PR THEORY

1. PR THEORY M.SAHNI

2. Public relations is a management function that influences organizational objectives and philosophy and facilitates organizational change. The Means: Public relations practitioners communicate with all relevant internal and external publics (people groups) to develop positive relationships and to create consistency between organizational goals and societal expectations. The Purpose: Pubic relations practitioners develop, execute, and evaluate organizational programs that promote the exchange of influence and understanding among an organization’s constituent parts and publics.

3. The Profession as a Management Function Public relations practitioners provide three management services essential to the life of an organization: • Communicate with internal and external publics. • Define objectives, policies and philosophies. • Facilitate organizational change in harmony with environment.

4. Managing as a Communicator • The practitioner acts as a manager as he or she seeks to understand in depth management level decisions. • Only then can we clearly communicate those decisions to employees and the public. Defining Objectives as a Manager • Public relations can make important contributions to forming an organization's ideas about what it is, what it should do, and what society wants and expects from it. • Often a manager’s perception of an organization is different from the perception of its publics.

5. Communication Tasks Public relations practitioners often produce the following communication materials: Press releases Annual reports Employee magazines Electronic newsletters PR campaign creations and management

6. Matching Philosophy with Behavior One of the PR practitioner’s most strategic roles is in the: …Structuring of company philosophy and carrying out of that philosophy in practice so that what the institution says is not at variance with what it does.

7. Communicating Public Opinion to Executives • PR practitioners accurately monitor community needs and public opinion regarding organizational issues. • Practitioners participate in management planning regarding sensitive public issues. • Practitioners can then represent the public interest and predict public reaction to institutional decisions.

8. PR: The Four-Step Process • Research in public relations: • understanding public opinion. • Planning in public relations: • ensuring the effectiveness of the process. • Action and communication: • how public relations messages are transmitted to the publics. • How public relations is evaluated: • the ways in which practitioners assess the outcomes of their activities.

9. The Public Relations Process Seeks a Proactive Responsible Influence • Recognize that organizational behavior does affect public opinion. • The practitioner attempts to… • predict behavior through research • plan accordingly to influence behavior • maximize benefits for all concerned

10. What Do We Mean by “Responsible Influence”? • Influence is best practiced with a: • high commitment to ethics • sincere social responsibility • The practitioner should constantly be asking “What is in the best interest of society?”

11. Employees • Consumers • Media • Financial Markets • Community • Government Agencies What Is a Public? A public is a group of individuals or organizations who recognize their connection with a common problem, cause or goal. There are six major groupings of publics:

12. Identifying and Defining Publics Practitioners define publics by several aspects. Age Gender Ethnicity Attitude Opinion Behavior * Marital-family status Political & religious affiliation Education Income level Work location Residence Media use * In relation to specific products, services, or organizations

13. Defining Public Opinion ·             Knowledge and information ·             Beliefs (about reality) ·             Values (about goodness) ·             Norms (about behaviour)   => attitudes, which in turn => contextualise and colour specific opinions on specific issues. • Public Opinion = a set of shared attitudes based on: knowledge, beliefs, values, norms. i.e heart-and-head on an aggregated scale

14. Public Opinion in Public Relations • Public relations deals with public opinion rather than mass opinion; with the opinion of defined, targeted populations. • These publics have beencategorized as groups that… • face similar indeterminate situations • recognize what is indeterminate in their situations • organize to do something about the problem

15. Public Opinion in Grunig’s Categories Public opinion is sorted a little differently by James Grunig into three groups ... Latent Publics • Latent publics do not recognize the problem.

16. The Second Grunig Opinion Group Aware Publics • Aware publics develop from latent publics after they recognize the problem.

17. The Third Grunig Opinion Group Active Publics • Active publics develop from aware publics after they begin to do something about the problem.

18. The Value of Strategic Public Relations Planning • Supports an organization’s mission, goals. • Treats cause, not just effects. • It’s strategic communication vs. products. • The focus is on outcomes, not outputs. • Plan is dynamic and is updated often. • It is a management tool that promotes accountability.

19. Necessary Skills for Strategic Public Relations The ability to • Conduct research on issues, publics and organizations. • Develop strategy, starting with goals and objectives. • Develop a strategic plan with the right tactics, budget, and timeline. • Conduct research to determine if goals and objectives were met.

20. Research What to research? 1. The organization itself. 2. The organization’s current situation. 3. The organization’s publics.

21. Research 1. The organization itself • Internal environment – performance, structure, barriers to success. Conduct SWOT analysis. • External environment – friends and foes. • Public perception – visibility, reputation, what publics think about you.

22. Research 2. The organization’s current situation • What issues does the organization face? • What problems and/or opportunities does the organization face? • How do these affect the organization’s ability to achieve its mission?

