PR 3310 Principles of Public Relations

1. PR 3310Principles of Public Relations Monday, 6/8/09

2. Class Objectives • Lecture • Explanation of grading of Ex 1 • A little bit more about the Paper • Grades are now up on Blackboard • Program Planning • Homework assignment • Read chapter 7 pages 171-183 • Paper 1 due this Wednesday at 12:05 pm • Midterm on Friday

3. Grading of Ex. 1 • Common points off for • Not having 1 full page (filling your name, date, etc. to be 2-3 inches of write-up) • Spelling and grammatical errors • Have a friend read your write-up. • Use of slang or colloquialisms in your writing • Use terminology or “objective” words • In presenting, I am very colloquial. In writing, I strive not to be. • Not fully explaining elements in your write-up • If there is a new campaign, what was old? • If there was a problem, you needed to explain what it was • If there was any type of change, you needed to explain this as well • Lack of terminology (i.e., publicity, press release, trust/credibility, media) • Look at powerpoint slides as well as the book

4. Paper 1 • I’m assuming that you’ll have 3 different corporations/examples for the 3 different groups (corporation issues, employee issues, customer issues)… but could have 1, 2, or 3 different corporations • Need to have an example of an issue for each group though! • Where do you find examples of the issue? • Go directly to activists’ sites (Greenpeace, Peta, etc.) • Greenpeace organizes by issues: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns • Will be one-sided views, so you’ll need to do some “research” and find the other side of the story • Look at the business section or opinion sections of papers • Will probably need to find another source to tell you more about issue

5. Paper 1: Where to find examples • Will Google Timeline help? (especially giving you more than 1 URL to find more info.) • http://newstimeline.googlelabs.com/ • Go to 20/20, 60 minutes, or PBS sites and view their videos • Go to ireport (citizen journalists at http://www.ireport.com/) and do a search • Go to Gawker(reports “news” with minimal credibility as their sources, high possibility of it being a rumor) • Look at popular bloggers • Google the issues using keywords • What about using bing? http://www.bing.com

6. Paper 1: Where to find examples • Issues for employee group: • Issue is the use of children as factory workers: event is the creation of child labor laws (and in ’89, the Child Labor Coalition) • Issue is the use of sweat shops by the apparel industry: event is the creation of the ‘96 Stop Sweatshops campaign • Issue is the elimination of pensions by auto industry workers and retirees: event is the action by Indiana groups asking the U.S. supreme court to delay Chrysler getting purchased by Fiat

7. Paper 1: Where to find examples • Issues for customer group: • Issue is consumer health: event is the boycotting of genetically altered food in Europe • Issue is privacy on the Internet: event is Data Privacy Day 2009 • Issue for corporation group: • Issue is protecting the environment by using new forms of energy: event is PR campaign for SC Johnson showing how they use the methane from a dump to power their Michigan Windex plant

8. What’s in the news today? • An article on the NY Times from today, just posted…http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/06/08/us/AP-US-Supreme-Court-Judicial-Ethics.html?hp • Supreme court orders judges to step aside on ruling for parties that have funded them in some way • Creates an appearance of bias • Of interest: • Judges are elected in 39 states and rely heavily on campaign funds • Justice at Stake (quoted in the article) is a group that tracks campaign spending in judicial elections, http://www.justiceatstake.org/ • PR terminology = bias, transparency, credibility

9. What’s in the news today • Another article on today’s NY times…http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/world/asia/09china.html?hp • China is now going to install censoring software (which it will update regularly) on every computer. • Includes pornographic websites and other “unhealthy information” from the Internet • Currently China already blocks sites that discuss the Dalai Lama, the Tiananmen Square protesting, and a banned spiritual movement. • Of interest: • China has 300 million Internet users (the U.S. population is 444 million) • Last year, over 40 million pc’s were sold in China • The government currently employs more than 30,000 censors who “guide public opinion” by flooding bulletin boards with comments favorable to the Communist Party. • Computer experts say that this is like spyware on a PC… the government will be able to monitor Internet use and collect personal data • Software developers who created the software have ties to China’s military and public security agencies

10. What’s in the news today? • 5-30-09 Newsweek cover story about how Oprah is misleading the public by covering issues that are potentially harmful to your health (e.g. Suzanne Somers and bioidenticals / hormones) • http://www.newsweek.com/id/200025 • Oprah responds on 6-4-09 by telling E! Online: • For 23 years, my show has presented thousands of topics that reflect the human experience, including doctors' medical advice and personal health stories that have prompted conversations between our audience members and their health care providers. I trust the viewers, and I know that they are smart and discerning enough to seek out medical opinions to determine what may be best for them.

11. Planning • Why is planning important? • You must think about what you are going to do - think, analyze, conceptualize/ come up with ideas (brainstorm) • Book mentions 2 approaches to planning (pg. 153) • Management by objective (MBO): formulate a strategy that will accomplish an objective • - What are the objectives of each audience? • A strategic model for PR

12. Elements to developing a plan • Situation / Problem / Issues • Budget • Timing • Objectives • Target Audience • Strategy and tactics • Evaluation

13. What is the situation? What is the problem? What is the issue? • Critical first step of researching why the PR campaign is needed • What are the expectations of the client? • Are they realistic or unachievable? • Look at the situation in terms of both a short-term and long-term setting • Conduct a “needs assessment” • Survey their employees (top executives to lowest level) • Or conduct a focus group or interviews • Look at part PR campaigns or efforts

14. Budget • Budget is often a hotspot. Ask budget at the beginning of a project so that you can: • Know financial limits • Going over budget repeatedly does not lead to client loyalty • Allow for 10% of budget to be for the “unexpected” • Determine the elements in the rest of the planning process.

15. Timeframe • Why is a timeframe needed? • Helps organize your plan • Helps communicate to others what your plan is. • Document your timeframe and give it to the client so they are informed. • Materials require approval and “sign-offs” (takes time) • Arrangements take time • Determine your timeframe • Does client have a set end date? (Has to be done before superbowl adv.) • Or is it “asap” • Budget will alter your timeframe.

16. Objectives • One you determine what the situation/problem is, and you know your budget and timeframe, you create a set of objectives that… • Are achievable • Are measurable • Help solve the problem • Informational versus Motivational Objectives • Informational: designed to inform and increase awareness • Motivational: aims to modify behaviors/change attitudes

17. Defining your audience • Broad, general audience • Target audience • Identify your group (based on demographics or psychographics) • Internal audience • Employees, stakeholders • Media targets • Bacon’s Media Directory • http://us.cision.com/products_services/bacons_media_directories_2008.asp • Expensive ($500 on amazon for a used book)

18. Media Lists • Media Directories have categories and lists such as • Teen Media (online, TV, radio, print, magazines) • Children's Media (ditto from above) • Teachers/Educators Media (ditto from above) • New York Media (ditto from above) • Hispanic Media (ditto from above) • Major Media: (e.g. Today Show, Oprah, People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Ebony Magazine, Jet Magazine, Latina Magazine, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, E! News, US Weekly, National Enquirer, New York Times, LA Times)

19. Form a strategy/ plan of action • How will you accomplish the objectives? • What will your deliverables/metrics be? (these are the “tactics” or specific activities) • Media placement (articles, features), endorsements, advertising campaigns) • How will your audience see these in relation to their own self interests? • What are your key copy points? • What are the messages you want to repeat over and over in order to reinforce your message

20. Evaluation • Did you achieve your objectives? • Some are easy to measure • Can do a pre and post-test on consumer awareness of issue • Abstract goals are harder • Report positives and negatives of campaign