Quizlet 2 - Scenario questions Flashcards
You are the public relations manager for an entertainment company and report to an Executive Director of Advertising and Public Relations. She is preparing a quarterly report of achievements and asks for you to pull a clip report that covers the time frame to show successes of PR. She insists you include paid advertorials in your report as an accomplishment. What set of industry standards could you use to defend an argument against this?
A. Diffusion Theory
B. Barcelona Principles
C. Communication Process Model
D. Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Answer: B. Barcelona Principle #5 underlines that AVEs do not measure the value of PR or communications
You are a communications and marketing manager at a small K-12 school district. Enrollment continues to decline and your Superintendent has asked that you prepare a new print campaign and digital ads. You are preparing a full-color postcard to be mailed to local residents and have decided to use some candid photos of students participating in various school programs. You also find some great photos recently shared on social media by the school sites in the District. Because you did not take the photos, and cannot confirm a signed consent waiver is on file for the students in the photos, you should: (choose two)
A. Assume that since the school sites have used the photos on social media, there are consent waivers on file for each of the students
B. Claiming fair use, you use the photos stating that as they were used on school social media sites, they belong to the District
C. Contact the school sites and confirm that t
Answer: C and D
A former employee recently made a serious accusation about your company and the local news is reporting it. You just found out, but you haven’t received all of the information concerning this issue. A local reporter contacts you to make a statement on behalf of the company. What should you do?
A. Make a statement denying the claims
B. Ignore the reporter’s request
C. Inform the reporter that the company is investigating the claims and release a statement after the investigation is complete
Answer: C
Rationale: It is important to inform the public that the company is investigating any situation it may be involved in. It is never correct to deny claims before the investigation is complete and ignoring the press can send a bad message to the public.
You are the Communications Director for a major company. Because of public outcry, your company has taken on a few “green” initiatives. However, you know the company mismanages their waste products which further leak into a nearby waterbed. During the Board of Directors meeting you voice your concern, that if not mitigated, it will negatively affect public confidence, and recommend the company take a more aggressive, proactive approach to instill trust. Luckily, your leadership takes your advice and begins to discuss a way toward a more comprehensive social responsibility policy. What answer best describes the role you just played as a PR practitioner? Explain your answer(1) Researcher(2) Manager(3) Counselor(4) Fundraiser
3
You are the PR Manager at a casino/resort and are tasked with creating a communications plan to promote your new Eco-Choice rooms. The Eco-Choice rooms allow guests who stay two or more nights to opt out of receiving housekeeping services each morning and in return, they receive a credit to one of the property’s restaurants. The idea is to reduce the amount of laundry, electricity and resources that are oftentimes wasted on one night stay guests. You already know of several satisfied guests who have used this program and who feel good about being able to help the environment in any way they can. Your boss asks you to find some of the best stories and pitch it to local media to see if they’ll cover the new program. Knowing that you have testimonials, you think it’s a good idea so long as you do your research on the right media contacts. What is this an example of? A. Agenda building B: Agenda setting C: Marketing comm
Answer: D Rationale: According to the APR study guide: Press agentry: Creating newsworthy stories and events to attract media attention and gain public notice
You are a Communication Coordinator for a metro school system. You have just graduated from college and this is your first public relations job. Management recently requested that your team create a new internal communications campaign to promote the new employee intranet website. They instructed that all communications team members must be apart of the campaign implementation.What role is the Communications Coordinator serving? (Pick 1)A. As the problem-solving process facilitator, you collaborate and consult with upper management and line managers in the intranet website strategic planning process.B. As the communication technician, you create intranet website content, write and edit employee feature stories and create promotional email blasts. C. As the communication facilitator, you collect information from line managers for the intranet website campaign and determine what content is helpful for both managers and
The answer is B.RationaleSource: Cutlip & Center’s Effective Public RelationsEPR defines communication technician as entry-level practitioners that are hired to write and edit employee newsletters, to write news releases and feature stories, develop website content, and deal with media contacts. (EPR 11th, p. 31)
You are a PR Manager for company selling a product. Through a press release, you’ve earned placement on a local news station where the company recently opened a new retail store. The owner has agreed to appear on the show with a product. How do you counsel the owner before the appearance, according to the Management Function of Public Relations? Choose 2 that apply.
A. Provide the most expensive product to feature on the show to increase sales and impress the journalist with your product.
B. Ask the journalist which product interests them among products available for purchase at the new retail store.
C. Encourage the owner to mention the website on the show to increase website traffic and track activity while the show is airing in the location.
The answer is B & C.
Public Relations is a management function that establishes a mutually beneficial relationship between the company and the journalist. By narrowing down the product list to a product available at the new retail store (through research and planning) you are then able to include the journalist (a function of your public) in the decision-making (relationship development) with the potential for a positive effect on public trust. This may have additional benefits, such as evaluation of the product and retail store provided by the journalist, and anticipation of sales of that product at the new retail store. For C — By encouraging the owner to mention the website on the show to increase website traffic and track activity while the show is airing in the location, you are setting up a viable evaluation process for marketing and increasing brand awareness as a function of PR management.
You are the new PR Manager at a small but fast-growing company named XYZ. The company is getting traction because of a new type of bean bag chair it has recently launched. The particularity of this chair is that it is made of Talalay foam, known for its relaxing properties. Sales are up and the company has received a few requests to feature the bean bag chair on TV morning shows. The CEO isn’t convinced that focusing on these TV shows is a good idea. Instead, he wants to think-forward and invest in R&D to develop a better version of the popular foam. As the PR Manager, what do advise him to do? (Select two)
A. We should invest in identifying what our customers want and need and offer these products to make sure we make more sales and capture more marketshare.
B. Let’s develop a message that will motivate the masses to buy our product. We will make it a broad statement and will include testimonials.
C. We should buil
Answer: C and D
Rationale: APR Study Guide 2017, pages 25 and 26. See definitions for media relations (C) and promotion (D)
KSA: PR A Management Function
even as you question its effectiveness you do the best you can.
C. Work to establish greater trust and value in your public relations role so that your voice and counsel is included in senior executi
Answer: A and C.
Rational: The fundamental problem is that the public relations role is not included as a “management function” with a seat at the table and top management fills the void by attempting to do the role themselves, albeit ineffectively. Your role then is to get a seat at the table and demonstrate your strategic value.
You are the public relations director for a health care organization which includes hospitals, primary care and specialty care clinics, as well as a senior living facility that will never come close to breaking even. Due to a high level of substance use disorder in your region and a lack of treatment options, your organization is planning to repurpose the senior living facility into a residential substance treatment center. The organization knows this will not be a popular action and asks for your help in communicating the situation and plan to the general public. What should you do first?
A - Send a press release to the media announcing the action and explaining why.
B - Meet with the residents and their families, as well as the facility’s immediate neighbors.
C - Develop a plan to communicate the substance use issues in the area, and that your organization is considering options to address it.
D - Conduct research
Answer: D.
Rationale: EPR Page 39, issues management starts with early identification of the issues that could potentially impact the organization. Research is required to identify where any issues might originate from.
You are a public relations professional working at a credit union. During the government shutdown, some government employees will not be receiving paychecks. Management announces that they will loan the amount of the paycheck interest-free to credit union members with checking accounts who typically have their paycheck direct-deposited and have positive balances in their accounts. But they don’t want to publicize the effort, fearing a negative backlash when some members don’t qualify. You sense a major public relations opportunity, but the decision to keep it private was announced at a large meeting with various levels of staff.
You decide to -
A. Speak up right then and there and explain the opportunity for the company. You can’t let another company pitch their efforts first!
B. Stay silent in the moment, then research the various public’s view on the issues. Present results to management to show if the value of the
Answer - B.
Rationale: Strategies and Tactics pg. 40, Step one of public relations is research and analysis. This consists of inputs that determine the nature and extent of the public relations problem or opportunity.
You are a public relations manager at privately held company. Your company is about to acquire another smaller company, but the deal is not finalized and not public knowledge. Information about the pending acquisition leaks online, and representatives from the smaller company express concern and request a public response from your company in advance of the acquisition. Your boss asks you to take the lead and respond to the smaller company. You:
A. Advise the smaller company that they need to develop an independent response strategy. Find out how the leak occurred and ask the outlet to remove the post. Post a statement online that explains that our company does not comment on rumors.
B. Gather key stakeholders from your company, including legal, line of business leads, and executives involved, to understand the nature of the problem and to develop an integrated communications strategy that collaboratively involves rep
Answer B: The public relations function is most successful when you understand organizational structure and can align key stakeholders. Then you are ready to lead a coordinated and integrated approach that addresses a problem.
You are the communications manager of a statewide non-profit organization. The staff and Board of Directors are at a strategic planning meeting. The main mission of the organization is finding families for children in foster care, however, when children age out of the system without being adopted everyone feels like they are failing that child. The Board has decided to start a mentorship program for the children who age out without being adopted and want you to create a communications plan for implementation. What is the first step you’ll want to take?
A - Create collateral materials and begin to disseminate to partners and constituents. B - Research other mentorship programs to determine the best approach to take.C - Hold a press conference with local media to make the announcement.D - Pass the request to someone else because you have other things you need to be working on.
Answer is B
Rationale: Before you can begin communicating effectively you need to understand where the problem lies and what are the steps that led to the issue. You need to research to have a better understanding of how the program will work before you can begin to communicate effectively.
You work as a public relations manager at a nonprofit that advocates for the needs of children, including access to health care. Your executive director tasks you with raising public awareness by getting news stories about the potential harmful impact of a bill making its way through the legislature that would increase health insurance premiums for public health insurance programs for children from low-income families. You are performing which one of the following public relations functions:
A. Public Affairs
B. Issue Management
C. Press Agentry
D. Lobbying
Answer: C-Press Agentry
Rationale: While the overall objective is to influence legislation, your work to place news stories falls soundly in the Press Agentry category: “Press agentry is creating newsworthy stories and events to attract media attention to gain public notice.”
As the Marketing Communications Manager for a major university, you oversee both the advertising and public relations divisions of the college. A recent ad campaign has gone viral and come under fire because of the football coach using a popular slang term when attempting to find common ground with potential recruits. The public outcry is now calling for the coaches firing, which is backed by the university’s professors.But the Athletic Director would like to keep the coach due to the high level of winning by the football program. The President of the university has asked where you weigh in on the matter. What principle is this situation addressing:
A. Branding
B. Morals
C. Ethics
D. Lobbying
Answer: D
Rationale: Ethics suggests that speakers - in this case, the coach - should strive to identify with their audience, but doing so by avoiding language that separates them from their audience. While morals may seem like an appropriate answer, morals refers to an individual’s own principles regarding right and wrong. Ethics, instead, refers to the rules of an eternal source, such as a school’s code of conduct.
You serve as the executive director of communications and community relations for your community’s largest school district. During the recent pandemic closure, a social media post has gone viral with information about a food service employee testing positive for the virus after preparing food to be served to children. Parents and community members are inundating the local media and all district communication outlets with the news. After consultation with your leadership team determines the information is incorrect, the decision is made to indirectly address the rumor by pushing information out via social media and local news about the extreme food safety and cleanliness standards followed by food service workers. Which crisis management stage are you on?
A. Detection
B. Prevention/Preparation
C. Containment
D. Recovery
E. Learning
Answer: D
Rationale: The stages of detection, prevention/preparation, and containment have already passed - certainly as contained as it can be with the uncontainable social media distribution. Recovery is where you work to change the narrative of what’s happened (and it worked, since this is a real-life work situation).
Source: Effective Public Relations, Chapter 1, Page 16
You are the Communications Director for a rural school district which has just been alerted to major upcoming budget cuts. Your superintendent has invited you to meetings with directors and administrators to learn more about reduction plans that you will help communicate. Even though you are the only communications professional on staff, what best describes the role you’ll play in this situation. (Choose 1)
A. Expert prescriber
B. Problem-solving process facilitator
C. Communication Technician
D. Communication Facilitator
Answer:
B. Problem-solving process facilitator
Rationale:
EPR 11th edition, page 33
While you will likely play all of these roles, a Problem-Solving process facilitator will “collaborate with other managers to define and solve problems. They become part of the strategic planning team.” This scenario has your role as working with the administrative team to develop the communications.
You work for a company that just hired a new Social Media Coordinator. You are tasked with mentoring the new employee during the on boarding process. However, before you were assigned your new role, the new employee was tasked with creating a company Instagram account and given a quick turn around to build a large following. You find out that the new employee used his already established personal account with over 1,000 followers and did not alert them that the social account was transferring to a business page. Which PRSA ethical value would you need to discuss with the new employee?
A.) AdvocacyB.) HonestyC.) FairnessD.) Expertise
Answer:
B.) Honesty
KSA-Ethics and Law
Rationale:
APR Study Guide-pg. 103
Identify key values that should guide your thinking. Honesty — Consider obligations to tell the truth in advancing the company’s interest and in communicating to the public.
A new superintendent has been hired to lead a large urban school district, one that has been known for poor student outcomes, high debt levels and operational/fiscal mismanagement. She has approached you, as a former colleague, with an offer to become her communications director. You know this superintendent to be a top-down manager with relatively controlling tendencies, but she has assured you it’s possible for you to shape your own role in the organization. Knowing you need to be an “expert prescriber” in order to succeed in your constantly-changing, high-threat environment, what critical aspects of your new role should you insist upon before taking the job? Choose two.
a. The ability to provide counsel to management at all organizational levels on public ramifications of their decisions.
b. The ability to interface directly with members of the media.
c. The ability to set the organization’s PR objectives, budgets
Answers: a and c
KSA—Leadership and Organizational Skills
Rationale:
APR Study Guide, p. 84 and EPR, p. 36. The controversial nature of the changes that are needed (and hopefully coming) inside the school district will present the new communications director with high-change, high-threat relationships with all of its publics. It will be essential for the director to not only have a seat at the table, but a voice that will be heard as key executive decisions are made. The characteristics highlighted in choices a and c reflect those of an expert prescriber and will be required to ensure the district communicates effectively with all of its publics.
Your small consulting firm recently won a six-month contract with a fiscal bureau of a major federal agency that requires a communication plan be created to convince slow-to-change customers nationwide, roughly one-quarter of its consumer base, to pay their fees electronically instead of by paper check. The task was previously awarded to a large consulting company that had conducted research. What is your initial approach? Choose one of the following responses:A. Analyze data provided by researchB. Perform secondary researchC. Design a program based on researchD. Establish a research program
Answer: B. Perform secondary research. According to Primer on Public Relations Research, Stacks, D.W, 2017, pg. 24: “qualitative methods such as secondary research (research conducted on research already conducted) be undertaken to identify the best strategy for the stated objectives.”
You are the communications director for one of the largest counties in the state. A community that is a popular bicycle route is under construction to expand a road for bike lanes. The project required lane closures, removal of mailboxes of a dozen residents and reconstruction of driveways and culverts. It’s owned that the relationship between the community and bicyclists has been contentious for years. Due to heavy rain and a public health crisis, the project is two months over schedule. One mailbox has yet to be replaced, another resident complained about their new driveway and threatened contractors with physical violence for which the sheriff was called and a third resident threatened to call local media outlets. You have yet to hear from a reporter nor has a reporter visited the community.
Which public relations function are you performing?
A) Public affairs
B) Crisis Management
C) Issues Management
D) Press Age
Answer: B) Crisis Management
Rationale: The issues management function could have applied if the communications director had been alerted of possible delays and project problems. The communications director could have communicated with the residents in advance either through a town hall or a letter from the county administrator to give a project update. However, the residents are angry and frustrated with the situation. It is time for containment by immediately responding to residents’ specific concerns, this may involve meeting with the residents to make a hit list of problems. The county can recover by immediately addressing those concerns and follow up with residents to ensure they are satisfied with the resolution. Following up with residents can repair the relationship with the community. County leadership can learn how to prevent such an incident in the future.
You are the VP of Communications for a small, private college in a large city. A former alum recently passed away and had made a planned gift of their home which is adjacent to campus. The house is a historic building, designed by a well-known famous architect. The Board of Trustees for the college would like to see the home renovated into a student counseling center but the college president thinks that renovating the building will “generate backlash from the community.”
He has asked you to solve this problem. What would be your first task?
A: Draft a press release, touting the value of a new counseling center to the college and reaffirming the institution’s commitment to its student’s mental health.
B: Create a survey that asks respondents to share their opinion on the planned renovation and then share it on the college’s Facebook page.
C: Plan an advertising campaign in local media that demonstrates why the insti
Correct answer: D
Rationale:
Primer of PR, Page 24 “all communication research should (1) set objectives, (2) determine a strategy that establishes those objectives, and (3) implement tactics that will bring those strategies to life.
As the Public Affairs Officer in your city, the Mayor approaches you about a problem she is having with a strong social media influencer that is posting negative and erroneous comments on her public site that is taking traction with assorted hashtags. When you meet with her, of the 12 functions of public relations, which two would you be performing under:
a) Trusted Counsel
b) Crisis Communication
c) External Communications
d) Internal Communications
CORRECT ANSWER:
a & b
Rationale (Study Guide 2018 pg. 16 and EFP, 9th edition, pg. 313 ):
a: Trusted Counsel: advises and anticipates
b: Crisis Communication: (Emerging Crisis - Allow more time for research and planning, but they may suddenly erupt after brewing for long periods. The challenge is to convince top management to take corrective action before the crisis reaches the critical stage.
You recently began a new position at a nonprofit in downtown Seattle. In your new role, you are tasked with jumping in on a new campaign the team is working on. Some of your duties include writing news releases and feature stories, developing website content and interacting with media contacts. Your team has asked to meet together to discuss the communication collaterals and implementation of the current strategy on this campaign. Even though you weren’t part of the original meeting with management to discuss this new strategy, what is your role and duty as a practitioner? (Select one):
A.) As a practitioner, your role is to uphold the duties of a communication technician and explain the new strategy to the employees and the media.
B.) As a practitioner, your role is to uphold the duties of a social media specialist and create additional content for the website.
C.) As a practitioner, your role is meet with manageme
Correct Answer:A
You are a public relations specialist for a state housing agency and have been assigned to draft a blog post about the history of redlining in the United States. Your director would like you to exclude the organization’s potentially embarrassing history with the practice, but you disagree and have expressed excluding the information may create a crisis the organization is not prepared to handle. The director insists the blog be written as directed. How do you proceed?
A. Write the blog per the director’s instructions and exclude the potentially damaging information.
B. Consult leadership on advice regarding how to proceed.
C. Write the blog and include the organization’s history with the practice.
Answer: C
Rational: Ethics: PRSA Code of Ethics: To conduct myself professionally, with truth, accuracy
he wants to tear down a neighborhood recreation center in an undeserved community to build a multi-million-dollar facility. He knows people who live in that community won’t be able to afford admission, but wants to move forward anyway. You express to him the concerns you have with your organization doing so and advise him why you don’t think it’s a good idea.
You are practicing which management functions of public relations: (choose 2):
A. A. Publicity and special events
B. B. Community relations
C. C. RPIE
D. D. Mutually beneficial relationships
A&D
You are the Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications for a major hotel chain. Due to economic impacts from COVID-19, the company will be laying off 2,000 employees. This comes several weeks after indefinite furloughs for half your workforce were announced. You need to communicate this information effectively in order to minimize further damage to the company’s bottom line. Which two of your company’s public relations activities will be most helpful to you in achieving your immediate objective?
A. Employee Communication
B. Crisis Management
C. Public Affairs
D. Investor Relations
E. Publicity
BD
You are the PIO of the city you live in and you are asked to implement the next Annual Communications Strategic Plan for the upcoming fiscal year to revamp the previous strategy that gave little visibility to the education initiatives in the city. What is your best course of action? (Select two).
