Success breeds success…and a heap of ad equivalency dollars.

This locution has never been more appropriate than in the world of public relations. In this blog post, I’d like to share a recent example where the virtuous cycle played out and Con-way wound up with the kind of air time and public accolades that money can’t buy.

While many companies shy away from PR or it’s slightly smaller counterpart, media relations, I content that those companies who do, will be left behind. In studies from universities and in books from marketing thought leaders, media relations is widely believed to be at least as effective as advertising.

There are two fundamental differences. First, you have less control over your message in the media relations world. While you can issue press releases until the cows come home, you’re going to have to give up some control and place a subject matter expert on the phone in an open-ended question and answer session with the media if you really want to get ink. And, while there are rare occasions when editors will misquote, more often than not, the preponderance of the blame is due to a lack of coaching and preparation.