The last two discussions at the “Pressing” club attached to the “168 Hours” newspaper edition were dedicated to a highly significant issue in Armenia today-PR in Armenia. After the publication of the discussions, “168 Hours” received a number of phone calls. Readers were interested in what PR really was. PR means public relations. PR and advertisements are the most well-known and effective methods of representing any product, phenomenon, political party, company and the state.
The goal of PR is to create a positive and competitive image, as well as bring back the reputation of the given subject. Who should be in charge of Armenia’s PR and what methods should he use? These were the main issues, which businessmen, political activists, experts and media representatives were trying to find the answers to.
Most of the speakers were certain that a special organization formed and financed by the government should be involved with Armenia’s PR. The organization should be independent and non-partisan (of course, relatively speaking, because the opposite just doesn’t exist in Armenia). The organization must consist of experts, there must be strict conditions for workers, their expertise should be in PR and the first experts should be the ones who have studied or trained in the West. What should this “X” organization do?
It can’t simply be involved in PR and shouldn’t even be involved in that. First of all, the experts must present a corresponding bill to the National Assembly. The bill must state all the demands, which will be placed upon the subjects involved in PR, including the Armenian authorities, citizens, businessmen, NGOs, embassies, presses and if possible-the Armenian Diaspora. Let’s bring up an example. Whether we Armenians like it or not, Armenian Public Television, which is financed by the state, is one of the largest subjects for Armenia’s PR, but I must say that that subject is not doing its job well. The “X” organization can place certain demands to Public Television (H1) [especially for the satellite broadcast] and follow up on its activities. During the last discussion of the “Pressing” club, many accepted the proposal to have H1 prepare a series of programs about Armenia’s economy, industry, services, agriculture and culture by state order (even if it’s going to be paid for).
It’s obvious that Armenia’s PR should have one major goal-create a positive image of Armenia in the world and at the same time, not go too far from the reality. The positive image of Armenia is important for Armenians for the stable development of national security, as well as economy and investments. During the discussion, different speakers suggested interesting and unique brands with which Armenia can present itself to the world. Other proposals were heard and talked about during the discussion, including the crossroads of Western and Eastern civilizations and the high level of mental abilities of Armenian experts.
However, despite the political factors, it’s possible to create Armenia’s image based on economic brands. Armenian businessmen are pessimistic when it comes to this because the state mechanism of helping the producer doesn’t work that well in Armenia. That’s true, but the producers can unite and get involved in lobbying, as they say in other countries. The Armenian producer is passive and the state takes advantage of that passivity. The “X” organization will be able to get the producer to go against the state for the sake of general interests, which the state doesn’t realize today.
The most important “tool” that Armenia has is the Armenian Diaspora. However, that tool is only served for one purpose-the Armenian Genocide. It’s hard to agree that Armenia needs to convince the Armenian Diaspora to spread the word to foreign countries about investments in Armenia. If starting a business in Armenia were to be beneficial and profitable and were to have nothing to do with the bureaucratic mechanism, then there would be no need to convince the Armenian Diaspora because the Armenians from the Diaspora would invest their capital in Armenia. Thus, we shouldn’t convince the Diaspora, rather show the Armenians living abroad what Armenia has. In order to do that, we must have equal conditions for local big businessmen and foreign investors.
As for how we should present Armenia to the world, I can bring up counterarguments about the opinion that Armenia only appears in the global network of information by talking about the Armenian Genocide, the earthquake, “October 27” or the airplane crash in Sochi. For example, in his interview given to “The Times” newspaper on November 8, the vice-president of “GasProm” had mentioned that “GasProm plans to export its gas to Western Europe, India and Pakistan through Armenia. Despite the negative consequences of dependency on Russia, this is a good idea for Armenia to start PR because today everyone is talking about the routes of “GasProm”-Europe. However, we Armenians didn’t care about the vice-president’s announcement and Armenian presses only talked about it for a week. So, we also have the problem of differentiating one from the other and the “X” organization can do that.
Another positive thing: the children of an Armenian school of Armenia will participate in next year’s Brazilian carnival by representing Armenia with Mount Ararat, the tricolor flag, etc. Some social and political activists will criticize the fact that Armenians will represent Armenia in front of half-naked women and men dancing at the carnival. Why not? Let the whole world see that Armenians not only cry, but also dance. The only thing we need is someone who can “teach us to dance”, the right dances and the regulated “dance steps”.