CONTRARIAN VIEW: Avian Flu Demands a Different Perspective From Clients
By Stephanie Yu, Account Director, GolinHarris in Shanghai, and
Darren Burns, Managing Director, GolinHarris in Taipei

Stephanie Yu Darren Burns
The looming Avian Flu pandemic could be horrific, with the potential to cause thousands of deaths and a disruption of economies and livelihoods around the world. To date, the Avian flu has maintained a 50% mortality rate, versus 9% for SARS, leading to a plethora of doomsday predictions.

But during testing times, some companies advance by adapting to the situation at hand. SARS was a boon for e-commerce and courier companies as people around the region were "cooped up" indoors. International travel was banned. Department stores were empty. People would not touch buttons in elevators with their bare hands. Companies requested staff work at home – instant messaging became a crucial key to business.

If the Avian flu reaches "pandemic" levels, as many now suspect, we will see many "community strengthening" opportunities for clients. Are your clients ready to help your communities?

This article is not meant to be insensitive – we should NOT take advantage of the public’s fears. That would be wrong. But in a time of crisis, there are occasions to help our clients strengthen their ties in the communities they work in.

Several clients, including 3M, which supplies masks and protective clothing to the medical community, will be set to adjust their strategies if such a pandemic occurs. During the SARS outbreak, 3M spent a large part of its time communicating with the medical community to ensure that highly sought after "N95"’ masks were distributed in a speedy and efficient manner.

When SARS broke, some unscrupulous people were hording the masks and charging exorbitant prices. Executives at 3M helped the authorities weed these people out. This was a very good relationship-building opportunity for 3M – the company was seen as helping the government preserve public fairness, rather than taking advantage of their position as the number one mask seller.

International express companies also were quick to adapt. DHL increased delivery volumes during SARS as companies banned international business travel. Many samples and other documents were sent by express rather than presented at face-to-face meetings.

If the Avian Flu breaks out, these same international express providers will fill a needed gap by providing special packages or Avian Flu protection products as a way to enhance their service to clients and protect people.

An outbreak is also a great chance to remind the public of basic hygiene and nutrition. Sales of vitamin-packed kiwifruit and germ-killer Clorox grew during the SARS outbreak. They will also increase again.

In 2003, the Taipei office of GolinHarris won a PRWeek award for its work in creating media events that focused on combining client products with health experts in an effort to better demonstrate hygiene and nutrition. These public-awareness campaigns were crucial in helping prevent the spread of SARS. The clients also donated products and other resources to these experts and the public as part of the community relations package. We are already planning similar programs.

However, the companies that advanced the most during SARS were online media clients… and Yahoo! in particular.

A recent survey showed that in many countries, including the US, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the Internet is now the most popular media for people under 30 – usurping television.

During SARS, the Internet became the only link to the outside for many people, serving as the info source, the shopping source, and the "keep-in-touch" point for businesses and friends as people stopped going out. It was also turned into a social barometer where polls were taken and issues discussed. Instant messenger became the most cost effective way to chat with friends and colleagues from around the world.

Online auction sites were great gauges of social trends. Media reported on the sales of masks, items that claimed healing effects, and even on sellers hocking World War I gas masks to prevent SARS.

This June, the total number of Internet users in Greater China surpassed 130 million. How will you help clients communicate to these people if a pandemic occurs?

Today on Yahoo! we see exponential growth in the search terms "bird flu","avian flu" etc. (buzz.yahoo.com) – what client communications opportunities are you searching for?

For all the latest on the Avian Flu outbreak, visit the WHO website www.who.int or ISID http://www.promedmail.org .


Tom Harris Visits Shanghai
Melissa Kedward, a senior associate from GolinHarris in Shanghai, caught up with Tom Harris on his recent visit to China.

L-R: Tom Harris, Melissa Kedward, Diane Wu (MD of the Shanghai office) and Tom’s wife, Joie.
Tom Harris, a pioneer in the PR field, paid a pioneering visit to China 23 years ago. When Tom was last in Shanghai, "everyone rode bicycles and wore uniforms. There was no advertising, no neon!" The over-communicated, media-saturated China of today, where the average person comes into contact with over 280 advertising messages a day, exemplifies Tom’s theory that PR is playing an ever more dominant role in the marketing mix. With a background in both advertising (some work for DDB, now Needham, Harper & Steers) and public relations (as named partner of GolinHarris), Tom is best placed to comment on PR’s increasing influence in integrated marketing.

I was privileged to meet Tom on his most recent trip to Shanghai in September to discuss PR with the man who practically pioneered the industry. In fact, when Tom first joined Al Golin’s firm Golin Communications, later to become GolinHarris in 1981, twelve staff worked on a handful of accounts, primarily McDonald’s. "We weren’t even sure if the industry had much of a future back then." GolinHarris now employs 450 professionals in over 31 offices worldwide, with China offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as new additions in 2002.

PR is an ever changing industry, varying according to cultural, technological and fashion trends. Just as Shanghai has modernized in Tom’s 23 years, so has PR as a whole, to adapt to these variances in people’s habits. To keep abreast with the pace of the PR world, Tom’s most recent book is an update of one of his classics: "The Marketer’s Guide to PR in the 21st Century" (2006). This latest book, like his others, tackles his lifelong challenge of convincing marketers of the value of PR. "Many marketing people don’t know or understand public relations. PR is playing an increasingly important role in the marketing mix and is getting more important all the time as advertising is losing its credibility, especially in the States. Mass advertising does not work, except for the McDonalds, Coca Colas and beer companies of the world. Otherwise, everything is targeted because people can’t afford to buy everything, which is all the more reason why public relations is much cheaper and can be in a variety of media, thus growing in importance."

Tom is certain that once marketers and CEOs have had a good experience with PR, they will be convinced of its worth. An example cited in Tom’s book of using PR to create excitement in the market place was the use of PR to select the new color for M&Ms. The campaign was so successful that all brands in the company now use PR as a driver in marketing campaigns.

PR is one of the fastest growing industries in China. Brand building and recognition are two-fold here with international companies entering the market and Chinese companies wanting to make a name for themselves in the States and Europe. So what advice can Tom offer? "There are no hard and fast rules about marketing. I don’t know what the difference is between Chinese brands and other brands: we’re very used to buying lots of things that say "made in China", so there is no perception that they’re inferior to brands made elsewhere or that there are negatives to overcome. It’s a matter of building the brands – an American brand or brand from anywhere. And building a brand is a job that involves PR and marketing hopefully in some innovative plan where the two work together."

The message is loud and clear: PR is no longer the "secret" weapon of integrated marketing. "PR brings something to the mix that no other component does: credibility."

Tom Harris’ parting words of wisdom to all budding PR practitioners like myself are "to stay in touch with the world around you: keep your eyes and ears open…and be a media junkie!"