Crisis management and 3rd sector PR

The need to plan ahead is made obvious in the area of crisis and  issues management. Crisis's occur unexpectedly. But just because they are unexpected does not mean the PR department is not prepared.

Preparation is achieved through planning.

One of the first things we learn about PR is the need for planning, research and coming up with tactics. These factors should be used in crisis management too. Before a crisis actually happens, a back-up plan should have been created and practiced months before.

One thing I see is that with successful planning, a crisis/issue can become an opportunity for the company to show its efficiency with dealing with problems. 

PR practitioners should always look to the future and be alert to avoid such situations.

Public relations in the third sector is something really 'big' now. With a community that supports social issues and likes being 'involved', using these situations are perfect opportunities to gain awareness. 

There are tons of examples of campaigns that lean on the audiences inclination for the common good. Several that were mentioned in class were the solar powered phone charges, 'make a switch' to save energy, giving water to children who need it and many more. 

Yes, it does sound very commercial, the idea that we play on the audiences emotions to promote a product and gain a profit but if it works it works!

But of course, it would be better if the company itself really cared about the community and environment.

All in all, I still believe tat the most important things I have learnt not just from these two chapters but throughout the readings is the need for planning and research. Knowing the target audience like the back of your hand is something so important and necessary. And planning is just something so essential. Problems are in a sense fixed before they actually occur. While it may be difficult to foresee certain events, it won't hurt to try and cover as much ground as possible to minimize problems that could occur.

A typical PR program

I think that this reading really sums up everything we have learnt so far. Since chapter 1 (or my first blog entry), we have learnt the steps necessary in implementing a PR plan which is smooth and successful. Things like media relations and ethics were also mentioned to broaden the issues that must be looked at with the formation of the plan.

Just laying the PR diagram here for reference:

Set objectives --> Plan --> Implement --> Evaluate

This is a very simple and workable plan. But in reality, there will always be last minute issues and problems that surface. I think that is what makes PR challenging. One thing very important in all of this is remembering that plans do not always run smoothly and evaluating and changing our objectives is something we must always be prepared to do.

Having said that, the most important thing a PR practitioner must remember is research. This has been mentioned over and over again and I will just repeat it once more.

Without research, problems occur. By researching, PR practitioners can foresee such problems and have back up plans. Research also allows them to gain the most out of their events or activities the PR company organized.

It is true that things can still go wrong no matter how much research is done. The best thing we can do is to be on our toes.

We as PR practitioners must always strive to be in control of our campaigns.

Coke and Arabs. (Research and sponsorship)

I heard a joke once. It went something along these lines:


A disappointed Coca Cola salesman returns from his Middle East assignment.
A friend asked, "Why weren't you successful with the Arabs?"
The salesman explained
"When I got posted in the Middle East , I was very confident that I would make a good sales pitch as Cola is virtually unknown there. But, I had a problem I didn't know to speak Arabic. So, I planned to convey the message through three posters...



And I pasted them everywhere"

"Then that should have worked!" said the friend.
"The hell it should have!" said the salesman. Except I didn't realize that Arabs read from right to left"


Cue drumroll.


Now you may be wondering what this is all about. This is an obvious result when PR practitioners do not do adequate research. Without research, there would be more opportunities for things to go wrong. In addition, the objectives of the plan would probably not be met and alot of money would be wasted.

All in all, research is very important and should not be neglected in any case.

Another thing that is interesting about this weeks readings is sponsorship. Sponsorship is probably one of the best ways to gain awareness.

Just listing some benefits people get from being involved in sponsorship:

1. Corporate sponsorships are attractive to companies seeking financial support to make their events successful

2. It encourages a larger attendance and more enthusiasm for an organization’s event

3. A win-win situation for both organizations.

4. Corporate sponsorships is a potential for increased visibility, credibility, and quality for the event

5. Draw on the sponsors name, media exposure, banners and marketing literature, retail opportunities, etc.

6. Identifying common goals and objectives which can lead to organizations working toward a collective objective (not for profit but for a common cause)

7. In the area of charity events/ beneficial community causes, having sponsors helps with the success and expansion of these programs. (make up most of the funding)

8. Opens doorways for future sponsorship/permanent relations.

As a future PR practitioner, I will remember these 2 situations to ensure that the events I plan will run smoothly and achieve all my objectives and goals. Also, like I mentioned in my previous post, methods of marketing will constantly evolve with the creativity of the PR people. While sponsorship is well used now, in the future, there will be many other methods of gaining awareness and publicity and I must always keep an open mind.

Tactics, tactics and more tactics

These 2 chapters really introduce many different approaches a PR campaign can take. These tactics are not limited to what is present in the readings but expand with the creativity of a PR practitioner.

