(Macmillan Studies in Marketing Management) Frank Jefkins BSC (Econ), BA (Hons), MCAM, FIPR, MInstM, MAIE, ABC (Auth.) - Public Relations For Marketing Management-Palgrave Macmillan UK (1983)

MACMILLAN STUDIES IN MARKETING MANAGEMENT
General Editor: Professor Michael J. Baker

University of Strathclyde
This series is designed to fill the need for a compact treatment of major aspects
of marketing management and practice based essentially upon European insti-
tutions and experience. This is not to suggest that experience and practice in
other advanced economies will be ignored, but rather that the treatment will
reflect European custom and attitudes as opposed to American, which have
tended to dominate so much of the marketing literature.
Each volume is the work of an acknowledged authority on that subject and

combines distillation of the best and most up-to-date research findings with a
clear statement of their relevance to improved managerial practice. A concise
style is followed throughout, and extensive use is made of summaries, checklists
and references to related work. Thus each work may be viewed as both an
introduction to and a reference work on its particular subject. Further, while
each book is self-contained, the series as a whole comprises a handbook of
marketing management.
The series is designed for both students and practitioners of marketing. Lectur-
ers will find the treatment adequate as the foundation for in-depth study of each
topic by more advanced students who have already pursued an introductory and
broadly based course in marketing. Similarly, managers will find each book to
be both a useful aide-memoire and a reference source.
The titles so far published in the series are:
Michael J. Baker (ed.), Marketing: Theory and Practice

Michael J. Baker and Ronald McTavish, Product Policy and Management
J.R. Bureau, Brand Management
Bill Donaldson, Sales Management: Theory and Practice
Gordon R. Foxall, Consumer Choice
Roy W. Hill and T.J. Hiller, Organisational Buying Behaviour
Frank Jefkins, Public Relations for Marketing Management
Geoffrey A. Lancaster and Robert A. Lomas, Forecasting for Sales and Mate-
rials Management
Joanna Kinsey, Marketing in Developing Countries
James M. Livingstone, International Marketing Management
Arthur Meidan, Bank Marketing Management
By the same author
Advertising Made Simple (3rd ed.)

Advertising Today (3rd ed.)
Copywriting and its Presentation
Dictionary of Marketing, Advertising and
Public Relations (2nd ed.)
Effective Marketing Strategy
Effective PR Planning
Effective Press Relations and House Journal Editing (2nd ed.)
Effective Publicity Writing
Introduction to Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations
Marketing and PR Media Planning
Modern Marketing
Planned Press and Public Relations
Planned Public Relations
Press Relations Practice
Public Relations (2nd ed.)
Public Relations Made Simple
PUBLIC RELATIONS
FOR
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
SECOND EDITION
Frank Jefkins
BSc(Econ), BA(Hons), MCAM, FIPR, MlnstM, MAlE, ABC
M
Palgrave Macmillan
© Frank Jefkins I 978, 1983
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of

this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act I 988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London WIP 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
First published 1978 by

THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-333-35915-0 ISBN 978-1-349-06925-5 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-06925-5
First edition reprinted 1983

Second edition 1983
Reprinted 1990, 1992
To my wife, Frances
Contents
Preface to the First Edition viii
Preface to the Second Edition X
What is Public Relations? 1

The Image 8
2 How PR Differs from Advertising 12

Audience 12
Purpose 14
Appeal 16
Media 19
Choice of publication 19
Parts of the media, and media people 20
Kind and choice of media 23
Limited or unlimited usage of media 23
Presentation 23
Costs 24
3 PR and the Marketing Mix 29

The Marketing Mix 30
1. ConceptionllnnovationiModification 31
2. Product life-cycle 32
3. Marketing research 38
4. Naming and branding 39
5. Product image 44
6. Market segment 45
7. Pricing 46
8. Range IProliferation 1Rationalisation 46
9. Packaging 47
10. Distribution 49
11. Sales force 49
12. Market education 49
13. Corporate and financial PR 50
VI CONTENTS
14. Industrial relations 51

15. Test marketing 51
16. Advertising 52
17. Advertising research 56
18. Sales promotion and merchandising 56
19. After-sales servicejSparesjGuaranteesjlnstruc-
tions 59
20. Maintaining customer interest/Loyalty 61
4 Corporate and Financial PR 64

Political PR: Lobbying 68
Corporate Identity 69
Corporate Communications 70
5 PR as an Aid to the Sales Force 73

The Staff Relations Aspect 73
Dealer Relations 75
PR Support for the Salesmen 75
6 PR as an Aid to Advertising 78
PR Build-up to Advertising 83
7 Distributor Relations 87
Five Kinds of Distributor Relations 87
Bowthorpe Development Project 91
The Media of Distributor Relations 92
l. Dealer magazines 92
2. Dealer training and education 93
3. Trade and technical press relations 95
4. Worksjstorevisits 95
5. Dealer contests and awards 96
6. Dealers and exhibitions 97
7. Dealer conferences 97
8. Dealers and advertising 98
9. PR for brewers and pubs 100
8 Customer Relations 101

Complaints 101
Guarantees and Warranties 103
Public Criticism 104
Industrial Disputes 106
Customer Service and Education 107
Works Visits, Open Days 110
CONTENTS Vll
Sponsorship 110
Ethnic Markets in the United Kingdom 112
Product Recall 112
Public Service Organisations 117
9 PR and Exhibitions 121

PR Aids for Stands 122
Working with the Exhibition Press Officer 122
10 PR and International Marketing 125

Problems of Communication with Illiterates and with
Multi-language, Multi-ethnic Groups 129
1. Sound versus visual symbols 131
2. Different kinds ofliteracy 131
3. Understanding pictures 132
4. Visual perception time 132
5. Span of consciousness 133
6. Limits of experience 133
7. Problems of scale 135
8. Colours 136
9. Multi-languageproblems 136
10. Word and name problems 138
11. Extent ofliteracy 138
12. Deceptive tactics 139
American English 140
Organising International PR 141
Publications 141
Organisations 141
Services 142
Special International PR Services 144
Translations 144
Press cuttings 146
11 Internal and External PR Services 152
PR Professionalism 158
12 Feedback and Results 160
Index 171
Preface to the First Edition
Public relations is frequently misunderstood and undervalued

by marketers, and marketing is often avoided with distaste by
PR practitioners. There is a peculiar antipathy between the
two, although the syllabus of the CAM Certificate in Com-
munication Studies seeks to bring them together.
Most books on marketing ignore PR, give it an insignificant
role such as Kotler's 'publicity', or place undue emphasis on
'favourable' mentions, images and climates. A good many
public services market in a more or less unfavourable climate!
The public may learn to understand them but never love them.
Other writers get no further than using PR in the limited sense
of product publicity. Some of the deserved criticism of PR by
the media stems from the abuse of PR by marketers who see it
as no more than 'free advertising' and regard every mention
by the media as a good or bad advertisement. Even more con-
fusion occurs when PR is thought to be the same thing as
sales promotion, and is lumped together with below-the-line
advertising. PR and advertising are totally different things.
Public relations exist whether we like it or not, which is
why it is so important to marketers to avoid the bad PR that
some marketing tactics can provoke.
This book aims to show how PR can enhance the total
marketing effort, and in many cases be an answer to the
excesses of consumerism and other restraints on business. Two
important chapters show, first, how PR can be applied to a
greatly extended marketing mix of twenty elements, and,
second, how PR can assist in the struggle to boost inter-
national trade. Practical examples are given of the role of PR
in customer and distributor relations. Finally, attention is
drawn to the 'people factor', and the need for PR to confront
the numerous anti-marketing forces.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION ix
The book is international in its approach because nowadays
we have to think globally. There is also international interest
in British examinations such as those of the Institute of Mar-
keting, the CAM Education Foundation, the Institute of
Export and the London Chamber of Commerce, and in
various marketing and communications diploma, degree and
postgraduate courses held at polytechnics and universities
throughout the world. Examples are therefore quoted from
other countries as well as from the United Kingdom, showing
that the principles set out here are universally applicable.
Finally, I would like to thank the scores of people who have
so generously helped me with examples and information. They
are acknowledged in the text, source references and index.
1978 F. J.
Preface to the Second Edition
This book should be helpful to the increasing number of

students in the United Kingdom and overseas who are
preparing for the popular Group Diplomas in either
Marketing or Public Relations offered by the London
Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Marketing and Public
Relations are key subjects for these examinations. This book
provides a bridge so that the relationship between the two
subjects can be better understood by students, teachers and
practitioners.
Such understanding will help LCCI students to gain the
Distinctions which will merit exemptions from the same
subjects for the CAM Certificate in Communication Studies.
If they make Advertising their third subject, and gain
distinction in that too, they are halfway through the CAM
Certificate. The Institute of Marketing also permits certain
exemptions.
1983 F. J.
Chapter I
What is Public Relations?
The purpose of this chapter is to define public relations and to

establish its relevance to marketing. But we shall go further
than suggesting that PR is something which should be included
in the marketing inix.
As we shall see, PR is not merely a part of marketing, or of
anything else, and is frequently misunderstood. The fact that
PR is misused and abused to the extent that people ranging
from members of the general public to professional marketers
are either hostile to PR or sceptical of it is beside the point. We
do not have to make apologies here. The same antipathies have
beset many other admirable activities and professions. We do
not renounce sports, hobbies and arts, businesses, industries
and professions because of the misbehaviour or prejudices of
minorities or sectional interests.
In the case of marketing, public relations sometimes suffers
from a lack of appreciation of its broad nature and of its very
useful ability to contribute to the various facets of the market-
ing strategy. Let us therefore assume that good public relations
practice can enhance the entire marketing operation, and
grasp the opportunities for its plain, practical and necessary
application.
This probably means disabusing ourselves of old-fashioned
inhibitions that PR is 'free advertising', is to do with merchan-
dising gimmicks, or is mainly a matter of gin and tonics and
wining and dining. We can also forget the unacceptable face of
capitalism in the shape of bribery and corruption, which may
be the 'robber baron' concept of PR. Chiefly, PR is hard work
counted in manhours and their cost. Basically, it is about be-
haviour and human relations, which may sound remarkably
like good marketing philosophy. Practically, it is the total
2 PUBLIC RELATIONS FOR MARKETING MANAGEMENT
management philosophy of successful, socially responsible

companies of which British Oxygen, Guinness and Marks &
Spencer are typical examples.
The breadth of PR may be explained at this point by briefly
listing how it may either impinge upon the marketing function
or be employed directly within marketing management.
l. Corporate and.financial PR- see Chapter 4- can project
the image of an organisation, and help to maintain the com-
pany's position in the stock market. Products may enjoy the
halo effect of this type of 'City', bourse or Wall Street PR.
Marketing activities may be affected by financial news about
takeovers, mergers, acquisitions, amalgamations, overseas de-
velopments, annual reports and trading results, board-room
appointments, contracts and other business affairs.
2. Community relations. Good-neighbour relations and
social problems of effluent, noise abatement, public hazard,
pollution and other environmental issues may affect the mar-
keting operation.
3. Industrial relations. This growing area of PR commit-
ment can affect such things as product quality, delivery and
complaints which in turn reflect on distributor and user j
customer relations.
4. Relations with opinion leaders may affect attitudes of
opinion-giving people such as politicians, broadcasters, tea-
chers, parents and leaders of special interest societies and in-
stitutions which may be hostile or friendly, prejudiced or
apathetic, towards an industry and its problems, people, ser-
vices and products.
The above four headings indicate areas of PR which are
likely to be conducted by a PR department or consultancy
which serves the total organisation and reports at board level.
This ideal situation occurs when PR starts at the top- that is,
when management is PR-orientated.
Marketing department PR. However, much PR activity is
locked in the marketing department, and in this book it will be
shown that far from being a narrow or minor press relations
or mere product publicity service used to augment the adver-
tising (or even as a substitute for advertising!), PR can be ap-
plied to the full range of a marketing mix of twenty elements.
And that means a marketing mix that starts with research and
WHAT IS PUBLIC RELATIONS? 3
development and goes right through to after-sales service and
the maintenance of customer interest and loyalty.
This requires an attitude of mind on the part of marketing
management which may be termed PR-mindedness. Generally,
this means thinking beyond the confined concept of maximis-
ing profits, of being customer-conscious and responsible, and
of realising the communication demands of marketing
exercises. As will be seen in the chapter on PR and Inter-
national Marketing, it calls for the sort of marketing manage-
ment philosophy that has overcome overseas marketing
problems.
Before recognising the benefits that may be borrowed from
the four categories mentioned above, and going on to examine
how PR can be related to each element of our much extended
marketing mix, let us pause to consider three definitions. The
first is that of the Institute of Public Relations, and the second
is the author's. The third is a significant and newer one.
Public relations practice is the deliberate, planned and sus-

tained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding be-
tween an organisation and its public .1
It will be noticed that the IPR definition stresses that PR

must be planned. In other words, it should not be used hap-
hazardly. It is not, for example, something to be used for
'fire-fighting,' purposes when there is trouble, and so PR cam-
paigns can and should be organised just as production, sales
or advertising programmes are planned. This calls for the
proper budgeting of human, physical and financial resources.
The principal objective is understanding. The purpose of
PR is not to persuade people to buy anything, although ad-
vertising is unlikely to persuade people to buy things they do
not understand. With some products, especially new, compli-
cated or expensive ones, the PR task may be immense. The
computer industry is a prime example, with IBM as a leading
exponent of market education. The definition also refers to
mutual understanding, meaning that the PR practitioner
seeks to understand other people and their attitudes as well as
create understanding of his organisation and its people, poli-
cies, products or services. This interaction is the essence of
communication. The author's definition takes this general

process a stage further:
Public relations consists of all forms of planned communi-

cation, outwards and inwards, between an organisation and its
publics for the purpose of achieving specific objectives concern-
ing mutual understanding. 2
In this modified version of the IPR definition the word pub-

lics has been used instead of the singular public because we are
addressing numerous groups of people (as distinct from the
occupational social grades used in market research and adver-
tising or the particular market segment or target audience used
in marketing), and some of these many publics are suggested
under the four headings given above. But most important is
the inclusion of objectives, so that the system of management
by objectives is applied to deliberate, planned and sustained
public relations. From this the marketer may now appreciate
that far from adopting bits of PR to back up the marketing
plan, a separate PR strategy can and should be planned, bud-
geted and executed alongside marketing.
Ideally, this should be part of a complete management
scheme of PR to use communication techniques for the
achievement of a variety of company objectives, such as com-
munity, recruitment, job satisfaction, financial, as well as mar-
keting ones. However, in this book we shall concentrate on the
marketing function while accepting the bonuses when PR is
being applied to the production and financial functions, that is
to the total company administration.
Public relations practice is the art and social science of
analysing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling
organization leaders, and implementing planned pro-
grammes of action which will serve both the organization
and the public interest.
The special merit of this definition - the Mexican

Statement- is that it starts earlier and continues further than
the preceding definitions. It should appeal to marketing
people because it implies that before the PR programme is
planned there should be research to reveal the current image,
discussed later in this chapter. A communications audit is
necessary so that an appreciation of the situation can be
made. Finally, the executed PR programme should be
socially responsible.
Already there have been inevitable side references to PR and
advertising, which more nearly resemble distant cousins rather
than the ugly sisters they are often pretended to be by the press
and other critics. And it may have been disturbing to find that
PR has been limited to understanding and divorced from per-
suasion. No mention has been made of propaganda.
The marketer may be forgiven for thinking that an attempt
is being made to put PR on a pinnacle. There is no desire to cre-
ate a mystique about the subject, or to be in any way purist.
The author's sole desire is to present PR in such a way that its
benefits may be enjoyed. They cannot be enjoyed if PR is
warped in the misguided attempt to force it beyond its true
nature. A simple example is that if an editor receives a news
release which contains news that is written and presented in ob-
jective, informative, concise journalistic style it may well be
printed word for word as written. But if it is no more than an
exuberant puff, verbose and full of self-praise, spattered with
capital letters and underlinings, it will go straight into the
waste bin.
Thus, just as there are proper techniques for marketing,
salesmanship, market research, advertising and sales promo-
tion, so there are special methods for public relations. It is a
world of its own. Its rules are simple to follow because they are
logical, as demonstrated by the press story example. But
although that example was given, PR may have little or
nothing to do with journalism. Press relations is but a frag-
ment of public relations. Moreover, press relations are
peculiar to countries where literacy is high and there are large
numbers of newspapers and magazines, as in Europe and
North America. But in most parts of Africa, Asia and South
America - where 10 per cent or less of the people read news-
papers- press relations will be insignificant. Yet PR may flou-
rish, as indeed it does in Third World countries where there is
so much that is new and in need of communication and under-
standing. It may be a government which wishes to show people
how to grow more food; it may be a foreign manufacturer who

wishes to export farm equipment that the people have never
seen before. These aspects are dealt with in Chapter 10.
At this point it will be appropriate to clarify the nature of
public relations by defining the terms advertising, publicity and
propaganda since such terminology is often used loosely, and is
sometimes confused with public relations. Kotler calls public
relations 'publicity' 3 when he elaborates upon the 'Four P's'
concept of the marketing mix.
Here are two definitions of advertising, a general one intro-
duced by the Advertising Association which represents British
advertising, and a more specific one used by the Institute of
Practitioners in Advertising, the professional body of British
advertising agents:
Advertising is the means of making known in order to sell

goods or services.
Advertising presents the most persuasive possible selling mes-
sage to the right prospects for the product or service at the lowest
possible cost.
The second definition implies a combination of market re-

search, creativity and media research and planning which
comprise the services of an advertising agency. The first defini-
tion simply says that advertising has to provoke selling action
beyond the giving of information. Public relations is really a
means of making known in order to achieve understanding.
There lies the difference- and the strength of PR because PR
messages, whatever the medium, remain acceptable and credi-
ble only provided they are free of the bias of creative persuas-
ion. That is why it is silly to make a documentary film, which
should present a factual statement visually, and then destroy
its credibility by introducing shots of products and names
which are obvious plugs.
We are not criticising advertising. There is nothing wrong
with advertising, unless it contains anti-PR undertones. But
PR is not advertising, and when the attempt is made to convert
PR into some form of advertising the PR effort is frittered
away.
That may be a hard lesson for the marketer to learn, but
unless it is learned all his PR efforts will fail - and that is a
waste of money. Consequently, impartial, informative, edu-
cational PR is economic, and the argument is that it works, not
that it is ethical or desirable. There is nothing economic about
PR exercises which are derided or disbelieved. You have only
to pick up your newspaper or switch on your radio or tele-
vision to find, sooner or later, someone who is mocking a
stupid piece ofPR which has had a boomerang effect. Usually,
the culprit has been trying too hard, that is, refusing to accept
the limits of PR, refusing to recognise that PR is not a soft sell
or some contrived form of free advertising. And yet the scope
of PR can be so great. Far greater than advertising.
Publicity, so often loosely used as a synonym or even as a
superior word for advertising, really has a special meaning.
Publicity is a result of making known. Publicity can be good or
bad, as every public figure knows to his profit or chagrin.
Propaganda can be defined thus:
Propaganda is the means of gaining support for an opinion,

creed or belief
Occasionally the expression 'trade propaganda' is used for

trade press advertising, but this is a misleading use of the term,
and is best avoided.
Like advertising, but unlike PR, propaganda consists of
biased information. It differs from advertising, however, in its
lack of an exchange relationship since it demands the sacrifice
of intellectual, emotional, physical or financial support, and
offers no return other than mental, emotional or moral satis-
faction. Propaganda may be used for good or evil purposes,
for charities, religious orders, political parties, governments
and other organisations seeking support. It has nothing to do
with industrial or commercial marketing.
There are, of course, certain communicators who embrace
public relations, advertising and propaganda, and the lines of
demarcation may be very fine in their cases. For instance, a
ministry may wish to inform the public about a service (PR),
announce vacancies on the staff(recruitment advertising), and
seek the support of the electorate for its policies (propaganda)
as when the Minister addresses a press reception or makes a

broadcast.
From this discussion of what is public relations we can see
that we are dealing with a subject which is perhaps rather dif-
ferent from and more comprehensive than the average
marketer's concept of it. It is like visiting a multi-flavour ice-
cream shop after being brought up on vanilla, strawberry and
chocolate. This discussion aims to show that the intelligent ap-
plication of PR principles can greatly expand the whole mar-
keting operation, or at least make it more effective. We have
been examining integrated purposeful PR, and a little thought
will make it clear that public relations - or relations with the
publics-exists whether we like it or not. The point is, are these
relations unfortunate ones because the harsh concept of maxi-
mising profits has been adopted in an almost asset-stripping
paucity of human relations concepts? More of this will become
apparent in the chapter on customer and distributor relations.
Planned, objective PR therefore requires the manpower to
carry it out. The quality ofPR work depends on a combination
of expertise and time. In planning a campaign it is essential to
calculate the manhours required to perform the tasks, this
being represented either by salaries or by the greater part of a
consultancy fee. To the labour costs must be added the cost of
materials and expenses such as fares, hotel bills and hospi-
tality. Public relations is labour intensive and the chief cost is
time. More will be said about this in Chapter ll on Internal
and External PR Services.
THE IMAGE
The expression image is commonly associated with PR, often

t'1istakenly so. There is a na'ive idea that images can be faked,
but an image is no more than the impression a person has of a
subject. Its closeness to truth will depend on the information
and experience that has been gained. Thus, an organisation
will be judged according to knowledge of facts and experience
of behaviour. In PR, the image is a correct impression - not
necessarily a good or a better impression, and certainly not a
false impression. Users of PR, however, may well wish to
'polish a tarnished image', but that is a prostitution of PR. The
task of PR is to present the facts, maybe overcoming misun-
derstandings and prejudices in the process. Most PR work is
to do with combating the states of hostility, prejudice, apathy
and ignorance and converting them into sympathy, accept-
ance, interest and knowledge (see Figure 2.1 ).
There may be occasions when the image has to be changed
because a company now has different interests, products or
services as when a passenger shipping line converts to, say,
cruise ships, car ferries and container ships. During the past
few decades the image of High Street banking has changed
enormously. An interesting example of image changing has
been that of the motor-cycle industry, anxious to lose its old
'mods and rockers' image and present motor-cyclists as 'nice
people'. This and other examples are given in Chapter 3.
Certain other images should be considered here. The pro-
duct image is discussed as the fifth item in the twenty-part
marketing mix analysed in Chapter 3. The multiple image, 4
discussed in Chapter 5, occurs when company staff- such as
field salesmen or shop assistants - each give personal images
which distort the uniform, corporate image. When we come to
planning PR it is necessary to distinguish between the mirror
image which represents management's idea of what outsiders
understand and believe, and the current image which is the true
image held externally. The current image may be detected by
means of an image study as described in Chapter 12. There is
also the wish image when an organisation is new and declares
how it wishes to be seen, and this can be a deception as danger-
ous as the mirror image. Approaching what has already been
described as the PRimage is the more practical optimum image
which takes into account the possible willingness and ability of
publics to absorb and comprehend information in a world
which abounds with messages. Consequently, it is wise to
define an image that is 'correct, intelligible and memorable'.
Critics of PR assume that PR is about pretending things are
what they are not, but once information loses credibility and
the source is condemned as being unreliable, the PR effort is
nullified. It becomes 'puffery' or propaganda. Marketing
management needs to decide whether readers, listeners and
viewers are to believe or to suspect its information. A great
deal of PR information is suspected, and is therefore wasted,

simply because marketers have not understood these primary
distinctions and have imposed biased promotional language
and emphasis upon it.
Returning to PR that is directly related to marketing, let us
take an extended list of items that could be included in the mar-
keting mixes for different campaigns:
1. Conception/Innovation/Modification
2. Product life-cycle
3. Marketing research
4. Naming and branding
5. Product image
6. Market segment
7. Pricing
8. Range/Proliferation/Rationalisation
9. Packaging
10. Distribution
11. Sales force
12. Market education
13. Corporate and financial PR
14. Industrial relations
15. Test marketing
16. Advertising
17. Advertising research
18. Sales promotion and merchandising
19. After-sales servicejSparesjGuaranteesjlnstructions
20. Maintaining customer interest/loyalty
This is a longer list than the original one of twelve intro-

duced by Neil H. Borden in 1948, and it is in a more logical and
chronological format than Philip Kotler's elaborations of
E. Jerome McCarthy's 'Four-P's' .6 It is deliberately long to
cover the needs of products and services as disparate as, say,
foods, computers, motor-cars, packaged tours or insurance.
Corporate PR and industrial relations are included because of
their influence upon marketing strategy.
The object of succeeding chapters is to show both the PRim-
plications of these twenty items and the numerous ways in
which PR practice can be successfully allied to them to achieve
more effective marketing. This is a much more comprehensive
and realistic view of PR than that held in those marketing
departments where PR is limited to press relations support
for advertising or where the entertainment of prospective
clients is called PR which it is not. The latter may be enter-
tainment, and in certain cases it has proved to be bribery
and corruption, but it is certainly not PR.
REFERENCES
1. Public Relations (Institute of Public Relations).
2. Frank Jefkins, Marketing and PR Media Planning (Oxford:
Pergamon Press, 1974)p. 15.
3. Philip Kotler, Marketing Management, 3rd ed. (London:
Prentice-Hall International, 1976) p. 60.
4. Frank Jefkins, Effective Press Relations (Croydon: Frank
Jefkins School of Public Relations, 1977).
5. Kotler, op. cit., note 3 above.
6. E. Jerome McCarthy, Basic Marketing, A Management Ap-
proach, 4th ed. (Homewood, Ill.: Richard D. Irwin Inc., 1971)p. 40.
Chapter 2
How PR Differs from Advertising
As we have seen in the first chapter there are many clear differ-
ences between public relations and advertising. One informs
and the other persuades, one seeks to create understanding
and the other aims to persuade people to buy or to take some
desired action. Any form of publicity is not therefore adver-
tising, but misunderstandings about the distinction mean that
the media are often afraid to declare product names in case the
reference is misconstrued as advertising. This leads to the
unfair situation when a product is named when the news is
bad, but is not named when the news is good! Moreover, it is
not enough to define advertising as publicity which has been
paid for, because although no payment will have been made
for the space or time given to PR information, some cost, such
as manhours at least, will have been involved in its supply to
the media. Public relations is not therefore free advertising.
So, how does public relations differ from advertising?
AUDIENCE
One of the easiest ways of understanding the difference be-

tween these two important forms of communication is to con-
sider the target audiences to which their messages are
addressed. They will probably differ both in kind and in num-
ber.
For most products, unless they are purchased by almost
everyone, a target audience based on market segment, social
grade, age, sex or some other demographic distinction will be
HOW PR DIFFERS FROM ADVERTISING 13
determined and this will feature in the advertising brief. In this
way, media planners, art directors and copywriters will direct
the campaign so that it appeals most persuasively to the right
prospects. Thus, while a product such as milk may be drunk by
almost everyone, the advertising may be pitched mainly at
housewives through the mass media of, say, television, posters
and doorstep promotions. It is the housewife who buys from
the milkman.
But the public relations effort for milk, and milk products,
may be addressed to other audiences or publics as well and will
use different non-commercial media. The publics may include
the staff of milk companies, health authorities, doctors, dieti-
cians, cookery experts, schoolchildren, teachers, parents,
sportsmen and women, followers of sports, food manufac-
turers and distributors, politicians and political parties, in fact
all sorts of people who may be interested in milk, cheese, butter
and so on. The PR publics of the milk industry are remarkably
diverse, but the example can be transferred to many other pro-
ducts.
House journals of various kinds are but one PR medium
which may be used by milk companies and other food
producers to reach not only the buying market but also
distributors and those who influence purchase or usage.
First, there is the staff newspaper or magazine which
informs employees about the activities of fellow workers,
and about company business such as new products, new
packaging, new premises together with trading results and
company policy. A well-informed staff/management
situation can minimize industrial friction.
Second, there is the dealer magazine which tells the trade
about the company and helps distributors to sell products
because they are knowledgeable about their usage, new lines,
new packs and price changes.
Third, there is the customer or user magazine. Some
dairies have delivered copies to as many as three million
homes. Colourful and interesting, customer magazines tell
consumers about products sold by roundsmen and contain
cookery and household features.
Other externals may be aimed at specific readerships such
as dieticians, doctors, cookery teachers, children, sports
enthusiasts and other publics. Journals of vague general

interest should not be produced. If it is going to be cost-
effective it should - like any commercial magazine - seek to
satisfy a certain category of reader.
In the example given above we see that while the housewife
is a primary audience or public for a general product such as
milk, even within the marketing operation the grocer is a
major PR public. The grocer can be reached more effectively
and told a fuller story more attractively through the external
house journal than is possible through trade press or direct
mail advertising. That is not to say that the advertising media
may not be better for more urgent sales messages. From the
marketing point of view it is essential to have the goodwill of
the grocer, and this depends on the image he holds of the sup-
plier. By giving regular information about the company be-
hind the products, consumer advertising and salesmen,
through the medium of the house journal, the. image is com-
pleted.
It may be argued that the grocer is interested only in 'what's
in it for him', in a product that produces no complaints, only
satisfaction, in advertising that sells the product out of his
shop, and in a sales representative who handles his orders ef-
ficiently. But there are questions of trust and faith in the sup-
plier, and of relationship with a distant, otherwise unknown
factory and its management and work people. The house
magazine can, if it is worth reading, create a relationship of
knowledge, understanding and goodwill which the blunt but
necessary promotion of goods cannot.
PURPOSE
There can also be differences of purpose or objective. Again,

while the advertising objective- as set out in the brief- may be
a straightforward one such as to increase sales by a stated per-
centage or, in the case of the Woolworth campaigns, to pro-
mote the sales of more expensive or more sophisticated
merchandise and to kill old prejudices, it is ideally single-
minded. This single-mindedness is the fourth virtue of David
Bernstein's VIPS formula 1 which calls for visibility, identity,
promise and single-mindedness in an advertisement.
Contrast this with the array of objectives with which the PR
practitioner is confronted when designing a PR programme.
These objectives are not limited to the marketing strategy, but
there can be many, such as market education, dealer relations,
sales force relations (a part of staff relations), and customers
relations which do come within the orbit of marketing. The
advertising may major on 'value for money' - of milk or
Woolworth- but the PR objectives may be more selective, less
single-minded. In dealing with communication problems of
hostility, prejudice, apathy and ignorance among various pub-
lics the objectives can be numerous and diversified, all
demanding the use of different messages, media and tech-
niques quite unlike those used in advertising. Skilled though it
must be, persuading people to buy is a less complex procedure
than dealing with the many facets of human relations.
Thus PR-orientated marketing management can employ
PR methods which will strengthen the advertising. The airline
may use positive advertising to promote a new service, as
British Airways did to launch its series of Shuttle services to
Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast, but in the end it all depended
on the passengers' faith in the ability of the airline to carry out
its promise. In fact, during the first year's campaign airport
and cabin-staff disputes made it necessary to halt the adver-
tising. Brash, bright commercials increased store traffic for
Woolworth, but the new store layout, the more efficient sales
staff, and the quality of the goods themselves had to satisfy the
promise of the ads. The better choice and use of media, the
more single-minded mail-order approach of the copy, and the
more realistic, impactive appeal of full-colour plus an
improved catalogue made a Save the Children Fund gift cata-
logue advertising campaign more successful, but much
depended on buyers also having faith in the integrity of the
organisation. 2 Another similar charity had suffered from
adverse publicity- bad PR- about its disputed accounts.
The purpose of advertising is manifestly to sell. The purpose
of PR for a marketing organisation is to justify a selling situ-
ation, and there lies a world of difference. Feedback, or initial
research into the more critical current image, may reveal that
understanding of the company, service or product is such that

a substantial PR programme is necessary before a selling situ-
ation justifies the use of advertising. However, if as a result of
bad behaviour or performance the current image is a poor one
the PR adviser must seek correction or improvement before an
enviable reputation can be sought.
We are within the realm of what John Kenneth Galbraith 3
called the 'countervailing power' of other forces to resist the
blandishments of the advertisers, the modern alternative to
Adam Smith's elementary market forces which are still sup-
ported by wistful monetarists. PR-orientated marketing man-
agement recognises these 'countervailing powers' for they are
confronted all the time in the lobbies of consumerists, anti-
pollutionists, conservationists and many other organised
forms of opposition to big business. But that is not all. We are
also concerned with the inarticulate countervailing power of
inadequate or non-existent knowledge and understanding that
is inevitable in an increasingly complicated world. In recent
years we have moved into worlds ofhi-fi, polyunsaturated fats,
cholesterol, oral contraception, freezers, supersonic flight,
race relations and energy conservation that were unknown
topics to most people only a short time ago. We also have an
ageing population so that a very large number of people have
to grapple with re-education, while the infusion of immigrants
from the Third World brings fresh problems of language and
custom.
Increasingly, then, the PR problems widen while the adver-
tising must retain its impactive, competitive, single-
mindedness. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see how much
more detailed and informative advertising has become neces-
sary for new products such as motor-cars. Ford advertise-
ments have been more explicit, but only after the style of
foreign car advertisements which, during the 1970s, estab-
lished their strange makes by ads which were packed with con-
vincing facts. No longer was it sufficient to advertise a nice car
for the family- exploded drawings came into vogue.
APPEAL
The appeal of advertising and public relations messages is, on
the whole, dissimilar. If only in the sense that advertising has
to compete for attention, and must use clever devices which are
embellishments of old-time street cries and the banging of the
circus drum, advertising messages are mostly emotive and stri-
dent, like stage makeup and voices, clamouring to be noticed
and absorbed. Their impressionistic, generalised banality can
be an effective virtue. The most effective word in all adver-
tising copy is stillfree. These remarks in no way belittle adver-
tising, for it needs and has its special techniques, and is
immensely successful when there is a proper blending of plan-
ning and creativity. Some 400 examples of copywriting ingen-
uity appear in the author's book on the subject.4
The appeal of the PR message is wholly different. It is
largely a matter of credibility. Once puffery- the use of superla-
tives and self-praise- is allowed to tarnish the PR message it is
doomed. A news release can be ruined by the insertion of an
unpublishable plug and the indiscriminate use of capital let-
ters. House journals will look unreal if they resemble sales
catalogues. Documentaries will become boring commercials if
there are too many glimpses of packages and names on prem-
ises or vehicles. A seminar becomes a sales demonstration if
there are gaudy banners and sales promotion displays. We
have to let PR work in its own fashion. We must not behave
like the over-fond parent who does his child's homework and
prevents him from learning.
The appeal of public relations messages must therefore lie in
their absolute freedom from bias, in their utterly trustworthy
information, and ultimately in their interest and value to the
public, as Ivy Ledbetter Lee postulated in 1908. 5 Impartiality
is hardly the attribute of anyone who aims to be successful at
selling, but there lies the rub, for it is the attribute on which PR
depends.
A curious dilemma exists here. The news media are sceptical
about the impartiality ofPR material: marketers are not in the
impartiality business. As a result, PR material can exist in a
twilight world of disbelief and abuse, unless the PR prac-
titioner is trusted to do it his way. It is rather like an experience
the author had at a press reception when a technical device was
being introduced to a more-or-less disbelieving audience. Such
was the reputation of the company that the science corre-
spondent of a national newspaper made the remark that saved

the day by declaring that while he found the proposition im-
probable he was satisfied that if the company said it worked it
worked. What an enviable situation!
We are not saying that advertising is dishonest and insin-
cere, PR honest and sincere, but while boastfulness and bias
have their natural place in advertising, they are foreign to ef-
fective PR. Let us consider some of the differences as they
apply to an assortment of media.
An industrial film - sometimes called a documentary or
sponsored film - is an excellent PR medium when made for
and shown to carefully defined audiences. It can be shown to
invited audiences, used in showrooms or on exhibition stands,
or supplied on loan either directly or through film libraries.
Some large users of this medium such as ICI, Shell and
National Benzole advertise their catalogues in the educational
press, and the films are widely used in schools. Industrial films
of general or entertainment appeal may be shown on television
or in the public cinema. Guy-Raymond Engineering, makers
of Kinglide castors and other components for the furniture in-
dustry, made a film in English, German and French to estab-
lish their image, and explain their products, facilities and
manufacturing expertise at home and abroad, producing this
in cassette form for convenient showing on Fairchild desktop
projectors. The Central Office of Information distributes
many of the best documentaries overseas where they are often
featured on television, provided they have no advertising con-
tent. To introduce advertising, even to the extent of the too-
blatant showing of commercial names on vehicles, premises
or packages, is to reduce if not kill the credibility of such a
film.
In contrast, a television commercial tends to be more credi-
ble if it seeks to sell, and although they are now getting used to
them viewers were baffled by the first PR-type filmlets. Nor-
mally, the style of the television commercial is unlike that of
the documentary, this being intensified by the kaleidoscopic,
truncated form of the fifteen-, thirty- or even sixty-second ad-
vertising film or videotape. The appeal of the commercial is
usually urgent and sales-promoting, while that of the docu-
mentary is informative and educational. It is not just a quieter
sell. The selling is the responsibility of a salesman, demon-
strator or oflegitimate advertising.
The same distinction occurs in printed literature, so that the
appeal of, say, a package tour brochure is one thing, but the
appeal of a guide book from the state tourist board should be
another. Nor should the latter stoop to propaganda, which is a
terrible temptation in official publications. A typical example
of a piece of sales literature with compelling persuasive copy is
the mail-order catalogue, whereas a cookery book or a recipe
leaflet is PR material which should make discreet references to
its sponsor.
MEDIA
It will already have occurred to the reader that advertising and

