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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

New Relevance for PR Firms During Virus Crisis

For Valley region public relations professional, it’s a time of caution about how much work they will be able to perform for their clients. So far, of three firms contacted by the Business Journal, none have lost any clients due to the coronavirus outbreak. But Dan Kahn, of Kahn Media in Moorpark, said the biggest challenge right now is that his clients are afraid and uncertain. “We have had no client defections at this point, which is great,” Kahn told the Business Journal. “Part of the reason why is we are working really hard trying to help different companies and brands adapt to find ways to stay relevant and stay in business while the market dries up and this thing blows over.” Kahn Media, No. 1 on the Business Journal’s Public Relations companies list, serves luxury brands and the automotive market. With about half of its client base in manufacturing and non-essential manufacturing coming to a standstill, Kahn and his staff are cognizant of the fact that when a client doesn’t have product coming off an assembly line they are not making money. “Everyone has been really amazing in trying to find ways to get creative and get through this together, so that when the quarantine is over we can try to put this thing back together with what the new normal is,” Kahn said. Health communications Steve Syatt, of SSA Public Relations in Westlake Village, No. 13 on the list, also used the word “relevant” to describe how he positions his clients, which are primarily direct-to-consumer retailers, including in the home improvement, health, wellness, fitness, pain relief and emergency preparedness markets. The focus now is less on telling the story of a brand but on how a specific product can help a potential customer, Syatt said. “We are working with our clients and our brands to make sure that the stories they tell have relevancy to people’s lives now,” he added. “You need to engage the consumer in a manner that will be helpful for them as they lead their daily lives.” Joy Scott, chief executive of Scott Public Relations in Canoga Park and No. 3 on the list, said her client base is mostly in the health care market. Health workers are not being laid off and the companies they work for are ramping up to deal with the coronavirus crisis. Her firm works on getting communications out to both employees and the public from the health care companies, she said. “We are also bringing out stories of what they are doing to cope and to be able to provide services in this environment,” Scott said,  For example, there has been an increase in remote health services, using telehealth and using patient portals to communicate with patients, she continued. “For some people maybe this was a new thing to them and now it is being fast tracked,” Scott added. “It is going to be a major change in how health care is delivered in the future.” For now, Scott communicates with clients remotely. “The in-person events, the major trade shows that were going to be held in the spring, none of them are happening,” she added. At SSA, there is a morning conference call with the staff and then via Skype or Facetime for one–on-one meetings, Syatt said. “It is weird not being able to see the people we have been working with day in and day out,” Syatt added. “We will get back to that at some point.” Social media At Kahn Media, a recent development was creating an influencer network of Instagram channels that reaches about 1.1 million viewers. This was in anticipation of contraction in auto enthusiast print publications, Kahn said. The pages focus on subsets of content such as classic cars, super cars, off roading and luxury brands. “We use that primarily for sharing our content, but we can also use it to syndicate client content,” Kahn added. “It has been a huge asset during the COVID thing because social (media) use is way up.”

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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