Chapter 12: Planning + Crisis Comm Flashcards
Outline the four major steps in strategic planning
Defining the problem
Planning and programming
Taking action and communicating
Evaluating
(Aka RPIE)
Identify the two components to strategic thinking.
Goal setting - related to the problem identified by research and to the org’s mission
Strategic planning - involved making decisions about program goals and objectives, identifying key publics, strategies and tactics
Various approaches to defining publics
Geographic Demographic Psychographic Covert power Position (ie titles) Reputation - influencers Membership Role in decision process Behavior - who they share info, where they get info, media they use
Goals vs objectives
Goals are broader approach, summative statements that spell out the overall outcomes of a program
Objectives are smaller-scale outcomes that collectively over time achieve the broader goal
Describe and give examples of the three major categories of disasters and crises
- Immediate crisis - unexpected, here and now - natural disasters, death, workplace shooting
- Emerging crisis - bubbling for a while - low morale, sexual harassment, overcharges on govt contracts
- Sustained crisis - persisting for months or years despite efforts - rumors or speculations of connections with Satan (Proctor and Gamble)
The four characteristics of a properly written objective
- Target public
- Outcome - what’s the specific results wanted (learn - feel - do)
- Measurement - state the level or magnitude of changes desired (a percentage increase, etc)
- Target date
(SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant/Realistic, Time bound)
Guidelines for preparing for PR crisis (5 of them).
- ID what can go wrong, assess vulnerabilities
- Assign priorities based on urgency and mostly likely to happen
- Draft Q&A and resolutions for each crisis scenario
- Focus on two most important tasks (what to do, what to say)
- Develop a strategy to contain and counteract, not just react and respond
What to do when a crisis occurs:
Determine the type of crisis - violent or not
Define the cause/trigger - craft a timely statement that is accurate yet flexible enough to be refined as details arise
ID priority publics
Have someone on-call 24/7
What is situation analysis?
Unabridged version of all known about situation (aka Fact Book). Internal factors, external factors, SWOT. Illustrates details of the problem statement.
List the steps of the Public Relations Strategic Planning Outline (10 of them).
RESEARCH
- Define the problem / The problem statement
- Situation analysis (internal/external)
PLANNING
- Set program goal - the desired situation
- Develop a strategy - overall concept
- Define target publics and objectives
IMPLEMENTATION / COMMUNICATION
- Action tactics - what changes must take place to achieve outcome
- Communication tactics - what’s the message, what’s the best channel
- Program implementation plans - who will be responsible for each tactic, the timeline
EVALUATION
- Evaluation plans - how will outcomes be measured
- Feedback and program adjustment - how will results be used to make improvments
What is an objective? What are the two different types of objectives?
Short-term goals, defines what behavior or attitude or opinion you want to achieve from a specific audience.
- Outcome objectives - change behavior, awareness, opinion, support.
- Process objectives - serve to inform or educate
Outputs
They are the things that practitioners produce. They measure activities (e.g. the umber of contacts or news releases). Outputs can monitor work but have no value in measuring the effectiveness of a campaign.
Strategies
Serve as a road map or approach to reach objectives. It’s the overall concept. Strategies include “enlist community influentials to…” “accelerate” and “position.”
Tactics vs. Activities
Tactics are the specific elements of the strategy or specific tools, answers the question “how.”
Activities are the details of the tactics. They have dates, indicate who is in charge, attendance expected, etc.
Defining the publics: What’s the difference between cross-situational and situational approaches to defining publics? Give some examples of each.
Cross-situational publics are groups of people that can be identified by something they have in common, regardless of the situation in which they find themselves (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity).
Situational publics are publics that can be identified and classified according to the extent to which they are aware of the problem and to the extent to which they do something about the problem (e.g. latent publics, aware publics, action publics) [Grunig]
What is the role of a working theory in the strategic planning process?
It’s simply an idea of how things might work. If this… then that. It determines the selection of tactics and guides how a special event is designed, how a newsletter or press release is worded, etc.
What should you ask yourself when determining the most important audiences?
Ask whether the audience can help your organization achieve its goals, hinder your organization or hurt your organization in some way.
What are some of the common mistakes in handling a crisis?
- hesitation
- falsifying information
- retaliation
- pontification
- saying it in a confusing way
- confrontation
- litigation
What are the four methods or controlling factors of PR budgeting?
- Actual money available - % of org’s total budget
- Competitive necessity - competitors are evaluated, attempts to match or exceed their spending
- Specific goals or tasks set - money set aside for certain activities deemed important for PR
- Profit or excess funds - money given to PR only after profit/excess (this is problematic because it implies PR is an after-thought)
