Digital marketing new norm says fiona

by Zanita Careem

Over a decade’s worth of experience handling advertising, public relations and marketing within the FMCG, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Telecommunications industries and now her own Corporate Communications Agency, News Publisher – Fiona Nanayakkara has become one of the most sought after communications professionals, of her time. News publisher.online is the first and only press release distribution system in Sri Lanka, the company creates content for a variety of industries and work with companies who abide by the triple bottom line and use platforms such as mainstream media, social media and online to reach relevant audiences. In 2019 Fiona was also awarded the Most Influential Content Marketer at the World Marketing Congress.

Armed with an MBA from the University of Buckinghamshire (UK) and a wit that knows no-bounds, Nanayakkara authored the first a self-help manual, providing coping methods to overcome workplace harassment, while maneuvering the Sri Lankan corporate minefield.

What were your observations on the dependence of brands on PR agencies?

Heavily dependent. Brands will always have to depend on Advertising and Public relations agencies as mainstream media management takes years of expertise.

For example;

Social media strategy can be developed by someone who has an understanding of the brand, the target audience and basics of the social media platforms and content. The numerous hours spent on social media, has enabled them to know where they want to be seen by whom and how?

In other words brands know if their customers watch videos/images on instagram/facebook.

However PR strategy should be in line with not just the brand but also with the knowledge of media and its viewers. What most PR people don’t understand is that we work for two key stakeholders –

Our clients who we support with messaging, presentation and media networks.

Media who we support with well written, news-worthy content which is applicable to their readers ( a mass audience)

Senior Marketers would always hire a PR agency because they are aware of what we bring to the table. With companies going to flatter structures everyday to reduce cost and increase efficiency, brands are more dependent on PR agencies, because in-house services are now outsourced.

Also older brands are aware that PR should be managed strategically, as we talk to the national media for their brand.

Can most small businesses afford a PR agency?

Unfortunately no!

In the current industry context, companies need a significant budget to appear in the newspaper, TV or Radio. Marketing services are expensive. While PR and advertising remains expensive, SMEs & Entrepreneurs are being creative with more affordable communication tools to attract customers – which is the end goal.

Yes it’s nice to have media presence but sustenance is key, therefore brands just opt for digital marketing solutions. Bigger brands are also now moving towards digital marketing as targeting is much easier online.

This is why News Publisher has made publicity affordable. www.newspublisher.online empowers the customer to decide on the specific services they absolutely need agency services from and just work with us on that. Big brands hire news publisher because the quality is not compromised yet within budget, Entrepreneurs hire because the over all cost is 50% lesser than the industry rate as at News Publisher we are obliged to provide news worthy content to readers, listeners & viewers via mainstream media.

Many brands are increasingly repositioning themselves to suit the market sentiment. Do you think now PR agencies will have a more active role to play?

Yes, and the reason is; PR agencies usually handle a wide range of companies differing from size, location to industry. We spin news for a living!

Example: a company wants to say they donated half a million for the pandemic recovery, we say the company values in caring for the community they operate in.

PR agencies add more value to the news, the brand originally wants to say, make it reader friendly so media editor’s relationship is not compromised. A good PR Agency can also give you direction on your stakeholder related investments for the betterment of the brand.

PR has to be mastered over a certain period of time (approx. over a decade) to be good at it. Brands will require that level of expertise when repositioning themselves.

In your view, what are a few trends in the PR agency industry?

Working from home option enabled for majority of the supply chain. PR agencies work with writers, translators, graphic designers, online marketers and web-developers who work better from home. The timely service is an ongoing challenge, however if and when necessary systems are in place to adhere to client deadlines to deliver high quality services on time. This has enabled us to obtain industry expertise services for clients.

Boutique PR agencies is another trend around the world.

Boutique PR firms don’t have excess layers of management, which empowers employees to take on elevated levels of responsibility and enables clients to have their needs met faster.

Less quantity = more quality. Small, locally owned boutique PR agencies offer a network of specialists from all corners of the professional world who love what they do, and do it well, especially when they have the same goal to achieve.

Online service delivery. Given the recent events and social distancing protocol it’s important that PR people are able to deliver services online. Apart from events, press meet ups and strategy meetings (to name a few) majority of the publicity process can be online.

Briefs are given by clients in writing, written and emailed for approval, published and followed up via www.newspublisher.online and invoice and publicity report submitted via email. News Publisher caters to not just multi-national organization but also to SMEs and start-ups.

The reason News Publisher stepped into this new market was to cost- enable good stories to appear in the newspaper and also opens us up to a wide range of industry knowledge. Even though PR is a B2B service, with the rising of number of entrepreneurs investing in PR we had to adapt to a B2C service process such as an online payment gateway to digitize the customer cycle.