1. What DO they do !? Public Relations Specialists What DO they do !? Sports & Entertainment Marketing Mrs. Wilson

2. Firms vs. Departments  Some companies hire PR firms  Some companies have PR departments

3. Public vs. Private Sector  You may work in the public sector Schools Hospitals Universities Government agencies  You may work in the private sector Businesses

4. What is your primary task?  Your principal task as a PR specialist is to publicize the good news about your company and its products.  Control the damage done by any bad news.

5. Actual Case  In 1990, traces of dangerous benzene were found in Perrier, a French water.  This prompted a nationwide recall of over 72 million bottles of Perrier.  While no one got hurt, the company suffered a tremendous image problem.  By acting quickly, and monitoring consumer responses, Perrier overcame the bad press.

6. Writing News Releases  News Release Prewritten story about a company that is sent to the various media Contains information about the company’s employees, stores, operations, products, corporate philosophy, or participation in an event or program. Contains a certain amount of newsworthy information.

7. Guidelines  Gather info that is good for multiple uses  Send only important news to media  Send to all media at the same time  Should have a continuity of theme Community minded such as job training  Remember media is interested in NEWS not publicity  Avoid using the word publicity

8. Proper Format  Answer 5 basic questions: 1. Who said or did something? 2. What was said or what happened? 3. When was it said? 4. Where was it said? 5. Why was it said or why did it happen?

9. Other PR Duties  Prepare annual reports, brochures, and responses to customer inquiries  Write short feature articles for trade magazines  Develop Press Kits

10. Press Kits  A folder containing articles, news, press releases, feature stories, and photographs about a company  These are given to the media to assist them in reporting on the intended news item  Press Kit Examples http://ncppp.org/presskit/2003presskit.pdf http://www.digitalgrit.com/pdf/online_press_ kit.pdf http://www.digitalgrit.com/pdf/online_press_ kit.pdf

11. Press Conference  Meeting in which media members are invited by a business or organization to hear an announcement about a newsworthy event  Include corporate changes or reorgs or product development and closings