Public Relations Flashcards
Why is public relations important?
Public relations is important as it allows mutual understanding between an organisation and its public. It can be used by a business to maintain a positive public image which can increase sales and therefore improve profit. Includes both paid advertising and unpaid publicity.
What is the difference between marketing and public relations?
Marketing is where a business controls how, when and where a product is promoted in the media BUT public relations focuses on the image of the whole company with the aim to achieve posItive publicity
Public Relations
The planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its public.
Publics
Groups that the organisation interacts with and that have a invested interest in, or impact on, the organisation’s ability to achieve its objectives.
Publicity
Any free news stories about a business’s products or services.
Advertising
Paid non- personal messages communicated through mass media to the public.
Image
How a business is perceived by the world at large, especially consumers.
Social responsibility
The conscious effort by a public relations business to maximise its positive impact and minimise its negative impact on society.
Public relations ethics
The moral evaluation of public relations activities as right or wrong.
Describe 4 PR functions
Promoting a positive image: Reinforcing the favourable attitudes and perceptions consumers have regarding the business’s reputation
Effective communication of messages: using advertising, sales promotions, publicity and personal selling to convey information about the business and its products.
Issues monitoring: protecting sales by providing an early warning of public trends that could affect the business’s sales. Remedial action can be taken before much harm is done to sales.
Crisis management: protecting a business’s reputation as a result of negative or unfavourable rumours and adverse publicity, which if left unchecked might result in a loss of sales.
Describe 4 of the image elements
Business name -
Advertising - paid non personal messages communicated through mass media
Location
Range of products
Concept of publics- know 2 or 3 publics
Internal publics. A business’s internal publics include its employees and managers. They expect fair pay and conditions, a safe working environment and access to training and development. Good employee morale helps develop and maintain a positive image with the external publics.
General public’s. The general public’s’ feelings towards a business can affect its customers’ attitudes. Society expects fair and honest business practices and ethical, responsible decisions.
Local community publics. This public is of crucial
importance for a small business because it represents local residents and neighbourhood organisations. They expect the business to be a good ‘corporate’ citizen.
Citizens-action publics. A business’s practices may be scrutinised by action groups, such as environmental organisations. They expect a business to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Media publics. Media publics include print and electronic news reporting organisations. They expect accurate information and access to informative sources.
Government publics. There are three levels of government, each with its own regulations. Governments expect a business to abide by their laws.
How to establish a public relations campaign
Establish the PR campaigns objectives- what do we want the pr campaign to achieve.
Identify the intended public - which groups will the pr campaign be directed towards
Develop PR strategies and tactics - How is the PR campaign going to achieve these objectives?
Implement the PR campaign - Are we ready to commence the campaign
Evaluate the results - is the PR campaign achieving what we thought it would. Does the PR campaign need changing?
5 Steps PP campaign:
Stage 1 - Establish public relations objectives
Stage 2 - Identify the intended publics
Stage 3 - Develop specific public relations strategies and tactics
Stage 4 - Implement the public relations campaign
Stage 5 - evaluate the results
Explain the 10 steps in crisis communication plan - know 4 for the test/ exam
Determine the appropriate target publics:
Essential information should be communicated to all affected publics
Get the facts - All necessary information should be gathered and tested to make sure of its authenticity and reliability.
Responses should be given as quickly as possible
Be prepared to answer questions
Provide regular updates
Establish a chain of command.
Establish a crisis communication team.
Monitor the progress of the crisis communication plan
Evaluate the effectiveness of the crisis communication plan.
