‘What’s the Difference between Proactive and Reactive PR?’

Most successful businesses have a public relations plan that outlines all the components and tools that will be used to promote the most positive image to their customers and to the public.

In addition, a company might also have a public relations strategy which is a more detailed campaign to promote one specific thing, whether it is a particular product or service the company offers, a quality that the company would like to project and emphasize, or an issue the company needs to address.

Public Relations Fort Lauderdale — A Real World Example

For example, the fast food chain Chipotle has always had a public relations plan that promotes its brand as a healthier alternative to most other fast food. Up until recently, that public relations plan has effectively placed the company among the fastest growing brands within the fast food industry.

But a couple of sequential reports of alleged food poisoning among the chain’s customers has negated many of the advancements Chipotle’s well-crafted public relations plan has provided.

The company’s executives were forced to turn to a specific public relations strategy to combat the bad publicity the negative media reports created.

Public  Relations Fort Lauderdale — Proactive vs Reactive

Public relations plans and strategies can be either proactive or reactive. Most businesses have both at some point or another.

A proactive public relations plan promotes a particular message about the company’s products, services, brand or image. For example, visitors to Atlanta’s “World of Coca-Cola” are presented with the proactive message that the company’s products are an essential, wholesome part of their lives.

Chipotle’s public relations campaign to counteract the fallout of the media reports surrounding the problems it has been having with food poisoning is an example of a reactive public relations campaign. Rather than promoting the message the company wants to promote, it is reacting to an external situation.