A. Talk to District leaders, and find out what issues they want to promote in the city.
B. Identify the specific issues to improve, and rewrite the plan.
C. Perform a communications audit that allows you to identify the current state and the possible reasons why the previous plan did not work.
D. Connect with School District leaders to stay informed. Propose a partnership, and media relations strategy as part of the corrective action plan.
E. Network with all city, and District leaders, and focus efforts on attending more community events.
CD
You are the public relations manager for a local cafe called Sunset Cove. Recently, one of your employees made a culturally insensitive statement on his personal social media which lists the cafe. As different protests are emerging around the area, you quickly speak with the restaurant owner and express a timely statement should be made to protect the reputation of the establishment. Of the typical 12 functions of public relations which does this situation fall under (choose 2):
A. Internal communication
B. Trusted counsel
C. Crisis communication
D. External communication
E. Community relations
CD
You are the public relations manager for a civil legal aid firm. Your executive director expects you to help identify new and emerging clients in the community. Your firm caters to an extremely diverse population of immigrants in its local jurisdiction. What is the best approach to solving his problem?
A. Develop flyers marketed to a variety of ethnic groups in the law firm’s service area
B. Extract the demographics in your client database and create a campaign to target the least served ethnic group
C. Identify all media directed to non-English speaking people persons and take out ads in each of them
D. Pull census records and compare to your firm’s record of clients served to create a community relations campaign
E. Create a communications and marketing plan to target new client prospects in all media available
D
KSA: Communication Models & Theories
You lead PR for the City of Chicago. On Monday following a week of intense protests due to racial injustice, you are tasked with sharing exactly what happened and the immediate steps the city is taking as a result of the protests. Of the four classic models of PR, which one are you practicing?
A) Press agentry / publicity
B) Public information
C) Two-way asymmetrical
D) Two-way symmetrical
B
John was asked by his manager to send out an email highlighting the quarter of positive growth to all the stakeholders for their organization. Identify which group is the stakeholder audience John should be emailing.
A: Customers who’ve recently bought items
B: Upper Management (CEO, CEO, CIO, etc)
C: The Board of Directors
D: Department Heads
E: All Employees
C
You are a communications director for a college. College leadership tasks you with creating a social media campaign, providing little time to conduct research and prepare a proper PR plan. You inform leadership that you need another day to prepare an actual plan. In what PR function are you serving? Select one option.
A. Building trust with co-workers by providing internal communication
B. Advising or providing counsel to leadership
C. Providing issues management to the team
D. Building public trust by providing external communication
B
You are the communications director for a large public school district. A school board member resigns unexpectedly and the board must appoint a new member within 30 days. The president of the board tasks you with promoting the application process and gathering community input as to what qualifications they believe are important. What two functions of public relations will you perform? Choose two:A) Crisis ManagementB) Employee CommunicationC) PublicityD) Advertising
BC
the national director has a reputation for saying things like this. Donations and volunteers will increase once the news blows over.
B
As an account executive in a small PR firm, you have been tasked with researching your newest client, a technology start-up. Select the three options below that are appropriate research vehicles:
A. Conduct a Google news search of press articles on competing technology firms in the same space.
B. Interview the co-founder of the start-up technology about the technology and the market.
C. Attend a presentation about the start-up at the local MBA alumni club, of which you are not a member, but your roommate, who is, can get you in.
D. Attend a presentation by a competing and established technology firm in the exhibition hall at atechnology conference you are attending on behalf of your client.
Select the three options that are correct for researching your new client.
ABD
You manage PR and media outreach for a national consumer goods company. Your organization is launching a new product and has tasked you with taking the lead to promote and introduce it to the market. What is the first thing you do?
A. Send out a press release announcing the new product’s availability
B. Conduct a focus group of the target audience to determine their perspective
C. Launch an internal survey to determine employee awareness and attitude about the new product
D. Collaborate with other internal teams including advertising and marketing to create a cohesive plan
D
You are the Public Relations Director for a local non-profit organization that advocates for girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. It’s already March and your boss wants you to develop a campaign to reach all of the graduating seniors in the local school district with guidance and information on STEM scholarship opportunities. You develop a plan and decide what strategy you’ll use to convey the desired message in the time frame given. In your role what action do you take, please choose one:
A. Contact your graphic designer to immediately begin working on campaign concepts.
B. Develop a budget for paid ads.
C. Develop a media plan to pitch reporters, columnists, and local news stations to inform parents, students, and the community.
D. Inform your boss there isn’t enough time to properly research and plan a successful campaign.
C
You are the brand new communications director for a chain of fast casual tex-mex restaurants with 35 stores in California and Arizona. The restaurant was started 15 years ago, but has grown rapidly over the last eight years with plans for a nationwide expansion in the next ten years. It was recently hit with dual crises in a three-month period, which led to the firing of the previous communications director. First, the chain was found to be serving tainted chicken, which led to a temporary shutdown to clean and conduct inspections. Then, five women came forward alleging inappropriate workplace behavior by three store managers, who were subsequently let go. A key aspect of your hiring is your ability to manage crisis communications. What is one of your first steps you will take to build your team to implement a crisis communication plan?
A. Begin conducting research about your publics and the effect the previous crise
C
You are the newly hired communications manager for the largest mental health nonprofit agency in the Greater Los Angeles Area. In their 93 year history, they have not had this role. The agency has more than 50 sites throughout Southern California and more than 1,100 employees. It has been rumored that clinicians view administrative staff as being “agency favorites” and the executive management is afraid staff morale will decrease and programs/sites will become more siloed. You decide to create a “One Agency” campaign that involves a heavy amount of communication with employees, which includes a newsletter, social media campaign, town hall meetings, etc. Which role of PR are you exercising?
A) BrandingB) Marketing communicationsC) Employee relationsD) Counseling
C
You are the communications director for an airline. 10 employees who attended a corporate training were infected with COVID-19, one of whom died from the virus. As news broke of what happened, employees have begun refusing to come to work.The C-suite assigned you to spearhead internal communications regarding the airline’s response to the coronavirus.What are your first steps to neutralize the issue so employees feel safe to return to work?A. Call media outlets for an exclusive interview where names of employees and the deceased will be revealed for transparency.B. Hint at an impending layoff due to plummeting ticket sales.C. Write an internal memo acknowledging recent events and outlining measures taken by the company to contain the spread of COVID-19, with information on what to do when an employee tests positive.D. Implement a COVID-19 screening program in accordance with state and federal guidelines.
C
You are the communications director for a large suburban school district tasked with creating a public relations campaign to unify the community. The town’s long-standing traditions were changed 10 years prior when a 2nd high school was formed. The district is the largest employer in the county, and there is tremendous growth on on the north side of town with the new high school. The south side of town long-standing traditions with 2nd, 3rd, 4th generations and beyond attending the south side high school. Which audience do you target first with your campaign?
A. District Staff
B. Parents and students
C. Community
D. Media
A
You’re the communications director at a religious nonprofit. The head minister wants to start a new class online during a pandemic to continue engaging members. What is the first step you take to support the minister in starting a new online class?
A. Promote the new class on social media platforms.
B. Make an e-vite for the class that includes logistical details and an eye-catching graphic.
C. Post an announcement for the new class in the organization’s enews.
D. Send an open-ended and multiple choice survey to members to find out if they’re interested in the new class, what times for the new class work for them, what they get out of current classes, and how classes can be improved.
D
A tech startup has brought you in on a short-term contract to “do some PR” for a product launch. Your client contact, the VP of Marketing, asks you to review a news release. The CEO rejects your proposed edits because they don’t match the language developed and tested over several weeks by the Marketing team. The Marketing VP says the CEO wants to go with the Marketing language because market research showed it performed better with customers. What do you do? (Choose two.)
A. Provide the client with a list of publics the news is intended to reach and explain why the company’s relationship with those publics matters.
B. Request access to the market research so you can align the news release language with the Marketing language.
C. Advise the client that reporters will only cover a story if they deem it newsworthy to their readers and will likely change the wording as it appears in the release.
D. Set as an objective a
AC
As the sole PR practitioner for a company you have hired a professional videographer to film your bosses speech at a company event. After the event is complete, your boss’s spouse asks for a copy of his recorded speech to share on her personal social media, what should you do.
A. Give her a copy after requesting permission from your boss and the photographer
B. Inform her that the copyright for usage of the footage solely belongs to the company whom purchased it from the videographer
C. Request that she pay a fee for a copy of the footage
D. Encourage her to share the footage via the company site which has his speech uploaded
AD
You are the public relations director of a new self-driving car manufacturer who has had two fullyears of successful trials of their first vehicle, when suddenly there is a major accident killing both passengers and one pedestrian. You are asked to respond to the media’s questions. You….
A. respond with a written statement saying how sorry the company is for the loss of lives and then focus on the successes of the trials up until the accident.
B. cooperate completely with the media.
C. send the company’s condolences to the family and do not address the questions regarding the accident.
d. do nothing.
B
You are the communications person for an urban school district. On ‘See You at the Pole Day’, an administrator at one of the high schools in the district stops a group of students from praying at the flag pole unknowing what the large gathering is for. The moment is videoed and shared by the parent of the student holding the event on social media. The incident has gotten lots of negative attention for the school and school district on social media and with local media outlets. As the school district communications person, you…
A. Ignore the negative social media response and local media inquiries and wait for it to organically die down.
B. Meet with school administration to discuss the plan to rectify the situation with the student and the student’s family.
C. Post a response on how the school is handling the situation on social media and send the same response to media outlets.
D. Enforce a rule that all student l
BC
You just got an interview with a company for a position labeled as ‘Public Relations Director’. As someone going through the APR process, you understand all that PR encompasses. However, during the interview, it is clear the expectations for the role is only to get media attention for the company. While you don’t mind the position, you understand it probably should be labeled differently. Which of the following do you think would be a more appropriate title:
A. Senior Press Agent
B. Public Affairs Director
C. Head of Investor Relations
D. PR Specialist
A
You and your department at the local government level spent a months on a campaign trying to gain support for a tax raising initiative that did not pass. Your boss asks what went wrong. You:
A. suggest that the campaign needed more money for promotion.
B. tell her you need to evaluate the completed campaign and then you can provide feedback.
C. suggest you start the campaign over and try again next year.
D. blame the media for giving opponents more media attention than they gave your entity.
B
You are a communications specialist for a small school District that recently approved a new five-year Strategic Plan. You have been tasked with creating a communications plan to ensure stakeholders understand the new District priorities. What is the first strategy or tool that you would implement in your plan? (Select two)
A. Create a graphic that displays new strategic plan and post it on social media and on the District website
B. Have the Superintendent and Board President shoot a video for employees to speak to the new vision of the District
C. Write up a blurb for your upcoming parent newsletter
D. Create a toolkit and resources for principals and administrators to begin sharing the new vision for the District in their upcoming staff meetings
BD
Your supervisor was browsing social media during lunch, and they were delighted by a meme featuring a well-known actor from a ’90s sitcom. They now request that you alter the photo of the celebrity by superimposing your product in the actor’s hands, posting it on social media, and including hashtags and a link to the featured product page. Define the specific ethical issue/conflict. Select one:
A) Defamation is an untruth that damages a reputation.
B) For works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.
C) The free flow of accurate and truthful information is essential to serving the public interest.
D) Appropriation: Taking some element of a person’s name or likeness for advertising or trade purposes without consent.
D
You are the public relations manager for an online company. You learn that staff members have been encouraged to write positive reviews for the products you sell on the company’s social media accounts. Even though the product reviews are fabricated, they are truthful in that they accurately describe the benefits of the product. Understanding you are being faced with an ethical dilemma, identify your first step in addressing this issue? Choose one:
A. Immediately report your findings to your supervisor.
B. Create an employee-focused social media best practices guide in collaboration with your Human Resource team to be distributed to all employees.
C. Immediately share what you learned with all your company’s investors.
D. Define the specific ethical issue or conflict you need to address.
E. Consult with the C-suite leaders and encourage them to issue a statement to the company’s investors.
D
The CEO of your current employer has tasked you with writing a personal letter to a select few customers that experienced an unplanned 7-hour outage over the weekend. He explained that they are “important” customers and even noted one was a close friend. Approximately 8,000 customers in total experienced the same outage. What is the best course of action?
A. Create a draft letter as requested and send to the CEO for review.
B. Schedule time with the CEO and internal teams to better understand the unplanned outage and provide feedback as to why all affected customers should get a letter versus only a select few.
C. Refuse to write the letter and accuse the CEO of showing favoritism.
D. Ask the CEO to personally apologize to the customers on his own time.
B
You have a meeting with one of your employees that is not performing well. You decide to record a conversation with the employee in hopes to catch them saying something that shows they are intentionally not performing their job. This would result in disciplinary action against the employee. The employee has no idea they are being recorded.
A. This is fine. They deserve to get caught.
B. Only use it if will result in disciplinary action.
C. Totally wrong. Do not do this.
C
The CEO of an organization sends out a weekly newsletter to his internal audience. Each week, he concludes with humor, a joke, or a funny comic/cartoon. One issue contained a joke downplaying the role of female employees and the salary differences among genders. Several employees took offense to it and went to HR. What is the proper way to handle this situation?
A. A). The CEO should apologize formally to only a few offended employees.
B. B) The CEO should meet with the employees who went to HR and formally apologize and publicly apologize to the entire organization for violating the code of ethics at the place of employment.
C. C) They should clean up the mess quietly without publicly addressing the situation.
D. D) The HR director, PR Director, in-house attorney, and the CEO to discuss the violation, review the code of ethics, assess the damage for any potential lawsuits or loss of reputation, and devise a plan to
BD
Which topics would be considered corporate speech? Choose two.
a) Voting rights
b) New product launch
c) Free access to pre-k education
d) Name change of a company
AC
You are a PR executive for a news outlet. Recently, the station ran a story about the increase of STDs in the area, using B-roll of people walking outside. You receive a call from your lawyer stating the station is getting sued for libel. One of the people in your B-roll is clearly identifiable and claims because of that she is being labeled and it is causing her emotional distress. Feeling particularly brave you tell your lawyer to request the individual to get an STD test before the case continues. Why would you do this?
A. Your story claims there are 20 million new cases of STDs in the US and you want to prove your theory
B. If any part of the claim is true it can’t be libel.
A
You are a public information specialist for an education agency. One of your responsibilities is to manage the agency’s social media. During the COVID-19 pandemic an administrator gives you a video to post to cheer students up. In the video her staff are imitating the famous training scene from the movie Rocky played along to the song “Gonna Fly Now.” The copyright to the music has not been obtained. She asks you to post the video on social media. What are 2 correct responses?
A. Posting a video on YouTube constitutes fair use of copyright.
B. Tell her because the music is copyrighted and you do not have permission to use it, you can not post it on social media.
C. Find music that gives you copyrights and update the video for posting.
D. Share the video internally for fun.
BC
You are the social media manager for an ice cream parlor. The shop is gearing up to celebrate 25 years in business, and the owner gives you a call and asks you to create a contest online with a handsome prize. You create a post and ask followers to like, comment, tag, and share it for a chance to win free ice cream for a year. You obtain 5,000 new followers overnight, but the owner calls you the next morning furious over the post and a clear misunderstanding. He says there must have been static during your phone call as he wanted the contest prize to be “One free ice cream and a beer!” What should you do next? (Choose one)
A) Do nothing. The prize has been officially announced, so you are obligated to stick to the original parameters.
B) Delete the post and create a new post with the correct prize.
C) Ask the owner to reconsider the prize. After all, your reputation is on the line and free ice cream for a year is act
D
Your company runs a popular youtube channel for woodworking enthusiasts. You’ve received notification that several individuals have used portions of your youtube videos on their own private channels, and are passing them off as their own content. You’re asked to provide counsel to the company on a response. What law did the individuals break? Select 1.
1. Copyright
2. Trademark
3. Defamation
Copyright
You work in communications at a small school district. A teacher approaches you about a fundraiser idea where parents can drop their kids off for a movie night. She has already distributed flyers in her class and wants you to post her flyer on your communications channels. When you ask how she plans to show the movie, she says she is going to use her personal Netflix account. She argues that it’s OK to do that because she pays for the service, and she can show copyrighted movies because she is a teacher. Which two legal arguments can you make against that claim?
A) Fair Use
B) Digital Millennium Copyright Act
C) Intellectual Property
D) Fair Comment
AC
You work in communications for a franchise hair salon. One of your stylists asks you to post a social media on corporate’s page highlighting a recent hairstyle she did to attract potential customers to her store. She sends you a video that she took of her client, who previously asked the stylist to snap a video for her that she could send to her mom. You ask for a photo/video release, and she tells you that none were signed, but that it’s ok to use the photo, but you disagree. What two acts do you use in your defense?
A) Appropriation
B) False Light
C)Public disclosure of embarrassing private facts
D) Intrusion
AD
You’ve been asked to share a letter with employees concerning an individual’s behavior. You can tell the letter was written in frustration from the writer’s perspective versus the organization’s perspective. What legal concern can you share why the letter should be modified before being shared?
A. Libel
B. Slander
C. Privacy Act
D. Fair comment
B
You are the Communication Director for a new fitness app. Your marketing team developed a new clever meme using a public photo of Michael Jordan. They are sure the meme will go viral and generate buzz about your product. They ask you to post it to social media. What reason would you give to reinforce that this is a privacy violation:
A) False light
B) Intrusion
C) Appropriation
D) Public disclosure of embarrassing private facts
C
You are the communication director for a school district. You recently learn that one of your high schools has updated its school logo to a bronco, and it is now being used on their website and weekly newsletter. Upon further investigation, you realize that the bronco image the school is using is the Denver Broncos logo. When approaching the school principal about not using this logo, what would you use to support your argument for no longer using this new logo?
A) False Light
B) Plagiarism
C) Defamation
D) Copyright concerns
D
President Bill Mitchell is the president of the United States and it is common knowledge among the inner White House circle he is an unethical and mean-spirited person. Dave Kovic is the opposite of the current president, but looks exactly like the president and has been known to impersonate him as a side hustle. When President Mitchell is incapacitated, Dave has to stand in on a more permanent basis. When the Chief of Staff unethically manipulates Dave, he underestimates the power of being a good human and the country begins to flourish and the First Lady falls in love with the imposter. The citizens of the United States are kept in the dark.
Choose the wrongful act committed:
A. Appropriation
B. Public Disclosure of Embarrassing Private Facts
C. Intrusion
D. False Light
D
You work in the communications department at a popular donut shop. The store manager comes to you with a request to post something on social media by close of business about National Donut Day. When you ask what he has in mind for the post, he tells you not to worry and that he’s already taken the video he’d like you to use. The video shows an elderly couple enjoying their specialty donuts earlier that morning to celebrate their 50th anniversary. It is clear in the video that they did not know they were being recorded. You tell your manager that you cannot post this as it is a violation of their privacy. He doesn’t believe you and thinks you should post it anyway. It’s a cute video of a cute old couple and it may go viral. Choose the two wrongful acts you can tell him were committed that violate the couple’s privacy:
A. False Light
B. Appropriation
C. Intrusion
D. Public Disclosure of Embarrassing Private Facts
BC
You are a communications professional at a local hospital. One evening, you receive a phone call from a reporter at a top, out-of-area media outlet saying they received a tip about one of their very own local and beloved personalities who they believe to be at your hospital. The reporter would like to confirm if they are a patient and, if so, they would like to find out why they are there. Which law will dictate if and how you are able to respond about the person in question?A.) The Freedom of Information ActB.) The Privacy ActC.) The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)D.) Right of Privacy
C
airing the false story would cause loss of reputation and public hatred towards the company. If the U.S. local broadcast station airs the story, which law are they viol
C
You are the Director of Marketing/Communication at a four-year, public university. Your student intern attends several classes to take videos of an active classroom to use for a promotional video to attract prospective students. The intern does not secure signed consent forms. If the university uses the footage in promotional videos to recruit potential students, which law would they be violating?
