpture and a Grayson Perry pot.  Held at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery's Waterhall Gallery of Modern Art – once the HQ of Birmingham's Waterboard - the venue lent itself to a lesson on the history of Birmingham’s water supply. 

The photo opportunities used the “smelly find” as a prop.  The find was a glass of water purporting to be from Birmingham in 1817 which had been found in the gallery's basement vault.  Made from Symmington’s Pea Soup with a sprinkling of Twiglet croutons – this cheap device enticed more children than the gallery expected.  Many children were there initially to see -as promised - the actor taste the pungent potion!

Our PR Increase ROI from Advertising and Marketing Budgets

In the current economic climate, where it is imperative to maximise return on investment (ROI), companies can ill afford to stop marketing, to stop reaching prospective new clients or competing with peer companies ready to take their market share.  One way of achieving this, for example, is to switch a company’s magazine advertising budget into PR.  This is even more effective for companies who enjoy a good online presence.

Consider this:

The cost of a prominent double page spread advertisement in a quality national magazine is at least £20 per 1,000 distribution.  Typically distributions are circa 100,000, so a series of 4 adverts in the same quarterly publication will cost (give or take) £8,000 per year + creative costs.  What could a good PR Agency do with that?

What Could Your Company Could Achieve?

Let us make some suggestions...

We specialise in reducing advertising and marketing costs and increasing ROI. We also face facts.

The Reality of the Current Economic Climate

A leading advertising agency reckons they know how to improve sales for their clients in the current economic climate. They'll just "increase demand". This is complete nonsense. Yes, they might increase the aspiration for a product or service but, aspiration without money, will not increase sales.

There is a method which will increase sales. It is called "looking" or "finding". For our prospective clients this involves them stopping wasting their money on contracts with pie in the sky companies with more real estate and employees than they know what to do with. Instead they contact us to be introduced to cheaper, more effective, low carbon, low bs methods which their former suppliers have forgotten about in their rush to buy interior design...

Contact Us

Contact us for any further information and to enquire about using PR to increase your ROI. An initial telephone consultation is free of all charges.

office@individualopportunity.co.uk