Finding the communications gap between reality and perception
When considering your organization’s identity, it is critical to ask three questions:
- Who (or what) are you?
- How are you perceived?
- What is the difference between the two?
The difference between reality and perception of an identity — whether an individual or an organization — can reveal a communications gap that needs to be filled.
Because, at the end of the day, it’s not that people don’t know much, but that they know so much that simply isn’t so.
That is where public relations can help.
When an organization finds a gap between who and what it is and how it is perceived, what is often needed is to simply reframe the picture through the power of story.
Stories are the vessels of meaning; and when contextualized within the framework of news can influence opinion and make a difference in our world.
Organizations must ask:
- How are you making the world a better place?
- What is your mission?
- What is your passion?
- What is your distinctive that sets you apart from others in the field?
- What matters most?
- Is it — should it be — relevant to anyone else?
- What is the message you want — or need — to convey, and to whom?
- What is that person or public doing when you are trying to reach them?
We live in a world in which conversations happen at a faster and faster pace, where people around the globe are connecting with each other — any time, any place.
It’s important to remember that though we can talk to each other instantly, that doesn’t necessarily mean the other person is listening. Relationships still matter, and the most important thing in all relationships is conversation, because authentic, transparent give-and-take is what builds trust.
As a public relations agency, it’s our job — our passion — to make organizations and leaders accessible. We want to help leaders cultivate that confidence among the people they’re trying to reach by getting those conversations started.
When we engage with a client, we rethink “Who are you and why are you relevant?” to instead consider, “Where does your influence intersect culture?” and “What are the points of connection that bring our passions together?”
Pursuing that answer is where true relationships start to grow.