PR media are seldom identical. They are different in four
ways: (i) in the choice of publications used within the one
medium of the press; (ii) in the parts of the media, and the
people of the media, with which the PR practitioner deals; (iii)
in the kind and choice of media; and (iv) in the extent to which
media usage is limited or unlimited.
Choice of Publication
It may seem logical to suppose that because certain publi-
cations are on the advertising media schedule these are the
ones most likely to give editorial coverage. Except in the case
of the trade press (but only because choice may be limited), this
is seldom so. First, the advertising medium may be something
like the Radio Times, TV Times or a weekend colour magazine,
none of which run features about products and so do not wel-
come news releases. Second, the advertising medium could be
big circulation national dailies with few opportunities for pro-
duct publicity stories, whereas consumer magazines or other
more specialised ones, not on the media schedule, could be
delighted to have our product information.
The mailing list for press stories could therefore be indepen-
dent of the advertising schedule, and will probably extend to
very different titles. Clocks may be advertised in the two
groups of publications mentioned above, while the most sue-
cessful field for PR is likely to be the regional press, and the

women's and home interest magazines. This was the author's
experience when, as a PR consultant, he handled PR for
Smiths Industries. A pest-control service might be advertised
in telephone directories (which carry no editorial), but articles
may be welcomed by trade and technical journals when no ad-
vertising is placed in them. Again, this was the author's experi-
ence when he was PRO of Rentokil Ltd when, for instance, the
woodworm and dry rot services were advertised in the national
press, but articles about treatments to churches and historic
buildings were published in local newspapers. Conversely, it is
true that a motor-car accessory may well be advertised in the
motoring magazines, and written about by motoring corre-
spondents of national newspapers in which the firm never ad-
vertises, coverage still being obtained in the publications on
the advertising media schedule. The point, however, is that be-
cause media are being used for advertising it should not be
taken for granted that they will or must take editorial material.
An advantage will be seen here in spreading the message far
beyond the range of the advertising. This is important in two
ways: (i) in large advertising campaigns, the offer is usually
addressed to the largest buying group, exploiting success, but
PR information can also reach minorities to whom it would be
uneconomic to advertise; (ii) if the advertising budget is
modest, PR can win substantial coverage which will at least
make the market more knowledgeable about the small adver-
tiser. In fact, advertising may be the wrong tactic for some
trade and technical firms whose advertising expenditure is
really too small to have effective impact. Inadequate adver-
tising never will do a selling job, and it may be better to leave
this to salesmen and use PR methods to establish the image,
educate the market and keep the trade informed. Guy-
Raymond Engineering discovered this, cutting out their
meagre advertising in the trade press in favour of a PR pro-
gramme mounted by Tibbenham PR. Since the company regu-
larly introduced new products it enjoyed news value.
Parts ofthe media, and media people

The advertising or commercial side of a medium is usually
separate from the creative and production side. The larger and
more important the medium, the truer this becomes, while in
the case of a very small publication the owner, editor, adver-
tisement manager and publisher will be the same person. If the
distinction between the advertisement side and the editorial
(or programme) side is not appreciated, if PR is misinterpreted
as advertising, the mistake may be made of approaching the
wrong people.
This is further complicated with British commercial tele-
vision where the news bulletins are produced by a separate
company, ITN, whereas the programmes may be produced by
the local regional company or by one of the other regional
companies. For instance, Thames in London may produce a
programme which is shown simultaneously by other regional
companies, or it may be shown elsewhere at different times.
Each company sells airtime, rates varying from region to re-
gion according to size of audience, rather like regional daily
newspapers. Thus, in the south airtime will be purchased from
Television South, programmes like News At Ten will be
networked from London by ITN, and other programmes may
be produced by any of the fifteen regional companies such as
Thames (London), Granada (Manchester), Yorkshire (Leeds)
or Scottish (Glasgow) as well as by TVS itself. This infor-
mation is printed in TV Times. This means that if we have an
idea for a programme shown in our region but produced in,
say, Norwich (Anglia), there is no point in approaching even
the programme people of our local company, an approach to
the sales office would be irrelevant, and it would be necessary
to get in touch with the producer in Norwich.
Similarly, if we wish to publish a news story, photograph or
feature article, or would like to invite the press to attend a press
event or arrange a press interview, we deal with editorial
people, not those from the advertisement department. We deal
with people who have nothing to do with advertising. They may
even scorn it, and wish it did not exist, and such are the econ-
omics of publishing today that fewer and fewer journals are
subsidised by advertising. This means that the chief source of
revenue is becoming the cover price- as we have seen with the
prices of The Guardian and The Sunday Times - and a paper
sells copies only provided its contents please its readers. The
same applies in a slightly different way to radio and television,

where audience figures and ratings are all-important.
So, while one can buy as much advertisement space or air-
time as one can afford, and do what one likes with it within the
strictures of the law, the British Code of Advertising Practice,
the special house rules of the medium, and the Sound Broad-
casting Acts, editorial space (and radio and television pro-
gramme time) is not for sale and is therefore priceless in value.
The sole criterion for use of our material will be its interest and
value to the reader, listener or viewer. In other words, will it
help the medium to survive or succeed? Will it help the editor
or producer to keep his job? The PRO does the favours, and as
a result the coverage produces the desired publicity and the
PRO's employers are pleased. This contradicts the fallacy that
purchase of space or airtime entitles one to editorial or pro-
gramme mention.
Thus it is our privilege to service the media rather than to
expect services from them. Within the press, this may mean
that all kinds of newspapers and magazines will have features
and columns which can use company news if it has reader in-
terest. But stories have to be marketed too! A skilled PRO re-
searches the media and shapes and times stories to suit market
needs. He understands, for example, that women's magazines
deal with certain topics in certain issues, and do not deal with
them generally in every issue throughout the year. Further, he
understands that because these journals are printed by photo-
gravure they must be supplied with stories and pictures three
to six months in advance of publication. Providing the infor-
mation at the right time so that it is physically possible to print
it is in itself a form of media servicing. (The marketer will, of
course, see the similarity here with having to meet copy dates
for advertisements.)
Again, the PRO has to deal with individuals who are special-
ists in writing about certain subjects or in preparing certain
programmes. 'Fleet Street contacts' is a misleading expression
because, unless the PRO is working in a very specialised field,
there are normally far too many journalists scattered through-
out hundreds of media offices for the PRO to ever know them
all. (The author has published hundreds of PR articles in jour-
nals whose editors he has never met, simply because the ar-
tides were negotiated by mail or telephone on their merits
before a word was written.) The number of editorial and pro-
gramme people far exceeds the minority who sell space or air-
time, so this is a major difference between advertising and
public relations. Moreover, because of the sheer impossibility
of knowing everyone, most PR material must be judged on its
merits and not on personal relationships.
Kind and choice ofmedia

This has been mentioned already but if it is relevant, a news
release can be sent to a journal whose circulation is too small
for inclusion in the media schedule, or which is excluded for
some other reason such as duplication of readership.lt will not
pay to advertise in it, but it will pay to supply the journal with
news. Or, one may not advertise in the Financial Times yet find
its Technical page a good place for aPR story. The same may
be said of the regional press: a sewing machine may be adver-
tised mainly in the women's press, yet there are nearly a
hundred regional dailies which could carry information about
the new machine in their women's features.
Limited or unlimited usage ofmedia

Some media, for example, broadcasting programme maga-
zines, may be ideal for advertising, but less useful or useless for
PR purposes. One cannot advertise through a news agency
such as the Press Association, although it may well be an ad-
mirable outlet for PR news of wide appeal. The advertising
and PR values of identical media can be limited to one or the
other, be equal, or be restricted so far as PR is concerned.
PRESENTATION
The presentation of the information contained in adver-

tisements and press material must be very different if it is going
to work or be accepted. For this reason, it is unusual for a
copywriter to be a competent writer of news releases, and vice
versa, just as it is difficult for an airline flight captain to be an
equally good sea captain. However, it is not impossible to have

both abilities, merely rare.
The advertisement has to compete for attention and reading
interest. The reader has to be convinced of the superiority of
the product or service or the offer over competitors. He also
has to be convinced that the proposition is value for money, or
a better sacrifice of his income. He has to be persuaded into
taking some appropriate action. The message must be memor-
able too. All sorts of copy devices, and typographical and ar-
tistic methods of impact and emphasis must be used. None of
these techniques can be employed in P R. A multi-coloured news
release heading bearing a sales slogan will make editors wince.
If repetition, name-plugging, and the indiscriminate use of
capital letters and underlining occur in a news release, it will be
rejected as a puff. It will be unprofessional. Press material
must be factual, no more. Moreover, while the advertisement
may excel in cliches, generalities and emotive language, and
would be unprofessional if it did not, the news release must use
plain language and give complete detailed descriptions. Again,
while the advertisement may depend on decorative and even
gimmicky effects, the news release should follow the rules of a
publisher's manuscript in appearance and avoid even a head-
ing that might embellish a sales letter. The contrast in literary
style and physical appearance could not be greater. Flamboy-
ant release headings .are unnecessary because one does not
have to advertise to an editor.
When sales visitors are being received on an exhibition
stand, or on a factory tour, they may well be presented with an
impressive souvenir wallet or binder containing sales litera-
ture. But journalists attending a press reception, exhibition
press room, or attending a facility visit, will prefer simple ma-
terial to put in their pockets. The fetish of the elaborate press
pack is one of the sacred cows of bad PR.
COSTS
It is here that we are confronted by fundamental differences

which provoke much of the misunderstanding about PR, and
provide a number of distinctions between advertising and PR.
Sometimes PR is thought to be the less important of the two,
simply because the media costs of advertising are so huge. The
budgets are compared unfairly. Advertising is regarded as
'paid for' publicity, PR as 'un-paid for'. Two things are over-
looked here. The so-called PR budget in question here is not a
public relations budget although it may be a press relations or
'product publicity' one, so there is really no comparison since a
full public relations budget would involve the whole organisa-
tion, not just marketing, and would include such activities as
the staff house journal and also corporate and financial PR.
The second omission is that PR stories in the press do not
occupy 'un-paid for' space because editorial space (at least in
the United Kingdom) is not for sale. It has no rate-card value.
(In the Belgian daily press news stories bearing numbers are
ones which have been paid for!)
Under the advertising agency commission system - an
anachronism which persists although some agencies have
adopted a more p(ofessional fee-charging system of remuner-
ation - the client enjoys disproportionate benefits. So do the
media. The agency has to live on an increasingly unrealistic
discount on the cost of the five above-the-line media (tra-
ditionally press, television, radio, outdoor /transportation and
cinema), unless it can uplift this in some supplementary way.
As a result, advertisers receive professional advice, adminis-
trative services (for example, space and airtime planning and
buying), and copywritingfree ofcharge.
In PR, with insignificant exceptions, there are no percent-
ages. The consultant meets his costs from one of two sources,
his own pocket, or the client's. To stay solvent and make a
profit the PR consultant has to be a good self-disciplined
accountant and cost and charge out everything that is outside
his own cost of administration. To do this he has to compute
an hourly rate which covers salaries, overheads and profit, and
he must charge even for talking to the client. The PR con-
sultant who does not properly budget a proposition and then
does more work than he is paid for can only subsidise his client
and probably go out of business. And since PR fees are, on the
whole, low there is a tendency to buy PR on a shoestring and
then criticise it for being ineffective. Like any other pro-
fessional service, one gets what one pays for.
What all this really means is that unlike advertising, the chief
cost of PR is time. Just as one buys so many single column-
centimetres, pages or seconds of advertising so one buys so
many hours of a PR practitioner's time. And just as the fees of
other professionals vary according to their skill, experience,
success and reputation, so the hourly rates of PR consultants
vary.
An interesting development in the 1980s has been the move
away from the commission system. To become 'recognized'
by the media bodies (e.g. Newspaper Publishers'
Association, Newspaper Society, Periodical Publishers'
Association), and so obtain commission, a new agency
needed large capital and cash-flow facilities. Media
independents now flourish, concentrating on media planning
and buying, and charging their clients fees. Side by side,
creative, a Ia carte and specialist agencies have arrived,
concentrating on creativity and not buying media or needing
recognition, but working with the media independents.
Creative agencies also charge fees.
Returning to PR costs, when it is appreciated that skilled
manhours are being bought it becomes obvious that haphaz-
ard hit-or-miss gambles on a bit of speculative press relations
work are almost bound to be a waste of money. There should
be objective planning over a period of time, costed on the basis
of the workload necessary to achieve the objective.
The same costing exercise can be conducted for an internal
PR department, the only difference being the absence of profit.
The cost of in-house PR is not merely a matter of salaries- in-
ternal salaries cannot be compared with outside fees - and
overheads (including shared services) must also be included.
So, a realistic PR budget should be the calculated cost of
achieving a desired result, as with any other business budget,
and when it is accepted that desired results can be achieved it is
only right to expect that much larger sums will be invested in
PR. When PR is not bought and planned objectively, the ten-
dency is to go along with what appears to be unavoidably high
expenditure on advertising (which may be justified) but to
spend a niggardly and ineffectual sum on PR. That is both
poor management and pound foolish.
However, while we have shown that in general, advertising
and PR are worlds apart there are two aspects which do show
affinity. First, when a new product or service is being launched
there can be unnecessary sales resistance if the market (includ-
ing distributors) is in any way hostile, prejudiced, apathetic or
ignorant. Saturation advertising is an expensive and not neces-
sarily conclusive way of achieving consent. A product does not
have to be bad to be resisted. The analogy can be taken of great
music such as Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, which the audience
at its first performance scorned by walking out. A public re-
lations programme, operating within the limitations of cre-
ating sympathy, acceptance, interest and knowledge can set
the scene for successful persuasive advertising. Some products
suffer initially, like the Rite of Spring, and cannot wait for the
eventual recognition which prior PR can achieve. This can be
demonstrated with a simple model (Figure 2.1 ).
Hostility Sympathy
Prejudice Acceptance
Apathy Interest
Ignorance Knowledge
A. Initial situation B. Eventual situation -

requiring PR suitable climate
activity for advertising,
ideal environment
for marketing
FIG. 2.1 The PR transfer process, converting negative attitudes into

positive ones
The danger is that if an advertising campaign is undertaken
too early- that is, at the 'A' stage- it will fail to overcome the
four barriers in Figure 2.1. In recent years there have been dis-
asters in the launches of new magazines and newspapers,
paints, cigarettes, chocolate bars, shops, motor-cars and other
products. During the summer of 1977 British cigarette firms
suffered multi-million pound failures with NSM which smo-
kers refused to accept. This rejection was not only because of
resentment at having to pay the same tax on substitute tobacco
as on real tobacco since the benefit of the new product was ob-
viously not understood. More market education and less ad-
vertising was needed. It is not even enough to research the
market prospects and to test market the product. A 'don't
know don't care don't want to like' market cannot be per-
suaded against its brick wall denial. It may take six months,
twelve months, eighteen months, perhaps longer to gain

understanding and confidence.
It can be done fairly dramatically, like Monsanto's long
stretch of carpet between arrival point and the customs hall at
Brussels airport, or more subtly as when Rentokil damp-
proofed famous castles and cathedrals until the building and
architectural press voluntarily admitted that the system
worked.
Second, there is the effect of the content and style of adver-
tisements on the company's image and reputation. This can be
taken to include below-the-line advertising such as merchan-
dising schemes. Let us leave this topic to the question of adver-
tising when it reappears as one of the elements of the
marketing mix in the next chapter.
REFERENCES
1. David Bernstein, Creative Advertising (London: Longman,
1974)p. 155.
2. Frank Jefkins, Advertising Made Simple, 3rd ed. (three case
studies) (London: Heinemann, 1982).
3. John Kenneth Galbraith, American Capitalism (London: Peli-
can Books, 1963) p. 125.
4. Frank Jefkins, Effective Publicity Writing (Croydon: Frank
Jefkins School of Public Relations, 1981).
5. Herbert Lloyd, Teach Yourself Public Relations, 2nd ed.
(London: English Universities Press, 1970) p. 3.
Chapter 3
PR and the Marketing Mix
After defining public relations, and having differentiated be-

tween PR and advertising, this becomes the key chapter. If PR
is to be a marketing asset every opportunity should be taken to
enjoy its benefits. To regard PR as no more than another ser-
vice like advertising, and perhaps even then to misapply it, is
like putting on a tie and forgetting to wear the rest of one's
clothes.
The author first proposed that there were PR considerations
and implications in every aspect of the marketing mix in his
book Marketing and P R Media Planning. 1 When he previewed
this material in an address to a Marketing Education Group
conference at the University of Kent at Canterbury, in 1973, he
was told that what he was discussing was marketing, not public
relations. Such are the affinities and the semantics of these two
subjects. This chapter is prefaced in this way because it is
necessary to establish a clear understanding that we are not
saying that PR and marketing are the same thing. They are
very close because they both deal with human relations, and
PR might be called the sociological side of marketing. So, what
we are saying is that every element of the marketing mix -
which has been deliberately extended for this purpose- can be
refined or enhanced by the PR-minded marketer. That is to
say, if the communications, good behaviour, understanding
and goodwill aspects of marketing are nurtured much will be
done not only to maintain the 'B' situation demonstrated in
Figure 2.1 in the previous chapter, but to avoid anti-PR.
Over-zealous marketing, over-anxiety to maximise profits,
overstocking outlets, overdoing the advertising promise, over-
looking dealer and customer reactions to clumsy merchan-
dising schemes, over-dressing the product with expensive
packaging, overlooking the need to provide adequate after-
sales services - all these excesses and deficiencies can create

bad PR. Some of the points made in this chapter may intro-
duce PR in the role of insurance, others with our four 'situ-
ation A' communication blockades in mind (Figure 2.1 ).
Together, they provide a management philosophy for market-
ing. If some of them had been adopted in the past we would not
now be on the rack of legislation, consumerism and con-
servationism which often divert marketing from an offensive
to a defensive stance. Nevertheless, this chapter is not pre-
sented as a tract on moral marketing but rather as a guide to
the value and use of PR in the planning of more successful
marketing strategies. The proposals are positive and practical.
This might be described as more thoughtful, more responsible
and in the end more profitable marketing.
Let us now look at a detailed and chronologically conceived
marketing mix, and analyse the PR considerations and impli-
cations which can aid marketing management. We will take a
mix of twenty elements in the attempt to cover the needs of
most products and services.
THE MARKETING MIX

l. Conception/Innovation/Modification
2. Product life-cycle
5. Product image
6. Marketsegment
7. Pricing
8. Range/Proliferation/Rationalisation
9. Packaging
10. Distribution
11. Sales force
13. Corporate and financial PR
15. Test marketing
16. Advertising
PR AND THE MARKETING MIX 31
19. After-sales servicejSparesjGuaranteesjlnstructions
20. Maintaining customer interest/Loyalty
It will be noticed that, save for the specialised area of cor-
porate and financial PR and industrial relations, PR is not
regarded as a single isolated ingredient. Advertising is. But
PR, as will be shown, is related to the whole mix including ad-
vertising. This may be because advice is taken from a PRO or a
PR consultant sitting in the marketing meetings, but much
more than that it is because wide-awake marketing manage-
ment has adopted PR as an essential part of its own make-up.
l. Conception/ Innovation/Modification
Because PR is a process of two-way communication, much can
be gleaned from feedback which can help in the creation of
new products or in the improvement of existing ones. This
feedback may be in the form of suggestions, complaints andre-
ported experiences; in published readers' letters or opinions
expressed in the media; as a result of the inflow of information
resulting from staff, distributor and customer relations; and as
a result of monitoring and researching the media to detect
trends, desires and market indications. The PR department or
consultancy is the eyes and ears of the organisation, an intelli-
gence service. Some of the feedback will be volunteered, much
of it must be sought out. Marketing management can encour-
age, welcome and interpret this inflow which, in many ways, is
really another kind of desk research. But it does show an im-
portant characteristic of PR which is its ability to seek and re-
ceive information as well as issue it, often serving as an early
warning system. This subject is discussed more fully in Chap-
ter 12.
Writers in the home interest press may criticise the design of
certain equipment; gardening writers might ask why no-one
has ever manufactured a so-and-so; passengers on airliners or
patrons of package tours may make comments to stewardesses
or couriers; dealers may be aware of consistently made com-
ments from customers. How does such information reach the
company? These are communication matters about which PR-
minded marketing management should care. This information
may filter through casual channels, but a system of feedback
should be devised either directly by marketing management or

through the PR unit.
The important thing is that PR is a means of access to infor-
mation, that communication means reading, receiving and
listening as well as writing, publishing and transmitting. In PR
we often speak of 'opinion leaders': in the present discussion,
keeping track of what opinion leaders are saying may be more
important than endeavouring to make sure that what they are
saying is well-informed and correct. The market has to be lis-
tened to and not only educated by PR or persuaded by adver-
tising. This is not the same as surveying the market because it
refutes all marketing research logic since a sample of one could
be significant and the bias could be permissable, in fact essen-
tial, if the views of a single critic were of great moment.
An example of this occurred when a company was poised to
launch a new product only to learn that HM Stationery Office
was selling a government research station report which con-
demned this type of product. Two things were necessary: the
product had to be modified to put it beyond criticism, and the
launch had to be delayed while the confidence of the market
was won by means of trials which were reported by the techni-
cal press. That PR process took a year, but a premature launch
would have been disastrous.
In Chapter 12 the feedback value of specially commissioned
overseas press cuttings is shown as a form of research, useful
when planning international marketing strategy and initial
knowledge is required of an unknown market. Thus, a PR
technique is applied at the concept stage, especially if a pro-
duct has to be adapted or specially designed to satisfy overseas
market demands.
2. Product Life-cycle (PLC)

The familiar life-cycle model is shown in Figure 3.1, the
pitch of the growth and maturity depending on the time scale
so that it looks more or less'S' or 'bell' shaped.
We may be tracing the progress of the product from its entry
into the market, or requiring to know at what stage of the life-
cycle the product is situated. Whatever the case, the marketer
can apply PR to various stages, while the PRO can help the
marketer if he knows the product history, performance and
prospects. At different points of the life-cycle different PR tac-
tics can be used.
Development Introduction Growth Maturity Saturation Decline
FIG. 3.1 Product life-cycle
In the early days the market will need to be educated. To en-

courage growth, credit for achievement may be one useful
form of PR, as when a car wins a safari rally, a brewer wins a
gold medal, or a paint passes a fire-retardent test. To maintain
sales at the peak or plateau, product-in-use or how-to-use sto-
ries can keep interest alive. But when competition bites, or the
product loses appeal, and decline sets in, PR methods may be
needed either to regain confidence or to introduce changes
which have been made to make the product worthy of further
favour. Of course if the product is dying there is nothing PR
can do to prevent a timely death. So, in traditional life-cycle
circumstances PR can do these three things: educate the
market and establish a product image; maintain interest, and
possibly renew interest. This is separate from advertising and
is not to be confused with sales promotion. Moreover, the
nature of PR is to be continuous and accumulative, whereas
advertising may be seasonal. A chart demonstrating this
appears in Chapter 6.
As Michael J. Baker has commented, 'Unlike the human life
cycle however, one cannot predict the length of any of the
phases of the product life cycle- certainly there are no actua-
rial tables for new products. Further, marketers have the
option to practise euthanasia and quietly dispose of products
which fail to live up to expectations, or, alternatively, to pro-
long the life cycle through a rejuvenation process. ' 2
William E. Cox and others 3 have shown that, far from being
bell-shaped, the life-cycle can be undulating as a reluctant de-

cline or product recycling results from promotional shots in
the arm such as repackaging, additives, reformulation, adver-
tising and merchandising. Eventually, it may die, or, like cer-
tain toothpastes and toilet soaps for which there are never
rivals it may survive all the time there is a profitable demand.
Introduction Growth Maturity Decline Revival Maturity Decline
FIG. 3.2 The recycled product life-cycle with revival stage which may
be repeated, so that the product survives, or suffers a final decline
But while the PLC is a handy piece of shorthand, reality may

be rather more complicated. Companies do not always permit
products to go into decline but may introduce replacement
products or 'new models'. Many companies, from motor-car
to confectionery manufacturers, have a continuous procession
of products which arrive and disappear over periods of years
or months. This does not apply to every company. Ford have
long since ceased to make the T-model but Guinness is still
brewed. Makers of products which become obsolete and are
replaced by new models can be demonstrated by the 'leapfrog
effect' PLC as shown in Figure 3.3.
Model A Model B
FIG. 3.3 The leapfrog effect when a replacement product is intro-

duced at a point which compensates for the decline of an earlier pro-
duct, as with motor-car models
Thus, either before or as one product fails a new one is
brought forward and sales are maintained year after year. The
manufacturer will have the new product ready for launching
immediately sales of the old one have fallen to a certain point.
This is a strategy which can exploit PR techniques very well,
perhaps preparing the market for the entry of the new model,
perhaps collecting evidence of prototype trials for use during
the launch, and reinforcing the launch promotion with news-
worthy information to the trade and consumer media.
But what about those many products which do not suffer
fatal declines, but which go on, and probably go on through
fresh stages of development or new use? For these there is the
'staircase effect' PLC which looks like Figure. 3.4.
FIG. 3.4 The staircase effect, as when new uses and markets are found
fora product, the classic case being nylon
The classic product development which has enjoyed the

'staircase effect' is nylon, but there are other good examples:
(a) Shipping lines such as Cunard, P & 0 and Union Castle
have developed from passenger/cargo liners to cruise
ships, container ships and car ferries.
(b) Guinness have set up overseas breweries in Africa and
Asia, while at home new markets have been sought such
as summer drinkers, women, and people in the upper
social grades.
(c) Marks & Spencer have both developed export sales of
their St Michael and St Margaret brands, and opened
stores in Europe.
(d) Gas has moved from lighting (virtually a bell-shaped
PLC) and cooking, to industrial fuel and domestic cen-
tral heating.
(e) Calor Gas has matured from a fuel using rather old-
fashioned appliances in places deprived of either town

gas or electricity to an industrial fuel and one used by
campers, caravanners, yachtsmen and many others,
while domestic appliances have become compatible
with those for other fuels.
(f) Woolworth have moved up the market, and their mer-
chandise has become more sophisticated while clothing
has become a growth area.
(g) Television contractors have expanded from mass-
market consumer advertisers (on an 80:20 pattern) to a
greater variety of products and services by (i) intro-
ducing response systems such as Ansaphone facilities
and linked press advertising and (ii) exploiting the 'light
viewer' market so that a 70:30 pattern has resulted.
(h) Tea has moved from chests to family grocers' own labels
to national packaged brands to tea bags, plus supermar-
ket and symbol group own labels, and vending and
sachets, a staircase that mounts a couple of centuries.
(i) Some music halls were converted into cinemas, and then
survived the TV era by becoming either bingo halls or
two- or three-in-one cinemas.
These are not just diversifications, as in the case of a tobacco

company going into foods, or of amalgamations and
acquisitions resulting in conglomerations, but of a product,
service or business maintaining longevity of life-cycle. This
may be done by entering new market segments, as when a
motor manufacturer produces other kinds of vehicle, or by
finding new markets abroad, or by discovering new product
uses, or by developing new services as in the cases of banks
and insurance societies.
Such 'staircase' developments have enormous PR
potential. In fact the Woolworth development, using TV
commercials from 1975 on, is described as a 'PR in adver-
tising campaign' in the author's case study .4 This was be-
cause the advertising not only had to sell the merchandise,
but had the PR task of overcoming the traditional image
and replacing it with one which sentimental prejudice was
inhibiting.
T. Levitt' has also described a similar projection of the
traditional PLC with 'extensions', postulating that alert
marketers should not only recognise the basic trend but
should aim to predict the time scale so that marketing strate-
gies may be devised to extend the product's life by finding new
customers, new uses or new outlets. All such enterprises call
for PR efforts too, and PR efforts could in fact initiate fresh
developments, being the lifeblood of progressive marketing.
For example, stories about the use of a new kind of thermo-
meter in offices, pubs, homes, nurseries, greenhouses and
many other locations greatly extended the demand for a pro-
duct which began simply as a line for the hardware trade. Out-
lets multiplied as well as users.
Peter Doyle6 has emphasised that 'When brand sales stabil-
ise management should not passively wait for its ensuing de-
cline and death, but should aggressively seek ways to revitalise
its performance.' We would suggest that the positive appli-
cation of PR to the marketing mix would be not merely an ag-
gressive way - which implies almost panic promotional
methods- but a systematic process of communication which
would both foretell trends and extend product awareness. A
lot of product declines could result from failure to be informed
and to inform the market, placing too much reliance on the oc-
casional and expensive weapon of advertising as the sole com-
munications probe.
A more realistic view still of a product's progress is probably
the Product Career Path (PCP) as expressed by Harold Fox7
who says it is wrong to apply 'a person's inexorable ageing pro-
cess to product experience'. The familiar PLC, like many
models, is a simplification and already we have adopted vari-
ants of it in this section. But the PCP charts the more indi-
vidualistic and circumstantially eventful career enjoyed or
suffered by a product within the well-known PLC pattern.
Since different things happen to different products, a PCP
study is likely to invite even more practical applications of PR
activity at times and in circumstances peculiar to individual
products.
As Dr Fox says: 'a more apt analogy than a person's life is
his or her career- with its ups and downs and new departures.
Product career path expresses such discontinuities and lack of
repetition more closely than the conventional term of product
life cycle.'
To take a very simple case, some products reach not merely
maturity but saturation, as when Horlicks found the bedtime
beverage market saturated and diversified into air fresheners,
and when Van den Bergh knew it was not worth competing for
the remaining 30 per cent of the margarine market and
went into soft drinks. Even so, Van den Berghs later adopted a
staircase effect with the introduction of Flora and Outline.
If this less stereotyped view is taken of the product's history
or future, the need for PR tactics is likely to vary from product
to product, even within one organisation, but the three forms
of product life-cycle together with the product career path sug-
gest that if the pattern of development is studied it will indicate
both the constant and the special PR requirements. Again, if
the performance of the curve is interpreted from a communi-
cation point of view, and in good time, PR can help marketing
to improve or maintain that performance. But whereas adver-
tising may be seasonal, and sales promotion irregular, PR is
omnipresent and not optional. A communication problem
could be that bad PR is harming sales. We shall return to this
at the end of Chapter 6, but examples of bad PR also occur in
the following sections of this chapter. We must not overlook
deterrents to successful growth and maturity. Understanding
of the PLC situation is therefore essential to the objective plan-
ning of realistic PR programmes.
While it is true that PR can borrow from research, as it does
in setting up image studies to discover what is thought or
known about a company before planning a PR programme, or
opinion oolls to measure the effect over time of the programme
during and after its execution, it may be advantageous if PR
personnel are invited to contribute to the setting up of market-
ing surveys. This may be because the survey can produce data
of value to the PR unit, or because the PRO can volunteer a
need for research to be undertaken.
To quote an instance from the author's consultancy experi-
ence, a marketing manager invited PR services for a new pro-
duct. A sales manager had been appointed. A new factory had
been acquired. The product had been tested successfully by a
Forces establishment. The launch was imminent. But PR con-
sultancy experience in many product fields warned that there
was a weakness in one of the components of the new product-
a machine- and that there was also a problem about its oper-
ation. He voiced these misgivings, and recommended a postal
questionnaire to one hundred typical users. As a result, the
machine was never produced. Now you might say that the
marketing manager should have instituted the research in the
first place. As it happened, there was a marketing blindspot
which the PR man's habit of asking questions brought to light.
The PR mentality of wanting facts can thus be an asset to mar-
keting management.
In another case, an international company engaged an ad-
vertising agency with a PR subsidiary and invited the present-
ation of campaigns. But before such campaigns were planned
the client was asked to invest in a preliminary image study. A
research unit was engaged and a sample of the client's indus-
trial customers was interviewed by telephone, arranged by ap-
pointment. The client was compared with five rival suppliers,
and a chart was produced showing graphically how the client
and his rivals were regarded across some twenty topics. The
client was astonished to learn how the current image held by
his customers differed from his own estimated mirror image,
and also how poorly he was regarded in comparison with his
rivals in spite of the quality of his products. With this intimate
knowledge it was possible to mount practical advertising and
PR campaigns.
Before ITT Europe8 mounted its first British corporate PR
campaign aimed at the population peak of top businessmen,
civil servants and academics, they undertook research into at-
titudes towards multinationals and ITT in particular. The an-
swers revealed misconceptions which were refuted in dramatic
full-page advertisements in the business press. This was a case
of research being initiated by the PR directorate in Brussels,
and of advertising being employed for PR purposes.

