Power of PR

One news brief for a Nashville-based transportation firm led to $5 million in new revenue. This business came from a company executive who read the brief and needed such services.

This business opportunity developed because a news item about a company carries three times the credibility and has six times the readership or viewership than an advertisement.

• “PR — even though it is underutilized — is extremely effective when properly leveraged.” – Harvard Business School
• “Seventy-one percent of business owners say their marketing dollars are best spent on PR.” – Inc. Magazine

“AXIA has met and exceeded my expectations. They have delivered and continue to deliver efficiently. It is refreshing to work with such a professional and highly innovative team.” – Marcia Danzeisen, Fidelity National Information Services

• “You’d better get yourself a PR partner! PR is not always as visible and not overnight, but it helps subtly and significantly over time.” – Tony Mikes, advertising industry consultant
• A sale is 89 percent more likely when unpaid messages generate positive discussion in advance of such purchase. Such messages include media coverage, one type of PR, referrals and word of mouth.
• Nearly nine in ten (86 percent) of Americans say reading about a company in the news is more influential and credible than reading a company’s advertising.
• A news story written about your product or service has six times the readership and three times the credibility of an advertisement of the same size. – Starch Research
• Brand managers: PR is the most effective way to establish brand credibility, gain media coverage and get the best return for marketing dollars spent. – McBain Associates
• “Eighteen hundred corporate executives said product development, strategic planning, PR, research and development are more important to a company’s success than advertising.” – American Advertising Federation

“I can’t imagine that any firm could have gotten us as much coverage as AXIA… AXIA makes us feel like we’re the most important client.” – Tyra Tutor, MPS Group

• “Seventy-two percent of senior level marketers said PR is most valuable in supporting product marketing and product launches.” – Advertising Age
• “Marketing executives said PR is the most effective marketing discipline for launching new products or services (55 percent), building awareness (52 percent), generating word of mouth (51 percent) and building brand reputation (50 percent).” – PR Week
• Sears estimated that a positive mention on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” segment later lead to more than $13 million in direct spending for the retailer. – Counsel of Public Relations Firms
• Pontiac gave away a G6 to each of the 276 audience members on Oprah Winfrey’s “Wildest Dreams” season opener. Within two weeks of the event, the show achieved 87 percent adult G6 awareness, the highest Google.com click-through rate ever at 17 percent and a 600 percent increase in traffic to Pontiac.com. – Mark-Hans Richer, Pontiac

Your company, like those in the Harvard Business School study, is probably underutilizing the power of public relations. Let us show you how to leverage PR properly for extremely effective results.