PR Campaigns

Lecture_4

SWOT ANALYSİS

• A very popular tool for analyzing situations is the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis.

• Internal and external factors that might be contributing to the situation before developing strategies.

• The internal factors are the Strengths and Weaknesses of the organization. The external factors are the Opportunities and Threats existing in the organization’s environment

FROM STRATEGY TO TACTICS

Tactics are the methods or activities that are used to implement the strategy. Single objective short

term campaignLonger term strategic positioning

Objectives Publicize a new product Establish as a market leader

Strategy Media relations campaign in niche press

Position as industry voice of authority

Tactics Press conferencePress releases

Research-based reportsMedia relationsSpeaker platformsIndustry forums

Use strategy to guide brainstorms. Strategy should not act as a strait-jacket, but it does help to keep focus on the job in hand.

Reject non-strategic activities. Brainstorms are marvellous and stimulating, and all kinds of exciting ideas can emerge. However, no matter how good the idea, non-strategic activities should be discarded: if they don’t fit in with the strategic thrust of this programme, they need to be put on one side.

Relate tactics to strategy and strategy to objectives. There should be a definite logical progression. Objectives give the overall direction to the programme – what needs to be achieved. Strategy provides the driving force, the ‘how to’, and tactics give the activity programme in detail, what will be done on a day-to-day basis.

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• Test tactics where possible. It is always advisable to find out as far as possible if a particular tactic will work.

• There may be a reasonable expectation it will work because similar things have been before, in a slightly different context. Test feasibility as far as possible.

• Thus, if the idea is to run a series of competitions in the regional press, there needs to be contact with two or three papers to find out if they are in sympathy with the idea.

WHAT TACTICS SHOULD be EMPLOYed?

• If a company wants to launch a new and highly visual product, such as a new range of expensive cosmetics, techniques are selected that allow the physical qualities of the product to be demonstrated and where there is some opportunity for some two-way communication.

interactive website, exhibitions, sending product samples to journalists specialist interest

online sites and communities, brochures with high-quality photographs and a coupon response that

can be followed up by sending samples, a campaign with specialist magazines with product samples attached

for consumers, sampling opportunities at retail outlets, and demonstrations at fashion

events.

WHAT TACTICS SHOULD be EMPLOYed?

• A company chairperson wants to give detailed financial information to some key investors, the visual and tactile aspects would not be so important, neither is the chairperson talking to a mass audience. In this instance it is important that the message is closely controlled, so an on- and offline mass media campaign would not be the best method.

seminars, production of detailed briefings and one-to-one or small

group meetings. In these instances, the opportunity for one-to-one interaction

to check understanding and support would be critical.

WHAT TACTICS SHOULD be EMPLOYed?

• Sometimes the type of campaign clearly dictates the selection of techniques.

• It would be a brave (or foolish) car manufacturer who did not take its new model to motor shows and allow journalists to test drive it.

Appropriateness:• Will the technique actually reach the target publics being

aimed for? • Will they have the right amount of impact? • Is this a credible and influential technique to carry the

message the organization is waiting to relay? • Will the message get through using this technique? Do the

techniques suit the message (content, tone, creative treatment)?

• Is it compatible with other communication devices that the organization is using?

• With most power and interest require most attention, and that communication should be personalized and designed to engage them.

• Those with least power and interest should have least attention devoted to them, the techniques should be less personal (mass) and engagement is not important.

Involve (strategy)

Focus groups

Team meetings

Inform (strategy)

Newsletters

Website

Partner (strategy)

Problem-solving teams

Joint working groups

High level consultations

Consult

Interviews Consultation with questions

Surveys

Target Audience

Demographics/Psychographics1. What is the average age of members of your key public?2. Where is your key public located geographically?3. What is the socioeconomic status of your key public?4. What products or services does your key public commonly use?5. What are the cultural/ethnic/religious traits of your key public?6. What is the education level of your key public?7. What lifestyle traits does your key public have?8. Are there other relevant characteristics about your key public?