There are many purely promotional reasons for choosing
both company and product names. On the other hand, some

names come about by accident, like Oxo which was a
bookkeeper's way of writting ditto, or for quite casual or per-
sonal reasons. It is astonishing just how haphazard and care-
less is the choice of names, even allowing for the restrictions
imposed by registration. A name may be researched, but with
no satisfactory result as in the case of Woman's Realm which
was the least favoured title in a test, the more favoured titles
proving to be the registered property of other publishers! One
of the most successful combinations of branding and labelling
was the blue Fyffes banana label, first introduced in 1929, the
idea being copied by other banana marketers since the 1950s.
This can be an area of pure PR in the sense of good com-
munications to achieve identity and memorability, or in the
aptness of the name as a means of communicating a correct
image of a product or its characteristics.
Another aspect of naming is clarity: some firms have a per-
plexing rash of names such as company, product and model
names. Some companies are wise enough to make little of the
company name and much of brand names, as Van den Bergh
do with their brands of margarine. How many people know
who make Stork, Summer County, Blue Band, Outline and
Flora, or that they are all made by the same firm? Does it
matter? It may be thought that it is a bad thing that Rover,
Jaguar, Triumph, Morris, Austin and other motor-cars are
made by British Leyland, the car names having a perhaps hap-
pier reputation. It is interesting that ITT boast of Sheraton
Hotels, Abbey Life Assurance, Rimmel, Ashe Laboratories
and Excess Insurance being its companies, whereas CPC do
not publicise their ownership of Knorr Soups, Mazola,
Brown & Polson's cornflower and many other products.
Pretty Polly, however, are proud to announce their
membership of the Thomas Tilling Group, Wareite state they
are a Perstorp Company, and History Guild reveal that 'this
is a book service of W. H. Smith'. These are policy decisions,
with domestic or 'political' PR reasons behind them.
St lvel Gold is a happy choice of name for St lvel's
spreading blend of buttermilk, butter and vegetable oils. U ni-
gate conducted consumer research and rejected 130 names
before deciding upon Gold.
Choice of name can also be important if one is an exporter
or is involved in international marketing. The French petro-
leum Elf is a name that is acceptable anywhere. Marks &
Spencer's 'St Michael brand name represents an approach to
quality and value which is proving as effective in Japan as it
has been in the United Kingdom' .9 Coca-Cola is excellent for a
product whose image is universally identical!0 But Black Cat
cigarettes would be unpopular in West African countries
where black cats are bad omens, while Rudge is a good name
for a bicycle among many Africans who are great cyclists and
where the name may be phonetically similar to an African
word meaning strength. It was a tactless venture to produce in
Western Nigeria a cigarette called Victory, which was scarcely
likely to be popular in the East following the civil war. Thus,
the PR implications of names are important.
A curious, amusing and perhaps affectionate use of name is
when a nickname, or a shortened version is popular, like
'Woolies' for Woolworth or 'Marks & Sparks' for Marks &
Spencer. In Nigeria, Guinness is nicknamed 'Odeku', resulting
from the fat man in the Guinness advertisements. A big, burly
Nigerian may be hailed as 'Odeku', meaning that he must be a
Guinness drinker!
It is a happy coincidence when company initials are acrony-
mic in producing a pleasant and easily remembered name such
as Fiat, Sabena or Daf. There are also abbreviations as accept-
able as Nat West, Pan-Am, Swissair, Cargolux or Finnair.
Toshiba is certainly an improvement on Tokyo Shibaura Elec-
trical Company, and Ercol is an attractive version of the family
name of Ercolani.
Emerging from the above is the need for simplicity, and this
may be helped by the choice of initial letter, consonants,
vowels, or by brevity. Let us look at four lists of names and
consider their PR qualities and implications:
IBM Robin Omo Elf A teo

ICI Ronuk Oxo Elbeo Atlas
lEA Rentokil Osram Ekco Amoco
IPR Readicut Oxydol Elco Aga
ITT Robophone Ofrex Esso Agfa
ICL Ronoco Omega Esme Abol
IMI Robialac Otis Elanco Acme

ICS Rolls-Royce Ovalid Evostik Amami
ITN Rapier Ovaltine Ercol Alba
lTV Robinson Oryx Elida A vis
IPC Rover Outline Elna Azlon
IML Richard Shops Opel Etco Aznar
IMC Radio Rentals Optrex Enots Alpine
In the first list we have initials, and if studied closely it will be
seen that they have certain values. Three-letter initials tend to
be better than two (for example SI for Smiths Industries, BA
for British Airways) or four letters (ITCA, lAMA) which tend
to become a mouthful. In some cases the initials have become
synonymous with a certain product or industry (IBM - com-
puters) to the extent that it does not matter whether people
know what the initials actually stand for. The initials in this
column also show the strength and attractiveness of a set be-
ginning with 'I'.
Famous names can dissolve into even more famous initials,
for example, Guest, Keen & Nettlefold being accepted as
GKN which is more appropriate for a conglomerate. Esso is.a
particularly artful name because although the original one is
staring one in the face it is doubtful whether many people,
unless they have a nose for American history, will think of
Rockefeller's once-notorious Standard Oil. How the image
changes! Give a dog a bad name ... and a tiger a better
one.
But is B & 0 (with its possible BO- body odour- conno-
tation) superior to the striking Bang & Olufsen which has
been established with the excellent advertisement headline
Beautiful Bang and 0/ufsen. Beautiful B & 0? On the other
hand, few people know the origin of P & 0 and the initials
are today more meaningful than Peninsular and Oriental.
One wonders whether a famous combination like Ranks
Hovis McDougall, which is still used, does not communi-
cate better than the more obscure-seeming RHM Foods,
RHM Flour Mills, RHM Agriculture, RHM Bakeries and
RHM Overseas. The explanation is that the existence of the
Rank Organisation, with interests in xerox printing, elec-
tronics and hotels, provided confusion with Ranks Ltd
which acquired Hovis-McDougall in 1962. Although the
holding company remained Ranks Hovis McDougall, it be-
came desirable to rename the operating divisions, using the
initials RHM.
The second list shows the effectiveness of words or names be-
ginning with 'R' which has a vigorous sound to it. Robin is not
only a popular bird but is a popular forename, Robin Hood
for instance, and has been used for several products, for
example, Robin starch, Robin cigarettes and the Robin
motor-car. The name Rentokil came about because the orig-
inally-desired name 'Entokil' (based on entomology and kill-
ing insects- conceived by a scientist!) was not registerable. The
addition of the letter 'R' created an ideal marketing name,
except that in more recent years with the arrival of Rentavan
and Rentacrowd it has gained an unexpectedly literal meaning
in more modern minds.
The third list shows two things: the value of having an umber
of vowels, the alliteration of the double 'o', the resounding
note ofthe letter 'o', the impact of the short name, and the ease
with which the short name can be said and remembered.
The fourth and fifth lists again highlight the value of vowels
and the boldness of brevity, while 'e' and 'a' make good first
letters.
Yet another useful naming device is the exploitation of a
company, proprietor's or founder's name. Mr Mars lent his
firm a delightfully marketable name to which a series of pro-
ducts has been linked such as Milky Way and Galaxy. Wool-
worth have branded their products Winfield from the
founder's name, Frank Winfield Woolworth.
The moral in all this is not to handicap a good product with
a name people cannot pronounce or may easily forget. How do
you pronounce Cuprinon 'Coop' or 'Cup'? In the United
States there is a plastic furnishing fabric called Herculon. It is a
good memorable name, but not registerable in Britain. The
name used in Britain is the forgettable Meraklon. Avdel make
excellent rivets but are easily called Advel and even Azdel be-
cause they are easier to say. Names like Glynwed and Tetrion
are either grim or hard to recall. Similarly, most strangers will
call the author Jenkins, some Jeskins, simpler because Jefkins
is an unfamiliar spelling.
The building societies Co-operative Permanent and Leek
Westbourne & Eastern Counties were handicapped by names

which for political or geographical reasons tended to inhibit
growth. Renamed Nationwide and Britannia respectively, they
have each acquired a new national and almost patriotic image.
Similarly, Alliance was a powerful name for an amalgamation of
local societies.
There is also the halo effect of a good, repeatable name- and
PR is about reputation- which prefixes products such as those
of Cad bury, Rowntree and Terry. People do pay for the name.
It serves as a guarantee of quality. Well-known firms some-
times launch new products without identifying the maker, but
can new products be sold solely on their merits? PR is about
creating confidence and there is an invitation to wonder
whether the makers are reputable when they do not admit their
name. This is so even when the maker is unknown.
Associated with naming is the choice, creation and use of
symbols, logotypes, house styles, liveries and trade characters.
The three most successful and easily remembered are said to be
Mickey Mouse, the swastika and Coca-Cola because they are
instantly recognised and understood in many parts of the
world. The Nazi significance of the swastika is such that when
a company used a square-shaped 'S' in its symbol it was
resented by customers who said it resembled a swastika!
Some familiar symbolic badges of reputation are the Plessey
electronic trace, the BOC half-chevrons, the Mercedes tri-
angulated circle and the International Wool Secretariat skeins
of wool. The Bisto Kids, Johnnie Walker, the Michelin man,
the Esso Blue man, the Abbey National couple with a roof
over their heads, Tate & Lyle's Mr Cube and Robinson's
golliwog all identify their organisations or products.
It is fatal if the symbol is ambiguous or incomprehensible.
Too-clever designs can be confusing optical illusions. Cor-
porate identity is discussed in Chapter 4.
5. Product image
A product needs to be given a definite image or character,
and this must be consistently expressed in all advertising and
sales material. Is marketing management clear about the pro-
duct image? Perhaps the image has to be changed in keeping
with the staircase concept of the product life-cycle.
The need to change an image has been seen in the motor-
cycle industry where Japanese firms have taken a step, unusual
for them, of developing a market instead of exploiting 'a
narrow band of any given market' .11 Honda adopted the copy
line 'You meet the nicest people on a Honda.' In May 1977 the
Institute of Motorcycling placed striking advertisements in
papers like The Sun with a large picture of motor-cyclists over-
taking exasperated motorists held up in a traffic jam and the
headline RIDE A MOTORBIKE AND BECOME A NICER
PERSON. The copy explained why 'motorcyclists are a jolly
nice bunch of people'. Here was an example of advertisement
space being bought to proclaim aPR message.
Conversely, the Scottish textile firm, Reid & Taylor, who
enjoyed an image in Western Europe for highly coloured
designs and rough cloths, found this was wrong for con-
servative-minded Japanese businessmen. Since 1973, Reid &
Taylor have established a new Crown Ermine product image of
soft-handling luxury cloths containing a blend of ermine, cash-
mere and wool. Despite a downturn in imports of European
textiles, their exports to Japan increased by 1,622.8 per cent in
fouryearsY
Elbeo, makers of support hose, have had to kill the myth
that support tights are for old women with varicose veins, and
have issued glamorous picture stories about Playboy Club
Bunny Girls, British Airways stewardesses and famous
actresses who wear Elbeo support tights, so creating a new
product image.
6. Alarketseg~nent
To which section of the market is the product aimed? Has it

been conceived to fill a gap, or to exploit a particularly profit-
able section? This decision will be required for the advertising
brief, but it also matters very much to the PRO.
Here is an actual example. A piece of domestic equipment
was to be launched at a press reception. Knowledge of the
market segment influenced the choice of women's magazines,
and daily and Sunday newspaper women's page writers for the
invitation list. Without liaison between PR and marketing a
more general list would have been used, and the wrong
journalists might have attended. Co-operative marketing
management can help the PRO to be effective.
7. Pricing
There are four kinds of price, the economic, opportunity,
psychological and market. The economic price is that at which
it is profitable to produce and sell a good. Opportunity price
(like opportunity cost) refers to the price at which people are
prepared to make a money sacrifice, especially of discretionary
income, but it also affects staples in an inflationary economy,
hence the appeal of St I vel Gold. The psychological price is the
one which attracts buyers for some special reason. We may ap-
preciate the gift of an expensive pen because we are aware of
the price. We may aspire to a Rolls-Royce because people will
know what it costs. We may respond to the book or record
club offer which makes a bargain price offer to new members.
Rightly or wrongly, the psychological price can suggest
affluence, status, esteem, value, quality or a 'good buy'. The
market price is the one which people expect to pay for such an
article or service: if it is cheaper it must not seem to be inferior,
if more expensive it must not seem exorbitant but must be
shown to be superior.
Price communicates a great deal. In these areas, PR activi-
ties can help to establish confidence, while the price itself has
PR implications concerning the image and in creating or spoil-
ing confidence.
8. Range/ Proliferation/ Rationalisation

Choice of sizes, models, colours, quantities and other vari-
ations in the range are closely allied to conception, innovation
and modification, and once again marketing management can
benefit from PR feedback.
Hall testing, consumer panel, omnibus surveys and other
forms of research may be used to determine both the minimum
number of choices and the right choices to offer in a range. The
PR consideration may be to include a minority or uneconomic
choice as well as the ones which promise maximum sales
appeal. Goodwill may be lost because of the exclusion of say,
pink or half-litre. The economics have to be balanced against
the incalculable asset of goodwill. Maximising profits is not
always good PR and good business.
But product proliferation may be just as a big a PR dilemma
when the customer is bewildered by too great a choice or,
worse still, is frustrated because the full range is never in stock.
This was the problem of a clock and watch manufacturer who
produced a great range - there were 250 different ladies'
watches - partly to satisfy jewellers who wanted to be semi-
exclusive by stocking different watches from those offered by
their rivals down the road. Yet a catalogue was printed, and
press advertisements carried illustrations of numerous pro-
ducts, no one shop carrying a complete or even a large range.
This was both marketing and PR madness, even though good
dealer relations were sustained. In the end, ranges were ration-
alised so that similar displays could be organised in shops
which coincided with advertising and sales literature. The re-
sulting adequate distribution was in itself aPR exercise.
Goodwill may be lost by rationalisation that looks splendid
on the computer printout but offends segments of the market.
Dare you sacrifice goodwill? Could customer irritation effect
sales of other products bearing your name? Customers can
take revenge. This 'asset stripping' mentality in 'clever' mar-
keting can be ruinous PR. It happens sometimes over spares
for obsolete models, and as will be seen in Section 16 (Adver-
tising), failure to provide parts resulted in a complaint against
Parker Pen being upheld by the Advertising Standards Auth-
ority.
9. Packaging
PR-conscious marketing management is especially apparent
here. Few things please or displease customers more than the
appearance of the product and its container. Packaging is a
first-class marketing device, helping or hindering sales. The
pack may be designed for economy, hygiene, appearance, pro-
tection, product use, or after-use. The PR considerations lie in
the pleasure, satisfaction, helpfulness, cleanliness, utility or
secondary use of the package.
A medicine may, by tradition, be sold in liquid form in a

bottle. But how big, clumsy, messy and easily spillable, waste-
ful and breakable! Produce the same medicine in tablet form in
a blister pack and not only are there various economies in stor-
age and carriage but enhanced sales opportunities and the
gratitude of people who can now carry the pack in handbag,
pocket or luggage.
Clever, useful, convenient packs are therefore an important
form of customer (and dealer) relations, a matter of thought-
fulness. How difficult is it to measure an accurate quantity? An
incorrect amount could lead to a disappointing result, com-
plaint and transfer to another brand. The correct measure
sachet becomes a blessing compared with the awkward can,
bottle or carton from which spoonfuls or cupfuls have to be
taken. How heaped is a heaped lidful or spoonful? This prob-
lem has been solved by Pan Britannica with their clever self-
measuring bottle of lawn weedkiller which 'provides accurate
dosing without spills and spoons' by means of a tubular device
fitted inside the bottle. And so the little pack of lighter flints,
the razor blade dispenser, the pipe tobacco pounch, the tea
bag, the Tic-Tac flicker box, the aerosol, sachet and blister
pack are all high in PR value.
But there is also the question of what happens to packaging.
It is destructible or liable to worsen the pollution problem?
The history of the development of the Coca-Cola bottle shows
good innate PR sense. Need for a distinctive pack arose from
the nationwide distribution of the product through American
bottlers - there are today more than 1600 throughout the
world- and the well-known bottle with a bulge was created in
1915 and adopted the following year. Even earlier than this,
Benjamin F. Thomas of the oldest of the original 'parent bot-
tlers' or wholesalers, had urged 'We need a bottle which a
person can recognise as a Coca-Cola bottle when he feels it in
the dark. It should be so recognised that, even if broken, it
would be recognised at a glance for what it is.' Even so, Coca-
Cola were not slow to appreciate that supplementary packages
were necessary, and following test marketing, larger bottles
and the flat-top can were introduced. But here Coca-Cola
scored again because as long ago as 1886 the name had been
written in its flowing style and throughout all the facelifts in
packaging this name-style has been perpetuated. 13 To change it
would be like giving a country a new flag.
10. Distribution
Chapter 7 deals with distributor relations. It is not sufficient to
assume that trade terms, promotion schemes and promises of
advertising support are the sum total of dealer relations.
Dealer education is often essential. So too is understanding of
the problems of the distributor. Moreover, the dealer is a
major communication link with the consumer. If he does not
understand the product or is prejudiced against it this will be a
barrier to sales. Sales literature alone cannot cure a negative
dealer attitude.
11. Sales force

The salesman is often a lonely person who feels unloved by
head office. Communication other than about getting more
and more sales is necessary, but advance knowledge of adver-
tising campaigns and company policy in general can help to
make him a better salesman. This subject is expanded in Chap-
terS.

New products, especially technical ones, and established pro-
ducts enjoying the 'staircase effect', require market education.
If prospects do not understand the product or service they will
be slow to respond to sales and advertising approaches, how-
ever energetic or original they may be. We are in that lethargic
region of hostility, prejudice, apathy and ignorance as shown in
Figure 2.1. The task of market education is the primary PR
task of converting those four negative states into the positive
states of sympathy, acceptance, interest and knowledge. And
yet some products arrive on the market with no such PR at all,
perhaps relying on excessive weight of expensive advertising to
do what could have been achieved less expensively and more
thoroughly by a well-planned and executed market education
scheme of PR activity. Market education is an example of the
need for early, preliminary PR effort. The techniques are those

of PR and not of selling or advertising. One has to proceed
cautiously, like stalking game, otherwise confidence will be
stampeded. It is not the same as, say, an in-store demon-
stration.
The media are the residential course for prospects (as used
by computer firms); the touring seminar with technical spea-
kers (not salesmen), using other media such as portable ex-
hibits, photographic displays, slide presentations,
synchronised tape and slide shows, video-tapes, video-
cassettes and documentary films; and informative literature
including reprints of articles. Films can also be loaned to audi-
ences. The external house journal directed at the user or con-
sumer is a useful medium which can be mailed tq readers.
Rotaprint's long and successful conquest of the small offset
printing market in Japan owes much to the Rotaprint Users
Association, formed by its distributors Nippon Jimuki, to edu-
cate customers, who also set up a training school for operators,
both being established in the early 1960s. 14
13. Corporateandfinancial PR
This specialised domain of PR is usually associated directly
with the board, and may be undertaken by a consultancy
which deals mainly with corporate and financial PR. The sub-
ject is dealt with in Chapter 4, but it has its place in the market-
ing mix in so far as the corporate image and the financial
affairs of the company impinge on customer and dealer re-
lations and are also of importance to the sales staff.
Company financial news nowadays has a wider public than
in the past and can influence the attitudes of customers and
distributors. The financial fortunes of large companies are
front-page stories. Conversely, High Street sales affect share
take-up, as in the case of the first Sainsbury public issue which
was sold in small lots to housewives through branches of Mid-
land Bank. Similarly, when foreign companies have been indi-
genised in Nigeria, demand for shares has been such that
newspapers have published letters protesting about the shor-
tage of application forms, as happened with the Guinness issue
in 1976.
Thus, the buying public and distributors will be aware of a
company's financial affairs, as indeed will the staff through the
publication of company results in the house journal. No longer
are there financial secrets, and this knowledge may affect the
marketing strategy.

Again, this is an area with which marketing management is not
directly related, although PR is, but the consequences of in-
dustrial relations can encourage or impede sales. When British
Airways planned its marketing strategy to launch the first of its
Shuttle services it did not bargain for cabin staff resistance to
collecting fares during the flight, or to an airport ground staff
strike at Abottsinch Airport both of which forced changes in
the advertisement copy while the campaign itself had to be run
in three stages. Strikes in the British motor industry made it
easier for imported cars to enter the British market and more
quickly gain goodwill and acceptance. Before 1969 hardly any
British motorist had ever heard of or seen a Datsun! But for
the industrial relations situation at British Leyland, it is doubt-
ful whether Nigerian taxicab owners would have adopted
Datsun in 1972.
The industrial relations situation must therefore be con-
sidered in the marketing strategy, especially its PR effect. It
can shape both the corporate and the product image. In inter-
national marketing, ability to deliver is paramount as has been
experienced in Japan.
15. Test marketing

Frequently overlooked in test marketing is the inclusion of
PR. If the test is to be a true miniaturisation of a possible
national exercise, it should simulate the press relations activity
that would accompany the product launch.
While national media cannot be used, the regional press, TV
and local radio can be used just as they would in a national
campaign. The growth of local radio makes this all the more
realistic, even if in the past one might have hesitated to take a
local daily as the counterpart of a national daily. Home-
delivered free sheets may also prove useful in simulating the

distribution of national newspapers. If the test area is large
enough, TV can be used too, while within the region there may
be more than one evening newspaper. Provided numbers war-
rant this, a press reception might be held, otherwise stories can
be sent to the press and interviews or other coverage arranged
with the broadcasting media. The PRO can therefore assist the
marketer in setting up a more complete test market operation.
He can measure the feedback and assess the interest and atti-
tude of the media so that something can be learned for the
eventual national press relations programme.
Tibbenham PR ofNorwich carried out aPR programme for
Skateboards Ltd when they test-marketed skateboards in
Southampton in 1976. Two American skateboard champions
were brought over from America to give demonstrations in
clubs and in the car park of the Carrefour hypermarket. Dea-
lers were sent a four-page tabloid newspaper called Skuda
News. A short closed loop 8 mm. colour film was shot of the
demonstrations and made available to dealers. Press confer-
ences and dealer conferences were organised. The event gained
considerable news coverage. Here was an example of market
education, in a test-marketing situation. It was also an oppor-
tunity to test market PR techniques for the national launch in
1977. For example, Skuda News proved to be so successful that
the second issue in the Spring of 1977 was in four colours with
a print order of 10,000.
16. Advertising
This subject occurs in three ways in this book. In the previous
chapter we aimed to distinguish between advertising and
public relations, while in Chapter 6 we look at PR as a specific
aid to advertising. Here let us consider the PR content and im-
plications or responsibilities of the advertisements themselves.
The author admits his interest in two ways: he was for several
years a copywriter, and he was at one time in charge of the
Advertisement Investigation Department of the Advertising
Association.
It is part of the advertising brief that Guinness advertising
must preserve the long-standing image of both the company
and the product. On the other hand, the Woolworth adver-
tisements produced by Allen, Brady and Marsh have set out to
shake off the old image which so many people insist on pre-
serving.15
Some companies are so jealous of their house style that they
issue manuals for designers, printers, advertising agents and so
forth to ensure that there is consistency of style. Logo, typo-
graphy, colour- all must be carefully used to maintain the uni-
formity of the physical corporate image.
But it is not only the look of the advertising which should
exercise the PR-mindedness of marketing management. There
is also the content - the theme, the things illustrated and the
things said- bearing in mind that copywriting is different from
journalism. It is a literary style in its own right, and present-
ation must make the ad seem larger than life if it is to be
noticed at all let alone attract and hold attention.
However, claims made in advertisements must be consistent
with policy, and must respect the British Code of Advertising
Practice. 16 It is no pat on the back to have your ad hauled
before the Advertising Standards Authority, or castigated in
an Esther Rantzen television programme or even made the sub-
ject of a prosecution under the Trade Descriptions Act or
other legislation controlling advertising. Over-zealous clients
and over-zealous advertising agents can embarrass a company
with bad PR. The Code itself is aPR campaign for advertising,
for if advertising is held to be disreputable and is disbelieved it
will not work and will be a waste of money.
Three examples may be taken from the ASA Cases Report
23, and a fourth from ASA Cases Report 24. (These reports
may be received regularly on application to the Advertising
Standards Authority, 15-17 Ridgmount Street, London
WC 1E 7A W .) Each complaint from a member of the public
was upheld.
Ashe Laboratories claimed that Double Amplex Capsules
would 'Mask the traces of a twelve-year-old Scotch. Conceal
the aroma of your favourite Havana. Even dissipate the after-
math of the most imaginative Italian cooking.' Imaginative
but unfortunately exaggerated claims. British Railways Board
claimed 'Go Electric! Birmingham to London every half-hour
in 95 minutes', but this was not strictly true. General Foods
featured a promotion for free vouchers worth 30p, stating 'See

reverse of label for details', which revealed (only when re-
moved) that sixteen ounces' worth of labels had to be submit-
ted. This was misleading, although not intentionally so. 17 A
Parker Pen advertisement was headlined 'Even when we've
sold a pen we still like to look after it', and made the copy claim
'we know it will last you a lifetime'. But parts were not avail-
able for the complainant's pen dating from 1947. The ASA
contended that, since there was no qualification in the text, a
promise to provide a repair service for all models might
reasonably be inferred from the claim that the pen would last a
lifetime. 18
Marketing managers must therefore be careful about claims
made in advertisements wherever they may appear. Adver-
tising agents are not always PR-minded. This section, and
these four examples, highlight the difference between adver-
tising and PR, for whereas a news release must be factually
accurate there is a natural creative tendency for advertisement
copy to be more generalised, flamboyant and enthusiastic.
This does not excuse exaggeration and inaccuracy which are
both ethically unacceptable and, from a PR standpoint, down-
right harmful. Advertisement copy should be vetted to make
sure that it will not produce ill-will.
There are some grey areas where marketing management is
so rattled by competition that it indulges in devious tactics
such as 'knocking copy' and 'ashcanning', that is, unfair and
maybe unscrupulous denigration of a competitor or his pro-
duct. The ASA does not like knocking copy, although the
Code does distinguish between justified comparisons and
cut-throat attacks. There is seldom anything clever about de-
rogatory copy. The appeal is negative, and the impression
given is one of scraping the barrel for something to say instead
of presenting positive sales arguments.
When Datsun's advertising agents launched the Japanese
car in 1969 with a cheekily knocking ad headed If they made a
new Cortina 1300 would it match the Datsun?19 they infuriated
both Ford and the Datsun PR consultants. The import quota
was small, the advertising budget was mean, but the impact of
the ads was big. Were they in bad taste? This author thought
not. 20 Who had ever heard of a Datsun, until then? In 1970
Datsun exported 1894 cars to Britain. By 1973 there had been a
thirtyfold increase to 60,513 cars. Things were different in 1974
when their ads made such inaccurate comparisons with
Renault, Peugeot, Fiat and Volkswagen that Datsun had to take
additional space to apologise. 21 That was poor PR: too many
people were now familiar with Datsun cars. However, perhaps
the word-of-mouth repute of the cars compensated for the silly
advertising. A survey of Datsun owners in 1975 showed that 49
per cent had bought through personal recommendation, an
enviable situation.
Volvo have a world-wide advertising policy22 laid down by
their Gothenburg advertising headquarters. It says: 'The
Volvo profile all over the world is and must remain the same:
quality providing reliability, safety, comfort and economy.
This is the base for all Volvo car activities all over the world-
and has been so for many years ... use this tool whenever
you're communicating to the consumers.'
But when a British Leyland ad claimed that a Triumph TR 7
gave 'the feeling of utter safety at the highest speeds' a com-
plaint to the ASA was upheld. British Leyland agreed to
amend the copy in future ads on the grounds that one could
never be safe when travelling at the highest speeds. 23 Now-
adays you have to think before you print.
In the author's day at the Advertising Association one could
be subpoenaed as a witness in a High Court libel case, as he
was, for publication even 'under confidential cover' to mem-
bers of a warning about rogue advertisers. Now, thanks to
the persuasion of Mrs Shirley Williams as Secretary of State
for Prices and Consumer Protection and John Methven as
Director-General at the Office of Fair Trading in 1974, the
ASA is obliged to publish and be loved.
Apart from the ethics of advertising there is the question of
irritating advertising. On independent local radio one adver-
tiser was a cut-price wine-and-spirit merchant whose
presenter's abrasive voice so annoyed listeners that they com-
plained and the advertisement had to be broadcast less fre-
quently. At one time the detergent TV commercials were so
frequent that they were resented. This was in the salad days of
saturation advertising on TV before the technique was
adopted of resting a commercial after a given number of
audience ratings had been achieved. In Holland the state-

sponsored Television and Radio Advertising Foundation has
an irritation scale based on eleven factors by which a panel of
viewers judge new commercials which are suspected of causing
annoyance. The factors are dishonest, misleading, silly, hard
to believe, unreal, exaggerated, ridiculous, stupid, childish,
nonsensical or offensive. One may ask how a PR-minded mar-
keting manager could permit the production of a commercial
that could be faulted for any of these reasons.

Package, copy and TV /radio commercial testing, media re-
search, recall, impact, reading and noting tests- all these are
among the many services which may be recommended by the
advertising agents. Within the company there may be research
into response, with calculations of cost per reply and cost per
conversion into sales. Mail order firms will make special use of
research into response.
This is clearly such a splendid example of two-way com-
munication, of feedback, that PR philosphy must be bound up
in it. So much can be learned from the findings about attitudes
to the company and the product and questions can also be
framed to glean opinions on logo, house style, slogans and so
forth. Marketing management therefore has a splendid oppor-
tunity here to gain PR benefits from research normally con-
ducted solely for advertising purposes. A useful example is the
questionnaire about purchase which accompanies some
guarantee cards.

