Even with the international nature of a modern public relations effort, there are differences – in the English-speaking world, the concept is usually associated with the art of networking, with a distinctly social, maybe upbeat edge to it that you won’t find so much in the German-speaking world, which focuses more on the work aspect. Not that you need to worry about that, our PR experts at ConText® will be only too happy to take on both facets of PR for you.

Want to present your company’s services and boost your image, or promote a new product or communicate a complicated situation in an easy, accessible way? We have experienced PR editors at ConText® to hone your message and content to your target group, e.g. by quoting case studies and success stories, and place them in selected specialist media.

We also compile complete press kits, research and optimise press distribution lists and provide you with a professional press clippings service including evaluation and quality control for your press work.

Do the best you can and talk about it

Public relations is the art of enhancing public opinion for your company, product or service using the spoken or printed word, by actions or visible symbols – Carl Hundhausen, 1937

Paid advertising and marketing in the media with a call to action to buy your product might not be the core purpose of public relations, but it has come to play a significant role. Providing specialist journals and journalists with pre-formulated press releases and appealing visuals for publication, print or online, is a relatively easy way of launching new products, especially in B2B trading, and is part of the PR effort.

News value is an essential factor in press releases – the content needs to communicate a message specifically targeted to your target audience, or nobody will publish it. News value may also have a personal angle, or may refer to trade fair exhibits, extraordinary social commitment, or opening new branches, outlets or stores, and should never come without a brief company profile text block. We will be pleased to give you all the other factors that go into creating the highest possible impact from your press release.

Concepts and content for effective media events

Major events such as open days or AGMs are ideal for combination with press releases or press conferences. Events are often staged to achieve the broadest possible coverage in lifestyle products and services; perfumes and fashion brands appear in tabloid gossip columns, and one particular well-known energy drink brand is never out of the news thanks to Formula 1 driving and death-defying space diving from the stratosphere.

If you want to keep your project a little more down to earth, we at ConText® work on concepts for events that are certain to raise the curiosity of the press – across the media, naturally including press invitation management and accompanying press releases as well as sending your pre-prepared press releases to all of the relevant media not at the event. Unlike other PR agencies, we regularly provide our services in a number of languages including German, English, French, Italian, or Spanish.

Concepts and content for crisis communication

Crisis management and communications didn’t start with WikiLeaks. A variety of scandals in varying shades of colourful have shown how important it is to deal with mishaps that never seem to come in short supply. Anyone who thinks that you can cover up poor decisions in business or even minor infringements of a more moral nature might be in for a nasty surprise – it takes experienced crisis managers to take on an open, possibly even aggressive communications style towards the public for damage control – if only Bill Clinton had come clean on the Lewinsky affair at that ill-fated press conference, the USA would probably have been spared the tawdry scandal of inordinate proportions that ensued.

Germany also has its scandals, but none more heart-warming than the famous Cookie Monster scandal thanks to the inspired reaction of a major biscuit manufacturer. Someone kidnapped the company’s logo and brand symbol, an enormous brass biscuit, demanding donations to a local hospital and animal sanctuary as ransom. At first, the company reacted with litigation the way you might expect them to – which they had every right to do – but then had a change of heart, and in a beautifully humorous gesture, agreed to pay the “ransom” in kind in the form of packets of biscuits to social organisations. Our copywriters and PR experts at ConText® can help you out of a spot – every problem is an opportunity, as the saying goes.