Target Audience

• Personality Preferences• Place an “X” at the appropriate location in the following

listings:• Information Presentation: Is this public more likely to

prefer messages:• that present..............................facts or ideas• that deal with.....................certainty or possibility• that point toward..................what is or what might be• that give information..........literally or figuratively• that depict................common sense or a vision

Target Audience

• Information Content: Is this public more likely to prefer messages:

• that are addressed to..........the head or the heart• that are based on.....logic and reason or sentiment• that seek to.........convince the mind or touch the

emotions• that lead one to....................analyze or sympathize• that focus on..........things or groups or individuals

PR Goals

Reputation Management Goals● Improve the company’s reputation within theindustry.● Enhance the hospital’s prestige as the leadingcenter for sports medicine.● Reinforce the organization’s image with potentialdonors or investors.● Strengthen the agency’s standing within the environmental movement.

Relationship Management Goals● Promote better appreciation of the firm among potential clients.● Enhance the relationship between the company and its customers.● Maintain a favorable relationship amid social or organizational changes.

Task Management Goals● Increase public support for organizational goals.● Advance social change on a particular issue.● Impact public behavior on matters associatedwith the organization’s mission.● Create a favorable climate for our client amongregulatory agencies.

Positioning

• Positioning is the process of managing how an organization distinguishes itself with a unique meaning in the mind of its publics—that is, how it wants to be seen and known by its publics, especially as distinct from its competitors.

Examples of Positioning Statements

• Here are some examples of how various organizations might try to position themselves. Note how each statement highlights a desired attribute of the organization by implying a distinction from competitors.

● The leader that sets industry standards● The best value, reflecting low cost and high quality

● The most economical● The most expensive and most prestigious● The hospital preferred by women● The family-friendly restaurant● The environmentally friendly brand

Mercedes-Benz: Engineered like no other car in the world

BMW: The ultimate driving machine

Southwest Airlines: The short-haul, no-frills, and low-priced airline

Avis: We are only Number 2, but we try harder

Famous Footwear: The value shoe store for families

Miller Lite: The only beer with superior taste and low caloric content

The Heidel House Resort: The place to reconnect with loved ones

Northern Nevada Business Weekly: The only source for local business news

Objectives

• An objective is a statement emerging from the organization’s goals. It is a clear and measurable statement, written to point the way toward particular levels of awareness, acceptance or action.

Standards for Objectives

• Goal-Rooted. Objectives are rooted in goals. They are based on the organization’s goal statements, which themselves grow out of the mission or vision that the organization has defined for itself.

• Thus, objectives are responsive to a particular issue that the organization has recognized as important to its effectiveness.

• Public relations objectives often reflect organizational strategic plans and they may parallel financial projections, marketing ambitions, advertising or promotional expectations and objectives associated with other aspects of the organization.

• Public-Focused. Objectives are linked firmly to a particular public and are based on the wants, interests and needs of that public.

• Objectives for one public may be similar to those for another public, but each must be distinct.

• Impact-Oriented. Objectives are oriented toward the impact they can achieve.

• They define the effect you hope to make on your public, focusing not on the tools but on intended accomplishments.

• In writing objectives, avoid statements that deal with disseminating news releases, producing brochures, holding open houses and other activities that belong with an eventual tactical response to the objectives.

• Linked to Research. Good objectives aren’t just pulled out of the air; they are tied to research.

• For example, if research shows that 40 percent of your key public is familiar with your organization’s products or services, your objective might be to increase that to 50 percent—not because 50 percent is a magic number, but because it represents a reasonable ambition based on the current situation, as seen through research.

• Explicit. Objectives are explicit and clearly defined. There is no room for varying interpretations; everyone involved in the public relations activity must share a common understanding of where the objective is leading.

• Don’t use ambiguous verbs such as educate, inform, promote, or encourage. Instead use strong action verbs to state your objective specifically. For example, instead of saying you want “to enhance knowledge of recycling,” say your objective is “to increase residents’ understanding of the benefits of recycling by 25 percent.

• Measurable. Objectives are precise and quantifiable, with clear measures that state the degree of change being sought.

