Introduction to Public Relations and Publicity Management

1. Introduction to Public Relations and Publicity Management How does this relate to the other elements of promotion?

2. Public Relations • Often misused and misunderstood • It is a Management function that focuses on the relationships and communications that individuals and organizations have with other groups for the purposes of creating mutual goodwill.

3. Public Relations • Use various forms of communication to relay information to the audience. A wide variety of media are used to sway public opinion • Involves identifying important ‘publics’ and developing and maintaining relationships

4. Consequences of Poorly Managed PR Functions • Loss of customers and revenues • Time lost dealing with complaints or lawsuits • Loss of esteem • Weakens brand equity • Impacts ability to secure financing

5. Impact of Negative Publicity • Today’s Example: Tom Cruise and Scientology • Negative publicity consequences • Incident One – Oprah and her couch • Box Office Impact • War of the Worlds - $234 million (budget $132m) • Mission Impossible Three - $133 million (budget $150m) • Lions for Lambs $14.9m (budget $35m) • Before Couch Incident • Mission Impossible II $215m

6. Companies Dealing Negative Press • Steven Jobs and his questionable health at this time • Apple stock prices have fluctuated resulting from conflicting reports regarding his health • Apple beat Wall Street estimates for profits in 2008 • GM continues to cut production and workers; Sales forecasted to drop 20% over 2008

7. Advertising vs. PR • Advertising uses the mass media and is paid for by the sponsor • Customers view with skepticism rarely the best tool for building credibility • Carefully placed to gain TA attention

8. PR Communications generally are not openly sponsored or financed Info received in the form of news articles, interviews, feature stories after being edited and reviewed by the media More credible to publics Less precise in reach Often followed with corporate ad campaigns to increase effectiveness Differences between Advertising and PR

9. Differences in Viewpoint • Advertising professionals have a business background and view marketing as the umbrella process in which product development, how to distribute and sell them • PR professionals have a background in journalism and feel that pr should be the umbrella process “PR is a management discipline that encompasses a wide range of activities from marketing to advertising.” Inside PR

10. Strengths of PR • Targets and maintains relationships with important stakeholders • can reach difficult to reach audiences such as opinion leaders and upscale consumers • pr professionals can advise clients and companies regarding the implications of trends and corporate activities on consumer opinions • can break through clutter more effectively than ads

11. Strengths of PR • pr specialists can present the company as good citizens • can handle crises, minimizing negative effects on the organization’s reputation • offers the business more flexibility than advertising and sales promotion • laws less strict for press releases • adds credibility and believability - why would Dan Rather lie? (ha ha!) • cost effective

12. Weaknesses of PR • lack of control over the story slant and coverage • subject to others’ approval for news story to run • Bottom-line impact difficult to measure • PR objectives are difficult to quantify

13. Who are the Publics? • all of the audiences that the marketing communicator targets to receive messages about the company or who are perceived as influencing opinions about the firm

14. Segments to Target • Internal Stakeholders • employees • shareholders • suppliers, distributors, brokers, wholesalers, retailers, dealers • consumers (regular or loyal)

15. External Publics • The media • local community neighbors • local, regional and federal governmental bodies and regulators • financial community • special interest groups • prospective customers, employees, shareholders

16. Importance of Stakeholders • Employee satisfaction and confidence • WOM (Word of Mouth) • Governmental motivation to monitor • financial market confidence • community involvement and perceptions • consumer confidence

17. The Public Relations Job • Media relations • corporate public relations • crisis management • employee relations • financial relations • public affairs • community relations • marketing public relations • Reputation Management

18. Media Relations • Function primarily responsible for publicity generation and management • Develop personal relations with media contacts • provide information regarding • story ideas • press releases • supplemental info

19. Corporate PR • High-level counseling with senior management about the company’s overall reputation, its image in the eyes of the various stakeholders, and its response to issues that may impact the success of the firm

20. Corporate PR • Issue Management • practice of planning a company’s response to important issues • Corporate advertising • ads used to create positive attitudes and goodwill toward the firm • Advocacy Advertising • expresses a viewpoint of the firm on an important issue

21. Reputation Management • Long-term process using a number of strategies to manage the image or reputation of your client or firm • Tools employed include publicity, press releases, press agentry, crisis management, and community involvement • Press agentry • Planning and staging of events • Bring attention to new products or services or portray the organization favorably

22. Crisis Management • Strategies to address crises or disasters • oil spills, plane crashes, management improprieties • Unless react quickly and effectively can destroy brand value • Often referred to as reactive PR • addresses negative publicity

23. Employee Relations • Motivation programs • newsletters • flyers • video programming • bulletin boards • Keys to success • security • consideration • recognition • opportunity • respect • participation

24. Financial Relations • Comply with governmental regulations • manage communications with stockbrokers, investors • distribute and deal with financial reporting of acquisitions, actions that effect stock prices

25. Public Affairs and Community Relations • Public Affairs - focus on communication with government agencies • Community Relations • management of relations with stakeholders in the local community event marketing

26. Marketing Public Relations • Seeks positive publicity for products • very important for new products • MPR specialists work closely with marketing staff members on the design of the new product, strategic positioning in the marketplace • handle special events for major announcements • coordination of imc