INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC RELATIONS Definitions Two way street between the company and the public A planned process to influence public opinion though sound character and performance based on mutual satisfactory two way communication proper Promotes an entire organization Many different definitions may be used but they all virtually say the same thing Why we have trouble defining public relations In its formal sense public relations is only about 100 years old and is still defining itself Sometimes when we say public relations we really mean one of its functional parts It has grown considerably Functional Parts of Public Relations Press Agentry used by public figures such as celebrities and athletes it keeps that person out in front of the public they are not viewed as nice people Publicity Most public relation people are in this part it is based on education and information and they put the information out there and generally want the public to do something Example going to an event Institutional Advertising Promoting a class of products or ideas For example got milk commercials Public Affairs Another name for public relations because public relations has not always had the best reputation so government and military uses this name It is more community affiliated Issues Management It only has become popular in the late 70 s so it is a newer part of public relations It looks forward to the future and then the organization can prepare to deal with the things that are inevitably going to happen It is prevention Examples handgun tobacco tipsy taxi Lobbying Trying to get legislation passed or defeated not always the best reputation changed since the past cant do a lot of the things they used to for ethical reasons such as buying legislators coffee or golf clubs it is lucrative Investor Relations Where the big money is they take the balance sheets and put it in common terms so the public can understand Development Fundraising Create foundations Quantifying Public Relations X Y Z The X is an action that the organization does Y is how the public perceives that action and Z is the public opinion that results Action public perception public opinion Perception is reality What you perceive constitutes reality Example If the public thinks the wall is pink then the wall is pink no matter what it actually is Trends Affecting PR PR is still a young field only around 100 years old still evolving Growth of big institutions Movement from small stores tiny colleges local banks to Wal Mart s home depots nationwide banks etc The book The Third wave described three ages The Age of Agriculture Age of Manufacturing in 1830 in England people moved out of the country the city huge number of these people to plants under horrible working conditions Age of Information done by robots not people around 60 70 of all jobs related to communication and information 3 of people grow 90 of food This is where PR began because institutions brought problems and into Heightened public awareness and media sophistication We have access instantly to everything that happens in the world starting the Vietnam War which was televised with Increasing incidence of societal change conflict and confrontation Activists have become more daring visible and effective Anyone can become a publisher broadcaster or a motivator of others Globalization and the growing power of global media public opinion capitalism Iron curtain fell in Russia seems more capitalist than communist now Capitalism heightened the power of public opinion in the world An event in one part of the world is broadcast to all parts Blogs can carry criticism of the government Dominance of the Internet and growth of social media Ancient Examples of PR Although modern PR is a 20th century phenomenon its roots are ancient Agricultural parchment on crops first document that told people how to grow more crops on an acre of land its purpose was to help people do something better Greet Sophists on political candidates and issues early lobbyists Julius Caesar s Commentaries on the Gallic Wars he wrote this extolling his own virtue so senators would vote to give him money to keep going it was promoting calls in order to promote causes Caesar would rally public support through published pamphlets and staged events Magna Carta Model for the constitution guaranteed rights to certain types of people Catholic College of propaganda under the leadership of Pope Gregory XV a speaker s bureau trained priests and sent them around the world to recruit members to the church to help propagate faith Revolutionary War Era Outstanding examples that mirror techniques used today Slogans to foster participation example no taxation without representation Symbols example liberty tree symbols have been used throughout history First to press tell our side of the story and see how others react such as Boston massacre or todays elections Staged public relations events example Boston tea party or occupy Wall Street Organizations for action example sons of liberty wrote and spoke to convince colonists to participate in revolutionary war today s example would be PETA or NRA Publications Thomas Paine common sense colonists rebel wrote periodic pamphlets and essays that urged the colonists to band together The people listened were persuaded and took action Fundraising Harvard American Heart Association Post Revolution History s Finest Public Relations Job The federalist papers Hamilton Jay Madison wanted a stronger central government It was a series of treaties on why to adopt the constitution it was a sales job and it worked Creation of Events Andrew Jackson hired Amicus Kindle as the first press secretary to promote Jackson and gain favor Press Agentry Amos Kendall and Phineas T Barnum Kendall preformed just about every White House PR task wrote speeches state papers and messages Barnum was a master publicist Modern Political Campaigning William Bryan decided to actively campaign and then McKinley started to do it as well it was never seen before First corporate PR Department Saw need for promoting company Weston House Early 1900 s The Muckrakers Reported dirt and autrausities happening in corporations they wrote journals such as Upton Sinclair s journal the Jungle which was about the meat packing industry and Ida Travels history of standard oil on JD Rockefeller First PR Firm The publicity Bureau Private business hired by corporation or government or education institution to represent them PR Journal founded
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