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MPPR 750, Week #2

An Introduction toPublic Relations

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Introduction to public relations

• And understanding of public relations as a practice will give you a better grasp of its application in the online world

• We’re going to spend a couple of weeks on the basics of PR

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MPPR 750, Week #2

What is YOUR definition of Public Relations?

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MPPR 750, Week #2

What is public relations?

• There are a lot of definitions• It is ultimately about relationships

– How they happen– How you impact them

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MPPR 750, Week #2

What is public relations?

Glen Broom’s definition is:• “Public relations is the management function that established and maintains

mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends.”

• Webster’s – “The art and science of developing reciprocal understanding and goodwill.”

• Public Relations News – “Public relations is the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an organization with the public interest and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.”

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MPPR 750, Week #2

What is public relations?

• Finally, in 1982, the Public Relations Society of America came up with this very detailed definition:

– Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinion, attitudes, and issues that might impact, for good or ill, the operations and plans of the organization.

– Counseling management at all levels in the organization with regard to policy decisions, courses of action, and communication, taking into account their public ramifications and the organization’s social or citizenship responsibilities.

– Researching, conducting, and evaluating, on a continuing basis, programs of action and communication to achieve the informed public understanding necessary to the success of an organization’s aims. These may include marketing, financial, fund raising, employee, community or government relations, and other programs.

– Planning and implementing the organization’s efforts to influence or change public policy.– Setting objectives, planning, budgeting, recruiting and training staff, developing facilities — in

short, managing the resources needed to perform all of the above.• Examples of the knowledge that may be required in the professional practice of public relations

include communication arts, psychology, social psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and the principles of management and ethics. Technical knowledge and skills are required for opinion research, public-issues analysis, media relations, direct mail, institutional advertising, publications, film/video productions, special events, speeches, and presentations.

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MPPR 750, Week #2

What is public relations?

Publicity

Public relations

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MPPR 750, Week #2

What public relations is NOT

• “Spin”• Marketing• Advertising• Advertorials• Public affairs• Investor relations

All of these terms can cause confusion, first, because the ARE confusing and second because public relations means different things in different companies.

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MPPR 750, Week #2

What public relations is NOT“Spin”

In public relations, spin is a sometimes pejorative term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in one's own favor of an event or situation. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, "spin" often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics. Politicians are often accused of spin by commentators and political opponents, when they produce a counter argument or position.

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MPPR 750, Week #2

• Marketing– Marketing – “People’s wants and needs are fundamental to the concept of

marketing. What people want or need gets translated into consumer demand. …[M]arketers offer products and services to satisfy this demand.”

– Marketing focuses on exchange relationships with customers. The result of the marketing efforts in quid pro quo transactions that meet customer demands and achieve organizational objectives.”

– Definition from the American Marketing Association (2004):Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.

What public relations is NOT

?

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MPPR 750, Week #2

It’s easy to get confused

• Definition from Cutlip, Center and Broom“Public relations is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends.”

• Definition from American Marketing AssociationMarketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.

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MPPR 750, Week #2

What are the components of public relations?

• Lobbying• Earned media• Advertising• Advertorials• Public affairs (sort of)• Investor relations

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Lobbying

• Lobbying - is a concerted effort designed to achieve some result, typically from government authorities and elected officials. It can consist of the private cajoling of legislative members, public actions (e.g. mass demonstrations), or combinations of both public and private actions (e.g. encouraging constituents to contact their legislative representatives).

• As a professional occupation it is also known as "government affairs" or "public affairs." Practitioners may work in specialist organizations or as part of government relations or as public relations consultancies.

• Many rules now strictly govern federal and state lobbying.

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Earned media

• Earned media (publicity) is information from an outside source that us used by the media because the information has news value. It is an uncontrolled method of placing messages in the media because the source does not pay for its placement.– Press release (offline or online)– ANR– VNR– Press kit– Events, inviting the media

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Getting started…a primer

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Advertising

• Content producers control publicity placement in the media. It is information placed in the media by an identified sponsor that pays for the time or space. It is a controlled method of placing messages in the media.

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Advertorials

• An advertorial is an advertisement written in the form of an objective opinion editorial, and presented in a printed publication —usually designed to look like a legitimate and independent news story. The term "advertorial" is a portmanteau of "advertisement" and "editorial."

• Advertorials differ from publicity advertisements because the marketer must pay a fee to the media company for the ad placement, whereas publicity is placed without payment to the media company and with no control over the copy. Most publications will not accept advertisements that look exactly like stories from the newspaper or magazine they are appearing in. The differences may be subtle, and disclaimers—such as the word "advertisement"—may or may not appear. Sometimes euphemisms describing the advertorial as a "special promotional feature" or the like is used.

Source: Wikipedia

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Advertorials

• Word derived from a combination of the words advertisement and editorial, describing an advertising message presented in an editorial format. This form of advertising is used to offer information about sources or services of public interest and to communicate opinion about social, economic, political, or personal issues (advocacy advertising), as well as to lobby for legislative changes. By law, an advertisement of this sort must be labeled as an advertisement so as not be confused with an actual editorial.

Source: Barron’s Dictionary

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Advertorials

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Advertorials

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Public Affairs

• This is where is gets a little confusing– Is public relations part of public affairs, or is public affairs part of public

relations?– From the Public Affairs Council …Public affairs, by definition, is the art

of assessing and managing one's business environment. It requires a thorough understanding of the needs of consumers, employees, legislators, regulators, the media and other stakeholders, plus an awareness of the effects a company's operations have—or will have—on each of these groups. ???

– HP says: “to shape public policy to foster and environment that allows HP to achieve its business objectives.”

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Public Affairs

• From Cutlip, Center and Broom:– Public affairs is a specialized part of public relations that

builds and maintains governmental and local community relations in order to influence public policy.

• So which is which?

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Public Affairs and Issues Management

• Issues Management:– From Cutlip, Center and Broom: “Two points captures the

essence of issues management. • (1) – the early identification of issues with potential impact on an

organization, and• (2) – a strategic response designed to mitigate or capitalize on their

consequences.

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Examples of Public Affairs Campaigns

Government

Employees

Regulators

Elected officials

Retirees Shareholders

Vendors

The Media

Law enforcement

WorldCom Bankruptcy Filing – July 19, 2002 – a “success”

Wall Street

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Examples of Public Affairs Campaigns

No crisis or public affairs campaign in place to attempt to help to keep them in business

Enron Bankruptcy Filing – December 2, 2001 – a “failure”

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Investor Relations

• From Cutlip, Center and Broom:– Investor relations is a specialized part of corporate public

relations that build and maintains mutually beneficial relationship with shareholders and other in the financial community to maximize market value.

– Bottom line: $$$$

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Investor Relations

• Investor relations is a set of activities which relate to the ways in which a company discloses information required for regulatory compliance and good investment judgment to bond and/or shareholders and the wider financial markets. Investor relations is considered a specialty of public relations by the U.S. Department of Labor.[1]

• Most public quoted companies now have dedicated IR officers or managers who looks after the company's investor relations activities and deal with investors wishing to know more about the company. Functions of investor relations personnel often include collection of information on competitors and dissemination of information via press conferences, one-on-one briefings, investor relations sections of company websites, and company annual reports. The investor relations function also often includes the transmission of information relating to intangible values such as the company's policy to corporate governance and its wider corporate social responsibility.

Source: Wikipedia

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Why PR Matters

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Why PR Matters - Discussion

• Does PR matter?• What are some of the ancillary benefits of public

relations?• Is this a case study that can be applied for any firm?• Online advertising equivalent

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MPPR 750, Week #2

Careers in Public Relations

• Read it for next week