The first thing I must remember from this reading is the fact that we are in the twentieth century where people are no longer susceptible to mass media advertising. People are now able to tune out this form of advertising and often respond to it negatively. As a PR student, I must take this into account in my future PR plans.

The second thing I take away is the need for PR students to be multi-skilled. PR professionals get involved in many different fields. In order to work to the best of their ability, they need adequate knowledge of each of these fields to be a valuable asset to the company.

These readings make me think a lot about the daily challenges a PR practitioner faces. It is often difficult to come up with PR plans and having to do approach each campaign differently and creatively. After reading the different tactics available, I realize the amount of research and thinking it takes to decide on the tactics that should be used.

In a society today where most people respond negatively to advertising, it is important to approach advertising and marketing is subtle ways. These methods have made use of today's popular culture where companies integrate their products and make the people who use them 'cool'.

I like what this method strives to achieve:
Trust me -> Tell me -> Show me -> Include me

We must always remember that our audience's perceptions constantly change and often try to resist our attempts at gaining awareness. These trends must be something we as PR students should remember and use in our future PR plans.

Relationships!

From the start, one of the things mentioned about what was included in public relations was its importance as a means of corporate and social conscious. PR firms can achieve this by engaging in corporate social responsibilities like internal PR and building community relations.

The two main ideas I take away from this weeks readings would be the importance of internal public relations and community relations. The two way model of communication is also one again emphasized in a different angle and its importance can be seen in an organizations internal affairs.

The relationships between the employers and the employees of an organization are immensely important. Since there is a connection between employee communication, job satisfaction and productivity, keeping employees happy is a key issue. It is also known that communities can generate local awareness for organizations as well as do an organizations image harm. Thus, extending relationships beyond the office to these communities can really be an asset.

This readings remind me that in the field of PR, it is a constant goal to keep relationships between people strong and good. This does not apply only for the organization-client relationships but also for the people working in the organization.

Communication between the upper levels of an organization and the rest of the employees must always be present. As a PR practitioner I must always ensure that these channels are always open and if they are not, I must create an avenue for them. Employees must believe in their management and that is part of a PR practitioners job.

The readings give many examples of ways to keep these channels open like notice boards and video conferences. I think that as long as a PR practitioner remembers to ensure two things, this will not be an issue. Firstly, keep employees informed and up-to-date on the happenings of the company. Secondly, include them in as many ways as possible. One way communication has already been proven inferior to the two-way model. If the management agrees to follow a two-way between themselves and their employees, life in the office will certainly be better.

Once again, this aspect must be carried through to the relationship between the organization and the community. A large part of the company's revenue will come from the local people and keeping them well-informed and happy is a good way to do business. In today's society, mass media messages are no longer effective especially among the youth. But having a good impression with the local community will encourage goodwill and generate positive information of your organization which, will be passed on by word of mouth. Having good community relations will be a profitable long term method of generation and keeping public awareness and interest in an organization.

So, if I want to maximize an organizations reach and profit, I must keep these two forms of relations active.

Ethics

Ethics is probably one of the most important issues in all areas of the world and PR is no exception. 

I think that there are two important areas we must understand about ethics. First, ethics must be practiced internally and externally. Second, ethics is necessary in all areas of PR planning.

In business, ethics helps to prioritize the moral values of an organization and ensures its practice in all areas of the company. Such ethical guidelines must be efficiently communicated to the members of the organization like I mentioned: externally and internally. External outlets involve the general public and other companies or organizations the company has ties with. Internal audience covers the senior management, staff and the employees. 

A section of the reading mentioned 5 duties of a PR practitioner which I find rather relevant to my studies. They are: the self, the client, the employer, the profession and the society. I strongly believe that making the right decisions is essential in PR practice. If the decisions are ethical, they will carry down the rest of the chain to the society. 

Basically, it is a chain reaction beginning with a PR practitioners personal choices.

For a company to be looked upon in a good light, it has to be ethical. In the consumer market today, consumers are more responsive to companies that back social causes like charity and saving the environment. These are part of a PR strategy in showing the public that their company practices good ethics. 

Transparency is also another area of ethics. The public appreciates open and direct communication. The PR department can focus on providing accurate and truthful information to the consumers to serve their interests. This will advance the company in a god way compared to delivering false and distorted information that may be revealed and damage the name of a company.

These aspects are all mostly common sense to me. If you want to present a company in a good and favorable light, the best way is to be truthful and open. Decisions should always be made with much consideration and aim to be as ethical as possible. This is the job of a PR professional: To promote the advancement and awareness of your company. How much better can you accomplish it then in an ethical way.

  

Media Relations

This week's readings bring two main points to my attention.

Firstly, there are only certain things that journalists find interesting and a public relations officer has to understand this.

Secondly, in order to be a successful PR practitioner, establishing good ties with journalists and editors is essential.

