Communications and Public Affairs

Community Relations

Too often corporations or institutions are surprised and subsequently overwhelmed by attacks from self-described health, environmental, and consumer "watchdog" groups that take issue with companies and their products. How can companies anticipate and preempt these attacks? Or how can they monitor, manage and mitigate the attacks once they've occurred?

Sometimes a company favors a political position on an issue that affects its business, but policy-makers view the position as proprietary and only in the company's self-interest. How can companies broaden the issue and add more appeal for their position? How can they identify, educate and acti-vate nonbusiness special interest groups that will share their desired outcome on the issue? How can they turn a business issue into a public interest issue--a win-win?

When a company has developed a new product that is significantly different from any existing product or when the company's product is the category's market leader, how can that company create a new - or grow an existing - market using Community Relations?

How does it work?

Community Relations works strategically with, and through, national and international third-party groups to impact the attitudes, opinions and, ultimately, the actions of policymakers, the press and customers. Community Relations creates a favorable climate of interest and support among opinion leaders, legitimizes a client's objective or position, and extends political or marketing reach. When a company is on the defensive, Community Relations combats, balances, defuses and neutral-izes negative attitudes, opinions and actions.

Community Relations is employed using the following three strategic methodologies:

• Third-party lobbying: developing allies among unlikely constituencies to address public-policy issues.
• Association marketing: developing partnerships to create, strengthen and expand the marketing mix.
• "Public interest" group relations: managing and mitigating critics.