LECTURE ONE

WHAT IS PUBLIC RELATIONS?

Amiee Shelton

Assistant Professor

Roger Williams university

Rhode Island, USA

PUBLIC RELATIONS Public Relations is an umbrella term Some positive terms:

Corporate Communications Public affairs Corporate relations

Some negative terms: Flack Spin doctor

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DEFINING PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public Relations is a set of management, function that uses a variety of tools to create mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and it’s in order to make the world a better place.

publics

Publics are people who matter to an organization.

They must be large enough to matter They must be reachable They must be definable

publics

1. Conducts a planned and sustained program by an organization’s management.

2. Deals with the relationships between an organization and its stakeholder publics.

3. Monitors awareness, opinions, attitudes and behaviors inside and outside the organization.

PUBLIC RELATIONS:

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4. Analyzes the impact of policies, procedures, and actions on stakeholder publics to identify those that conflict with the public interest and organizational survival.

5. Counsels management to establish new policies, procedures, and actions that benefit both the organization and its publics.

PUBLIC RELATIONS…

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6. Establishes and maintains two-way communication between the organization and its publics.

7. Produces measurable changes in awareness, opinion, attitude, and behavior inside and outside the organization.

8. Results in new and/or maintained relationships between an organization and its publics.

PUBLIC RELATIONS…

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…is the management function that identifies human needs and wants, offers products and services to satisfy those demands, and causes transactions that deliver products and services to users in exchange for something of value to the provider.

MARKETING…

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PUBLIC RELATIONS VS. MARKETING

Relationships Two way

communication Save money Range of audiences Management

function

Sales Persuasion Makes money External audiences Limits PR to support

function

Public Relations Marketing

PUBLIC RELATIONS VS. JOURNALISM

Broad Scope Advocates Many Channels Specific Audience

Narrow Scope Information Telling One Channel Wide audience

Public Relations Journalism

…is information placed in the media by an identified sponsor that pays for the time and space.

Advertising is a controlled method of placing messages in the media.

ADVERTISING...

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PUBLIC RELATIONS VS. ADVERTISING

Variety of tools Internal and external

audiences Broader scope Free More credible

Relies on mass media

External audiences Communication

function Costly Barriers

Public Relations Advertising

…is information by an outside source that is used by the media because the information has news value.

Publicity is an uncontrolled method of placing messages in the media because the source does not pay the media outlets for placement.

PUBLICITY...

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…is creating newsworthy stories and events to attract media attention in order to gain public notice.

PRESS AGENTRY…

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1. Public relations takes a broad view of an organization’s environment by attending to a wide range of issues and relationships.

2. Public relations is part of strategic management, seeking to avoid or solve problems through a goal-directed process.

Core Axioms of Public Relations

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3. Public relations outcomes must be quantified and measured.

4. Strategic planning begins by identifying the conditions, contributing forces, actors, objectives, and overall program goal.

Core Axioms of Public Relations

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5. Public relations programs outline how the organization will get from where it is, to where it wants to be.

6. Public relations initiatives must have senior management’s support and cooperation, and cannot be isolated from other operations.

Core Axioms of Public Relations

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7. Success or failure depends more on what the organization does than on what it says, unless the communication is a problem.

8. Success also requires that all actions, communication and outcomes are ethical, legal, and socially responsible.

Core Axioms of Public Relations

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9. Ultimately, success is based on the organization’s impact on society and culture — as is the character and professional careers of the public relations practitioners who helped plan and implement its programs.

Core Axioms of Public Relations

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

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Its social function—its mission—is achieved when public relations facilitates adjustment and maintenance in the social systems that provide us with our physical and social needs.

What Purpose Does Public Relations Serve in Society?

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LECTURE SERIES IN PR

HISTORY

BEGINNINGS

The Rosetta Stone Olympic games Early speech writing The apostles of the

New Testament

The Roman Catholic Church

Greenland 1641 Harvard’s fund

raising brochure 1758 1st news

release (Kings College-now

Columbia University)

TERMINOLOGY

Hype The shrewd use of the media and other devices

to promote individual, cause of even product or service

Press Agent A person whose work is to get publicity for an

individual, organization etc

AMERICAN FIRSTS

PT Barnum The Master of the pseudoevent

Andrew Jackson Kitchen cabinet Amos Kendall

Westinghouse Corp. 1st in house publicity

department 1897-Public Relations first

used Association of American

Railroads

AMERICAN FIRSTS

The first publicity agency: Publicity Bureau, established in Boston in 1900.