Invasion of Privacy
Copyright law
Trademark law
Fair Use
A
You are the public relations manager for an insurance company who wants to use a comic strip character as its mascot. Which legal issue do you need to make your company aware of before this can be implemented?
Copyright law
Trademark law
Appropriation
Defamation
C
You are the communications director for a digital marketing agency and find out one of your employees was a key contributor to the January 6, 2021 events at the White House, this employee was also wearing the company logo on her shirt. This employee was promptly relieved of their duties for violating company values and policies. You find out through a journalist’s request for information regarding this employee’s employment status and what the agency is going to do. What action do you take, choose one:
Answers:
A. Send his dates of employment and let the journalist know the company parted ways with this individual, explaining the company’s key values she violated.
B. Ignore the requests.
C. Release the information through a legal-approved statement on the company’s social channels.
D. Let the journalist off the record know she was a past employee, but was fired for her involvement in the January 6 events.
B
A leader within your health care organization asks you to write a press release for an independent physician regarding a new service she is offering within her practice. The physician begins calling you directly to give the ball rolling for the release. The organization’s policies and procedures prohibit the promotion of providers who are not employed by the organization. It would be a Stark Law or anti-kick back violation. This is a serious regulatory compliance issue. What do you do?
A. Write the release as requested.
B. Write the release but share it within the organization.
C. Decline the request, informing the leader and the physician of the conflict and explain the repercussions.
D. Suggest the physician work with PR agency or freelance writer for this request.
CD
The non-profit you’re working for has been charged by the U.S. Attorney General’s in a COVID-19 scheme that stole $250 million dollars from the Government. Your Board of Directors wants you to hold a press conference stating that the charges are false accusations and that your organization is being targeted because it helps immigrants. You have to make a determination if you should or should not hold a press conference. According to the PRSA Board of Ethics which two steps should you take first in your decision-making process.
A. Make your decision, and justify it.
B. Define the specific ethical issue or conflict.
C. Select ethical principles to guide your decision-making process.
D. Identify internal and external factors that may influence the decision.
BD
Your client is a highly respected specialty medical practitioner who has worked extensively with the press in her work. She has developed industry-leading approaches to nutritional health and symptom mitigation for those with Crohn’s disease. She would like to promote this coverage to her patients and potential clients. She asks how she can accomplish this within the legal parameters of copyright law. Which two of the following would be permissible?
A. Purchase copies of all television segments and play them in a loop in the waiting room.
B. Place a framed newspaper article on the wall in the waiting room.
C. Send an email with the full article copy to the patient database.
D. Add an excerpt and a link to the article in a patient newsletter.
BD
You are the communications director of a sporting goods company and just learned that your top competitor is being named to a prestigious list of Best Companies to Work for in your city. Your CEO asks you to send an email to the publication producing the list about your competitor’s poor ratings on Glassdoor and Indeed.com. You should:
A. Send an email with screenshots from Glassdoor and Indeed.com to the Editor since this advances the free flow of accurate and truthful information
B. Tell your CEO this is wrong and refuse to do so
C. Explain to your CEO that this goes against the PRSA Code of Ethics, which calls for fairness when dealing with competitors and do not send the email
D. Send the email, as this promotes healthy competition
C
his subscriber base about the worst security manufacturers in the industry. Your company makes the list, and the article includes several complaints about your outdated product and bad tech support. While some people view this newsletter as the National Enquirer of the industry, your customer base is a large part of the subscriber base. To help “get on the good side” of the editor, your president suggests sending the editor any news releases a day ahead of time and give him a heads-up on when the news release will be sent out. The intention is the editor will be first to publish before other media in your industry, and therefore he will favor the company. What is your response to the president? Pick one.
A. A. You agree and send all releases to the editor a day ahead of time as a common practice.
B. B. You explain that according to the PRSA professional values you need to deal fairly with the media, therefore respect
B
You are the communications director for a small school district that has, for the past 10 years, used a “Donald Duck” replica of a Disney caricature as its mascot. You are concerned about use of this image and schedule a meeting with the superintendent. What issue will you cite as the reason they should change their mascot?
A) Copyright concerns
B) Defamation
C) Plagiarism
A
You are the Communications Director of a local school district that has been flourishing for the past several decades. Your superintendent approaches you stating that the CFO has been covering up the financial numbers and in reality the district is not doing well financially. The superintendent informs you that the cabinet level has devised a plan to fix the situation without anyone from the public finding out. The superintendent requests that you write a press release on how the Financial Department is being fiscally responsible with the District’s money and data on the district’s website is available to back this claim. You are also asked to take a nice picture of the Financial Services Department. What is the best option to take as the Communications Director? Select one:
1. Do as you are told because it’s a direct order from the superintendent
2. Exercise independence (a key value from the PRSA Code of Ethics)
3.
2
You work as a PIO for a non profit, one of the board members for the non-profit approaches you to ask for a special favor. The board member is running for City Council and wants to be in as much media as possible to highlight their work in the non-profit which they hope will positively influence their political campaign. They ask to be featured in social media posts and in the next newsletter for the non-profit (which wasn’t originally part of your PR plan). What is the best first and second step to approach this ethical dilemma?
A. Identify key values then make a decision and justify it.
B. Select ethical principles to guide the decision-making process then make a decision and justify it.
C. Define the specific ethical issue/conflict then select the ethical principles to guide the decision-making process.
D. Define the specific issue/conflict then identify internal/ external factors (e.g. legal, political, social, e
D
You work for a local city government. An elected official is running for re-election and has asked you to make sure they are invited to speak at all public events hosted by the city. The elected official is not the subject matter expert, sponsor, spokesperson or other designee to speak on behalf of the city for all the events being hosted by the city. How should you respond to this request?
A. Acknowledge the request. Do what they elected official asks and schedule them to speak at all public events hosted by the city.
B. Acknowledge the request. Remind the elected official of any relevant policies and ethical standards preventing you from honoring the request. Decline to schedule the elected official to speak at any public events hosted by the city.
C. Acknowledge the request. Remind the elected official of any relevant policies and ethical standards preventing you from honoring the request. Schedule the elected off
C
You are a social media manager for a Travel & Tourism PR agency. One of your client’s is an online influencer that shares information about hotels, restaurants, events, and activities in the city. Each year the influencer publishes a guide with recommendations onlhy including her top advertisers. In the past, she has not disclosed that the guide only includes paid advertisers and she doesn’t mention this detail in her posts. For the new content plan, what is the best way to address this practice?
A. Post recommendations of advetisers and non-advertisers so that the recommendations will be more authentic and organic.
B. Add a statement to the online guide and all social media platforms informing users that all recommendations are based on advertisers.
C. Include the #Ad or #SponsoredPost hashtag in all posts
D. Continue with this practice since the advertisers do not pay the client to post on social media.
BC
You secure news coverage for your organization with a major national newspaper. The coverage showcases the company in a very favorable light, and you have been asked to share the article through email, social media and embed it on your company’s website. What are the two best practices to share the article and ensure you are following copyright laws?
A. Upload a PDF of the full article to your website and share the link to it in email and on social media.
B. Copy the text of the article and paste onto the company’s digital platforms.
C. Seek out an online link for the article, share an excerpt giving attribution and linking to the source for the full article.
D. Obtain permission from the news organization before using the full article on your digital platforms.
CD
You are the Public Relations and Media Relations specialist for a small regional university. The university President calls you to his office on a weekend, upset that a Letter To The Editor in the local newspaper claims he is a bully for shutting down the long-standing student newspaper. The President asks that you use your PR and writing skills to compose Letters To The Editor in response which will then be signed and mailed in by faculty and staff hand-picked by the President himself.
Upon which of the PRSA core values could you base an ethical refusal of his request?
A. A. Advocacy
B. B. Honesty
C. C. Expertise
D. D. Independence
BD
You are the public relations manager for an insurance company who wants to use a comic strip character as its mascot. Which legal issue do you need to make your company aware of before this can be implemented?
a) Copyright law
b) Trademark law
c) Appropriation
d) Defamation
C
You are the PIO for the local school district. A local editorial journalist wrote an article that argued that during the most recent school board meeting, the the school board chair did not know the difference between two important educational policies and the chair should be removed from the their position and the entire board. The journalist’s article has gone locally viral and most comments on social media support the journalists position. Now, the school board chair wants you to craft a press release that the they are suing the journalist for defamation. How should you proceed? Pick 1.
A. Don’t write the press release and advice the chair on Fair Comment
B. Don’t write the press release encourage the chair to seek outside council.
C. Don’t write the press release and encourage the chair to ask the journalist to retract the article.
D. Don’t write the press release and advice the chair the journalist’s comments ar
A
You are the Communications Director at a small university that serves an overwhelmingly minority community. A small number of students refuses to be vaccinated because of of a distrust of government in their community. This concerns the president who wants to report a 90 percent vaccination rate. He expels the students who go to the local media to complain their rights were violated. The president is asking you to write a press release claiming the students expulsion was a matter of privacy. What do you do?
A. As the university’s advocate, you write the release to protect the interest of the school
B. Advise the president to meet with the students and offer a settlement because their rights were violated.
C. Write a release that confirms students were expelled but offers no information on the circumstances leading to it. The students are entitled to privacy,
D. Contact the students and ask them to withdraw the state
C
You’re the new Senior Communications Manager for a rowing club. During a Saturday afternoon regatta an adaptive athlete flips his shell. The athlete is okay and the incident is briefly covered in the evening news. Everyone understands that it was an accident, but the club’s president is worried the accident will scare away investors. He wants you to send a press release that claims the athlete was not prepared to compete because he hasn’t practiced on the water in a month, but the athlete is a frequent competitor and there is no proof he was not ready.
A. Write the release as the president requests. It will show the team you’re loyal to the organization in a crisis.
B. Advise the president to take a different approach. Suggest offering the president and the athlete as a joint interview to the local morning shows.
C. Write a release that includes an honest representation of the athlete’s condition before the race, as
C
You are the communications director for a public relations firm and your boss asks you to produce a video showcasing the firm’s services to potential customers. He tells you, “We have a limited budget for this production, but I want to maximize the impact we have with potential clients. I would like you to use a hit song from AC/DC like “Back in Black” or Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” as background music for the video.” You reluctantly comply with your boss’s request and post the video to your firm’s website.
From the list below, select the law or ethical standard that was violated in this scenario. Select all that apply.
A) A) Fair Use
B) B) Digital Millenium Copyright Act
C) C) Intellectual Property Rights
D) D) PRSA’s Ethical Standards on Native Advertising and Sponsored Content
BCD
Your company has just acquired its largest competitor and the company has laid off 100+ employees to reach corporate synergy targets. Several months after the termination of one former employee you see that they have published the entire recording of a company Town Hall on their LinkedIn page. What do you do?
A. Contact your internal counsel immediately to take legal action against the former employee
B. Let the posting remain as the former employee is entitled to free speech under the First Amendment
C. Reach out to the former employee to explain that the contents of what they posted are property of their former employer and ask them to remove
D. Comment on the post to discredit what the former employee posted/claim that it is false.
C
Choose one of the following that accurately describes and defines fair use.
a. the full use of copyrighted material for commercial purposes.
b. the fair and balanced evaluation of various copyrighted materials to be used for one’s own purposes.
c. using copyrighted material fairly in respect to other competing copyrighted material.
d. directly using part of copyrighted material, but used briefly in relation to the length of the original work.
D
As part of the Marketing and public relations team, a medical device company contacts you to film an educational and promotion videos within your hospital. The video will only include staff and doctors who will be using the device and no patients will be filmed in a resricted part of the hospital. They send you a contract for review and signature with a tight turnaround time and two-day production. What are your next steps?
a.) Review and sign the contract
b.) Send request to legal for review and signature
c.) Disregard request, tell device company filming is not allowed in hospital
d.) Forward to operations at hospital to make a decision
B
You are the communications director for a public school. The advisor of the high school newspaper that has paid subscribers has discovered that the newspaper’s art director has been using copyrighted images she has found online and asks for your opinion. What do you tell her she must immediately do?
A. Don’t worry about it because it’s educational.
B. Provide a cutline and photo credit to the original source.
C. Contact the photographer(s) for permission to use the photo(s).
D. Remove all copyrighted photos from the layout and find alternate un-copyrighted photos or photos provided freely by photographers.
D
You are a communications professional for a public school district in 2021. An administrator is sharing an idea she has for introducing the human relations team in an internal staff video. As part of this video she said she wants to use the song “Love Train” by the O’Jays. When presenting the idea she said “I’m not sure we can do that, but I know other people post videos with music so I think we can get away with it.” How do you respond?
A. Take the chance. She’s probably right.
B. Tell her the song is not yet in the public domain and to use it would be a copyright violation.
C. Use it and leave it to the video hosting site to take it down.
D. Offer the opportunity to select a song from a paid music licensing service used by the school district to find a tune with legal clearance.
BD
It is 2013. You are the communications manager for a state department of transportation. As part of your communications plan to get drivers to be courteous around snow plows, you are planning to publish a video humanizing snow plow drivers. Your executive director has a great idea - use the popular “Let it Go” song from the new movie “Frozen” in the background. What do you do? Choose one.
A. Go for it! Killer idea, boss
B. Use the instrumental version
C. Explain that it can’t be used due to copyright laws and find another background song
D. Explain that the song is a trademark of Disney and can’t be used
C
You are the communications manager for a local government. Each budget cycle, you publish a press release to explain the major expenditures for next year’s budget. The release goes to all reporters in the area and is posted online. After you send the release, you notice you have mis-typed the total expected to be spent on a new park. What do you do?
A. Let it go. Do people even read these things?
B. Make a note to correct the area when you are speaking with any reporters that pick up the release.
C. Update the version posted online.
D. Update the version posted online and re-issue the release, highlighting the misinformation.
D
The PR team at a university is organizing a town hall for employees to communicate with the chancellor. One week prior, staff in the office are urged to draft 3 to 5 questions that will be presented anonymously to the chancellor via notecards by a moderator during the event and deviate from the hot button issues at the moment. What would be the best ethical action in this situation?
A. No action is needed. The members of the PR team are employees, too, and can pose anonymous questions like the others.
B. Have the moderator disclose that some questions were supplied by members of the Office of Public Information in advance.
C. Given the hidden influence of leadership and questions that may not reflect each employee’s genuine concerns, remove the PR team’s submissions.
D. Require that anyone posing a question via notecard disclose their full name.
C
You manage the Facebook page for a K-12 school district. A recent post about the district’s mask policy has attracted a large number of critical comments, including several that are strongly critical of the superintendent and the board, although none are vulgar, profane or hateful. Your superintendent is upset by the comments and has asked you to delete the negative comments and disable future comments on Facebook. What approach you would recommend?
A. Leave the comments, but disable future comments
B. Delete the negative comments and disable future comments
C. Delete only the negative comments but allow future comments
D. Allow all comments to remain
D
You work as a Public Relations Manager for a new health food company who sells organic products. The company owners wants to advertise in a vegan magazine as an all-organic health food company. While most of their products are organic, you are aware that some of their products are processed. What course of action should you take?
A. Adhere to the client’s request and market them as an organic company
B. Advise the client to consider a different magazine
C. Advertise only the client’s organic products
D. Advertise the company as organic without using “absolute” verbiage (such at “100%” or “All-Organic”)
B
You are the public relations professional at a small beverage company. An employee has an uncanny resemblance to Marilyn Monroe and the marketing department plans to use her photograph in an upcoming social media ad campaign. In the ad, the employee is dressed and made up just like the celebrity. The advertising copy even refers to her as “Marilyn.” There are no plans to pay any royalties. What course of action do you take? Choose one.A. Consult the legal department and ask them to reject the ad based on “right of publicity”.B. Consult the legal department and ask them to reject the ad based on “misappropriation of personality” related to both the celebrity and the employee.C. Seek permission from the employee to use her photo and defer any trademark questions to the legal team.D. Ask the legal department to reject the ad based on ethical concerns over the confusion it will cause for the audience.E. Ask the in-house
A
You work for a legislator who will be sponsoring several pieces of legislation intended to improve mental health care. There has always been a stigma around those struggling with mental illness. The topic makes people uncomfortable and it is easy for them to ignore the needs of the mentally ill. Lately, the news has covered more stories that show how those struggling with mental illness contribute to violent crime and property crime. Your job is to find a way to make people more aware of the situation and to grow public empathy that will result in support for the legislator’s legislation. What audience theory would help you develop a communications plan to change the public’s attitude?
A. Social exchange
B. Uses and gratification
C. Identification
D. Spiral of silence
C
You are the PR Director for major health foods brand. Your boss, the CEO, complains to you one day about how your brand is being portrayed on social media. He saw a comment about how your company’s prices are higher than the larger supermarket chains, written on one of your team’s most recent Facebook posts. You understand it’s normal for health foods to be generally more expense, but he doesn’t. In fact, he doesn’t even shop your brand, he goes to the local, cheaper store for his shopping. He wants you to get working on a price drop of select items so you don’t start losing sales. This is an example of what audience theory:
A: Spiral of silence
B: Third-person effect
C: Diffusion of innovation
D: Social judgement
B
You are trying to persuade community members near your client’s new company headquarters that the introduction of this facility will have lasting benefits to the community. You and members of your team grew up in this community, so you are very knowledgable of the local environment. Additionally, your team has conducted extensive analysis, appealed to the community’s interests, solicited the endorsement of key community leaders, and published testimonials from community supporters. However, the news media is portraying a different story to the public and you are feeling unsure that the effort will be fruitful. What are some concerns you may have about the limitations of your persuasion? (Pick three.)
A) Competing messages may drown out your client’s message
B) You do not have credibility to persuade this audience
C) Lack of message penetration means some key points could be left out or distorted
D) There is a lack of
ACE
You work for a company that produces an outdated product. Since you are innovative in nature, you reach out to the head of your company and let them know that you think they should expand their product line to include a more forward-looking solution to customer’s problems. You recommend communicating with stakeholders, including current clients, to find out what solutions will help them now and in the next several years. Your boss doesn’t want to change, since everything has been working to date and doesn’t see the need to hear feedback from clients…after all, he hears great things from the internal teams! Which TWO of the following communication models does your boss subscribe to?
A. The Shannon-Weaver Model
B. Wilbur Schramm Model
C. Social learning
D. Third-person effect
AD
You are the communications director for a municipality. The city is working with its subcontracted waste management company to roll out a new, free software application that will enable citizens to schedule on-demand pickup of items that cannot be collected in the regular, bi-weekly waste management services. Utilizing the Diffusion Process, which of the following options should be your first step to present the new app to citizens?
A. Host a series of community meetings providing information about the app and demonstrations as to how to use it
B. Share testimonies of families and friends who have already begun using the service
C. Distribute a press release introducing the new app
D. Create a video for social media showing the mayor demonstrating how convenient the app is
C
You are the public relations manger for a construction company trying to pick a location for a large concrete batch plant they need to construct near a new roadway project they are contracted to build. Before any final decisions are made, a nearby neighborhood organizer gets wind that a site in their area is under consideration. They launch a massive opposition campaign filled with misinformed messages on neighborhood blogs and social media pages, which quickly gains traction and followers. Which audience theories best describe the strategies and tactics employed against you? Pick three.