Within this multiplicity of activities are means of gaining
goodwill by winning gratitude for gifts and bargain offers
while risking ill-will if dealers or customers are annoyed or
disappointed. Moreover, the great merit of sales promotion-
those activities that lie between selling and above-the-line ad-
vertising- is that it brings the manufacturer closer to the cus-
tomer. Advertising may pull the customer towards the
product, but merchandising pushes the product towards the
customer. This greater intimacy is thus capable of a love-hate
relationship.
People may say 'I got this with labels from X brand' or, be-
cause of the delay in despatch and the lack of identity of the
sponsor when the item is sent by a fulfilment house, they
may have no idea how it was obtained.
Competitions excite one initially. A new motor-car is
launched, and newspapers, products and stores both intensify
and exploit the current publicity by running contests with the
car as a prize. But who wins? The result may be whispered
somewhere. It is not sufficient to state on the entry form that
the results will be announced somewhere on some future date.
Opportunities are lost in not making more of the prize-
winning, the usual excuse being that the budget will not run to
it, which is really an admission of bad budgeting. By making
more of the prize-winning, marketers would not only satisfy
the competitors but gain additional publicity.
Sadly, the merchandising field of short-term special sales
promotion tactics is full of inexpert marketing which has
rebounded with bad feeling towards the sponsor. Short-term
profit has been sought and probably gained at the expense of
either or both dealer and customer relations. One has only to
read the monthly ASA Cases Reports to discover the mistakes
that are made in this field of promotion. Maximising profits
can mean minimising goodw.ill.
An excellent example of the thoughtfulness which can make
all the difference in merchandising was a letter accompanying
kitchen knives supplied in a Maggi Soup offer. It anticipated
the worries of the customer, and explained what to do in case
of breakage, loss or delay in the post. Such a letter forestalls
complaints and instantly creates good feeling between the
manufacturer and the customer additional to the goodwill
inspired by the offer itself.
Eric Adler of Eric Adler & Associates has warned: 'one of the
delays that can occur, before the premium is received by the
customer, is caused by insufficient lead time (or production
time being made available) due to large orders placed late.
Another reason is that supplies run out before the promotion
ends and this is one of the planner's biggest potential head-
aches. An oversuccessful merchandise promotion can harm
the image of the main line brand if customers do not receive

their premiums in good time. This situation could make them
brand switch, a situation which not only defeats the objective
of selling more goods, but makes the theme advertising harder
for the customer to believe. ' 25
A welcome development in recent years has been the repre-
sentation of the Sales Promotion Executives Association on
the Code of Advertising Practice Committee, responsible to
the Advertising Standards Authority, and the publication of
the British Code of Sales Promotion Practice. 26
Notwithstanding the ethical requirements of the Code, with
which marketing managements should be familiar, there are
still PR requirements which go beyond honesty and efficiency.
Some essential ones are:
1. Any scheme requiring dealer co-operation should be or-

ganised in such a way that (a) dealer resentment is not
incurred; (b) it is not possible for reduced price wrappers
to be removed so that items may be sold at the full price;
(c) malredemptions- that is, dealer acceptance of cash
vouchers in exchange for other goods - are prevented.
But in 1982 some supermarket chains announced that if
they stocked sponsorip.g brands, they would redeem
vouchers for purchases of other brands.
2. Any scheme should be clearly identified so that the reci-
pient of a gift, premium offer or prize is aware of the sup-
plier, rather than merely sent something anonymous
from a mailing organisation.
3. The more quickly a postal application is dealt with the
sooner the customer will be pleased. Nevertheless a coffee
firm which spent thousands of pounds on press adver-
tisements to tell buyers they could claim cash in return
for tokens cut from labels took a month to send the
money. Considering the public outcry about the price of
coffee, the casual handling of this scheme was poor PR.
Unfortunately, the company is not renowned for PR and
delays have occurred with previous schemes. Over the
years tea and coffee firms as a whole have been tardy over
despatches of offers, as if caring for the customer does
not come into the calculations of brand managers whose
brilliance dulls after having secured the applications.
19. After-sales service I Spares I Guarantees I Instructions

Some products will not sell unless there is certainty about ser-
vicing and spare parts. The PR implications here are simply
enormous, for no-one will have faith in purchasing, say,
mechanical, electrical or electronic equipment unless there is
promise of reliable after-sales service. Yet there are firms
whose principle concern is with selling the product, and their
attitude towards servicing is cavalier. It is a matter of elemen-
tary PR-mindedness.
It does not help when a headline reading Boycott on
appliance group appears in the national press, and the report
states: 'The London Electricity Board has refused to order any
more of the products of one of Britain's biggest domestic
appliance groups, British Domestic Appliances Ltd, until the
firm improves its after-sales service in the capital.' 27 An un-
fortunate situation had arisen as a result of a shortage of ser-
vice engineers and the effect of the three-day week 'drying up
the supplies of both equipment and spares'. The report did in-
clude an explanation from a BOA spokesman, but the LEB at-
titude and the appearance of the press report did seem to imply
a lack of both good dealer and customer relations which had
erupted in a breakdown in after-sales service. Here was per-
haps an example of a greater need for PR-minded marketing
management which could have foreseen and prevented such a
'passing the buck' predicament. It is easy for a manufacturer to
get caught up in such a situation through no fault of its own: it
is marketing management's PR responsibility to be frank with
its distributors and to provide them with the means, such as ex-
planatory give-away leaflets, of preserving their own good cus-
tomer relations. The dealer magazine is another vehicle for
explaining such problems to distributors, but to do nothing is
to encourage antagonism in the national press.
A guarantee will help to convince a prospect that the article
or service is worth buying, and under the Supply of Goods
(Implied Terms) Act 1973 he may expect a realistic guarantee
in keeping with the expectations of performance.
Datsun make the proud boast that their warranty costs to
dealers is only an average of £2 per car, and that only one in

five cars needs repairs under warranty. This is attractive to
dealers as well as to the buyer. Similarly, National Panasonic
benefits from its 3Qs policy of Quality products, Quick Service
and FreeQuent calls by area managers. Dealers get a 48-hour
service on spares, and a three-day turnround on servicing. 28
The Japanese companies are perfectionists where service is
concerned, but it is made a lot easier by the reliability of the
basic product. The real PR expertise of the Japanese lies in
their ability to make goods that inspire confidence. Neverthe-
less, the case of the recall by National Panasonic is described at
the end of Chapter 8.
Thus a guarantee can be either a source of satisfaction or
dissatisfaction. If something is guaranteed it should be simple
and reassuring to enjoy the benefits of the promised safeguard,
not a kind of obstacle race with the customer's integrity in
doubt.
Instructions on or in labels, containers, stuffers, leaflets or
manuals can be either straightforward or frustrating, and the
ability to convey technical information to non-technical
people is an art which may need drawings or photographs to
obtain clarity. A few words and lots of drawings may win cus-
tomers for life, but a lot of words in small print may cause the
customer to discard the product in dismay and with determi-
nation not to buy again.
This section is very much to do with sustaining and retaining
confidence and goodwill, often when the company's contact
with the customer is limited to the performance or satisfaction
of the product itself. Not for nothing do confectionery firms
protect their goodwill be inviting complaints if the customer is
not fully satisfied. It is always nice to know that one can com-
plain to someone, and sometimes it does happen that a grub
wriggles out of a nut in a bar of chocolate! Such rare occur-
rences can be dealt with reasonably if the customer is given the
means to communicate with the maker. It is another kind of
after-sales service, but an instruction nonetheless. Better still
is the provision of explicit advice on how to do one's own
minor servicing if something goes wrong, yet some manufac-
turers either do not take the trouble to anticipate the
customer's possible difficulties or feel there is something
demeaning in admitting that faults can occur.
20. Maintaining customer interest/ Loyalty

Up to a point, advertising can do this but the following are
some of the ways in which PR can continue that interest which
leads to the next purchase or that loyalty which wins repeat
purchasing and, very important, recommendations.
(i) Feature articles can describe new uses or further enjoy-

ment of the product, or demonstrate successful ones
and this technique suits a cookery ingredient or a piece
of industrial equipment equally well. This can be a full-
time PR exercise, and articles can be negotiated with
editors on the basis of a proposition and a no-fee com-
mission. Editors do not have to be entertained. Nego-
tiation can be made by letter or telephone, provided the
information will be of benefit to readers, offering the
idea and agreeing the number of words, treatment, il-
lustrations and deadline.
(ii) Taped radio interviews can ~e produced and distributed
to local radio stations which are pleased to receive such
material provided, once again, that it is of interest and
value to their audiences.
(iii) Documentary films can be made for the same purpose,
shown to invited audiences, placed on road-show cir-
cuits to local organisations, and offered on loan.
(iv) External house journals specifically addressed to custo-
mers can be published at quarterly or monthly inter-
vals, provided an effective system of distribution is
devised. Some hobbyist journals, such as Gibbons
Stamp Monthly, have become established as commer-
cial publications.
These are but four major examples in addition to the day-to-

day run of press relations work, while in Chapter 8 other
suggestions are made in relation to Customer Relations, and
Chapter 9 discusses how PR can extend the value of ex-
hibitions organised primarily for sales and advertising pur-
poses.
REFERENCES
I. Frank Jefkins, Marketing and PR Media Planning (Oxford:
Pergamon Press, 1974).
2. Michael J. Baker, Marketing: An Introductory Text, 3rd ed.
(London: Macmillan, 1982) p. 201.
3. William E. Cox, 'Product Life Cycles as Marketing Models',
Journal ofBusiness, 40 (Oct 1967).
4. Frank Jefkins, Advertising Made Simple, 3rd ed. (London:
Heinemann, 1982) pp. 286-92.
5. T. Levitt, 'Exploit the Product Life Cycle', Harvard Business
Review,45(Nov 1965).
6. Peter Doyle, 'The Realities of the Product Life Cycle', Quar-
terly Review of Marketing (Summer 1976).
7. Harold W. Fox, 'The Product Career Path', Quarterly Review
ofMarketing (Autumn 1976).
8. Frank Jefkins, Planned Press and Public Relations (Glasgow:
In tertext, 1977) pp. 31 O-Il.
9. British Successes in Japan (London: BOTB, 1976).
10. The Coca-Cola Company (Atlanta, Ga: The Coca-Cola Com-
pany, 1974) p. 3.
11. Howard Sharman, 'The Japanese Infiltrate the UK Market',
Marketing(Apr 1977).
12. Op. cit., note9.
13. Op. cit., note 10.
14. Op.cit.,note9.
15. Op. cit., p. 288, note4.
16. British Code of Advertising Practice (London: Advertising
Standards Authority, 1979).
17. ASA Cases Report 23 (London: Advertising Standards Auth-
ority, Jan 1977).
18. ASA Cases Report 24 (London: Advertising Standards Auth-
ority, Apr 1977).
19. Daily Mirror, 23 Apr 1969.
20. Frank Jefkins, Advertising Today, 1st ed. (Glasgow: Intertext,
1971)p. 349.
21. Campaign, 11 Apr 1974.
22. Volvo '76 For People Who Think (Gothenberg: AB Volvo,
1976.
23. Op. cit., note 17.
24. Op. cit., note l.
25. Eric Adler, 'Organising the Promotion', British Premium
Merchandise Association News(Apr 1977).
26 British Code ofSales Promotion Practice (London: Advertising
Standards Authority, 1980).
27. The Guardian, 3 July 1974.
28. Sharman, op. cit., note 11.
Chapter 4
Corporate and Financial PR
Corporate and financial public relations are so often interwo-

ven that they are considered in this one chapter, although
financial PR usually implies that a company is a public one or
at least a closed one quoted on the Stock Exchange. Thus a pri-
vate company has corporate but not financial PR until such
time as it 'goes public'.
The corporate image is 'the impression that the company
creates in the minds of people . .. corporate communications is
the total radiation of the philosophy, spirit and identity of an
organisation ... if the operation is to be successful, the whole
attitude and relationships within the company may have to be
changed from the board of directors downwards, as well as
those of the dealers and retailers handling the company's pro-
ducts.'1
This area of PR will come within the marketing mix because
overall company behaviour can affect the planning. If the
company wins a Queen's Award or is the subject of a corrup-
tion scandal, if it pulls off a successful rights issue or is in
danger of being taken over, these matters will concern market-
ing management.
Financial PR may be about losses, not profits. Angus
Murray 2 has described how, as chief executive of a company
with 4000 staff which had an interim loss of nearly £1m he en-
gaged a financial PR consultancy to deal with the situation. By
presenting all the facts frankly, including the company's future
plans, a negative press story became a positive one, rumours
about bankruptcy were stilled, and fair press coverage was
obtained. On this was built a regular flow of company news,
showing that the company was surmounting its problems. The
company survived and became profitable again. For, as Angus
CORPORATE AND FINANCIAL PR 65
Murray concluded, PR had kept alive 'that most delicate of
business blessings- confidence!'
Tony Dakin 3 has recorded the effect of PR on take-over
bids. RMC lost the bid involving Redland, Ready Mixed Con-
crete and Purle 'largely because it had not kept the public suf-
ficiently well informed of what it was doing ... even though it
tried to make amends by spending a staggering £80,000 on ad-
vertising within a space of about eight days, it made little or no
difference to its image in the short term'. Dakin also discussed
the AEI/GEC take-over, quoting the post-research into the
event with the comment of Michael Burroughs of the British
Market Research Bureau that 'Those who communicate swal-
low: those who do not get swallowed'.
Those who communicate also sell shares. Burroughs
Machines 4 had more than £88m subscribed for their £6m de-
benture issue, thanks to a sustained PR programme which had
not only buried the 'adding machine' image but had created
confidence among investors.
Perhaps an especially happy example is one to which the
author made a preliminary contribution as PRO from 1959 to
1963. Peter Bateman, director of public relations, organised
the PR coverage when Rentokil went public in 1969, and the
new shares were oversubscribed four times. Explaining why,
Bateman has written:' 'Recognising that much of its business
comes from recommendations and also that most of its
potential clients need to be educated and informed about its
services, Rentokil has always been very PR conscious.' Here is
a case where consistent, and mostly marketing orientated PR
encouraged by PR-conscious top management, and
strengthened by the adoption of the household name Rentokil
since 1961 for all their companies had created an ideal situ-
ation for a share issue although the stock market was in the
doldrums.
Corporate and financial PR services are offered by a num-
ber of specialist consultancies. Financial and Business PR
(F ABUS) answer6 the question What is financial public re-
lations? like this: 'Basically, it is no more than a branch of
business communications ... concerned with relaying infor-
mation and viewpoints on a company's financial, industrial
and commercial activities to . . . financial and investment
communities .... Financial public relations builds bridges and

carries the good and the bad news alike from boardroom to the
outside bustling world of City editors, stockbrokers, jobbers,
bankers, investment and unit trust managers, pension fund
chiefs, accountants.'
Most financial PR consultancies are based on the City, but
there is another point of view. John Spencer, managing direc-
tor of Lexington Public Relations, has expressed the viewpoint
of the general purpose consultancy: "the gap" which has been
believed to exist between the "West End" public relations
firms (dealing in corporate and marketing-oriented public re-
lations) and the City PR firms (dealing in disseminating finan-
cial information about companies to the financial press) is
illusory.
'there are many, many quoted companies - and, indeed,
many City institutions such as insurance companies and build-
ing societies - which do not have a physical presence in the
City .... Yet these companies and institutions need to carry
out a financial public relations programme.
'So-called "West End" agencies, such as my own which is
based in Berkeley Square, have pushed ahead vigorously in the
fields of corporate and financial public relations and adver-
tising. While we had our origins in providing a market-
ing-oriented PR support programme to the clients of our
parent company of J. Walter Thompson, many of those clients
now require us to carry out a wide PR programme en-
compassing parliamentary information and liaison, govern-
ment liaison, editorial contact and publicity, financial
advertising, press distribution services and the arrangement of
conferences and seminars- both in the UK and overseas. ' 7
This is an important and specialised sphere of PR: indeed,
within the Institute of Public Relations there is a very active
City and Financial Group with some 150 members, about 60
per cent being consultants and 40 per cent in-house PROs.
One of the most remarkable corporate PR campaigns of our
times has been that of ITT (Europe). The origin of the cam-
paign and the first two programmes for 1975-6 form a case
study written by the author. 8 The campaign has continued
with whole-page advertisements such as one in 1977 which
devoted the greater part of its space to the reversed black on
white headline:
ITT could do its research
anywhere in the world
So why on earth choose Britain?
Corporate advertisements were only part of the campaign
which also included an excellent external house journal,
Profile, and an extraordinary challenge to The Guardian. This
newspaper had attacked ITT for two years, and the Brussels
PR office of ITT presented the editor with a file of hostile cut-
tings. As a result, Adam Raphael, who had published an ar-
ticle attacking the corporate PR programme, surrendered his
space to a reply from Nigel Rowe, 9 then ITT's assistant direc-
tor ofPR, an unprecedented gesture.
Corporate advertising may also lend itself to celebratory an-
nouncements as when Boots took whole pages for their centen-
ary. Beneath a large portrait of the Victorian founder was the
following headline, after which is quoted the opening and clos-
ing text copy and the 'signature slogan':
His family business was

the family business.
'It's 100 years since Jesse Boot put up his name over his
mother's herbal shop in Nottingham. And in doing so founded
not only his own family business but a group whose business is
all about families, yours included. Almost everything that
Boots does is capable of affecting you and your family. And it
is done according to two important principles first laid down
by Jesse Boot. The principles of always giving value. And
always giving service ....
'1 00 years have passed since the foundations of the business
were laid by Jesse Boot. 100 years in which we've managed to
refine and improve his original principles. 100 years in which
to develop our present-day reputation for fairness honesty,
quality and value. 100 years of getting to know our customers,
of becoming their friends.
'A good time to say "Thank you to you all. And to start
looking forward to the next 100 years."
100 years of Shopping at Boots'
POLITICAL PR: LOBBYING
In the quotation from John Spencer 10 there was mention of

'Parliamentary information and liaison', better known as 'Par-
liamentary lobbying'. To the uniformed this may seem to be an
emotive aspect of PR, but it has nothing to do with bribery
and corruption, of having tame MPs able to ask questions in
the House and act as a kind of fifth column for a client. Parlia-
mentary PR work consists mainly of two things: advising
clients of forthcoming Parliamentary activity - future read-
ings of Bills, committee meetings- which will be of interest to
them; and the supplying of information to MPs so that they
are well-informed when dealing with a client's subject. It is
held that pressure groups are an asset to democracy, the legis-
lature being able to receive opinions and points of view from
interested parties. Other parliamentary work ·may involve
advice on political policy and intentions, which may lie in
Minister's speeches, white papers and green papers to which
the experienced Parliamentary adviser can turn. There is
therefore nothing underhand about this kind of PR work
which is carried out by respectable consultants who employ
personnel skilled in Parliamentary procedure. Moreover, the
IPR keeps a register of members' Parliamentary connections,
and the PRCA lists its members' Westminster associations,
while MPs themselves have their own code of conduct to
uphold and are obliged to 'declare their interests.'
The expression 'lobby' has more than one meaning. A lobby
correspondent is an accredited journalist who may move
about the Parliamentary buildings in search of news, inter-
viewing people and keeping secret his sources of information
unless the source is willing to be named. This works both ways:
the press receive background information unofficially from
official sources, crediting 'Government circles' or 'usually reli-
able sources', while politicians can use the system to leak infor-
mation to the press. However, a 'lobby' is another word for a
pressure group meaning an interest which, through its PRO or
PR consultant, can lobby or contact within the Parliamentary
precincts MPs whose understanding of a subject it wishes to
improve. In a sense, any interest has a lobby if someone is pre-
pared to speak up for it.
A Parliamentary Monitoring Service is offered by
Romeike & Curtice, Hale House, 290-296 Green Lanes,
London, N13 5TP. The client supplies the subject he wishes
monitored, and the service can cover references made to it in
the House of Commons, House of Lords, the US House of
Representatives and Senate, and the European Parliament,
as required.
CORPORATE IDENTITY
Corporate identity is a term coined by Walter Margulies in the

early 1950s. House styling, logotypes, colour schemes and the
liveries of vehicles, ships and aircraft all come within this
visual and physical presentation of a visible character and dis-
tinction. But as Lippincott & Margulies (of London, New
York and Toronto) maintain: 'how an identity programme is
carried out is as vital to the achievement of a company's goals
as the creation of the corporate identity programme itself.' 11
They have an implementation checklist of sixty-two items
under the headings of company identification, advertising and
promotion, financial and other literature, signage, packaging
and product identification, transportation, stationery and
forms.
The world's largest transportation combine, Canadian Paci-
fic, a Lippincott & Margulies client, not only applied their new
identity scheme to 1100 diesel locomotives, 87,000 freight cars,
800 passenger coaches, dozens of passenger aircraft, cargo and
passenger ships, and 5000 highway trucks but set up a tight
quality control system of review sessions. RCA's changeover
involved some 20,000 different letterheadings, envelopes and
business forms, and with monthly review sessions with L & M
they are able to maintain quality and upgrade the design if
necessary.
As a change of scene here is an account of a Philippines bre-
wery and soft drink group, the San Miguel Corporation, which
sought a solution to its corporate identity problem. 12 The
change consisted of a modernised symbol and a new typeface
for its logotype, and Walter Landor Associates of San Fran-
cisco were commissioned for the project. The object was to in-
crease public awareness of the company, its activities and

objectives. During the seven-month research and design
period twenty-four senior executives were interviewed to
obtain attitudes towards the possible emblem. The SMC Cor-
porate Identity Committee was formed at the brewery head-
quarters. Sixty preliminary designs were produced in San
Francisco and six semi-final designs were selected for testing
against the old symbol. Research was done in two ways.
Phase 1 consisted of in-depth interviews with twelve focus
groups of Filipino men and women, aged 18 to 45 in AB, C and
D socio-economic classes of Manila and Ceba. Groups of ten
of the same sex and class formed discussion groups. Two local
university professors presided. First, the respondents rated the
symbols of fourteen companies, then they commented on the
new designs for the San Miguel Corporation. Phase 2 con-
sisted of a nationwide survey of 4000 respondents, male and
female, from AB, C, D and E socio-economic classes, from
twenty-six provinces and Greater Manila, representing all ten
census regions of the country. Whereas the discussion groups
had sought consumer reactions to the old emblem and the new
designs, the nationwide survey sought to define the public
image- or images- of the San Miguel Corporation. From this
survey it was possible 'to establish a profile of San Miguel's
consumer public- their sources of information, their attitudes
towards commerce and business behaviour, their buying
habits'.
As a result, a bold, simple clover-leaf symbol was chosen,
while the elegant Handel Gothic typeface with curved 'E's and
'L's replaced the old English lettering of the original logotype.
It was believed that this visual identity projected the dynamism
and ot~enness that characterised the company. A manual was
designed to provide both control and standard so that symbol
and logotype could be introduced into every kind of communi-
cation- vehicles, buildings, print, advertising, cheques and so
forth.
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
An approach to corporate communications which may startle

some readers has been offered in considerable detail by Law-
renee Murray, director of financial communications for ARA
Services, the Philadelphia food and service management
organisation. 13
Murray draws a picture of the company progressing
through stages of dominance by different masters. In the 1950s
and 1960s, marketing dominated. In the late 1960s and early
1970s, finance took over because business management was
limited by access to capital. Then, he says, 'management
needed a discipline which would provide a controlled, stra-
tegic, consistent, credible and persuasive image. The object of
corporate communications is to provide to all audiences the
perception that the company is and will continue to be a
superior one to invest in, lend to, buy from, sell to, and work
for.'
The Murray concept shows investor relations, public re-
lations, government relations, marketing, employee com-
munication, advertising, corporate identity and community
relations all reporting direct to or being directed by a central
corporate communications department. To succeed, all this is
'dependent upon three elements: strategic planning, the chief
executive officer, and professional capabilities'. Murray con-
cludes by declaring that 'Corporate communications is there-
sponsibility of the chief executive officer'.
That is true, and it is not such a new thought, for looking
around at some of our most successful companies we find that
the chief executive is the first PRO. But Murray means more:
'Communication is creative. It is an art which uses thorough
knowledge of modern business disciplines .... The corporate
communications function provides the articulation and per-
suasion which, in a competitive environment, is increasingly
essential for corporate growth and survival.'
While many British companies are still at the 1950s and
1960s stage of American development, it is encouraging to
note how many PROs are on the board, while quite a number
have become chief executives. This is a sociological phenom-
enon in company development, born of the need to communi-
cate at all levels to all people inside and outside the company.
That is why marketing management needs to be PR-minded if
it is to catch up with this trend of which consumerism, indus-
trial democracy and other pressures are indicators.
REFERENCES
1. E. W. Hardiman, 'The True Role of Corporate Communi-
cations', Industrial Advertising and Marketing, vol. 9 (Dec 1972).
2. Angus Murray, 'Tell the Truth', Public Relations (June 1974).
3. Tony Dakin, 'PR Puts the Shares Up', Marketing(July 1972).
4. Frank Jefkins, Planned Public Relations (Glasgow: lntertext,
1969) p. 138.
5. Peter Bateman, 'How PR can help when you are going Public',
Industrial Advertising and Marketing (Oct 1969).
6. Getting theMessage (London: F ABUS).
7. John Spencer, 'The City and the West End', PR-Monitor
(Apr/May 1977).
Intertext, 1977)pp. 309-17.
9. Nigel Rowe, The Guardian, 7 Feb 1975.
10. Spencer, op. cit. 7.
11. Sense63 (New York: Lippincott & Marguilies Inc., 1969).
12. Kaunlaran (Manila: San Miguel Corporation, Mar 1975).
13. Lawrence Murray, 'Corporate Communications: Manage-
ment's Newest Marketing Skill', Public Relations Quarterly (New
York: Spring 1976).
Chapter 5
PR as an Aid to the Sales Force
While PR for the sales force is partly (i) a matter of staff re-
lations, we are also concerned with (ii) the salesman's ap-
proach to dealer relations, and (iii) with the extent to which PR
activity can act as an ice-breaker, especially with cold calling.
Let us take these three divisions separately.
THE STAFF RELATIONS ASPECT
First of all, sales training should include a proper introduction

to public relations, preferably from a PR practitioner. These
talks can eradicate misconceptions of which the following are
typical:
(a) Entertaining customers is good PR. It is not, although it
may be a necessary facet of selling. It can be very bad
PR, as was seen in the Poulson affair.
(b) Bribing customers and people who can influence contracts
is good P R. It is not, and may be criminal. It can be
counter-PR as was seen in the Lockheed affair.
(c) Ifyou want to get a story in a newspaper, call on the adver-
tisement manager. Don't. He can only sell you space. He
has no power over editorial: that is the editor's preroga-
tive. Salesmen should understand how the media oper-
ate.
(d) Company and product references by the media are good
advertisements. They are not. They are news items or
part of feature content, no more. We have already dif-

ferentiated between advertising and PR in Chapter 2.
(e) It is the PRO's job to get favourable mentions in the
media. It is not. He will aim to publish or broadcast cor-
rect information, whether favourable or unfavourable.
In some industries the PRO is frequently dealing with
news about strikes, take-over bids, product failure and
recall, breakdowns in service, fires, explosions, poison-
ings, accidents, resignations, dismissals and other cala-
mities and misfortunes. In guarding the reputation of
the company his task is to try to avoid the publication of
garbled, prejudiced, malicious and inaccurate reports.
The salesman can be grateful for this service.
It is therefore a pity that some marketing writers,
when discussing PR, cannot see beyond 'favourable'
this and that. Leslie W. Rodger,t for instance, says 'It
can and should be used to create a favourable long-term
climate.' This is a very limited view which also has the
unpleasant connotation that PR can create a favourable
climate whether or not it is justified. It suggests that PR
is a confidence trick, and that the media can be manipu-
lated, hence the gibe often used in the press that some-
thing dubious is merely 'a public relations exercise'.
Marketing management- as much as politicians- are to
blame for PRs poor image because they will insist on
abusing PR as a whitewashing or smokescreen activity.
(f) The PRO can twist editors' arms, can con them into be-
lieving things are not what they are, and generally get
the company 'off the hook' because of his powerful
'Fleet Street contacts'. Public relations would be ut-
terly ineffective and a waste of money if it was really
like this myth of the television playwrights.
But Leslie W. Rodger is right when he says: 'The sales

representative should never be placed in the position of
having to make excuses for, applogise for or defend the com-
pany's activities, product or service, etc. Well-planned public
relations has a most important backing-up role to play in sup-
port of the field selling effort. ... The task of internal public
relations is to ensure that every key employee has all the facts
PR AS AN AID TO THE SALES FORCE 75
he needs to appreciate what the organisation is setting out to
do, what his role is to be and how he can best contribute to the
achievement of company plans and objectives.' 2 Since the
salesman represents the company to the distributor in the ful-
lest sense of the word, the company will be judged by the atti-
tude and behaviour of the representative.
DEALER RELATIONS
Chapter 7 deals with distributor relations, but the salesman's

role is an integral factor in this sphere of PR. When one con-
siders the remoteness of most suppliers from their distributors,
that the only personal contact between the two is the salesman,
and that he is also distanced by the length of his journey cycle,
the impression created by the salesman is crucial.
Public relations can help the salesman by encouraging him
to present a consistent image that pays a tribute to his com-
pany. '/ always deal with the Jones Company because they
employ such obliging and efficient salesmen' is better than '/
always buy from M r Smith who works for the Jones Company'.
In the latter case Mr Smith could work for any company. And
although he wears a lounge suit and drives a private motor-car,
general appearances can resemble a uniform. The salesman
will be judged by the cleann~ss of his car, the neatness of his
dress, the state of his stubble and the smell of his breath. What
the customer notices becomes his image of the company.
PR SUPPORT FOR THE SALESMAN
So far we have tended to concentrate on the negative PR influ-

ences, on contra-PR, but now let us observe some of the posi-
tive contributions that overall PR activity can make to a
salesman's efficiency.
(a) House journals. While general staff newspapers may be
excellent internal PR, it may pay to invest in a special
journal- maybe no more than a newsletter- for the sales
force. The criticism is often made by these 'lone rangers'
that they are not really interested in the chit-chat about
the girls in the factory which fills the staff newspaper.

Ring binders could be supplied for retention of regular
bulletins. Bulletins and sales information can also be
put on tape and supplied in cassette form so that they
can be played on the sales representative's tape-
recorder, either at home or in his or her car.
(b) Press cuttings. Selections of press cuttings can be copied
and sent to salesmen so that they know what is being
said by the media about the company or its products/
services. This is more realistic than sending them copies of
news releases since salesmen may not understand why
releases are not printed, or not printed in full, or are rew-
ritten before publication. Cuttings can be exploited when
talking to customers.
(c) Reprints of feature articles. Similarly, company spon-
sored articles can be reprinted and sent to salesmen who
can give them to customers as supporting material.
(d) Pulls ofpress advertisements, stills from TV commercials,
can be supplied, together with insertion and broadcast
details. Advance notice of TV and radio commercials
will enable salesmen to view or listen to and be familiar
with the advertising.
(e) National or regional conferences. These can be held to
give previews of PR, advertising and sales promotion
campaigns.
(f) Documentary films. When a company has aPR film it
should encourage the local salesman to arrang~ local
showings to prospects and customers, or by local soci-
eties. He may be present as a speaker. •
(g) Speaker's notes, public speaking, customer events. Talks
to local organisations, with or without a film or exhibits,
can be an excellent PR activity, but it needs to be backed
up by speaker's notes and if possible by training in
public speaking. Alternatively, the PR department may
arrange the supply of speakers, films, and supporting
charts and exhibits for events arranged by the salesman.
Customer events - receptions, seminars, exhibitions,
demonstrations and film shows- have the merit of face-
to-face confrontation between company representative
and customer.
PR AS AN AID TO THE SALES FORCE 77
The two-way nature of PR also works here. There should be
a system so that salesmen know how and when to supply the
PRO with story leads and contacts.
REFERENCES
l. Leslie W. Roger, Marketing in a Competitive Economy, 3rd ed.
(London: Cassell/ Associated Business Programmes, 1965) p. 220.
2. Ibid.
Chapter 6
PR as an Aid to Advertising
How can PR help to make advertising work? Let us accept the

saying that advertising is the lifeblood of competition, and
competition is the lifeblood of choice.
The days of saturation advertising are past. Commercial
television in Britain has taught advertisers that impact can be
powerful and results can be immediate, that it is easy to bore
and irritate audiences, and that saturation advertising can be
annoying, unnecessary and uneconomic.
But advertising can still annoy. For instance, in June 1977
the Milk Marketing Board admitted that the doubling of the
price of milk during the previous eighteen months had resulted
in a 2 per cent fall in consumption over the previous year.
Phasing out of subsidies and adoption of EEC policies had co-
incided with an EEC milk surplus. But with higher weekly milk
bills British housewives resented TV commercials for milk.
Viewers are not only more aware of TV advertising than other
kinds but they are also more aware of its cost. The old fal-
lacy prevails that advertising puts up prices. Increased prices
and apparently increased advertising can be tactless and
counterproductive. The failure of the milk industry to explain
and justify price increases was an example of marketing PR
blindness.
Although saturation advertising has given way to 'bursts'
even minimum economic advertising can be ineffective and
wasteful if the market is unprepared and- recalling Figure 2.1
-is hostile, prejudiced, apathetic or ignorant.
Let us take an example from the 1960s because present ex-
perience may help to make it seem all the more dramatic.
PR AS AN AID TO ADVERTISING 79
Today there are not only car ferries but car-carrying hover-
craft, and services operate from numerous British ports to
scores of Irish and European destinations. Moreover, most
travel agents have a clear image of these services, and have no
inhibitions about sailing from Southampton instead of from
Dover to reach France. That was not so in 1963.
In 1964 British Railways launched their new car ferry to
Southern Ireland, helped by PR tactics, while Thoresen Car
Ferries were surprised to find that only the motoring organisa-
tions understood their new drive-on, drive-off service from
Southampton to CherbourgP A survey showed that travel
agents had never seen a Viking car ferry, knew nothing of their
facilities and did ~ot appreciate the convenience of the Cher-
bourg route for those visiting Spain, while many of them
thought it more inconvenient to travel to Southampton than to
Dover; nor did they understand the convenience of driving on
at the stern and off at the bows. In the autumn a PR pro-
gramme was organised by Infoplan to educate the trade in
readiness for the 1965 holiday season. A Viking car ferry
visited six UK ports on a 1100-mile voyage round Britain, and
parties of travel agents were taken by coach to see the ship. As
a bonus, the voyage also earned 340 reports in 66 newspapers
so that potential users of the Thoresen service were also
informed. Not only did two-thirds of the travel agents in the
six regions visit the ship, but during the two-day call at each
port important local people were invited to dinners and a ball
for 1000 people was held on the car deck. More than 50,000
people came on board during the seventeen-day cruise.
In this example we have the classical elements of hostility,
prejudice, apathy and ignorance on the part of the trade let
alone the possible customers. Yet the service had been mar-
keted and an unknown product had been presented to an unre-
sponsive trade and to an indifferent public. The PR exercise
was undertaken a year too late!
To be practical, there are three distinct groups of products
or services whose advertising can be assisted by PR:
1. Products which will not suffer competitively from an ex-
tended period of preliminary market education.
2. Products which must not be disclosed before the adver-
tising breaks, making preliminary PR impossible.
3. Products or services of short duration for which the ad-

vertising will be short-term and unable to benefit from
repetition over time.
In the first group might be placed industrial equipment or a
garden aid, in the second a new mass market consumer pro-
duct or a motor-car, and in the third an exhibition or other
public event, shopping events and mail order offers. All these
can benefit from PR, but the timing and publics will vary. Yet
many products and services are thrust unknown upon the
market, the trade is expected to support them (presumably be-
cause of advantageous trade terms or the promise of adver-
tising), and the customers are expected to respond to the
brilliance of the advertising. It may work if the item has suf-
ficient novelty, topicality or price-appeal. In other cases it has
not occurred to the marketing management to use PR, and the
job of the advertising agents was to produce an advertising
campaign, no more. Is it any wonder that at least 50 per cent of
even test-marketed products fail to sell?
How can they sell when shopkeepers do not believe in them
(as happened with the original launch of Berger's Magicoat
Paint2), and this lack of confidence is transmitted to buyers
who have been attracted to the shops by the advertising? So,
even with products which are launched with some secrecy, it is
necessary to win the trust and understanding of the trade.
Trade discounts alone won't do this. Salesmen's talk and
smiles won't either. And merchandising isn't enough. Dis-
tributors have got to be treated like intelligent people and
neither bought nor blandished. When they know, understand
and like they can be across-the-counter ambassadors. The ad-
vertising will then pay off.
Let us consider how PR can help each of these three broad
product groups.
Group 1 Products which will not suffer competitively from an

extended period ofmarket education
Many subjects in this group will be slow starters with a long
introduction stage in their life-cycle. Or, if we borrow from the
innovator theory, adoption is slow and the PR task is to inter-
est innovators and early adopters. This theory of the diffusion
of ideas has been much borrowed by marketers 3 and public re-
lations writers and is very applicable to the present discussion.
Early adopters Late majority

Innovators Early majority Laggards
FIG. 6.1 Consumer adopter categories
A prototype may be designed, but before it goes into pro-

duction and is marketed it is either sold to an initial customer
on a custom-built basis, or a willing 'guinea pig' customer or
innovator is allowed to use the product free of charge. Once
the user is satisfied, various forms of demonstration and PR
work can be arranged. Here are two brief sketches of actual
examples.
A hospital solved its washing up problem by installing a
prototype dishwasher capable of cleaning not only the volume
of tableware and crockery but the size of cooking utensil which
hitherto had suffered damage from laborious scraping. The
machine was labour-saving, money-saving on expensive uten-
sils, and satisfied strict hygiene requirements. Following a trial
period it was possible to issue press stories and pictures which
preceded the launch at an international exhibition and
through trade press advertising.
A fruit-picking machine was adopted by a grower who per-
mitted other growers to visit his farm during the picking
season. This was also the opportunity for press coverage re-
sulting in picture stories appearing in the trade press. This lead
up to agricultural shows and trade press advertising. The dis-
plays at the county shows attracted more editorial interest.
Sometimes new consumer products can be introduced by
zoned sales campaigns, but it can be profitable to have an im-
mediate press launch since it may take time for magazines to
carry the story. Although St Ivel Gold was launched in the
West Country, a national press launch was held in London

during the week preceding the zoned sales campaign. A variety
of papers including the Daily Express, The Grocer, Supermar-
ket and Foodnews printed valuable reports.
Group 2 Products 'Under Wraps' Before Launch

If advance information is prohibited for fear of industrial
espionage, or the element of dramatic surprise and novelty is
necessary to give impact to the launch, the PR effort will have
to coincide with the introduction and continue after the first
burst of advertising has ended.
Coincidental news coverage needs to be planned, budgeted
and executed as methodically as the advertising campaign, and
should not be undertaken as an afterthought or as a 'gimmick'
to snatch some 'free advertising' as a sideline to the main cam-
paign. Marketing management should plan PR for the launch
together with all other aspects for that event, and do so months
in advance by calling for PR advice at the earliest possible
stage of the planning. The PRO or PR consultant should be a
member of the team planning the whole strategy and cam-
paign.
In fact, if the product is one of interest to the women's press
it will be necessary to tell these journalists at least three months
in advance if photogravure printing deadlines are to be met so
that stories, pictures and features will coincide with the launch.
However, if up-to-the-launch secrecy has to be maintained,
marketing management must understand why some journals
cannot print anything for three months. For a seasonal pro-
duct this could be critical and the marketing strategy might
have to be revised. Considering that the trade has to know in
advance if it is to carry stocks to coincide with the advertising,
and advertising has to be placed months in advance, secrecy
may become an absurdity.
Yet, there was the food product which was given network
advertising on television, and there was nothing in the shops. It
made its famous maker look foolish, upset the trade, and was a
total waste of the advertising budget. This occurred because
the sales force were not permitted a long enough selling-in
period to get orders from supermarket chains in time for
stocks to be delivered before the advertising campaign broke.
Excessive secrecy led to a multiple disaster. This might not
have happened had PR advice been taken at an early stage: the
PRO would have insisted on trade education which would
have demanded a longer selling-in period and a more careful
timing of the consumer advertising. Part of the trouble with
this product launch was probably hesitancy about stocking.
Promise of TV advertising was not enough to win that care-
fully calculated space on supermarket shelves.
Group 3 Short-lived Products and Services

