|
SEMINARS
|
 |
 |
|
Public Relations: Key Points
Dr. Nash’at
Al-Aqtash[1]
What is Public Relations, and what its Purpose?
Public relations (PR) adapts to developments and changes in the
priority and nature of tasks to be carried out within an organization. The field
of media, for example, is constantly witnessing changes in terms of new technology
and the effectiveness of different mediums, and the fact that competition
amongst media people is intensifying all the time means that anyone working in
PR must remain up to date with any new developments, and, in addition, must
know how to use the various mediums to best advantage.
The
term PR is used in various ways. For example, it is used in regard to the
relationship between an organization and the people it serves, the ways in
which favorable relationships are achieved, and the quality or status of those
relationships. It is also used as a noun: “How’s your public relations?”
Although singular in meaning, the term is written and spoken of in the plural,
and is frequently used interchangeably with other terms such as propaganda,
information, communication, advertising, and persuasion.
For the last 50 years,
practitioners, writers and editors have sought to capture the essence of the
term ‘public relations’. One well-known newsletter dealing with public
relations defines it as “a management function, which evaluates public
attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an
organization in accordance with the public interest, and plans and executes a
program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.”
Another way of putting it is that
PR is a distinctive management function that helps establish and maintain
mutually beneficial lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and
coordination between an organization and its public whilst dealing with certain
problems or issues. PR is useful for managers in that it helps them to keep
abreast of and utilize developments. Its principal role, therefore, is to
serve as a communication tool whose benefits should be felt by both the
organization and the public it serves.
Functions of Public Relations
PR has several functions, which
could be summarized as follows:
PR
is a medium of communication between a company and its public (see Figure 1),
which the company employs in providing the public with products, services or
ideas. Obviously, the main objection of PR is to provide the public with a
favorable image of the company/organization in question. The PR officer,
manager or consultant is responsible to senior officials and is expected to
fulfill three basic tasks:
1.
To facilitate and
ensure an inflow of representative opinions from the organization’s public so
that policies and activities will be tuned to the needs and views of the said
public and to use this information in counseling senior officials.
2.
To counsel senior
officials on ways and means of maintaining or reshaping operations or
communication policies in order to gain maximum public acceptance.
3.
To devise and
implement programs that will give a favorable impression of the organization
and guarantee widespread support of its policies and operations.
PR people are often responsible
for releasing news about the organization’s activities, products, etc. to the
media, and in some cases, to governmental agencies, schools, welfare, health
and other agencies; in other words, they are required to gain positive publicity
for their organization. The main difference between publicity and news is that
with publicity, it is the sponsor who considers what is newsworthy, whereas
with news, it is frequently the media and public who decide. It does not
necessarily follow that the media organization to which information is relayed
will consider it worthy of distribution.
PR work and fundraising are
closely connected, with the former having a direct impact on the latter. For
thousands of private health, education, and welfare agencies, for example,
fundraising – their lifeblood – relies primarily on effective communications
and PR. Similarly, trade associations, professional societies, and labor
unions, whose funding is usually acquired in the form of membership fees, also
rely heavily on good communications in which the aims and progress of the
organization are always portrayed in a positive manner. For non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), fundraising and organizing membership drives are two of
the most significant functions of their PR departments, and the function of
executive secretaries or directors, PR executives, and outside fundraising
experts inevitably overlap during the efforts to secure funding.
PR involves a considerable amount
of research - opinion polls, questionnaires, etc. – which the PR person will
refer to whilst advising his superiors with regard to how the public are likely
to perceive the organization’s policies or activities. Research is also
valuable in that it allows the organization to evaluate ongoing programs and to
decide whether they should be continued, revised or cancelled.
The
most hectic part of a PR person’s job is related to the constant efforts to
attract the attention of the mass media, and in this respect, the PR person is
actually playing the role of a press officer. Worthy of note is the fact that a
very thin line separates what is done to promote a product or service in the
name of PR and what is done in the name of marketing. As part of PR special
events and services – such as operating a day-care center – are often organized.
With this kind of activity an organization aims to create mutual understanding
with its public and be perceived in a positive light.
A very important aspect of any PR
person’s work is the responsibility he or she bears for defending the
organization in the event of a crisis such as a strike, or the spreading of
damaging information concerning a service or product offered by the
organization capable of affecting its credibility or financial status. In
short, the job of a PR person is to smother the flame of the crisis before it
turns into a fire.
When
crises do arise, the PR person is usually obliged to work under various
pressures, such as a lack of time, information and qualified personnel. Most
large organizations, however, have carefully planned emergency plans,
stipulating who does what and when, to be implemented at once should any crisis
occur.
Public Relations Planning Format
The
following seven basic steps can be distinguished when preparing a planning
format for small and medium PR programs:
1. Summary:
In 10-15 lines (100-150 words), summarize the information that you have gathered as follows:
·
The most significant
information
·
An analysis of the
data
·
Options/alternatives
2. The Problem
and the Opportunity:
Before the PR program is planned, the problem should be identified in 3-4 lines. Next, in 4-5 lines you should determine whether PR has a role to play in a particular situation. The five most favorable conditions for achieving maximum potential effectiveness of a PR program are as follows:
1.
If consumers are in a
mood to accept the information or the idea.
2.
If the opportunity
exists to push customers to prefer the organization/company to another
offering similar services/ products.
3.
If the company/organization
provides special services/ products that help build mental associations.
4.
The existence of a
powerful emotional appeal.
5.
Adequacy of funds.
3. The Objective:
Describe the
objective in two lines only. In doing this, bear in mind the following: there
should be only one objective; the need to be single-minded; and the importance
of including figures and percentages.
Ideally, each
problem should have its own individual plan.
(Some planners
decide upon the objective after analyzing the market.)
4. Analysis of
the Market Situation:
A key step in
the planning process is known as analyzing the market, and many planners do not
decide upon the objective until they have completed this analysis. In analyzing
the market, one should answer the following questions:
1.
Where are we now?
2.
Why are we there?
3.
What is the target
market?
4.
Where do we want to
be?
5.
What ‘key’ can help
us?
6.
What response do we
want?
5. Planning the
Strategy:
When deciding upon
which media to use, you should consider the options carefully and bear in mind
that you need to reach the maximum number of people at the minimum cost. It is
also important to decide upon the best time for beginning a campaign.
Before creating a
‘message’, answer the following questions:
1.
What goals do we seek
to accomplish?
2.
What kind of people
do we target?
3.
How do those people
perceive our company?
4.
What do we want those
people to feel, think and do?
5.
What key thought
could we put into those people’s minds to make them think, feel and believe, as
we want them to?
6.
What tone of voice
will get those people to listen to and believe us?
7.
What slogans/theme
would help in attracting people to our company?
8.
What would be the
best idea to use?
9.
Who is/are the best
person/s to endorse it?
6. Budget:
Decide how
much money you need to achieve the objective and prepare a budget accordingly.
7. Results and
Evaluation