Public Relations activities in the form of a specific, planned, and consistently implemented concept supporting the realization of a company’s strategic goals appeared in the TSL (Transport, Shipping, Logistics) industry relatively recently, around 2002. Previously, some entities, mainly international ones in this industry, undertook PR activities on an ad hoc project basis. It can be said that Public Relations was for a long time an unwanted and underestimated instrument of marketing communication. This resulted partly from a misunderstanding of the essence of PR activities and the fact that, unlike advertising and promotional campaigns, they do not directly influence the signing of a contract with a business client or the choice of a service in any measurable way.
The industry, operating based on data, numbers, strictly defined KPIs, and information technology, simply did not trust activities described only in lofty words, dealing with areas as difficult to quantify as image, reputation, relationships, etc.
Along with the dynamic development of the market and the search for new ways to build a lasting competitive advantage based on partnerships with contractors or service recipients, logistics companies began to reach for PR tools more boldly. Increased awareness, as well as the high crisis potential of some entities (for example, courier companies), forced a significant number of entities to undertake PR activities in cooperation with specialized entities – PR agencies.
The first few years were spent by PR professionals working in the TSL industry on building internal company awareness and convincing them to consistently use individual PR tools, raising awareness of the broad possibilities and benefits that PR activities can bring – especially when correlated with other marketing activities and internal communication. The tool most willingly and frequently used was media relations. Due to the rather limited number of industry media, it is a significant challenge to build a message that is also interesting for business media. Since clients, when looking for information about companies, increasingly search for data in independent sources, they trust content provided by the media more than advertising. This is where the task for PR arises – shaping the opinion desired by the organization about itself, its level of service, and its style of operation in the media, including electronic ones. Influencing this layer is much more effective than promotional and marketing techniques, provided it is based on credible, true, and verifiable information.
The TSL industry is extremely hermetic and is very reluctant to share data and business information. Therefore, the big challenge is not so much obtaining the data as gaining consent for its publication. As is well known, without data, the expert credibility of the material is almost non-existent, and the media are reluctant to publish it. Since the role that logistics plays in the operations of enterprises is constantly growing and is increasingly becoming an element of competitive advantage for companies (e.g., manufacturing or trading) that are eager to outsource more and more competencies related to transport and logistics, the role of PR activities is also gaining importance in logistics. Given such close partnership cooperation between entities and the frequent inclusion of a logistics company in business processes, the decision to choose a partner becomes of key importance.
Thus, a very fertile field is emerging for the use of PR instruments serving to build credibility, relationships, and trust, for example, by sharing specialized know-how, organizing seminars, conferences, developing implementation maps, or case studies, etc. These are tools that are particularly important and effective in conducting Public Relations in the B2B sector. They allow reaching a selected group of potential recipients interested in the topic with a concrete, specialized message. Presenting a specific implementation, for example, regarding supply chain optimization, in an interesting way, often with the participation of another business partner, while highlighting the benefits achieved, effectively builds credibility and encourages further contacts and business discussions regarding cooperation. Logistics companies are therefore increasingly reaching for these types of communication instruments. An example is the series of seminars organized for another year by DHL Global Forwarding, addressed to manufacturing companies and importers, devoted to the specifics of business cooperation with trading partners from Asia and India. The seminars enjoy great interest and recognition expressed by the participants. Public Relations activities conducted by companies in the TSL industry are increasingly taking the form of coherent, long-term, and consistently implemented concepts covering many areas, such as creating and strengthening the company’s value system, charitable activities, sponsorship, CSR, including contacts with local communities.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2010.