Public Relations

1. Public Relations

2. What is public relations? • “Public relations is a management tool for leaders in business, government and other institutions to establish beneficial relationships with other institutions and groups”

3. Four steps necessary for PR • First, identify your publics--your existing relationships • Second, evaluate the relationships using research

4. Design policies to improve the relation- ships • Implement the policies • “enlightened self-interest”

5. A way for public to speak its desires & interests to organizations A way to achieve mutual adjustments between institutions and groups A safety valve for freedom An essential element to keep us informed Can help activate social conscience of organizations where we work Role of public relations in a democracy

6. Origins of public relations • Moguls in trouble • Vanderbilt • social Darwinism • Ivy Lee • Rockefeller • Ludlow Massacre • Philanthropy

7. Public relations on a new scale • World War I • George Creel--Creel Committee • World War II • Elmer Davis--Office of War Information • Corporate giving • Minneapolis--5% club • United Way campaigns

8. Edward Bernays • Freud’s nephew • WWI Creel Comm. • 1923 Crystallizing Public Opinion • 1955 “Engineering of Consent” • Social responsibility

9. Structure of public relations • Arthur Page at AT&T • PR as a management function • External relations • Internal relations • Media relations • PR agencies

10. Publicity & promotion Lobbying Political communication Image consulting Financial PR Fundraising Contingency planning Polling Events coordination PR services

11. PR and advertising • Both persuade through mass media • PR shapes org policy • Sells points of view and images • PR tries to influence media to tell its story a certain way

12. Integrated marketing communications • Hot new buzz word. • IMC--attempts to coordinate advertising as a marketing tool with promotion and publicity of the sort that PR experts can provide. • Ad agencies move into PR • Overlap in institutional advertising

13. Media relations: crisis management • Open media relations • Tylenol case history • Proactive media relations • Persian Gulf

14. Halt Tylenol manufacture & distribution Remove Tylenol from stores Launch massive ad campaign to exchange Tylenol for safe product Staff press center -50 PR experts for media & consumers Ordered internal co. investigation Full cooperation with gov’t investigators Tamper proof pkg. Steps in Tylenol case

15. Proactive media relations • Crisis management • seize leadership on a story • Persian Gulf war • Pentagon spokesman with Defense Sec’y & Chiefs of Staff • Lots of news briefings

16. Adversarial media relations • General Motors 1954 severed media relations with information boycott • Mobil oil’s Herb Schmertz attacked media critics • Use of paid advertising, ‘advertorials’ • Use corporate reps to tell Mobil’s side • Respond to any media criticism of oil industry

17. Professionalization of PR • Tarnished image • PT Barnum “Huckster” • “whitewashing” • “Flaks” • “public information,” “public affairs,” “corporate communication” departments • Standards,certification, accreditation • Professional associations