George F. Parker and Ivy Ledbetter Lee opened a publicity office in New York in 1904

Chicago Edison Company broke new ground under the direction of Samuel Insull. Bill stuffer Monthly customer magazine Press release and films

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM ALFRED KRUPP

“We think it is time that authoritative reports concerning factory matters, in accordance with facts, should be propagated on a regular basis through newspaper reports which we serve to an enlightened public” --1866

FAMILIAR NAMES

Henry Ford Positioning & credit to

those who go first

Teddy RooseveltA master at generating

publicity. 1st to use news conferences.

IVY LEE

He is remembered for: Business should align with

public interest No program works without

mgmt support Open communications w/

media Humanizing business to a

community level

REX HARLOW

Father of PR Research First full time PR

professor-Stanford Founded American

Council of Public Relations (became PRSA)

EDWARD BERNAYS The Father of Modern

Public Relations Model of advocacy Formulated a better

persuasive message

(2-way asymmetric) Came up with the idea of

the Public Relations Counsel Function

NYU class on PR

OTHER FIRSTS

Marconi Company,1910 First PR Department

Insurance Commission, 1911 First Government PR

Campaign Air Ministry

First Press Officer, 1919 Director of Information,

1920 First PR Firm, 1924

Sir. Basil Clarke

Pacific Birthplace of PR, 1940’s

Pete Teodoro First PR Campaign

Great BritainPhilippines

NOTABLE FIRSTS

General McArthur,1942 Introduced the term

Public Relations Public Relations

Institute, 1960 George Fitzpatrick

First to conduct Public Relations

Eric White “virtually created PR

industry in Australia”

Started with Government use 1950’s

Public Relations Foundation, 1956

AustraliaTaiwan

MORE NOTABLES

Started in 1950’s Danis Advertising

First PR Campaign Joaquin Maestre

First PR Firm, 1960

1991, After Collapse Now use western

style Before that, “PR”

was conducted by government

Fast growing

SpainEastern Europe

Slovakia

LECTURE SERIES IN PR

PRACTITIONERS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, public relations employment is projected to grow much faster than average.

The U.S. government expects more than 341,000 practitioners by 2018.

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NUMBERS AND DISTRIBUTION

GeographyJob opportunities exist in almost every community, but are concentrated in major population centers.

EmployersBusiness and commercial operations Nonprofits and associationsPublic relations firms and agencies

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NUMBERS AND DISTRIBUTION

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Public Relations Employers

GenderThe number of women in public relations has increased steadily; by the late 1980s, females became a majority.

Race and ethnicityAccording to PRSSA, in 2011, about 20 percent of its members were non-White. However, minorities remain under-represented in the public relations practice.

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NUMBERS AND DISTRIBUTION

Education and preparationIncreasingly, public relations is the major of choice for students entering the field.

Journalism experience is no longer required. However, employers still value media experience.

Many employers also want experience in a specialized field.

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NUMBERS AND DISTRIBUTION

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2008 median annual salary was $51,280 in public relations.

The highest paid 10 percent of practitioners earned more than $97,000 annually.

Diversity of work experience will help you ascend to the executive level.

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SALARIES

1. Writing and editing2. Media relations and social media3. Research4. Management of clients and staff5. Strategic planning6. Counseling7. Special events8. Speaking9. Production10. Training11. Personal contacts

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Work Assignments

Regardless of your career path in public relations, writing is the common denominator.

Writing skills will be a key requirement throughout your career.

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THE COMMON DENOMINATOR

Technicians versus managersTechnicians are primarily concerned with writing, producing, and disseminating communications. They typically earn less and are not part of the management inner circle.

Managers are required to be skilled researchers, strategic thinkers, and able to think in terms of outcomes or impact of public relations activities.

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INSIGHTS FROM ROLES RESEARCH

ProfessionalismA key concern and a goal for those entering the field. Public relations practitioners now qualify as “professionals” by meeting professional and ethical standards.

Ethical conductAnother key concern for public relations practitioners. It all comes down to individual behavior and personal choice.

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CHALLENGES

WritingThe ability to write well tops the “skills” list every

time. You must learn to write copy that is: Grammatically correct Easy to read Forceful Informative Persuasive

…for publication and speech, in both traditional and digital formats.

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REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESS