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The Bad PR Strategy

How to write a 1-page strategy instead.

Jerry Silfwer
by Jerry Silfwer

Cover photo: @jerrysilfwer

Table of contents

A bad PR strategy won’t help you win.

“Strategy” is over­used and inflated — espe­cially in pub­lic rela­tions (PR) and marketing. 

Many con­flate strategies with spe­cif­ic plans, codes of con­duct, mis­sion state­ments, vis­ions and val­ues, etc. 

Those are the hall­marks of a bad PR strategy.

Here we go:

The Bad PR Strategy

Many PR strategies are just doc­u­ments and present­a­tion slides filled with plat­it­udes and cor­por­ate cringe.

A good PR strategy should out­line how you expect to out­per­form your com­pet­it­ors. (Most of everything else should go into your PR plan instead.)

A strategy is how you win at some­thing. Nothing more, noth­ing less. Otherwise, it’s a bad PR strategy.

To put it bluntly:

  • The heart of a sol­id PR strategy beats not with loud bells and whistles but with the quiet resolve of sub­stance and clarity.

Many pub­lic rela­tions strategies and present­a­tions are filled with any­thing but the essen­tial parts needed to make the PR strategy work.

The why, where, when, how and what are import­ant ques­tions to answer, but they are not enough for a good PR strategy. Many people talk about “strategies” when they mean “plans” — and vice versa.

Pitfalls of a Bad PR Strategy

Having a bad PR strategy can lead to sev­er­al pit­falls, including:

  • Damaged repu­ta­tion. A bad PR strategy can res­ult in neg­at­ive pub­li­city, mis­com­mu­nic­a­tion, or mis­handled crises, lead­ing to a tar­nished repu­ta­tion for the organ­isa­tion or indi­vidu­al. This can erode trust among stake­hold­ers, includ­ing cus­tom­ers, investors, and the pub­lic, ulti­mately harm­ing the brand’s cred­ib­il­ity and long-term success.
  • Loss of trust and cred­ib­il­ity. Bad PR strategies may fail to address issues trans­par­ently or authen­tic­ally, lead­ing to a loss of trust and cred­ib­il­ity with stake­hold­ers, influ­en­cers, and pub­lics. Without trust, it becomes dif­fi­cult to main­tain pos­it­ive rela­tion­ships and influ­ence opin­ions, hinder­ing the organisation’s abil­ity to attract cus­tom­ers, part­ners, and talent.
  • Missed oppor­tun­it­ies. A bad PR strategy may res­ult in missed oppor­tun­it­ies to cap­it­al­ise on pos­it­ive news, lever­age industry trends, or engage with audi­ences effect­ively. Without a trans­par­ent and pro­act­ive approach to pub­lic rela­tions, organ­isa­tions risk being over­shad­owed by com­pet­it­ors, fail­ing to seize growth oppor­tun­it­ies, and fall­ing behind in their industry.

The Magical PR Strategy Question

The Magical PR Question

Your PR strategy should answer one simple question:

The magic­al PR ques­tion: Do we know how to win and defeat our competitors?

If your PR strategy fails to answer this ques­tion in the affirm­at­ive, it also fails to provide a roadmap to suc­cess. Winning is a cul­ture and a struc­tur­al asset.

“Competitiveness is derived from per­man­ent infra­struc­tur­al char­ac­ter­ist­ics of organ­iz­a­tion­al design, rather than just rely­ing on tem­por­ary stra­tegic assets.”
Source: Strategic Change 1Connor, T. (2007). A con­sid­er­a­tion of stra­tegic assets and the organ­iz­a­tion­al sources of com­pet­it­ive­ness. Strategic Change, 16, 127 – 136. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​0​2​/​J​S​C​.​789

How To Create a PR Strategy - Spinning Top - Doctor Spin - The PR Blog
Spin for the win. (Photo: Jerry Silfwer)

Is win­ning that important? 

Yes, in com­pet­it­ive envir­on­ments and chan­ging soci­et­ies, win­ning is some­times the only way to keep up.