A. Diffusion of Innovation
B. Inoculation
C. Spiral of Silence
D. Social Exchange
E. Cognitive Dual Processing
BDE
additionally the towns Congressional representative, is now actively involved, and strongly advocating for the Navy to extend the test sites. Based on your understanding of the communication process and theories - what audience could the Na
AC
You are the public relations manager for a public organization. At a public board meeting, a board member makes remarks that are fairly covered by the media in the next day’s newspaper coverage. While the story printed does include some embarrassing quotes about news for your organization, it is fair and accurate. The embarrassed board member who was quoted is upset by the media coverage and calls a meeting with you. They state you should have more control over the media and you explain the extent to which you can control who you quote in a press release, but not what quotes the media uses from a public meeting. To avoid this situation in the future you do which of the following: (choose two of the best answers)
A. Publish a press release with pre-approved quotes to give reporters immediately after the board meeting ends
B. Offer media training with board members to better understand their comments can be used by med
BC
You are a communications specialist for a local healthcare organization. Due to a federal requirement, there is an upcoming change to how quickly test results are released to patients in their online patient dashboard. These changes have potentially big impacts on how physician and care provider workflows and leadership is worrying about backlash from this group. Your team is tasked with creating a communications plan to help inform physicians and care providers of the upcoming federally required changes and how they can adjust their daily workflows to help meet the needs of their patients.
In your efforts to create a public relations plan modeled after Grunig’s two-way symmetrical communication, what tactics should you recommend in your plan? Select two.
a. Host open forum events for physicians to attend and voice their feedback and concerns about the changes.
b. Send a press release outlining the federally required
AD
You are a public relations director for a school district that is developing an equity policy. Although the majority of staff members are likely in support of the policy, you anticipate some mixed reactions among parents and community members. Following Grunig and Hunt’s two-way symmetrical model of public relations, which of the following actions should you take before the school board votes on the policy in two months? Select two.
A. Monitor national public opinion polls that relate to equity, diversity and inclusion to gauge general sentiment.
B. Conduct a content analysis to determine how different media sources are framing the topic.
C. Conduct online surveys of staff, parents and community members to assess attitudes toward equity.
D. Use the results of your research to make adjustments to the proposed policy.
E. Use the results of your research to make messages about the proposed policy more persuasive.
CD
Your 65-year-old mother spent most of her eligible working years as a military spouse and stay-at-home mom raising three daughters. When the pandemic began, she decided to spend most of her days at home and without public interaction, fearing the worst considering her age, former-smoker status, and compromised immune system due to 35 years of diabetes. Given that her social interaction is limited to her husband, she spends lots of time watching the news and scrolling social media. Despite mask mandates lifting in much of the country and a sense of normalcy beginning to bloom, your mother refuses to retreat from her humble abode. Your mother’s behavior is a result of which theory:
A) Two-step flow
B) Identification
C) Rhetoric
D) Cultivation
D
You are coordinating communications for the “Vote Yes for Kids” Committee (separate from the school district) in order to pass a bond to build a new school for elementary students with updated safety & security features at school entrances. As part of the information campaign, you share statistics citing that many of schools that experience violence have an out-of-date and unsecured entry system, including a recent and well-known incident that happened in your local community. You also share these statistics and information with the local media and they cover the topic extensively leading up to the election. The measure passed on election day. Select the two theories that were utilized in this campaign.
A) Agenda-setting
B) Spiral of Silence
C) Framing
D) Sleeper effect
AC
You are the public relations outreach coordinator for the county office of education. School attendance has continued to decline despite the lifting of COVID restrictions. The school districts in your county reach out for help to bring attendance levels up. You build a campaign using a local sports celebrity who attended your schools to talk about the importance of attendance. Which community theory best describes this approach?
A. Agenda Setting
B. Organizational Theory of Public Relations
C. Two-Step Flow
D. Magic Bullet/Hypodermic Needle
C
You are the Director of Communications for a small business of fewer than 20 employees. The Director of Personnel in your company comes to you and asks for help setting up a communications training for two departments who historically do not get along or communicate well. Not only do the departments as a whole not work well together, there are several personal conflicts between individuals in each department. Which communications model would be the best foundation for a training to ameliorate this situation?
A) The Shannon-Weaver Model
B) The Wilbur Schramm Model
C) The Grunig Models
D) Lang & Lang Collective Dynamics
B
While working on a communications campaign for a new local gym in a small town, you set an objective to get 100 new gym sign-ups in the next quarter, during your campaign trial. You plan the campaign around the start of the new year because you assume that is when people will be most motivated to start at a new gym. You disseminate messages to the local community via local billboards, targeted social ads, and press release announcing it’s opening. However, at the end of the quarter you have only gathered 60 sign ups. Oddly enough, though, over the summer the gym reports that they have 50 more new signups.
Which two theories may explain this?
A. Agenda settingB. Social Judgement
C. Inoculation
D. Sleeper effect
E. Uses and gratification
F. Diffusion of information
DF
You are the communications director for a university. The university has a contract with a local catering company to provide food for the campus cafeteria. When the catering company was put in the spotlight for unfair treatment of non-white employees, the media and university customers put the blame on the university. But the catering service treated the non-white staff unfairly, not the university. This negative reaction falls under which audience theory?
A. Social judgment
B. Attribution theory
C.Reasoned action
D. Cognitive consistency theories
C
You are the director of communications and media relations for a well-known clothing retailer tasked with developing a communications plan encouraging consumers to order items online for curbside pick-up at your store locations. While employing the adoption process, which two audiences should be the target focus of your initial messages. (Select one.)
A. Fashion influencers and the niche fashion media B. Brand loyalty club members and store employeesC. Fashion influencers and brand loyalty club membersD. Store employees and the niche fashion media
C
You are the Director of Marketing and Communications for a large in-door trampoline and activities company. The company’s five locations have been shutdown for the past two months due to statewide mandates surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The governor has lifted the band on in-door activity businesses (gyms, rock climbing, trampoline, etc.) and businesses can reopen with stringent safety and capacity protocols in-place. Your company’s locations have reopened and are meeting all required safety mandates. However, a few of the locations have not seen a pre-COVID-19 return of guests to the locations. The CEO has tasked you with developing a marketing campaign that will promote the increased safety measures and restore faith in pre-existing customers and encourage new ones.
A. Create a hashtag and encourage visitors to take pictures and post them on social media using the new hashtags.
B. Contact local media outlets (p
BC
and more.
C. C. L
BD
You are a public relations manager for a local land trust that has spent 20 years protecting a preserve, piece by piece. The final piece contains critical habitat and is a wildlife corridor to other connected preserved lands and your organization is raising money for its purchase. You develop a communications plan that includes op-eds, articles in the local paper, and a community photo contest with the winner published in the paper. Your campaign is an example of which theory:
A. Agenda Building
B. Competence
C. Excellence
D. Relationship Management
A
You lead a college public relations office. To attract and increase prospective students, your college decides to launch a brand-new sport for women. As a small college, the local media rarely cover your sports news, opting instead for high school coverage. You coordinate with the athletics department to develop a series of social media posts, news releases, media pitches, student online reactions, and prominent new student-athlete signing events over the next few weeks to attract media attention. This scenario is an example of what communications theory?
A: Diffusion of innovation
B: Agenda setting
C: Framing
D: Agenda building
D
A school district is planning a Board election for the spring for two open positions. The local newspaper has dedicated a two-page spread to the five citizens planning to run for office. The newspaper, as it always does, endorses a candidate: Dianne Brown. They attribute terms such as “trustworthy,” “dedicated,” “knowledgeable” as part of the reason why they are endorsing. They run their op-eds every month leading up to the election and also include feature stories from the public’s POV. Dianne Brown is the first place winner. Select one transmission/media-effect theory that represents why Brown was elected.
A. Agenda setting
B. Two-step flow
C. Framing/second-level agenda setting
D. Magic bullet
C
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the state hospital association ran a campaign to encourage the public to wear masks and get vaccinated. As part of the campaign, the organization aired several commercials showcasing the max capacity that hospitals are in and the lack of space they have due to the pandemic. Which audience reaction reflects cultivation theory?
A. There is an increase in mask buying and vaccination rates after the campaign.
B. The public begins to see the severity of the pandemic after continuously seeing the commercials about hospital capacity.
C. The hospital association saw comments on their social media pages from audience members who were touched by the commercials but did not see many comments from those who disagreed with the messaging.
D. There is a massive decrease in non-Covid related emergencies seen in the hospitals because people are refusing to go due to the perceived hospital capacity.
D
Your company just completed a merger and is holding its first Town Hall/All Hands as a new, combined company. During the Town Hall you offer live polling, advertise a feedback form and feedback sessions and, in the post-Town Hall follow-up, your CEO emphasizes the importance of employee feedback and the company’s intent to leverage to inform company values and policies. Which model of PR is best represented in this scenario?
A. Two-way asymmetrical
B. Publicity/press agentry
C. Public Information
D. Two-way symmetrical
D
You are the Public Information Officer for a city government. A large number of residents are actively complaining to the City Manager about the volume of cars excessively speeding on their road. The City Manager asks Pubic Works staff to develop traffic calming measures that include speed bumps, speed tables and rumble stripping. Then, the City Manager asks you make a presentation to the citizens about the traffic calming measures at a town hall. During your research, you discover that a group of residents held homeowners meetings where they discussed how nosily intrusive speed bumps, speed tables and rumble stripping are and promoted their idea to convert the road to a toll road. This audience will most likely be resistant to your message due to:
A. Spiral of Silence Theory
B. Social Exchange Theory
C. Third Person Effect Theory
D. Inoculation Theory
D
What theory suggests that media may not influence what an audience think, but does influence what they think about.
A) Framing Theory
B) Agenda-settiing Theory
C) Cultivation Theory
D) Magic bullet/ hypodermic needle Theory
B
As the Director of Communications for your city, you have been tasked with garnering public support for a new aquatic center. In an effort to foster mutual understanding and benefit, you schedule a variety of in-person info/feedback sessions in which citizens will be provided with essential information then, given an opportunity to ask questions and express concerns. These talk sessions will be in addition to a survey and an informational campaign. Feedback from the sessions will also help guide/adjust messaging through the campaign process. Which PR model most aligns with your communication plan?
A) Two-way asymmetrical
B) Public information
C) Press agentry
D) Two-way symmetrical
D
You are the marketing & PR director for a manufacturing company. There is a new product scheduled to launch in Q3 of this year and you are putting together your product launch PR & marketing plan. The company you work for is very excited about the potential for this product and believes it will meet the needs of your customers. According to the diffusion process, which forms of media might be most successful or received by your publics during the initial awareness building stage? Choose 1 best option.
1. Advertising in Industry magazines and industry recognized websites that you know your customers frequent
2. Advertising via Television commercials and engaging the local sales teams to contact customers directly
3. Emailing out field trial reports to your entire customer email list
4. Ask your sales team to begin cold calling a prospect list they generate themselves
1
You are a public relations manager for a popular restaurant chain. One day, a “meme” account posts on Twitter that your restaurant is funding a controversial politician’s election campaign, which goes viral. You immediately connect with your organization’s leadership to get to the bottom of the issue. When you do, you learn that the information the account tweeted is false and immediately work with your CEO to publish a statement denying the claim with reference to the corporation’s financial records that clearly disproves the rumor. As a result, the internet outrage against your company dies down as quickly as it began. However, after receiving the results from your company’s mid-year customer survey six months later, you notice there is a historic drop in customers from the opposing political party of the candidate the meme account claimed your organization was funding. When your CEO sees this, he is confused about
A
You are director of communications for a city that has recently experienced a dramatic increase in the number of immigrants who have fled their home countries and are seeking asylum in the United States. Your team has been executing a communications campaign highlighting the city’s work to alleviate the strain on the local homeless shelter and resources, including opening up a temporary shelter and working with housing providers to provide more permanent housing. A local radio talk show host recently aired a show in which he gave misleading claims about the city’s role in handling the crisis, stating incorrectly that it is putting the needs of asylum seekers before the needs of other homeless people in the city. The next day, the city was inundated with angry messages from people who had heard the radio broadcast. Which media effects theory best describes the audience’s reaction?
a. Magic bullet theory
b. Two-step fl
B
You are the communications officer at a local manufacturing plant and are planning the annual summer company picnic which serves to build community among workers and management. This time for connection is especially important this year as sales were significantly down which resulted in a 10% reduction in your plant workforce. You heard that several of the plant workers were planning on skipping the picnic this year in protest. You decide to connect with James and Laura, opinion leaders in the plant, and invite them to be on the planning committee to ensure the picnic includes meaningful activities and events. James and Laura encourage plant employees to attend the picnic, and given their influence nearly all of the workers attend. It ends up being a fun day for everyone, with a lot of opportunities for meaningful connections. This situations is an example of which communication theory?
A. Social Diffusion Theory
B.
B
What is the main weakness of the Shannon-Weaver Model?
A) It does not take research into consideration
B) It confuses public relations with public affairs
C) Communication is one-way
D) There is no follow-up
C
Leadership has tasked the manager of internal relations with increasing employee engagement through Yammer, an internal social networking tool. Yammer was introduced as one of the Office tools, when the company migrated to Office 365 last year. What are the best two next step to increase engagement?
A. Hang fliers around the office that Yammer is available.
B. Encourage managers to interact with employees by ask questions and collaborate on Yammer.
C. Post an article in the company newsletter letting employees know that leadership expects employees to use Yammer.
D. Make Yammer the primary vehicle for sharing the CEO’s weekly message.
BD
You are a faculty member at a private University and amongst majority of faculty members who are underpaid. The University has only provided raises to select faculty and staff who do not represent the majority within the last 11 years. Administration announced doing a pay equity study three years ago but no action or results has come from the study. Several faculty members continue to voice their concerns to the faculty senate. As a result, the faculty senate President schedules a meeting with the full faculty (including Deans and Chairs) to discuss next steps and compose a letter of concern that would be presented to the administration. During the meeting, you observe that the majority of faculty are speaking up about their hardships due to the lack of economic raises and promotions but there are other faculty close to administration who are present but quiet even though they manage faculty who are affected by the s
B
Your client is preparing to release a new innovative menu at the Sunset Cafe. She has asked that you explore some ways to build awareness and momentum about the upcoming change with residents in a 20 mile radius of her establishment. She warns you her regulars are not always excited about change and wants your messaging plan to interest new audiences without alienating existing customers. Which theoretical model would work best for your campaign messaging plan: Choose one
A. Shannon-Weaver Model
B. Diffusions of Innovation
C. Wilbur Schramm
D. Agenda Setting
C
You are a PR manager for a non profit organization that has direct support professionals helping individuals with disabilities in group homes. There has been an outbreak of infectious disease in the community where you have a large group home and the public is hostile that your staff is responsible.Which communication theory should you use in your PR response?
A. Cognitive Dissonance
B. Agenda Setting
C. Diffusion
D. Systems Theory
E. Framing Theory
E
however, they support increasing tourism, live concerts and more restaurants and hotel options in Potato Spud County. The crafted messaging includes information about buffet style options and a possible concert list. You use the information to persuade the citizens to change their attitude about your initiative. You conduct a follow-up poll and survey to find that many now support the casino/gaming group initiative.
Which public relations model was used?
a)Press Agentry
b) Public Information
c) Two-Way Asymmetrical
d) Two-Way Symmetrical
C
You lead communications for Churchill Downs and want to convince Kentucky Derby fans that next year’s race will be safe, even if COVID-19 persists, using the Adoption Process. Select two publics you want to reach first.
1. Jockeys, who will likely attend the race anyway since they’ll be required to do so
2. Local Louisville Citizens, who you want to support the race.
3. Die-hard Derby Fans, who will likely be early adopters of your safety protocols and new ticketing procedure
4. Kentucky’s Governor, who may be willing to be an innovator to demonstrate his state’s successful COVID-19 approach
34
The health care organization for which you work, has decided to convert an assisted living facility into an inpatient substance addiction treatment center. In its communications about this plan, the organization explains that substance addiction treatment is a major unmet health care need in the region, citing statistics to justify this assertion, whereas there are other assisted living options in the area and the center as-is is not fiscally sustainable. Communications include an internal email to staff, press release, and face-to-face meetings with the staff and residents of the assisted living facility.
Which communication theory is the organization using?
A - Two-way symmetrical
B - Press agentry
C - Public Information
D - Framing
E - Agenda-setting
D
Communication Models and Theories - Scenario Practice QuestionYou are a PR Director for a public school district. You learn about a glitch in the district’s payroll system that caused an error during the last pay period. You learn some employees have not had their money direct deposited into their bank accounts after several days of follow-ups with the district. Per a TV news contact, you learn there have been several complaints from district employees to the TV news reporters, who plan investigate the story. Knowing about the various communication models and theories, what do you do to minimize the damage? Select three answers.
A. Send out an internal memo to inform all employees that the district is aware of the situation and is swiftly attempting to correct the issue and pay the employees who were not paid.
B. Contact your media contacts in an effort to minimize the story or ask for the story not to run.
C. Contac
ACD
You are part of the public relations team for an airline about to launch a new route that would benefit frequent business travelers. In order to generate awareness and eventual adoption/selection of the airline for this route, which two approaches combined would be most effective?
A) Sending a press release to business reporters
B) Emailing existing passengers announcing the new route
C) Having flight attendants discuss new option with passengers during other flights popular with business travelers
D) Announcing new route on all flights and including a write-up in airline magazine
BC
After winning MVP for the 2018 NFL season and winning the Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP for the 2019 NFL season, Patrick Mahomes became the spokesperson for several national businesses, including State Farm, Adidas, Hunt’s Ketchup, and many others. His wild and famous hairstyle is now copied by people of all ages, which helps to sell his represented brands to a wide range of demographics. And his actions within the community make him the leader off the field as much as he is on it. Being the best player in the game helps allure consumers looking to buy, among other things, the best insurance, the best athletic apparel, and the best condiment. Which message theory best applies to this example?
A) Framing
B) Uses and gratifications
C) Social learning
D) Rhetoric
D
Rationale: The rhetorical approach uses information about the communicator, the logic of the message and the emotional appeal of the message to describe and predict how effective a message will be. Organizations use language/messages to build consensus (organizations and publics co-create meaning). The process may involve advocacy and counter-advocacy. People are adjusted to ideas, and ideas are adjusted to people
You have been hired as the Marketing & Communications Director for a Convention & Visitors Bureau and you’re tasked with creating an annual marketing and communication plan that focuses on building awareness and interest in your area to draw visitors to your hotels and bring large events to the area, with special attention to the current climate, regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Which tactics would be the most beneficial in building awareness and interest through the Diffusion Process? (Choose two):
A. Create and send out a white paper to event and meeting planners offering health and safety tips for hosting meetings and events, positioning your CEO as an expert.
B. Host a pop-up neighborhood event featuring food from local businesses, as well as fun activities, to build resident and neighborhood pride and awareness in the organization.
C. Pitch local media for TV segments highlighting events and attractions that are
Answer: A & C
Rationale: During the awareness and interest stages of the Diffusion Process, the top two sources of information are mass media and experts. A positions the CEO as an expert and B focuses on reaching mass media. Both B and D focus on the neighbors, friends, and colleagues source of information, which would be more beneficial sources of information in the three later stages of the Diffusion Process: evaluation, trial, and adoption. (Source: The Adoption Process and Sources of Information handout)
You are the head of communications for a sports franchise that produces live events nationwide. You are getting ready to announce your biggest live event to date and, to promote ticket sales for the event, are planning to produce a full-blown press conference with your talent in the market where the event will take place, along with a radio junket, news desk visits at the two biggest, local daily newspapers in the market and in-studio interviews with the three biggest television affiliate stations in town. Which theory does your PR strategy coincide with?
A. A. Magic Bullet
B. B. Two-step flow
C. C. Agenda setting
D. D. Spiral of silence
C
You are the marketing director at a community bank in Tennessee. During your bank’s strategic planning session, your bank CEO revealed a plan to create a rewards checking account that paid customers with interest each month for doing the following: enrolling into/using online banking, enrolling for e-statements, swiping your debit card 12 times, and having an automatic deposit or withdrawal. Customers that embraced this new account and the bank’s digital offerings would be considered innovators and early adopters. Based on your knowledge of the communications models and theories, which theory does this BEST align with?
