Week 5 Managing Campaigns in PR

1. Week 5Managing Campaigns in PR Advanced Public Relations KOM 5321 Dr. Nurul Ain Mohd Hasan

2. By definition… • A campaign is a planned set of public relations activities, normally over a limited period of time and with specific objectives addressing a particular issue and involving an identified group (Tench & Yeomans, 2014). • For e.g: A local authority may run an awareness campaign about GST with the aim to increase understanding on why GST is an important exercise and needs to be implemented in the country.

3. Public relations campaigns • Aspects of public relations campaigns are aimed at: • Products • Services • Ideas By creating a favourable environment. • It’s called a PR campaign when techniques and principles of PR are used to persuade a particular campaign. • Usually by involving the media. • It is often planned and usually one-way communication with a possibility to be two-way communication.

4. What’s the aim of PR campaigns? • To inform and create awareness • To persuade, educate and motivate • To mobilise public opinions • To utilise the use of the media for public information and public opinions – for target audience

5. The importance of campaigns in PR • PR campaigns provide a platform for possible two-way communication. However the campaign practices are mostly one-way communication. • It is an ongoing assessment for an organisation on what makes an organisation viable and credible in a fluid socioeconomic and political environment (Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg, 2000). • Even more important for transnational organisations.

6. Types of campaigns • Various types of campaigns exist • However, in the context of public relations activities in managing campaign, there are generally six (6) as stated by Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg (2000). For instance PR has the skills to: • Put on a public awareness campaign • mount public information campaigns (to offer information together with awareness) • Do a public education campaigns • Reinforce publics’ attitudes and behaviour • Change (or attempt to change) the attitudes of your publics • Carry out behaviour modification campaigns – e.g. healthy lifestyle campaign

7. Communication as a core systems asset • For PR to make a full contribution to the effectiveness and success of a public campaign, it has to be seen as offering more than message delivery or contributing to building brand and reputation – because it’s superficial and has less substance • ‘Social marketing’ is a new buzz word in campaigns especially in healthcare organisations (Tench & Yeomans, 2014). • Latest trend is ‘Brand journalism’ - 2015 • The role is concerned with analysis and understanding and evaluating key relationships in order to achieve results.

8. Characteristics of successful campaigns • Studies of successful campaigns indicate that five (5) elements or characteristics are always present (Newsom, Turk & Kruckeber, 2000). • These elements for successful campaign are: • Educational aspect – create awareness • Engineering – change behaviour by making it convenient • Enforcement – change of policy, strict laws • Entitlement - a form of reinforcement – ongoing campaign, change focus to highlight what success has come out from the campaign. • Evaluation – annual assessment and three or five year evaluation of the success/challenges of the campaign.

9. Implementing the campaign • Adapting and applying tactics to strategies- The framework for your whole campaign must be suited to its institutional environment Is the institution a closed or an open communication system? This is determined by your top management. Determine what goal is to be achieved? Is it for publicity, or advertising and/or promotion? PR managers will set persuasive strategies to meet with the goal of a particular campaign.

10. Evaluating the campaign • Monitoring It’s important to monitor because you may need to change directions of the campaign, reallocate resources or redefine priorities to achieve your goal E.g.: A change of a policy or regulation must start with a proper campaign that sets the people’s minds before policy/regulation starts. • ‘Issue monitoring’ is required Monitor what the publics’ reaction to your campaign is and make changes – e.g. Did the public accept GST in Malaysia? Or did they need time to be aware of what they were expecting?

11. Postmortems What worked? What didn’t? why? What was accidentally a success? What could have been done better? Formal research needs to be done to determine whether your goal has been achieved. Evaluate the impact on publics; The effect on the organisation’s goals and mission; The effect of the attitude of publics toward the organisation; The effect on the organisation’s financial status, ethical stance, CSR * The key is to measure organisation’s financial impact, ethical impact and social responsibility.

12. Changing behaviour – applying theory to PR campaigns • Grunig and Hunt’s Four PR model – Press agentry – Practised by PR professionals with a goal to only promote products, services and events with no intention to gain publics’ feedback in the campaign Public Information – Campaigns using this model are used largely by government agencies, law-enforcement agencies, educational institutions, and units of the military. Two – Way Asymmetric – persuasive campaigning with a goal to change publics opinions, with the aim to resolve conflicts without compromise. Feedback is gained but the goal is to better understand a public’s behaviour so as to change the focus of the campaign to better suit the public. Two-Way symmetric – the goal of a particular PR campaign is to achieve mutual understanding, to resolve conflict through negotiation and compromise.

13. Some theories from Mass Communications to apply PR campaigns • Diffusion Theory - The 5 steps of adoption: awareness, interest, trial, evaluation, and adoption – e.g. an individual will gain steps 1 & 2 from a campaign ad, but the personal influence by family and friends would likely to move the individual towards steps 3, 4 & 5.

14. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs –

15. Agenda setting – The theory suggests that the media set the agenda for public debate and discussion. When applied to public relations practice, the theory would place more emphasis on the media as opinion leaders and active participants. E.g. a placement of campaign advertisement on the newspaper would depend on the related issues set by editorial board.

