Valerie Simon
What actions are you taking to help clients weather this rough economy? And how are you communicating your actions?
When top executives at Goldman Sachs publicly announced that they will forgo bonus pay for their work in 2008, media across the country took note.
Grocery chain Wegmans put out a press release announcing that they are lowering prices. Signs in their stores alert consumers to these new lower prices, and a letter on their website appeals to cash strapped customers, noting “These are uncertain times, and we know our employees and customers are very concerned, and so are we. During difficult times like these, it’s okay with us if we make a little less money.”
Wegmans competitor, grocery chain Stop & Shop, has also made a public commitment to help customers lower their grocery bills through “Affordable Food Summits,” a program to help educate consumers on how they can save money on groceries. By involving local politicians and analysts, these events have generated favorable media coverage, in addition to goodwill among shoppers.
At BurrellesLuce we are also working hard to assure that our clients continue to have the means to demonstrate their PR effectiveness, in the midst of budget cuts, layoffs and other harsh realities. We have decided to hold prices for all of our loyal customers and are contacting each client individually to let them know and find out how we can further assist them. We have been developing new products, such as BurrellesLuce iMonitor, specifically designed to help lower our clients’ monitoring costs. We’ve added features to our (free) portal, BurrellesLuce 2.0, providing clients with additional tools to help organize and measure their media coverage.
It is no doubt a challenge, keeping your own business healthy, while creating new ways to keep the costs of your clients down. What is your organization doing?
[...] I am representing the company. I take my professional role very seriously and if you go back to my first Fresh Ideas post, you’ll find some good information about our services. I was, however, reluctant (or perhaps [...]