pUBLIC rELATIONS

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Introductrion Definition of public relations

o “Public relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation between an organisation and its publics”. (Harlow, 1976, 36)

o “The management of communication between an organisation and its publics”. (Grunig and Hunt, 1984, 6)

o Pople & Turnbull, 2012, 489-490o Public relations is about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and

what others say about you”. (CIPR, 2009)o “Public Relations (PR) refers to actions undertaken by an individual or group to

promote positive word-of-mouth about themselves. In the business world, PR is a crucial tool for corporate reputation management, whether it is used to defend a company against an internal or external crisis, or to build positive buzz about the firm’s products or services. (Clift & White, 2011)

From a single women’s wear shop in Västerås, Sweden, to six different brands and 3,500 stores all around the world. H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB comprises six independent brands: H&M, COS, Monki, Weekday, Cheap Monday and & Other Stories. H&M’s design team creates sustainable fashion for all, always at the best price. The collections include everything from dazzling party collections to quintessential basics and functional sportswear – for women, men, teenagers and children, and for every season or occasion. In addition to clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery, make up and underwear there is also H&M Home – fashionable interiors for children and adults. The width and variety of the H&M collections mean customers can always find something to suit their style and their wardrobe. There are H&M stores in 55 markets worldwide, and online shopping in 13 countries. COS is available in 25 countries, and retails online in 19 markets. The Monki collections are available at stores in 12 markets as well as online in 18 markets. Weekday stores are in 6 countries and online sales in 18 markets. Cheap Monday is available through selected retailers around the world, as well as from its own stores and online in 18 markets. & Other Stories initially opened in Europe with stores in 7 countries and online sales in 12 markets (H&M, n.d.).

Look at companies external environment by PESTEL analysis (in appendix) Look at companies internal environment by SWOT analysis (in appendix) Basic Questions in Planning – explain how these questions where answered in the

planning stageso What is the problem? (Researching the issue.)o What does the plan seek to achieve? (What are the objectives?)o Who should be communicated with? (With whom should a relationship be

developed?)o What should be said? (What is the content?)o How should the content be communicated? (What channels should be used?)o How can success be measured? (How will the work be evaluated against

objectives?). Source: Tench & Yeomans, 2014, 153 answer these questions relating you your own project.

o Figure 8.5 Basic business planning model. Tench & Yeomans, 2014,153, Pople & Turnbull, 2012, 526. Explain this model and relate to your own project.

o Figure 8.7 Gregory’s planning model. Source: Gregory, 2010, 44 in Tench & Yeomans, 2014, 154, Pople & Turnbull, 2012, 526. Explain model (one line definition and relate to own project)

o Figure 8.8 Framework for multi-project public relations plans. Source: Adapted from Gregory, 2010, 44 in Tench & Yeomans, 2014, 155, Pople & Turnbull, 2012, 527. Find one line definition of this diagram and if applicable explain with your project too.

Marston (1979) provided one of the best known planning formulae for public relations, RACE – Research, Action, Communication, Evaluation

• Produce a situation analysis - this will require you to identify and discuss an issue which requires a public relations plan. (NB this section must be referenced very carefully).

Importance of external evaluationo If PR is about establishing and maintaining goodwill and maintaining mutual

understanding, an examination of the external and internal environment is essentialo The environment contains issues over which an organisation may or may not have

controlo These issues may have an impact on existing relationships or may lead an

organisation to develop new relationshipso An examination of key issues will enable an organisation to identify information

which needs to be communicated to different publics The importance of internal evaluation

o The kind of enterprise will determine the balance of public relations activities and their relative priority

o Size will affect the structure of PR departmentso Stage of organisational development (lifecycle) dictates the structure of PR activitieso Culture dictates the ways that people think and behave in an organisation

In the situation analysis, the directives of management (corporate and marketing), and the needs of various departments should be considered

Methods: find case studies for each point and put in appendices and only briefly describe in main text

o Marketing research – assess the state of awareness, opinion or attitude of publicso Desk research – examine existing informationo Financial situation – financial weakness can affect investment, employment and

tradeo Media attitudes

Information to look for when compiling a Situation Analysis: use this list to collect info for situation analysis.

o Internal Factors Statement of the organisation’s mission, history and structure Biographical sketches Descriptions of programmes, budgets, and services Statistics about resources, budget and staffing Interviews with key personnel about the problem situation Copies of policy statements Descriptions of how the organisation currently handles the problem

o External Factors Clippings from the print media Reports from broadcast media Lists of journalists and columnists Descriptions of individuals and groups that share the organisation’s concerns Descriptions of individuals and groups that oppose the organisation’s

position Survey results

Important dates related to the organisation Communications audit – find out what channels H&M uses to speak with it’s customers eg

social media etc. there are 3 stages of this audito Planning and design – involves sampling all marketing communications –how many

communications channels do they have?o Research and measurement – involves guaging the effectiveness of your

communications – how many customers use/follow them?o Analysis and reporting – determines how well the communications satisfy the needs

of an organisation – find an example of how they handle something on social media eg complaints, deliveries etc.

