Public Relations and Business Communications Flashcards
good communication benefits business
-increases employment satisfaction
-creates business opportunities
-saves money and time
good communication skills benefit you
-find a job
-share ideas in the workplace
-earn more
costs of poor communication
-wasted time
-wasted effort
-lost goodwill
-legal problems
internal audience
subordinates
superiors
peers
external audience
customers
suppliers
distributers
unions
stockholders
associations
special interests
government agencies
general public
basic criteria for effective message
clear
complete
correct
saves time
builds goodwill
analyzing a communication scenario
-what is your purpose in communicating?
-who is your audience?
-how will the audience initially react to the message?
-what information must your message include?
-what benefits will your audience find convincing?
-how can you ensure that you communicate ethically?
purpose
what do you want your audience to do when they read your message?
-accept an idea?
-change their mind?
-complete a task?
-know something?
-remember something?
-other?
elements of professionalism
-be the best: pros strive to excel, and excelling at every level is how you build a great career
-be dependable: pros keep their promises, meet their commitments, learn from their mistakes, and take responsibility for their errors
-be a team player: pros know how to contribute to a larger cause and make others around them better
-be respectful: good business etiquette is a sign of respect for those around you; respecting others is not only good, it’s good for your career
-be clear: communication is the single most important business skill you can develop
-be ethical: responsible pros work to avoid ethical lapses and weigh their options carefully when facing ethical dilemmas
conveying an ethical message
-is the language clear to the audience?
-does it respect the audience?
-do the words balance the organization’s right to present its best case with its responsibility to present its message honestly?
-do graphics help the audience understand? or are graphics used to distract/confuse?
-does the design of the document make reading easy? does document design attempt to make readers skip key points?
qualities of an ethical message
-honest and sensitive: considers all stakeholders, interested parties gave input
-all information provided: context, details, evidence
-logical arguments: fair use of emotional appeals, no manipulation
-quality sources: honestly used, accurately documented
unethical communication
-plagiarizing ideas or products
-omitting essential information
-selectively misquoting
-misrepresenting numbers
-distorting visual displays
-risking privacy and security
public relations (PR)
an organizational activity involved in fostering goodwill between a company and its various publics (eg employees, suppliers, stockholders, governments, the public, labor, groups, citizen action groups, and consumers)
public relations activities and functions
-advice and counsel
-publications
-publicity
-relationships with other publics
-corporate image advertising
-public opinion research
-miscellaneous activities
marketing public relations PROACTIVE
-dictated by a company’s marketing objectives
-credibility accounts for the effectiveness
-offensively oriented and opportunity seeking
-can take the form of product releases, executive statement released, and feature articles
marketing public relations REACTIVE
-the conduct of public relations in response to outside influences
-attempt to repair company’s reputation, prevent market erosion, and regain lost sales
-quick and positive responses are imperative
rumor control
- stay alert
- evaluate its effects
- launch a media campaign
an anti-rumor campaign should
- focus on specific points in the rumor that need to be refuted
- emphasize that the conspiracy or rumor is untrue and unfair
- pick appropriate media and vehicles for delivering message
- select a credible spokesperson to deliver the message on the company’s behalf
word of mouth influence
informal communication among consumers about products and services. complex and difficult to control
buzz creation
systematic and organized effort to encourage people to talk favorably about a particular brand - either over the fence or online - and to recommend its usage to others who are part of their social network
viral marketing
techniques that use social networks to increase brand awareness or other marketing objectives, through a self-replicating, viral process similar to the spread of a virus
sponsorship marketing
investments in events or causes to support corporate objectives (eg enhance company image) or marketing objectives (eg increase brand awareness) and are usually not made through traditional media-buying channels
event sponsorship
form of brand promotion that ties a brand to a meaningful athletic, entertainment, cultural, social, or other type of high-interest public activity
news releases
publicity release
product release
bad news release
financial release
feature release
press release
in order to tell your story in a press release or to a reporter, you will have to answer: who, what, when, where, why, and how?
press release format
an effective news release should contain:
-the date, name of the person contacted for more information, and a phone number
-release date
-appropriate descriptive headline
-release information typed out double-spaced with wide margins
-who/what/when/why at very beginning of press release
-photo if appropriate
-a note explaining briefly why the release was sent
