Pom & circumstance derail Adelaide public relations campaign
Just when it seemed Australia could do no wrong with its public relations, it has stumbled and the state of South Australia has seen a huge PR drive tainted by bureaucrats, probably just down the hall.
This might have happened thousands of miles away, but it teaches a powerful lesson about public relations sitting front and centre of your business. And that is whether your business is here in Newbury, West Berkshire, or a Government down under.
Just last month Sunny Queensland was basking in the glory of securing over an estimated £50 million of publicity after its successful campaign to find a caretaker for a idyllic island who was prepared to blog about his experience in paradise. It won universal praise for its execution, not least in the Guardian Online.
Last week South Australia started a campaign to draw the eponymous Pom down under. Promising a recession proof high standard of living in the thriving coastal city of Adelaide, they provided a postcard (pictured below as seen in the Mail Online) that joyfully explains why you should start a new life on Oz. It was quick to mention the better weather and the vineyards overflowing with populist labels.
So far so good; you can imagine the quizzical looks across the breakfast table as couple ponder a new life in the former penal colony.
Then Australia’s less than welcoming immigration service get on with their job and the very next day the Mail Online were reporting how South Australia we throwing out a British business woman after accountancy firm KPMG made her redundant. Apparently with no opportunity to apply for the many jobs that Adelaide has to offer the influx of people they want to attract.
In a stroke the exciting prospect of a new life down under is tainted by the reality of what could happen if you begin to approach anything like a burden on the state. Suddenly you could be sent back to the very life you wanted to escape.
What is the public relations lesson we can learn? Clearly when it comes to presenting a consistent image and ensuring people are saying the right things about you, you need to present a consistent message.
Make everyone with a public facing role in your organisation and with larger companies that each department in the business are signed up to the importance of PR. It should be a standing item agenda throughout the business so that the ramifications of policy decisions do not catch you out in the way South Australia is left nursing a PR hangover having wasted a small fortune on a campaign that is forever tainted. They have probably spent even more on crisis management since!