A school of thought has long persisted that one can derive considerable success from a scandal - indeed, even the very term succès de scandale dates back to Belle Époque France, an era that saw countless examples of artists getting their careers off the ground with the help of 'negative' publicity. Édouard Manet, for instance, scandalised Paris with his painting, Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe that depicted a female nude enjoying a rural picnic with two fully dressed men. The same formula has continued to work in much more recent times, such as for the 'Young British Artists' like Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst - perceived standard bearers for a generation of British artists once described as "cold mechanical, conceptual [expletive]" by a government minister. However, scandal has also often caused permanent or at least persistent damage to brands and the images of individuals, as the likes of BP, Toyota and Tiger Woods have discovered the hard way. Clearly, then, contrary to the oft-quoted phrase, there is such a thing as 'bad publicity', although the exact effects can depend on the nature of a given brand and the public affinity for it. While already-respected names like Perrier and Findus have weathered scandals in recent times, a brand of water marketed by Coca Cola, Dasani, did not have such a fortunate fate in the UK. Its launch was greeted with extensive bad publicity, culminating in the brand's withdrawal from the British market. In a world in which examples of 'bad publicity' exerting both positive and negative effects abound, it can never be over-emphasised how crucial it is for any organisation to carefully consider its PR approaches. This is especially the case in a much more fragmented modern media landscape, in which both traditional offline and online digital comment can quickly proliferate and ruin a hard-won reputation. All of this is why a consideration of the media coverage already received by your company is such a central part of our PR Audit service here at Vantage Public Relations. We can undertake such an audit for you completely free of charge, and with no obligation for you to continue the relationship with our agency. This is a reflection of our confidence that we really can devise ways of extracting greater effectiveness out of your company's PR campaigns that you might not have previously even considered. Your firm's present media coverage and brand awareness are scrutinised by our savvy and experienced PR experts, so that they can then put together the most effective complete PR action plan - again, at absolutely no cost to you. You can learn more about this service simply by requesting your PR audit from us today.
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