• Set campaign objectives When Setting Objectives:

o Ally to organisational objectiveso Set public relations objectiveso Be precise and specifico Do what is achievableo Quantify as much as possibleo Work to a timescaleo Work within budgeto Work to a priority list. (Gregory, 2000, 95)

H&M company mission styatement: “Our vision is that all our operations are run in a way that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable” (H&M Conscious, 2014). They want to continue to offer customers a more sustainable choice and to make a difference to hundreds of thousands of people working within their supply chain and to the environment and communities.

The objectives set out in this plan are both cognitive and affective as the goal of this pr plan is to increase customers’ awareness of H&M’s sustainability practices as well as changing their attitudes towards sustainability within the “Fast Fashion” industry.

All objectives should be SMART explain why Objectives will be heavily influenced by internal and external evaluation find point in

situation analysis to back up objectives

Table 8.2 Examples of the link between issue and objectives. Source: Tench & Yeomans, 2014, 156.

Issue Objective to strategic programme

Objective for tactical campaign

Not enough visibility in H&M Conscious initiative

Make customers more aware of the initiative and activities surrounding it.

Increase visibility of H&M conscious initiative.

Customers within this market do not place heavy importance on sustainability

Create a “trend” for sustainability

Rebrand sustainability as “fashionable”

Finish this Finish this Finish this

• Identify publicsIt is essential to look at the organisation’s publics and discover what their attitudes are towards the organisation itself and to wider issues identified in the PESTEL analysis. Organisations need to consider who their publics are and what needs to be communicated to each group.

Complete stakeholder analysis (power/influence & power/interest matrix in appendices) There are three main factors which need to be taken into account:

o Problem recognitiono Constraint recognitiono Level of involvement

Organisations are viewed as stakeholding communities. The role of the organisation is to pull together the knowledge of all stakeholding groups. Publics can be characterised by their relationship with an organisation

Esman’s organisational relationship linkages. re-label diagram according to H&M stakeholder relationships

The Task Environment and Stakeholding Groups – which of these stakeholders apply to your business and their situation?Look up this diagram find a definition for its use and change labels to apply to your business and situation.

• Recommend a public relations strategy What is Strategy?

o The direction that the organisation chooses to follow in order to fullfil its mission (Bennett, 1996)

o A perspective as an integrated way of perceiving the world (Mintzberg et al, 1998) (Oliver, 2007, 2)

o A position as a means of locating an organisation in an environment

Strategies for this plan:

1. Use social media reach and shop floor to raise awareness about H&M Conscious activities.2. Capture “Designer fast fashion” customers by using relationships to form collaborations3. complete4. Complete

Four Basic Strategieso Do nothing

o Do something only if necessaryo Do something before a problem ariseso Involve others in solving or heading off problems

Relate tactics to strategy and strategy to objectives and Reject non-strategic activities. Public Relations Tasks – which of these will your company be using and why?

o Management communicationo Marketing communicationo Organisational communication. Source: Fombrun & Van Riel (2006)

• Discuss the different tactics that can be used (events)

• When considering tacitcs consider the following:

• Is the tactic appropriate?

• Is the tactic deliverable?

• The set of techniques must reach a sufficient number of target publics and get the message across with enough impact to influence them

• Careful choices have to be made about the combination of techniques to be used and the balance between the various activities selected

• Careful consideration must be given to message and media

• Tactics can be:

• Action Events (non-written)

• Special events, demonstration, exhibits, community contributions (manpower, talent, advice, money)

• Communication Tactics (oral and written)

• Newsletters, flyers, news releases, brochures, direct mail, advertising, themes, slogans, the internet, podcasts, blogs

Table 2.1 Example of how public relations activity may be structured at various stages of the organisational

lifecycle. Source: Tench & Yeomans, 2009, 25, Pople & Turnbull, 2012, 510. Where does your company lie and what public relations activities would be most helpful?

