E-book: How to do health PR
Palin Communications has launched a new E-Book targeting marketers and public affairs professionals that aims to unravel the mysteries of health communications campaigns. Authored by Martin Palin, the book (‘How to Do Health PR: Everything You Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask Your Agency’) provides guidance for corporate narratives, issues management, social media, celebrity contracts, regulatory challenges, evaluation processes, media relations and much more.
Martin Palin says the aim is to contribute observations and insights so people who use PR in the health sector (or are thinking about using it in the future) are better informed about its potential. He said the timing was perfect for a guide like this because client expectations continued to change and how PR meets those expectations looks nothing like it did in the past.
“I think people that run PR agencies want well-educated clients with considered expectations. We want our clients to know more so we can have meaningful, strategic conversations about what health-focused PR might contribute and where it might fit in the overall marketing or public affairs mix. We also want to have sensible conversations about risks and unintended consequences,” said Martin.
“How and why do you choose a celebrity ambassador for a health campaign? Why is silence death in a health-related crisis? Why should you stop obsessing about the seventh paragraph in your media release? What are the keys to a positive corporate narrative? How does all of this get measured? These were all good questions and we tried to have some fun along the way in answering them.”
Palin said there was a time many years ago when owners of multinational PR agencies used to avoid this type of client education, lest it “ruin the mystery or discolour the magic dust of PR.” But those days are gone.
“I was warned off this kind of client education in the early days of my career. But the reality is that everyone benefits when clients are better informed. Clients these days are much more aware of what goes on in the world of PR and earned media.”
The Foreword is written by Shane Allison, Chair of the national PR industry body, Communication and Public Relations Australia (CPRA). He noted that as the Australian population aged, accurate information about health was becoming increasingly harder to access.
“These two combined forces meant the role of professional communicators in the health sector was more important than ever. But health communication was one of the most challenging and bespoke fields of public relations and required the skills of a small and specialised group of individuals to create campaigns that accurately informed and inspired Australians to take the best care of their health with the help of their health practitioners,” said Allison. “This invaluable guide to best practice health PR was intended to be a useful resource to the sector and beyond.”
Download the e-book for free:
