INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC RELATIONS

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

Capability development in this course contributes to the following graduate outcomes:
- high level verbal and written communication skills
- Professional writing and presentation techniques
- Ability to relate ethical standards to PR practice
- Ability to analyse and discuss global contexts of PR practice
- Problem solving and analytical skills
- Project management and teamwork skills

On successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

-identify and discuss key aspects of the development, and principles and practices, of modern PR
-examine links between PR, communication theory and applied communication practice
-identify and analyse contexts in which PR practitioners operate, and relevant professional issues
-discuss major current issues and trends relevant to global PR practice

Overview of Learning Activities

This course has three hours of class each week: in lecture/tutorial mode or in lecture mode
depending on the semester. These classes will involve discussion of theories, models and case
studies, as well as audio visual and online material. They will also involve exercises, such as
group discussions and activities. There will be guest lectures. Your notes from classes will form
the basis for further exploration and discussion of the ideas, concepts and theories around which
the course is structured. Discussion will assist in developing your engagement with the course
material, and your participation in class discussions and exercises will be part of the assessment
in this course.

Overview of Learning Resources

There will be a prescribed text and other prescribed and recommended texts. There will be
lectures, including some guest lectures, and tutorials. This course will also use online resources
including MyKCMS an online academic integrity tool.

Overview of Assessment
Assessments will involve group and individual work. There will be a range of assessment tasks
that will help you to achieve the learning outcomes of the course. Some assessments will be
submitted in hard copy and some are presentations.

Introduction
Public Relations is an important and versatile marketing communications tool in modern
corporate environment. It can be employed both within and outside the organisation. Many feel
that public relations is an external marketing tool, with the firm attempting to communicate with
a wide range of external Publics in order to cast the organisation in a favourable light in
peoples minds. This way of thinking is very limited, and fails to appreciate the great value of
public relations as an internal marketing communications tool. Good internal marketing i.e.
achieving the right internal organisational culture and getting everyone pulling in the same
direction in terms of marketing effort, is a vital prerequisite to effective external marketing,
particularly those based on the concepts of long term relationship marketing. Public relations
has a vital role to play in the creation of an effective internal marketing culture within an
organisation. In this sense it has seen a realisation of its importance as a strategic internal
communication tool.

Public relations is a very versatile communications tool and is today used by just about every
type of organisation whether it be a charity, a political party or a commercial organisation. It is
concerned with strategic management of information in such a way that certain publicity
objectives are achieved. It is not always the case that positive publicity is the outcome of a
managed public relations campaign, because it is often impossible to achieve a net positive
outcome. For example public relations has a particularly important role to play in crisis
management scenarios. Where a catastrophe has occurred, especially where people have been
injured or lost their lives, it is often a case of containing the situation, putting a fair and balanced
account of events forward to the general public and mitigating the adverse effects of the disaster
to the organisation concerned.

2 A Brief History Of Public Relations

Public relations (PR) is not new. Its modern day origins in the United States can be traced as far
back as 1807 with President Jeffersons address to congress, although evidence suggests that the
ancient Greeks and Romans gave much attention to influencing public opinion. PR in the UK
began as a Government information and propaganda machine during World war One and was
then used more extensively in World war Two. Industry showed little interest in PR as a
commercial communications tool until after 1945, but thereafter its use increased rapidly over
the next 30 years in a sort of PR explosion. PRs relatively poor image over these 30 years has
been a result amateurish practitioners. In the 1970s the PR profession was referred to by
derogatory terms such as the gin and tonic brigade. People who made up this brigade often
carried considerable social influence and were able to open doors because they had the right
connections. Their main function seemed to be the wining and dining of important clients. The
situation has changed a great deal in the late 1990s and now PR professionals are trained in the
art of communications management. Unfortunately the profession still operates under its earlier
shadow.

Public relations has now spread throughout industry and commerce. At first, full time PR
appointments were less common than the use of the services of a PR consultant. Because of this
slow internal adoption of professional PR practitioners by industry and commerce, external
public relations firms quickly developed, many of them lacking skilled staff of sufficient
expertise, but merely taking advantage of and exploiting the boom in the PR profession. This
phenomenon is common; it happened at the end of the 1980s when total quality management
was the latest fad and many became experts in the art of TQM virtually overnight.
Consequently, because of the hasty expansion of PR firms, the poor reputation of PR among
journalists, businessmen, politicians and the general public that persists today, can be traced back
to this period of uncontrolled growth. In the last 20 years, however, many PR agencies have built
reputations for highly marketing orientated practices. Many of these firms tend to specialise in
consumer PR, trade relations, corporate PR, financial, industrial, service and technical PR. A
number of firms are now offering PR services for not for profit organisations such as charities
and politics.
3 Recent Developments

From the mid 1970s onwards a change has developed in the role and perceived value of PR,
leading to a growth in this form of communication which has continued right up to the present
day. Explanations for the upsurge in public relations activity are many and varied. Many in the
industry identify the late 1970s recession as a major turning point. Companies were keen to
reduce costs in order to stay in business. As often happens in times of economic downturn,
managers of many firms look to marketing budgets as a first strike and regard marketing
expenditure as a luxury and a cost rather than a necessary investment. Many managers found
that PR, with a much broader base and cost effectiveness, would be preferable to maintaining a
conventional advertising budget.

The cost saving aspect of public relations is certainly one of the major reasons for the growth of
its popularity. Other factors include the increasing complexity of the business world that has
produced a need for more complex communications to get the commercial or corporate message
across. Another possible factor is the growth of fast-developing new business sectors such as
information technology, financial services, travel and leisure which has lead to a new breed of
marketing manager who appreciates the value of PR as a communications tool. A further factor is
a recognition that management, especially those working in business to business marketing, of
the importance of creating and maintaining relationships with a wide range of people and
groups. There has been recognition for a number of years that in industrial and organisational
marketing situations there are complex buyer-seller interactions involved in the marketing
process. Some of these take place in the official marketing channels of communications e.g.
between the sales person and the official buyer or at least the purchasing team or committee
within the buying organisation. However, interactions also take place on a less formal basis,
amongst technical personnel from both the marketing and buying firms. It was recognised that
these informal buyer seller interactions were just as important as the more formal contacts and
that these too had to be managed and not left to chance. The recognition that organisational or
business to business marketing involved an often complex web of formal and informal, but no
less important, commercial interactions become known as the interactive approach, and was
basically the precursor to what today is often referred to as the relationship marketing
approach. Of course, throughout its development as a marketing communications tool PR has
always been first and foremost an instrument for establishing, crystallising, cementing and
maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with various groups of people or publics. It is,
therefore, no surprise that as the recognition of the importance of the interactive and relationship
driven nature of modern marketing practice became accepted and practised by firms. The
adoption of public relations as a key marketing communications tool also grew in stature and
importance, particularly in the area of corporate communications. The role of public relations in
achieving sound relationship marketing practices as well as its contribution to achieving good
internal marketing is examined later.
4 The Role and Nature Of Public Relations

4.1 Defining Public Relations

The task of defining the exact nature of PR is not easy. A plethora of definitions currently exists,
each emphasising a slightly different approach and each attempting to arrive at a simple, brief
and accurate form of words. The difficulty in developing a single acceptable definition reflects
the complexity and diversity of the profession. For the purposes of this discussion two
definitions are useful. The Institute of Public Relations (IPR) states:
Public Relations practice is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and
maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and its public.

The essential features of this definition is that PR practice should be deliberate, planned and
sustained; not haphazard, and that mutual understanding is necessary in order to ensure that the
communication between the organisation and its public is clear, i.e. the receiver perceives the
same meaning as the sender intends.

An alternative definition is provided by Frank Jefkins who states:

Public Relations consists of all forms of planned communication,

outward and inwards, between an organisation and its publics
for the purpose of achieving specific objectives concerning
mutual understanding.
Jefkins is a modified version of the Institute of Public Relations definition and provides two new
elements:

1) Public becomes Publics, since PR addresses a number of audiences:

2) The inclusion of specific objectives, making PR a tangible activity.

4.2 Achieving a marketing orientation through PR

In marketing literature there is a lot about how it is important for an organisation to become
marketing orientated, customer focused and adopt the marketing concept. For a firm to be
truly marketing oriented all the staff working for it have to be so. There is a saying adapted from
Buddhist philosophy that states for a forest to be green each tree has to be green. This principle
also applies to the marketing orientation of the firm for it comes from within the minds of the
people making up the organisation. But how does senior management achieve this change in
attitude and bring about the right customer focused spirit within their organisation? Internal PR
on its own cannot achieve this, but it can certainly make a significant contribution.

4.3 Communications and Public Relations

Communications is central to PR. The purpose of PR is to establish a two-way communication to
resolve conflicts of interest by seeking common ground or areas of mutual interest. If we accept
that this is the primary function of PR, then we must also accept a further implication. PR
exists, whether implicitly or explicitly, whether an organisation likes it or not. Simply by
carrying out its day to day operations, an organisation necessarily communicates certain
messages to those who, for whatever reason, interact with the company, who will then form an
opinion about it and its activities. The need for PR is to orchestrate, as far as possible, the
behaviour of the organisation and the messages that result form such behaviour in order to help
develop a corporate identity or personality.

PR is not paid for, unlike advertising, although the marketing firm will have to pay fees if it
employs a PR consultant or a salary if they have an internal specialist. Because PR is not
perceived by various publics as a paid for type of communication, it tends to have greater source
credibility. That is because the write-ups in the press or business journal, television or radio
programme etc. are seen as emanating from an independent third party rather than a
commissioned advertising agency. It is often said that the mark of good public relations is that
the receiver of the message does not realise public relations has been employed. If it is obvious
that the message has been cooked up by spin doctors or PR gurus then the message looses
much of its intended effect. In a sense good PR is in some ways analogous to good security. If a
firm, a film star or a politician are employing security personnel to look after them, one of the
key criteria for success in this line of work is that no one knows or is suspicious that they are
anything to do with security. They simply blend in to the background and are indistinguishable
form other members of the public. It is this anonymity that makes them so effective.

4.4 Corporate Identity

The concept of corporate identity or personality is inextricably linked to public relations. All
PR activities must be carried out within the framework of an agreed and understood corporate
personality. This personality must develop to reflect the style of the top management, since they
control the organisations policy and activities. A corporate personality can become a tangible
asset if it managed properly and consistently. However it cannot be assumed that all managers
will consider the role of corporate personality when they make decisions. Therefore, the PR
executive needs to be placed so that he or she is aware of all the issues, policies, attitudes and
opinions that exist within the organisation that have a bearing on how it is perceived by
outsiders.

The use of the term personality, rather than the more used image term is deliberate. An image
is a refection or an impression that may be a little too polished and perfect. True PR is more than
skin deep. This is important because a PR job implies that somehow the truth is being hidden
behind a glossy and even false facade. But properly conducted PR emphasises the need for truth
and full information. The PR executive, as a manager of corporate personality can only sustain
an identity that is based on reality. Corporate public relations is concerned with image. This
image is based on a long-term carefully planned programme designed to achieve maximum
recognition and understanding for the companys objectives and performance.
5 What PR is not

Misunderstanding and ignorance as to the nature of PR has led to it being confused with other
disciplines and activities. It is appropriate at this point to clarify certain distinctions:

(a) Public Relations is not free advertising

1) Advertising emphasises selling whereas public relations is informative, educational and

creates understanding through knowledge.

2) Public Relations is not free. It is time consuming and therefore costs in terms of
management time and expertise.

3) Editorial space and broadcasting time are unbiased and therefore have more credibility than
advertisements.

4) Every organisation necessarily has PR.

5) Public Relations involves communications with many groups and audiences, not just
consumers.

(b) Public Relations is not propaganda

Propaganda is designed to indoctrinate in order to attract followers. It does not necessarily call
for an ethical content, so facts are often distorted or falsified for self-interest. PR on the other
hand, seeks to persuade by securing the willing acceptance of attitudes and ideas.

(c) PR is not the same as publicity

Publicity is a result of information being made known. The result may be uncontrollable and
either good or bad. Public relations is concerned with the behaviour of the organisation, product
or individual that leads to publicity. It will seek to control behaviour if this is possible, in such a
way that publicity is good. Sometimes the actions or events that lead to adverse publicity are
outside the control of the organisation. The role of public relations in such circumstances is to
mitigate the effect of possible adverse publicity.

6 The need for Public Relations

As PR is essentially a process of communication it is needed most when normal communications

are strained and some people are left uninformed. In a modern economy commercial
organisations have a need for sophisticated communications which can be accurately tailored and
targeted at specific groups of people. In a very real sense, especially in areas such as political
campaigning, communications itself has become a 20th century skill. With the development of
communication there has been a parallel development in the sophistication of the audience.
People are better educated and better able to make objective judgements about the messages they
receive. The very word communications is a buzz word. Failure to communicate can be
identified as the principal cause of many industrial, commercial and non-commercial
organisational problems. PR is by no means a universal answer for every situation, but at least it
is a formal system of communications and as such employs the concepts of analysis, action,
review and control which can provide structure and a way forward in many situations. Changing
social attitudes have forced a new responsiveness and sense of responsibility in official and
commercial life; it is in this social climate that an appreciation of public relations as a
management and advisory function is now recognised.

7 Publics

PR encompasses all attempts by a company to anticipate, track, review and possibly influence or
control the type of publicity communicated to various sections of the public. In doing this, the
organisation hopes to be able to cultivate and maintain a positive corporate image. In fact the
strategic management of publicity through the employment of public relations is referred to as
corporate communications. PR is concerned with communicating to a wide range of publics
and not just to the organisations customers or clients.

The public relations practitioner has to conduct activities that concern every public with which
the organisation has contact. This is because in order to exist, succeed and survive, an
organisation depends on many individuals and groups of people. Even in the distribution of
products for example, a manufacturer must communicate with sales people, delivery staff,
servicing staff, wholesalers, mail-order houses, agents, importers, exporters, overseas agents and
many different kinds of retailer including chain stores, co-operatives, department stores
supermarkets and smaller independently owned shops. There are many other people or groups
that may affect the success or failure of a commercial enterprise. These include printers, package
manufacturers, transport contractors, media owners and advertising agents. To these we can add
others such as journalists who may write about our products or company, television producers of
consumer affairs programmes and technical programmes. Business analysts, professional bodies,
trade associations, government departments and other organisations are also important publics.

The publics of an organisation are those groups of people with whom it needs to communicate.
The exact nature of these groups and individuals will vary in different organisations. These are
now considered under various headings:

7.1 The Community

Good community relations are important for every organisation. An organisation can and should
act as if it were a member of the community and not abuse its power. It should behave as a
responsible citizen. The situation is one of inter dependence; industry needs the support of the
community and the community must understand industry. It is important for an organisation,
through its public relations function, to establish a community relations programme that both
deals with complaints and involves itself in community activities. This may include local press
relations, special visits to the workplace, open days, sponsorship, community projects etc.

The general public tends to judge commercial organisations by the way they conduct themselves
in the same way that individuals form a good or bad impression of the people that they come in
contact with. Commercial projects such as the building of new plant, or the processing or storage
of waste materials, may affect or interfere with local conditions and amenities. Care should be
taken by the firm to anticipate such resentment and an attempt then made to mitigate this
resentment and placate it as far as possible. An increasingly important aspect of community
relations is the subject of pollution particularly with the rise of environmentalism and green
politics. Increasingly firms are taking environmental management issues into account when
planning their commercial operations. This thinking has had a big impact on the public relations
industry.

7.2 Employees
Internal or employee public relations is often a neglected area in the study of PR.
Worker/management relations are still often them and us and potentially confrontational in
nature. The solution can lie in involving employees in all areas of decision making, in setting
organisational goals and establishing mutual understanding. Appropriate objectives for
management to set for public relations in the area of employee relations could include increasing
awareness of company policy, improving safety standards and determining the cause of high staff
turnover. This can be symptomatic of problems within the organisation and unhappiness amongst
the work force. A discontented and disaffected work force can be unfortunate for an organisation.
Marketing orientation within firms requires the co-operation of all staff and this cannot be done
with a disaffected work force. Internal PR embraces those matters that encourage employees to
make their maximum contribution to the productivity and the prosperity of the organisation. It
overlaps with personal welfare, industrial relations, education, staff development and marketing
orientation. PR can contribute to the creation of an atmosphere in which people will work more
effectively; it can initiate a suggestion scheme, a safety campaign; it can lessen waste,
carelessness, absenteeism etc, and it can enable management to communicate more effectively
with employees at all levels.

7.3 Government
Perhaps the biggest growth and development in PR over recent years has been in the areas of
government relations and political lobbying. This form of PR activity has two main purposes;
first to keep companies informed of legislative changes that may affect their business and
secondly to attempt to influence the government or local government in favour of their
industries. Political public relations is often misunderstood. The success of some businesses
depends heavily on decisions made by the Government which is the reason for the existence of
certain pressure groups. Some companies have politicians as directors who keep management
abreast of relevant political matters, and often put forward a case for a company, or industry in
which the company is operating when needed.
DEFINITIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
Operational Definition
- Evaluating public attitude
- Identifying policies and procedures
- Planning action
- Executing action
PR News, a newsletter serving the Public Relations profession

Scholarly Definition
Public Relations is a distinctive management function, which helps establish and maintain
mutual lines of communications, understanding, acceptance and co-operation between an
organisation and its publics. It involves the management of problems or issues, helps
management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinion, defines and emphasizes the
responsibility of management to keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, serving as an
early warning system to help anticipate trends and uses research and sound and ethical
communication as its principle tools. (Dr. Leaf Harlow) selected from 472 definitions offered.

Summary Definition
Public Relations is the management function that identifies, establishes and maintains mutually
beneficial relationships between an organisation and the various publics on whom its success or
failure depends.

The key words for Public Relations

1. Its a management function.
2. It identifies
3. It establishes mutually beneficial relationships
4. It maintains
5. Relationships are key to success or failure of an organisation
In summary Public Relations:
Is a planned and sustained program conducted by an organizations management?
- Deals with relationships between an organisation and its various constituent publics.
- Monitors awareness, opinions, attitudes and behaviours inside and outside the
organisation.
- Analyses impact of organizational policies, procedures and actions on various publics.
- Adjust those policies, procedures and actions found to be in conflict with the public
interest and organizational survival.
- Counsels management on the establishment of new policies, procedures and actions that
are mutually beneficial to the organisation and its public.
- Establishes and maintains two-way communication between the organisation and the
various publics.
- Produces specific changes in awareness, opinions, attitudes and behaviours inside and
outside the organisation.
- Results in new and or maintained relationships between an organisation and its publics.

The Activities of Public Relations

Publicity
Publicity is the uncontrolled method of placing messages in the media. In publicity you dont pay
so the media house decides where and when to put information about you.

Advertising
This is paid non-personal communication through various media by business firms, non-profit
organisations and individuals who are in some way identified in the advertising. Content,
placement and timing are controlled by the sponsor.

Public Affairs
Liasing between an organisation and government units implementing community improvement
programmes, encouraging political participation such as immunization and voting.

Assignment 1: Write 2 lines on each of the following. (ref: frameworks chap. 1&2, essentials of
Public Relations [black] chapter 1
- Lobbying
- Issues management
- Development
- Image building (5 types)

Assignment 2:
1. How does the Kenyan statement differ from the other definitions of Public Relations?
2. What is the IPR definition of Public Relations?

PUBLIC RELATIONS VERSES OTHER SIMILAR PROFESSIONS

Public Relations Vs Propaganda
Public Relations Vs Advertising
Public Relations Vs Sales and Marketing
Public Relations Vs Journalism

Public Relations Versus Propaganda.

The church has always been the greatest propagandist.
Adolph Hitler understood propaganda. He decided that he was going to create the perfect
German race, which lived, in the perfect Germany. This meant that if you were black, or old, or
lame then you did not qualify to be a German. He got young men and put them in the cities. The
young men were taught to be patriotic to their country. They built the roads, the houses with a
certain style. These men believed that they were doing this for their country (German) not for
Hitler. Hitlers key for success was propaganda.
The church has used propaganda very effectively to spread the gospel of Christ

Characteristics Of Propaganda
1. Propaganda promotes the feel good factor.
2. Propaganda has images of power. It aims at showing we are tough. When government
brings tear gas, water to quel a students strike, those are images of power.
3. Propaganda uses one-way communication from the centre to the whole. Eg. When the
priest talks, we dont question, when Hitler talks we dont question. It is one-way
communication.
4. Propaganda has no interest in developing mutually beneficial relationships, no
accountability and no accessibility. ie. it is do as I say not as I do.
5. Propaganda minimizes the opponent.
6. Propaganda has a target.

Similarities
- Both Public Relations and Propaganda are concerned about building a positive image.
- Both use an organized communication strategy.
- Both of them are aimed at winning the heart and minds of the audience.
- Both of them give out public information.
- Both use research and communication techniques for effectiveness.
Sometimes Public Relations uses propaganda but they do it knowing that it is for a limited period
of time and that it is not a fulltime endeavour.
It is normally difficult to practice propaganda on employees. It works better on people outside
the organisation.

Public Relations Versus Advertising

Sometimes people think Public Relations is just about advertising.
Both Public Relations and Advertising have some things in common.
Essentials of Public Relations Sam Black page 39.

CHARACTERISTICS ADVERTISING PUBLIC RELATIONS

1. Use of media Buy time or space Relies on getting media
coverage
2. Control of message Very tight control of content Relatively little control
and timing
3. Credibility of message Relatively low credibility Very high acceptance
4. Target audience Market related Specific publics / audiences
5. Time scale Short term objectives Both short and long term
objectives
6. Evaluation Established measurement Fairly limited evaluation
techniques methods

Public Relations Vs Marketing

Public Relations Vs Publicity

Essentials Chapter 3
Frameworks Chapter 2
Effective Public Relations Cutlip, centre & bloom chapter 1

Public Relations Vs Marketing

Marketing is a management function that identifies human needs and wants, provides products to
satisfy those needs and wants and causes a transaction to occur that delivers products in
exchange for something of value to the providers success or failure.
Marketing is instant. Marketing has to do with the following five Ps
- Produce
- Packaging
- Pricing
- Promotion
- Personnel

IDENTIFYING PUBLIC RELATIONS PUBLICS

Internal Public
Internal publics function from within the organisation as employees, board members, volunteers
etc.
- Are concerned directly with what happens within the organisation and outside as well as
the impact this has.
- Are often concerned with making policy or implementation of programs.
- Their behaviour determines how the organisation is perceived.

External Publics
External publics are not directly concerned with policymaking or program implementation.
- They are recipients of policies and programs.
- They are customers, clients, donors, competitors and other interested parties in the welfare
of the organisations.
Examples of external publics include other universities, Church of Uganda (donated land),
government of Uganda, students.

Group Assignment 1: spend about 15 minutes writing down a clear purpose statement for your
organisation (TASO).
a) What do you do and why? (Mission/purpose)
b) How do you want to do what you do? (Objectives/specific programs)
c) Whom do you serve (publics)?
d) What makes you unique from other similar organisations? (Market position)

THREE WAYS TO DIAGNOSE AN ORGANISATION WITH AN IDENTITY CRISIS.

1. The organisation manages a bundle of unrelated programs each of which are remotely
related with the others and no one seems to know how the other is contribute to the growth of the
organisation.
2. The organisation has no written mission statement that unites all the existing programs.
3. The organisation is either always afraid of accepting new ideas and programs and therefore
doesnt grow or it takes whatever ideas are peddled to it.

To know our organisation, we must as of necessity, have a clear mission statement

PLANNING A PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGY

Advantages Of A Good Mission Statement
1. It unites staff in working towards accomplishing the mission together.
2. Makes it easier to identify your market niche.
3. A measure for testing new ideas.
An organisation in crisis is also referred to as an entropy/decay.

Guidelines For Writing A Clear Mission Statement

1. Be brief
2. Be feasible
3. Avoid words that people will not understand.
4. Be broad to include all your programmes but specific enough to differentiate you from
other organisation.

ESTABLISHING THE PLACE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN INDUSTRY TODAY

For development we need information. Public Relations helps to manage information.
Information is a commodity that many people are willing to pay for and it is becoming more
important as the world moves towards an information-based economy. A successful organisation
is that one which learns to manage its information.
Public Relations is about information. Information is the third factor of production in the 21 st
century. The first is Capital, the second is technology. Public Relations is an important mediator
between the organisation and the community. Public Relations is also the one that motivates
audiences to participate and to act.
To cope with the demand for Public Relations there is need for higher recruitment standards and
higher training standards.

The Public Relations Transfer Process

Negative Situation Positive Situation

- Hostility Sympathy
- Prejudice Acceptance
- Apathy Interest
- Ignorance Knowledge

It is important to know if the negative situation is about the organisation or about the product of
the organisation and then you try to do something about it.

Group Assignment 2:
As an organisation:
- What do we want to say?
- Have we gathered through research and interviews the necessary information?
- What is our interest as an organisation in this information?
- Which is the best way to give out this information?

Planning A Public Relations Strategy

In planning we recognise 3 types of needs:
1. New needs: eg recruitment of new students at the end of an academic year
2. On-going needs: after intake the timetable needs to be drawn as usual.
3. Unexpected (crisis) needs: these are needs that are not anticipated in planning. Eg.
demonstrations, strikes.

Group Assignment 3:
Identify 3 types of need that an internal public of your organisation may have. Ask yourself:
- What is the message I want to communicate to this public?
- What is the best way to reach them?
- How will I know that my audience has acted on my message?

IDENTIFYING OUR PUBLIC RELATIONS TASKS

In public relations we are dealing with problems.
In PR we have three types of needs that we address.
1. New needs: we are expected to spend 20% time and resources on new needs
It will depend on the type of organisation and the kind of people you are dealing with.
New students

2. On-going needs: spend 50% of time and resources.

3. Unexpected/crisis needs: spend 30% of time and resources.
- In crisis it is important to know that yes the worst has happened but dont panic and try to
find a way round it.
- You need to know the potential danger spots. Ask yourself what is the most likely crisis?

After identifying the needs, we need to develop our objectives. The objectives need to be
S-Specific
M-Measurable
A-Attainable
R-Realistic
T-Time bound

The objectives should always begin with to

The Importance Of Objectives

Objectives are used to clarify that whatever we are doing is keeping in line with the overall
mission and goals of the organisation.
Planning helps to set targets against which results can be assessed. It also helps to set priorities
and it helps us to see the feasibility of the resources that we have. When we have done that then
we need to have a calendar of events. Then we need to decide the best time to address each of the
different needs. The calendar helps you to know at what time you need to take care of the
different needs.

The Six Steps/Points Of Public Relations

1. Research (Appreciation of the situation): what do we have to deal with? What does our
organisation expect? What is our organisation all about? What are the challenges we are likely to
meet?
2. Definition of objectives:
3. Define your publics: whom are you aiming your services to?
4. Selection of media and media techniques: we need to publicise what we are doing. We
know that there are various types of media that exist. How will we spread the word about our
organisation?
5. Planning and budgeting:
6. Assessment of results:

THE PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGY

Defining The PR Problem

Planning And Programming
Taking Action And Communicating
Evaluation

To implement our strategy, we have the four-step PR process.

Defining PR problems

We want to know what we are dealing with. We define the problems through various ways:
- Research. PR begins and ends with research eg. Orientation is always a need when new
students come in. By talking to older students we can find out what their needs are especially
when they were new students. Research is to gather intelligence on behalf of the organisation.
Monitor knowledge. We need to ask, who do people think we are? We want to know opinions,
attitudes concerning the organisation.
- What is happening now? Background to the situation. In public relations we play the fire-
preventing role not the fire-fighting role. However in most instances people think that PR is
publicity. The organisational image and reputation is more than just the work of the Public
Relations Officer.

Planning and programming

This means that we want to analyse the needs of the publics that we have gathered. We need to
ask what impact does these needs have?. Planning begins with analysis. As we analyse, we
want to ask ourselves a few questions like why is this happening?, why do we need to change?
Why should electricity go off?
The next level is programming. Here we ask how If there is a problem identified, how could it
be solved. Sometimes when we ask how, it may result in new programs all together or re-
allocating resources to something else that already exists. When asking questions how and
what are related but they should lead us to a plan of action. This should really be a calendar of
events.
When we ask what shall we do? then we need to make SMART objectives. If for example
students are finding it hard to find books in the library, what are we going to do about it? We
need to prioritise what we are going to do.
The calendar of events is to enable us to keep remembering what we have to do.

Date Activities Media Action by Notes

30th January Re-shelf and re- _____ SWSA head and
label SWSA chief librarian
books in library

Taking Action And Communicating

The communication strategy

Implementing The Communication Strategy

The Communication Strategy

We expect certain things from our publics. We expect them to behave in certain ways that
suggest that they have understood. The communication strategy supports the action strategy in
three ways:
1. To inform both external and internal publics. The information they receive must be
relevant. You must ask:
- Who are the affected publics?
- What information do they require?
- What response do we expect from them?
Government does not care about the fees policy of UCU. What it is interested in is that UCU can
have enough money on its account from January to December. That UCU can sustain
professional lectures in the university from January to December. This helps you to know whom
you need to target your message to.
2. To persuade those publics to support and accept the action.
- The message: messages are geared at informing and persuading. Eg. When Bush was
campaigning, he was informing and persuading. The message gives the action.
3. To instruct publics in skills needed to translate intention to action. Our messages are not
complete until we have told the publics what we expect. Eg. When we have persuaded the
parents to pay fees for their children at UCU we need to tell them that now go and pay the fees
at Stanbic bank account no. 12345.

Implementing The Communication Strategy.

The 7 Cs Of Communication

Effective PR. Cutlip, Centre and Broom Pg 424-425

1. Credibility: Communication starts with a climate of belief. Receivers must have
confidence in the sender. They must have high regard for the senders confidence on the subject
eg. For the last 2 years BAT has attacked globally for their products (cigarettes). They decided to
take action. One of the things they have been trying to do is to inform people that no smocking
for people under the age of 18 years. They have been promoting this in schools. But they have
found this very difficult because among the non-smokers BAT has no credibility.
2. Context: Program must match with the environment. Must provide space for feedback and
participation. You must ask: What are the realities that the publics live with?
3. Content: The message must have meaning to the receivers. It must be compatible with the
value system. In America, John Kerry, a catholic lost the election in a country where the majority
of the people are Catholics. Kerry was not voted by Catholics because he was going to support
homosexuality, abortion, stem cell research (cloning) on human beings. People will choose a
message that agrees to their values.
4. Clarity: The message must be clear and simple. Use themes, slogans or other stereotypes
that people understand. An organisation must speak with one voice. The image of the
organisation is very important so we must be able to sort out misunderstandings internally.
Words must mean the same to both the communicator and the receivers. Eg. Long ago gay
meant happy, lovely but now it means homosexuality.
5. Continuity and Consistency: The message requires repetition to achieve penetration.
6. Channels: These are the media that we use to pass on the message. This is where we need
to remember that people associate different values with the channels of communication. Eg. If
UCU puts a message in the Red Pepper, people are going to wonder what kind of values UCU
has. To reach all your publics in their local environment, you will need to use a variety of media.
7.

Evaluation

Methods Of Assessment
Interpreting And Using Evaluation Results

Read: Cutlip, Centre and Broom: Effective PR Chapter 13

Frameworks Chapter 12

- We are talking about measurable results.

Evaluation is the systematic application of social research procedures for assessing the
conceptualisation, design, implementation and utility of social intervention programs. It is used
to learn what happened and why it happened in the program. There are three areas we note on the
assessment of results:
1. Program conceptualisation and design: -What is the extent distribution of the target
problem and/or population.
- Is the program designed to conform to goals?
- Have chances of successful delivery been maximised?
- What are the existing costs of the project and how do they relate to benefits and
effectiveness?
2. Monitoring and accountability of program evaluation.
The questions asked are:
- Is the program reaching the target population or target area?
- Are the intervention efforts being conducted as specified in the program design?
3. Program utility, impact and efficiency.
- Is the program effective in achieving its intended goals?
- Can some alternative process that does not include the program explain the results of the
program?
- Is the program having some effects that were not intended?
- What are the costs to deliver services and benefits to program participants?
- Is the program an efficient use of resources, compared with alternative uses of the
resources?

Methods Of Assessment

1. Enquiries received after media coverage.

2. Statistical data.
3. Opinion polls.
4. Media feedback.
5. Assessing increased understanding.

SMART objectives are set depending on the problem, the environment, message you are
sending.

Interpreting And Using Evaluation Results

There are two kinds of results:

1. Qualitative results:
This is measured by experience and self-evident qualities eg. The evidence that job applicants are
better educated, more proficient or in some other way, more suitable than in the past.

2. Quantitative results:
Eg. A percentage increase in awareness, reduced number of complaints, a larger number of job
applicants.

- Evaluation criteria refer to both outside and inside the organisation.

- Complete evaluation calls for measuring program impact on publics, the organisation and
their shared social and cultural environments.
- Research initiates, monitors and concludes the problem solving process of PR. It is an
essential ingredient that makes PR a management function as well as a managed function.