Name: Supriya Murmu

Roll No.: 33300923052

Registration No.: 233330710052
Stream: MBA
Semester: 3rd Semester
Paper Name: Integrated Marketing
Communication
Paper Code: MM 302
Collage Name: IMS Business School
Topic Name: Public Relation
Public Relations
Public relations (PR) is the set of techniques and strategies related to managing
how information about an individual or company is disseminated to the public,
and especially the media. Its primary goals are to disseminate important
company news or events, maintain a brand image, and put a positive spin on
negative events to minimize their fallout.
PR may occur in the form of a company press release, news conference,
interviews with journalists, social media posting, or other venues.
Every individual or entity operating in the public eye faces the spread of
information about them or their practices to the public. While public relations is
an industry unto itself, any attempt to portray oneself in a certain way to others
can be considered a form of public relations.

Objective Of Public Relation

 Building Product Awareness. When introducing a new product or
relaunching an existing product, marketers can use a PR element that
generates consumer attention and awareness through media placements
and special events.
 Creating Interest. Whether a PR placement is a short product article or
is included with other products in “round up” article, stories in the media
can help entice a targeted audience to try the product. For example,
around the holiday season, a special holiday food may be promoted with
PR through promotional releases sent to the food media or through
special events that sample the product.
 Providing Information. PR can be used to provide customers with more
in-depth information about products and services. Through articles,
collateral materials, newsletters, and websites, PR delivers information to
customers that can help them gain an understanding of the product.
 Stimulating Demand. A positive article in a newspaper, on a TV news
show or mentioned on the Internet, often results in a discernible increase
in product sales.
 Reinforcing the Brand. In many companies, the public relations
function is also involved with brand reinforcement by maintaining
positive relationships with key audiences, and thereby aiding in building
a strong image. Today it is ever more important for companies and brands
to build a good image. A strong image helps the company build its
business and it can help the company in times of crises as well.
Types of Public Relations
Public relations is often divided into different agencies or departments. Each
department is specifically suited to handle a specific aspect below:
 Media relations is the emphasis of forging a strong relationship with
public media organizations. A media relations team often works directly
with external media by directly delivering them company news, providing
validated-content sources, and being accessible for public comment on
other news stories.
 Production relations is closely related to the direct operations of a
company. This department supports broad marketing plans and is often
related to specific, one-time endeavors such as the launch of a new
product, a special campaign, or management of a major product change.
 Investor relations is the oversight of the relationship between the
company and its investors. This aspect of public relations handles
investor events, oversees communication of the release of financial
reports, and handles investor complaints.
 Internal relations is the public relations branch between a company and
its employees. Internal relations pertain to counseling employees,
ensuring all workers are satisfied with their working conditions, and
mediating issues internally to avoid public disclosure of dissatisfaction.
 Government relations is the connection between a company and related
governing bodies. Some public relations departments want to forge a
strong relationship to provide feedback to politicians, sway decision
makers to act in specific ways, and ensure fair treatment of the company’s
clients.
 Community relations is public relations focused on brand and reputation
within a specific community. The community could be physical (i.e., a
specific city) or nonphysical (i.e., the dog-owner community). This
branch of public relations keys in on the social niche of the community to
align itself with its members.
 Customer relations is the bridge that connects the company and
its customers. Public relations often involves handling key relationships,
conducting market research, understanding the priorities of its customers,
and addressing major concerns.
Public Relations Tools and Techniques
To build a relationship with the target audience and maintain it on a high level,
PR specialists use a variety of tools and techniques. Some of the most common
ones include:
 Attendance at public events. To attract public attention and keep it
engaged with a particular organization or an individual, PR specialists
take advantage of every public event and the opportunity to speak
publicly. This enables them to directly reach the public attending the
event and indirectly, a much larger audience.
 Press releases. Information that is communicated as a part of regular TV
or radio programmes, newspapers, magazines, and other types of
mainstream media achieves a much bigger impact than advertisements.
This is due to the fact that most people consider such information more
trustworthy and meaningful than paid ads. Press release is therefore one
of the oldest and most effective PR tools.
 Newsletters. Sending newsletters – relevant information about the
organization or/and its products/services - directly to the target audience
is also a common method to create and maintain a strong relationship
with the public. Newsletters offering promotional products are also a
common marketing strategy but PR specialists use it to share news and
general information that may be of interest to the target audience rather
than merely promoting products/services.
 Blogging. To reach the online audience, PR specialists use the digital
forms of press releases and newsletters but they also use a variety of other
tools such as blogging and recently, microblogging. It allows them to
create and maintain a relationship with the target audience as well as
establish a two-way communication.
 Social media marketing. Like its name suggests, it is used primarily by
the marketing industry. Social media networks, however, are also utilised
by a growing number of PR specialists to establish a direct
communication with the public, consumers, investors and other target
groups.
Advantages of Public Relations
 Exposure. A well-structured PR campaign can result in the target market
being exposed to more detailed information than they receive with other
forms of promotion. That is, media sources often provide more space and
time for explanation of a product.
 Distribution. Depending on the media outlet, a story mentioning a
company may be picked up by a large number of additional media, thus,
spreading a single story to many locations.
 Cost Effective. In many cases public relations objectives can be achieved
at very low cost when compared to other promotional efforts. This is not
to suggest public relations is not costly, it may be, especially when a
marketer hires PR professionals to handle the work. But when compared
to the direct cost of other promotions, in particular advertising, the return
on promotional expense can be quite high.
Disadvantages of Public Relations
While public relations holds many advantages for marketers, there are also
concerns when using this promotional technique.
 Lack of Content Control. First, while public relations uses many of the
same channels as advertising, such as newspapers, magazines, radio, TV
and Internet, it differs significantly from advertising in that marketers do
not have direct control over whether a message is delivered and where it
is placed for delivery.
 ROI Risk. While a PR campaign has the potential to yield a high return
on promotional expense, it also has the potential to produce the opposite
if the news media feels there is little value in running a story pitched (i.e.,
suggested via communication with the news outlet) by the marketer.
 Getting Bumped. There is always a chance that a well devised news
event or release will get “bumped” from planned media coverage because
of a more critical breaking news story, such as wars, severe weather or
serious crime.