Public Relations (PR)

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 478.

Effective public relations requires believability and to be continuously believed we must constantly exhibit a high level of integrity.

This area of communication represents one of the oldest methods of seeking to obtain a favourable response from a selected group of people. It should not be related to business organizations alone; all of us indulge in some form of PR on a social or professional basis. How many times during a crisis or a problem period, have you resorted to a box of chocolates, a bunch of flowers, taking somebody out for lunch or dinner or giving a gist in order to obtain a favourable response? Thus, words, actions or gifts are used when you want people to think of you in a certain way, do something for you or sustain your relationship through an apology when you have offended.

A definition of public relations in the business context will give you an idea of the width and breadth of its applications:

The planned actions designed to gain and keep the goodwill of every section of the public with which the company comes into contact.

The term “public” has enormous significance because it can include:

a) the company customers

b) shareholders, financiers or bankers

c) employees or potential employees

d) suppliers and distributors

e) other companies on the same industry

f) members of the community within which the company operates

g) members of the general public.

The scope of PR in the business world is far greater than when used by an individual but the ultimate objective remains the same: improve the relationships of an organization or individual with relevant members of the public. Like all other elements of marketing PR has had its time as a luxury or a novelty marketing tool and must be taken seriously, recognized as a distinct are of expertise, and treated with the same caution with which we treat advertising, pricing or selling. It must also be considered as a vital management function within the organization. The Institute of Public Relations presents PR as being:

The deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and its public. The words “planned and sustained” effort should encourage all people involved in PR to proceed with caution, plan carefully, select the most appropriate techniques and use PR as a means of achieving well-defined objectives.

1. What is the definition of PR in the business context? (give your own comment)
2. What is the definition of PR of the Institute of Public Relations?
3. Is this area of communication related only to business organization?
4. Can you give your own examples when we indulge in some form of PR?
5. Whom does the term “public” include and why?
6. What do you know about PR as a novelty marketing tool?
7. According to the text PR must be treated with the same caution with which we treat advertising, pricing and selling”. Why? Give your arguments.

11 Publicity

Publicity must not be confused with public relations: publicity usually represents a reward for effective PR. Publicity can be defined as news carried in the mass media about an organization - its products, policies, personnel, or actions - at no charge to the organization for media time and space. Of course, the marketer must bear the costs of preparing such items as news releases and inducing media editors to print or broadcast them. In other words, publicity is not “free advertising”.

Publicity offers several advantages as a promotion tool. First, it may reach people who ordinarily do not pay attention to advertising, sales promotion, and salespeople. Second, it has greater credibility than advertising. Third, it is relatively inexpensive and provides coverage that would cost many advertising dollars.

On the other hand, marketers have to recognize publicity's limitations. The marketer has very little control over what media editors do with the publicity materials that marketers prepare. Media people routinely disregard materials that they do not consider newsworthy - subject matter that is untimely, uninteresting, and inaccurate. Even if the materials are judged newsworthy, the marketer has no control over how media people edit the content, schedule its appearance in the media, and so on.

Publicity tools. Marketers try to influence the media by providing publicity materials for submission, but media personnel reject a considerable amount of this publicity material. Great care is needed in preparing publicity materials to help ensure that they will be used be the media.

A news release, usually one typewritten page, contains information that the organization wants disseminated, along with the name, address, and phone number of the person whom media personnel should contact. Feature articles are longer and are prepared for specific publications. Media representatives are invited to the press conferences to hear about an upcoming major event that marketer hopes will be considered newsworthy. Letters to the editor are sent to newspapers and magazines in response to articles that appeared in those media. Radio and TV stations are given tapes and films for broadcasting.