• Identify methods of evaluating the plan It is vital to know whether the planned programme has achieved the set objectives Evaluation is an ongoing process Evaluation involves looking at actors and their influence as well as orientation A thorough review of all public relations activity should be undertaken regularly to facilitate

future strategic developments

Table 10.6 Orientations of public relations evaluation. Tench & Yeomans, 2009, 214, Pople & Turnbull, 2012, 564 Find & define this diagram and apply it to your project.

Barcelona principles: these principles represent the first internationally agreed set of standards on the measurement of PR campaigns.

1. Importance of Goal Setting and Measurement2. Measuring the Effect on Outcomes is Preferred to Measuring Outputs3. The Effect on Business Results Can and Should Be Measured Where Possible4. Media Measurement Requires Quantity and Quality5. AVEs are not the Value of Public Relations6. Social Media Can and Should be Measured7. Transparency and Replicability are Paramount to Sound Measurement

Rossi and Freeman (1993) … outline the basic questions in evaluation as follows:1. Programme conceptualisation and design

- What is the distribution of the target population/problem?

- What are the projected or existing costs, and what is their relation to benefits and effectiveness?

2. Monitoring and accountability of programme implementation

- Is the programme reaching the specified target?

- Are tactics being implemented as specified in the programme design?

3. Assessment of programme impact and efficiency

- Is the programme achieving objectives?

- Is the programme making efficient use of budget and resources? (Adapted from Cutlip, Allen, Center, and Broom, 2006, 368)

Levels of Effectiveness – another tool for evaluation that analysis how effective the following were:

o Individual practitionerso Programme level – input, output, outcome, outtakeo Organisational level – are PR objectives in line with organisational goals?o Societal level – based on the positive and negative consequences of public relations

activities Determining Messages – another tool for evaluation that analysis how effective the

following were:o Messages assist the awareness and attitude forming processo Consider existing perceptionso What changes need to be made?o Identify elements of persuasiono Ensure that the message or content is deliverable and credible

Content Analysis – another tool of evaluation that analysis how effective the following were:

o The application of systematic procedures for objectively determining what is being reported

o Involves identifying content to be analysed (e.g. key messages)o What is to be analysed (e.g. media coverage)o Approach to categorisation (positive, negative, neutral)o Coding, counting, and recording resultso Press clippings and broadcasting content reports indicate what is read or heard …

but do not measure what is learned or believed (Tench & Yeomans, 2014, 176) Social Media – can also be used to evaluate

o Media content analysis should be supplemented by web and search analytics, sales and CRM data, survey data and other methods

o Evaluation of quality and quantity is criticalo Measurement must focus on “conversation”, “communities” and “coverage”o Understanding reach and influence is important … experimenting and testing are key

to success (Tench & Yeomans, 2014, 179)o Track blogs, forums, comments, tweets, online news, social networks, and videoo Analyse these mentions and produce reports that summarise the number of twitter

followers, comment counts, tweet counts, retweets, @replies, ratingso You Tube comments/ratings, media type, sentiment (positive, neutral, negative)o Segment data by geography, media type and language, or segment by key wordso Present information in various reporting formats (CIPR, 2011, 31 in Tench &

Yeomans, 2014, 179) Evaluation models: Evaluation models have been developed to identify what to evaluate and how to evaluate Preparation evaluation assesses the quality and adequacy of information used to plan the

programme (inputs) Implementation evaluation assesses the number of messages and responses (outputs)

Impact examines the extent to which goals have been achieved (outcomes) (See Cutlip et al., 2006, 368).

Figure 11.5 Macnamara’s evaluation model (updated) Source: Macnamara 1992: 28 in Tench & Yeomans , 2009, 220, Pople & Turnbull, 2012, 570. Explain this model

Measuring PR Success:o The majority of coverage is positiveo 90 percent of articles are designated “favourable”o A UK organisation will enjoy 492 mentions across national and regional media in a

typical month reaching an audience of 16.6 milliono The proportion of “unfavourable coverage” has doubled from 4.3 percent in 2001 to

7.8 percent in 2007o The financial sector (15 per cent of stories unfavourable) had a disproportionately

bad press in 2007, partly due to the deteriorating economic environment. (Media Evaluation & PR Benchmarking Report by Metrica in The Independent, 16 June 2008)

Tips for successful measuring:o Goal setting and measurement are fundamental aspects of PR programmeso Measuring the effect on outcomes is preferred to measuring outputso The effect on business results can and should be measured where possibleo Media measurement requires quantity and qualityo AVEs are not the value of PRo Social media can and should be measuredo Transparency and replicability are paramount to sound measurement. (Magee,

2010, 21)