1. THINK Public Relations
Wilcox/Cameron/Reber/Shin

2. Ch 4: Today’s Practice: Departments and Firms

3. Overview Public relations departments The trend toward outsourcing
Public relations firms

4. Public Relation Departments
Importance of PR to today’s organizations
PR pros seen as strategic communication managers.
PR offers 184% ROI.
CEOs want communication that is strategic, research-based, and two-way.

5. Public Relations Departments
Organizational factors determine the role of public relations
Large vs. small firms
Management perceptions
C-suite attitudes/reporting issues
(C-suite: CEO, CFO, COO / ‘c-level executives)
2012 report noted that 60% of the respondents strongly agreed that the public relations function is well received in the C-Suite and that members of the public relations/communications department are invited to attend senior-level strategy meetings.

6. Public Relations Departments
Organizational factors determine the role of public relations: Capabilities of the public relations executive
One study: Factors that determine whether corporate public relations practitioners have influence in the company: (a) Perception of value by top management (b) Practitioners taking on the managerial role c) Reporting to the CEO (d) Years of professional experience

7. Public Relations Departments
How public relations departments are organized
Leader titles
Reporting hierarchy
Size of departments

8. Public Relations Departments’ Organization
The head executive of a public relations or similarly named department typically has one of three titles: manager, director, or vice president.
A vice president of corporate communications may have direct responsibility for the additional activities of advertising and marketing communications.
Common divisions found in large corporations
Media relations, investor relations, consumer affairs, government relations, community relations, marketing communications, and employee communications

9. Line and Staff Functions
Line manager
Delegates, sets goals, hires, influences others’ work
Staff people’s functions, in contrast:
Little direct authority
Indirectly influence others’ work through suggestions, recommendations, advice
PR is a staff function.
Access to management
PR influence is linked to access to top management.
Recommendations to management help in formulating policy.

10. What Do You Think?
How does the influence of line and staff functions differ?
This question will stimulate discussion of the differences between line and staff functions.

11. Levels of influence
Management experts state that staff functions in an organization operate at various levels of influence and authority.
At the lowest level, the staff function may be simply advisory: line management has no obligation to take recommendations or even request them.
What else? 
This question will stimulate discussion of the differences between line and staff functions.

12. Levels of Influence
Advisory: Management has no obligation to request or act on recommendations
Purely advisory practitioners are often ineffective.
Compulsory-advisory: Management is required to listen to public relations’ perspective before acting.
Concurring authority: PR and others must agree on an action.

13. Example
When the public relations department serves in a purely advisory role, it often is not effective.
The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, the nation’s leading breast cancer advocacy group, learned this lesson in 2012 the hard way.
It created a storm of protest when word got out that its board of directors had decided to stop giving grants to Planned Parenthood to provide poor women with breast cancer screenings.

14. The Challenge of Being a Spokesperson
One duty of a public relations practitioner is to serve as an organization’s official spokesperson.
What a spokesperson tells the media is not considered a personal opinion, but rather management’s official response or stance to a situation or event.
Lauren Fernandez, a public relations professional and blogger, says, “As PR professionals, we represent a client, brand, and organization.” :

15. The Challenge of Being a Spokesperson
The challenge comes when a spokesperson may personally disagree with what he or she is asked to say on behalf of the organization.
Or, in some cases, a public relations professional may be asked to give information to the media that he or she knows is untrue or deliberately misleading.
Chapter 4 has some examples to read about…

16. Sources of Friction in PR
Legal
Differences on public statements -- Legal staff members are always concerned about the possible effect of any public statement on current or potential litigation --- BUT ---
Lawyers often frustrate public relations personnel by taking the attitude that any public statement can potentially be used against the organization in a lawsuit.

17. Sources of Friction in PR
Human Resources
Differences regarding employee communications --
Turf battles can erupt between human resources and public relations over who is responsible for employee communications.
Human resources personnel believe that they should control the flow of information; public relations administrators counter by stating that satisfactory external communications cannot be achieved unless effective employee relations are conducted simultaneously.

18. Sources of Friction Advertising vs. PR within the corporation
Competing for resources
Philosophical differences
Marketing
Focuses on one public: current or prospective customers
Marketing personnel, like advertising staff, tend to think exclusively of customers or potential buyers as key publics.
In contrast, PR practitioners define publics in a broader sense—as any group that can affect the operations of the organization.

19. The Trend toward Outsourcing
Almost 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use outside PR counsel in varying degrees.
The need for additional “arms and legs” -- Instead of relying exclusively on an in-house department or using just one firm, today’s major corporations now use multiple firms for various projects.
To obtain a unique perspective and market insight

20. Most Frequently Outsourced Activities
Writing and communications
Media relations
Publicity
Strategy and planning
Event planning

21. So that was all about PR within corporations…
What about PR firms?

22. Public Relations Firms
Firms have regional, national, and global reach.
PR Firms can complement in-house expertise.
PR Firms offer diverse services.
Rapid growth of PR firms
Emphasis on the counseling aspect
Firms range in size from one or two-person operations to global giants such as Edelman, which employs over 5,800 (see text difference) professionals in 14 U.S. offices and over 65 offices around the world. (2017 figures)

23. Global Reach
Firms and their offices or affiliates are situated in most of the world’s major cities and capitals.
Substantial revenues from international operations

24. 2016 Top PR Firms
1. Edelman, New York, NY -- $874,968, (5,903 empl.)
2. W2O Group, San Francisco, CA -- $122,715, (472 empl.)
3. APCO Worldwide, Washington, DC -- $120,622, (672 empl.)
4. Finn Partners, New York, NY -- $76,706, (485 empl.)
5. ICR, New York, NY -- $55,663, (158 empl.)

