Perception is reality in business as well as in politics.  If you're a business owner or in charge of marketing, you'd better know how the public perceives your company and its products or services. 

That's the first step in addressing the public perception.

The second step is crafting a public relations strategy that can be implemented by the marketing department.  The good news is you can have some control over how your company is perceived if you are proactive. 

If your products or services are positioned properly in terms of public perception, sales will follow.  Ask yourself the following:  1)what does the public need?  2)do my products or services fulfill that need? and 3)how do I choose the right medium and tailor my message do address those needs?

An example will serve to illustrate my point.  In 1982, Johnson & Johnson had a huge crisis on its hands when it was discovered that its Extra-Strength Tylenol had been laced with cyanide.  Johnson officials reacted swiftly and decisively.  Johnson's CEO James Burke set aside the potential financial cost to the company and re-visited the companie's Credo written in 1943.  The Credo focused the company on its customers.  Using the Credo as his motivation, Burke set out to inform customers of the problem and hired scientists to determine the source of the contamination.  The company issued a massive recall of its product, stopped manufacturing of capsules, replacing them with more tamper resistant caplets, and made tamper resistant bottles.

While the company took an initial hit, it used the crisis to bolster its reputation as one that puts consumer safety above all else.  Its willingness to be open with the public and its proactive response to fixing the problem paid huge dividends for the company.  Johnson & Johnson never mimized the problem nor did it blame others for the crisis. 

The Tylenol crisis serves as a model for crisis management.  It also demonstrates how company action can mold public perception.