Internal and external are equally important

The more I work in a professional PR and marketing environment, the more I am realising the importance of internal public relations and communications. Through out my degree I have only really considered the external uses of PR for a company and the strategies used for stakeholders existing outside of the company. But in this position I am coming to see how imperative it is that staff are given just as much attention in the communication of internal messages as the external stakeholders.

This week I am tasked with the monthly "Highlights" news letter for all of our in-house guests. I am expected to produce content, select images, make the appropriate calls to action, design the letter according to brand standard in the program InDesign and then outsource it to a printing company, to be delivered to both our Hotel (Rendezvous Grand Hotel Perth Scarborough) and Rendezvous Studio  Hotel. Whilst going through all of the different content to be used in the newsletter, food and beverage promotions, Awards from the Australian Hotel Association Awards among them, I realised that if the staff didn't know about these promotions and stories then when our guests asked about them for more information they would not be able to respond to them. My manager emphasised how important it is that promotional briefs re sent out to ALL staff whenever there is something new in the pipeline. These promotions should also be communicated in the staff newsletter so that the entire staff body is clear on the messages being put out to the public and what direction the organisation is heading in.

Putting together the newsletter is incredibly fun for me. The content and images I get to place in the design program really make it look like a professional document, and considering that it is placed in 336 rooms for all of our guests to see, it makes me feel quite important :) As though I am really contributing.

Using the brand standard manual for the newsletter also emphasises to me the importance of streamlining your brand. Whilst creativity and originality is important in producing a PR image that stimulates interest and attention, a brand that communicates a clean, clear message that does not differentiate in different channels is even more important. Using a brand manual allows for a cleancut image of the brand to be perceived by the consumer audience so that there is never any confusion about what is associated with the brand and what is not. I believe that this stifles creativity slightly but is mart and parcel of working in a massive organisation like Rendezvous Hospitality Group.