1. Public Relations Chap 11

2. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!!!!! Public Relations Public relations:
The total communication strategy conducted by
A person,
A government
An organization
Attempting to reach & persuade an audience to adopt a point of view.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!!!!!

3. A Brief History of Public Relations
Public relations is
The art or science of establishing & promoting a favorable relationship with the public.
Public relations is different from advertising.
How are these two things different?

4. A Brief History of Public Relations
Public relations & advertising
Are persuasive endeavors & work together in integrated marketing
Internal publics
Those within the client’s organization
Includes employees, stockholders, and members.

5. A Brief History of Public Relations
Precursors of Public Relations
People have always had opinions and others have always tried to influence those opinions.
Ancient Greeks
Hired Sophists to help fight their verbal battles in public forums.

6. A Brief History of Public Relations
Precursors of Public Relations
Ancient rulers
Used spies to keep in touch w/public opinion & spread favorable rumors
Most U.S. settlers were indifferent to American independence.
Patriots used PR techniques, such as the Boston Tea Party to gain support for the war.

7. A Brief History of Public Relations
Quick-witted people from sideshow barkers to Broadway press agents
Worked to generate publicity for their clients.
Dramatic means they used was known as hype.
P.T. Barnum planted stories filled with lies about his attractions,
Named his circus “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
What are recent examples of “HYPE”?

8. A Brief History of Public Relations
Public Relations As a Profession
Ivy Ledbetter Lee
The father of the modern public relations industry.
Former newspaperman, hired in 1906 to rebuild tarnished images of coal mine owners, including John D. Rockefeller.
Lee believed the goal of PR was not to fool or ignore the public.
Often credited with being the originator of modern crisis communications

9. The Birth of Modern Public Relations
Ivy Ledbetter Lee
Understood the importance of public sentiment
Contained publicity fallout from Ludlow Mine strike death
Edward Bernays
1st to apply psychology & sociology to PR
Taught the first PR class
Authored PR book Crystallizing Public Opinion

10. A Brief History of Public Relations
Today, countries with expanding economies such as
Korea and some countries of the former Soviet union,
Hire PR firms to improve the perception that international investors have of them.

11. A Brief History of Public Relations
After September 11th, 2001 attacks on the U.S.
U.S. set up media to sway anti-U.S. sentiment in Arab media:
“Al Hurra” is a slickly produced Arab-language cable television network.
Radio Sawa is an Arab-language radio service.
Radio Farda is a Farsi-language radio service.
Hi Magazine is a geared towards Iraqi elites.

12. A Brief History of Public Relations
After poisoned Tylenol capsules in 1982,
President of Johnson & Johnson & company execs had a teleconference
600 reporters in 30 cities
Let company explain the precautions Johnson & Johnson made to protect consumers.

13. Understanding Today’s Public Relations Industry
PR Strategies
News management techniques include:
Publicity stunts
To create human-interest stories,
Pseudo-event
Created solely to gain media coverage
News hooks
To interest media in information clients want to publicize,
Leaks
To test public reaction to a major policy
Exclusives
Interview with one news outlet to increase the impact of publicity.

14. The Practice of Public Relations
More than 7k PR firms in the U.S.
Growing academic field since the 1980s
By 2011, Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
Had more than 11,000 members,
Over 300 chapters at colleges and universities.

15. Approaches to Organized Public Relations
PRSA definition of PR
Public relations helps an organization & its publics adapt mutually to each other.
Two approaches
Independent PR agencies
Burson-Marsteller and Hill & Knowlton
Corporate in-house PR staffs
Used by most companies and organizations

16. Understanding Today’s Public Relations Industry
Crisis management
The action used to repair a client’s public image following an emergency
Toyota Safety Recall (2013)
Idea Baby Bath Seat recall (2013)
Whole foods cheese recall (2013)
Companies use PR agencies
To calm the public and restore trust in their products/services
What companies is currently working to repair their tarnished image?

17. Performing Public Relations (cont.)
Community relations
PR encourages companies to participate in community activities.
Consumer relations
Companies are encouraged to
Pay more attention to customers
Establish product service and safety guarantees
Ensure that all calls and mail from customers are answered promptly

18. Understanding Today’s Public Relations Industry
Lobbying
Attempt to influence the voting of legislators.
Name comes from PR reps speaking to lawmakers in lobbies outside hearing rooms.
Companies spend millions of dollars in lobbying efforts.
Multi-million dollar associations are set up for influencing how laws are written.

19. Understanding Today’s Public Relations Industry
Public Relations Tools
VNRs have become controversial in recent years,
Often called Fake News, when used without attribution.
Used by news organizations to increase content
Without added cost

20. PR Adapts to the Internet Age
Company Web sites
Are the home base for PR efforts.
Companies can interact with audiences
Via social media.
PR still needs to control messages.
Firms have edited company Wikipedia entries
And paid bloggers to promote products.

21. Public Relations and Democracy
Politicians hire PR firms to improve image.
PR campaigns resulting in free media exposure
Raise questions regarding democracy & expression of ideas.
Journalists need to become
Less willing conduits in the distribution of publicity.

22. Controversies The Ethics of PR Tactics
PR professionals & journalists have a “love-hate” relationship.
Neither respects the other’s job yet they need each other.
Journalists call PR people “spin doctors and “flacks,”
Derives from the term for WW II anti-aircraft fire.
Spin
Providing an interpretation of an event or campaign
Persuading public opinion in favor or against an organization or public figure

23. Controversies The Ethics of PR Tactics To some, spinning “The Big Lie”
Is twisting the truth so what is said puts the best possible face on the facts.
Critics feel that most spinning is a type of lying, or a half-truth at best
“The Big Lie”
When people state something they know to be untrue and stick to it
Despite all evidence in the hopes that the press & public will become confused by the issue & forget about it.