1. Public Relations: Interactions, Relationships, and the News
Chapter 12

2. Handling a Campus PR Crisis
Charges of racism led to protests on campus
Football team threatened to “go on strike” if president didn’t resign
Biggest problem was administration’s failure to communicate
Administration had problems with students and state legislature.
Conflict blamed for substantial drop in enrollment following year

3. From Press Agency to Professionalism
Public Relations “The management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends.”

4. The Origins of Public Relations
Press Agentry Sending one-way communication from the press agent to the media with little opportunity for feedback; was often deceptive and unethical
Early users of press agentry P.T. Barnum, Standard Oil, railroads, temperance & abolitionist movements

5. The Origins of Public Relations
Ivy Lee
Early PR practitioner
Helped railroads deal with image problems
Early advisor to John D. Rockefeller
Importance of telling the truth

6. The Origins of Public Relations
Edward L. Bernays
Applied social-scientific research techniques to public relations
Promoted technique he called engineering consent Applying principles of psychology and motivation to influencing public opinion
Wrote Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923) and Propaganda (1928)
Recognized importance of the crowd

7. World War I: The Federal Government Starts Using Public Relations
Committee on Public Information (CPI)
CPI run by newspaperman George Creel
Four-Minute Men Importance of interpersonal channels
Opinion leadership A two-step process of persuasion that uses influential individuals to deliver information to the community (Two-step flow)

8. What Is Public Relations?
According to Bernays, the functions of public relations are:
Informing
Persuading
Integrating

9. The Public Relations Process
Research Researching opportunities, problems, or issues
Objectives Specific and measurable outcomes
Programming Activities to carry out objectives
Evaluation Testing prior to campaign, monitoring during delivery, measuring outcomes
Stewardship Maintaining relationships created during previous steps

10. Who Are the Publics?
Public Any group of people who share a common set of interests and goals
Internal publics People within the organization
External publics People outside of the organization
Media relations Two-way interactions with members of the press

11. Crisis Communication Principles of Crisis Communication
Be prepared Have a plan for things that are likely and unlikely
Be honest Lies will catch up with you and hurt worse than the original problem. Ask Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton

12. Crisis Communication Principles of Crisis Communication
Apologize, and mean it Real apologies include action.
Move quickly The news cycle moves quickly. You can’t get left behind.
Communicate your actions Remember, these include internal and external publics, along with the press.

13. Crisis Communication The Tylenol Scare
Tampered-with Extra Strength Tylenol capsules killed 7 in Chicago area.
Johnson & Johnson immediately pulled product off the market in Chicago.
In response to public fears, Johnson & Johnson recalled all Tylenol nationwide.
PR firm Burson-Marsteller handled corporate communication for J&J.

14. Crisis Communication The Tylenol Scare
Reintroduced product with triple-sealed packaging
Communicated using sales reps, press conferences, and 60 Minutes interview
Quickly regained public trust and market share

15. Crisis Communication The Exxon Valdez and BP Oil Spills
Oil tanker ran aground, spilled 240,000 barrels of crude oil into ocean
Exxon perceived as being at-fault for spill
Lacked effective crisis plan
Failed to control information environment
Failed to accept responsibility immediately
Corporate image still suffering more than 27 years later

16. Crisis Communication The Exxon Valdez and BP Oil Spills
Still tried to keep message on technical issues rather than effects on people
Both companies tried to shift blame to others.
Neither company had effective PR plan in place.

17. Public Relations Goes Online
Online media give PR professionals new channels to work with.
Organizations can bypass legacy media.
Internet gives critics access without gatekeeper limits of journalists.
Online media make it easy to leak confidential information.
Rumors can spread easily if organizations don’t supply timely information.

18. Public Relations Goes Online
Using Social Media Effectively
Social media present an opportunity to interact with publics, not just a channel to send out information.
Need to establish ongoing relationships

19. Public Relations Goes Online
Kraft and the #Cheeseocalypse
Kraft had minor issue manufacturing one size of its Velveeta cheese product
Crisis was publicized; Tweets poked fun at the issue
Kraft capitalized on the conversation for publicity and to learn more about their customers.

20. Public Relations Goes Online
Responding to an Internet Crisis
Identify your crisis team.
Imagine your worst nightmare, and be prepared for it.
Track what is being said about you online.
Don’t wait – You have limited time to respond.

21. Media Transformations: Old and New Tools for Integrated Marketing Communication
Effective IMC uses both old and new tools.
Must be prepared to communicate with wide range of publics
If you do a good job of telling the bigger story, smaller negative stories won’t become big problem.

22. Journalism and Public Relations
News starts out as press release, press conference, speech, or event created to be covered by the media.
There are limits to what PR professionals can do when it comes to news coverage.

23. Public Relations and the Government
In 2013, more than 11,500 lobbyists registered to work in Washington, D.C.
Total spending on government relations more than $6.44 billion
Government and politicians make extensive use of public relations.
President Obama “outed” his college-age drug use in 1995 book Dreams From My Father to get the story over early in his career.

24. Spin Control: A More Personal Form of Public Relations
Attempting to shape how the press interprets
(spins) stories.
Spin Techniques:
Selectively leak information in advance, hoping reporters will pay more attention to early information.
Contact press immediately after an event with your interpretation of the situation.
Push the idea that there are always two sides to every story.

25. Public Relations and the Civil Rights Movement
Needed action, words, and visibility
Conducted protests where local officials could be counted on over-reacting
Made sure northern press would witness protests
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail while in jail Easter weekend. Gave message more force