16. Government campaigns • Government campaigns often deal with rising issues of a particular country. • In Malaysia, one of the major issues was on smoking among teens and adults – Tak Nak (anti smoking) campaign • Often times, government agencies often create alliances with NGOs that have similar purposes. • Healthy lifestyle & the ‘go green’ concept – 1Malaysia Health Campaign with environmental rights activitists/NGOs • HIV epidemic – mainly on sharing of needles; the sensitivity of the issue in the country – HIV awareness campaign, i.e. Ministry of health working together with anti-drug agency and prison department. • Anti Dadah campaign

18. Government PR campaign to create public information

19. Using statistics to create public awareness.

21. Tobacco campaign in Bangkok

22. Colgate’s ‘Senyum Malaysia Campaign’ with support the support of Jab Kemajuan Masyarakat (KEMAS) The campaign is part of Colgate’s effort to support Ministry of Health’s National Oral Health Plan’s goal to reduce dental cavities about 50% among young children at the age of 6 or below by the year 2020.

23. WEEK 6RESEARCH IN PR ADVANCED PUBLIC RELATIONS KOM 5321 DR. NURUL AIN MOHD HASAN

24. Research in public relations • Research in public relations is often viewed as informalby many academic writers. • Public relations practitioners have often relied on informal type of research in two ways: • Simply counting of press releases as a form of research • Examining media outlets to see which has carried those releases is another form of informal research. • Research in public relations therefore can be classified as informal and formal (Reference: see Stacks, 2011, Primer of Public Relations Research, 2nd Edition)

25. Why conduct public relations research? • Research is essential to any PR activity or campaign. • It is a beginning of a process that seeks to bring a specific objective. E.g. a PR campaign will not work effectively without understanding who your target group is, therefore, research is needed for this reason. • PR models for plan of action before any campaign is to be done: • Hendrix’s ROPE – Research – what is the problem, Objectives- set your targets, Program – plan how you are going to meet with your target, Evaluation – post mortem • RACE – Research, Action, Communicating, Evaluating • Cutlip, Center & Broom’s four-step process – Defining PR problems (what’s happening now? situation analysis), Planning and Programming (What should we do and say, and why? strategy) Taking Action and Communicating (How and when do we do and say it? implementation), Evaluating the programme (How did we do? assessment).

26. Cont’.. • Research is important in PR because research is part and parcel of their jobs when they offer • communication strategies • Counsel on communication problems • Educate clients/top management as to the best PR strategies and actions (showing managerial tasks in PR) • Decision making requires solid foundation and data to support your decisions and actions.

27. Formal research in public relations • It is a systematic way of conducting research in public relations which often evaluates data using either quantitative or qualitative methodologies • Today’s practitioner is in a business that demands more than simply doing informal research • They strive to deliver evidence that the bottom line (the economic justification) has been enhanced by the activities they conduct for their organisations.

28. An introduction to research • Research is a process of enquiry and investigation • It is systematic, methodical and ethical • Research offers you a measure of control and autonomy over what you learn or understand to be ‘true’ OR to be your interpretation of ‘reality’. • It gives you an opportunity to • Confirm • Clarify • Pursue • Discover

29. THE PURPOSE OF RESEARCH IS TO • Review or synthesize existing knowledge • Investigate existing situations or problems • Provide solutions to problems • Explore and analyse more general issues • Construct or create new procedures or systems • Explain new phenomenon • Generate new knowledge • ...or a combination of any of the above (Collis & Hussey, 2003)

30. Major differences between Quantitative and Qualitative Methods

31. Elements of the Research Process Deductive thinking (Quantitative) – based on available facts. THEORY HYPOTHESIS OBSERVATION CONFIRMATION

32. Elements of the Research Process (Cont.) Inductive thinking (Qualitative) – based on what the researcher deems to be true. OBSERVATION PATTERNS HYPOTHESIS THEORY

33. TYPES OF RESEARCH

35. Qualitative Methods When should I use qualitative methods? • When variables cannot be quantified • When variables are best understood in their natural settings • When studying intimate details of roles, processes, and groups • When the paramount objective is “understanding”

36. Research is an integral aspect for the survival of public relations practice • For many years, PR has been under pressure to prove its worth (Tench & Yeomans, 2014). • Research in PR means evaluating actions and realities/roles that PR plays in the organisation. • Research findings support previous concepts. • At other times, research refute (or reject) previous concepts. • Research keeps PR on track for improved professionalism.

37. Research in PR implies: • Rigour – Thoroughness in the most up to date practice, where your have evidence of the realities through research. • Underpins credible practice – It shows professionalism • Generates confidence among practitioners – If practice is evaluated and understood thoroughly, we can find solutions make adjustments where necessary – why factor is answered.

38. Some common PR research methods • Outcome evaluation What the organisation can benefit from a research done on PR How research can generate sales and market the organisation based on statistical analysis – surveys or structured interviews • Output evaluation – informal type of research Media coverage – evaluated through the quality of the coverage • Content analysis This method quantifies the textual material being studied. Identifying key messages and how these are effectively communicated. • Social media Track blogs, forums, comments, analyse no. of twitter/insta followers, etc.