The secret of successful advertising is often reiteration. This is
not possible with events, unless they are regular ones which
benefit from year-to-year accumulative publicity. The advance
publicity man for a circus secures virtually saturation adver-
tising for the forthcoming visit by arranging poster displays
wherever he can (usually in shop windows in return for compli-
mentary tickets), but the exhibition promoter is more restric-
ted and has to rely on single insertions in newspapers and
posters on public transport.
The PRO may be able to obtain much better coverage by
means of stories and pictures in the press, radio interviews, and
TV coverage in special interest programmes plus news cover-
age if there is a famous official opener. Very likely, he will have
created interest by means of advance articles in appropriate
magazines. Exhibitors can themselves co-operate in publicis-
ing the show, as will be explained in Chapter 9.
In the case of retailers and mail-order traders, some coinci-
dental PR may be possible, but longer term PR will be of a cor-
porate nature.
PR BUILD-UP TO ADVERTISING
Here are some of the PR methods which may be used as a pre-

lude to advertising:
(i) The trade may be introduced to the product by (a) a
trade exhibition; (b) a works visit; (c) a dealer confer-
ence; (d) trade press news, pictures, articles; (e) films,
cassettes, slide presentations in conjunction with some

of the foregoing; (f) a dealer magazine.
(ii) Consumers and users may be introduced to the product
by (a) coverage in the news media; (b) various forms of
exhibition from public to mobile, the latter including
train, bus, trailer, caravan or local venues; (c) consumer
and user external house journal; (d) documentary films,
tape and slide presentations, with organised showings;
(e) educational literature; (f) sponsorship; (g) schools
projects.
The lists are simplified and one or two items may need expla-
nation. Sponsorship might permit usage of the product under
testing conditions, or be a means of establishing a company
name or a product. Elf oil4 were sponsoring motor-racing
before Elf petrol could be bought in Britain. School projects
might be important for a product of the future, whether some-
thing simple like a new kind of pen or more elaborate such as a
video cassette recorder. And although news media relations
are shown as but one item, this is likely to be a substantial PR
effort involving receptions, visits, news releases, photography
and feature articles, a campaign in itself. A film takes weeks
and perhaps months to write, shoot and process, and this lead
time must be considered. An external house journal may
already exist, or one may have to be conceived as in the Skate-
board publication Skuda News mentioned in the test-
marketing section of Chapter 3.
Now let us consider both the product life-cycle and the pro-
duct career path models (see Chapter 3) in connection with
both the advertising and public relations campaigns. Clearly
different charts are necessary for different products so Figures
6.2 and 6.3 must be accepted as generalisations which help to
demonstrate the contrasting roles of PR and advertising
during the product's life-cycle or career path.
However, if we take Dr Fox's more sophisticated PCP
(p. 37) with its more undulating curve between growth and de-
cline it might be more pertinent for the PR curve to correspond
with these fluctuations as more, or less, intensive PR oper-
ations are carried out. This is shown in Figure 6.3.
.:······ ···············.
---~---
·····... ..
Advertising
Product life~ cycle -
·····....
Development Introduction Growth Maturity Saturation Decline
FIG. 6.2 Relationships between public relations and advertising and

the product life-cycle
While PR begins very early and then proceeds as a constant factor
until it is no longer required, advertising is intensive at the launch
and then falls off in proportion to success until it declines with the
product senility. The steepness of the advertising curve will depend
on the weight ofthe initial launch.
Pub I ic Relations
Advertising
Product career path -
Development Growth Career path Decline
FIG. 6.3 Public relations and advertising in relation to the product

career path (see Chapter 3)
In his chapter on Communication Theory and Marketing,~

Stephen T. Parkinson discusses 'persuasive communication'
(that is, advertising) and comments 'The audience has become
an active seeker of information rather than a passive receiver.'
This phenomenon means that people are receptive or curious
and anxious to be informed, which in turn favours the great
strength of PR in being educational and informative rather
than persuasive and action-seeking. When PR creates a state
of knowledge and understanding, or of credibility and repu-
tation, the advertising is preaching to the partly converted and
so the marketing strategy will be more decisive than it can

possibly be if advertising is used in a pioneer role.
REFERENCES
l. Frank Jefkins, Public Relations in World Marketing (London:
Crosby Lockwood & Sons, 1966)pp. 131-5.
2. Ibid.
Intertext, 1977}pp. 68-9.
4. Stephen T. Parkinson, 'Communication Theory and Market-
ing', in Marketing: Theory and Practice, ed. Michael J. Baker
(London: Macmillan, 1976) chap. 5.
Chapter 7
Distributor Relations
Distributors consist of (a) wholesalers, including cash-and-

carry warehouses; (b) agents, jobbers and factors; (c) brokers;
(d) exporters and importers; (e) franchisers, including special
bottlers and packers; and (f) retailers of various size and kind
including mail-order traders, shopkeepers, stallholders, itine-
rant salesmen and direct or door-to-door salesmen. This array
is presented so that we can consider a broad selection of dis-
tributor or trade relations techniques. If Britain is a nation of
shopkeepers, Nigeria is a nation of street traders, and the
United States is a nation of mail-order traders.
Three situations may occur. Sometimes the manufacturer or
supplier has a close link with distributors. For instance, a
window manufacturer may deal with a small number of
regional glass wholesalers. But another firm may go through
so many channels that it is remote from the eventual seller. A
third situation exists when the distributor's image of the sup-
plier scarcely extends beyond the visiting representative so that
the supplier suffers from a multiple image. He has as many
images as he has representatives.
FIVE KINDS OF DISTRIBUTOR RELATIONS
Distributor (trade or dealer) relations can be discussed under

the following five headings:
1. Improving dealer understanding of the supplier's organi-
sation.
2. Educating dealers about products and services so that
they are better informed or instructed salesmen/women.
3. Improving understanding of trade attitudes, opinions
and problems.
4. Helping dealers to become more proficient and profit-

able.
5. Improving the communication link with the ultimate
customer.
The sales representative may be unable to perform or may

not have time and opportunity to carry out these five tasks.
The length of the journey cycle, the brevity of his call, and con-
centration on the immediate selling task are likely to mean (a)
that dealer relations are not handled by the sales representative
and (b) that dealer relations are vital and call for a special
effort within the PR programme for the marketing depart-
ment. Better dealer relations can help to improve the staff re-
lations aspect of the sales force, boost the success rate of the
salesmen, and 'bridge the gap' between the supplier and cus-
tomer.
Obviously, many companies do engage in such PR activi-
ties, but the extent to which PR principles are applied may
make all the difference between a clumsy high-pressure pro-
motion that irritates and a sympathetic professional approach
that is appreciated. There are, for example, dealer magazines
which inform and advise and others which blatantly exhort the
dealer to stock and sell more goods. Honda News is a lively
dealer magazine, which catches the enthusiasm of a growing
business. This is a first-rate medium which loses its PR power,
its credibility, when subverted into a disguised sales promotion
weapon. Let us look more closely at these five forms of dis-
tributor relations.
1. Improving dealer understanding of the supplier's organisa-

tion may be necessary to establish faith, credibility and confi-
dence and so win loyalty. The company is more than a name on
a business card or invoice. It has premises and people. It has a
history, tradition and a policy, trading results and a future.
The dealer is part of this enterprise to the extent that as its
agent he profits by the sale of its products and benefits from its
success. If there were not manufacturers or producers there
would be no distributors. While it is true to say there may be
alternative suppliers, and that it is basically a mercenary rather
than an altruistic relationship, its success nevertheless depends
DISTRIBUTOR RELATIONS 89
on confidence. This confidence is a classic PR situation which
can fail to exist, or can be damaged or even destroyed, if the
supplier is careless about sustaining dealer comprehension of
his methods, policies and developments. There is a lot to be
said for the glib phrase 'familiarity breeds content'.
Antagonism has occurred because a supplier has introduced
something new without first consulting the trade, has with-
drawn a line in order to rationalis~ a range, or has adopted
high-pressure selling-in tactics. Too often it is assumed that the
trader is interested only in discounts and profits, in the music
of his cash register, forgetting that the shopkeeper also needs
to trust the supplier, to understand his marketing strategy, to
believe in his advertising policy, to be aware of his quality con-
trols and so on. The implication is that the distributor deserves
the supplier's respect, and will respond to courteous, generous
and intelligent treatment. Remember, PR is about behaviour.
2. Educating dealers about products and services enables

them to be more effective in advising customers and increasing
sales, whether it is how to use a brand of paint or fit spares to a
sewing-machine. This can produce a chain reaction of good-
will extending through and beyond the retailer to the manufac-
turer. Orders may be withheld for reasons unknown to the
salesman, simply because traders have not been invited to
express their opinions or difficulties.
Dealer relations mean involvement. When Coca-Cola
wanted to introduce a distinctive pack as long ago as 1916
their famous bottle with a bulge was the choice of distributors
who, while attending a bottlers convention, were shown a
selection ofdesigns. 1
The British company Sifbronze, by coincidence founded in
1916, had for years helped distributors to explain their weld-
ing techniques and products by means of a pocket-size guide
called Siftips which featured a character called Will the
Welder. More recently, technological changes in this trade
called for a new look and Tibbenham PR produced a new
dealer education leaflet, 20,000 copies being sent to dis-
tributors, and also to schools and colleges. Sitbronze were
well pleased with the results. This modest and inexpensive
dealer relations exercise updated the company image, created
goodwill and brought the company closer to its distributors.
Neither the sales force nor trade advertising could do this.
3. Dealers can be helped to become more efficient and profit-

able by offering them, for instance, guidance on how to
manage their accounts through a computer service, or how to
deal with legal and taxation problems. They can be advised on
how to train their staff, display their goods, advertise their
merchandise, wrap their sales and conduct PR on their own
account. Again, this will be developed when we consider media
for dealer relations.
4. Few things can be more difficult to establish than a com-

munications link between the customer and the manufacturer
through the intermediary of the retailer. Of course, some
manufacturers do not want to be bothered, preferring to rely
on a strong bond between the trader and his clientele. But
wiser suppliers stake their reputations on their names and
don't let either distributors or customers forget them. Danish
Bacon put their name on their product- as do the New Zea-
land meat producers- while Nestle have been quick to deny
they pack any 'own label' brands for supermarkets. Branding
is in itself a PR exercise for it involves standards, quality con-
trol and reputation. People will pay for the name. It is inter-
esting that stores have become very keen on the St Michael/
Winfield/ProvajKeynotejCo-op type of distinction, the
printed plastic carrier bag being an excellent PR device. To
some extent, many manufacturers have to compete with store
PR while at other times it is beneficial to share in its halo-
effect. An electrical product sold in an Electricity Board show-
room is believed to be independently tested and thoroughly
reliable.
The motor-car manufacturers have established a very posi-
tive customer link through their main dealer networks which
almost give the impression of being subsidiaries of the manu-
facturers. This is particularly striking in the case of Ford who
have been foremost in the use ofPR techniques from company
newspapers to VCRs (video cassette recorders).
Bowthorpe Development Project

Bowthorpe is one of the largest self-contained housing devel-
opments in the United Kingdom, occupying some 600 acres
near Norwich. Private owners obtained planning permission
at a public enquiry in 1972 but Norwich City Council acquired
the land at a boom price of £9.5m. To avoid row upon row of
bleak housing, the Council adopted three concepts: (i) three
separate villages would be built, each fully built and serviced
before the next was begun; (ii) a design guide would lay down
standards; and (iii) partly for financial reasons, the authority
would develop half the site, and the rest would be offered to de-
velopers, individual home builders and housing associations.
In 1977 the first village had its first several hundred residents.
In 1976, with building work in progress, the City Council
invited tenders from PR consultants. Tibbenhams PR were
appointed. They proposed a campaign which included audio-
visual material for use by members of the Bowthorpe team to
show to opinion-forming audiences across the city and county,
and a high quality brochure for distribution to audiences and
through libraries, estate agencies and information centres. A
modest press relations programme was aimed at the estate
agents through press, radio and TV. These distributors were
the key audience for the whole campaign.
The audio-visual material was recommended because while
the Bowthorpe planners, architects and engineers were pro-
fessionals they were not necessarily public speakers. Because
of the high price paid for the land, and for other reasons, the
subject was controversial, and talks were likely to be inter-
rupted. Tape-and-slide twin-carousel projection was the an-
swer. The programme was written so that slides could be
inserted as building progressed. The commentary was by Cliff
Michelmore. This exercise was being undertaken at the time of
writing, but within months the presentation had been seen by
hundreds of audiences. It had succeeded in not only gaining
the support of estate agents, the primary audience, but also
attracted the attention of commercial organisations and
private developers.
THE MEDIA OF DISTRIBUTOR RELATIONS
Although this is a division ofPR that is not always exploited as

fully as it should be there is an excellent variety of practical
media available. PR tactics can be enjoyed by all trades and
businesses if the merits of the different media are measured
carefully. There is no model dealer relations campaign.
1. Dealer magazines
These should not be confused with journals, published by
manufacturers, dealers or publishing houses, and either sold
or issued free to customers. The dealer magazine is aimed
specifically at the dealer. Some of the finest examples come
from the United States. (In the United Kingdom there is a ten-
dency to think of house magazines as being mainly for
employees.) The Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford,
Connecticut, first launched Protection in 1865, and it is Amer-
ica's, if not the world's, oldest company magazine. It helps
branch offices, agents, and brokers sell insurance and a popu-
lar service is the supply of reprints of articles which are then
distributed to prospects.
To be successful, a dealer magazine must be produced pro-
fessionally, that is, it should follow the principles of industrial
editing and not be a piece of sales literature masquerading as a
magazine. The editor must produce a journal of interest and
value to his readers and not merely a propaganda sheet for his
company. The mistake is sometimes made of having the in-
ternal magazine edited by the PRO and the external one edited
by the advertising manager or, worse still, by an advertising
agency. There are specialist consultants such as Weller King
who not only handled the press launch for Unigate's St Ivel
Gold but, as producers of Unigate Foods' dealer magazine
Shop Talk, used this as a vehicle for the dealer relations part
of the product launch. Mention has also been made of
Honda News, produced by Newman Thomson.
The job of the salesman is to sell goods. The job of the dealer
magazine is to help produce an environment in which it is
easier to sell goods. The subtle difference identifies the role and
valueofPR.
The dealer magazine can be used for the following PR pur-
poses:
(i) To keep the trade informed about the company.
(ii) To keep the trade informed about topics to do with the
industry.
(iii) To announce new developments, products, packs,
prices, trade terms, merchandising and advertising
campaigns.
(iv) To educate the trade about product uses, which dealers
can pass on to their customers.
(v) To help traders to display, demonstrate, promote and
sell the company's products. Contests may be run for
this purpose.
(vi) To help traders to run their businesses efficiently, for
example, with advice on management, maintenance,
safety and other techniques.
This medium suits some trades more than others, and may
be prohibitive for mass market products with thousands of
outlets. It is ideal for communicating with appointed dealers
and sole agents. Decision to run an external magazine for dea-
lers may depend on the efficiency of the trade press and the
volume of information that dealers can be expected to absorb.
Regular publication is necessary to maintain interest so that
readers look forward to receiving the next issue. They must
not regard the publication as something needlessly imposed
on them. All this depends on having sufficient worthwhile ma-
terial to sustain reader interest, and a paucity of material is
not overcome by printing big pictures, massive display lines,
and little text so that all semblance of a genuine journal is lost.
Like all PR work, editing, designing and producing a maga-
zine or newspaper does take time, and it may pay to put the
job out to a specialist consultant. Addresses can be obtained
from the British Association of Industrial Editors, 3, Locks
Yard, High Street, Sevenoaks, Kent TB13 lLT (telephone:
Seven oaks (0732) 59331 ).
2. Dealer training and education

The knowledgeable shop assistant creates confidence in the
article he or she is selling. It may be found that a product is
not moving solely because sales staff are misinformed, unin-
structed, prejudiced or just plain ignorant. Three examples can

be given of this.
One of the world's largest groups of variety stores began to
stock more sophisticated products. The central buyer was con-
vinced of the merits of these products, and they were adver-
tised on TV at attractive prices. But the shop assistants were
part-time women unused to operating or giving advice on such
products and customers were frustrated when they asked tech-
nical questions. Bad PR was generated, until the company
recruited and trained better staff.
Some years ago, when automatic timers were first intro-
duced on cookers, some gas showroom sales women had the
wrong idea that such devices were only useful for wives who
went out to work. So they asked prospective buyers if they
went out to work, and if they didn't they stopped trying to sell
them cookers fitted with timers! Dealer education was badly
needed.
There is a do-it-yourself product which is packed in a range
of can sizes. When customers asked for the product, shop as-
sistants tended to volunteer the small size. This often led to
complaints that the product had failed to do the job. Fortu-
nately, the manufacturer discovered what was happening and
produced a display chart, setting out the quantity required for
different jobs. Now the sales assistant was encouraged to ask
the customer what job had to be done so that he could advise
and sell the size which would produce satisfaction. The result
of this simple dealer education was increased sales of larger
packs, greater volume sales, and a lot of satisfied customers.
Everyone profited.
Special PR techniques
PR techniques available for dealer education include semin-
ars and courses, postal courses, audio-tapes, slides and video-
cassettes, documentary films, mobile exhibitions, training
manuals, external house journals, educational literature, wall
charts and other informative displays, works visits, and profi-
ciency diplomas for display following factory training.
3. Trade and technical press relations
In countries blessed with a lively trade press (for example, the
United States and the United Kingdom and, under increasing
British influence, the EEC) it is possible to communicate with
distributors through one or more weekly or monthly journals.
Even when circulations are poor, these papers should not be
ignored. The 'trade press' should be regarded as one of the
media of communication with distributors, fostered accord-
ingly, and supplied with company news, pictures and feature
articles. By providing material of genuine interest and value to
readers, it is possible for suppliers to strengthen the trade
press, this being advantageous to readers, publishers and sup-
pliers alike.
Because these journals usually have small staffs they will ap-
preciate professionally written material which can be printed
as it stands. And that rarity, a really interesting industrial
photograph, will enhance the appearance of the page. This
does not mean posing a dolly-bird against a cement mixer.
Good PR material will be printed irrespective of adver-
tisement support. The editor should want to print company
news because it helps to sell the paper, not as a favour to an ad-
vertiser. When an editor protests that he is constantly receiving
PR stories from a non-advertiser the truth is usually that the
releases are blatant puffs. Naturally, all publishers will try to
sell advertisement space, but the two should be kept apart.
The PR material should be publishable on its merits and the
advertisement space should be bought because it fits a cam-
paign.
Journalists can also be invited to press receptions to 'meet
the company' as well as when new products are launched, and
they will appreciate the opportunity to go behind the scenes
on facility visits. But all such events should justify the sacrifice
of their time. 'Jollies' and 'jaunts' are terms of abuse for over-
hospitable press events deficient in news.
4. Works/ store visits

These can be reciprocal, shop assistants visiting factories, and
factory workers visiting stockists of the goods they make.
How products are made and sold should be understood by the
personnel on both sides. Laura Ashley provide a good
example with their own dressmaking and retailing organisa-
tion, reckoning that good industrial relations in the company
owe much to the inutual visits enjoyed by their factory and
shop staff. Similarly, some products (for example, furniture
and bedding) are sold with better understanding if the sales as-
sistant has seen the actual manufacture. Over a period of two-
and-a-half years more than 200 personnel from the Japanese
Takashimaya departmental store group which sells Ercol fur-
niture through fourteen of its stores have been welcomed on
visits to the Ercol factory in Britain. 2 Conversely, British
agents for Japanese cars are invited to visit the factories in
Japan. The Thoresen car ferry example in Chapter 6 is relevant
to this section too.
5. Dealercontestsandawards
A popular way of arousing dealer interest is by running con-
tests with prizes for, say, window or in-store displays which
have mutual advantages. In the wine trade the winners may be
taken on visits to wine-growing areas abroad, while travel
agents may win flights and holidays. Other competitions may
be continuous, with top sales-of-the-month awards, as in the
motor trade. Contests are not limited to boosting immediate
sales and can stimulate closer relationships between traders
and suppliers.
To coincide with the RAJ Motorweekend Motorcycle Show
at the RAJ Exhibition Hall, Amsterdam, in March 1977,
Honda UK took their top fifty dealers and their ladies to the
Netherlands for the weekend. So well organised was this trip
that Geoffrey Gray-Forton made it a case study 3 which 'illus-
trates the difference between a "jolly" and a serious incentive
travel programme'.
Contests can be topical, as in the case of Duckham Oils'
offer of a thousand solid silver specially-struck Silver Jubilee
medallions to the winners of a trade contest requiring ident-
ification of the year of manufacture of twenty-six makes of car.
Often, there are bonus events and results and opportunities
for gatherings and social events. Coverage and tie-ins can be
arranged with the dealer journal, local newspapers, local radio
and the trade press, especially as the topic is usually pictorial
or about well-known personalities.
6. Dealers and exhibitions

Both public and trade shows have special PR opportunities.
Distributors can be sent free tickets and invited to the stand
where they can meet management and other top people in the
company, be offered hospitality and given samples or demon-
strations. A prototype may be on show and opinions can be
invited, or it may be a chance to have a preview of a product
before it is launched. Other exhibitors may use the event solely
as an occasion to meet their distributors, something which
they cannot otherwise do except through their field staff.
Other firms find it useful to take private exhibitions on tour,
using caravans, trailers, buses or specially built vehicles or
hiring rooms at hotels, building centres and other local venues.
At each stop on the tour, local dealers are invited to attend
demonstrations, film shows, talks and receptions.
Tibbenham's PR programme for Skateboards has already
been mentioned in the test-marketing section in Chapter 3, and
this new product was shown at the Harrogate Toy Fair in Jan-
uary 1977, a key event for the toy and sports trade buying in for
the spring and summer. A picture of the Skuda skateboard was
featured on the cover of the show's own newspaper. Press in-
terest was so great that in order to allow all the photographers
present to take individual pictures, model and skateboard had
to be taken out of the exhibition to a nearby park. Quite apart
from all the sales promotion efforts for dealers- posters, T-
shirts, and window stickers- the press interest impressed the
trade while the momentum of the exhibition PR exercise led to
further news coverage and feature articles in the sports and toy
trade journals.
7. Dealer conferences
Although primarily a sales promoting exercise, the dealer con-
ference has many PR aspects. The opportunity exists for the
trade to meet the company, and this is especially true with the
more intimate area or regional conference. Conferences can
also be called to deal with problems of the trade, and this can
be much more of a PR function since confrontation is invited.
But even when the object is to announce a sales campaign and

to demonstrate the advertising support it is good PR to explain
policy and plans and engage in frank discussion.
For instance, when the Geest Food Group first introduced
the rather unusual Texas Ruby Red grapefruit they did so with
a distributor's conference at the Inn on the Park, London,
where key buyers from retail chains and multiples, and whole-
salers from the produce markets were invited to learn about
the history and qualities of the fruit, Geest's marketing and
promotional plans, and to taste samplings prepared by the
home economist Joy Mach ell.
8. Dealers and advertising

Through the dealer magazine or newspaper, the trade press
and the dealer conference, traders can be told about forthcom-
ing advertising and special promotions. It can be a vital PR
task to gain the confidence of distributors by demonstrating
the advertising support in which the supplier has invested. The
advertising concerns not only the consumer. There must be ad-
equate distribution when there is response to advertising- it is
no use hoping stockists will order in response to demand- and
so this is also very much part of the customer relations aspect
of marketing which can be sullied if there has not been earlier
trade confidence in stocking up.
Like co-operative advertising, when manufacturers
contribute to a dealer's local advertising, there can also be co-
operative PR. When Elbeo produced a picture story about a
Bunny Girl wearing support tights the PR department of All-
ders department store obtained publication of the picture and
story in the 90,000 circulating free-sheet Croydon Midweek
Post with the added message 'they are available from Allders'
hosiery department'.
Here, then, is a combination of media through which the
company can communicate with distributors. In many mar-
keting strategies these activities may be normal. What is
suggested here is that if a planned dealer relations campaign is
adopted, as it may suit the particular company, the entire mar-
keting operation will be enhanced by a trade which is better
informed, has a more perfect understanding, and is brought
'closer' to the company. 'Closer' may mean closer than just
meeting the sales representative, or even the product manager,
merchandiser and the marketing chiefs. It could mean meet-
ing, and being aware of, management personalities, and also
other people, the backroom people of research and develop-
ment, design, quality control, hygiene and production, ware-
housing, dispatch and accounts.
While it is true that dealers are in business to sell and make a
profit for themselves, they will not do this solely on the basis of
buying cheap and selling dear. They must have confidence in
their suppliers, and PR is about trust, human relations, confi-
dence and reputation. It is about the sort of image traders have
of their suppliers. This could be crucial in trades where there
are several competing brands and dealers have to rationalise
their choices.
In his Shriram Award article 4 Sanat Lahiri, PR Consultant,
Tata Iron & Steel Co., tells of a special dealer relations prob-
lem requiring PR attention: 'In India, where periodical
shortages of many products occur, unscrupulous dealers have
been responsible for bringing disrepute to a company by sel-
ling its products at an inflated price. Therefore, not only must
the dealer be educated to be strictly above board in all his deal-
ings, but also to render after-sales service whenever necessary,
and provide customers with all the information they seek. The
dealer should be educated, and made aware of his social re-
sponsibilities through systematic training and education and
be given all possible help and support to sell products as
quickly and effectively as possible.'
But a word of warning: the marketer may see in this chapter
a trend towards socialising and hospitality. This should not be
overdone. The attempt to buy favours with lavish lunches, din-
ners and cocktail parties, gifts and 'facilities' can be coun-
ter-productive. There can be a cynical backlash from critical
traders who resent being 'got at' or 'bought', while others less
s·crupulous may simply exploit the opportunities. The real PR
lies in educating and informing, not in cajoling and influ-
encing. This is where the marketing manager has to recognise
the subtleties and limits ofPR, which is not to be confused with
sales promotion tactics. The wise marketer must know which
hat he is wearing. Hospitality should always stay within the
bounds of courtesy: excessive hospitality can be misunder-
stood and provoke suspicion and mistrust. When a famous
pharmaceutical company paid the hotel expenses of doctors

whom they invited to attend a conference to launch a new drug
there was national press criticism of this apparently unwar-
ranted generosity.
9. PR for brewers and pubs
Two examples of trade relations show how a PR
consultancy, Weller King, has serviced the brewery and pub
industries, organizing an event and producing a publication.
In November 1982, the Grand Final of the St George's
Taverns Best of Pub Entertainments Contests, run in
conjunction with Radio Essex; was held at The Lyceum,
London. The compere was Charlie Smithers, King Rat of the
Grand Order of Water Rats. The judges were Tony Trishaw,
Pattie Boulaye, Suzanne Vauncez, Peter Jackson and Dave
Rogers. The charity donation programme included an audio
cassette of the groups and entertainers. St George's Taverns
have pubs in North London, Essex, East London and parts
of the City of London.
The second was Truman Pub Profile 1982, published by
Truman Ltd. This was an original way of producing an
annual record in the form of a colourful 44-page A-4 size
magazine for and about their licensees. The publicans'
newspaper, Morning Advertiser, wrote: 'Truman licensees
have been given a new company magazine by the brewery,
but the glossy publication, ''Truman Pub Profile'', is not so
much a house newsletter as a celebration of British pubs and
the characters who run them.' 5
REFERENCES
I. The Coca-Cola Company (Atlanta, Ga: The Coca-Cola Com-
pany, 1974).
2. Britisn Successes in Japan (London: British Overseas Trade
Board, 1976).
3. Geoffrey Gray-Forton, 'Honda dealers go Dutch', Business
Travel Wor/d(June 1977).
4. Sanat Lahiri, 'Public Relations in India', Management Review
(Delhi Management Association, 1976); reprinted by the Calcutta
Chapter, Public Relations Society oflndia.
5. Morning Advertiser, 4 Dec 1982.
Chapter 8
Customer Relations
Customer relations extend beyond the normal press relations

activities of informing customers through the mass and
specialized media about new products, changes and improve-
ments, new uses, price changes, and other product news, some-
times called 'product publicity'. In this chapter we explore
customer relations that hinge on company behaviour and the
image produced in the mind of the consumer; on customer in-
struction and education resulting in greater satisfaction; and
on company response to customer-inspired communication.
Special and specially created media may be used, and com-
munication links will be established that are more precise and
disciplined than the distribution of news in the hope that it
may be used.
The three facets mentioned above may be blended together
in many customer relations situations and exercises, but the
following analysis will look at positive areas of action.
COMPLAINTS
Complaints are a form of feedback, and they can be welcome

or unwelcome, welcomed or unwelcomed. Invited criticism
can lead to perfected products and service, greater customer
satisfaction, and increased goodwill. Resisted criticism can
imply a churlish, selfish lack of consideration, and so breed
dissatisfaction and ill-will. A definite policy is necessary, and
reputations have been founded on or have foundered upon this
evidence of company behaviour.
When a shopkeeper refuses to exchange faulty goods and
says, 'Who do you think we are- Marks & Spencer?' she has
answered her own foolish question.

Gordon Wills has posed two anomalies and commented on
the dilemma of 'reverse communications' .1 He says: 'As com-
panies become larger ... they become more remote' and 'As
customers become increasingly well-educated and cosmo-
politan, they expect more from companies.' But then comes
the problem. 'Neither the process which has been adopted in
originally generating the transaction, nor the process of physi-
cally distributing a product, are equipped for reverse com-
munications. It has been estimated, for instance, that it costs
nine times as much to return a defective product as it does to
dispatch it in the first place. Small wonder, therefore, that for
low value items many manufacturers instruct all their agents to
exchange without question and scrap the offending pro-
duct. ... What we need to develop in our enterprises is the
least-cost method of affording the right level of service in
handling complaints.'
What this book proposes, however, is that PR-minded mar-
keting management can prevent ill-will by anticipating com-
plaint situations, that is by building in a fail-safe system as part
of the marketing strategy. There is no standard rule other than
this because the disappointing product or service could be an
expensive piece of equipment, a holiday abroad or a bank
account. The solution is frequently a better-made product -
the biggest PR factor about Japanese goods- or more search-
ing quality control instead of batch testing, but the more zea-
lous monitoring of complaints, and the actual seeking of
information about weaknesses can lead to a superior and more
satisfying product that still yields an economic price. Marks
and Spencer have pioneered this philosophy for decades and in
their exports they have been able to extend it to Europe and
even to Japan.
Package-tour and transportation operators, hoteliers and
caterers, learn much by asking patrons to complete ques-
tionnaires. The Automobile Association has surveyed
potential buyers of books to detect weaknesses in the product
or the marketing strategy. Product pre-testing, using con-
sumer panels or hall-testing, have their PR significance, as
does test-marketing. Gillette deliberately built PR into test-
marketing for a deodorant, using press relations and the local
CUSTOMER RELATIONS 103
press. 2 These research methods are good insurance against fu-
ture ill-will.
Many manufacturers, such as confectionery makers,
guarantee satisfaction and give the packer's number which
may be quoted in case of complaint. Ability to make a com-
plaint is the reverse communication desired by Wills. Makers
of technical products run service departments and local depots
or service agencies. Computer firms and others leasing equip-
ment and selling software or other supplies, must have back-
up services to maintain continuous operation. Atco remind
customers by post that their machines may need servicing, ap-
plying the principle that the lawnmower that works well pro-
vokes no complaints. Take this further to the opposite of
complaints and we have Rentokil's boast that 60 per cent of
their business comes from recommendations. This is a com-
pany imbued with PR from top to bottom, which spends less
on advertising than it might otherwise have to. This paid off
when the company went public, as described in Chapter 4.
GUARANTEES AND WARRANTIES
The Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973 'guarantees

the consumers' basic rights in every transaction for the pur-
chase of goods. They can no longer lose the rights which they
have under the Sale of Goods Act, 1893, no matter what may
be stated to the contrary in, say, a manufacturer's warranty' .3
Moreover, the goods must correspond to the description, be of
merchantable quality and be fit for the purpose.
Few things have caused more distress and distrust than the
so-called 'guarantees' of the past, and marketing management
still needs to appreciate the PR implications of meaningless
promises. Consumers may not always resort to law, and it is
poor marketing policy to exploit consumer inertia. A particu-
larly tricky area is the long-term guarantee, as when a firm
gives a twenty- or thirty-year guarantee on work done. What
happens if the firm disappears? Is there a trust fund, as in the
case of Rentokil guarantees? Such a promise can be a deceptive
marketing ploy in the hands of either the careless or the
unscrupulous.
The American glass-makers, Corning, have been com-

mended for dropping the doubtful words 'guarantee' and
'warranty' in favour of promise. That Dr Johnson said 'The
soul of an advertisement is promise, large promise' can be
taken as being derogatory of the very essence of good adver-
tising, as David Bernstein has insisted. 4 Corning are concerned
with the intelligibility of guarantees. 'In the 1960s- following
an opinion survey - Corning began preparing for a switch
from the words "guarantees" and "warranties" to "prom-
ises". It was found that homemakers were generally confused
by the legalese they found in guarantees and warranties. But
promises were something they understood.'' McCall's,
February 1966, said Corning's use of 'promise' was 'stunning
in its simplicity'. And it was cited in a US Senate Committee on
Commerce and Finance in 1975 which found 'that Corning
was the only warranty, of those from 51 companies, that was
free of any and all limitations'.
The Corning example is particularly interesting because
here is a company in which consumer-consciousness has been
a deliberate marketing policy. Pyrex brand products were first
guaranteed in 1917. Such firms start with reverse communi-
cations or recognise what is better known in PR parlance as
'two-way communication'. What Professor Wills' thesis really
implied was that poor marketing strategies tend to be one-way
communications affairs, all tongue and no ear.
PUBLIC CRITICISM
With so many consumer organisations, political parties,

