Member of
I recently watched an interview with the President and CEO of a global high-end hotel company about how he further developed his business through moving the headquarters from the US to China just for a month. That got me thinking of the importance of other companies in different industries, as well as a local PR company, to venture into similar opportunities.
As we expand our consumer database, win accounts that want to make it on a global level and strive to win international clients; we should not underestimate the power of exploring Public Relations around the world and on different levels.
Moving his senior management team across the world, the CEO states that the risks he assumed, investments he made and the challenges he faced – such as managing workload and understanding the market – were all made worthwhile by the indispensable learning experience he was exposed to.
In order for a PR company to meet the needs for globalisation and supply the demands of its clients, it certainly needs to work across functions and boundaries. It is of great added value for PR practitioners to discover different markets outside the home office, study and analyse local demographics, consumer behaviour and journalists’ interests as well as competition in different countries. The more knowledge we portray to our clients the more we are referred to as credible consultants, capable of influencing mindsets and people’s perspectives.
The more involved we become with knowledgeable locals from different countries and the more interest we portray in learning about them and their markets, the more they will inevitably be interested in learning about us, thus generating even more business and development opportunities.
Of course, such a move needs careful planning and analysis, especially for a small fish in a big sea. And even though results might not happen overnight or any time in the near future, it definitely builds up to making a company global – not by physically having offices around the world but also having a global mindset – not by thinking international but learning to tailour our PR approaches to the diverse markets around the world.
The best way to exploit opportunities is when different perspectives come together for the same goal and any symbolic gesture towards such a strategy will contribute greatly to the development of any business.
Ready to go global?