The Red Queen effect (men­tal mod­el). This meta­phor ori­gin­ates from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass. It describes a situ­ation in which one must con­tinu­ously adapt, evolve, and work to main­tain one’s pos­i­tion. In the story, the Red Queen is a char­ac­ter who explains to Alice that in their world, run­ning as fast as one can is neces­sary just to stay in the same place. The meta­phor is often used in the con­text of busi­nesses that need to innov­ate con­stantly to stay com­pet­it­ive, high­light­ing the relent­less pres­sure to adapt in dynam­ic envir­on­ments where stag­na­tion can mean fall­ing behind. 2Red Queen hypo­thes­is. (2023, November 27). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​R​e​d​_​Q​u​e​e​n​_​h​y​p​o​t​h​e​sis 3Carroll, L. (2006). Through the look­ing-glass, and what Alice found there (R. D. Martin, Ed.). Penguin Classics. (Original work pub­lished 1871.)

Learn more: The Magical PR Question

The 1‑Page PR Strategy

The 1‑Page PR Strategy

My inspir­a­tion for writ­ing “no-bull­shit” strategies comes from the clas­sic “Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters” by Richard Rumelt. 4Rumelt, R. P. (2011). Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters. Crown Business.

“The most basic idea of strategy is the applic­a­tion of strength against weak­ness. Or, if you prefer, strength applied to the most prom­ising oppor­tun­ity.”
Source: Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters 5Rumelt, R. P. (2011). Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters. Crown Business.

By apply­ing strength against weak­ness, the 1‑page PR strategy focuses on how to win.

The magic­al PR ques­tion: Do we know how to win and defeat our competitors?

It’s asym­met­ric warfare.

Asymmetric war­fare (men­tal mod­el). This refers to con­flict between parties of unequal strength, where the weak­er party uses uncon­ven­tion­al tac­tics to exploit the vul­ner­ab­il­it­ies of the stronger oppon­ent. It’s often dis­cussed in mil­it­ary and busi­ness contexts.

How To Write a 1‑Page PR Strategy

Here’s how you can write a 1‑page PR strategy that fits one page — using the myth­ic­al battle between David and Goliath as an analogy:

1. Diagnosis

  • David can­’t beat Goliath using his size or raw strength, but he has an advant­age in speed and accur­acy from a distance.

2. Guiding Policy

  • David should­n’t engage in close com­bat but rather use tools that will allow him to strike from a distance.

3. Coherent Actions

  • David should­n’t use any heavy armour because that would slow him down.
  • David should use a sling­shot, a weapon he is famil­i­ar with and can strike from a distance.
  • David should lever­age the sur­prise ele­ment and not advert­ise his advant­age beforehand.

If you write 1 – 2 clear sen­tences per bul­let, your strategy should fit nicely on one page.

“If you can­’t explain it simply, you don’t under­stand it well enough.”
— Albert Einstein

Learn more: The 1‑Page PR Strategy

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Annotations
Annotations
1 Connor, T. (2007). A con­sid­er­a­tion of stra­tegic assets and the organ­iz­a­tion­al sources of com­pet­it­ive­ness. Strategic Change, 16, 127 – 136. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​0​2​/​J​S​C​.​789
2 Red Queen hypo­thes­is. (2023, November 27). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​R​e​d​_​Q​u​e​e​n​_​h​y​p​o​t​h​e​sis
3 Carroll, L. (2006). Through the look­ing-glass, and what Alice found there (R. D. Martin, Ed.). Penguin Classics. (Original work pub­lished 1871.)
4, 5 Rumelt, R. P. (2011). Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters. Crown Business.
Jerry Silfwer
Jerry Silfwerhttps://doctorspin.net/
Jerry Silfwer, alias Doctor Spin, is an awarded senior adviser specialising in public relations and digital strategy. Currently CEO at Spin Factory and KIX Communication Index. Before that, he worked at Kaufmann, Whispr Group, Springtime PR, and Spotlight PR. Based in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Cover Photo

The cover photo isn't related to public relations obviously; it's just a photo of mine. Think of it as a 'decorative diversion', a subtle reminder that it's good to have hobbies outside work.

The cover photo has

Gathering of trees on a cemetery.
Gathering of trees on a cemetery.

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