A. Agenda - setting
B. Two-step flow
C. Sleeper Effect
D. Diffusion of Innovation
Answer: D
Rationale: Five factors influence how soon people adopt a new idea, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trainability, etc. The theory proposes five personality categories: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. (Source - APR Study Guide - Page 114).
You have been tasked to launch a new app that would increase communication and training completion in your internal audience. There are sub audiences that have been identified, mainly based on age and preference on receiving information. What resources/models to you use to help you communicate/launch the app to all of your audiences? Choose all that apply.
A. The Shannon-Weaver Model
B. Wilbur Schramm Model
C. The Adoption Process and Sources of Information handout #27
D. Summary of Diffusion Process
E. Lang & Lang Process
ACD
My logic for this answer is that I launched this app and can tell you that had I used the aforementioned resources and models, it would have gone much better. It’s important to understand that your public’s/sub public’s receive information differently, which means you will have to use multiple communication channels to achieve success.
You are the public relations director for a non-profit food distribution organization that recently unveiled a new program that will help low-income, Spanish-speaking families receive free groceries on a weekly basis. You have announced the new program through your usual communication channels (press release, social media post, etc.), but the participation in the program continues to be low and you feel like the information is not reaching this community effectively. What are two ways you would address this problem? A. Create a media campaign to distribute the information on the Spanish-speaking news channels and radio stations
B. Invite one of the Spanish-speaking community members to attend a local church service to speak about the benefits of the program directly to this community
C. Buy Facebook and Instagram Ads to reach more people on social media
D. Post flyers in multiple languages throughout the city and
Answer: A & B Rationale: APR Study Guide (Pg. 122) Ways to Overcome Communication Barriers - Design and deliver the message so that it gets the attention of the intended public - Employ signs, images and symbols that relate to experiences common to senders and receivers. - Arouse personality needs in the receiver
You’ve been working hard to launch a new intranet platform at your organization to improve internal communications. You’ve announced the intranet launch to your employees, and you’ve hosted some activities to generate interest. What would be the best next step be in getting employees to utilize the intranet?
A.) Send out another email telling employees that they should use the intranet.
B.) Have the platform’s salespeople host a webinar to pitch the platform to employees.
C.) Give employees a case study showing how helpful the intranet platform can be.
D.) Engage a handful of influencers within your organization to hype the platform and help their colleagues start using it.
Answer: D
Rationale:
“The Adoption Process and Sources of Information” handout. After awareness and interest are generated, the theory says that neighbors, friends and colleagues are considered the most important way to influence people who are in the Evaluation stage of processing a new idea.
You are in charge of PR for a small group of people exercising their first amendment rights. The counter-opinion groups has been calling you protestors and rioters. In order to portray your group’s intent of peaceful prostests, and sway public opinion, you start using the term water protectors rather than protestors when referring to your group in all media. Eventually, a majority of news outlets and public figures commenting on the situation have adopted water protectors rather than protestors. What theory does this best align with?
A. Diffusion
B. Framing/second level Agenda Setting
C. Two Step Flow
D. Social Judgement
Answer: B- Framing/second level agenda setting. Accounting to the study guide, framing involves transfer of attributes (or frames) describing a person, issue or topic from media to audience. News stories, for example, describe a political candidate in a certain way. News consumers begin to use those attributes to describe the candidate. In this situation because of the constant messaging the public, media and some opinion leaders saw the protesters as peaceful and used the term protectors rather than protestors.
A Multifamily/Apartment Management Company decides that they want to launch Coffee Machines in the lobby of every apartment community it manages during Q2. In order to generate awareness and use of the Coffee Machines, which two approaches would be most effective?
A) Send a press release to multifamily reporters announcing the new amenity availability in all of your communities
B) Email existing residents and prospects announcing the amenity availability within all of the communities, including details of when it will be available in his/her community.
C) Have community managers discuss the new coffee amenity with prospects and residents while they are engaging in conversation or selling a new apartment home
D) Announcing new amenity on to all publics and including a spotlight in the community newsletter/bulletin board announcing the coffee station.
B and C
Rationale: In order to cut through a crowded message environment, messages must be conveyed in multiple channels and targeted as much as possible. Disseminating information via mass media or announcements is less likely to be received and acted upon. Personalized/interactive outreach including targeted emails and one-on-one conversations are most likely to make an impact.
Your school district’s high school organizes three blood drives each year. In recent years, the participation rate has been declining. The high school receives scholarship money when the events meet their goal of units collected. They enlist your help, as the district’s communications director to help them get more students to participate. The first blood drive of the year is in just two weeks. Where should you begin? (Pick two)
A. Organize a focus group of high school parents to understand their feelings on their students giving blood.
B. Post the benefits of giving blood on social media channels that the students might see.
C. Conduct an online survey, sent to student emails, to gauge their knowledge of blood donation, concerns about blood donation and reasons to give or not.
D. Set a goal of increasing blood donation by 50% for the next blood drive.
E. Create a mail survey for students and families to better under
Answers: A & C.
Rationale: Study guide, pages 30-32
With time of the essence, letter E would take too much time. A and C are both methods of research. B is a tactic. D is actually an objective which would all come after research.
You are the Chief of Staff to a state Senator and have been tasked with creating a program to help constituents during one of the deepest economic downturns in your state’s history. What initial research would you conduct to inform the program? Choose one.
A. Review letters from constituents requesting help
B. Check with staff in the District office to obtain anecdotal information
C. Conduct mail survey of a representative portion of the senate district
D. Reuse data gathered by a regional public service organization that serves the identified areas.
Answer: D
Rationale: EPR, page 281 - Secondary analysis is considered a formal method of research that saves time, money and resource and it relies on standardized definitions, sampling techniques and sophisticated methods of established organizations. A and C could be done after the initial data has been obtained to possibly provide insight to new or emerging trends in the areas of need.
You work for a small nonprofit that is launching a comprehensive fundraising campaign. Your VP has asked you to work in conjunction with the donor relations team to develop the communications strategy for the new campaign. Which one measurement best shows the effectiveness of the campaign?
A. Track the number of solicitations sent to prospective donors.
B. Increase funds donated by 30% by the campaign’s end.
C. Increase number of donors signing up for campaign newsletter.
D. Track number of visits to the campaign website as well as those who clicked on the “donate” button.
Answer: B. Increasing funds by 25% by the campaign’s end is both a SMART objective and an outcome objective, which according to the APR Study Guide, can specificy changes in support.
You are the Executive VP of a major public oil company that had a large, devastaing spill last night. The Chairman of the Board of Directors called you in the middle of the night saying we need someone to be the face for the company and our voice to the public ASAP. You are charged with the immediate task of finding the right spokesperson to carry the company through. Select three principles from the list below that will help guide you to identify the right person for the job:
A. the spokesperson should desire mutually beneficial relationships
B. the spokesperson should have the company’s ROI top of mind when responding to inquiries
C. the spokesperson should have ethical values of honesty, accuracy, fairness and full disclosure
D. the spokesperson should have credibility, prestige and likability among key publics
ACD, study guide page 26
You serve as the publicity chairman on a volunteer community playground project. The project, originally scheduled to be completed in October 2020, has been delayed until October 2021 due to challenges and concerns related to COVID-19. The steering committee would like to use the additional time to plan for a refresh and restart of the fundraising campaign when the economic and health and safety context is more appropriate. What reasoning might you use to advocate for research to be conducted as the initial part of this process? Pick 2.
A. Researching to understand the current situational environment is the easiest part of the planning process.
B. Research will help us reduce uncertainty in our decision making by providing better understanding of our publics.
C. Research can answer all of our questions about our fundraising challenges.
D. Research allows us to properly define our problem situation and formulate our p
Answers: B and D
Rationale: EPR, pg. 240-242 (Role of Research in Strategic Planning) Research is not the easiest part of the planning process, nor will it answer ALL questions you have. But it will help avoid uncertainty and provide a strategic path to a solution.
An Economic Development department is spearheading a major revitalization project on the only section in town left undeveloped. Several months ago, the city conducted surveys and held open ended public forums to hear directly from the residents about what they want to be built in that area. Despite most residents expressing desire for the area to remain untouched — fearing it will be the next site for low-income housing — city officials have earmarked the area for a mixed-use development to bring in additional revenue into the town. Additionally, officials confirmed a portion of the newly-developed area will go toward low-income housing. City officials hired you to handle public relations to convince area residents that the plans for a mixed-use development in their town is the right decision. What’s your immediate next move? (Pick Two)
A. Review all survey results, minutes from all public forums held, and any preli
Answer: A & C
Source: APR Study Guide Pages 23, 33 & 40)
Rationale: The local government began surveying and collecting input from residents before they brought you, the PR pro, into the picture. What you’re analyzing in Answer A is considered relevant secondary sources beneficial for gathering initial information needed to provide background on the situation. Yet, you still need primary research to help set those benchmarks (APR Study Guide - Page 23). That’s where focus groups (Answer C) comes in. The results from the first round of surveys and feedback can be used to help better narrow the questions posed in the focus groups (APR Study Guide, Page 40).
Answers B & D fall in line with a tactic, which would come later in “Implementation.”
You are the public relations manager for a property management company that is nearing completion on a new apartment complex. The apartments are among many residential options located in the heart of midtown, near shops, restaurants, bars, and two universities. The construction process is far enough along that your company is ready to begin accepting applicants, and your managers are hoping to have the apartments fully leased as quickly as possible. You have been tasked with developing a public relations plan to help raise awareness about the new property and pre-lease as many units as possible. What strategies might be a part of your plan? Pick two.
A. To obtain rental applications from qualified candidates for 50% of the complex’s apartments at least 120 days prior to the completion of construction.
B. To leverage the complex’s premium midtown location and proximity to businesses and schools.
C. To be seen as the p
Answers: B & D Rationale: B & D describe “how” components of the plan and are too specific to be goals, but not specific enough to be objectives or tactics. A is specific and measurable and is an objective, C is broad and focused on the end state and is a goal, E is a specific activity and is a tactic. Source: Strategies & Tactics, pages 158-161 KSA: 1.4 Planning - Programming: Distinguishes among goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics.
You are the Communications Director for a Fortune 500 national coffee shop chain. Your CFO tells you that sales are down nationwide due to increased competition in major markets. You are tasked with launching a new drink in west coast markets that executives think will be the product to rebound the company to its previous earnings. What step do you take first to begin the new drink rollout to the west coast? Choose two.
A. A. Develop strategies that you think will reach customers in most major markets.
B. B. Brainstorm creative media events to reach your widespread audience.
C. C. Determine the largest upcoming national sports event taking place in the west and work with the company’s advertising team to rollout commercials featuring the new product
D. D. Determine what’s contributing to decreased sales in west coast markets
E. E. Meet with the new drink’s developers to learn more about the product and the customers
Answer: D and E
A, B and C are all strategies that may take place in the planning stages of your plan. To begin, you’ll need to research and determine what’s causing the current problem and learn more about your customers (publics) in the west coast markets. You’ll also need to learn more about the product that you’re going to develop a plan around to see what aspects of the product you will focus on in your plan.
Source: APR Study guide pg. 23 Research: WHO do we want to reach? • WHAT do we want people in each public to DO? • WHAT messages do we want to communicate to each public that will: o Increase knowledge? o Change opinions? o Encourage desired behavior?
You are the Public Relations director for a private company doing tourism promotion for your community. Your company has brought in many large events worth billions in economic value to the community, but the board feels like the company does not get the recognition it deserves. They ask you to raise the company’s profile as a way to build its reputation as an economic driver. Where should you start?
A. Make calls to local media outlets to arrange meet-and-greets
B. Review the last year of media reporting for references to your company and its role in the events covered.
C. Write op-eds to the local newspapers describing your company’s role in economic development.
D. Design ads spots across media promoting your company’s role in the community’s economic health.
Answer: B
RATIONALE: “Content Analysis” APR Study Guide, page 33 – to scan the environment to track trends in news coverage of topics important to your organization.
You are the Director of Public Relations for a small municipality in rural Virginia with a confederate statue in front of City Hall. While you have not had protests in your town yet, your city management wants to probe community sentiment, so they can make an informed decision on whether to proactively remove the statue before it becomes an issue. They want something from you in one week, and there is no budget. Which two informal research methods will be most helpful to you in gathering critical information for a management decision, while also assisting you in creating any future communications plans?
A. In-depth interviews of key informants in the community
B. Email survey of municipal advisory board members
C. Hold focus groups with city residents
D. Research local blogs, social media community pages and online comment forums
E. Engage research firm to perform telephone survey of city landline phone numbers
BD
You are the PR leader for a large manufacturing plant, and are serving as the in-house communications consultant to HR on a new benefits plan to roll out. As you are developing your research as part of the RPIE process, which of the below would you consider the right scenarios for including a focus group as part of your research plan? Choose two:
A. A. When you need a convenient way for employees to provide immediate electronic responses regarding how they feel about benefits changing.
B. B Before a survey, to better understand how to design the survey and the language to use around benefits.
C. C. As the primary research method for a basic, well-defined opinion around the company’s existing benefits
D. D After a survey, to explore trends that were observed in new employees regarding benefits.
E. E To get statistics on how employees feel about benefits.
BD
Rationale: A describes when you would select an online survey. C is when a telephone survey works the best. E would require a survey so it can be quantified, focus groups do not provide that type of data. B & D are your best answers, before the survey you can get information on how employees talk about benefits and would be useful in designing the survey. After the survey, you could meet in focus groups with new employees to get more in depth information on the trends the survey revealed.
Study Guide pgs 34, 35, 40
Your PR company’s strategic planning report for Brian’s Donuts LLC identified the company’s goal to become the go-to store for packaged donuts within the Illinois-Indiana-Kentucky tri-state area. The company, est. 2001, has branches in Evansville, Jasper, Vincennes, Owensboro, and Madisonville. Which of the following are the logical next steps in your planning process? (Choose two.)
a) You record the company’s plan for customer redemptions of its “Brian’s Dyno Dozen” coupons in Owensboro and Evansville stores to increase by 10 percent in Q3 over the previous quarter.b) You determine that allowing Owensboro and Evansville’s popular Lucy Luxury Coffee Shop customers to redeem Brian’s Donuts coupons might boost profits for both companies.c) You record the company’s plan to issue press releases to Illinois media announcing its interest in establishing a new location in Harrisburg, a town without a Brian’s donuts shop.d)
Answer: A and D.
Rationale from APR study guide, p 23-24:
- “Goals […] are broad… and may include how an organization is uniquely distinguished in the minds of its key publics (thus, D will occur before A, B, or C).- Objectives define what opinion, attitude, or behavior you want to achieve from specific publics [and] should be smart.” (C, while an output objective, is not smart.)- Strategies describe how to reach your objectives, such as “establish strategic partnerships with…” (B is strategy.)
You are the VP of Communications of a start-up company which you have been working at for the past four years. Due to its success, the pace of hiring over the past year has increased exponentially. You have gone from 100employees over the past three years to 500 in one year. You are concerned that the staff orientation and activities are no longer sufficient, and the growing team is losing sight of the organization’s mission, vision, and values. To test your theory (please choose one) you:
A. Ask your Director of Communications and PR to conduct an analysis of your organization’s communication process.
B. Have your staff collect info that provides insight on the knowledge of the organization’s mission and values by employees hired in the first three years and employees hired in the past year.
C. Pull together a sample group of managers and supervisors to obtain their perspectives regarding their new hire’s (in the p
B
You are the PR director of a manufacturing company. Starting 90 days ago, due to an internal technology changeover, product shipments have been delayed by weeks or in some cases even lost. You’ve been asked to determine if the recent issues have affected your company’s Net Promoter Score (NPS), and if the amount they spend with your company influences their score. Your company generally serves around 500 customers per month, and your customers range in purchase dollar amount anywhere from $1,000/month to over $500,000/month. You need to provide an update to the board in 3 weeks. Which survey method might you employ as your first choice? Choose 1.
A. Phone interviews consisting of a quota of 10 customers in the $1,000-$100,000/month range, 10 customers in the $100,001-$300,000/month range, and 10 customers over $300,001/month range.
B. Mailed surveys with a pre-announcement postcard to the entire census population of
A
The human resource department at your organization is concerned with the lack of participation in several of the employee incentive and benefit programs. The organizational goal is to increase participation in these programs, but before you set specific objectives and develop the campaign, you want to better understand employees perceptions about the benefits currently offered, employees knowledge and understanding of those benefits, and what they believe are important benefits for an organization to offer. You plan to create a survey and administer it to all employees of the company, but first want to better understand the language employees use to express their feelings about benefits, and check the emotional response to various incentive and benefit programs. A good research method to achieve this outcome would be:
A. Mail Surveys to each employees home
B. Multiple Focus Groups
C. Content Analysis of HR newsletter
B
You are on the Communications team for an organization with more than 5,000 employees across three counties. Your primary internal communication is a newsletter that is designed, printed and distributed every two weeks, with the PDF going out by email as soon as design is approved. For various reasons, the newsletter is showing up a week late in the mailrooms, and you hear off-hand comments that nobody reads it anymore anyway. Your team wants to reinvigorate it and cut costs at the same time. With limited time and budget to research staff readership, what should your first two steps be?
A - Simply do away with the print edition and keep sending out the PDF by email.
B - Obtain the data showing how many employees open the PDF in the email.
C - Send out an online survey to all staff to gauge their reading habits of the print edition and PDF, and asking what their reading habits might be to an online-only internal news
BC
You’ve been asked to develop a spay and neuter campaign for a local SPCA. Shelter staff have noticed that many litters of puppies come from one particular neighborhood. They want to raise awareness of low-cost vouchers that they offer. You start by:
(choose two)
A. Dig into the shelter’s historical database to track unfixed animals and the locations they are found, as well as the home addresses of owners who reclaim them, to discover what neighborhoods need to be your focus. See if the shelter staff’s anecdotal experience is backed up by the data.
B. Begin to develop a direct mail campaign focused on that particular neighborhood.
C. Conduct intercept interviews at a local grocery store and community center in the area to get more information on the attitudes about spaying and neutering and barriers local residents face to develop campaign messaging.
D. Go door to door handing out information about upcoming spay and n
A, C
This gives the needed background to focus on your audiences and their attitudes. The other two answers may end up being later steps, but are not the starting point.
You are a communications manager for a local school district. Although their zoned school performs well, the residents with school-aged children within their assigned school zone are opting to send their children to a school located outside of their zoned area. One month before the end of the academic year, your director asks you to develop a marketing campaign to increase the amount of residents attending their zoned school by 30 percent by the start of the next academic school year. Where should you start?
A. Send a mailed survey to the residents with school-aged children in the zoned school.
B. Call each resident with school-aged children and ask them to participate in a brief, phone interview about school selection options.
C. Research the school district’s history to learn why the parents are selecting schools outside of their zoned area.
D. Send an online survey to each resident with school-aged children within
B: Telephone surveys provide basic, well-defined opinions. APR Study Guide, page 36
A) Mailed surveys rarely produce high-response rates and response sources are difficult to determine.
c) Although historical research and data may be helpful, there is not enough time to conduct the research and apply the findings.
D) Online surveys are easy to distribute, but securing email addresses, low delivery rates and low response rates present challenges.
You are the Public Information Officer for the County Public Works Department. After a major project, a road that had been opened to complete the project must be returned to its original state—a dead end. The community, mostly made up of senior citizens, once opposed opening the road but now want the road to remain open because it’s more convenient. The community also has concerns regarding access for emergency response vehicles. A quick survey of incoming calls revealed that not all of the residents are in favor of leaving the road open. There are some residents who want to return their now busy community to its quiet state. To make a decision, the county judge needs a complete and accurate response from each resident.
