Instructor Resource
Luttrell, Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Chapter 8: Tactics
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Strategies often define the channel for presenting the organization’s message. Which
one of the following would a strategy NOT do?
a. specify a publisher’s editorial column
b. specify television network news
c. specify Facebook
d. specify a national radio talk show
2. Organizations of a large size often rely on which kind of practitioners when executing
tactical approaches?
a. strategic generalists
b. paid consultants
c. outside contractors
d. tactical specialists
3. Which one of the following would represent an instance of when to use paid media as
a tactical approach?
a. when a message is complex and has many details
b. when a message needs to reach a very large audience
c. when a message must reach a particular audience at a particular time
d. when a message is perceived differently by different publics
4. In the PESO mode, the notion of TIMING in selecting tactical approaches refers to
______.
Instructor Resource
Luttrell, Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
a. whether or not the message is time-limited in its relevancy
b. when the message appears in public
c. how current or up to date the message is
d. the lead time needed to prepare a message
5. Which one of the following is NOT a cost factor when presenting an ad in a specific
market?
a. audience size
b. placement market
c. production cost
d. media channel
6. Paid media channels usually have which of the following characteristic?
a. Their audiences are larger than free media channels.
b. Their audiences are often not necessarily seeking the message.
c. Their audiences are more educated than other media channels.
d. Their audiences are more diverse than other media channels.
7. Which one of the following communications means has increased the ability to target
audiences?
a. public relations expansion
b. bloggers and influencers
c. data set creation
d. digital advertising
Instructor Resource
Luttrell, Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach 1e
8. Which one of the following is NOT a factor in how a media plan would be evaluated?
a. production costs
b. cost efficiency
c. audience demographics
d. geographic reach
9. What is the worst outcome for an organization when using advertorial content?
a. Advertorials can be seen as deceitful.
b. Advertorials often do not stand out.
c. Advertorials cost more to place than ads.
d. Advertorials are often poorly edited.
10. In earned media, what is a role for the PR practitioner before publication?
a. to edit the story before publication
b. to assist the journalists or editors
c. to review different versions of the story
d. to promote the story to potential audiences
11. What is the feature that brings added credibility to organizations using earned
media?
a. Earned media is participatory for audiences.
b. Earned media is a controlled tactic.
c. Earned media enhances relationships with influencers.
d. Earned media is an uncontrolled tactic.
Instructor Resource
Luttrell, Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
12. The benefit of earned media is provided by whom?
a. a reporter or blogger
b. a PR practitioner
c. the audience member
d. the advertiser
13. Who among the following determines what finally appears as earned media
coverage?
a. PR practitioners and the organizational spokesperson
b. PR practitioners and reporters
c. reporters and editors
d. the organizational spokesperson and the reporter
14. What does the successful practitioner do to increase the likelihood of attaining
earned media coverage when creating content?
a. address the needs of those they are creating content for
b. meet the needs of the target audience
c. ensure that content is aligned with organizational values
d. create content that is distinctive
15. What is the essence of media relations work?
a. PR practitioners communicating with journalists
b. organizations controlling their messages
c. editors developing stories
d. reporters developing sources
Instructor Resource
Luttrell, Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
16. According to the text, information provided by an outside source is used by media
because the information has news value is called ______.
a. credibility
b. publicity
c. assistance
d. promotion
17. What do media relations professionals create when they reduce the workload of
reporters?
a. information subsidy
b. informational support
c. proactive content
d. editorial assistance
18. With regard to shared media response timing, what makes social media a challenge
for organizations?
a. Social media can be instantaneous.
b. Social media can be prolific.
c. Social media can be long-lasting.
d. Social media can reach a large audience.
19. Big brands have found a budgetary challenge in employing shared media due to
which one of the reasons below?
a. Organizations are developing increasing numbers of micro-sites from their main
websites.
b. Organizations are adding increasing amounts of video to their sites.
c. Organizations are using shared media platforms as customer service channels.
d. Organizations track and respond to their competitors’ sites more frequently.
Instructor Resource
Luttrell, Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach 1e
20. Successful practitioners using shared media will post information on the
organization’s site according to which one of the following reasons?
a. post content to promote new ventures
b. post content often to support website traffic
c. post content to capture audience interaction data
d. post content only when part of a campaign
21. According to the book Content Rules, recycled content on shared media represents
which description below?
a. Recycled content is the same across channels.
b. Recycled content is adapted to different channels.
c. Recycled content is edited by different editors on different channels.
d. Recycled content is normally deleted after a very short period of time.
22. The best example of using owned media versus other forms in the PESO model is
which one of the following?
a. Owned media offers the greatest amount of content control.
b. Owned media can spread to a widening audience.
c. Owned media allows for more content interaction.
d. Owned media can reach the largest audiences.
23. For some organizations working with their owned media, they assume a website has
which one of the following?
a. a two-fold increase in size every year
b. a five-fold increase in size every two years
c. a two-year lifespan
Instructor Resource
Luttrell, Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
d. a five-year lifespan
24. Collateral materials run the risk of which one of the following?
a. poorly written content
b. not enough content
c. poorly conceived content
d. too much content
25. What is the name of the management function that identifies needs and wants,
offers products and services to satisfy those demands?
a. marketing
b. advertising
c. public relations
d. promotion
26. Which form of owned media usage for representing specific concepts is growing in
popularity with organizations?
a. organizational platforms
b. online forums
c. interactive apps
True/False
Instructor Resource
Luttrell, Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
1. Tactics are most effective when used as a single approach to presenting an
organization’s message
2. PR practitioners in small organizations will likely be comfortable using a wide range of
tactics.
3. To increase the efficiency of a media plan, the plan is evaluated on the basis of
geographic reach.
4. The Wall Street Journal is considered both a newspaper and a digital medium.
5. Advertorial content is the same as news.
6. To retain their independence, journalists will tend to not accept information and
assistance from a PR practitioner.
Instructor Resource
Luttrell, Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
7. The PR practitioner striving to understand search engine optimization will need an
understanding of algorithms.
8. There is no cost for the organization when employing earned media.
9. Campaigns are often located within an organizational website rather than on their
own.
10. Serial print publications for organizations have all but disappeared.
11. An e-blast is considered a stand-alone publication.
12. Fewer organizations maintain comprehensive print material about their work.
13. A building exterior may be considered a form of collateral material.
Instructor Resource
Luttrell, Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
14. Campaign objectives and strategies should clearly support tactics.
15. Simultaneous tactics can be used to support a strategy.
Short Answer/Essay
1. Describe the nature of tactics with regard to messages and audiences.
2. Explain how it is that some organizations might have people who are tactical
specialists and other organizations might rely on generalists.
3. Under what particular conditions might an organization need to rely on paid media
versus some other form of media?
Instructor Resource
Luttrell, Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
4. Explain the advantage of using paid media with regard to editorial control.
5. Explain why practitioners are cautious about using advertorials.
6. Earned media is considered an uncontrolled tactic. Explain what this means, and why
it carries risk for the practitioner and organization.
7. Discuss what the practitioner can do to be proactive when attempting to capture
earned media.
Instructor Resource
Luttrell, Public Relations Campaigns: An Integrated Approach 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
8. In the realm of media relations, describe an instance in in which a reporter might
accept information from a PR practitioner and why he or she would accept that
information.
9. Describe some of the ways a PR practitioner can create information subsidies.
10. Explain how an organization’s message might be presented differently to a target
audience when it appears in social media versus earned media.