What is Public Relations Anyway 02 12 2013 Social Media and public relations has revolutionized the way organizations individuals communicate to their key constituent publics around the world Multi billion dollar business practiced by 158 000 professionals Expected to increase faster than I Prominence of Public Relations avg for all occupations Typical agency has less than 10 employees and an annual revenue of less than 1 million yr The 7 000 US PR agencies record annual revenue of more than 6 billion US Gov has thousands of communications professionals not labeled public relations Today the profession is vulnerable to intrusion by ppl with non PR backgrounds lawyers Worlds largest PR firms are all owned by media conglomerates refuse to reveal PR revenues specialists marketers and general managers Omnicom The Interpublic Group WPP Group What is Public Relations PR a planned process to influence public opinion through sound character and proper performance based on mutually satisfactory two way communications In 1988 The PR Society of America formally adopted cid 224 PR helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other Noted that the functions research planning communications dialogue and evaluation are ALL Communications Professor John Martson suggested a 4 step model explaining the process essential to PR II Planned Process to Influence Public Opinion through which PR might influence public opinion Research cid 224 research attitudes about the issue at hand Action cid 224 Identify action of the client in the public interest Key component you cant have effective communication or positive publicity without proper action performance must exceed publicity Communication cid 224 communicate that action to gain understanding acceptance and support Evaluation cid 224 evaluate the communication to see if opinion has been Essence of RACE is performance recognition cid 224 positive action positive action communicated straightforwardly will yield positive results Professor Sheila Crifasi proposed extending RACE to ROSIE research objectives strategies implementation evaluation to encompass a more managerial approach Setting clear objectives working from set strategies and implementing a pre determined plan is a key to PR R P I E Research planning implementation and evaluation Emphasizes the element of planning as a necessary step preceding the activation of a communications initiative Denny Griswold s definition of PR has the key terms management for PR to serve organization properly advice must be reported to management unfiltered and action Malvin Sharpe cid 224 the process of PR harmonizes long term relationships among individuals and organizations in society To harmonize there are 5 principles Honest communication for credibility Openness and consistency of actions for confidence Fairness of actions for reciprocity and goodwill Continuous two way communication to prevent alienation build relationships Environmental research and evaluation to determine the actions adjustments needed for social harmony III Public relations as management interpreter public interpreter Management Interpreter 1 Must interpret policies of organizations management to public 2 Must convey attitudes of public to their management no matter size of organization PR department is only as good as its access to management must have firsthand knowledge of the reasons for managements decisions and rationale for their policy Public Interpreter Finding out what public really thinks about the firm and letting management know IV The Publics of Public Relations In PR a public is a group of people with a stake in an issue Publics can be classified into these overlapping categories Internal and external Internal cid 224 inside organization supervisors stockholders etc Members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors who regulate banks would be a PP for a External cid 224 press gov customers suppliers Primary secondary and marginal Primary cid 224 can most help organization s efforts bank awaiting a regulatory ruling Secondary cid 224 less important Legislators and general public Marginal cid 224 least important Traditional and future Traditional cid 224 employees and current customers Future cid 224 students and potential customers Proponents communication that reinforce beliefs opponents persuasive communication and the uncommitted often especial in politics these are crucial Second way to segment publics is on a basis of lifestyles and values 8 DISTINCT CATEGORIES this segmentation is used regularly by marketers to focus to product and service appeals on specific socioeconomic levels Actualizers most wealth and power Fulfilleds high resources and are principle oriented professionals Believers fulfilleds without the resources Achievers high resources and status oriented Strivers lack resources of achievers but equally status oriented Experiencers high resources action oriented willing to take risks Makers action oriented but low resources Strugglers lowest resources Public Relation s Spin the twisting of messages and statements of half truths to create the appearance of performance which may or may not be true Attitudes important for PR professionals Pro communications Advocacy must believe in their employers Counseling orientation advice senior managers Ethics Willingness to take risks Positive outlook The History and Growth of PR 02 12 2013 Trends in Society that Influence PR theory and Practice Growth of big institutions Heightened public awareness and media sophistication Increasing incidence of societal change conflict and confrontation Dominance of the Internet and growth of social media Ancient Beginnings Might be a 20th century phenomena but its roots are ancient Globalization and the growing power of global media public opinion and democratic capitalism We ve found 1800 b c bulletins in Iraq that told farmers of latest harvesting sowing and irrigating techniques Ancient Greece cid 224 Politian s enlisted sophists lobbyists to help fight verbal battles Julius Caesar when faced with an upcoming battle would rally up public support through pamphlets and staged events faith Catholic church Pope Gregory XV 1600s established College of Propaganda help propagate muckrackers group of journalists that criticized the robber barons men who ran America s industries who cared little for the rest of society more concerned with making profit Ivy Lee Real father of modern PR Former wall street reporter Believed
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