1 Public Relations Chapter 14 © 2009, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

2 CHAPTER OUTLINE Defining Public Relations A Short History of Public Relations Public Relations in the Digital Age Organization of the Public Relations Industry Departments and Staff The Public Relations Program Economics

3 DEFINING PUBLIC RELATIONS (1 of 2) Similar to, but essentially different from, advertising –Both try to persuade; both use mass media Main differences –PR is management function; advertising is marketing function –PR uses all forms of communication; advertising does not use interpersonal –PR is not paid for; advertising is

4 DEFINING PUBLIC RELATIONS (2 of 2) Promotion vs. publicity Public relations practitioners –Work with public opinion –Are concerned with communication Target publics (plural) –Perform a management function World Assembly of Public Relations definition

5 A SHORT HISTORY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS (1 of 2) American Revolution Ivy Lee Creel Committee (President Wilson) Edward Bernays Carl Byoir Fireside Chats (President Roosevelt)

6 A SHORT HISTORY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS (2 of 2) Social changes prompted growth of PR –Corporate social responsibility –Increasing consumerism –Complexity of modern organizations –Population growth and workplace specialization Spin doctor –Specialist in political campaigns and government activities

7 PUBLIC RELATIONS IN THE DIGITAL AGE The Internet has added new dimensions to Public Relations

8 Communicating with the Audience Corporate web sites are first line of communication –Organizations, shareholders, consumers Interactive features of Web 2.0

9 Communicating with the Media PR practitioners use the Internet to streamline their media efforts – press releases – to communicate with journalists –Distribute information via the Web –Target story ideas and press releases to appropriate sources –Database software and merge

10 New Channels of Feedback PR agencies use web for feedback on companies, products, issues –Ewatch –Technorati –Epinions –Bizrate –Traditional PR research also done online Surveys Focus groups

11 ORGANIZATION OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS INDUSTRY (1 of 2) Internal (in-house) PR department –An arm of management –Advantages Can work on short notice; more in-depth knowledge of company; less costly External PR agencies –Advantages Fresh ideas; objective viewpoints; more services; can bring prestige

12 ORGANIZATION OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS INDUSTRY ( 2 of 2) There are many main areas of PR efforts or specialization, including –Business –Government/politics –Non-profit –Entertainment/sports –International –Crisis management –Environmental

13 DEPARTMENTS AND STAFF Internal PR departments vary; PR director often reports to company president –May have people in charge of press relations, internal communications, community relations External PR agencies are more complex; similar to advertising agencies –Creative services –Research –Publicity and marketing –Accounts –Administration

14 THE PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAM A typical PR campaign involves several stages. –Stages are separately defined, but in practice are a continuing and overlapping process

15 Information Gathering Key first step in the process –Search organizational records, trade journals, polls, surveys, advisory committees, personal contacts, and more

16 Planning Strategic plans –Long-term general goals Tactical plans –More specific –Detail tasks for achieving the strategic goals Management by objectives (MBO) –Strong trend in PR in recent years –Set observable and measurable goals, and allocate resources to achieve those goals

17 Communication PR personnel become the source of the communication The messages are sent using the desired channels –Interviews, press releases, paid advertising, speeches, staged events, blogs, billboards, etc

18 Evaluation How well did the campaign work? –Questionnaires, polls, surveys, panel discussions, meetings, audience responses –Measure relative success of reaching the stated goal Different aspects may be measured –Volume of coverage may not mean the campaign was successful –More sophisticated analyses needed to measure impact on audience

19 ECONOMICS Total PR expenditures are hard to measure –Top 50 US PR firms collected $1.1 billion in 2006 PR industry dominated by giant firms owned by ad agencies Revenue earned in various ways –Fee for service; monthly retainers; hourly fees; time plus expenses