government departments, newspaper investigators and TV
personalities looking for skulls to crack, marketing manage-
ment is foolhardy if, through greed, ineptitude or carelessness
it attracts suspicion, scrutiny, criticism and condemnation.
Consumerism has captured the sensationalism of the media
which now play Robin Hood and Joan of Arc on behalf of
increasingly articulate customers who are infuriated by in-
flation and the unacceptable face of capitalism which they see
represented by modern marketing. It is not good PR to be the
victim of Esther Rantzen, whose That's Life TV programme
delights twelve to fourteen million viewers or even of an inves-
tigation by a comparatively small-circulation newspaper like
The Guardian which is sometimes right.
Nor is it nice to be among the 150 defendants in the monthly
Cases Report issued free of charge by the Advertising Stan-
dards Authority. Special offers, competitions and other mer-
chandising exercises are liable to put one in the ASA dock
unless every detail is worried over in search of possible causes
for public complaint. For instance, very popular nowadays
are on-pack merchandising offers like those on boxes of
Swan Vestas matches, packs of Gold Block tobacco, and
Tate & Lyle sugar bags. The latter had a complaint upheld in
ASA Case Report 92 in 1982. 6 A set of garden hand-tools
were offered on promotional packs of sugar, and they were
described as being made of 'chromium plated stainless steel'.
The complainant pointed out that they could not be made
from stainless steel, because if they were they would not be
chromium-plated, nor would they be available at the offered
price. The excuse made by the promoters was that they had
repeated the description given them by the suppliers. Given
information must be checked!
The same ASA Report revealed that RHM Foods had
offered 'Any Kenwood Chef: £2 refund' on packs of
McDougalls flour during their 'Bake Electric Bonus'
promotion. 7 The complainant reported that when she tried to
use the voucher to buy a Kenwood Mini mixer
(approximately £17 .50) she was told the voucher applied only
to more expensive models (approximately £55 and £66).
Although the promoters explained that the voucher related
only to Kenwood models named 'Chef', they agreed to
feature precise model numbers in future promotions, 'in
order to prevent the possibility of any confusion on the part
of consumers'. It was an excellent idea but it had put
generations of goodwill at risk.
As a good model of what can be done to inspire employee
responsibility towards customers, there was the Care for the
Customer campaign8 of that supremely PR-conscious company
British Oxygen. This was devised to impress upon BOC staff,
especially those who did not have direct customer contact, that
customers were the life-blood of the company and that the atti-
tude of every single employee affected its customer relations. It

was more than a courtesy campaign. Emphasis was placed on
the need to satisfy customers in designing or making products,
delivering or selling them, compiling accounts or handling
telephone switchboards. Posters were supplied and divisions
organized their own campaigns. The staff newspaper Pennant
promoted the scheme and reported feedback so that ideas for
overcoming obstacles to good customer service were publi-
cized.
In Chapter 4 we dealt with corporate identity, and BOC has
blazoned its red half-chevrons throughout the world. On one
occasion, when a serious production mistake had produced
very unfavourable publicity, BOC did not make 'no comment'
or attempt to evade criticism, but made a forthright admission.
The PRO who is adept at climbing down greasy poles in a dis-
aster retrieves his company's reputation more quickly and ab-
solutely than the expert with a whitewash brush in search of a
favourable image.
INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES
Customers suffer during industrial disputes, and a curious if

unintentional muddle of communications occurred in London
in June 1977 when housewives found no milk on their door-
steps on the morning after the Queen's Silver Jubilee cel-
ebrations. This was in spite of that week's Unigate TV
commercial 'Call Me Arnold' which told happy housewives
that they would be able to identify their roundsman by the
christian name on his new badge. On 8 June, Arnold had
become a proper Charlie. Housewives turned to press, radio
and TV for an explanation of the missing milk but no news was
forthcoming. Only the supermarket staff were aware that there
was 'a milk strike'. Rum our had it that Arnold and his friends
wanted more money. Express Dairies made a commendably
rapid attempt to retrieve roundsmen's reputations by supply-
ing a leaflet with Thursday morning's milk. It read:
DEAR CUSTOMER,
I am sorry there was a breakdown in our milk delivery ser-
vice. There was a dispute in another department which
meant that no milk was sent to my depot for me to deliver. I
do assure you that I place great value on your custom and
trust that you will give me your continued support.
With my apologies.
YOUR EXPRESS MILKMAN.
Roundsmen are on commission, so this was also a staff re-

lations move! But good, swift customer relations work too,
and it is possible that a media announcement on the previous
day might have jeopardized industrial negotiations.
CUSTOMER SERVICE AND EDUCATION
Helping and teaching the customer are PR activities which lu-

bricate sales. People will buy the things they understand, ap-
preciate and can associate with. Most firms associated with
cookery, whether they make cookers, utensils or foodstuffs or
supply fuel, know the value of educating the market. So do the
makers of garden aids, office equipment, computers and hi-fi.
Let us consider some of the media and techniques that can be
used to this end.
The external house journal, aimed at a specific readership
and not issued to either a general readership or as a prestige
journal, can be a customer service in the same way as the in-
flight magazines supplied by airlines or those published by
hoteliers for their guests. It can also be a means of informing
and instructing users such as car owners, housewives, do-it-
yourself and other enthusiasts or hobbyists. Some, like Gib-
bons Stamp Monthly, enjoy bookstall sales. Alternatively,
Travel Link, produced by W. H. Smith Travel, is boldly dis-
played and offered free of charge in W. H. Smith's news-
agency shops.
A good example is Quest, 120,000 copies of which are pub-
lished five times a year by Duckhams Oils and distributed for
£1 a year to individual motor sport enthusiasts and customers.
Small bulk supplies also go to schools, the Forces and public
service departments. The journal also provides a springboard
for Duckhams Motorists Advisory Service. And if you run a
tug service, like Smit Sleepdienst of Rotterdam, and your cus-

tomers are scattered throughout the ports of the world, among
shipowners, shipbrokers and insurers, an excellent customer
relations medium - describing ocean-going tug services - is
their magazine Tug, printed in English.
Educational literature may include recipe leaflets and books,
advisory publications on the care of vehicles and domestic
appliances, pets and domestic animals, lawns or indoor plants,
and especially in the farming industry calendars with useful
month-by-month notes. Distribution of this type of literature
can be more generous than is possible with sponsored maga-
zines, and there can be give-aways at the point-of-sale,
although, a few years ago, Unigate Dairies' roundsmen
distributed house to house three million copies of their
Farmer's Wife News and Views.
Radio tapes can be made of interviews and dispatched to at
least twenty-five of the ILR and BBC stations. The Timber Re-
search Development Association has done this on the use of
wood, and interviews with authors of new books are circulated
by publishers. Universal News Services and PRfSystems both
offer radio tape services.
Exclusive signed feature articles (negotiated and com-
missioned, not written speculatively) and syndicated articles
(offered, not sent, to non-competing journals) are one of the
very best forms of market education. An article is not an ad-
vertisement, and it should not contain repetitive plugs. It
should be good enough to publish on its merits, and ac-
companying advertisement space should not be bought unless
it can do a proper advertising job. Apart from articles written
by the PRO or PR consultant, or by a company VIP, or
ghosted for a VIP, editors can be given ideas for articles which
can be written by staff writers. Large circulation journals
usually prefer to accept facilities and write their own material.
Preparation and publication of PR articles is a special tech-
nique which the author has explained elsewhere. 9
Documentary or industrial films can have both enter-
tainment and instructional value. Again, blatant plugs should
be avoided. But it is no use making a film about how to use a
sewing machine or use banking services and then hide it away
in a film library, hoping that people will borrow it. A film has
to be made to work and pay for itself. Audiences should be
invited, availability on loan should be publicized, and it should
be put on circuits of clubs and societies, and made part of ex-
hibition stand· attractions. Or it may be put on tour with a
mobile cinema. Other forms of audio-visual aids such as slide-
and-tape presentations and video cassettes, can also be used.
These techniques can be combined with talks, seminars, recep-
tions and private exhibitions so that consumers can meet the
company 'face-to-face'.
Some firms run permanent exhibition centres, showrooms
or information bureaux, and these may handle personal,
postal or telephone inquiries. Information bureaux may be lo-
cated within the PR department or at aPR consultancy. Pedi-
gree Petfoods have an Education Centre and a Budgerigar
Information Bureau. 10 The Education Centre was opened in
1970 and receives an average of 1500 inquiries a month. The
Budgerigar Information Bureau advises breeders, exhibitors
and pet owners. Since 1950, pet ownership surveys 11 have been
carried out by Pedigree Petfoods. Other manufacturers collab-
orate to provide joint information services such as those of the
Insulation Glazing Association and the National Cavity Insu-
lation Association.
Another important element in customer relations is the
supply, writing and design of instructions. A poorly instructed
user can become a malcontent. While this may be a part of
packaging it is also an after-sales service: simple, clear instruc-
tions can anticipate reverse communication and prevent que-
ries and complaints.
An unusual customer relations programme on behalf of the
British farmer was launched in May 1977 by Sir Henry Plumb,
President of the National Farmers' Union. The aim was to
provide consumers with the facts of food production straight
from the farmer. It was a joint venture between the NFU,
BOCM-Silcock, ICI, Massey-Ferguson (UK) Ltd and the
Milk Marketing Board. As a result of the press send-off, there
were reports such as one headlined Farmers in public relations
campaign 12 which opened by saying: 'British farmers, anxious
to dispel their reputation for being persistent grumblers, yes-
terday launched an unprecedented campaign to boost their
public image.' The campaign was spearheaded by a full-colour
twenty-page booklet Help Yourself, which was sent to more

than 20,000 opinion leaders. Quantities of an attractive full-
colour leaflet, explaining how British farmers contributed to
the domestic larder, were also produced. A national exhibit
was staged at public events during the summer. Facility visits
were organized to farms, and farmers gave talks to urban-
based organizations.
WORKS VISITS, OPEN DAYS

Taking people behind the scenes and Jetting them see how
things are made is not only interesting but confi-
dence-inspiring. Sam Black makes the apt suggestion 13 that
guides should 'visit other factories, as members of ordinary
visiting parties' to Jearn how or how not to deal with visitors.
Even police stations have had 'open days'!
SPONSORSHIP
Sponsorships, with their touch of philanthropic patronage, are
undertaken for reasons ranging from the relief of capitalist
conscience to downright marketing exploitation. But ability to
sponsor- that is, to have one's gifts accepted- is a mark of re-
pute. One can seldom buy reputation through generosity.
Consequently, disrepute can question the propriety of the
sponsorship and awkward questions have been posed about
the seemliness of the sponsorship of outdoor sports by ciga-
rette manufacturers. Thus, if one must be seen to have arrived,
if trophies and awards are to be of real value to the recipients, it
!s equally important that the sponsor is not seen to be depart-
mg.
The PR aspects of sponsorship, especially customer re-
lations, go far beyond the constant plugging of a name, as with
the Whitbread and Schweppes Gold Cups in horse-racing.
There can also be some curious if welcome sponsorships. Iron-
ically, it took the American company Gillette to rescue English
cricket from monotony, and the Scottish John Haig to aid
English club cricket, although the balance has been regained
by the Prudential Assurance One-Day Trophy matches with
touring sides.
Many sports, especially the lesser ones, might not survive
but for sponsors, even though the BBC took precautions
against LRjSanitas-sponsored Durex racing cars. Symphony
orchestras are notoriously impoverished, including the Acad-
emy of the BBC, and are grateful to patron companies. The
London Symphony Orchestra has received help since 1962.
'There is, they believe, a great awareness within the Orchestra
of the important contribution industry can make to the arts
and what the Orchestra can return to its sponsors in terms of
prestige and corporate presentation.' 14 The Midland Bank
has supported many things from horse trials championships 15
to the Royal Ballet in the 'Big Top' in Battersea Park.
During the 1980s the Midland Bank has sponsored opera
proms at Covent Garden. Yachting has attracted many
sponsors, from the Financial Times to Tate & Lyle.
The Association for the Business Sponsorship of the Arts
advises on arts sponsorship, and seeks media acknowledge-
ment of sponsors, while the Conservation Foundation links
conservation projects with sponsors. 16
Colgate is widely thought to be the biggest sponsorship
spender of them all, both in Britain and worldwide, says
Angela Chatburn. 17 In the same article, Vernon East, PR con-
sultant to Schweppes, who spend £200,000 a year on sponsor-
ship, was quoted as saying, 'We judge the success of an event
from the press cuttings and increased awareness among custo-
mers, in the context of the overall market.'
International sponsorship
Among the most enterprising international sponsors is
Coca-Cola, 18 who have helped to establish more than two
hundred Literary Centres in Mexico, helped finance low-cost
school textbooks in the Philippines, run national essay con-
tests in Spain, supported medical research in France, awarded
scholarships in Japan, sponsored a learn-to-swim scheme
through British schools, made a grant to the Sydney Human
Performance Laboratory, introduced basketball to Italian
youngsters, and in 1971 sponsored in Britain one of the world's
biggest swimming events.
ETHNIC MARKETS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
A rapidly developing area of customer relations in Britain has

become the ethnic market, coloured people representing at
least 2 per cent of the consumer market. As Julia Piper has
written: 'The influence of these ethnic groups, for example on
eating habits, has been increasingly obvious during the past
decade.' 19 Firms like Cadbury Typhoo, who manufacture
spicy sauces and powdered yam in Nigeria, researched the
possibilities of selling these products to Nigerians in Britain.
But a major PR consideration is that of language, large num-
bers of Pakistanis, for instance, being unable to speak or read
English. There is a growing ethnic press which should not be
overlooked, even if it means writing releases in Urdu and other
languages. Some firms advertise to these communities in their
own languages, as occurs on independent local radio stations
which broadcast Asian language programmes. Ethnic publi-
cations and radio programmes offer PR opportunities for
firms selling to these markets and sympathetic to the problems
immigrants may have in using or enjoying their products.
PRODUCT RECALL
As we have said before, PR is not always abou~ good news and
favourable mentions. Admission of a product failure requires
courage. When cracks appeared in a grain silo at at a new port
installation the contractors wanted to hush it up, but the port
authority PRO advised against this, arguing that the incident
and the repairs must be explained to the media. Hiding bad
news can be short-sighted, for the chances are that someone
will enlighten the media, and cover-ups are notoriously
wretched to excuse, as Watergate has proved.
Honesty is always a good policy in PR. Marketers will
doubtless prefer to avoid unpleasantness, but they have to
understand that it is not a perfect world and while admissions
can be forgiven deceptions cannot. In the long run both com-
pany and product reputations will gain from a readiness to
admit error and make amends. This is true even when, at first
sight, the implication of the bad news is that the product is
unreliable. Fortunately, the public memory is notoriously
short!
A classic case in product recall, using PR techniques, was
that of Corning Glass Works, makers of Pyrex products which
are as well-known in the United Kingdom as they are in the
United States. The PR project was handled by Harland
W. Warner, Corning's consumer programme manager, and
Arthur N. Martin, manager of product programmes. 20 The
problem lay with a group of 360,500 ten-cup Electromatic
coffee percolators. The glass-ceramic pot was liable to
separate from the stainless steel handle assembly, due to the
deterioration of an epoxy material. Customers complained,
and when the rate of return of defective E-121 0 models became
unacceptable Corning undertook a voluntary recall in June
1976. This also meant reporting the defect to the Consumer
Product Safety Commission which has the power to ban
unsafe products from the market. The decision was taken that
the company, and not the CPSC, should announce the recall,
and that the recall should be a model programme.
The communications task was complicated. The percolators
had been made in 1974, but while the total number of the batch
was known there were several million owners of E/ectromatic
percolators of similar design which had been made during the
ten years before and since the faulty batch. How could the
owners of the 360,500 defects be traced, identified and satis-
fied? This conundrum was passed to the PR department.
The objectives were to 'focus national attention on the
defect in the percolators, maintaining consumer and dealer
confidence in the company, and measuring results as the pro-
gramme progressed to determine whether additional com-
munications could be effective'.
First, the instructions on how to recognize a defective pot
were tested on a random sample of consumers. Corning were
not satisfied until 90 per cent of respondents could make a suc-
cessful identification after reading the instructions, and then
that wording was adopted. The research was conducted in an
opinion test centre visited by tourists from all over the United
States.
The city of Corning in New York State has a population of
16,000, is situated more than a hundred miles from New York.
and is not an ideal communications centre for a nationwide PR

programme. The initial story was issued via PR Newswire on a
Saturday (a good time to kill a story in the United Kingdom,
not so in the United States!) so that it received generous atten-
tion from weekend radio and TV. Over the weekend, press ma-
terial went out in the form of news releases (hand delivered to
agencies and to New York and Washington newspapers); mats
went to letterpress-printed journals and repro slicks (cam-
era-ready copy and photos) for offset-litho-printed journals; a
TV slide/script programme was syndicated, and radio tapes
and discs went to some 900 stations. The media relations
exercise was pursued over some months.
Special attention was paid to the nation's hundred or so
action line columnists who received letters .from Corning
explaining the recall strategy. Action line is a phenomenon of
the American press, and an expression of consumerism. These
reader service features are common in American newspapers,
and some of them like HELP-MATE and Consumer Contact
are syndicated to subscribing newspapers.zt General reader
queries are dealt with by these 'hot-line' columns, but they also
spotlight consumer relations conflicts and represent important
opinion leaders. 'An "Action" column editor can learn in a
short time which firms make a common practice of disregard-
ing the customer and can inform readers through the column',
says Candace Hollar. 22
The programme was given further support at the point of
sale, and the trade press was asked to encourage Corning's
90,000 stockists to display in-store notices about the recall, a
ticklish diplomatic move!
News Analysis Institute recorded that the programme had
achieved 181 million potential reader j audience exposures as
a result of 797 newspaper and magazine stories and 2403
radio and 321 television broadcasts in all fifty states. The
probable results were even higher since these estimates were
based on cuttings and other data fed back which was likely
to be incomplete.
Highlights of the important radio coverage were a discus-
sion of the recall by Paul Harvey over 653 ABC stations,
and mentions on the Helen Hall Show through 279 radio
outlets. 'Helen Hall's script pointed out that even the most
sophisticated equipment, like the robot arm of Viking 1 on
Mars, could break down, but that the important con-
sideration was what responsible manufacturers like Corning
were doing to rectify any product failure. ' 23
Corning conducted telephone and mail surveys of about a
thousand known owners of Corning percolators (not neces-
sarily the faulty models). The results showed that 44 per cent
were aware of the recall, and 90 per cent of these could cor-
rectly identify a defective percolator. Regarding the source of
their information, 56 per cent said the press, 17 per cent said
TV, 9 per cent said radio, 5 per cent said in-store displays, and
13 per cent said other sources, mostly word of mouth.
'Corning's decision to seek voluntary media co-operation
for projecting its message, rather than relying on advertising,
appeared fully justified by results. A larger and, equally im-
portant, more diverse audience was reached than would have
been possible with even a high-cost advertising campaign of
affordable dimensions. Corning publicity also achieved the
greater interest and credibility for which readerjviewer turns
to news, as contrasted to advertising. ' 24
The recall programme produced more than 3500 letters and
2995 phone calls, mostly requesting a recall bulletin. Enig-
matically, only 10 per cent of potentially defective pots were
returned. There are doubtless many reasons for non-return if
only that a percolator would not look defective and people
tend to be fatalistic! But as recalls go, even 10 per cent is prob-
ably a record, according to a Consumer Affairs government
official, although it did not satisfy Corning who persisted in
surveying the situation.
The project won much acclaim: Public Relations News rated
it one of the best PR programmes of 1976, Corning won its
third Over-100 Club award from Burrell's for a story netting
more than one hundred cuttings, and both S. John Byington,
chairman of the Consumer Products Safety Commission and
Miss Virginia Knauer, assistant to the President for consumer
affairs, made complimentary references to it in speeches and
articles.
There are two ways of dealing with the recall of a product. A
simple, honest announcement can be made to the media, ad-
mitting the fault and advising customers what to do, as we
have frequently seen in the case of motor-cars. The media

rightly accept these warnings as urgent news. Or advertisement
space can be taken.
Two examples of the latter can be quoted. One for National
Panasonic (UK) Ltd, which appeared in newspapers such as
The Guardian on 19 September 1977, had a heading WARN-
ING National Panasonic Portable Televisions/ Weir Power
Converters. The message included the words on no account use
the converter in bold face type and customers were urged to
contact their dealer as soon as possible. Thorn Domestic
Appliances (Electrical) Ltd took space in daily newspapers on
11 September, 1977 and in Sunday papers such as The Observer
on 25 September to state Important Announcement if you pur-
chased a Kenwood Cookpot Model A 135, and to ask customers
to return the incorrectly-wired lead. The Thorn feature had the
merit of also including a coupon. On 7 October a larger and
more urgent press advertisement was published by Thorn.
This time the headline read KENWOOD IMPORTANT
ANNOUNCEMENT Kenwood Cook Pot Model Al35 (Made in
W. Germany). The text began with the words 'There is a possi-
bility of an internal wiring fault .. .' The addresses of twenty
service branches were very clearly set out. It was a well-
produced advertisement with excellent typography.
There is clearly a major PR element in inserting recall adver-
tisements, and it is more a PR use of advertising than a sales
use.
Why then, should some firms adopt a general press relations
approach while others take advertisement space? Is it because
a press advertisement is more dramatic in appeal and more
specific in detail, especially when there is an element of danger?
Is it the company's endeavour to show that it has made the ulti-
mate effort, perhaps in case of an insurance claim if the fault
causes harm? Or is it a lack of understanding- by a marketing
department- of what PR methods of many kinds can achieve
in such circumstances? And how can a few advertisements
(lacking the essential advertising ingredient of repetition)
achieve the widespread coverage which would result from issu-
ing the story to all the relevant media? The Press Association
would surely have circulated such a story. All the local radio
stations would have picked it up. Was there a danger that PR
would have been too successful in announcing the faults in
these products? For such an exercise, advertising could actu-
ally be a half-hearted effort compared with PR.
The Kenwood and Panasonic recalls contained problems
different from the Corning one, while the advertising and PR
media and techniques are different in America and Britain.
The Kenwood recall was more urgent, and there was only a
small number of faulty Panasonic products. Kenwood did use
a combination of PR and advertising: Panasonic used adver-
tising in order to guarantee coverage. Corning had the advant-
age of America's 'hot-line' consumer protection columns, but
did not have the advantage of Britain's small number of
national circulation newspapers in which to advertise.
PUBLIC SERVICE ORGANISATIONS
Organisations which serve the general public, such as the Post

Office, public transport undertakings, and gas and electricity
suppliers, are often in the firing line of criticism. There can be
no question of 'keeping a low profile'. Their good services are
taken for granted and seldom praised, but faults and break-
downs are considered unforgiveable. Public services have
become something to bait and blame, the epitome of man-in-
the-street democracy. What fun when the boss of the Sweeney
gets eight years, or a fire engine driver gets fined for dangerous
driving, or the Government makes the Post Office pay back its
excessive profits! Customer relations therefore endure some-
thing of a porcupine role in the marketing strategies of public
services, intentionally profit-making or not.
The Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive takes
care of its customers, for example the Silver Jubilee visit by
the Queen required massive traffic diversions affecting
thirty-eight bus services on the days of the rehearsal and the
actual visit. News releases, bus posters, information panels,
and a route diversion map (3000 copies printed with supplies
to drivers and reproduction in the staff newspaper
Interchange) were involved in this PR exercise.
A public service PR programme of some magnitude,
extending over some ten years and still being pursued, is that
of the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway. It is very closely
related to the marketing of the system. It began with PR to

raise international finance, continued with PR efforts to
encourage contractors to complete on time, but in particular
the PR effort was directed at community relations during
construction, and education of the mainly Chinese
population on how to accept and use underground travel.
Much of the construction work took place beneath
congested and heavily populated areas. Community relations
programmes were based on each station, the people being
told what was going on and their anxieties being dealt with
personally. Hong Kong is crowded and has every mode of
transport, but inability to see where one was travelling was a
strange experience. The stations were designed with ticket
machines, and plastic tickets were returnable. Passengers
had to be taught a drill very different from using a taxi, bus,
tram or ferry. Without its highly successful PR programme
the building and operation of the MTR could well have been
disastrous.
While carrying out its programme of conversion to natural
gas, North Thames anticipated future needs and introduced a
phased reorganization as works were closed down. A central-
ized office was set up in each of the region's five areas - in
Staines, Willesden, Westminster, liford and Southend. The
need was to maintain good customer relations which might be
lost if customers resented the centralized offices which had
replaced the more local ones. North Thames adopted a 'per-
sonalised' approach in its dealings with customers. Leaflets
and booklets were published about the new offices, and these
featured the managers' names and photographs. Staff were
given special job training which emphasized the importance of
good customer relations. Local journalists were invited to visit
the offices and interview managers. There was also sustained
contact with local authorities and participation in their dis-
plays, exhibitions and town fairs, and talks were given to local
groups. Meanwhile, in each of the five area offices there is an
area PRO in addition to the PR Department at North Thames
headquarters at Staines.
REFERENCES
I. Gordon Wills, 'The Profitable Art of Customer Relations',
Marketing Forum (SepjOct 1971).
2. Frank Jefkins, Marketing and PR Media Planning (Oxford:
Pergamon Press, 1974) p. 27, quoted from article by
A. R. M. Sedgwick, Marketing Forum (Jan/Feb 1973).
3. Frank Jefkins, Advertising Today, 2nd ed. (Glasgow: Inter-
text, 1977) pp. 192-3.
4. David Bernstein, Creative Advertising (London: Longman,
1974)p. 192.
5. By Another Name ... Corning and Consumerism (Corning,
N.Y.: Corning Glass Works, n.d.).
6. ASA Cases Report 92 (London: Advertising Standards
Authority, Dec 1982).
7. Ibid.
8. Annual Report and Accounts 1972 (London: British Oxygen
Company, Feb 1973).
lntertext, 1977)chap. 19.
10. 'Pets and People', UK Press Gazette (9 May 1977).
11. Pets and the British (London: Pedigree Petfoods Education
Centre, 1977).
12. The Guardian, 26 May 1977.
13. Sam Black, Practical Public Relations, 4th ed. (London:
Pitman, 1976).
14. 'News and Views on Arts Sponsorship', Newsletter No.2
(London: IPR Arts Sponsorship Group, 1977).
15. Jefkins, op. cit., note 2, chap. 7.
16. 'Letting Public Relations Grow', Public Relations (Autumn
1982).
17. Angela Chat burn, 'Does Sponsorship Pay?', Campaign (24
June 1977).
18. The Coca-Cola Company (Atlanta, Ga: The Coca-Cola Com-
pany, 1974)pp. 84-6.
19. Julie Piper, 'Britain's Ethnic Markets', Marketing (Jan 1977).
20. Harland W. Warner and Arthur Martin, 'Product Recall: an
interesting case history', International Public Relations Association
Newsletter(London: Mar 1977).
21. 'N ationa! "action lines" names firms and brands', Editor and
Publisher(NewYork: 130ct 1973).
22. Candace Hollar, 'Action Line: editors act like detectives for
reader', Editor and Publisher(New York: 15 Sep 1973).
23. Your Clipping Analyst (Livingston, N.J.: Burrell's Press Clip-
ping Service, Jan 1977).
24. Ibid.
Chapter 9
PR and Exhibitions
Exhibitions are of two kinds: those containing individual

exhibitors who may be using the show for either advertising
and sales or PR purposes, and individual exhibitions which
again may serve either purpose. They may be public or private,
indoor or outdoor, static or mobile.
The division between advertising and PR shows is stressed
because it is sometimes wrongly claimed that all exhibitions
should be classed as PR. This stems from the advertising
agency habit of calling commission-paying media 'above-the-
line', and the rest 'below-the-line'. As a result, exhibitions,
sales promotion and PR are sometimes lumped together as
secondary activities, although as this book shows, PR is actu-
ally a bigger activity than advertising and is not limited to mar-
keting. The cost of advertising is deceptive for PR is ubiquitous
and its costs are borne by everyone and everything throughout
the organisation, only the professional PR aspects being bud-
geted.
Advertising exhibits certainly have a PR content. The face-
to-face confrontation, the viewing of prototypes, the meetings
with distributors and consumers, and the ability to sample and
criticise are all valuable forms of communication. Obviously,
exhibitions can generate knowledge, understanding, confi-
dence and goodwill. Within public and trade shows organisa-
tions may exhibit for either advertising or PR reasons, but the
purpose should be clearly defined. Many government depart-
ments, official bodies and trade associations take stands for
PR purposes. At agricultural shows the Midland Bank has
arranged film shows, while the Police often display their ser-
vices at the local outdoor events, and these are basically PR
uses of the exhibition. Then there are touring shows such as the
exhibition train which may halt in a bay at a station, and

people will be invited on board. The exhibition is therefore
either an advertising or a PR medium, but when the purpose
is promotional rather than educational it can still have a PR
element and its advertising value can be enhanced by PR.
PR AIDS FOR STANDS
Advertising exhibits can be supported by PR aids such as:

1. Films, film-loops, video-tapes, slide-and-tape shows,
and video-cassettes which can be shown on various
recorders and projectors, often helping to create
movement on an otherwise static stand.
2. Reprints of PR articles can be given away.
3. PR photographs can be blown up for display purposes.
4. News releases and captioned pictures can be kept on the
stand for handing to press visitors who may not have
visited the Press Room.
5. Invitations with admission tickets can be sent to dis-
tributors, customers and the media.
6. A press reception can be held on the stand if it carries a
newsworthy exhibit, or it may be arranged in a private
room at the exhibition centre.
7. Documentary films may be included in film shows run
for visitors by the exhibition organisers.
WORKING WITH THE EXHIBITION

PRESS OFFICER
Large exhibitions usually have a full-time press officer, smaller

ones may engage a part-time PR consultant. Immediately the
company PRO or PR consultant can be told of participation a
working partnership should be established between the exhibi-
tor's PRO and the exhibition PRO. Ideally, this should be at
least six months in advance so that advantage can be taken of
the preliminary PR information being circulated by the pro-
moters. Moreover, the effort and cost needs to be drafted into
the year's PR programme and budget.
PR AND EXHIBITIONS 123
Far too many exhibitors do no more than place news
releases in the Press Room, often as a last-minute stop-gap
measure. Others waste money on needless press kits, stuffed
with useless sales material. Journalists do not carry suitcases.
They want news on pieces of paper to pop in their pockets.
If the company PRO approaches the exhibition press officer
at the earliest possible moment he can supply information
which will help to promote the exhibition itself, thus encour-
aging a good attendance from which his company can benefit.
At this early stage the exhibitor may not know what he is going
to show, or may wish to be secretive, but this does not prevent
the supply of information about the company and what it does
which can be processed into advance information about the
event. For some international events, news releases in several
languages are sent out to the world press during the months
preceding the show. Exhibitors have everything to gain from
this service.
The name of the official opener can be learned, and there
may be some special reason why the stand will be of sufficient
interest to be included in the YIP's itinerary. It is useless hoping
the VIP will call at the stand because in a short tour only a
sample of stands can be fitted in. Itineraries are planned well in
advance and it pays to send invitations direct to the VIP, or to
his press officer, long before the event. This may require
writing to Buckingham Palace or 10 Downing Street, and a
letter from the company chairman would be diplomatic.
There will be previews in the trade press to which releases
and pictures can be supplied, and a special press day or pre-
view before the exhibition is opened to visitors, while the
press room needs to be stocked with releases and captioned
pictures. During the run of the show it may be possible to
issue further stories, perhaps making use of the UNS wire
service if that is available. Finally, journalists will review the
show in journals published afterwards.
Exhibitions, therefore, offer many opportunities for PR
activity. They are sources of news material and are visited by
reporters and broadcasters. They are topical and therefore
ideal for mention on the radio, and interviews with exhibi-
tors of new or unusually interesting products make good
broadcast material. Producers of TV programmes about
technical progress are known to visit exhibitions in search of

new material. The Central Office of Information and the
External Services of the BBC also seek out film, radio tape and
programme material at exhibition centres.
Press rooms are often small and overcrowded yet may have
to cater for up to 400 or so exhibitors. To compete and gain the
attention of press visitors only one piece of advice needs to be
given: provide as briefly as possible a first-class news story,
supported by an excellent captioned picture. Most press offi-
cers display numbered prints and keep stocks in a filing cabi-
net. From these few remarks it should be clear why elaborate
press kits are irrelevant. In fact, when the author acted as press
officer to many exhibitions at Olympia he banned press kits:
they were not taken by the press and it was too. much trouble
disposing of them at the close of the show.'
If the exhibition is held overseas, or if overseas press visitors
are expected, translated versions of releases and photo cap-
tions will be required. But there is no point in binding up a set
of foreign language releases: each national will take or be given
his own.
The press room should be visited from time to time through-
out the show to see whether supplies of pictures and releases
need to be replenished. At the close of the show the PRO
should call at the press room to collect any surplus material
that remains, and to thank the press officer for his help. The
PR side of an exhibition should be a co-operative effort be-
tween the promoters and the exhibitors.
REFERENCE
1. Frank Jefkins, Effective Press Relations and House Journal