Which research method would you recommend to the county judge?
A. Compile a phone list. Survey each property owner by phone.
B. Compile a mailing list of the residents. Send a postcard announcement. M
B - A mail survey, although slower in response, the PIO must consider the audience who are older and may be skeptical of email or telephone surveys. According to Center and Cutlip, “mail surveys have the advantages of considerable savings of time and money, convenience for respondents.”
Community forums are good to get a sense of attitudes toward the issue but the county judge will be unable to quantify results. In addition,it could be the perfect set up for a communication breakdown among opposing sides.
ERP, 11th edition, Chapter 11, pp. 251-260.
You are the public relations director for a B2B organization about to celebrate a milestone anniversary. One of your objectives is to increase awareness of the anniversary among your target audience over the course of the year. Which of these options is the best research tool to measure this?
A. Hold multiple focus groups with the same group of clients throughout the year
B. Count the number of people who received your email messages about the anniversary
C. Conduct a representative online survey of the target audience both prior to and after the campaign to determine if an increase occurred in awareness
D. Ask your sales team to call a random sampling oftheir clients to ask if they know about the milestone
E. Ask participants at a company-sponsored event to complete pre- and post-event paper surveys to measure awareness
C.
Rationale: While some of the other methods listed may indicate an change in awareness levels, only a formal, representative survey could effectively indicate accurate shifts in knowledge among the target audience.
Reference: EPR Ch. 11, APR Study Guide pgs. 31, 34-39
You are the public relations manager for a technology company, who wants to expand visibility to SPA demographic. You’ve been approached by a local SPA blogger who has started a podcast, and would like to partner as a source to do reviews and to share about your company’s initiatives. What is the first step you should take prior accepting a meeting with the blogger? A. Research B. Planning C. Strategic Thinking D. Audience Identification
A
Rationale: To ensure this will be a good fit for your company’s brand, you have to research the blogger, as well as the publics they communicate with. It could potentially be beneficial, but you should research if this will be better aligned for marketing, and what the outcomes may be. APR Study Guide: pgs. 20-24
As the communications manager for a health sciences college, you are tasked with developing a communications plan for a new education program or field of study. You would like to use the Barcelona Method throughout your plan. Which of these answers do not follow the Barcelona Principles (Choose 2):
A. Research both qualitative and quantitative measurements regarding similar programs at other universities.
B. Include measurements of how many media placements you secure consistently and more specifically, using Ad Value Equivalency, throughout the plan.
C. Implement areas to evaluate in your objectives, such as increase awareness of the program amongst prospective students by 25% over a one-year span, and increase student enrollment by 30% during the second year.
D. Implement a social media campaign, closely measuring your results independently, separate from all other media channels.
B & D
You are preparing a research plan for a new ad campaign the company wants to launch. Your team has decided to utilize both focus groups and surveys in the initial research effort. When would be the best time to conduct the focus groups? (Pick two.)A) If you are conducting a survey, there is no additional benefit of holding a focus group.B) You should use the focus group to capture quantitative data and the survey to capture qualitative data.C) You should hold the focus group before the survey so you can reveal feelings and ideas prior to conducting additional research.D) You should hold the focus group after the survey to explore findings in a more in-depth manner and/or identify trends in qualitative analysis.E) You should implement the focus group and survey simultaneously to gather consistent results.
CD
Your firm has been hired by the Regional Director of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Data about the use of the program indicates that older citizens in the area are not utilizing the benefits, even though most of them qualify, and food insecurity is an issue for older adults. You have been asked to design a campaign to increase older adults’ applications to the SNAP program. In addition to the usage data, identify two methods of formative research that would best help you design the campaign. A. Surveys of older adults to determine their level of awareness about SNAP and their eligibility for the program. B. A communication audit of media and social use among older residents. C. Content analysis of local and regional media coverage about food insecurity in general and SNAP in particular.D. Interviews with experts in public health and elderly populationsE. Focus groups to explore the reasons, oth
AF
You are a public relations practitioner with a client who runs a small nonprofit that is planning their first large scale event - a half-day conference featuring speakers and breakout sessions. You were hired to help their organization achieve the following goals: 500 registrations meaning “people in the seats” and increase public awareness with “lots of media coverage.” What is the first step that should be taken to help determine the strategic direction? Select one. A. Draft a news release and several social media posts highlighting the event and speakers B. Develop a social media strategy based on the content analysisC. Determine which communication tactics to implement and the sequence D. Conduct research to assist with defining the opportunity and formulate the program strategyE. Collaborate with a marketing team to develop an integrated strategy
D
meet with committee members to provide information and receive feedback.
C. Conduct a mail-in/online survey to all
B & D - Both are part of the research phase and can be conducted in a timely manner and are relatively cost effective. (APR Study Guide - Focus Group Research & Survey Research)
You are an account manager in a PR firm working on a client rebrand. Your creative team has developed new brand mark and brand identity for the client. Your director says the creative needs to be tested before it is presented to the client. Which of the following is the best method to determine if the creative is effective and well received for the new brand? Select one.
A. Focus groups
B. Intercept interviews
C. In-depth interviews
D. Mail survey
A. Focus group.
Your PR company’s strategic planning report for Brian’s Donuts LLC identified the company’s goal to become the go-to store for packaged donuts within the Illinois-Indiana-Kentucky tri-state area. The company, est. 2001, has branches in Evansville, Jasper, Vincennes, Owensboro, and Madisonville. Which of the following is the logical next step in your planning process? (Choose one.)
A) You record the company’s plan to raise Q3 redemptions of its “Brian’s Dyno Dozen” coupon in Owensboro and Evansville stores by 10 percent from the previous quarter. B) You determine that allowing Owensboro and Evansville’s popular Lucy Luxury Coffee shop customers to redeem Brian’s Donuts coupons might boost profits for both companies. C) You record the company’s plan to issue press releases to Illinois media announcing its interest in establishing a new location in Harrisburg, a town without a Brian’s Donuts shop. D) You determine that
A
You are a PR practitioner consulting for a woman-owned business to develop a public relations plan for a new small candy store that sells homemade fudge and an assortment of freshly dipped goodies. They also arrange and sell custom gift baskets featuring their sweets. The owner needs to get her business off to a good start, so she’s asked you to develop a plan that drives corporate business. Her goal is to become the first choice of local corporations when they need to order gift baskets for clients.
Which of the following is the best objective for this public relations plan? Choose one:
A. Working with the local chamber of commerce, schedule the business owner as the keynote speaker at the next women-owned business luncheon and provide samples of homemade fudge to each attendee with a discount on their next purchase.
B. Position the company as an outstanding small business in the community and the best resource for
E
Answers A and C are tactics.
Answer B is a strategy.
Answer D is an objective, but it does not reach the organizational goal.
Your organization conducts several fundraisers throughout the year to support your Annual CSR Non-Profit of Choice. This year, for the month of February, your company chose to support the American Heart Association, however in previous years, you’ve noticed employee donations and participation in the events associated with the fundraiser have declined. As head of Communications, your company asks you to seek out innovative ways to increase donations and participation in the events planned to support this cause. The launch of the fundraising event begins in just two weeks. Where should you begin? (Pick two)
A. Organize a focus group of employees to understand their thoughts on supporting the American Heart Association.
B. Post the benefits of donating to the AHA on social media channels that employees and followers might see.
C. Conduct an online survey, sent to employee emails, to gauge their knowledge of the America
Answers: A & C.
Rationale: Study guide, pages 30-32
With time of the essence, letter E would take too much time. A and C are both methods of research. B is a tactic. D is actually an objective which would all come after research.
You are the public relations director at a local university writing a PR plan for the launch of a new online degree program. Which of the options below would be categorized as strategies.
A. Write a news release announcing the new online degree program.
B. Use social media to attract potential students.
C. Establish partnerships with technical schools to promote degree completion.
D. Host information sessions about the new program.
E. Send emails to students who did not graduate to inform them about the online option to complete their degree.
B & C
KSA - Planning: Distinguishes among goals, objectives ,strategies and tactics.
Rationale: Strategies provide a roadmap to your objectives. Tactics are specific elements of a strategy or tools for accomplishing a strategy. Strategies include use of social media, media relations, public engagement, employee engagement, third-party endorsement and interactions with opinion leaders. Strategies are not scheduling a news conference, sending a newsletter, hosting a meeting, writing a news release or planning a special event. These are tactics.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report regarding an increase in the COVID-19 hospitalization rate of adolescents.As the public relations director for the CDC, you need to quickly create a communications plan to urge parents to vaccinate their teenage children. What are the first two steps you should take? Choose two:
A. Develop a partnership with national youth organizations to connect to teenagers and their families.
B. Deploy a telephone survey.
C. Begin a content analysis on what the media is reporting regarding vaccinations.
D. Choose malls in different geographical areas to conduct interviews.
E. Conduct historical research on anti-vaccine data.
B and D
You are the Communications Director for a growing school district with more than 50 schools that is updating its Educational Specifications - the standards by which new schools are built to enhance learning. You want to learn from teachers and staff what updates are needed. What research methods might you choose? (CHOOSE 3)
A. Focus Groups
B. Intercept Interviews
C. Community Forums
D. Research databases
E. Online/email survey
ADE
You are the Director of Communications for a youth organization that has started their busy summer season of camps, outdoor events, and other training opportunities throughout the United States. However, the organization is suffering a problem of awareness. While the organization is nation-wide, very little name recognition exists, and membership is waning. How do you maintain the interest in the camp and activities while building an effective membership while increasing the awareness of the organization? What step do you take first?
A. Create a strategic communications plan to identify key stakeholders, influencers, as well as list goals, objectives, and tactics used to increase the awareness of the organization.
B. Utilize the organization’s social media channels to promote the organization.
C. Research what hurdles exist in promoting the organization and research what is happening both internally and externally.
D
C
You are planning a media relations campaign for a new product launch and intend to measure the success of the campaign. Which of the following reports would be most valuable in measuring the campaign outcomes:
A) A report of the advertising value of the articles and product mentions in media outlets
B) A report of the number of social media posts and sentiments of the posts about the new product
C) A report incorporating the sentiment of media mentions, social media posts, referrals to the company and / or product website, and new product sales.
D) A report of tactics nd activities employed to drive media coverage.
C
As the owner of a physical therapy clinic, you are worried about the health of your employees as they interact daily with patients in the midst of a pandemic. While you do not want to force your employees to be vaccinated, you do want to launch a campaign to encourage your employees to get vaccinated. What is your first course of action to incentivize employees to get vaccinated?
A. Offer employees a vaccination pay stipend if they are able to provide proof of vaccination.
B. Distribute posters throughout the clinic with positive messaging about the vaccine.
C. Send an anonymous survey to all employees to gauge current vaccination rates and possible incentive options.
D. Hire a subject matter expert on the vaccine to come speak to your employees.
C
Your school district opened a clinic in one of your high schools in partnership with a local nonprofit. You assisted them in support of the goal of having an increased number of students sign up for appointments after the clinic opens. Your counterpart at the partnering nonprofit asked you to show evidence of positive communications outcomes by putting together a list of all media coverage achieved.
What would be a better measure of outcomes instead of the list of media coverage?
A) A graph or list of appointment rates, demonstrating an increase in clinic use
B) Advertising value equivalencies
C) Social media shares and retweets
D) Details on the email open rate for the joint press release
A
You are a newly-hired public relations manager for a catering company in the DMV area. Your boss has only been in business for three years and is unfamiliar with PR beyond using social media and local advertising, which is why she hired you! Your boss says hiring you was one of her ways of putting money back into the business with the idea that investing on the inside will result in more business on the outside. Beyond that, your boss has not provided any guidance on goals, objectives, strategies, or tactics. What should be your first step in creating a communication plan for the business?
A) Call your local TV station and arrange a live segment showcasing how to craft the perfect cocktail.
B) Set up a tasting tent at a local farmer’s market to share your products and hear feedback.
C) Ask her to provide a timeline expectation for your performance.
D) Review the company’s accounting reports so you can get a better pi
E. Define the problem she wants to solve and the customers she wants to reach. Rationale: Step 1 in the RPIE process is research, and the first part of that research should be to define the problem and the publics involved. Option C informs Step 2: Planning (time-specific objective). Option D is definitely research, but you will want to know the problem you are trying to solve first before doing the research. Options A&B are tactics and tools and part of RPIE Step 2: Planning. (Source: Module 4 Resource: The Four-Step Process.)
You are the Director of Communication for a large suburban school district. The sports team nickname is racially insensitive but has been around for 100 years. Current students are demanding a change. Most alumni and parents want to keep the name. The superintendent has been instructed by the school board to “look into the matter”. The superintendent comes to you and asks what the district should do first. Choose one.
A. Conduct a survey of district residents on their thoughts about the nickname.
B. Come up with a list of alternative nicknames to present to the board.
C. Have a meeting with student and community leaders to let them discuss their differences.
D. Contact the NAACP for advice.
A. The first step is research. According to the APR Study Guide, page 22. “Research is the systematic gathering of information to describe and understand a situation, check assumptions about publics and perceptions, and determine the public relations consequences. Research is the foundation for effective strategic public relations planning. Research helps define the problem and publics.”
B is a tactic. C could be considered research, but should be done after the survey helps you define the issue. D is a tactic.
You are the faculty advisor for your department’s public relations club which just received funding from student government to collaborate with other student organizations, and you are writing a PR plan with your PR Campaigns class to increase the reputation,recruitment, and awareness of the club. Which of the options below would be categorized as tactics?
A. Write a press release announcing the club’s new funding.
B. Use social media to attract potential members.
C. Create flyers with info about the club and when it meets.
D. Ask your colleagues if you can pop into their classes to talk about the PR club.
AC
You lead the PR team at a snack food company. Your colleagues on the leadership team are considering removing products from next years’ offerings and replacing them with different, new snack products. You have been asked to provide insight on the feelings of retailers and consumers toward existing and potential new products. What research method would be the best starting point to determine sentiment of the two main publics – retail clients and consumers?
A. Survey
B. Focus Group
C. Scientific Method
D. None of the above.
B
You are the communications director at a school district where enrollment has increased, causing the elementary school to be very crowded. The district needs more space and the school board wants to put a bond to build a new school on the ballot as soon as possible. Before outlining a communications plan, you want to better understand voter knowledge of school needs, perceptions about school performance, and if they would support building a new school to relieve overcrowding versus remodeling the existing building. You have limited time (just a few weeks) and a very limited budget. What do you do?
A. Begin drafting the text for a web page with information on the proposed bond.
B. Start brainstorming goals as a starting point for your communications plan.
C. Conduct phone interviews with registered voters, interviewing them about their knowledge, perceptions and support for varying plans to address overcrowding at sch
C
You are the Director of Communications for a school district with a culturally and economically diverse population. The administration wants to adopt a new platform for emergency communications to families (snow days, lockdowns, early dismissals, etc.) as well as day-to-day classroom communications with parents. Which is the best strategy to encourage parents to activate their account and download the app?
A. Mail letters home informing parents of the change
B. Highlight strengths of the new platform in social media content and email messages to families, focusing on new capabilities not available in the previous system
C. Add a new page to the district website with a FAQ
D. Secure media coverage discussing the importance of communication with families
B
The Human Services department at the local municipality you work for has a goal to increase participation among qualified residents in their foster parent program, particularly for the foster clients who are less likely to receive a foster home placement. Before you embark on a specific plan, you want to gain better understanding of the demographic makeup of participants who have successfully served as foster parents and what subsets within the foster client groups ae the most in need of foster home placements. What steps would you take first? Choose two.
A. Conduct a communications audit of what tactics would be most effective
B. Interview the Foster Care Advisory Board and division staff for more insight
C. Distribute a release seeking participation in an online survey for current program participants
D. Conduct historical research of the Foster Parent Program data from the last five years.
BD
You are a Public Relations professional for the FDA. There has been a mass exodus of staff throughout the global pandemic due to the high workload and low company morale. You’ve been asked to help improve their image in order to help keep employees from leaving and attract new talent. To understand why the staff is leaving and build this campaign, research is needed. What research methodologies suit this scenario? [Pick Two]
A) Distribute an email survey to employees in the highest impacted departments.
B) Assess exit interviews to understand the pain points of employees that departed in the past 12 months.
C) Host an online community forum for all interested parties to share insights.
D) Conduct a literature review to understand employment trends.
AB
You are a Public Relations professional for the FDA. There has been a mass exodus of staff throughout the global pandemic due to the high workload and low company morale. You’ve been asked to help improve their image in order to help keep employees from leaving and attract new talent. To understand why the staff is leaving and build this campaign, research is needed. What research methodologies suit this scenario? [Pick Two]
A) Distribute an email survey to employees in the highest impacted departments.
B) Assess exit interviews to understand the pain points of employees that departed in the past 12 months.
C) Host an online community forum for all interested parties to share insights. D) Conduct a literature review to understand employment trends.
A and B. Reference: Page 31 - 34 of the APR Study Guide. Rationale: An email survey is a great way to speedily collect data in a cost-efficient manner. Exit interviews to retain talent and attract new talent is the complaint review research methodologies.
You are the public relations director for a non-profit organization fighting for abortion rights for women in 2022. Your job is to create a PR plan that identifies publics to focus PR efforts on. Which of these groups are classified as active publics according to Grunig’s Situational Theory of Publics. Choose two
Female republicans in metropolitan Miami
Women in suburban areas that have previously had abortions
Male republicans in rural Oklahoma
Women in rural areas that have teenage daughters.
Answer: B and D
B - Women in suburban areas that have previously had abortions are closer to the issue of abortion rights having used those rights when available before the overturnign of Roe v Wade. Many of these women see the benefit this right had directly on their lives and may be seeking information as to what’s happening to their rights and may be more vocal about the fight to restore or preserve them.
C - This group of individuals might be less active than those in B, but they are still an active group for several reasons. The fight directly impacts their rights whether they choose to use them or not. They have daughters that could be impacted by the lack of ability to have an abortion in the event of teen pregnancy or rape. Also, given that they are in rural areas, their might be even fewer abortion clinics nearby so it would be of greater concern to know these are getting even fewer and farther in between.
A is an aware audience, but given their political stance may not be communicating it to others (and may not care as much)
C is a passive audience because the issue does not impact them.
You are the communications director for a regenerative waste company who has recently expanded their operations in a new state. Despite advances and ease of access in sustainable waste handling there remains very minimal adoption of composting within the various counties within the state. Your company has tasked your team to to increase adoption of products and services of your company to bolster sales in the next year. What kind of research will you conduct to guide your next moves? (Choose two)
A: Conduct focus groups to understand why there’s minimal adoption of composting.
B: Set up a table at a big box store to hand out samples of your composter.
C: Search community forums on the internet for possible reasons why people are resistant to composting.
D: Write blogs about products to increase SEO.
A and C Rationale: Focus groups are a method of research to get in-depth perspective about a topic from participants. Forum searches on the internet searches can provide context and the foundation for further research.
You are the communications director of a financial institution that resides within a low-income community. As part of the company’s corporate social responsibility program, your organization regularly invests resources into the community as a way to give back. CSR team members have approached you with an idea to paint a mural on a vacant building to help beautify a neighborhood within the community. It sounds like a good idea on its face, but you’re not sold on the idea just yet. What is your first step (pick one)?A. Commission a local artist to design a mural that’s reflective of the community’s values
B. Survey internal team members for mural ideas
C. Hold a focus group with community members to determine their appetite for a mural within their community
D. Distribute a press release announcing your company’s plan to paint the mural
C. Practitioners use focus groups to explore how people will react to proposals and to gather information useful for developing questionnaires to be used in formal research methods.
