An interview with Adam Cox, CEO, serial entrepreneur, founder of Radio Relations and The Relations Group. A property investor, blogger, writer with a passion for psychology, branding, marketing, and business, Adam is a thought leader in a wide field of subjects, so we couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say.

 

People have said that we live in an age of relationships. Do you agree with that?

I agree, and, if we look at big brands, we can discover that they dedicate a lot of resources to building and maintaining relationships, maybe more than to product innovation. If we take a look at the PR industry we can see that there is a big concentration on helping companies have good relationships with their customers, a sure way to build loyalty with distributors and any other kind of stakeholder.

Is there a way to educate people to have better business relationships?

The main thing to consider when trying to start a relationship is how to add value to that connection. Most times we see people start a relationship with the idea of “what I can get from it” and not “what I could create from it”. But if you create value, that can turn into loyalty, and you will build a long term, trusted relationship. Let’s use social media as an example: when you create content for social media you are adding value to your relationships with other people, and, if you are able to do this consistently well over a long term basis, you can build a continuous relationship with your audience. To achieve this, content must be original and creative.

How do you create original and personal content for a personality or a brand?

Every time we begin a campaign, we first analyse what the brand wants to achieve. A set of just 4 questions can help us to understand the brand so we can build towards what they’re aiming for, this is the easiest way for us to provide value for them. We evaluate what that personality or brand wants to communicate, the messages that can be used, who they want to connect to, and the timing we have to reach these objectives.

In fact, we focus on the value they give to their audience. In order to achieve maximum coverage through broadcast media, brands must have a problem that they solve for their audience. People want their problems to be solved, if you can do that, you will have their respect, and their trust. In the media, especially broadcast media, you cannot simply have a commercial story. It must be editorial, it must be newsworthy.

We all live in a digital world. We’re more connected than ever. What is the right way to communicate?

The best way is to focus on niches, because the attempt to reach a wide audience forces you to develop more generalised, boring stories. If you change the context in a more focused direction, you can drive that same content to a different audience, a more interested audience, and in this way you’ll increase engagement and the success of the communication.

What is your main goal in your job?

I always say that relationships are based on trust. My goal is to create as much value as possible for my clients, and be so trusted that businesses come to us for what we can do. We’re broadcast PR specialists. Why would they go anywhere else?