Marketing Communications

320 CHAPTER 10 PUBLIC RELATIONS

because the media coverage generated is free. Getting media coverage oft en enables the

company to reach a variety of audiences and a large number of people at a fraction of the cost

that would have been required in an advertising campaign.

Th e most important advantage of PR and the resulting media exposure over marketing

communications tools may be that the former is generally considered to be more objective

and therefore more believable in the perception of target groups. News is also generally more

exciting, or is presented as such. Marketing communications, on the other hand, are paid for

by the company, and the public are aware of that. Th is results in a certain cynicism about

the bias in the message. As a result, PR is capable of breaking through the communications

clutter more eff ectively.

Three Japanese Hitachi engineers visiting a subsidiary in the USA were killed and two were seriously injured when

a truck accidentally drove into the restaurant where they were having dinner. Hitachi US responded quickly, formed

a crisis management team and identified a crisis response leader. Information was released to employees and to

the media as quickly as possible. The spokesman immediately expressed company concern for the victims and their

families and for plant employees. He did not speculate about the causes of the accident. The company president

was appropriately visible and involved. It was decided to invite all the Japanese families who wanted to come to the

USA. According to Japanese tradition, they received flowers on their arrival. A day-long trip was organised to show

the families where their relatives lived and where they died. They were allowed to collect the personal possessions

of the victims from their rooms, which had been intentionally left untouched. A meeting was held with the lawyers

investigating the cause of the accident. Internal communications were quick and overt by means of bulletin board

messages, following the principle ‘the more you try to hide, the worse things get’. The only false note in this other-

wise well-organised and culturally fine-tuned crisis communications effort was the fact that the truck driver did not

assume any responsibility for the accident, something that is, according to Japanese culture, incomprehensible.^8

BUSINESS INSIGHT

Hitachi: corporate compassion

Figure 10.2 Weaknesses of public relations

Th e major weakness of PR is the lack of control over the content of the press coverage of

news releases. Evidently, the media have other priorities and other sources, and the published

story may be quite diff erent from the information disseminated by the PR department. Th e

context and style of the original message may be substantially changed or completely lost. In

advertising, for instance, the company has full control over the content of its communications.

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