“Can anyone name any brands that have gotten famous for something using PR alone?” Nicola Gibb, Associate Director at Resonate in the UK, asked that question through LinkedIn.
How nice of her! That’s one of my favorite concepts. I saw it originally addressed in Al and Laura Ries’ book, “The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR.”
They made it very clear that there is not enough money available to build a brand just using advertising. OK, that sounds logical. But then they went on to show that very successful companies can start with just PR.
Amazon.com and Starbucks are two that got their substantial initial success through PR.
My experience was watching iParadigms, the company that does the online plagiarism detection service Turnitin.com. It was founded in 1996 by a group of Cal Berkeley students. They were at the right place and time with the right product, so they started with fabulous stories in all of the big TV news shows. They were included in segments on Good Morning America, 48 Hours, CNN, and 60 Minutes. It helps that they have John Barrie, CEO and one of the founding team, who is a great spokesperson and interview subject. Starting with a modest amount of seed money, they’re now in a large number of schools and colleges/universities in the US, Asia and Europe. They have had their success building their brand through PR almost exclusively.
Tags: Branding
