The establishment and journey of Amazon.com has been a convergence of vision, intelligence and technology, along with many other aspects which have enabled its success. Since Amazon.com’s establishment, public relations (PR) has always played a key role in the company (Spector, 2000, p. 179). Bezos decided that there were two significant things for him to work on: recruiting and press and he still believes and pursues that today (Spector, 2000, 179). Media are constantly complimenting Jeff Bezos’ vibrant and engaging personality and successful, yet humble-driven company. It was this personality that was sold so effectively to target publics and investment communities through the company’s initial PR campaign (Spector, 2000, p.179). This PR campaign was based on one of Bezos’ many maxims: ‘Profits are the lifeblood of a company but not the reason to exist. You don’t live for your blood, but you couldn’t live without it’ (Spector, 2000, p.182).
As Amazon.com watches its competitors launch major national advertising campaigns to promote products and gain brand recognition, Amazon.com chooses to avoid the extensive advertising expense and opt for a more subtle public relations campaign that has been deemed more effective that advertising (Tice, 2003, p.7). The integration of online marketing and public relations has proven to be a successful combination for Amazon.com, without having to branch independently into advertising.
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a concept that strategically integrates many communication disciplines, including marketing, PR and advertising (Cutlip, Center and Broom, 2000, p.76). Rather than separating the management functions, the integration of these communication platforms provides Amazon.com with a consistent and unified image in the marketplace. IMC is a very sales and customer driven model with all disciplines working together to achieve and retain customer confidence and loyalty (Cutlip, Center and Broom, 2000, p.76).
Although Amazon.com has manipulated and managed to quash any negative press, it has encountered some major public relations debacles. One incident was the uncovering of Amazon.com’s paid placement schedule for book publishers, where publishers were paying a given price to have their books prominently featured on the Amazon.com website (Spector, 2000, pp.223-224). Another problem was encountered when Amazon.com introduced a program to the website that produces a list of ‘hot’ products, however the mistake was made when it was realised that the list was compiled by cross-indexing customers’ details, which meant that people could see what others were buying (Spector, 2000, pp.225-226).
Whilst these adversities were detrimental to the company at the time they happened, Amazon.com’s PR professionals dealt with the situations accordingly and have continued to maintain the company’s state of positivity.
Cutlip, S., Center, A. and Broom. (2000) Effective Public Relations, 8th edn, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, ISBN 0135412110.
Spector, R. (2000) Amazon.com: Get Big Fast, New York: Harper Collins, ISBN 073226796X.
Tice, C. (2003)"Amazon stresses PR over ads for holiday season," Puget Sound Business Journal, vol.24, no.29, retrieved October 22, 2004, from http://gateway.proquest.com.gateway.library.qut.edu.au/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqd&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&genre=
article&rft_dat=xri:pqd:did=000000464861451&svc_dat=xri:pqil:fmt=text&
req_dat=xri:pqil:pq_clntid=14394
Stephanie Spann 09:12, 9 Sep 2004 (EST)
