Past Meetings

by Susan Guerrero and Pami Kowal Keenan 
UA Foundation Communications & Marketing Director John Brown discussed how he perceives preemptive public relations using transactional analysis (TA) to members and guests at a May 6 IABC/Tucson event. 

Citing the Father of TA Eric Berne’s use of a series of contracts intertwined with ego states, Brown emphasized the importance of corporate morality – do what you say you will do – while building positive relationships with key audiences. 

“Preemptive PR is more than proactive PR,” said Brown, an IABC/Tucson member and former president. “From the beginning, the communications professional needs to address what may occur – positive or negative -- before crises occur.” 

Brown backed up his analysis with case studies from the late 1990s, when he managed media for Tucson Electric Power Company. He showed communications plans that implemented well-thought-out corporate citizenship to “walk the walk.” In his studies, companies engendered positive PR by

• investing money in research
• partnering with other organizations.

  According to Brown, such factors influence the public’s perception of a company. 

Green Stamps vs. Brown Stamps 
Brown invited the audience to imagine that each positive impression of a company produces a “green stamp,”  while negative impressions produce “brown stamps.”  

Noted Brown, “Each time you follow through on a promise or display a likeable attribute, you earn a green stamp in your customers’ accounts. Conversely, encounters that produce negative feelings – a billing dispute, perhaps, or a negative newspaper story – generate brown stamps.”  

A company must have green stamps to draw upon should something happen to negatively affect the company’s reputation. 

“What is the worst-case scenario for your organization?” asked Brown. He advised communications professionals to maintain a “cushion of goodwill to take the blow” should their companies run into stormy weather.  

Two ways to do that are

• corporate citizenship
• effectively communicating the brand.

  Brown noted that corporate citizenship, also known as corporate social responsibility, is taken into account by 79 percent of Americans when making purchase decisions. Tthe Millennium Poll on Corporate Social Responsibility found that impressions of individual companies are shaped more by corporate citizenship than by brand quality, reputation or business fundamentals.  

Social Media 
Following Brown’s presentation, a lively audience discussion turned to how social media could enhance preemptive PR.  

Social media is a two-way dialogue, determined the group, and both Facebook and Twitter can be used effectively to communicate to the public a company’s positive corporate image.  

Attendees discussed how – in today’s economy with curtailed staffs – social media often occupies a low priority on a media professional’s busy to-do list. However, one attendee opined that it is an inexpensive way both to garner free publicity and enhance public image. 

More Information 
Read John Brown’s white paper on preemptive public relations, which includes planning and implementation processes. 

IABC recently released Building the High-Trust Organization, which provides strategies for creating organizational trust that will lead to positive outcomes. Such trust is an important component toward developing preemptive PR plans. 

Susan Guerrero, an IABC lifetime member and former IABC/Tucson president, is webmaster and marketing communications specialist for University Medical Center. 
Pami Kowal Keenan, J.D, owns Keenan Companies LLC, a Tucson public relations, legal marketing and political consulting firm. As the Nevada state bar’s director of communications, she earned several IABC Bronze Quill Awards for the magazine Nevada Lawyer.