Defense PR

Overview Of The Defense Industry

The defense industry is one that is broad and diverse, covering a wide range of areas including the army, air force, security services, communications, logistics and personnel.

Many topics of defense cannot come into the public eye for reasons of security therefore PR is needed in order to protect issues and occurrences as and when they do come out.

Within the defense industry, there are thousands of companies of all shapes and sizes, some are involved in the media spotlight on a regular basis (BAE systems for example) and some very rarely.

The defense sector is still a commercial industry, governed by funding, politics and economics; as such needs to have marketing in order for one defense company to stand out over another. As such, PR and marketing are needed for a variety of applications (promotion, product launches, crisis PR etc.).

Importance Of PR For The Defense Industry

PR is very important for many defense companies and as such, selecting the right agency is crucial.

When selecting a PR agency there are a few factors that need to be considered before selecting an appropriate agency:

Defense Experience

The most important thing for many defense businesses is experience, as knowing the market is essential to success. Many defense companies will handle the PR themselves, using internal sources that have been screened (and in some cases signed the official secrets act) and of which there poses little security risk.

However from time to time, defense companies will turn to mainstream PR companies for projects, campaigns and media support; here is where the experience does kick in.

Knowledge of the industry and products can add specific value when communicating this to the media sector; along with knowing which media channels to talk to.

Cost

Due to the economic recession many government (and private) defense companies have been under the knife as regards to cost cutting goes. Many departments are under review and some have had cuts made already; marketing and PR will be no different.

Getting value for money is something that the current government is looking into (especially after the story of the defense industry overspending on lighting bulbs paying £25 per bulb when the same can be found on the internet for around £2).

Any PR agency working in the defense sector will most likely come under the same light of improving costs and increasing work output. PR prices will vary from agency to agency; so it would be a case of comparing a few PR companies to find out which ones can provide the best PR package.

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