Automotive Trucks information on net.

Flash back to 1979, when U.S. import sales totaled slightly over two million for a record 19.5 percent of the market. Toyota was on a tear with 637,891 U.S. vehicle sales, Nissan (Datsun) was second at 574K, Honda third at 353K and Mazda fourth at 243K.

"While Honda's cars were already among the best on the market, its public (really media) relations were among the very worst. Fast-rising Mazda, meanwhile, was pushing a growing stable of so-so products while excelling in the highly important PR game.

Mazda PR materials were excellent, phone calls promptly returned and questions accurately answered, test vehicles were readily available and new-product press preview events were wall planned and executed. Mazda treated auto reporters as valued customers, not annoyances or adversaries, and its PR pros clearly understood their needs.

By contrast, American Honda PR at the time was either ignorant or arrogant, or both. For all but the very top-tier media, test vehicles were hard to come by, phone requests were returned late or not at all, and product intro events were typically held well after the new models being "previewed" were in dealer showrooms.

This latter bad habit was infuriating to writers for "long lead-time" (typically three months from preparation to delivery) publications. Everyone else's info and photos were available mid-summer, in time for fall "What's New" articles, and most held summer "long-lead" previews where long-lead media could learn about, photograph and drive their fall-intro products. Honda refused to provided early materials, and its concept of a long-dead was to host three major enthusiast mags in Japan. Everyone else had to wait until its new cars were on the street.

As a result, nearly everyone in the automotive media loved Mazda and hated Honda. And while this theoretically should make no difference to fair, accurate and objective reporting most couldn't resist cutting Mazda some slack while looking extra hard for things to criticize about Honda's products. The point is that, whatever else your company does and however wall it does it, PR Professional Rule #1 is to constantly keep in mind that it can't hurt if the media likes you and your company, and definitely can if it doesn't.

What Exactly is "PR?"

Public relations, sometimes called "public affairs," should really be called "media relations." Many companies have renamed it "Communications," which includes both internal and external communications. Its largest ultimate target is the public, which is most effectively reached through the media. While advertising targets that same public through purchased space and time in those very same media, it has limited credibility--no matter how good and creative (and expensive) it may be--because everyone knows it's a paid commercial message.

Most PR professionals' primary challenge is to get their companies' products and messages positively portrayed in the not-for-sale pages and air time filling the valuable space between the ads. That's where journalists report the news, express opinions and review new products. And while most try hard to be fair and objective, they can't help having feelings and opinions--based on past experience and knowledge--about any company and its products going into any story.

Because every automaker has a long-established, deeply entrenched reputation that is very difficult to change, one wag suggests that the average auto review is 70 percent expectations (the reviewer knows what to expect based on his/her experience with that maker and its past products), 20 percent styling (positive or negative based on his/her reaction to the new product's appearance) and 10 percent the way it actually drives.

The PR pro's job is obviously easier when his/her company is riding high and its products are respected, and much more difficult when the company is down and its products disrespected. Since perception lags reality by many years, the former situation can lead to arrogance, believing you'll get good treatment and reviews regardless what you do. The latter can be challenging and frustrating, believing that no matter how hard and well you work, no matter how good your products may be, they're rarely given an open mind and a fair shake.

PR pros don't design, engineer, develop or build vehicles. But--because they know and understand media opinions of specific designs, materials and features--the product-savvy among them can influence their companies' products by effectively communicating to those who do that work.

They can also positively influence media reactions by the ways in which new cars and trucks are positioned, presented and demonstrated. The product presentation, who delivers it and how well, and the media drive--carefully designed to showcase the product's strongest points and downplay its weaker ones, if any--can be key. Most, but not all, of the best PR people have operated on the "customer" side of the relationship as media members themselves. They know how the media operates and what is most important to them.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:38 AM