Building reputations

Changing perceptions is one of the primary functions of public relations.

One classic such campaign was for the riparian owners on the River Dee, through their organisation the DSFIA. Faced with declining stocks on the river, they were frustrated by the lack of support from the authorities.

Our research showed the problem to be the perception of the industry as little more than a country pursuit. We set about changing that by establishing the economic importance of salmon fishing to the rural economy in the Dee Valley, presenting the statistics on its value and the number of jobs it supported.

The speed with which we changed this perception surprised even ourselves! Once this recognition of the status of the industry had been established, we used the resulting political will for action to focus on the implementation of measures to improve and conserve salmon stocks.