Creativity in Public Relations (PR) requires precise, concise thinking and the ability to express oneself articulately. If you succeed in adopting these, I believe creative ideas can flow more easily and one would be able to share ideas in the same way they are created in the mind, without any confusion to express and understand.
Creativity in Public Relations is a glamorized word but in layman’s business language, it is being able to be a little ahead in the race against time and your business rivals. To keep your action plan ready with scenarios that you might contemplate that may arise in the future. Creativity is integral in every aspect of PR. From understanding your business, client requirements, their ideas, expectations pertaining to your performance, how you ensure credibility, trust, and a positive image of their brand and products.
Creativity in Public Relations in most situations is time-bound. Talk about brand promotions, crisis management, press releases or communicating with stakeholders or clients, etc. a PR person has to think fast, find unique solutions. Put it into action before others; be ahead of all those who try hard to pull down the brand or client you endorse. Use the right set of tools like social, digital, print media’s and other tools like campaigns and promotions e.g. distributing freebies, etc.
How does one be creative? It isn’t easy to always be ahead of your rivals. What does one need, to be creative? How can one think out of the box and stay relevant? The answer is, you must study every brand thoroughly from their history, business struggle, their image in the market, what consumers think, who their rivals are, etc. Besides one must encourage the free flow of creative ideas across all hierarchies.
A dedicated team can list ideas generated and check many factors. Are these ideas manageable? What is the time and resources required to complete them? Are they relevant, would they stall or help manage the situation at hand? Does it fall under the approved budget? Is it in line with the law of the land? Does it serve the objectives that are laid down? Will it provide any value or does it deviate from the actual issue at hand? What are the potential risks involved and how do we plan to handle them if the need arises? Evaluation of almost everything from the situation to ideas is essential. Once you have answers to these, the next big question is how to put these into action, be relevant and successful. Selecting the right idea and execution technique can be very daunting; one way to cope with this is to look at those who aren’t part of your team. Organizations can look at employees across all departments and take their opinion. To ensure most employees participate one can keep lucrative attractions like rewards, so everyone puts their thinking hat and has a common goal of succeeding. This would prove to be a win-win situation for all parties involved. It may help not just in crisis management or building and protecting image but also help stay connected and updated with the real world. The motive is to keep your business alive thriving and popular among the masses globally.
-Nafisa Jalal
Nafisa is an alumna of the Class of 2020 of PG Programme in PR and Corporate Communications at SCoRe, Mumbai. She completed her winter internship with Ketchum Sampark, Mumbai.
She completed her graduation in Psychology and Sociology majors from Sophia College, Mumbai University. Then started her career with Human Resources in a generalist profile for 6.5 years. She wanted to venture into an industry that lets her work on business closely, provides an opportunity to learn and meet new people, and at the same time is also dynamic. PR is one such industry. She has good command over her communication skills and she enjoys writing, a few traits that a PR professional must possess.
She can be reached on Twitter as @NafisaJalal and on LinkedIn as Nafisa Jalal
