Political Season Creates Public Relations Opportunities
October 8th, 2007 by Renzi Stone. Posted in Uncategorized
As a public relations professional, I believe it is important to have a foundation of knowledge across many disciplines. I’m always amazed that PR people seem to know very little (or want very little involvement) in politics. The political process shapes the debates of our day.
Last week, I visited with a client who is considering returning to Saxum following a brief break. This client is in healthcare. We sat around a board room table discussing how we were going to promote their product to their desired stakeholder group – seniors. The more we discussed the complicated world of Medicare, the more I thought about the national political environment.
The CEO of the company, after listening to our banter, stated their company needs to engage in a “different discussion about healthcare.” I piped up that the model of care they represent is misunderstood in the general marketplace and their approach actually shines a light in what most politicians regard as
Enter the HillaryCare tie-in.
Last month, the Presidential hopeful rolled out her plan to socialize medicine by rolling back Bush tax cuts, tax small business by mandating coverage levels and funding an annual government program costing taxpayers the initial crazy price of $110 billion. The rollout had its intended result. Poll numbers shot through the roof and healthcare reform was all of a sudden back on the public radar where it was in 1994 when Hillary first took it on – crafting it as the most important domestic issue among Dems. The good news for Republicans looking for a hold on this issue is not all Americans agree that our system is broken. A Washington Post blog by Dan Balz last week cited a Post/ABC poll that found 88 percent of those with some coverage were generally satisfied with their care.
Public relations pros should be salivating at this gift from above. The regular “healthcare reform” issue is not all that fun for our friends in the media to report. First of all, it is generally sad and confusing. Most of us do not care to understand the inner workings of a system that is counter-intuitive to everything we’ve been taught about capital markets. Healthcare insurance, billing, client service, EMR’s and more are a mess in comparison to how consumers receive other services. Enter PR. Anyone who has a healthcare client, be it a provider, payor, hospital, etc. has an opportunity to capture an opportunity to be a thought leader on a local level.
A few tips -
- It is an election year! Read the candidates plans in trade journals, magazines and daily newspapers
- Find a local angle by working with the local hospital, insurer or provider.
- Create a targeted list of reporters who are covering these topics (they want help!)
- Get your client media- trained
- Respond!
A different story lies in each community. Whether you are interested in reaching seniors, the uninsured, general consumers, etc. the national political debate on this issue creates great opportunities to share your local message. Get educated and get after it! Like my friend Terry Neese says, “You better make it your business to understand politics or politics will run your business.”
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