Source: EPR, pg. 251
“____________ is the objective, systematic and quantitative description of manifest material in print, online or broadcast messages… to identify issues reported by news media, determine topics important to journalists or bloggers, define information that publics may have received or help scan the environment for trends that public relations efforts should address.”
A) snowballing.
B) survey analysis.
C) content analysis.
D) copy testing.
C
You are the Assistant Vice-President for Public Relations and Communication at a private, urban liberal arts University that was founded in 1865. The University has a rich history including being founded the same year that slavery ended. As the Juneteenth holiday (a commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States) has gained more national attention, alumni of the University are concerned that the University, with its rich history, is not as recognized as some other Historically Black Universities and Colleges that are always in the media or receiving funding from large corporations and organizations. Your team in the Marketing and Branding department decides to launch an awareness campaign to showcase the University’s history in an effort to increase external funding to the University. What would be the best two objectives for this campaign? Choose two
A. Within 6 months, 20% of nationally syndicated news
Answers: A and D– Rationale: APR Study Guide: pg. 23Objectives: Objectives focus on a shorter term than goals. Objectives are written after research on all publicsis done. Objectives (1) define WHAT opinion, attitude or behavior you want to achieve from specific publics, (2) specify how much change you want to achieve from each public, and (3) tell by when youwant to achieve that change. Objectives should be SMARTA and D are complete objectives. B is a strategy. C and E are tactics.
You are the PR Director for a college. Morale is low due to the treatment of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. What is a tactic that could be used as part of your PR Plan to increase employee morale within the next year? Select two answers.
A. Send a THANK YOU card to all employees so they know their work is appreciated.
B. Send out a questionnaire to all employees to learn about their beliefs regarding any problems.
C. Create a positive culture.
D. Host an appreciation luncheon every month and highlight a valued employee.
A, DRationale:APR Study Guide, p. 24Tactics are tools. They are specific elements of a strategy or tools to accomplishing a strategy. I call these “deliverables.”Activities are details of tactics. Activities have dates, indicate who is in charge and tell what attendance or outcome is expected.B is more of a research method.C is more of a goal.
Your company works with 10k independent contractors who sell its fitness products to consumers. Recent feedback reports reveal that these key stakeholders are ill-equipped to describe the benefits of and answer questions about a new stationary bike product. Which could be objectives for a communication campaign to address this problem? Choose the best 2.
A. Before end-of-year, create understanding of the bike’s primary benefits, especially in relation to competitor products, among 80% of independent contractors.
B. Distribute informational brochures about the bike to 75% of independent contractors by the end of Q2.
C. Organize meetings in each of your 10 geographical regions to allow independent contractors to learn about the bike’s key benefits and talk with each other about effective sales techniques.
D. Increase the percentage of independent contractors who have taken your company’s online training about this prod
A & D. B is written as an objective but is output-focused, whereas A&D are outcome-focused. Outcome-focused objectives are always preferable. C is not an appropriate objective because it does not state a public, outcome, attainment level (%) and time frame.
however, they consistently drop talking about it once the new smash event concludes. They’re engaged for a few hours but drive more coverage to other audiences. The boomer crowd, #IDoStillCare, are a significant force multiplying public once they get going and mobilize. It just takes them getting informed by other groups, like #instafamousME. These two publics are best identified as what?
A. Annoying and humbling
B. All-Issues and Hot Issues
C. Apathetic and Pathetic
D. Single Issue and Hot Issue
E
D. The Public Opinion Process page 52 states: Single-Issue publics are active on a limited number of issues while Hot-issue publics are active after they’re exposed to an issue.
You are the public relations manager for a healthcare company that provides workplace flu shots for organizations across the country. With the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing and many organizations still working remotely, you have been tasked with quickly raising awareness of safe alternatives your company is offering, including drive-up flu clinics. Which is the most effective strategy for this initiative?
A. Send targeted emails and direct mail to existing clients who previously offered on-site flu shots
B. Leverage a multi-channel approach to educate prospective and existing clients about safe alternatives to continue offering on-site flu vaccines
C. Distribute a press release announcing the new options
D. Have the sales and account teams call their clients to let them know about the avaialble options
B
Rationale: The other options describe tactics or activities that may ladder up to the strategy, but the strategy must describe the overarching approach to help determine the individual tactics and activities to achieve the objectives and goals.
You are assigned to manage public relations for a new division of your company. The CEO provided you with the division’s short and long-term girls. She asks that you develop a public relations plan to increase awareness of the division. After completing a SWOT analysis, your next step is to: (Pick one)
A. Replicate a tried and tested PR plan, which has increased sales for regional competitors.
B. Use research and feedback from the CEO to identify publics for the division, then develop objectives based on the top three publics.
C. Submit a press release to key trade journals touting the company’s strengths and competitive advantage in the industry.
D. Gather the plans from the PR practitioners working in the company’s other divisions, which were already preapproved by the CEO.
B. While other plans may have been successful, it is important to identify the key publics for your new division. This is step two in the 10-steps for writing a public relations plan, p 46 of the APR Study Guide.
You are the Communications Director for an affluent, suburban municipality. A child suffered a minor head injury while playing on climbing equipment at a City park. The incident was a perfect storm. The child was playing inside the climber and hit his head on a support joint, secured by a bolt and screw. The equipment in question had passed a recent inspection by an independent playground equipment organization. And, a nearby warning sign appeared to have been overlooked which listed height, weight and age restrictions for use of the equipment in question. Nonetheless, the child was taken to a nearby hospital to get a couple of stitches to close the gash on top of his head. You have been tasked with developing a communications plan that highlights the City’s park system including its many playground equipment options. What objective would best fit into the SMART standard for objectives in support of your program goal
B. B clearly meets the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed) standard. A, C and D are tactics and do not meet the SMART criteria of supporting the program goal.
As the head of the PR department at your organization, you’ve been tasked with creating a communication plan for a campaign you want to initiate. You’ve already done research and are ready to start the planning process. You’ve outlined a goal. What’s the next step in the RPIE process?
A. Determine the objectives so you can better understand what you are working towards.
B. List all strategies so you can make a checklist of how to reach your goal.
C. Determine your publics and audience to know who to target.
D. Evaluate a budget to know what parameters you need to stay within before doing anything else.
Answer: C
Study guide p 46
You are the PR Manager at a casino/resort and are tasked with creating a communications plan to promote your new Eco-Choice rooms. The Eco-Choice rooms allow guests who stay two or more nights to opt out of receiving housekeeping services each morning and in return, they receive a credit to one of the property’s restaurants. The idea is to reduce the amount of laundry, electricity and resources that are oftentimes wasted on one night stay guests. You know that from recent research done on your guest publics, they respond best to sanction messages. Which of the messages below represent a sanction message that supports your program goal of encouraging more guests to opt in to Eco-Choice?
A. Opt in to Eco-Choice today. We’ll know if you don’t!
B. By opting in to Eco-Choice, you are not only helping the environment, but you will also enjoy a dining discount, on us!
C. By opting in to Eco-Choice, you are helping to mak
Answer: B
Rationale: According to EPR 11th edition: Sanction message focus on the rewards and punishments that the receiver may experience if he engages in the requested behavior. A is an example of an Argument message. C is an Altruism message. D is Circumvention.
You work for the local tourism office, which has developed a new visitors center and retail store, which is intended to become a source of private revenue for your office’s work promoting travel the destination. Your leadership wants to go beyond visitors to build a reliable customer base from local residents. What’s a strategy that would help you acheive your goal?
A. Increase awareness of the store through coverage by local media.
B. Host an after-work event for office workers in the area surrounding the store.
C. Invite local Instagram influencers to shop for gifts at the store and post the results to their followers.
D. Write a press release featuring one of the local artisans whose products are featured in the store.
A. Based on EPR, Chapter 13, page 301, Sources of Influence. The media is the best source of influence for raising awareness among audiences and changing knowledge.
As the communications director for your local school district, your superintendent has asked you to work on a plan to increase prekindergarten and kindergarten enrollment. You have the most extensive early childhood programs in the area, and you have all the historical data to see the enrollment trends at these grade levels over the last five years. What you’ve decided is your most pressing need at this point in the research phase is to know what drives local parent and guardian decisions on how they choose these programs for their children. After finding out that the most frequent answer is the personal experiences of friends, family, and colleagues, at which points in the adoption process of behavior change would you want to focus on the leverage this influential group provides? Choose 2.
A. Awareness
B. Interest
C. Evaluation
D. Trial
E. Adoption
D and E
Rationale: EPR, Ch. 13, pg. 301. Mass media becomes less influential as the diffusion process advances toward confirmation of the adoption. With the objective of changing behavior (enrolling their kid in your program), interpersonal methods are better channels for message delivery. The best source of influence during the trail and adoption phases are people, especially family and friends (Figure 13.5).
Three years after launching a Facebook account, a small nonprofit has noticed that the account has stalled in increasing followers to the page or generating much engagement. In fact, it has only added 20 new followers in the last year and an average of one or two followers engage with its content. The nonprofit has hired you as a consultant to understand why engagement on the platform is lagging and re-energize its use of the platform. What element should come first in your plan?
A. Content calendar with a detailed plan to post one piece of content every day.
B. Situational analysis of the organization’s use of the platform.
C. “Call for followers” copy that members of the marketing team can include in any upcoming outreach, such as newsletters, press releases, and mailers.
D. List of key publics you want to attract to the platform.
B
You’ve recently been hired to manage communications at a thriving small business that employs 120 contract employees assigned to customers including federal agencies and the Department of Defense. The owner wants to improve internal communications and has tasked you with creating strategies to reach his workforce that hasn’t responded to calls for action via e-newsletters or other forms of communication. Where would you begin to determine why workers haven’t embraced internal communications efforts? Please choose one:A. Establish a focus group of representative various work locations to obtain feedback.B. Use a social media platform, like Zoom or Google Hangout, for virtual small group discussion.C. Conduct an email survey to collect data from employeesD. Check email analytics to determine how many employees open emails containing the company newsletter.
Answer: ARationale: According to PR Strategies and Tactics, Chapter 7, page 203, the most effective two-way communication is face-to-face. Small group discussions allow the message to be fortified by gestures, facial expressions, intimacy, tone of voice and provides instant feedback. Option B lacks non-verbal cues and doesn’t build trust between the two parties.Option C wouldn’t work because the workforce has established an aversion to online communications.Option D would provide data but no insight into why the workforce is non-responsive to corporate communication efforts.
You are the communications director for large grocery chain XYZ. A recent news report covered a study that states as many as 20 percent of workers in another, independent grocery store had COVID-19, but did not show any symptoms. The CEO of your company fears that the story could impact business, and wants you to create a PR plan to minimize any impact that the story could have. What is a good goal for this plan?
A. A. Distribute a news release to make people aware that XYZ is testing all of its workers for COVID-19
B. B. XYZ is perceived as a safe destination for customers to do their grocery shopping because of safety precautions that management istaking
C. C. Partner with local social media influencers to communicate XYZ’s safety measures
D. D. Increase average traffic at store locations by 15% within the next 30 days
B.
Rationale: B expresses a big-picture, future state of being. A is a tactic, C is a strategy and D is an objective
You are a public relations manager for a large specialty pharmacy that provides medicine for people with rare diseases and chronic conditions, such as rare cancers, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, etc. Gene and cell therapy (GCT) is emerging as a new and promising field to treat, and in some cases, cure diseases that previously had few treatment options. Your pharmacy has joined the early adopters in solutions for the G&C industry. However, GCT pharma manufacturers may not realize that your pharmacy is a viable player. In response to leadership’s request for a communications plan, you have set as your goal to position your pharmacy as the innovative leader in gene and cell, offering hope and care for the patients.
Which of the following are good objectives to support this goal? (Choose two).
A. By end of the fiscal year, all team members will know about gene and cell therapies, and the pharmacy’s plans, includin
A&C.
A & C are both SMART objectives. Per APR Study Guide, page 23, they both (1) define WHAT opinion, attitude or behavior you want to achieve from specific publics, (2) specify how much change you want to achieve from each public and (3) tell by when you want to achieve that change. Objectives are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-specific).
B is a tactic and D is research which should already have taken place.
APR Study Guide, page 23
You are a public relations administrator for a high school district. A recent district-wide survey revealed that 70% of respondents felt that there was a lack of communication from the school district. In addition, some of the respondents are very active in the community and are openl yvoicing their dissatisfaction about the semi-annual newsletter being the only communication the community receives. Your goal is to establish on-going and transparent communication with staff, parents, the community, and other stakeholders. From the list below, select the best objective to align with your goal:
A. Our school district will increase on-going communication by implementing social media by June 30th, 2022.
B. 65% of district-wide stakeholders will view our communication as on-going and transparent by June 30th, 2022.
C. Our school district will create quarterly newsletters highlighting the district’s accomplishments by June
B. According to the APR Study Guide, page 48 - 3. Objectives for Key Publics: Each objective should cite a public, outcome, attainment level and time frame. A, C, and D are not objectives. While they identify timeframes, they are strategies that explain how the school district will approach the challenge of working toward the objectives. (APR Study Guide, page 48 - 4. Strategies). Public Relations Strategies and Tactics, Chapter 6, page 160, states that a strategy describes how and why campaigns components will achieve objectives.
You are the pubic relations director for an art museum in town. The building is leaky and risks damaging the collection. Your board has decided to close for a year, demolish the building and rebuild, using $65 million of taxpayer funds allocated for the project. Both museum members, typically your biggest supporters, and the general public are outraged. You are tasked with creating a public relations plan to build a favorable opinion of the project. You start by:
A. 50% of news coverage of the issue will portray it in a favorable light.
B. 90% of museum members will understand and support the rebuild by August 31, 2020.
C. Start an Instagram account to document the progress of the redesign and rebuild, and get an audience of 500+ people.
D. Write letters to 5 influential leaders a week in different segments of the community to sway their opinion.
B. It has all of the elements of a SMART objective - WHO does WHAT WHEN and HOW MUCH.
You are the PR Director of an agency and have a new client that just hired you in March 2020. Your client is a new cupcake shop in a small college town. The owner of this cupcake shop opened her shop with the goal in mind of her main audience being mothers. Her focus was to provide a space that mothers could come and grab a cup of coffee and a cupcake after dropping their kids off at school. She has hired your agency because her business isn’t attracting the audience she was hoping for and she needs to re-evaluate her strategy to increase sales. You are tasked with creating a public relations plan that can help improve her business and sales. In your research you have found that a majority of the residents are not mothers, but college students. In fact about 73% of the residents are college students. Based on this information, what are two objectives that would work for this plan? (Please select two)
A.) Increase ove
B&C
Rationale: EPR 11th edition p. 271 ch.12. “Appropriate objectives should include four specific elements….Target Publics…Outcome…Measurement…Target Date”.
You work for a PR firm that has been hired to perform public involvement activities for a major road construction project that will begin in six months. The project went through 6 years of environmental planning and public participation processes, but there still remains considerable opposition to the project from environmental groups. Your goal is to ensure drivers in the project area know about construction related impacts to their daily commutes ahead of time. Which are the three objectives that will best help you in achieving your goal?
A. Increase awareness that construction is beginning among commuters, residents and businesses in the project area by 90% before construction begins.
B. Increase comprehension of why the project is being built among commuters, residents and businesses by 70% before construction begins.
C. Increase monthly visits to the project’s traffic impact webpage by 50% before construction b
A, C and D.
Rationale:
A: People need to know construction is beginning in the first place, in order for them to be aware of the impacts to their daily commutes. According to Chapter 8 in Strategies and Tactics, “raising awareness and raising interest are the first two steps of the five-step process to ultimately motivate people to adopt an idea…”
C & D: Both are behavior-driven outcome objectives that show people listened to your message, believe they should be informed about construction, and then took action to view information or proactively sign up for future information. This follows what Chapter 12 in EPR calls the “learn-feel-do” causal sequence that typifies the working theory behind most public relations programs.
B: While this is a solid comprehension-driven outcome objective, it does not contribute to the overall goal of the program. According to Chapter 12 in EPR, “Goals establish what will be accomplished if the objectives set for each of the publics are achieved.” If the project has already been approved and funded by the state, people don’t need to know why it’s being built. They need to know how construction will impact their daily lives.
E: Environmental Groups opposed to the project are not a target public, since the goal is to inform drivers in the project area about construction. According to Chapter 8 in Strategies and Tactics, “Communication is important only in the effects it achieves among publics.”
You are the public relations manager for the local community foodbank in Hampton, Virginia. After conducting a communication audit and exploratory research, you learn there’s a neutral perception among residents in the community about the foodbank’s role as a leader in reducing food insecurity. The executive director has asked you to craft a communications plan to help solve this problem. Select the best format for a communication objective for this plan, based on the APR recommendations:
A. By the end of next year, conduct three community meetings, with key publics to share information about the foodbank.
B. Residents will be able to recall three positive contributions by the foodbank, by end of the fiscal year.
C. In the next three months, schedule community discussion with area residents in conjunction with Hunger Awareness Day.
D. Enlist five community members who have benefited from the foodbank to participa
(B) because the other communication objectives focus on process and outputs. “Think in terms of the awareness, opinion, or action you desire — not the process (tactics you will use) — but the end result. Source: APR Study Guide, Page 46
You are the public relations department lead for a university. Your university president has a plan to expand graduate education at your university and requests a plan to launch with a quality candidate pool of students for each program. What two objectives are the best to add to your plan.
A. To recruit X # of students from faculty and staff at the university by X date.
B. To host X # open houses by X date to provide admissions information to prospective students.
C. To post flyers on campus about program
D. To buy ads on local radio stations.
A & B.
C and D are not specific or measurable and so they are goals.
You are the PR director for a an electric cooperative with 75,000 members serving 16 counties in Middle Tennessee. Your cooperative is interested in purchasing a municipal city power company in a county that you serve. The CEO of your cooperative is concerned that purchasing the municipal will cause issues as the municipal customers are not familiar with the cooperative model - and the world is in the middle of a pandemic. What key publics need to be informed for this business transaction to be seamless for all involved?
A. Cooperative and municipal leadership team members
B. City government officials and state legislators
C. Cooperative members
D. Cooperative members, city officials, leadership teams from both the cooperative and municipal organizations, legislators, and employees of both organizations.
D. Study Guide -Identify the groups or subgroups with which you need to communicate (talk/listen) as part of the PR plan. (key publics)
You are a public relations professional tasked with implementing a plan for communicating to the public about COVID-19 vaccinations in your county health district. Having completed a situation analysis, an online survey and brief focus groups, you’ve now identified your goals. Choose the two steps you should take next in the planning process.
A. Identify costs and create a budget for staff time, hard-costs, etc.
B. Using your research and situation analysis, narrow down who your publics are
C. Pitch to the local health podcast to have one of your health district experts interviewed
D. Set your deadlines for your tactics you’ve outlined
E. Write measurable objectives that support your goals
B, E
Rationale: KSA 1.5 Planning, APR Study Guide, pgs. 46-47
The 10 standard components of a PR plan are listed in order as: goals, key publics (correct answer B), objectives (correct answer E), strategies, tactics, activities (answer C), evaluation, materials, budget (answer A), and timetable/task list (answer D).
You are the Public Information Officer for a city that offers municipal water services, with costs for outsourced waste management incorporated into citizens’ monthly water bills. The city is planning to host its annual event for the collection of hazardous waste on October 1, and the mayor has challenged you to increase public participation in the annual event by 20%. Which of the following strategies can assist toward that objective? Choose two.