Public relations practice is evident in today's media society. In order to gain exposure for a client or organization, some aspects of media will have to be used. Media relations is in fact a two-way relationship that public relations practitioners have to adopt with the media. 

The main objective of a PR person is to make their product or organization interesting to the readers or viewers. So, using different approaches and interpretations with the materials presented is a practice we must become familiar with. It is often the case that the client would want their product showcased to different classes of people. There would be more than one set of target audience. PR practitioners must be able to work with their materials and make them attractive to all these different people. 

In essence, we must be creative and flexible.

The approaches PR practitioners use must also aim to interest journalists as well as the audience. Journalists will only use your information if it relates to their column. Because you can never be sure your product will be featured the way you want it (if at all), your best bet would be to be on good terms with these journalists to ensure that your ideas will see some headlines in the papers/magazines.

These ideas have made me understand that if I aspire to become a PR professional, I must understand the needs of the journalists and respond accordingly. Flexibility with my clients products is essential if I want to see a sales increase. 

To ensure my organization or client gets the attention they want, I need to work with the people who can provide that. Trust between the media and the PR office is necessary. These two ideas, the approach and the relationship building are indeed public relationship strategies that have to be adopted.

 

Strategy, planning and scheduling

This week's reading has shown me two things:

The first, public relations strategy and planning is vital for effective management of organizations.

The second, in order to be an efficient and useful PR practitioner in a company, you have to be proactive and organized.

To make an organization successful, it must have a direction and a goal to push itself forward. Initially, I believed that the vision and mission statements of a company are formulated by the CEO and upper managerial positions. I never knew or even linked the role of a PR representative within these areas. So, today I learnt that communication programs conducted by the PR department are involved in supporting the organizations strategy and plan to reach their goal. How? Action plans and tools like annual newsletters and conferences are used to maintain direction and focus within the company.

The readings made me think about the role of PR personnel at a more managerial level instead of the 'technical' level.

I really enjoyed reading the study done by the IABC on the PR department. I think that PR practices in Singapore is considered unimportant and more of a luxury than a necessity. It surprised me to read about PR being a highly valued asset in an organization and the idea that communication excellence was determined by strategic manager expertise.

This new relevance given to PR practitioners in organizations has also brought something else to light. In order to be part of strategic planning, an understanding of business is necessary. So, all of you interested in pursuing public relations as a career, expand your knowledge! 

A public relations strategic plan involves so many components and questions to address. A proper plan can never be formulated or be effective if its not organized. Information like the time frames, possible problems that could arise, solutions to those problems, checklists and charts, budget and many other things all aim to ensure that mistakes will not be made and the organization is always prepared if a situation arises. 

This really made me think about how important it is to look ahead and anticipate what the company will face in the future. Having a plan B is really important and this can only be achieved through strategic planning, organization and proactivity that can be controlled by the PR practitioners.

Plan plan plan......

Public relations and theory

I think there are several important points to take home from the week’s readings.

Firstly, there has always been the belief that all media will conduct themselves in a socially responsible fashion. Meaning, the information they provide to their audience is true and not influenced or prejudiced. Thus. Public relation representatives involved in media are also expected to have a strong sense of social responsibility.

Secondly, with the division of the mediums where the audience or consumers receive their messages, the industry of PR has steadily strengthened. With this growth, many theories have been connected and developed to the field of PR to allow people to study and specialize in it.

Like many other areas of study, theories for public relations practice have steadily emerged hand in hand with its popularity and necessity. Today, many different theories have arisen to guide PR practitioners.

While different theories could be of better use in different situations, I do think that Grunig’s 4th model, the two-way symmetric is the most effective form of public relations practice. It uses research based on the public view together with the organizations vision to develop strategies to achieve their goal. I also believe that the symmetrical models would definitely turn out more successful as they lean towards organizational effectiveness. That is, to improve the understanding between the public and the organization.

The readings made me think more about the theories and practices of public relations in the way that separates the common misunderstanding (that I also had) of the relationship between Public relations and advertising/marketing. I believed that PR organizations were simply devoted to gaining profit through the advertising of their product. However, PR practice involves many roles besides gaining profit like crisis management and public diplomacy. So, profit focus is not the main or only objective of PR.

In addition, now that the PR industry has developed and strengthened, they require graduates that are not just trained in the areas of publicity and ethical practice (although they are necessary in the foundations of this field) but are also up to date with current affairs and social, political and economical issues. This is something I must keep in mind and apply to my current studies.

I have also found myself believing that the study of public relations was always related or ‘under’ the broad subject and theories of communication studies. I was surprised to find that it had amassed its own theories. Grunig’s 4 models remind me that Public relations is all about the mutual understanding between the public and the organization. So, when I step out into the dreaded working world, I will remember the symmetrical models of PR because they are the most socially responsible. Why? Because they avoid conflict between the public and the organization.

After all, it is all about trust and understanding.