public relations management

LECTURE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGEMENT (PRM)

FRIDAY, 1.30 – 4.15 STUDY PROGRAM OF PUBLIC

RELATIONS FACULTY OF COMMUNICATIONS

What is Public Relations ? “The discipline which looks after the

reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support, and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics “. (The Institute of Public Relations, London, UK)

Public Relations & Reputation Management

Of all the elements of the communications mix, Public Relations is the hardest to define. Many different definitions have been suggested by practitioners and academics alike

However, Public Relations has, rather ironically, suffered from ‘an identity crisis’. A search through marketing literature will reveal dozens of different definitions, some placing emphasis on its role in media relations, others offering a much wider perspective.

Public Relations, Marketing & Information Technology

Given that the marketing environment has changed so radically over the last two decades and,

Information & technology has allowed considerable marketing convergence, it is not surprising that a topic as amorphous as Public Relations finds itself with such an identity crisis

Public Relations & Corporations The value of PR within the

communications mix has increased considerably since the 1980s. Today, corporations depend less on mass media advertising and have adopted a more credible PR approach based on third party endorsement and consumer education.

Public Relations Essentials in Management

Public Relations in essence, is about managing reputation and perception and establishing good relationships with key stakeholders.

As such, it can be considered the key weapon in the armoury of corporate communication and reputation management

The Scope of Public Relations The ascendancy of reputation capital

and the shift from product to value-focus means that the demands on PR have significantly increased

Traditionally within the communications mix, Public Relations focused on changing or influencing stakeholder beliefs and attitudes towards organisations and brands

Public Relations Activities & Reputation Management

Public Relations activities were either proactive, by helping to generate attention and understanding through media awareness or reactive, in helping to protect an organisation's reputation during crisis or adverse publicity.

Public Relations Major Roles

For many in communications, the term public relations has become redundant. The reasons behind this revolve around a mixture of negative connotations, the need to broaden their agency services and PR’s own inability to address its own identity issues

Public Relations Major Roles Public Relations plays a key role in

educating audiences and further converting awareness, often generated by advertising and sales promotion into understanding and acceptance.

From the viewpoint of many organizations, its principal advantage comes from its third party credibility, when obtained through positive editorial coverage in major news media

Public Relations & Brand

Public Relations is one of the most important elements in building brands and creating both the right environment for the brand to prosper, but also for the right messages to be received at the right time to the relevant audiences

Public Relations & Brand

Public relations is also critical in brand building, as brands cannot rely solely on advertising and sales promotion to foster the desired image

FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Media relations: gaining editorial coverage

Issues and risk management Crisis management CEO reputation management Change management Internal communications


Corporate identity and image management

Managing stakeholder conflicts: Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and managing activists

Corporate social responsibility Publications of Annual Reports: corporate

reporting Corporation reputation management Financial and investor relations


Managing shareholder expectations

Exhibition and event management Brand building Promoting professional services

and business to business services Managing sponsorship


Managing relationship with suppliers and distributors

Building relationships with various buyers

Media and competitor analysis Public affairs and lobbying Supporting other elements of the

mix

Key Tools for Public Relations Practitioners

E-mail: press release Press briefings/ conferences Site, press and VIP visits Photography Video News Releases (VNRs):

digital

Key Tools for PR Practitioners

Stunts Editorial coverage Hospitality events Viral campaigns Advertorials


Features Webcasting Interviews Competitions Surveys and results of market

research Case studies


Corporate literature and publications

Newsletters and e-zines Contract publishing Web sites and portals Published surveys and reports

based on consumer, medical or scientific research

Management of Reputation by Public Relations

The Study Program of Public Relations at Faculty of Communications of President University supports the idea that,

”Public Relations can also be termed reputation management, although it recognises that Public Relations has not yet fully evolved a complete reputation management function”.


Although many different definitions of Public Relations are available, rather ironically Public Relations itself has suffered to a certain extent from both an identity and credibility crisis during the 1990s. The main reason for such difficulties in defining not just the nature of Public Relations, but also its scope, is the ascendancy of reputation capital. Within brand management this has resulted in a shift form product to value focus, which in turn has placed greater demands on Public Relations and its campaign outcomes.


Public Relations is developing slowly into a more strategic and holistic discipline termed reputation management. Such a view would have to recognise reputation management as an interdisciplinary subject that acts to present realistically and manage a corporation or its brands in the best way possible


Unlike traditional approaches to Public Relations, the reputation management approach does not just seek to offer promises, but actively and strategically guides a brand in such a way that delivers on the promise. The logical outcome of such an argument is that brand and reputation are not the same, which is brands make promises, reputation is about the delivery on such promises.

Corporate Reputation

Corporate reputation is the sum of the values that stakeholders attribute to a company, based on their perception and interpretation of the image the company communicates and its behaviour over time

Corporate Reputation

Brands and brand management should now be considered part of the Public Relations armoury, especially for corporate brands. The hub of the reputation wheel is brand, as it is around this construct that most reputations are lost and made

Public Relations & Identity Crisis

The problems of Public Relations are numerous; definitions cannot be agreed upon, those that are available are vague and a large degree of discord exists between theorists and practitioners.

To compound these problems many of the supporting elements of Public Relations, such as sponsorship and event marketing, have become decentred and fragmented disciplines in their own right

Public Relations Achievement Educating consumers about new

products and services Gaining third party endorsements

through articles and editorial coverage - media coverage

Changing perceptions and attitudes Raising awareness about issues

through surveys and research data

Public Relations Achievement

Building brands and image Building reputation Crisis management Event management

Public Relations Achievement & Corporate Reputation

corporate identity symbols good corporate reputation desired corporate image reputation attributes external fit corporate ads corporate affairs department

Public Relations Achievement & Corporate Reputation corporate advertising campaign positioning theme corporate advertisements marketing leverage identity consultants corporate slogan internal fit desired image various stakeholder groups corporate reputations image attributes

References Anne Gregory, 2000, Planning &

Managing a Public Relations Campaign John Dalton & Susan Croft, 2003,

Managing Corporate Reputation Graham Dowling, 2002, Creating

Corporate Reputation : Identity, Image, Performance; Oxford University Press, USA

W. James Potter, Media Literacy, 2005, Sage Publication Inc., USA

public relations management

Documents