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Public relations and positivity

November, 2016

Public relations focusses on the positive side of your work, explains Erica Jones of Kent PR and marketing agency Maxim.

Is your glass half full or half empty? It’s a question we’ve all heard before when trying to decide if a person is optimistic or pessimistic but the simple fact is: your glass contains 50% liquid, 50% air.

It’s not a lie, or an alteration of the facts, it’s simply a focussing on the positive or negative of the contents of your glass.

But this example doesn’t really leave us much room for development. Let’s look at something a little more complex: How many people started the year with a resolution or two? And how many gave up before January was out because they’d not managed to keep off the beer/chocolate and failed to drop three dress sizes despite going to the gym twice in as many weeks?

Find the right angle

Here at Maxim we’re not life coaches, but were we to sprinkle a little PR magic onto your new year’s resolutions list we’d probably tell you one glass of wine after a particularly trying day at work on the 18th did not make you a failure in your attempts at Dry January. Instead we’d highlight the positives: Compared to December you drank (I’m guessing) on 20 fewer days than the month before and reduced your volume of alcohol consumption by around 1,000 per cent.

The same can be said for that new year diet: you may not have lost your intended five pounds a week, but three pounds over a month is still an achievement. More importantly, by focussing on the positive of that achievement you’re much more likely to stick with it than by chastising yourself and concentrating on your failings (something to think about as 2017 gets closer?).

We’re not encouraging you to settle for half-managed goals – 100 per cent success is obviously the long term aim – we’re just putting a positive focus on what you have achieved.

Which is a big part of public relations.

Making it work

From articles in the press to straightforward press releases, social media or corporate communications, our work is about building up the best possible relationships. These will be with a variety of stakeholders – from customers to clients or contractors and more – and will each require their own messages and methods, which is where you call us in: we do our job so you can continue to do yours.

Erica Jones - Account Director

Erica Jones

Maxim / Account Director

posted in: advice, media relations, public relations, reputation management,

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