Explain why Public Relations is important for an organisation and
highlight the major public relation tools which a car repair centre
may utilise in order to guarantee a good corporate image
Public Relations is defined as the capability to build relationships with
the various publics that exist and will have an effect on the business.
It is important that these publics have a good image of the business
because it will affect potential sales and revenue. Public Relations
consists of dealing with the press, the showcasing of your product to
the public, dealing with investors, etc. A well established firm would
often hire a Public Relations Officer in which he would deal with these
publics and may negotiate even further and get celebrities involved in
the marketing of the business.
A car repair centre can utilise various public relation tools at their
disposal. The first and most obvious relation is with the media publics.
It is imperative that every firm has a good relationship with media
portals so that their product / service is advertised well. A car repair
centre can use their relationship with media portals to advertise their
shop in convenient times such as in-between TV programs about cars.
The firm must be capable of producing quality speeches in different
area of fields. It must be capable of answering prospective journalists’
questions but most importantly, it must know how to produce a
quality speech in front of prospective suppliers so that the repair
centre gets the best material at the best price possible.
The firm must also be capable of organizing special events when due
if it’s financially feasible. The grand opening of an extension of the
premises would be great marketing and inviting a popular figure such
as a politician or a celebrity would prove beneficial as it would capture
more people’s interest.
Visual Audio-Materials are very important in today’s generation.
These consist of video clips which are simple to understand and the
message is delivered to everyone. Having a well-known figure to take
part in these videos would also capture the attention of many. A car
repair centre may feature a famous celebrity such as Valentina Rossi
taking her car to the repair shop and showing her satisfaction of using
the service provided by the firm.
Corporate Identity Material are also very useful for any company to
have. Having a logo or even uniform of the car repair centre can prove
to be quite useful. These logos and mottos that the firm utilises can
be implemented on business cards where the customer can easily
recognize the brand and contact it in the case that he needs service
provided.
Community activities can also be organized. A car repair centre can
decide for example that the income from a particular week or
weekend can be entirely donated to a charity foundation such as
Puttinu cares for example.
Sponsorships can be used in some sort of way in the case of a car
repair centre, specifically in car related activities. For example, this car
repair centre can sponsor the annual Paqpali event that brings
exquisite cars to our island. Alternatively, the most common
sponsorship that we find today is sponsoring sports clubs.
The firm’s website is crucial to keep up-to-date and very detailed as
customers will seek to gather as much information as possible who to
purchase from or get service provided from.
Social media sites must be up-to-date as well as these are the most
commonly used websites on the internet. Posting regularly on social
media will keep the interest of potential buyers while also it might
attract some new ones. It is important to have a good customer care
service program on these social media sites. Positive
recommendations will for sure attract more customers.