• Avoid adjectives such as appropriate or reasonable. Instead state, for example, that you want “to effect a 20 percent increase in recycling of paper products during the next six months.”

• Time-Definite. Objectives are time-definite. Objectives include a clear indication of a time frame—by December 31, within six months, during the spring semester and so on. Avoid ambiguous phrases such as “in the near future” or “as soon as possible.”

• Some objectives may indicate a graduated or multi-stage approach to the time frame. For example, you might indicate that a certain effect is expected in two stages: a 50 percent increase within six months, a 75 percent increase after the first year.

• Singular. Objectives are singular, focusing on one desired response from one public.

• Don’t state in an objective that you want “to increase awareness and generate positive attitudes.” You may be successful in the first effort but unsuccessful in the latter, making it difficult to evaluate your effectiveness.

• Most strategic communication programs will have multiple objectives, but each objective should be stated separately.

• Challenging. Objectives are challenging. They stretch the organization a bit and inspire people to action.

• Don’t aim at too safe a level of achievement or you might find that you haven’t really achieved anything worthwhile. Instead, set your sights high.

• Attainable. Though challenging, objectives also need to be attainable and doable according to the organization’s needs and resources, so don’t set your sights too high.

• Seldom is it realistic to aim for 100 percent of anything, whether you are trying to expand your customer base or reduce opposition. Don’t create a recipe for failure by setting objectives that are unattainable.

• Acceptable. Objectives are acceptable. They enjoy the understanding and support of the entire organizational team—public relations or communication staff, managers, right up to the CEO.

Awareness, Acceptance and Action.

• An ordered hierarchy exists among communication objectives, growing out of a logical progression through three stages of persuasion: awareness, acceptance and action.

• Awareness begins the process, increasing gradually; interest then builds in stages, and attitudes bloom into an acceptable choice; verbal and physical actions are modified in steps. Note how this model parallels the AIDA pattern (attention, interest, desire and action), the hierarchy of effects associated with advertising since the 1920s (Lipstein, 1985).

• This model also echoes the standard communication effects of cognitive, affective and conative changes (Ray, 1973).

• Awareness Objectives. • Awareness objectives focus on information,

providing the cognitive, or thinking, component of the message.

• These objectives specify what information you want your publics first to be exposed to and then to know, understand and remember. Awareness objectives particularly deal with dissemination and message exposure, comprehension and retention.

• Acceptance Objectives. • Acceptance objectives deal with the affective, or feeling,

part of the message—how people respond emotionally to information they have received.

• These objectives indicate the level of interest or the kind of attitude an organization hopes to generate among its publics. Acceptance objectives are useful in several situations: forming interests and attitudes where none existed before, reinforcing existing interests and attitudes, and changing existing positive or negative attitudes.

• Action Objectives. Action objectives take aim at expression and conduct, providing the conative, or behavioral, element of the message. These objectives offer two types of action: opinion (verbal action) and behavior (physical action). Action objectives may attempt to create new behaviors or change existing ones, positively or negatively.

• They should be focused on the organization’s bottom line, such as customer buying, student enrollment, donor giving, fan attendance and so on.

• Page: 76• Step 1: Public. Indicate the public to whom the objective

is addressed.• Step 2: Category. Indicate the category of the objective:

awareness, acceptance or action.• Step 3: Direction. Indicate the direction of movement

you are seeking—that is, to create or generate something new that did not exist before; to increase or maximize a condition; to maintain effects or reinforce current conditions; or to decrease or minimize something.

• Step 4: Specific Effect. Indicate the specific effect that you will address. If you are writing an awareness objective, the specific effect should deal with receiving the message, understanding it or perhaps remembering it.

• Step 5: Focus. Indicate the focus of the specific effect you hope to achieve. Provide some detail about what you are seeking. However, don’t move away from objectives by providing information about either strategy or tactics. That will come later in the planning process.

• Step 6: Performance Measure. Indicate the desired level of achievement in measurement terms. Raw numbers or percentages usually do this well. The number itself should reflect baseline research and/or desired outcomes.

• Step 7: Time Period. Indicate the desired time frame, either within a single period or in multiple stages.

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