39. Issues of public relations research • Isolation and restriction are two main issues.. This is due to: • The failure to exchange ideas with disciplines close to PR – PR literature and theories are limited… often times using other theories to support PR research. • For instance, Leeper (2001) stated that the field of public relations has been in search of a unifying theory, in which many theories apply to PR but no PR theories.

40. ii. The conceptual bases of PR in research which often times is too scientific in nature – The most famous use of the word “excellence” in PR (McKie, 2001, p77), gives rise to many isolation in research as the word restricts research to move towards a new development, new thinking, and new paradigm. • E.g. Tobacco company as a client of PR agency – the term excellence in PR may be questioned. For instance - What ‘excellence’ or best practice are you adopting when you are assisting Tobacco company to increase the culture of smoking in a society and to help increase sales of cigarrettes?

41. iii. The 21st century PR research, with new technological advancement that comes with new attacks and catastrophic scenarios, PR cannot stick with traditional “value-free and neutral scientific observations” (McElreath & Blamphin, 1994, p. 74). • Therefore, new methods that studies the grey areas of PR needs to be conducted. • More critical discourse analysis can help bring out the richness and depth of PR profession and discipline because through understanding a specific neglected community/marginalised minority may help PR practitioners to plan a more meaningful strategy to communicate to these targeted group.

42. Updating PR research paradigms Some current issues and challenges that need to be addressed: • According to a study to understand the willingness of public to express opinions about a particular issue through both in-person and the social media, 86 percent of people were willing to have an in-person conversation, but just 42 percent of Facebook and Twitter users were willing to post about it on those platforms. Of the 14% of Americans unwilling to discuss a particular issue in an elaborate matter in person with others, only 3% were willing to post about it on social media. • Another more recent issue highlighted in the IPRM website forum was on the clash of opinions between journalists and PR practitioners about the importance of building relationships with the media. Some of the journalists think that building relationships with them are not necessary and a waste of their time… what they want is ‘catchy’ news stories. That’s it! These are some of the new perspectives that may need further research to create new avenues for PR researchers and practitioners to engage and discuss with.

43. WEEK 7LOBBYING IN PR ADVANCED PUBLIC RELATIONS KOM 5321 DR. NURUL AIN MOHD HASAN

44. Lobbying in PR • When talking about lobbying – it is a public relations activity done by activitists, mostly NGOs. It involves public affairs. • The task is to challenge the current legal/ethical system governed by a particular nation. • It is public relations from an advocacy (publicly supported) standpoint. • International perspectives – lobbying is predominantly a Western perspective and it lies to the very core of how democracy is being practised in the Western world. Democracy is understood differently, in various levels, in other parts of the world, including Malaysia. • However, international corporations and NGOs in Malaysia value some forms of lobbying and often use this for the purpose to create an awareness.

45. What is lobbying? • Closely connected to public relations *the use of persuasion for change in society/nation/community etc. • Lobbying is influencing decisions made by government/ legislators. • It includes all attempts to ensure the view points of an individual or organisation is represented. • A lobbyist is a person who tries to influence government on behalf of a special interest.

46. The goal of a lobbyist Your ultimate goal when lobbying is to ensure your target: • Is informed about the issue • Understands your position • Becomes convinced that your position is the one they should adopt

47. Some questions to ask when taking part in lobbying • How do we gain government contract, aid or assistance? • Who in government should we liaise with, and why? • Can government promote our products or organisation? • How can we get a Minister to visit us or to support us? • How do we react if a campaign is launched against the objectives of our company? • What are the ethics and techniques of government liaison?

48. AWAM lobbies and advocates for improved legislation and policies on gender-related issues, including rape, domestic violence and sexual harassment. We collaborate with other women’s NGOs – for example, through the Joint-Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) – to give greater impetus to our lobbying and advocacy efforts. Historically, AWAM’s advocacy work has focused primarily on rape. Some of our achievements together with other women’s groups are: The amendments to laws relating to rape (1989) The enactment of the Domestic Violence Act (1994) The amendment of Article 8(2) of the Federal Constitution to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender (2001)

49. Cont… • The idea behind lobbying is to challenge the current system, to acknowledge and make notice that change in the legal system is required for a community. • E.g. AWAM is also an active partner of advocacy campaigns on - The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

50. SAMPLE OF LOCAL LOBBYISTS: AWAM – All Women’s Action Socitey (NGO) – an independent feminist organisation aimed at protecting the rights of women in Malaysia - http://www.awam.org.my/whatwedo.html Lobbying and AdvocacyAWAM lobbies and advocates for improved legislation and policies on gender-related issues, including rape, domestic violence and sexual harassment. We collaborate with other women’s NGOs – for example, through the Joint-Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) – to give greater impetus to our lobbying and advocacy efforts. Historically, AWAM’s advocacy work has focused primarily on rape. Some of our achievements together with other women’s groups are: The amendments to laws relating to rape (1989) • The enactment of the Domestic Violence Act (1994)  • The amendment of Article 8(2) of the Federal Constitution to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender (2001)