Editing, 2nd ed. (Croydon: Frank Jefkins School of Public
Relations, 1980), p. 100.
Chapter 10
PR and International Marketing
Since overseas marketing is so vital to the national economy,

this could be one of the most important chapters in this book,
ranking alongside the key chapter on the marketing mix. As
will be seen, this chapter explores special communication
problems which are easily and frequently overlooked, and
challenges marketing management to be especially thoughtful
and imaginative.
This chapter is divided into two parts, the first dealing with
communications problems that may be encountered in various
parts of the world, and the second detailing some of the special
PR services available to the exporter and international mar-
keter.
Thorelli has said: 'Ultimately, the whole field of marketing
revolves around a single key question: how to adapt marketing
strategy to the prevailing .market conditions (i.e. market
structure' .1 Overseas communications are not global: each
single market has to be understood as a separate entity. There
is no such place as Africa, but there is North, South, East,
West and Central Africa, which in turn are superficial regions
embracing some fifty countries. Nigeria and Ghana are
almost neighbours yet the saying 'Nigerians know how to
make money but Ghanaians know how to spend it' suggests
something oftheir different life styles.
Whereas PR in Europe and North America is much con-
cerned with literate people and mass or sophisticated media,
PR in the Third World has much more to do with sociology
and anthropology. It is a sad criticism of marketing schemes
directed by our great international companies that they are
not always aware of the differences and problems in overseas
markets. An example which has become a favourite with
marketing lecturers in Nigeria is the luckless imported meat
substitute Metex which was advertised on TV in 1975 at a

time when meat was scarce. Wording on the packet claimed
that it would make a pound of meat, which was meaningless to
housewives who bought by the piece. Critical customers said it
was made of sawdust, didn't taste like meat, was too expensive
and that bush rats were cheaper. There had been no market re-
search and no test marketing, and Metex went into oblivion-
except as a quotable example of foolhardy marketing by
foreigners.
In the South, PR is based on using media and techniques
to convey messages to people of similar culture to ourselves.
But PR in developing countries is more complex. Close study
is necessary of the sociological and anthropological factors
of multi-ethnic, multi-language, multi-religion societies.
Nigeria has a population between eighty and one hundred
million and it is a vast country with more than sixty ethnic
groups and two hundred languages. In the Third World
television may exist, and it may reach mass market male
audiences by means of community viewing, but only
provided that there is electricity. In these countries electricity
is the key to television, not money. But each country is
different: in some even radio is scarce, while in others
rediffusion is common.
The main difference between the UK press and the press of
other industrial societies is twofold. First, because London has
been the capital for centuries and the country is compact with
good physical communications it is unusual in having a
national press centred on the capital. Other countries, either
because of size or historical amalgamation of states or king-
doms (for example, the United States and West Germany) have
many press centres and regional or city newspapers with no
fully national ones. Second, while the British press has its
subtle class readerships, the press in other industrial societies
may have business and popular papers, Protestant and Cath-
olic ones or those representing different languages. Outside
very large countries, there is not the diversity of trade and
specialist journals which gives press relations its strength in the
United Kingdom. Radio and television vary from country to
country, some having non-commercial or all-commercial
broadcasting.
PR AND INTERNATIONAL MARKETING 127
As Gordon Bolt says: 2 'The company image is all important
in EEC markets; it can be a marketing asset or liability'. Later,
Bolt points out: 'There is also the personality-building angle,
not only of the company itself, but also of executives and per-
sons that represent the company in various situations.' It can
therefore be a very important aspect of PR for international
marketing that company personnel attending events, arriving
on business trips, addressing functions and conferences,
contributing articles to journals and being interviewed on
radio and television (including the BBC External Services) are
fitted into a planned PR scheme.
A useful detailed guide to undertaking PR in Europe is
Philip Currah's book 3 which contains handy checklists on
various kinds of PR operation. He makes an important point
which emphasises the need for PR in international marketing:
'The key point to remember is that however big, important and

well-known the company is at home, it is unlikely to be any of
those things when it starts to trade abroad. It is more or less in the
position of a self-invited guest, there on sufferance, an unknown
quantity which cannot even be sure of being given the benefit of
any doubt. At home it may benefit from being known as a good
employer, a good citizen and a good neighbour: all these attri-
butes have to be deserved and earned afresh in each country. First
impressions are, of course, important and if a company can util-
ise its good reputation at home to help it get started in another
country there is certainly nothing wrong in that.
'For example, a company about to build a plant in a foreign
town might well find it worth inviting the mayor of the town to
visit the company's head office, meet the Chairman and members
of the board, tour the plant and see the kind of operation that will
be coming to his town. A press visit on similar lines may also be
appropriate. But these moves will not help if the company im-
mediately puts its foot in it in the new host town. '
Philip Currah gives excellent advice which reminds us of the

humility with which one should approach overseas marketing:
humility is not perhaps a normal marketing trait! In an earlier
book 4 the author set out the framework of PR advice to a com-
pany contemplating overseas business. One of the points was:
Conduct press relations modestly and tactfully, remembering

that few countries have such a comprehensive press as your own.
Do not boast and let your story contribute to the local advantage
whenever possible.
When an ecological approach to marketing is adopted the

ability of PR to contribute is that much stronger because the
company not only supplies what people need but is good at
supplying that need. The ecological approach has been devel-
oped by H. B. Thorelli 5 as an advance on both pro-
duction-orientated and customer-orientated marketing to the
point of 'taking into account both client needs and own re-
sources ... in a way that yields more meaningful conclusions
than those which might have been reached by either of the
older approaches.' Thorelli adds, 'It is also an approach to
theory by which we can improve our understanding of inter-
national marketing.' We would add that it provides ammuni-
tion for PR activities.
Sam Black, 6 with his experience of Joint Ventures, reiterates
the point about the inadequacy of export advertising unless the
market is well-informed, when he writes, 'The competition in
all overseas markets is so fierce that it is not sufficient to be
able to supply the right goods at the right price and to be able
to give reasonably good delivery. Direct advertising has an im-
portant part to play in support of overseas sales campaigns,
but its effect will be enhanced if public opinion in the territory
concerned is being cultivated by organised public relations
methods.'
Singapore is a market which demonstrates the need for PR
techniques to break down traditional prejudices. For example,
real gold and silver was thought to come only from China, so
that at first jewellery from Britain and Sweden was suspect.
Denim jeans, so popular in the United States and in Europe,
were at first thought to be garb fit only for labourers. When the
Japanese first introduced their Myojo instant noodle, Singa-
porean womenfolk were doubtful, and the marketing strategy
had to overcome this prejudice. Today Myojo has three local-
ly-made competitors but is the brand leader.
The marketing methods of a number of firms exporting to
the Third World have been attacked by both indiginous critics
and by international observers. The fault, however, has not
been simply that of over-zealous foreign marketers using high
pressure tactics to exploit gullible, unsophisticated people, but
of ignorance, misunderstanding, thoughtlessness, lack of
training and evasion of the most elementary PR resulting in
questionable, tragic or just plain silly marketing programmes.
The following section is based on a lecture given by the
author on PR courses in Enugu, Lagos and Kano in Nigeria,
and Accra, Ghana in 1976-82 (and also to Institute of
Marketing students in Croydon). It owed much to his
observations in seven African countries, to research
undertaken by the Institute of Mass Communications,
University of Lagos, to his attendance at the First All-Africa
Public Relations Conference in Nairobi in June 1975, and to
other acknowledged sources.
PROBLEMS OF COMMUNICATION WITH

ILLITERATES AND WITH MULTI-LANGUAGE,
MULTI-ETHNIC GROUPS
One of the biggest handicaps confronting any communicator

is accepting that other people are less familiar with our subject
than we are ourselves. In the United Kingdom communication
is not too difficult. Apart from newly arrived immigrants,
people speak one language, English, read this language, and
have a fairly large vocabulary. They are easily reached by both
mass and specialised media. In a developing country almost
everything is different. There are often many languages, illite-
racy is widespread, and traditional 'northern' media are
weak.
While great strides towards literacy are being made in Nige-
ria, Africa's richest state which contains about a quarter of the
continent's black population, and education ranges from the
commendable Universal Primary Education programme for
which 3 million children enrolled in 1976 to technical colleges,
secondary schools and twelve universities, illiteracy pre-
dominates in a mainly agricultural land of some 55 million
people.
As J. M. Kaul says, 7 'India with its vast size, its huge popu-
lation, its diversity of cultures, its variety of ethnic groups, its
wide gap in stages of development, its ancient civilisation with
an unbroken record for 4000 years, defies description in any-
thing but encyclopaedic dimensions'. Its 548 million people
represent 16 per cent of the world's population. On average
only 30 per cent are literate, 52.48 per cent in the towns, 23.7
per cent in the countryside where 80 per cent of the people live.
Female literacy is only 20 per cent for the whole of India, a sig-
nificant factor in marketing communications.
The presence of northern-style elitist media in urban areas
can be misleading, for as Jeremy Tunstall8 has stated, 'in
poorer African and Asian nations infusions of Western media
may indeed buttress and extend existing inequalities. Since
these imported media are consumed mainly by the urban and
relatively affluent, and since importing becomes a substitute
for providing cheap domestic media in most areas, inequality
may be increased'.
Jeremy Tunstall gives a graphic breakdown of class differ-
ences in relation to media in Africa and Asia. 'The ninety per
cent or so majority ... live in the country or in urban shanty
towns without electricity and with very low cash income. They
never see television, even those who can read cannot afford
regular reading matter .... A mobile cinema may come oc-
casionally, but many adults have never seen a film show. The
radio is more familiar, although many only hear the radio in a
neighbour's house or in a village shop; even then the radio may
lack a battery or need repairing, or reception from the distant
transmitter may be bad .... It may only be in the right lan-
guage for an hour or two a day; much of what is spoken cannot
... be understood. The ten per cent or so middle class ...
mainly live in or near a city, and are likely to have an electricity
supply. They may or may not see television- but the cinema
will be relatively familiar. These people are likely to speak
some English or one of the major national languages or both.
The adults may read a daily newspaper ... the family will
listen to the radio for many hours a week ... they will compre-
hend what they hear. The top one per cent or so ... in India
this amounts to six million people, but in an African country a
much smaller number. They will speak and read English -
using it even in the home. They may have television. They can
attend films easily .... They read a daily newspaper, probably
in English (or in India perhaps in a major regional language).
They listen to radio. They are exposed to quite a lot of adver-
tising material.'
l. Sound versus visual symbols

As J. C. Carothers9 has explained: 'the non-literate rural
population lives largely in a world of sound, in contrast to
western Europeans who live largely in a world of vision.
Sounds are in a sense dynamic things, or at least are always
indicators of dynamic things - of movements, events, activi-
ties, for while man is largely unprotected from the hazards of
life in the bush or veldt, he must be ever on the alert ....
Sounds lose much of their significance in western Europe,
where man often develops, and must develop, in general,
'seeing is believing'; for rural Africans reality seems to reside
far more in what is heard and what is said.'
In northern societies print and pictures are the common
media of marketing communications. We have long developed
beyond street cries, and television is watched rather than lis-
tened to. When the stranger visits developing countries he may
be astonished by the noise of people, and will often be dazzled
by colour. Sound and colour are important communication
factors.
2. Different kinds ofliteracy

Apart from the ability to read and write, most people's idea of
literacy, there is also visual and ora/literacy. Visual literacy is a
kind of mental photography, which northerners usually lack
when asked to give the police descriptions of suspects. Oral lit-
eracy is even more remarkable: an itinerant pavement trader in
Accra will literally act as a travelling postman when he returns
to his village to buy fresh stocks of handicrafts. His nead will
be filled with complex messages about wedding arrangements,
land deals and so fo.th. Yet the printed message on a label or
package will be meaningless to him.
3. Understanding pictures
This is a skill which has to be learned by rural people who are
unused to pictures. We are apt to see pictures as a whole in the
Gestalt fashion, but a person unfamiliar with pictures disects
them and then builds up the known parts to make a compre-
hensible whole. For easy understanding the vocabulary of the
picture must be kept as simple as possible, and this vocabulary
should consist of familiar objects.
R. R.N. Tuluhungwa 10 of UNICEF has pointed out that
'A picture or a photograph, lacking depth, is not the familiar
and natural way of looking at a cow or child; and unless the
viewers have had experience in looking at real people or things
in this dimension, they will not recognize them'. He added that
'no-one is born with the ability to read pictures any more than
he is born with the ability to read words'. It is another form of
literacy which we can easily take for granted since northern
children usually progress from picture books to ones com-
posed of words. Even our less-literate people 'read' strip car-
toon magazines, and of course television is mainly a mass
working class medium.
4. Visual perception time

This goes beyond the visual vocabulary block of unfamiliarity
to the state when new, strange objects are not seen quickly and
may be ignored. A familiarisation process is necessary, the
subject being repeated until it is accepted and recognised.
'Here', says Tuluhungwa, 'it will be useless to show a film in
which the pictures follow each other in rapid succession to
people who are not used to looking at photographs. ' 11
A splendid example of this is a short film scripted by Patrick
B. N. Davies, when ILO Expert in Marketing Management
in Lusaka. It demonstrates the virtues of an efficient Zam-
bian shopkeeper in contrast to those of an inefficient character
who keeps an untidy shop, gives poor service, and drinks the
profits, the few vital points being made repeatedly within a
simple plot. The film is called Better Shopkeeping, is in English
with seven Zambian language versions, and was produced by
the Zambian Information Service for the Management Devel-
opment and Advisory Services. It is used by ILO Geneva to
show newly recruited experts what can be achieved in this field.
With the popularity and facility of mobile cinemas in Third
World countries, it is therefore essential to keep PR and adver-
tising films short, simple, repetitive and restricted to familiar
themes and subjects. A lot of films produced in the West and
shown in these countries are too long and too complex.
5. Span ofconsciousness
Closely linked to the above is the length of time a person will
remain interested. It is similar to the number of words sen-
tences should contain for different classes of reader. Rudolph
Flesch 12 says, 'People don't really like to read things they can
just barely understand; they prefer reading matter they don't
even feel any effort in reading'. He says that people will accept
only eight words or less to a sentence in a comic but up to forty-
six if they are readers of academic journals. But this restriction
can also apply to the length of a film, and ten minutes might be
a long time for a film shown to a Third World audience,
whereas twenty minutes is the ideal length in the West.
6. Limits ofexperience
This applies to all forms of marketing communication- pack-
aging, advertising as well as PR media- and means that mes-
sages, including pictures, will be understood according to the
person's experience. For instance, in landlocked Zambia
hardly anyone, unless he has travelled abroad, will have seen
the sea. For that matter, when the Germans reached the Dutch
coast during the Second World War they were surprised that
they could not see England. Even in countries famed for their
wildlife the nationals may only see lions and elephants in a zoo.
After all, thanks to Hollywood, Europeans are more familiar
with New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco than they are
with many of the cities in their own countries. But an African
or Asiatic villager may never have seen a large city of any kind.
This limit of experience also applies to the ability to absorb
radio news, which warns us not to be over-optimistic about
radio penetrating every corner of a country. This can be a myth
which helps to overrate radio advertising in some countries.

Two African studies hear this out.
National Audience Surveys conducted for the Zambia
Broadcasting Services by Graham Mytton 13 at the Institute for
African Studies, University of Zambia, in 1970-1 revealed
some interesting aspects of radio broadcasting. More than 7
per cent of radio sets were found not to be working, more than
half the listeners to news bulletins could recall nothing of four
major news items, and foreign radio stations were often lis-
tened to for their music. One senses from the report that radio
is often enjoyed as a companionable noise, and while this is
probably true anywhere it particularly matches what has been
said already about sound symbols in developing countries.
Also, people in distant rural areas may be little interested in
events outside their parochial experience. Television does par-
tially compensate by providing visual participation, and com-
munity viewing has introduced a new dimension into
communications with unsophisticated people. Radio cannot
quite give the shared experience that is possible with TV, and
the frequency of TV transmission can do this better than, say,
the monthly visit of a mobile film unit.
Dr Frank Okwu Ugboajah of the University of Lagos offers
his theory of mass media dysfunction in the African environ-
ment.14 The model in Figure 10.1 is freely adapted from
Ugboajah's original and may be applied specifically to radio.
A mass medium like radio can fail to reach village audiences
because oflack of receivers (or working ones), poor reception,
irrelevant content, poor broadcasting personnel, bad timing,
wrong audience selection, and lack of feedback. (In Zambia
the Farm Forum programme is 15 well organised to overcome
dysfunction by the subsidised purchase of sets, the holding of
local listening groups, and the provision of a system of feed-
back from each group after each broadcast.)
The problem is that credence is not always given to a distant,
unknown informant, especially when there is already a system
of news bringing from a community leader by the traditional
gong-man or town crier.
However, the power of radio is not to be underestimated
when the message is relevant. In the bloodless Nigerian coup of
29 July 1975 the change of government was announced over
the radio early in the morning, and was repeated all day with
the request that the people should remain calm . Similarly, in
1976, over half a million Moroccans were halted in the Spanish
Sahara and brought back home by King Hassan's broadcast in
Arabic and French.
Audtence
FIG . 10.1 Umbrella model of mass media dysfunction demonstrating

that most of the audience is sheltered from the message which falls on or
drips on a peripheral audience only
7. Problems ofscale
While people who are unused to pictures are familiar with
reductions in size- since they see a person becoming smaller as
he moves further away - enlargement is incomprehensible to
them since in real life things do not expand beyond the normal,
except perhaps a lengthening shadow. So how do you explain a
picture of a mosquito, tsetse fly or house-fly six inches long to a
person who has never seen such a creature, except on your
package? Such thoughtless illustrations, produced by inter-
national chemical companies, have wrecked insect control
programmes, and cattle have died because African farmers
ignored advice and instructions simply because they had no
insects as huge as those printed on the leaflets, posters and
cans. R. R.N. Tuluhungwa 16 tells us that villagers failed to
take action against house-flies because the insect shown on a
poster was larger than those in their district.
As with the dysfunction factor of mass media, and the prob-
lem of limited experience, so with pictures that are unbelieva-
ble we are concerned with credibility. As the author has written
elsewhere, 17 What we say in speech, print, pictures, films, ex-

hibits or displays must be credible if it is to be believed and
trusted .... The credibility factor is all-important in PR.'
8. Colours
Tuluhungwa 18 also tells us that 'a familiar object given in an
unfamiliar colour will be unrecognisable'. Artists use colour
for effect. Some things - oranges, zebras, snakes, cheetahs -
are recognised by their colours or markings. A pink elephant
could be meaningless to an African or an Indian.
There are also colours that have national or religious signifi-
cance. Black is the colour of mourning in Europe, but white
has that meaning in the Far East. An African woman wearing
sombre-looking 'blacks' is merely protecting her colourful
dress underneath from dust and dirt. The red kente is an
imposing toga-like robe worn in Ghana. Green is the national
colour of both Nigeria and Ireland. African clothes tend to be
brilliantly colourful, like the plumage of their birds, and they
can be worn at any time, whereas Indian men commonly wear
white except when dressed for occasions. The liveries of
national airlines and postage stamp designs are often a clue to
colour preferences.
A sewing-machine manufacturer conducted research which
showed that there was a demand for his machine among the
Chinese in Singapore. But the machine failed to sell. It was
found that the Chinese objected to the colour, which was blue.
This colour symbolised 'death and mourning'. When the
machines were resprayed in other colours they sold.
Such things need to be taken into account.when designing
products, packaging and promotional material for overseas
markets. Standardised get-ups and symbols may suit Cola-
Cola but not other products. For instance, the gaudy colours
of Japanese motor-cycles have great appeal in Africa,
although a white Mercedes is the supreme status symbol.
However, a white Peugeot, being both powerful and common,
is liable to be stolen by bank robbers!
9. Multi-language problems
When a country has one language it is easy to develop the
mass media, and much more economical and profitable to do
so. But vernacular newspapers, where they exist at all, will
have comparatively small circulations. The handicap is not
overcome by broadcasting in different languages since each
language can enjoy only a proportion ofthe airtime on a given
wavelength, although regional stations can limit themselves to
fewer languages. By means of more than fifty relay stations
local people are involved in local programmes in Ghana.
One has to be careful to appreciate which languages have to
be used in certain countries. The old colonial languages such as
English, French, Portuguese, Dutch or Spanish may be the
national language, as in Singapore where English is the
national language, whereas in neighbouring Malaysia English
is merely the language of the educated elite and the national
language is Bahasa Malaysia. But in Singapore, which has a
high literacy rate and, due to its educational policy, 80 per cent
of the population speak English, it is still necessary to subtitle
advertisements such as posters and dub TV commercials in
Chinese dialects. In Malaysia, with its diverse and far-flung
peoples, various Indian, Chinese and aboriginal languages
may have to be used. A huge subcontinent like India has thir-
teen languages, while English and KiSwahili are the principal
ones in Kenya which also has many tribal languages. It is easy
to think of South Africa as having only two languages, Afri-
k:aaner and English, but there are eight black nations together
with Malays, Indians, Chinese and Japanese plus French,
German, Portuguese and other European descendants and
communities who may speak their own language only or also
speak English. The problem in South Africa is that it is a
poorly integrated multi-racial country, not that there is a black
versus white problem. One black may be as different from
another as a Greek and a Swede, unlike the North American
negro who shares a similar culture, and one similar to whites.
And even in the United States, which for a long time de-
manded that English be the accepted national language, the
influx of Spanish-speaking peoples in recent years has meant
the acceptance and introduction of communications in two
languages.
This sketch of multi-language problems is given because in
international marketing it is one of the biggest hurdles. Not so
far away, in Belgium and Switzerland, we have difficult

enough examples, but when there are also literacy and racial
complications the communication barrier is intensified.
Further comment will be made when dealing with overseas PR
services and translations.
l 0. Word and name problems

Coca-Cola must be among the most fortunate of inter-
nationally marketed products with a name that almost trans-
lates into Chinese as 'pleasant and soothing'. The word 'stick'
has a great many uses as both verb and noun, and in less-
privileged countries cigarettes may be bought by the single
stick. A Japanese firm introduced a cosmetic with a name
which was offensive to Hokkien Chinese in Singapore, Malay-
sia and Taiwan.
Zube, of 'Suck a Zube' fame, is a vulgar Arab word for the
male genitalia, and the product had to be renamed for the
Arab markeU 9 Nessim Dawood, an Iraqi with a London
office, runs a translation service to help British exporters to
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Emirates and Oman. He eliminates
unintended indecency, overemphasis on sex and women's lib,
and irrelevant puns or idiomatic expressions.
There is also a slightly puzzling language time-lag, and one
finds almost forgotten slang being used as current idiom. A
Nigerian newspaper may carry a headline such as 'Bad Eggs
Arrested' while a Ghanaian journalist will refer to 'booze'
rather than 'drink' in a news report. As an examiner, the
author has got used to accepting 'West African slang' as
everyday language rather than bad English, and it is not to be
confused with pidgin-English. In India and Singapore, poster
advertising is called 'postal' advertising (which means direct
mail in the United Kingdom), while in the United States it is
known as 'billboard' advertising (whereas in the United King-
dom a billboard is a small double-crown portable display
board).
11. Extent ofliteracy

Just how literate are literates? Because urban populations sup-
port English language newspapers it is possible to be overopti-
mistic about the extent of vocabularies. While there will be a
minority of highly educated people, including those educated
overseas, vocabularies can be fairly rudimentary as experience
as an examiner shows. Seemingly well-educated students will
leapfrog words which are commonplace to Europeans and so
penalise themselves by misunderstanding apparently unambi-
guous questions. This implies great responsibility for those
who write any sort of marketing message- especially instruc-
tions on product use - which will be read outside the United
Kingdom. Even greater care has to be taken over words which
have lay and jargon meanings, or more than one meaning.
Some comments will follow on differences between English
and American English since this can be a problem when
exporting to North America, but it also concerns British firms
competing with Americans in world markets.
12. Deceptive tactics

Some 15,000 articles have been published on the Baby Milk
ScandaF0 21 22 which was sparked off by War On Want's The
Baby Killer. The revelations did great harm to the corporate
images at home and overseas of a number of companies. To
their credit, British firms did get together to see how they could
handle their Third World marketing and PR more respon-
sibly. In the United States, church agencies which own stock in
America's milk companies have campaigned for more respon-
sible marketing campaigns, 23 this being co-ordinated by the
Inter-Faith Center on Corporate Responsibility. Borden &
Abbott Laboratories consequently agreed 'to take its saleswo-
men out of nurses' uniforms and to refer to them as "company
representatives" rather than "mothercraft nurses". The sales-
woman are now prohibited from making visits to families.'
Here was an abominable example of pseudo-PR tactics and
the boomerang effect was well deserved. Abbott also agreed to
spend nearly $100,000 to develop and place a series of radio
spot announcements promoting the value of breast-feeding
and to package more detailed instructions for use of the milk
powders inside the tins. Borden have also withdrawn adver-
tising material which tended to discourage mothers in Third
World countries from breast-feeding. All rather late in the
day! Years ago the Zambian state milk company labelled their
milk powder with suitable advice and precautions.
The difficulties provoked by the milk companies were ones
that could have been avoided had the market been researched,
had the customers been understood, and had marketing man-
agement been PR-minded. As a result of short-sighted market-
ing, Third World mothers assumed it was better not to breast-
feed their babies; they were seldom able to read the instruc-
tions; many had no facilities for sterilisation or refrigeration;
because the product was expensive, they eked it out so that
babies suffered from malnutrition; and some companies
tended to over-sell by merchandising schemes.
AMERICAN ENGLISH
A British firm exporting to North America needs to translate
sales literature and PR stories into American, otherwise the
English will be regarded as 'quaint'. Conversely, an American
company selling to Commonwealth countries needs to be care-
ful to use British expressions as understood in those countries.
A few simple examples of words which differ between North
America and the United Kingdom are elevator (lift), cookie
(biscuit), sidewalk (pavement), automobile (motor-car),
streetcar (tram), vice-president (director), candy (sweet), gas
(petrol), tub (bath), shift (change), fire-truck (fire-engine),
apartment (flat), subway (underground), real estate (prop-
erty) fall (Autumn), and homicide (murder). The point to
remember is that while the British are familiar with many of
these expressions as a result of American films, Americans
may be rather less familiar with the British expressions.
Within the context of this book we have the American
Edward Bernays calling one of his books Engineering Consent,
which is an acceptable term in the United States, but the con-
notations can be sinister to an Englishman who takes 'engin-
eering' to mean contriving in an underhand manner!
There are also spelling differences such as disk for disc, pro-
gram for programme, and the loss of the 'u' from words such
as labour, favour, colour and valour. Americans also have the
sensible 'er' instead or 're' spelling in words such as center,
simple spellings such as 'tire' for tyre, and more phonetic
spellings like 'skeptic'.
Getting the words right is sufficient for literary material but
for audio and radio tapes and film soundtracks authentic
pronunciations are necessary for words with identical spellings
such as garage and tomato. Continental firms are careful to
make PR films with British and American soundtracks.
ORGANISING INTERNATIONAL PR
A great deal of overseas PR can be undertaken from the
United Kingdom, or through agencies existing in the United
Kingdom. If well-established abroad, a company can also use
its own strategically placed PR staff and/ or engage local agen-
cies. The means of conducting overseas PR from the United
Kingdom are extensive, and could be exploited much more
than they are.
PUBLICATIONS
Benn,s Press Directory, Vol. 2, Overseas. Contains editorial
information about the press of 195 countries, together with
details of Embassies, High Commissions, national news
agencies, broadcasting organisations and UK-based foreign
correspondents. Published by Benn Business Information
Services Ltd, Union House, Eridge Road, Tunbridge Wells,
Kent TN4 8HF. (Established 1846 as Newspaper Press
Directory.)
Hollis Press & Public Relations Annual. International infor-
mation includes addresses of overseas PR Institutes; PR con-
sultancies in some sixty countries; international information
sources in the United Kingdom; overseas news agencies, press
cutting services, and translators. Published annually by Hollis
Directories, Contact House, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middx
TW165HG.
PR Planner Europe. Giving the editorial requirements of the
trade, technical, business and farming press of fourteen Euro-
pean countries, listed separately for each country and subdi-
vided into 164 market groups and subgroups, the PR Planner
is in ring-binder format so that updated replacement pages can
be inserted. Published by Media Publishing Ltd, Hale House,
290-296Green Lanes, London N13 5TP.
ORGANISATIONS
CERP (European Federation of Public Relations), 12 Avenue
du Rond-Point, B-1330 Rixensart, Belgium. Represents PR
institutes, consultancies and individuals in thirteen European
countries. The British group may be reached through the IPR

in London.
Institute of Public Relations, 84-86 Rosebery Avenue,
London EC1. Includes a number of overseas members, and
maintains contact with overseas PR Institutes and
Associations. It has an International Committee.
International Association of Business Communicators, 870
Market Street, Suite 940, San Francisco, Ca 94102.
Worldwide professional society of more than 10,000
members, elected or accredited by examination. (UK
chapter, 143 Valley Road, Chorleywood, Rickmansworth,
Herts WD3 4BN.)
International Public Relations Association, 49 Wellington
Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8BN, has elected
senior practitioner members in sixty countries.
SERVICES
Central Office of Information, Office of the Controller (Over-
seas) Hercules Road, London SEl 7DU. The COl is interested
in news, pictures, documentary films and other PR material
which 'typify the ingenuity, experience and 'forward' look of
British industry'. Typically newsworthy material required by
the COl for distribution overseas might be information about
the launching of a new product, an interesting personality
going on an overseas sales tour, or a large, first or unusual
export order. Material can be sent to the COl's regional offices
or direct to London.
Every year some 15,000 news stories are sent by radio,
teletype, Telex and airmail to government information officers
overseas. As a result, some 30,000 press cuttings a year are dis-
tributed to 6000 British firms. Also, several thousand pro-
grammes are recorded by the COl for broadcast by overseas
radio stations. (This is different from the BBC External Ser-
vices which are broadcast from London.) Some 300,000 prints
and 50,000 printing blocks of PR pictures are also sent to the
world's press. In addition, more than 1000 industrial stories
are featured in COl television and cinema newsreel services.
The COl both produces and distributes documentary films
(provided they are free of advertising), and when making a PR
film it is a sensible plan to discuss its content and the possi-
bilities for free overseas distribution with the COl before
shooting begins and preferably at the treatment stage. Because
these films are likely to be shown on TV, the COl acquires
overseas rights. Some eighty films a year are acquired, and 140
countries are on the distribution list. They may be dubbed in
the foreign languages of the target areas.
These excellent services are there for the asking, and if good,
factual, newsy material is supplied it will be well used by the
COl and appreciated by overseas media. The COl also wel-
comes visitors to see for themselves the services available.
When the author was directing a London PR consultancy, no
week passed when he did not use one or other of the CO I services.
BBC External Services, Export Liaison Unit, Bush House,
London WC2B 4PH. 'If you have an interesting story about
British inventions and successes or outstanding export orders,
why not tell the BBC about it .... It's a service that no money
can buy- AND IT'S FREE.' 2' The BBC asks only one thing:
be prepared to handle the inquiries which may result. The BBC
broadcasts in thirty-eight languages - very useful if a firm
wishes to inform a particular part of the world. There is also
the World Service in English. Typical programmes which fea-
ture PR stories are Science In Action, Discovery, The Farming
World, Business and Industry, and New Ideas. Stories must be
fully detailed and supplied in good time. An export order
story, for instance, should state details of dispatch and should
reach Bush House well in advance of consignment so that the
broadcast may be given topicality.
British Overseas Trade Board, Publicity Unit, 1 Victoria
Street, London SW 1H OET. While the BOTB is busily organis-
ing some 300 Joint Ventures a year, and preparing British Pav-
ilions, an annual All-British Exhibition, store promotions and
seminars all over the world, its London-based publicity unit is
planning and co-ordinating international news coverage for
these events and the participating firms through the world net-
work of information officers in British Embassies and High
Commissions. Very successful was the British Export
Marketing Centre in Tokyo, operated from 1973 until its
closure in June 1983. The Centre sought to promote British
business in Japan, and 1500 British firms participated in
about ninety exhibitions and thirty seminar programmes.

