978-1305580985 Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – Public Relations: Promoting

Ideas

Chapter Outline

• PR Helps Shape Public Opinion

• PR Pioneer Issues Declaration of Principles

• Government Recruits PR Professionals

• Women Join PR Firms

• Professionals Promote Ethics Codes

• Public Relations at Work

Financial Public Relations

Product Public Relations

Crisis Public Relations

PR Agencies Respond to Social Media

• PR Companies Monitor Brands

• Ad Agencies and Public Relations Firms Merge

• Variety of Clients Use Public Relations

Government

Education

Nonprofit organizations

Industry

Business

Athletic Teams and Entertainment Organizations

International

• Public Relations Organizations Offer Many Services

• Publicity Means Free Media

• Public Relations Grows Globally

Suggested Activities, Discussions, and Exercises

1. Invite a local public relations professional (or your college/university public

relations specialist) to speak to class to talk about his/her duties and the

nature of the PR business.

2. Ask your students to study a case of crisis public relations, such as the

ones mentioned in the book, or discover a different situation, and write a

brief paper about how the crisis was handled. Send them to the library

and/or check online sources about this particular incident.

3. Ask your students to write a letter or email to a company to (a) complain

about a product or service, (b) ask a question about a product or service

or (c) make a suggestion for improving a product or service. Discuss the

letters in class. Ask the students to let the class know when/if they ever

receive a company responses and discuss these throughout the

remainder of your class semester as they occur. At the end of the

semester, tally how many actually received replies.

4. Ask students to access PR Newswire. What kinds of tips are on it? Have

students download some information and either write an essay about their

findings or bring it to class for discussion or in an online forum.

5. Ask your students to look for public relations postings—press releases,

annual reports, financial information and the like—on an organizational

website. Assign each student a different organization. Ask each student to

write a brief paper evaluating the PR postings on the website: Are the

postings up to date? Are they clear and well written? Are they

newsworthy? Do they read like news, or do they read like advertising? Are

quotes from corporate executives well written and well used? Do the

postings appear to have the best interests of the public in mind? Ask

students to discuss their findings in class or in an online forum.

Activity Pages

Use the following activity pages as class handouts for exercises and to

accompany some of the classroom Ideas described above.

Public Relations Guest Speaker

Invite a local public relations professional to speak and to present a case history

of an actual PR campaign. Or ask your college/university public relations

specialist to attend class to talk about his/her duties. Make up a list of questions

to ask—you may use the following to get you started. Be prepared to discuss what

you’ve learned or to write a brief paper on your findings.

• What is the proper spelling of your

name? What is the proper spelling of

your company/university’s name?

• How did you come to be at your job?

What did you do before this?

• What is your title? How long have you

been with your company/area?

• How long has your company/university

been in business/existence? Who

started it and why?

• How many people work in your

company/area? What do they do?

• In general, what would a newcomer in

your position earn? A veteran?

• How much money did your company

bill last year?

• What is your company’s mission?

Does it have a strategy for achieving its

goals?

• What kind of Internet work do you or

your firm do? How do you use Internet

communications or services?

• Who are some of your clients?

• How do you go about attracting new

clients to your company?

• What do you charge clients for your

work?

• What do you do for your clients?

• How long have most of your clients

been with you?

• Can you give us an example of a

successful PR campaign from start to

finish? (Be sure to ask about how long it

took, how much it cost, how the client

measured the success.)

• What has your company/university

done to be successful that sets you

apart from other PR firms/universities?

• What are some of the PR challenges

facing your company/university in the

next 10 years?

* How is the Internet changing the way

your company does its work?

• What do you like best about your job?

What do you like least?

Assembling a Media Kit

Use this list to assemble your own media kit as part of your own public relations

campaign to promote a specific charity. Remember to include names and phone

numbers of contact people on every piece of paper in your media kit.

Your media kit must contain (required items):

• Complete list of all participants in your group

• Basic facts sheet

• Simple news story (inverted pyramid style)

• Biographical information on principals involved in the event you’re promoting

• Visual material

(photos, illustrations and/or video)

• Feature story

(perhaps a brief profile of someone involved in what you’re promoting)

Your media kit might also contain (optional items):

• Program of events/activities (if you’re promoting an event)

• Sample home page from your Internet promotion

• Historical facts sheet (if appropriate)

• Online Brochures/Handouts

• List of useful additional information

(maps, phone numbers. E–mail addresses, and so on)

• Page of special or unusual facts about the event you’re promoting

Planning a Public Relations Campaign

Congratulations! You’ve just formed a new public relations firm with a group of

your classmates. Your job is to handle public relations for a worthwhile non–profit

organization. You must decide what kind of event your company will represent

and publicize. (Note: This does not involve paying for any advertising—you must

achieve all of your goals only through publicity practices.) Now you must plan the

PR campaign—including which media you’ll target, what audience you want to

reach, how much money you want to raise, and your campaign theme. You must

have answers to the following questions, and provide a media kit (include

instructions from previous page) and plan of action for a class presentation. Then

print your answers and bring them to class to present your campaign as a group.

• The concept: On no more than one typed page, describe the concept of your campaign—how it

differs from others in the area, what audience you hope to reach, which media you hope to reach

and specific goals for the campaign.

