Work with international PR teams effectively

As a company expands globally, a well thought-out PR plan and the right PR assets are essential to ensuring the sustained media visibility required to support a region’s sales efforts. Emilie Beneitez-Lefebvre, international PR manager at Check Point offers advice on tackling international PR

The starting point for success in a region is an understanding of its marketing and PR etiquette.  Here are the nine key steps that will help you make the most of your PR resources.

Coordination and cooperation

It may sound clichéd, but good coordination and cooperation is critical. It’s about ensuring the right expectations and training are consistently harnessed and channeled throughout the company’s internal and external PR networks. Local and corporate PR teams need to regularly engage to discuss areas of expertise, challenges, market opportunities and work-in-progress.

Think beyond the initial programme

Companies may want to engage with an agency for an initial project-based programme but should not lose sight of the larger picture: building a strong media presence requires a consistent flow of news, trend stories, and more to maintain visibility.

Don’t assume regional PR will be inexpensive

A common misconception is that engaging in PR in Europe and Asia will only cost a few thousand dollars per month. EMEA and APAC are multi-country markets, with each country requiring a different approach, usually in a different language. Companies need to look at their business objectives and allocate PR budgets based on these, not just on a country’s revenue contributions. There’s no magic formula for success, and a good agency with a strong reputation is worth the investment.

Don’t spread resources too thin

Companies often find they don’t have resources and/or budget to effectively target all the markets in a given region. In this case, it’s better to do a good job in two or three key markets, than spreading resources too thinly across the entire region and not achieving good results in any country.

Corporate control

As the corporate PR programme and funding comes out of HQ, it’s normal for corporate to have some involvement in international PR activities, in how the money is spent and what local content is created. However, it’s important to strike a balance between ensuring a globally-consistent message and exerting strict control over every PR activity. Excessive control can mean local media doesn’t get the content it needs, affecting results. It also adds time-wasting bureaucracy.

Localising content for better results

Localising content goes far beyond simply translating materials. Letting the local agencies and teams shape the corporate content to the specific needs of their market makes for a much stronger story for their target audiences. News about a U.S. customer or a certain product won’t always grab the attention of local media, so it’s also important to identify stories and announcements that will be of local interest.

Providing time-sensitive content in advance to allow for translation and localisation also helps to ensure best results and consistency of messages worldwide.

Great expectations

When a company enjoys a high profile and substantial market share in its home market (usually the U.S. and Israel in this case), it automatically expects the same profile internationally. The reality is the media knowledge of any given company varies tremendously in different markets. The company needs to build its reputation through consistent hard work and establishing new relationships before it reaches the same level of awareness as the more mature markets.

Long distance PR doesn’t work

The power of PR comes from relationships with the local influencers, government officials and media as well as understanding the nuances of the local market. This can only be achieved having a local PR representative or agency.

Local versus international spokespeople

Leveraging local spokespeople that are knowledgeable is key to the success of PR activities and to building a long-term image for the company in any given market. It is essential that spokespeople are media trained, can articulate the company’s value proposition and can tie the story back to the local market. Using corporate executives often means sacrificing local market knowledge; it can also lead to language issues and coordination problems due to time zone differences.  The best approach is to ensure the company has both local and international spokespeople with skillsets that will suit every media opportunity and guarantee best results.

In conclusion, having the right resources, spokespeople and other support can make the difference between having a good profile, or having zero visibility in global markets. In all PR activity, it’s vital to remember international audiences have different levels of understanding and awareness, as well as different media needs. Following the points covered here will help you to better understand and connect with international stakeholders and media audiences.

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