A. A. Submit a press release to local media outlets advising of the upcoming collection date.
B. B. Educate the public as to which materials are considered “hazardous waste” eligible for disposal.
C. C. Encourage citizens to be good stewards of the environment by way of proper disposal of materials.
D. D. Include a notice in citizens’ monthly water bills a month in advance, advising them of the upcoming event.
B and C. B will ensure the public has the informationneeded so they can respond accordingly, and C provides a psychological appealencouraging a response. A and D are tactics.
Source APR Study Guide p. 46
You are the public relations manager for a local sandwich shop. Due to a global pandemic that has caused your regular lunch crowd to work from (and therefore eat lunch at) home, sales are down. The shop owner has approached you with a critical business goal of boosting lunch sales back to pre-pandemic levels in order to avoid going out of business. Your research shows that while your regular customers will likely continue to work from home for several months to come, targeting other frontline workers in your area may be a way to reestablish a new lunch crowd. Which of the following is the best objective to recommend to the shop owner to help address the challenge at hand?
A. Increase communications highlighting your lunch offerings to frontline workers in your area by 20% within 2 months.
B. Increase awareness by 25% among loyal customers that the shop remains open for a lunch within 2 months.
C. Achieve 10 new lunch
C
Rationale: Answer A is an output objective and does not measure an outcome (change in awareness, comprehension, attitude or behavior). According to “Guidelines for Setting Measurable Public Relations Objectives: An Update” by Anderson, Hadley, David and Weiner, it’s important to “be sure your objectives are a guide to action rather than a chronicle of activity.” Answer B is a good objective but focuses on an audience not identified in the situation stem. Answer C is correct because it is a realistic, achievable, outcome-based objected linked to the shop’s business goals. It specifies WHO you want to do WHAT by HOW MUCH and by WHEN. Answer D, while a correctly structured outcome-based objective, is not realistic nor reasonable based on the current situation and past performance.
You are a communications director for a school district and you have been asked to create a communication plan in support of the local tax increase that will help the future funding of schools in the community. Key members of the public are against raising taxes for many reasons and a local election is coming up where voters will decide whether the local community should raise taxes or not in support of education funding. What objectives would you include in your communications plan? Choose two:
A. Starting April increase family support by 20% to support the tax increase.
B. Within the first three months of the plan launch, families of students would have increased their knowledge (higher awareness) by 20% on how the local tax increase could fund education in the local community.
C. By September send out multiple press releases to influence the opinion of senior citizens by 60% to support the local tax increase.
D. W
B and D.
Rationale: APR Study guide pages 23 and 46 and EPR 11th edition pages 270 - 272. Although A and C are well written, they are only partially correct. A does not include a time frame and C includes tactics and activities. Objectives are SMART
You are the leader of a recently formed rock and roll band. Your band just finished recording and mixing four new demo tracks and your goal is to become better known. What strategies will you employ to reach your goal? Choose two.A) Get radio play for your tracks.B) Stand on a street corner in the big city nearby and hand out copies of your CD.C) Send faxes and emails about your band to program managers at college radio stations.D) Talk to your cousin’s friend who knows someone in the record business. E) Get gigs where you can play your tracks.
A and E. Rationale: A and E are strategies
You are the communications director for a large group of elected officials. Polls show that support for them is low among suburban moms and they want to find ways to engage with that specific audience. You are tasked with writing a communications plan targeting that group and mapping out messaging strategies that will appeal to it. What should you do to ensure the plan is appropriate and the goals are realistic?
1. Start sending out news releases to community newspapers and mommy blogs read by suburban moms
2. Book town halls in suburban communities and invite families to attend to ask questions in person
3. Do a scientific polling of your target audience to determine their actual attitudes and values
4. Ask your mom friends what would appeal to them…what they want to hear about from politicians
5. Wing it
3 and 4. #3 is formal and scientific. #4 is informal and non-scientific. But both approaches should be included in your research because polling results do not allow you to ask follow-up questions based on a respondent’s answers so that you can take in context.
As the communications manager for the Duwamish Tribe (Seattle, WA), you’ve been tasked with developing communication objectives that will contribute to the Tribe’s goal of achieving federal recognition. The Duwamish Tribe has sought Federal Recognition several times in the past, but been rejected for having insufficient historical evidence. New evidence has been identified, and the Tribe is preparing to appeal the rejection using this new evidence. But it wants to make sure both the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the public know about its additional evidence, with the hopes that additional attention from the public will encourage the BIA to treat their appeal fairly and with credence.
Which two (2) of the following would be appropriate communication goals for this project?
A To achieve federal recognition of the Duwamish Tribe
B To have the Washington State senators address the topic to their constituents
C To increase
C&D
A is the organizational goal, not the communication goal.
B is a tactic, or it could be a comms goal if politicians were the target public of the plan
E is an objective
During the busy kitten season of spring, a county animal shelter is looking to increase cat adoptions by reaching potential adoptees on social media. Previously, the shelter has relied on a recurring feature in the local newspaper and flyers. What would be the best objective for measuring the effectiveness of a new social media campaign?
-A Increase cat adoptions by 25% from Quarter 1 to Quarter 2.
-B Grow the Facebook following by 500 during the spring kitten season.
-C Raise the rate of adopters who learned of cats from social media from 0 to 10% in May.
-D Gain more social media engagements on Facebook and Instagram.
C. That is answer best aligns with the change in behavior that is being sought by the shelter: Use social media to drive more cat adoptions.
You have been hired as a PR consultant for a nonprofit organization that hosts a free summer concert series who wants to attract a younger audience (Gen Zers ) through a social media campaign on Instagram. Research shows that 20% of the town’s residents are in this age group. Also, research showed that these age groups feel positively about arts and culture programming. What would be your objective for a social media campaign:
To increase followership on Instagram by 25% by the end of summer.
To increase attendance of Gen Zers at summer concert series by 25% by end of summer.
To secure Gen Z influencers to post on Instagram
To increase attendance at summer concert series by 40% by end of summer.
B.
Rationale: A doesn’t necessarily involve the target audience or goal. C is a strategy. D is missing the target audience.
You are the communication director at a school district and are helping develop a communication plan for your district’s foundation, with the overall goal of having your district’s foundation be seen as a valuable organization in the community dedicated to supporting student success. Which of the following would be considered outcome objectives to include in your communication plan? Choose any two.
A. Increase the number of foundation donations by individual donors by 10 percent by the March 2024.
B. Gain 10 positive mentions in media stories over the next six months.
C. Meeting with 5 new potential sponsor organizations by December 2023.
D. Increase proactive storytelling on district newsletters and social media channels.
E. Increase the number of participants in the foundation’s annual 5K run this year by 15 percent compared to last year.
A & E. Outcome objectives specify changes in awareness, opinions, behavior or support. B and C would be considered output objectives. D is more of a strategy.
You are the communications director for Groceries R Us, a grocery store within a metropolitan area. A city ordinance will impose a 5 cent bag tax on plastic bags in the new year, and it is up to you to communicate this change to customers. In building your plan, you discuss goals, objectives, and business results. Your boss calls you into her office to talk about some of the plan’s outcome objectives. What do you specifically discuss? (Choose one.)
A. Engaging local media to do live shots on your store’s floor to report on the new law.
B. Decreasing the store’s budget for plastic bags.
C. Increasing reusable bag sales by 25 percent.
D. Reducing customer plastic bag use by 5 percent by the time the new law is in effect.
E. Holding monthly store promotional events and giving away free reusable bags.
D. Reducing customer plastic bag use by 5 percent by the time the new law is in effect.
Rationale: “Outcomes are recognized widely in the form of awareness, understanding, attitudes, preference, and behavior. Outcomes are achieved as a result of outputs.” (From Guidelines For Setting Measurable Public Relations Objectives: An Update) Reducing customer plastic bag use is a behavior. A and E are outputs. B and C are business results.
The local school district has seen an uptick in students suffering from mental health issues. Research shows that parent support is key to helping students. The school district is looking to increase awareness of resources for parents to support student mental health. You are asked to build a communications plan. Select the 2 strategies for this plan.
Release a monthly newsletter with lists of resources.
Partner with the Counseling Department on special educational events
Leverage the outreach of the existing school site communications
Create a dedicated web page for resources
B and C are both strategies. A and D are tactics.
Rationale: APR Study Guide page 48-49 states that “strategy explains how you will approach the challenge of working toward your objects?. It defines tactics as the “specific ways you will use your resources to carry out your strategy….”
You are a public information specialist at an education service agency. Enrollment of young women in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in the skilled trades is low despite the availability of high paying jobs post graduation. The goal of the Women in Trades Initiative is to raise awareness of the opportunities for young women to work in traditionally male dominated fields and acquire the skills they need to be successful in their future.
Choose 2 effective communications strategies for this initiative?
1. Issue a press release about the initiative
2. Student engagement
3. Make and disseminate a video about the initiative
4. Employ media relations to influence the narrative about the initiative.
24
You are in charge of PR for a new after school service option provided by the local YMCA. This new after school option will provide an after-school meal, tutoring, and a safe place for children from the hours of 3-6:30 pm. As you are working through your PR planning, you prepare to share your main goal with the rest of the YMCA that is working on the program with you. There are spots for 100 children. Which goal might you choose? Choose one.
1. We will create 25 social media posts on Instagram and Twitter during the next 2 weeks to promote the new program.
2. The new program will assist children and their parents in providing a safe after-school option.
3. By June 1, we will have 30 families registered and beginning the enrollment process.
4. We will coordinate with church groups to identify families that could use this service.
2
You are the PR Director for a movie theater chain that has been experiencing a significant reduction in ticket sales since the pandemic. You’ve done some research to determine what would motivate moviegoers to come back to the movies. This is causing the executive team to think differently about the food and beverage service, seating design and other amenities offered. Your goal is to position your theater chain as a fun, safe, relaxing entertainment destination. Which of the following objectives is best to support this strategy?
A) Improve the perception of going to the movies as a fun, safe, relaxing activity option by 20% in 6 months.
B) Purchase media for a local advertising campaign over the next 6 months, positioning the theater chain according to the strategic goal.
C) Increase ticket sales in at least two theater locations by 30% by September 1.
D) Distribute intercept surveys to moviegoers as they leave the
A) Both C and A are written as objectives, but A most closely aligns with the strategy. Study Guide p. 48-49
You are a Public Relations Manager of a local utility water district. You are developing a communications plan to reach customers and encourage participation in water use efficiency rebate programs, in which participation has been on the decline over the course of the pandemic. Which two objectives would you use in your communication plan?
a. A. Create a video detailing the available rebates and how they can assist the customer use water efficiently and email to customers during the first month of the campaign.
b. B. By August, 20% more customers will have participated in one of the rebate programs compared to the prior year.
c. C. Send three informational bill stuffers in the customers billing in the first three months of the campaign.
d. D. The customer service office will see a 25%increase in call volumes related to questions regarding the rebate programs in May, June and July compared to the same time the year be
B & D
KSA: RPIE Audience and Objectives
Rationale: EPR pages 323-325Writing Program Objectives
You manage the social media for a notable musician. This musician wants to increase their following on Instagram. They currently have a large following on YouTube and some following on Instagram. You’ve helped grow their YouTube immensely, but you don’t have much experience on Instagram. You start with some research to learn what comparable musicians are doing on social media, and see that they are going viral on Tik Tok. You bring that up to the musician and they say they don’t care how you do it or what platform - they just want more followers.
Based on that information, what should your goal be?
A. To increase your client’s social media followers on Instagram by 25% within 6 months.
B. To explore new social media platforms which can help grow followers in the next month.
C. To start a Tik Tok from scratch so that you can have exponential growth on that platform, within the next year.
D. To increase your client’s s
D
Your PR agency has a local restaurant as a client. During COVID-19local government stay-at-home orders, the restaurant can only provide take-outor outside dining at tables six feet apart, and as the weather gets colderheading into fall, these regulations have led many local restaurants to close,either temporarily or permanently. What is among your first steps to increase awarenessthat the restaurant is open?
A. Select the two most significant publics fromamong those you’ve identified.
B. Create a poll on the restaurant’s Instagramaccount to learn more about what customers want.
C. Contact the local online restaurant guide forinclusion in the next COVID dining guide
D. Work with the local vegan and gluten-freecommunities as third-party endorsement of the restaurant’s special menu items
B
Your school district is looking to expand Pre-K educational opportunities to include full-day and tuition-based programs. The tuition-based program would be for students who don’t qualify for Pre-K under the state requirements. You are tasked with developing a communications plan to roll-out the expanded Pre-K program.
Which of the following are the two objectives?
A. Determine households with-in a 20-mile radius of the district with children ages 2 - 5 and target those households with a mailer that would increase awareness and enrollment
B. Bolster the District’s Pre-K program to include enhanced curriculum and expanded outdoor learning opportunities for young students in three years
C. Be the premier school district for early childhood education in the region
D. Improve community awareness of the District’s expanded Pre-K program by increasing student enrollment of 30% over 2021-2022 school year
BD
You are the Chief Communications Officer at an urban school district that is planning to place an alternative program for students recovering from drug and alcohol abuse in an unused former school building in a wealthy neighborhood of the city. A group of parents who have learned of the plan are circulating a petition objecting to placement of the program in their neighborhood, citing concerns about the safety of their children with “addicts” in the neighborhood. You anticipated based on your research that there could be push-back from neighbors. Which of the following represents good objectives for this public?
A. Ensure equitable access and quality education to all students in the district.
B. Convince neighbors that students in the alternative program for recovering teens represent no safety threat to their children.
C. Increase the percentage of neighbors who are neutral or supportive of the program placement to
C
You are the PR Director for a Greater Boston Area Real Estate Development Firm. Your company has decided to plant its shovels in the ground in the sunshine state, Florida, and open a regional office in Tampa. Considering your business has been primarily in the Northeast, your boss asks you to create a Marketplace Expansion (Rollout) Plan into the new markets over the next 6 months. Which two of the following represents good objectives to compliment this goal. A. Establish a relationship with Real Estate and Development beat reporters for Tampa publications within the next 30 daysB. Host a meet n’ greet breakfast and invite all of the reporters from the Tampa area C. Establish key partnerships with local developers who have an active pipeline in the target region over the next 60 daysD. Join local affinity groups and chambers of commerce to cement presence.
AC
You are a communications specialist for a large hospital system that serves more patients than any other hospital system in the region. The hospital system recently underwent a significant rebranding campaign, changing its name, logo, and tagline. Television ads, digital ads, mailers, and billboards created to announce the new name all emphasized the company’s “new name, same quality care.” You worked closely with the marketing team on the campaign’s collateral, and you separately developed a companion public relations plan. Now that the six-month campaign has concluded, what might be considered as being among the best ways to measure your plan’s effectiveness? Choose two.
A. Number of media outlets whose news coverage features quotes or interviews from your hospital system CEO sharing key messages about the change.
B. Number of total media impressions throughout the campaign.
C. Number of new hospital system pati
DE
You are the communications director for a local school district. You district is developing a new smartphone app for your district that will make text alerts and important school notifications easy to receive and read from the user’s smartphone device. You have now been tasked with the implementation process/strategy to help promote the new app so that your district’s school community is aware that it exists. Based on the Diffusion Theory, what source of influence will help best deliver your key message(s). (Select One)A. MediaB. StakeholdersC. Town Hall MeetingD. Personal Connections/Associates
A
ou are the new communications director for a non-profit organization designed to support the local school district close it’s reading gap for high school students in grades 10-12. Most students are behind at least three reading grade levels. Your organization needs to recruit volunteers to help close the reading gap but the community has a 50 percent literacy rate. What strategy will you use to recruit volunteers to help support the local high school students?
A. Hold a Townhall to inform families about the opportunity to receive free tutoring.
B. Enlist influential community members to reach targeted group of high school students
C. Invite the media to a Townhall where you’ll explain the benefits of the program.
D. Work with the school district to develop a drip text campaign to explain the program.
B
You are the public relations manager at a school districtand your city has passed a law that requires all food waste to be composted,including at businesses and schools. The law takes effect in six months. Yourschools will receive a fine if more than 10% of the garbage contains food wasteor recyclables.
Which of these are SMART objectives (Choose 2)?
A. All schools will emphasize sustainability
B. Within 3 months, 50% of district schools will bein compliance with the new law.
C. District schools will implement curriculum that emphasizesthe importance of waste reduction through composting and recycling.
D. Within 6 months, 100% of district schools willbe in compliance with the new law.
E. Your district will partner with a local organizationthat helps schools and districts implement sustainable practices.
BD
You are the Chief Communications Officer for a large preK-12suburban school district. Your superintendent asks you to present a plan to gain additional parent support for the district’s Strategic Plan. What two strategies will you include in your plan? (Choose two)
A. By the end of second semester, 75 percent of district parents (an increase of 20 percent) will indicate their support for the new Strategic Plan.
B. Promote support of the projects within the plan to district parents.
C. Create a flyer with highlights of the plan to distribute during parent pick up.
D. Send a special edition of the district’s e-newsletter with featured content on the projects of the new Strategic Plan.
E. Establish partnerships with the presidents of the parent groups at each of the district’s schools.
BE
You work as a communications manager for the Educational Institute, a local community college. The extensive research you conducted and the numerous conversations with upper management regarding implementing a small ophthalmology program for fall 2020 is now a go. What is one objective that you can include into your communications plan? Choose one option.
A. To position Educational Institute as the leader in the ophthalmology education.
B. Write five press releases, mail two post cards to area homes, and post four social media posts on Facebook and Instagram for four weeks.
C. Enroll at least 25 medical students into the ophthalmology program by summer2022.
D. Establish relationships with area optometrists and other health-care providers.
C
You are the Communications Manager for a nonprofit association. Each year, the association has a major annual fundraiser that you are in charge of planning, marketing, and implementing. Your CEO would like to see your plan for this year’s event. What is the best business result objective for your communication plan?
A. To attract media coverage from 5 media outlets during the event
B. To increase funds raised by 50% from last year’s event to this year’s event
C. To increase the number of attendees at the event by 75% from last year to this year
D. To collaborate with 3 other nonprofit associations to help host the event
B
A plastic surgery firm in a local university town places billboards around town. The billboards display two cantaloupes lying side by side at an angle, with a header that reads, “If life gives you lemons, trade up.” The billboards incite a backlash within the community: residents begin complaining on social media and in editorial letters to area newspapers. What could the firm have avoided in its ad message for better clarity and connection with its audiences? (Select two.)A) Hype words
B) Jargon
C) Discriminatory language
D) Euphemisms
CD, Discriminatory language and Euphemisms. From PR Strategies and Tactics, p. 184-185: “A euphemism is an offensive word that is less direct and less distasteful than the one representing reality. PR personnel should use positive, favorable words to convey a message, but they have an ethical responsibility not to use words that hide information, mislead, or offend.” ‘Melons’ is a slang euphemism for breasts. “Effective communication also means nondiscriminatory communication. Double check every message to eliminate undesirable gender, racial, and ethic connotations.” Women can be greatly offended if their breast size is deemed inadequate when it is “lemon-sized.”
Your supplier company who works for the franchisees of a consumer goods company needs to communicate a new phased change to their platform. The request is to determine the actions to be taken by the company to communicate the plan, how communicated, including what media platforms, and budgets. The request is for communications to 5,000 members and monitoring of the feedback from the change. What part of the RPIE process is the immediate focus based on this scenario?
A. Research
B. Planning
C. Implementation
D. Evaluation
C
You are the Public Relations Manager for a company that produces frozen food and has several contracts with school districts in the Midwest. The company has a reputation of making healthy food that students enjoy and your executive team was a PR campaign to expand to other areas of the country. What do you and your team do next?
A. Start creating collateral to send to other school districts
B. Register for a school district conference to present your menus and nutrition info to multiple school districts at one
C. Arrange a press visit to schools that currently have contracts with your company to show how well the product is doing
D. Determine your specific target market, messaging, and potential avenues of communication
D