• Key staffers: Also on the single typed page (see the concept, above), provide the names of

your class team and their jobs in your company, as well as the name of your firm.

• The need: Clearly state why your campaign is necessary. (Hint: Be specific and concrete. Avoid

generic statements such as, “People will flock to this event,” or “People will donate to this cause.”)

• User potential: Describe with as much detail as possible the kind of person who will donate to

your cause or attend your event—including age, income level, single/married/family people,

possible professions, typical interests, and other charities to which they contribute. How many

people, realistically, do you expect will attend your event/give to your charity?

• Campaign slogan: What will be the theme or slogan of your campaign, the jingle or phrase that

will accompany all of your publicity? Develop a strong theme.

• Campaign potential: What would be the best medium/media for your PR pitch: newspaper, TV,

radio, magazine, Internet? Ask each group member to investigate the procedure for submitting

media kits or news releases to the media. Obtain any printed information available. Be sure to

ask if the medium accepts photos or illustrations and the criteria for each. Have group members

propose what they think are good ways to approach different, specific media (newspaper,

magazine, radio station, broadcast and cable TV). Don’t forget to consider alternative media

(smaller, less well–known newspapers, radio stations or magazines that may specifically target

part of your intended audience—parents’ magazines, for example, for a Children’s Day event).

Can you use the Internet to gain some PR? What kind?

• Campaign decisions: When you’ve agreed on your PR targets as a group, type them up.

Again, be specific (a complete media kit to the daily paper, one news story news release to the

local TV station, an Internet news release, use of social media). Have each group member do a

mock–up or sample news release, if appropriate, for his or her medium. For example, have the

person who investigated radio PR write a 10– and 30–second public service announcement. Have

the person who investigated newspaper PR write a news release. If you decide to have a

website, assign someone to work up an Internet presentation. Do the same for all the media you

plan to include.

Chapter 11 Quiz

Multiple Choice

1. In the classic definition, public relations involves:

a. creating understanding for or good will toward, a company, a person or a

product.

b. protecting a client from negative publicity.

c. creating a positive image, even by less-than-honest means, if necessary.

d. creating goodwill for a client by strategically purchasing advertising.

2. The first publicity firm in the United States was called:

a. The Council on Public Information.

b. The Office of War Information.

c. Lee and Parker.

d. The Publicity Bureau.

3. The first publicity firms in the United States were hired to:

a. get favorable news coverage for politicians.

b. overcome public criticism of railroads and other industries.

c. promote the federal government.

d. specifically garner public support for U.S. involvement in World War I.

4. The nation’s largest single employer of public information people is

(are):

a. AT&T.

b. IBM.

c. the federal government.

d. the television networks.

5. An example of well-managed “crisis public relations” occurred during:

a. the Nixon administration’s effort to distance itself from the Watergate break-in.

b. the introduction of Cabbage Patch dolls in 1983.

c. Natural beverage maker Odwalla’s response to reports it had sold

unpasteurized apple juice containing E coli bacteria.

d. the Alaska oil spill of 1989.

6. In the future, PR people must:

a. expand overseas.

b. incorporate new technologies.

c. be aware of changing demographics.

d. All of these answers are correct.

7. Many firms attempt to use PR to get positive publicity for their products

because:

a. the firm can get its message across without any “noise.”

b. it is easier to get a publicity release published than it is an ad.

c. although publicity is more expensive to produce, it is usually more effective.

d. it is cheaper to get a publicity release published than to purchase an ad.

ANS: D

8. The public relations firm of Byoir and Associations was charged with

which ethics violation in the 1950s?

a. creating a story about a non-existent event

b. creating a “front” organization

c. bribing politicians

d. insider trading

9. Modern public relations emerged at the beginning of the 20th century as a

way for business to respond to muckrakers and to the antitrust campaign

of which U.S. president?

a. Woodrow Wilson

b. Theodore Roosevelt

c. Calvin Coolidge

d. Franklin Roosevelt

10. Which of the following is a major difference between the practice of

public relations and the practice of advertising?

a. Advertising is involved in persuasion, and public relations is not.

b. Advertising representatives work directly with the media, while public relations

representatives do not.

c. Shifting demographic patterns affect the work of advertising people but not the

work of public relations people.

d. Advertising people are usually not involved in corporate policy decisions, and

public relations people usually are.

True/False

1. Ivy Lee was one of the first public relations practitioners to promise he would

be honest and open with the news media.

2. Because of their distinctly different functions, PR firms and advertising

agencies are almost never combined.

3. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1961 that a public relations firm could

exercise its First Amendment rights to present dishonest information on behalf of

its client.

4. In a PR firm, placement people contact news media, hoping to persuade them

to publish or broadcast stories about their clients.

ANS: T

5. The Public Relations Society of America was the first organization to establish

a code of ethics for the public relations industry.

Essay Questions

1. What is the relationship between public relations agencies and the news

media?

2. Describe the business and technological challenges that face public

relations practitioners in the next decade.

3. Summarize and explain the major functions that modern public relations

professionals provide.

4. Identify and briefly describe three specializations in the practice of public

relations. Clarify how they differ from one another.

5. Discuss the similarities and differences between the practice of public

relations and the practice of advertising. Mention any developing

relationships between the two practices or businesses.