Public Relations

Every organization has a story to tell…

What do you think of when you hear the term…

PUBLIC RELATIONS…

Public Relations:

Management of communication between organization and its publicspublics (may be internal and external)

Window for the world to look inWindow for the organization to look outPR professionals are interpreters of events, products, issues, etc.

PR is…• Writing news releases

– http://www.publicityinsider.com/release.asp• Organization news conferences• Coordinating crisis communication

– Before, during or after a crisis• Crafting an organizations public identity• Planning the launch of a new product• Acting as spokesperson for an organization• Writing public communication (often opinion

pieces) to promote an organization or cause

Differences between Advertising and PR

AdvertisingAdvertisinginvolves the paid use of time and space in the mass media, usually to sell goods and services.

Public RelationsPublic Relationsoften uses free space and time in the media to sell corporate images, individuals, and goodwill.

The two often overlapThe two often overlap

Differences between Advertising and PR

AdvertisingAdvertisingtries to seduce you with appealing images, catchy music and vague concepts

Public RelationsPublic Relationstries to motivate you with facts, providing explanations and details

The two often overlapThe two often overlap

Differences between Advertising and PR

AdvertisingAdvertisingadvertisers control all information about their ads; how they look where the ads appear, etc.

Public RelationsPublic RelationsPR specialists provide information to other media, who then control how the info is used

The two often overlapThe two often overlap

Differences between Advertising and PR

AdvertisingAdvertisingcan be flashy, fantastic and funny. Exaggeration and distortion is commonplace.

Public RelationsPublic Relationsis usually low-key and serious. Exaggeration and distortion can be damaging and often deadly.

A conflicted but co-dependent relationship between PR and News

• Press releases imitate news• PR professionals often write opinion pieces to

be run in the media• PR accused of manipulating facts/managing

the press• Much journalistic content is generated by PR

[Video News Releases]• PR firms are accused of altering a bad image

rather than correcting a social problem

Differences between Journalism and PR

JournalismJournalismserves the general audience… tries to be fair and balanced and best serve the public interest

Public RelationsPublic Relationsserves specific organizations… tries to structure messages that best serve the client

Differences between Journalism and PR

JournalismJournalismdepends on PR practitioners but remains wary of them

Public RelationsPublic Relationsdepends heavily upon journalists for news coverage but cannot be to sure of their relationship

Differences between Journalism and PR

JournalismJournalismnewsroom environment, long hours, little pay, high expectations of public service

Public RelationsPublic Relationsbusiness environment, salary can be high, focus on generating good will for client

PR activities• REARCH

– Analyze the situation• Who is most affected?• What is the issue• When and where does it matter most?• Why are we doing this?• How does this affect our publics?

PR activities• PLANNING THE STRATEGY

– Who do we want to reach?• Primary and secondary audience

– What is our message? What results do we want? How much will it cost?

– When is the best time and place to deliver the message?

– How do we distribute the message most effectively?

• timeline

PR activities• Evaluating the results

• What worked? What didn’t work?• Did we maintain our timeline? Our costs?

– Why or why not?• Did we maintain our objectives?• What were the surprises? How did we

mitigate these?

PR activities• The NEWS RELEASE:

• Most important tool of PR– Essentials

• Date• Contact information• Strong headline• Tell the truth• Use proper news style (for each medium)• Get to the right person at the right time

You need to think like a reporter

• Many people would like to the subject of a positive news story about their business

• Journalists don’t care about you unless you are newsworthy

• Journalists are often looking for good stories• THUS… you make yourself newsworthy

– Develop you story like a reporter, not a business owner

– Need to develop a story and not an advertisement

Examples of News Releases

• http://service.prweb.com/who-uses-it/examples-by-industry/

What’s wrong with many news releases?

• No news• Not in journalism format• No contact information• Not sent to the right person

Public Relations Society of America

PRSA ETHICS CODEAdvocacyHonestyExpertise

IndependenceLoyaltyFairness

CRISIS COMMUNICATION: Be prepared

• Pre-prepared plan to address all serious issues that may arise in an organization– Determination of what kinds of crisis may arise

• Reacting to the media has become extremely important – Determine how to react ahead of the crisis– Designate a spokesperson– Practice tough questions

• Do not ignore the situation• “Tell the truth”• Determine your message and publics

Prepare a crisis communication plan for Strauss-Kuhn

Your PR company

• You are in charge of promoting a benefit concert by Ell and Nikki.

• What do you need to know?• What will be your next move?