Increasingly, the measure of good PR programs is their ability to help drive business results. But the big question often is “How?” John Greenleaf is currently vice president of global brand marketing for Ketchum client DoubleTree by Hilton, and he has worked in many industries, including consumer products and services. He applies insights from his experience in diverse marketing roles to answer this question:
How can creativity in public relations and communications drive business results?
The most important way that communications can drive business results is by creating messages that have relevance to all audiences. Of course, that means targeting messages to investors, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders, as well as to the people who purchase products at retail. Even among consumers, some messages will be relevant to one group but not to others. That said, finding a relevant message is easy, but it is very difficult to find a relevant message that is unique. That’s where creativity comes in.
Creativity is not necessarily brand-new ideas. Sometimes the most creative ideas are ones that have been used before but in a different context. I challenge my team and agencies to consider whether they have an experience with a different kind of client or industry that could be applied to my marketing challenge. This can lead to a creative application of an existing expertise.
For instance, this summer, DoubleTree by Hilton leveraged the current trending of food trucks to create a nationwide “Cookie CAREavan Tour,” a mobile food truck campaign that began Memorial Day weekend and completed a 15,000-mile, 50-city tour that shared more than 265,000 of the hotelier’s legendary chocolate chip cookies. Food trucks are not a new idea, and at first blush, giving away free cookies on the street might not seem immediately applicable for a hotel brand. But one of the symbols customers recognize about DoubleTree by Hilton is our warm chocolate chip cookie welcome for every guest upon their arrival at our hotels. Officially, the tour celebrates our brand’s 25th anniversary. But it also has been wildly successful in delivering an important message to the traveling public and other stakeholders – which is that DoubleTree by Hilton stands out in a market where many people view a hotel room as simply a commodity.
“Finding a relevant message is easy, but it is very difficult to find a relevant message that is unique. That’s where creativity comes in.”
Communications as a business function also can apply creativity to business results through collaboration and integration. At DoubleTree, we have a weekly conference call where all of our agencies and internal partners get together and go through what we are working on for the business. Our agencies also regularly meet with one another without us – the client – being present. This sharing of perspectives from different marketing disciplines often sparks creative ideas that might not come through if the agencies simply worked independently. And that’s better for our business.