Marketing-Oriented Public Relations and Word-of-Mouth Management CHAPTER 18 Marketing-Oriented Public Relations and Word-of-Mouth Management © 2010 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved.

Public Relations and Integrated Marcom General Public Relations (PR) Is an organizational activity involved with fostering goodwill between a firm and all of its various publics Employees, suppliers, stockholders, governments, the public, labor groups, citizen action groups, and consumers Marketing Public Relations (MPR) Involves an organization’s interactions with actual or prospective customers Performs an increasingly important marcom function for both B2C and B2B firms Are more credible and less expensive in comparison with advertisements © 2010 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

MPR versus Advertising PR (or MPR) in Integrated Marcom Has been the subject of much debate Has traditionally been specialized and limited Has credibility that can be used to introduce new products using little advertising Works best for capturing the attention of the media when introducing new and innovative products Drawbacks to MPR Not all products can rely on publicity Free publicity lasts only as long as the product is newsworthy © 2010 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Marketing-Oriented Public Relations (MPR) Proactive MPR Is a tool for communicating a brand’s merits Is used in conjunction with other marcom tools such as advertising and sales promotions Is dictated by a firm’s marketing objectives Is offensively oriented and opportunity seeking Reactive MPR Is the conduct of public relations in response to outside influences Provides a quick response to repair firm’s reputation, prevent market erosion, and regain lost sales © 2010 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Forms of Proactive MPR Product Releases Announce new products Provide relevant information, features and benefit Audiovisual product releases (video news releases, or VNRs) gained wide usage Executive- Statement (News) Releases Quoting CEOs and other corporate executives May address a wide variety of issues Published in the news section Carry a significant degree of credibility Feature Articles Detailed descriptions of products or other newsworthy programs Written for immediate publications or airing Inexpensive to prepare © 2010 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Reactive MPR and Crisis Management Addresses factors in a product’s defects and failures Provides responses to unanticipated market events Crisis Management Provides quick and positive responses to negative publicity to reassure consumers and lessen the damage following negative publicity © 2010 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

The Special Case of Rumors and Urban Legends Commercial Rumors Conspiracy Rumors Contamination Rumors Types of Rumors © 2010 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 7

What Is the Best Way to Handle a Rumor? Antirumor Campaign Activities: Deciding on the specific points in the rumor that need to be refuted Emphasizing that the conspiracy or contamination rumor is untrue and unfair Picking appropriate media and vehicles for delivering the antirumor message Selecting a credible spokesperson © 2010 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.