25. Text list of Top 5 Edelman Fleishman-Hillard Waggener Edstrom
Ruder Finn
Finn Partners listed on previous page launched in 2011 by Ruder Finn
International? Ruder Finn headquarters is in Beijing
APCO Worldwide

26. Public Relations Firms
The rise of communication conglomerates
Many firms are owned by communication conglomerates and thereby can offer integrated services (i.e., PR and advertising expertise) through affiliates.
The reason for acquisition of PR firms
Natural evolutionary step of integration
Economic interest

27. Changes…
Public relations firms are beginning to discard the term public relations as part of their official names. Ex. Fenton Communications describes itself as a “public interest communications firm.”
Increasingly, public relations firms are emphasizing the counseling aspect of their services, although most of their revenues come from implementing tactical aspects, such as writing news releases and organizing special events or media tours.

28. Public Relations Firms
Structure of a counseling firm
Depends on size of firm
Small firm may only have owner and one or two associates.
Large firms have an extended hierarchy.

29. What Do You Think?
What are the pros and cons of employing a public relations firm?
Pros and cons
This question will stimulate discussion of advantages and disadvantages of using outside firms.

30. Public Relations Firms
Pros and cons of using a public relations firm
Advantages
Objectivity
Skills and expertise
Extensive resources
Offices throughout the country
Problem-solving skills
Credibility
Disadvantages
Superficial knowledge
Part-time commitment
Need for long briefing
Internal resentment
Need for direction
Need for information and
confidence
High costs

31. Fees and Charges Basic hourly fee, plus out-of-pocket expenses
Most widely used among large firms
Retainer fee
Fixed project fee
Pay for placement
Seldom used

32. Services Provided by PR Firms
Marketing Communications. Promote products and services through such tools as news releases, feature stories, special events, brochures, and media tours.
Executive Speech Training. Coach top executives on public affairs activities, including personal appearances.
Research and Evaluation. Conduct scientific surveys to measure public attitudes and perceptions.

33. Services Provided by Public Relations Firms
Research and Evaluation. Conduct scientific surveys to measure public attitudes and perceptions.
Crisis Communication. Counsel management on what to say and do in the event of an emergency, such as an oil spill or a product recall. .

34. Services Provided by PR Firms
Media Analysis. Examine appropriate media in order to target specific messages to key audiences.
Community Relations. Counsel management on achieving official and public support for projects such as new building construction or factory expansion.
Events Management. Plan and conduct news conferences, anniversary celebrations, rallies, symposia, and national conferences.
Public Affairs. Prepare materials and testimony for government hearings and regulatory bodies; prepare background briefings.

35. Services Provided by PR Firms
Media Analysis. Examine appropriate media in order to target specific messages to key audiences.
Community Relations. Counsel management on achieving official and public support for projects such as new building construction or factory expansion.

36. Services Provided by PR Firms
Events Management. Plan and conduct news conferences, anniversary celebrations, rallies, symposia, and national conferences.
Public Affairs. Prepare materials and testimony for government hearings and regulatory bodies; prepare background briefings.
What is OUR ‘PR team’ doing? 

37. What is OUR ‘PR team’ doing?
Marketing Communications
Events Management
This week – we need a plan and assignments:
‘Managers’ define the plan and give each team member specific work to do by next Thursday
Includes assigning different PR tasks: NED, Homecoming, East Texan, KKOM, etc.

38. An IABC survey of CEOs showed, regarding the value of public relations, that it pays nearly a _____ percent return on investment.
200

39. Small-scale organizations of low complexity usually have public relations working in roles that are primarily:
technical.

40. Many practitioners self-select technician roles because they:
lack knowledge in research, environmental scanning, problem solving, and management.

41. They relegated public relations to a purely advisory role.
In the Susan G. Komen for the Cure-Planned Parenthood case, the Komen board made what major public relations error?
They relegated public relations to a purely advisory role.

42. at least three times a person’s salary.
The standard industry practice among public relations firms is to bill clients:
at least three times a person’s salary.

43. What are some of the major sources of friction for the public relations function within an organization?
Human resources, Legal
Marketing …

44. The trend toward purchasing expert communication services from outside the organization is referred to as:
outsourcing

45. A person who formulates recommendations and advises management in an organization is fulfilling a _____ function.
staff

46. If a benefits brochure prepared by the personnel department must have approval from the PR department before production, the PR department is described as having a ____ authority.
Concurring

47. Today’s public relations firms offer all of the following EXCEPT: A) executive speech training. B) research and evaluation. C) legal counsel. D) events management. E) crisis communication.
Legal counsel

48. Clients often criticize public relations firms for having what?
superficial grasp of the client’s problems.

49. What do we think of as the ideal relationship between marketing and public relations?
Public relations is a distinct discipline, and must be practiced separately.

50. Other names used for public relations departments include _____
corporate relations. public affairs. marketing communications. community relations …

51. Branding and corporate reputation
_____ is a service many public relations agency provide that is designed to establish company brands and promote reputation.
Branding and corporate reputation

52. What are some of the are multinational communication conglomerates?
Omnicom, WPP, Interpublic, Publicis …

53. The most reputable Fortune 500 corporations tend to think of public relations as a _____ tool.
strategic management