23. Research 3. The organization’s publics • Customers – current and potential. • Employees, bankers, suppliers. • Media, government regulators, opinion leaders, industry groups. • Competitors and opponents, friends and foes, publics that can hurt you.

24. How to Research Qualitative and quantitative research. Primary research • Focus Groups. • Interviews. • Surveys/questionnaires. Secondary research • Use existing research and adapt it to your situation.

25. Developing Strategy : Goals • Goals are grounded in the organization’s mission. • Goals are general statements without measurement. • You should have a number of goals. You can set goals for your organization’s - • Reputation – how you wish publics to perceive you. • Relationships – how you connect with publics. • Management – how you will get things done.

26. Developing Strategy : Objectives • Objectives follow goals and show how you will achieve them. • Objectives should be stated so that they are measurable. • Objectives serve as reference points for evaluation of your plan’s success or failure. • You should have several objectives for each goal.

27. Developing Strategy : Objectives • Objectives should help accomplish the following: • Create awareness of the organization or some specific aspect of it. • Generate acceptance of something. • Produce action, such as a change of attitude, opinion, or behavior.

28. Developing Strategy : Objectives Objectives must be SMART: • Specific. • Measurable. • Attainable. • Relevant. • Time-sensitive.

29. Tactics • What will you do to achieve your goals and objectives? • Tactics are the things that publics see and touch and feel. • All too often, public relations professionals concentrate of tactics rather than developing strategy. • Remember: The focus of strategic public relations is on outcomes, not outputs (tactics).

30. Tactics How will you reach your key publics? 1. Face-to-face, or interpersonal communication. 2. Media relations tactics. 3. Internal media for employees. 4. Advertising and promotional media.

31. Tactics 2. Media relations tactics • Establish a media relations program. • Press conferences. • News releases. • Press kits. • Video news releases • Radio actualities.

32. Internal Media Tactics 3. Internal media for employees • Publications. • Direct mail. • Electronic media • Intranets. • Websites. • Blogs. • Podcasts.

33. Advertising & Promotional Media Tactics 4. Advertising and promotional media • Print advertising in magazines, newspapers, and other publications. • Broadcast media advertising. • Outdoor advertising, transit ads. • Promotions and specialty advertising.

34. Program Or Plan Evaluation • Program or plan evaluation simply measures the outcome of the work you’ve done. • The focus is on goals and objectives – were they accomplished? • This is called “Research Design”. • Do this well, and you are in an elite category among public relations professionals.

35. Program Or Plan Evaluation Expected outcomes: • Increased knowledge among a public. • Change of attitude among a public. • Change of behavior among a public. • Achieve coordinated action that achieves mission, goals, objectives.

36. Strategic Public Relations Plan 1. Title page. 2. Executive summary – write this last, for obvious reasons. 3. The communication process/background, a teaching tool. 4. Situation analysis – the issues your organization must deal with. • Organization. • Situation. • Publics. 5. Recommendations – what you propose to do about the issues. • Goals and objectives. • Strategy. 6. Implementation plan – how you will proceed with PR activities. • Tactics. • Timeline. • Budget. 7. Program/plan evaluation, your research design. • Did you accomplish your goals and objectives? • How will you prove it? • What lessons did you learn that will help you in the future?

37. The Diffusion Process Diffusing Information Requires • Identifying audiences by awareness category • Latent • Aware • Active Identifying audiences by target category Primary Intervening Moderating

38. The Diffusion Process Involves • Five stages of adoption that apply equally to ideas, products and services • Four channels of influence – only two of which are active during any stage of the adoption process.

39. The Five Stages Of Adoption 1. Awareness – Topic known but knowledge limited. 2. Interest – Development of interest begins; information sought. 3. Evaluation – Idea applied to individual situations, more information obtained. 4. Trial – Use begins on a small scale. 5. Adoption – Idea, service or product adopted after being proven worthwhile.

40. Biased Channels of Influence Mass media, print and electronic Biased intermediaries such as salespersons

41. Unbiased Channels of Influence Unbiased third parties such as consumer groups and government agencies Significant others, including spouses, friends, relatives and others admired by potential adopters

42. 5. adoption 3. evaluation 1. awareness 4. trial 2. interest Channels Engaged In Each Stage • mass media and significant others • mass media and significant others • unbiased third parties and significant others • unbiased third parties and significant others • significant others and personal experience

43. Adoption Is Facilitated Through … • Stakeholder analysis – categorizing groups that perceive themselves as involved in the issue • Problem analysis – examining stakeholder groups to determine… • Which should be the subject of each action step? • What action should be taken? • What results should be sought? • How each action should fit into the overall plan?

44. The Analytical Process Assists In … Identifying communication channels Analyzing them in terms of… • Audiences • Time Factors • Costs