JEDDAH, 11 October — Jim O. Cox, global account director for Hill Knowlton, has outlined a multi-level approach to improve Saudi Arabia’s public relations image in the United States.
The approach could include “behind the scenes” diplomacy, technology transfer, business relations and interpersonal contact, Cox said while sharing his ideas on a new PR strategy.
Hill Knowlton, the world’s biggest PR company, boasts a presence in the Kingdom for the last 16 years and has world famous clients in its portfolio.
Cox sees as effective the current high-level contacts between the two nations, exemplified by the private meetings between Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, and President George W. Bush. But such contacts are only one of several possible approaches.
“What you don’t know, you fear,” Said Cox. “You have to get through to Mr. and Mrs America. You have to develop the support there is for the Kingdom already in the US and then set about creating more friends.”
Saudi Arabia is by tradition a very private society. In the information based global village, it can be misinterpreted by interest groups with their own agendas to run. Their proactive approach in presenting their views to the news media then influences the public and tends to become the accepted wisdom.
Cox sees a need for Saudi Arabia to “openly, actively and aggressively engaged with the US media. If they don’t know you, they won’t trust you.”
Part of that openness, he suggests, might be to publicize the charitable and humanitarian works that Saudi Arabia is involved in both in the Middle East and across the world. While this may be seen by some as running counter to traditional ideas in some areas, it carries with it the potential of presenting both human and very humanitarian aspects of the Kingdom.
The links between the Kingdom and the US in commerce and technology are well known in business circles. It would be beneficial, Cox thinks, to publicize the breadth and reliability of these long established relationships more widely and actively.
“It’s vital to create a dialogue between the general public of America and Saudi Arabia, an ongoing conversation.”
He views any change by the public toward the Kingdom as a long process. “It’s a process that is gong to take time. There is no quick fix.” The process, he feels, should start as soon as possible and open at all levels of American society.
