PR agencies and PR consultants must generate new ideas constantly. Every campaign is different, and every client is unique. That is one of the things which often attract new PR graduates and interns into the profession. It does, however, make grasping the practicalities of PR quite a tough call - and the formal definitions don't help much.  I believe that PR ideas and campaigns tend to centre on 20 common pillars, and that grasping these can help you generate ideas and tactics. In the first two articles in this series we looked at ten different factors which often form a base for public relations activities and ideas. They appear again and again in different guises and can be very helpful in thinking through a challenge. Part 1 looked at Words, News, People, Stories and Insight Part 2 looked at Opinions, Pictures, Sharing, Surprises and Extremes Now we're going to look at the third portion of the list: 11. Definitions - definitions are, by definition, always incomplete. There is something very satisfying about generating a definition that you feel is spot on though. Companies find this a compelling idea. Being the 'one' which defined a market or a sector is a tempting goal. Launching the definitive service for something previously a little woolly is a lovely marketing position to be in – if it is accepted by the audience. Creating a new definition for something, and thus moving the goalposts for everybody else, can be a real competitive advantage. It links very clearly to both Insight and Opinions which appeared in earlier articles, especially for consultants and industry experts who have enough demonstrable expertise and gravitas to legitimately create and stand behind a new definition of... something. 12. Firsts - although we spoke in the previous article about Extremes, Firsts really warrants a place of its own on the list. Being the first to do something or achieving a breakthrough of thinking or capability moves the goalposts for competitors and can create a very useful window of opportunity. Breakthroughs are often around solving problems in a new way, or beating competitors to a desired goal, and that can spark real interest from potential customers, or even create waves in the stock market for public corporations. No small wonder that PR consultants are delighted when a client can make this claim - although as for Extremes the power of proof cannot be over-emphasised. Customers, and markets, are unforgiving if big claims are made but later disappoint. 13. Bests - at first glance, Bests might just suggest another Extreme. A communication that you are the best at something, however, throws up some different factors. It will almost never be a solo claim, for instance, because it cannot usually be legitimately self-proven. "Probably the best... in the world" holds no lager for most companies. Using 'Bests' is related to the power of Endorsement (which almost warrants it's own place on the list anyway) which means that someone else has said you are the best at (or at the very least, rather good at) something. Bests also relate to awards, the entry into and exploitation of which are a common PR tactic in both consumer and business to business PR. For technical firms, this area often translates into gaining industry analyst attention, or benchmarking against a known standard. Standards also play into this, as kite-marks and industry memberships also make a statement about quality and relates firmly to where you sit relative to others. 14. Parallels - creating Parallels, or analogies, is one of the most powerful ways to explain something which is either technical or complicated. Even if a story is not that difficult to understand, sometimes a quick sound-bite which draws a parallel is much more likely to penetrate the ears or eyes of the listener. Brainstorms are often held to identify easy to understand analogies or contexts which an audience is likely to identify easily and immediately. They work because they ‘ground’ your communication in the real world and make it relevant – as we said in an earlier article, this is all about what People need to hear, not simply what you want to say. 15. Opposites – demonstrating difference from the norm is a frequently used technique and the more different you can get, the better. Demonstrating difference is the point of many a communication. Whether this is creating an image with inbuilt visual contrast, talking about all the ways that a product or company is completely different from all its competitors, or taking a strongly opposing position on an issue – opposites attract!  This is not just food... You can read the first two articles by clicking the links at the top of the page – the final article will finish off the list!