The Centre also provided a forum for firms new to the
Japanese market. Now that there are so many Japanese
specialized exhibitions the BOTB provides instead special
terms of support, exclusive to the Japanese market, for
group participants in trade fairs in Japan. Every month the
BOTB publishes British Export Contracts which aim 'to keep
those connected with overseas trade development in touch
with recent export activity'. Copies are obtainable free of
charge from the address above. As with the COl and the
BBC External Services, the BOTB publicity unit provides a
free PR service for international marketers.
Venues for the holding of PR receptions, exhibitions, semin-
ars, film and slide shows can be organised by local staff or
agents but in their absence arrangements may have to be made
from the home base. The BOTB can advise, through their in-
formation officers in overseas posts. Or one can deal with an
international hotel group which has a UK office such as Crest
Hotels Europe, Marketing Department, Dorland House, 388
High Road, Wembley, Middlesex HH9 6UG, who handle
reservations for their hotels in Austria, Belgium, France,
Germany, Holland and Italy. Holiday Inns, Hilton and
Sheraton Hotels have similar services covering venues in
many parts of the world.
SPECIAL INTERNATIONAL PR SERVICES

Translations
'Whatever the product, whatever the outlet, whatever the mar-
keting arrangement being considered, it is necessary to intro-
duce British products through well-prepared trade literature in
the four main languages of the Community- Dutch, French,
German and Italian. The initial cost may be greater, but four-
language preparation will have a longer-term value in a Com-
munity sense. ' 26
Advice on translations may be obtained from the Foreign
Languages Section of the Central Office of Information,
Atlantic House, Holborn Viaduct, London EC1N 2PD (01-
583-5744), or from the Institute of Linguists, 24a Highbury
Grove, London N5 (01-359-7445).
Adrian Seligman has written a delightfully lighthearted
booklet 27 in which he gives examples of the pitfalls encoun-
tered when translating idiomatic language and technical
jargon. He reveals that 'successful translations are seldom, if
ever, the work of single translators. At EIBIS we never use less
than three on any text- working independently, checking each
other'. EIBIS have a seven-stage checking system which begins
with editing the English text to eliminate vague or ambiguous
phrases, or verbal play which might confuse or mislead a trans-
lator.
EIBIS International Ltd, 3 Johnson's Court, Fleet Street,
London EC4 (01-353 5151). The translation service men-
tioned above is only part of the EIBIS service. 'EIBIS special-
ises in producing, translating and issuing articles on any
industrial subject. They are sent to trade and technical maga-
zines and newspapers all over the world. We record infor-
mation on the tastes and needs of more than 26,000
publications, subdivided into 325 categories and seven mar-
keting areas. This information is continuously updated by
direct correspondence with editors.' 28 In addition, the problem
of a dearth of technical media, and the difficulty in obtaining
accurate idiomatic translations of technical copy in, say,
Arabic, Farsi or Japanese, have been overcome by sending the
first translation to a second translator to translate it back into
English so that the two English versions can be compared. Any
differences are corrected by a third translator.
In countries, such as those of the Middle East and North
Africa and Iran, where suitable journals may not exist, articles
and pictures are mailed direct to appropriate manufacturers,
importers, government departments and official bodies.
EIBIS handle news stories of about 700 words. Articles of
from 1000 to 2500 words, accompanied by pictures, are offered
to editors and acceptance is between 60-80 per cent. For
example, a telecommunication s article in five languages was
offered to twenty countries and was published in fourteen, a
pump article also in five languages was offered to forty coun-
tries and achieved twenty-one acceptances, and a cargo-
handling feature in four languages was published in six out of
the seven prospective countries. Feature articles are marketed,
not given hopeful broadcast mailings.
Press Information & Mailing Services Ltd (PIMS)
International, Greencoat House, Francis Street, London

SWlP lDH. Well known for their news release production
and distribution service in the United Kingdom also provide
a North American service through their association with PR
Aids Inc. of New York. This means that mailing lists can be
selected from continually updated lists of 3500 titles and
100,000 editors and writers in the United States and Canada.
A similar European service is also offered covering fourteen
countries, with a first-class translation facility. PIMS can
also prepare lists and mail stories to media anywhere in the
world. Media consultants are retained overseas to provide
PIMS with monthly reports on changes.
Press cuttings
Securing feedback from overseas press relations operations
may seem almost impossible, but services have been greatly
improved in recent years. Hollis Press and Public Relations
Annuaf29 lists press cutting agencies in twenty-seven countries.
The Federation Internationale des Bureaux d'Extraits de
Presse is at Streullstrasse 19, CH 8030 ZUrich. The Central
Office of Information supplies 6000 firms with 30,000 cuttings
annually, resulting from its efforts. Three international ser-
vices, based on London, are worth mentioning separately.
Romeike & Curtice, Hale House, 290-296 Green Lanes,
London N13 5TP (part of the Media Information Group
which publishes PR-Pianner Europe and PRj Monitor), offers
an international press cutting service covering thirty-three
countries. This could be an essential feedback service for
marketers, and an example will be found in Chapter 12. It is
a means of discovering what developments are taking place,
what relevant legislation now exists, how consumer
protection is affecting overseas markets, what is being said
about competitors, and other topics vital to overseas
marketing plans.
Universal News Services, Communications House, Gough
Square, Fleet Street, London EC4P 4DP, is best known for its
wire service to the UK press and tape services to British radio
stations. UNS offers newswire and airmail services for PR sto-
ries destined overseas, inclusive of translation. Four services
may be described briefly. By a combination of private teleprin-
ter networks and d'irect access to the newsrooms of major jour-
nals, translated stories can be transmitted throughout Europe.
There is also a Common Market Pack. To cover seventeen
Middle East countries, including government offices and com-
mercial concerns, stories are transmitted to Cairo where they
are translated into Arabic and redistributed. The OPEC pack
covers the Middle East, North Africa, Ecuador and Venezuela,
Nigeria and Indonesia. The Pathfinder service obtains local
coverage to coincide with the visits of top executives. And the
trade and technical service mails stories to the client's choice
from 23,000 journals, the English version accompanying every
translation.
From this necessarily brief and incomplete summary it will
be seen that opportunities abound for PR in support of inter-
national marketing.
Japan is an exceptionally interesting country to consider in
the context of this book. It has a high standard of living and
has to satisfy the home market before exporting in order to pay
for the imported raw materials necessary for its home market
products. Its aggressive foreign marketing techniques are
matched by reliable products, but this very success causes hos-
tility in Europe and America, and makes attention to PR es-
sential. Meanwhile, the rich home market can be exploited by
foreigners who bother to learn its peculiarities- meriting, for
instance, Britain's only overseas trade centre- but the overseas
supplier or business associate has also to apply PR techniques
to be well received. The author has recorded the story 31 of the
New Zealand Meat Producers Board's special PR effort to
introduce mutton to the non-meat-eating Japanese in the
1950s, creating a major new market when Britain reduced its
intake of New Zealand meat long before the squabbles over
the Common Market.
The whole Japanese export-import situation is a complexity
of PR requirements, all allied to astute marketing on both
sides. Yet another situation occurs in the 'third country'
potential- a modern form of triangular trading- where inter-
national goodwill towards British products has caused them to
be fitted to Japanese exports. The efficiency of the Perkins En-
gines worldwide distributor network and after-sales service32
means that Kobe excavators, Mitsui compressors, Furukawa
loaders and TCM fork lift trucks are powered by Perkins die-
sels. Similarly, Stone Platt Industries 33 have been able to pro-
vide equipment worth £1.6m for Japanese-built railway
carriages supplied to Nigeria, Zambia and Malaysia because the
customers demanded this British equipment of their Japanese
suppliers!
A. G. N. Hodkinson, export executive of Rotaprint, says 34
that his company's experiences in the Japanese market since
1955 suggests the following:
Perseverance in Japan, one of the largest markets in the de-
veloped world, pays off. Constant visits are necessary in order
to acquire a good understanding of the Japanese market and
the Japanese people, which in turn assists good communi-
cations. Reciprocal visits by the Japanese to the manufacturer
play an important role in stimulating confidence in the pro-
duct or back-up service. Design of products to suit the Japan-
ese market is essential if one is competing against domestic
manufacturers. Attention to detail, whether technical or com-
mercial, is very important. The Japanese themselves are ef-
ficient and industrious and expect us to be the same.
Mr Hodkinson's remarks are not just good salesmanship
but realistic recognition ofbasic P R principles. He is a sympath-
etic communicator.
The reader may ask why so much space has been given to the
problems of communicating with people in less-privileged
societies. First, it should be remembered that these black,
brown and yellow people are not primitive but have their own
sophisticated societies. Apart from colour, they differ mainly
from northerners in not speaking European tongues, and
sometimes in not using written language. In many less-
developed countries populations are on the threshold of indus-
trialisation, urbanisation and education and resemble the situ-
ation in the North during the nineteenth-century industrial
revolution.
The reader may wonder why we have not concentrated on
the easier more luctrative markets such as Europe, North
America and Australia, even though we have stressed the more
difficult but hopefully lucrative market of Japan. An answer to
this may be taken from the report by the British physician, Dr
JohnS. Yudkin, nephew of Professor John Yudkin, the nu-
tritionist, who has spent two years at Dares Salaam Univer-
sity, Tanzania. Unlike Nigeria and Kenya, Tanzania is a poor
African country, not a comparatively oil-or tourist-rich land.
Dr Yudkin's study criticised the expenditure of £1.07m. by
147 drug company representatives in their efforts to do busi-
ness with Tanzania's 600 doctors. A Guardian editorial com-
mented on its front page report by saying 'If the promotion of
drugs in less-developed states was on roughly the same scale as
in Britain, such promotion could rightly be described as scan-
dalous .... The pharmaceutical industry, according to a
report prepared by a British doctor, John Yudkin, is not
devoting the same effort to promotion that it does here- which
would be twice as much as necessary: it may well be spending
three times as much in Tanzania. If true, then "scandalous" is
far too tame an adjective.' 35
Six years later the international marketing of medicines
was still under attack, this time in a country even poorer than
Tanzania. Bangladesh banned nearly 1700 drugs in June
1982 under a Drug Control Ordinance because they were
held to be useless, unnecessary or harmful.
According to a press statement issued by The War on
Want, 36 'The major transnational pharmaceutical companies
- 8 companies control 75!tfo of the market in Bangladesh -
protested, claiming the policy would destroy the industry and
would not benefit the people of Bangladesh. The TNCs
enlisted the help of the US, British, West German and Dutch
governments to press Bangladesh to modify or scrap the
policy. In contrast, health workers, scientists, academics,
politicians and organisations in many countries - including
War on Want - have praised the policy as a sensible
approach to drug therapy.
'Although some amendments have been made in the policy
recently, the basic principles still stand despite continued
lobbying by the trans-national corporations.
'War on Want has produced a 14-page illustrated briefing
paper on the drug policy. Together with Oxfam, Third
World First and the World Development Movement, War on
Want will be campaigning around the policy and on the
wider issue of appropriate medicines and health care during
the coming months. The briefing paper is available from
War on Want, 467 Caledonian Road, London N7 9BE.'
It will be remembered that War on Want, together with

other charities, has campaigned against the unethical
overseas marketing of powdered baby milk, high-tar
cigarettes and medicines already banned in the USA and the
UK. Such companies seem oblivious to the anti-PR effect of
their practices. Yet they have been the subject of
documentary investigations on British television. You cannot
buy respectability by sponsoring health pursuits.
The message of this chapter is that neither Dr Yudkin nor
The Guardian would be able to bring such charges if the market-
ing effort had been more PR-orientated, that is, more concen-
trated on market education, even among innovators such as
the 600 doctors. But to be fair to the drug companies, however,
are they the victims of the anti-marketing hysteria which is dis-
cussed at the end of this book?
International marketing requires tightrope communication
tactics which may be foreign to normal marketing by
northern standards, and it is hoped that this chapter has
suggested ways in which marketing to Third World countries
can be made both more acceptable and more successful.
REFERENCES
1. H. B. Thorelli (ed.) International Marketing Strategy (Har-
mondsworth: Penguin, 1973)p. 14.
2. Gordon Bolt, Communicating with EEC Markets (London:
Kogan Page, 1973)p. 9.
3. Philip Currah, Setting up a European Public Relations Oper-
ation (London: Business Books, 1975) pp. 5-6.
4. Frank Jefkins, Public Relations in World Marketing (London:
Crosby Lockwood & Sons, 1966) pp. 170-1.
5. Thorelli, op. cit., note 1, chap. 1.
6. Sam Black, Practical Public Relations, 4th ed. (London:
Pitman, l976)p. 163.
7. J. M. Kaul, Public Relations in India (Calcutta: Nay a Pro-
kash, 1976)pp. 32-3.
8. Jeremy Tunstall, The Media are American (London: Consta-
ble, l977)p. 61.
9. J. C. Carothers, 'Culture, Psychiatry and the Written Word',
Psychiatry (Nov 1959).
10. R. R.N. Tuluhungwa, Cultural Influences in the In-
terpretation of Symbols, paper, First All-African Public Relations
Conference (Nairobi: June 1975).
ll. Ibid.
12. Rudolph Flesch, The Art of Plain Talk (New York: Macmil-
lan, 1951).
13. Graham Mytton, National Audience Surveys, Institute for
African Studies, University of Zambia, for Zambia Broadcasting
Services ( 1970-l ).
14. Frank Okwu Ugbojah, Conceptual Models and Research
Methodologies for Communication in African Traditional Societies,
paper, The International Broadcast Institute Regional Seminar
(lbadan: June 1974).
Intertext, l977)pp. 201-2.
16. Tuluhungwa, op. cit., note 10.
17. Frank Jefkins, 'The Credibility Factor', Public Relations
(Enugu: Jan-June 1977).
18. Tuluhungwa, op. cit., note 10.
19. Michael Dineen, 'Selling in Arabia', The Observer, 3 Mar
1977.
20. The Baby Killer(London: War on Want, 1974).
21. The New Internationalist (Mar 1975).
22. TheNew Internationalist (Apr 1977).
23. Frontline, vo!. 7, no. l (London: War on Want, 1977).
24. Worldwide Export Publicity (London: Central Office of Infor-
mation).
25. Tell the World about your firm's products and services, leaflet
(London: BBC External Services).
26. Destination Europe (London: British Overseas Trade Board,
1973).
27. Adrian Seligman, The World's Most Expensive Translations
... can save you money (London: EIBIS International Ltd).
28. Finding Export Customers (London: EIBIS International
Ltd).
29. Hollis Press and Public Relations Annual (Sunbury-on-
Thames: Hollis Directories, pub. annually).
30. Howard Sharman, 'The Japanese Infiltrate the UK Market',
Marketing (Apr 1977).
31. Jefkins, op. cit., note 4, pp. 66--70.
32. British Successes in Japan (London: British Overseas Trade
Board, 1976).
33. Ibid.
34. Ibid.
35. 'Drugs and their markets', editorial, The Guardian, 16 Aug
1977.
36. War on Want press release (London, Dec 1982).
Chapter II
Internal and External PR Services
Marketing management can use PR services in one of three

ways:
l. By using the resources of the company PR department
which is responsible for PR for the total organisation;
2. By employing PR personnel within the marketing de-
partment;
3. By engaging an outside PR consultancy.
The in-house PR unit, responsible for all PR and answerable
to the board, is the ideal arrangement and will be found in
those companies where the first PRO is the managing director.
But not every company is ideally organised, and many have de-
veloped according to needs and the attitudes of personalities.
The type of product or service may have influenced the way in
which PR activity has been introduced, use of PR being stron-
gest where market education has dominated the marketing
strategy. It often happens that in an industrial or technical
company, advertising is part of a general 'communications'
department in which PR predominates, while in a mass con-
sumer product company advertising predominates.
To generalise or idealise is therefore impossible. Very often,
marketing management has been the innovator of PR even
though it may have been improperly understood and used. A
general sentiment might be that if PR is dominated by market-
ing it could be too sales-orientated (as when news releases
become puffs, and external house journals become sales cata-
logues). More professional PR (and therefore more successful
PR) can result from independent organisation, and that means
giving advice to marketing management, not taking orders
from it. As has been shown throughout this book, marketing
can benefit if PR practice is more liberally applied throughout
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL PR SERVICES 153
all functions of a company and is not confined to marketing. It
is not only a matter of confinement: PR within the marketing
department may be limited to a press officer mainly employed
in product publicity to support advertising. A press officer is
not a PRO, only a specialist in one aspect of PR. The recom-
mendation must be that the PR department should be an inde-
pendent specialist unit serving the entire organisation, of
which marketing is a part, and being responsible to the chief
executive.
Consultancies may be used for special purposes, perhaps
providing a counselling service in an overall advisory role with
the in-house PRO being responsible for day-to-day oper-
ations. Some consultancies specialise in, say, corporate and
financial PR, Parliamentary liaison, house journal production
or overseas PR, and these services may be used when required
to augment those of the staff PRO. Again, the general services
of a consultancy may be engaged to help out the hard-pressed
PRO, or because the company is located far from a media
centre where on-the-spot services are needed. Or there may be
no PR department, and a consultancy is engaged to carry out
such PR work as can be undertaken for a given fee.
There are many differences between the use of an adver-
tising agency and the use of a PR consultancy and the two
should not be confused. Strictly speaking, a PR consultancy is
not an 'agent' since an advertising agency is the agent of the
media from whom it receives commission under the traditional
system of remuneration, although the 'agent acts as principal'
legal custom of the trade also applies to PR consultancies.
One interesting difference is the scissor-like comparison in
the appointment of the two services. When a company reaches
a certain level of expenditure on advertising it becomes econ-
omical to enjoy sharing the team of planning, buying and cre-
ative experts who comprise an advertising agency, while it is
also economic for agencies of different sizes to handle
accounts of different minimal value. Also, as an advertiser
grows and has need of better ideas he will look outside for crea-
tivity. So, the more that is spent on advertising the more an
agency becomes desirable or necessary. The opposite tends to
happen with PR. When little is spent on PR it may be more
economical to employ a consultancy, but when the work
expands it may be not just economical but necessary to set up a

PR department. This is partly because PR work is much more
involved in the internal workings and personalities of the com-
pany, and is a more continuous operation than advertising.
Moreover, the PRO tends to be more of a jack-of-all-trades
than the advertising manager. Even so, the internal PR depart-
ment can still benefit from consultancy services as already ex-
plained.
A major difference lies in costing and remuneration, and
this occasionally leads to misunderstandings by clients. Today
there are several ways in which advertising agencies obtain
their income ranging from the original system of commission
paid by the above-the-line media to professional fees based on
time and expertise. The latter method may not please either
clients or media but it is the only way in which an agency can be
paid for its effort and skill. There are few if any discounts for
the PR consultancy, which is selling professional time. Thus,
in advertising the biggest cost is usually space or air-time plus
production (which may be high in the case of television com-
mercials), but in PR the major cost is time plus the compara-
tively minor expenditure on materials and expenses. The
amount of PR service will depend on how many manhours re-
sult from dividing the fee by the hourly rate, and this should
not be confused with a retainer which, if charged at all, may
cover no service.
Problems sometimes occur because the fee is inadequate to
cover the workload; because it is not calculated against a pro-
posed and agreed programme; or so much is demanded by the
client that there is insufficient time for the consultancy to do all
the jobs properly. PR consultants are not always businesslike
in computing fees, but methodical ones budget carefully, work
strictly within budgets, and use time sheets and job numbers to
control and, if need be, to justify their activities. Moreover, it is
the growing practice to charge fees a quarter or at least a
month in advance in order to cover salaries and overheads and
maintain cash flow. Clients who are used to receiving advisory
and liaison services free-of-charge from their advertising
agency will find that they must pay for all time spent talking to
the PR consultant, and allowance for this must be made in the
fee.
Before considering the breakdown of a consultancy fee in
budget form, let us consider the need for planning PR. A 'man-
agement by objectives' approach is sensible, and PR pro-
grammes should be planned ahead for six months or a year just
as production, marketing, sales and advertising schemes are
planned. There should be nothing haphazard about PR,
although plans can be flexible. But it is impossible to plan the
resources of manpower and equipment if one works on a
casual basis, merely waiting for stories to break, and adopting
an opportunist attitude. Unless there is purposeful planning
neither consultant nor PRO can use his time profitably, and
the danger is that effort will be dissipated on too many trivial
exercises none of which will be properly executed or be capable
of being effective. Constraints therefore exist: how much fee-
time or how many staff; how many objectives; how many pub-
lics; which and how many media; and how much money? This
may be represented by the following Six Point PR Planning
Formula: 1
1. Appreciation ofthe situation.
2. Definition of objectives.
3. Definition of publics.
4. Choice of media and techniques.
5. Budget.
6. Evaluation of results.
A PR programme should be devised to achieve precise ob-
jectives, and methods of feedback and assessment are de-
scribed in Chapter 12. Only if there are objectives can success
or failure be assessed. Publics - the categories of people to
whom PR messages will be addressed- need to be determined.
They are more diverse than the target audience or market seg-
ment as defined for marketing or advertising purposes. Analy-
sis may show that there are more publics than can be
reasonably reached with the money available, and so the con-
straints begin to bite. Media will be chosen or created to reach
these publics, but it may not be the media used for advertising
purposes.
This methodology is stressed because the mistake can be
made of paying a round figure sum to a consultant to 'do' PR
in a vague, unplanned fashion, or a PRO may be engaged to
work on a day-to-day basis with no more objective that to get
as much press coverage as possible, or to undertake 'fire-

fighting' defensive tactics in time of trouble. If marketing man-
agement is to respect PR it must understand what PR can and
cannot do, and plan, budget, control and assess objectively.
To return to the question of time, while this is limited by the
manhours represented by either the consultancy fee or the staff
working hours, there are ways of deploying time to the best ad-
vantage over a period. This is now demonstrated by Figures
11.1, 11.2 and 11.3, which illustrate adaptations of critical path
analysis to show how a given budget/manpower can be
employed in three different ways.
For the purpose ofthe argument this is frankly a stylised and
simplified workload model, for life is never as tidy as this, but
the point is made that time needs to be rationed. In actual prac-
tice many jobs will overlap and a single day is made up of
r---,
11,13\15\
r---, r---,17'
r---,
1 Editing \ 1 Editing \ 1 Editing \ 1 Editing \
{house journal\/ house journal\ I house journal''/ house journal,
l( 6
1 \8 l.1terature 1
1
\ 2 PR for I \ 4 Press 1 \ Works
\ Exhibition I \Reception I \ visit I \for new year/
\..!.:La.!lJ \.3..!~!!!./ \.3.2..:!.'!.i!J \_3.!~~/
FIG. 11.1 Spaced work programme (based on critical-path analysis)
for a year's work divided into eight time segments for activities of simi-
lar duration, for example editing a quarterly house magazine, organis-
ing PR for an exhibition, preparing for a press reception and a works
visit, and producing educational literature for the new year
I
r----...\ I
;---,
\
I \ I \
I \
{ I \
~ I ~
FIG. 11.2 Seasonal work programme
FIG. 11.3 Overlapping work programme

numerous items, some unexpected, which contribute to or
detract from the whole. But even if a press or information
officer has to answer inquiries rather than initiate original sto-
ries, his estimated time for doing this can be calculated. Some-
times consultancies are criticised for producing very little
when in fact much time has been spent in handling telephone
calls. This is where time sheets are vital.
If time is planned a number of things become apparent:
1. Only a certain amount of work can be done for a certain
fee or salary;
2. Priorities must be set, and consultancy or PRO must con-
centrate on specified tasks if results are to be achieved.
3. When 1 and 2 are put together we know how much to
invest in a consultancy fee or in staff salaries plus overheads.
4. When 1, 2 and 3 have been established it becomes sen-
sible not to expect different or additional work to be done
unless (a) original tasks are forsaken; (b) extra money is
awarded so that more time can be expended.
Two things may make such planning appear to be pedantic
and unrealistic:
1. The disorganised way in which PR resources are tra-
ditionally used, the PR department being expected to do
too much;
2. The impossibility of forecasting future demands on PR
services. These are excuses for inefficiency, and if they
were justified it would be impossible to run a hospital,
police force or fire brigade, all of which are highly disci-
plined yet confronted by unpredictable events. The
PR department budget or the consultancy fee must
have contingency time built into it to deal with the un-
predictable.
Having looked carefully at the fundamental time factor let

us now consider the make-up of the budget, looking at a speci-
men breakdown of a consultancy fee for a year's service. 2
This is a simplified budget which calculates time in order to
arrive at a fee, but individual items, such as press receptions or
editing house journals, require separate budgets which bring in
the estimated costs of materials and expenses, catering being a
Consultancy Fee Analysis

No. Time Hourlyrate £
12 progress meetings 12 x 0 hrs x £00 000.00
3 press receptions 3 x 0 hrs x £00 000.00
Editing 4 issues of house
journal 4 x 0 hrs x £00 000.00
12 new product stories 12 x 0 hrs x £00 000.00
Information bureau ser-
vice Ohrs x £00 000.00
4 feature articles 4 x Ohrs x £00 000.00
Organising works visit Ohrs x £00 000.00
Script for film Ohrs x £00 000.00
£0,000.00
Estimate material cost 0,000.00
Estimated expenses 0,000.00
Contingency fund 000.00
Total £0,000.00
major cost with receptions, and printing with house journals.

All these items can be costed well in advance of a year's PR
programme. The hourly rate will cover the consultant's sala-
ries, office overheads and profit. The progress meetings are
necessary to report work done and to allow adjustments to be
made to future work. If new work is introduced by the client, a
supplementary fee can be agreed if there is to be no reduction
in the current work. These meetings may be on the client's or
the Consultancy's premises, the latter requiring less expendi-
ture of fee time if the client is out-of-town.
PR PROFESSIONALISM
While a PRO does not have to be licensed to practise, and
anyone can call himself or herself a PRO, as in those curious
ads in the International Herald Tribune for 'PR girls who
will travel', there are both vocational and professional
qualifications. Once upon a time it seemed sufficient that a
PRO should have been a journalist, but times have changed.
It is possible to be a PR practitioner without ever writing a
news release or talking to the media.
The recognised British examinations are those of the
London Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) and the
Communication, Advertising and Marketing Education
Foundation (CAM). Both offer certificates and diplomas as
described below.
The London Chamber of Commerce & Industry,
Commercial Education Scheme, Marlowe House, Station
Road, Sidcup, Kent DA15 7BJ. Celebrated its centenary in
1982. Offers Higher Certificate examination in Public
Relations, and Group Diploma in Public Relations for three
subjects sat and passed together in the Spring or Autumn
examinations, of which one must be Public Relations. Passes
with Distinction in Public Relations, Advertising and
Marketing exempt candidates from the same three key
subjects in the CAM Certificate examinations. There are
LCCI centres throughout the United Kingdom and at forty
overseas addresses.
The CAM Education Foundation, Abford House, 15
Wilton Road, London SW1 V 1NJ. This is the joint
examining body of the communication industry. There is a
CAM Certificate in Communication Studies, requiring
passes in six subjects, and the final CAM Diploma in
Communication Studies with a choice of advertising, public
relations and business subjects. It normally takes three years
to gain the DipCAM, which is of pass degree standard.
Holders with five years' practical experience may join the
CAM Society and use the qualifications MCAM.
Institute of Public Relations, 84-86 Rosebery A venue,
London ECl. Various grades of membership are obtainable
by election on the basis of age and experience, and
acceptance of the Code of Professional Conduct.
Public Relations Consultants Association, 37 Cadogan
Street, Sloane Square, London SW3 2PR. PR consultancies
are accepted as corporate members. Has own Code of
Conduct, and introduced its client-consultancy agreement in
1983. Details of the International Association of Business
Communicators, International Public Relations Association
and European Federation of Public Relations (CERP) are
given in Chapter 10.
REFERENCES
I. Frank Jefkins, Marketing and PR Media Planning (Oxford:
Pergamon Press, 1974) p. 212.
Intertext, 1977) p. 47.
Chapter 12
Feedback and Results
Public relations is sometimes said to be intangible because re-

sults cannot be quantified. There are two answers to this, both
of which refute the charge of intangibility, one long-term and
the other short-term.
As we have shown throughout this book, PR is an integral
function of the total enterprise, and its results - like those of
every other function- are bound up in the trading results as a
whole. It may not be possible to isolate results of PR endeav-
our any more than one can pinpoint the precise contribution
made by, say, a pack design or a brand name. Nevertheless, as
with pack designs and brand names, PR can be measured in
terms of acceptance. Many PR activities can be assessed more
positively, provided there has been a specific objective against
which results can be measured. The Open University, which has
to market its courses, regularly measures awareness and
understanding of itself and relates this to its advertising and
PR efforts. Often a pounds-and-pence or dollars-and-cents
evaluation is not possible because the PR objective is not im-
mediately to do with profitability but with, say, a reduction in
prejudice and an improvement in knowledge and under-
standing without which an environment for sales and profits
would be impossible. Advertising and sales aggression can be
an expensive marketing strategy, and these costs could be dras-
tically reduced if they were made less necessary because of the
wise use of PR techniques such as market education. Com-
panies like Marks & Spencer and Rentokil, which concentrate
on PR and do little advertising, certainly have monetary proof
of the tangibility of PR. But it could be a measure of the value
of PR to see how much less need be spent on advertising if
more attention was paid by marketing management to PR. In
FEEDBACK AND RESULTS 161
this sense, PR can act rather like preventative medicine and
crime prevention, avoiding the heavier costs of treatment and
detention.
It may be suggested, then, that those who consider PR to be
intangible are those who set no tangible purpose for PR. The
essential rebuttal of intangibility is that PR must be under-
taken for a precise end, not merely to seek some ill-defined
'favourable climate of opinion', or as a cover-up operation
when things go wrong.
We shall now consider a number of methods of assessing
feedback and results. Some of these methods have appeared in
the author's home study course, 1 and they have been
developed in depth elsewhere2 in relation to twenty-three
specific PR objectives. This is a value-for-money approach
to PR. Immediate feedback may be necessary before any PR
can be mounted, while other feedback is either initiated or
involuntary.
But first, a word about making good use of feedback. It is
easy to subscribe to a press cutting agency and to a monitoring
service and to receive an avalanche of cuttings and transcripts.
The task of mounting them, like a gigantic stamp collection, is
laborious. What is to happen with the albums when they are
filled? They represent history. More practical action is pos-
sible: cuttings can be photocopied and sent to interested par-
ties on a regular basis, and the material can be evaluated as will
be explained. Press cuttings can be obtained from agencies
which are listed in Advertiser's Annual, Benn's Press Directory
and the Hollis Press and Public Relations Annual, which also
list monitors of radio and television programmes.
The oldest and weakest method of assessment is to add up
the column-inches or column-centimetres, arriving at a total
volume of press coverage irrespective of content or media.
This has some limited value, provided it is not made ridiculous
by giving it an advertisement rate-card evaluation. The two
are different in three respects: 1. Editorial is priceless;
2. Editorial content is totally different from advertisement;
3. The same media, dates, sizes and positions would probably
not normally be booked in an advertising campaign.
Not everyone will agree with this, and the opposite view is
held by the News Analysis Institute of Pittsburgh who pro-
duced the statistics on the Corning product recall media cover-

age described in Chapter 8. Their brilliant system of analysis
uses a computer to evaluate all the variables such as circula-
tion, reader exposure, space secured, markets penetrated, pic-
tures used, newspaper front pages and magazine covers, name
or product name in headline, page-or-longer articles, type of
presentation, story distribution, and also advertising value.
However, the point is fairly made that 'Many practitioners
consider publicity is worth far more than advertising value,
and others that it cannot be correlated with advertising. With-
out engaging in this argument, we have found no way to assess
such intangibles and take the position that ad value provides
the strongest, verifiable measure of publicity worth' .3
We believe that such evaluation is irrelevant and that we are
not dealing with intangibles: a cash value is beside the point,
since what has to be evaluated is the effect of the media cover-
age. We do not evaluate advertisements by their cost but by
cost-per-reply and cost-per-conversion rates, by store traffic
figures, and selling-out success, by results. So with PR, there-
sults being related to objectives. We do not set out to try to get
a maximum volume of coverage which can be reckoned as so
much free advertising. The objectives are tied up with success
in converting hostility, prejudice, apathy and ignorance into
sympathy, acceptance, interest and knowledge. And this can
concern- in the marketing sense only- an increase in inquiries,
a reduction in attacks by opinion leaders, dealer and customer
loyalty, a well-informed market, fewer complaints because of
better product use, wider use of the product, more visitors to
showrooms or exhibition stands, increased shop traffic, a high
rate of recommendation and so on and on.
Returning to the analysis of media coverage, it can be valu-
able to consider estimations of (a) circulation; (b) readership;
and (c) demographic details about people receiving the PR
message. Thus, it is possible to chart quite simply how well PR
messages are reaching their publics. Thousands of column-
centimetres might be gained, but if they were in the wrong
media they would be useless. A weakness in the past has been
to look no further than quantity. The rating chart in Figure
12.1 is one means of testing the relevance and value of the
coverage:
Publication Rating Story I Story 2 Story 3
The Times 4 X
Financial Times 4 X
Guardian 4 X X
Daily Telegraph 4 X
Daily Express 3
Daily Mail 3 X
Sun 2 X
Daily Mirror 2 X X
Score 9 12 8
FIG. 12.1 Press rating chart
The values given to the ratings would vary according to the

sponsor of the message. A corporate PR story would have
values like those shown in Figure 12.1, but a story about a
motor-cycle, ladies' tights, or a low-calorie food could be very
different. Again, the titles would vary from subject to subject.
A story about a board appointment would interest only half
the list, while a consumer story would also interest the
women's press. Similar tables can be created for radio and tele-
vision programmes.
Another record might be of improved editorial appreciation,
necessary when the company has been neglected or given a
poor press. Again, we see assessment of success in achieving an
objective. Representation could be by graph or bar chart.
Sometimes it is difficult to assess the use of pictures, and it can
be beneficial, since photographs are expensive, to record
which papers use and which do not use them. A challenge to
one's idea of the news appeal of a story is a ratio ofpublication
check, showing how many journals print the stories in pro-
portion to the number of releases dispatched. This can show
that it pays to send fewer stories to fewer papers.
These methods will reveal the extent of media coverage, and
success and failure in obtaining it. More important is the effect
the message has had on viewers, readers and listeners, so we
will now return to the image study and the various kinds of
image described in Chapter 1. An image study, as conducted
by firms such as Mass Observation, seeks to discover what

people know or understand about the sponsor's and a number
of similar or rival companies. From the answers gained a set of
comparative graphs can be drawn showing the variations be-
tween plus and minus factors. Figure 12.2 gives a partial repre-
sentation of this charted data following interviews (possibly by
telephone by appointment) with customers of these rival com-
panies. The chart can be drawn vertically or horizontally.
Good Good Good Good
+ Expensive Reliable Modern
service delivery design research
c._I ______ _
..................... ~
.. ········~:.: ~:..:.::..:~.:: :..:.:~· .............. .
A ··•······ •••• • - __,...:.._ -- .... .... .... ..... .......... ...
,,
---
B ••• ... ~
..., ... ,
Company A •••••••••• Company~ - Company~

I
Poor Poor Poor Old- Poor
Inexpensive Unreliable
service delivery design fashioned research
FIG. 12.2 Imagestudy

If the sponsor is company C he may be surprised to find that
while he has a good name for service and reliability, his design
is not considered as good as company A's and people tend to
regard him as not too modern and poor on research. These rev-
elations will guide policy changes and PR action. It may be, for
instance, that his research is unmatched but he has told no one
just how good it is, and this failure of communications can be
corrected by PR activity such as a press visit or feature articles.
This technique is most suitable when respondents are fairly
few or scattered, such as paint and paper manufacturers, but
when a representative sample is readily found on a broad sub-
ject such as food, drink or cosmetics, the group discussion
method is useful. If a very large national sample, such as hou-
sewives, is needed it is possible to piggy-back onto the postal
questionnaire of an omnibus consumer panel survey. The
periodic opinion poll is an excellent measure of the effect of a
PR programme over time. For example, a 'control' poll could
be conducted before the PR campaign begins, then further
polls could be held at, say, six-monthly intervals to record the
effectiveness of the campaign in terms of the percentage shift in
awareness or attitude.
Other tests can be made by use of questionnaires which are
posted or handed to relevant publics whose opinions and com-
ments are valuable. Readers can be questioned about house
journals, audiences about documentary films, guests about
works visits and readers about sponsored books.
Peter Chisnall has said, 'Perhaps it is the fault of industry-
and of marketing management- that consumerism originated
and that it has frequently assumed a largely hostile and bel-
ligerent role' .4 He suggests 'It is not a question of meeting
anti-propaganda by an equal, or larger, barrage of pro-
propaganda'. It is certainly not a question of using propa-
ganda at all. We need to be frank and informative, not false
and emotional. So is it enough to follow Chisnall's proposal
that 'An effective strategy . . . should be based on a pro-
gramme of objective marketing research aimed to study not
just the symptoms but also to identify and analyse the causes of
dissatisfaction with a particular industry or company'? Such
initiated feedback is essential, but the buck does not stop there,
for such admirable research as Chisnall recommends is really
no more than the preliminary research necessary to the mount-
ing of a PR programme. The PR proposals may first require
the elimination of the revealed causes of consumer discontent
and disenchantment: then tpe process by which consumers
may be made aware of this action will form the programme of
PR action.
In the changing economic, political and social climate of
modern times, the PR practitioner has to contend with forms
of involuntary feedback which Philip Lesly, the American .PR
consultant and author, has called the people factor. 5 And he is
not just talking about consumerism.
As never before, commercial companies will be judged by
the purity, efficacy or performance of their products; the truth
of their advertising; the incorruptibility of their management;
the harmony of their industrial relations; their respect for the
environment and their conservation of resources such as
energy and raw materials; and their contribution to the public
interest, national prosperity and international concord. In
other words capitalism has become democratized as the price
of freedom and survival.

Philip Lesly first presented his 'people factor' ideas in a
speech at the Intermountain Public Relations Conference at
Provo, Utah, on 25 October 1975. 6 He claims that the 'in-
flation and recession have combined to scare the most san-
guine of our people, but that is not all. We are now faced with
the virtual certainty that we not only will be unable to keep up
with the expectations, but that we will have to slam into
reverse'. He went on to say: 'Public relations people are now
pivoted between the institutions we represent and the critics of
our society.' And then he posed the following ten major new
dimensions with which modern executives must communicate:
1. Activist government - involving controls, regulations,
threats of action, trial by publicity, punitive determi-
nations and so on.
2. Activist criticism by special interest groups outside the
framework of the organization.
3. Activist pressures by conservationists and ecologists.
4. Activist demands by minority groups.
5. Activist pressures by women's groups.
6. Activist pressures by youth.
7. Diverse forces seeking to compel private organizations to
assume active social functions.
8. Emergence of a new breed of advocacy or 'public inter-
est' lawyers, whose reason for being is to bring pressure
on our organizations and institutions.
9. Economic planners who seek to manipulate all elements
of society to attain both a predetermined high level of
living for everyone and an orderly and non-inflationary
economy.
10. Far from least, pressures from international competitors,
foreign publics and the whole broiling global economic
and social complex.
Lesly points to new floods of feedback which are going to
command the attention and skills of marketers and PR prac-
titioners. As he says, 7 'Tuning in to feedback resulting from all
the actions and communications of the organisation, to assess
what is happening to the human climate, to convey judgement
on these developments to management, and to help to modify
the process accordingly if necessary' will be one of 'the most
pressing needs of the manager in coping with this new complex
of demands'. The marketing manager will be one such man-
ager. Lesly concludes by claiming that, 'Where management
finds that it can turn with confidence to public relations people
for its needs in coping with the real problems of our era- those
that make up the serious and perplexing people factor- it will
be those public relations people who will move up in the coun-
cils of management'.
Lesly has had more to say. 8 Addressing the Hamilton
(Ontario) Public Relations Association, he said, 'Executives
need help in sensing, understanding and coping with the
intangible situations of volatile groups of people. Skilled PR
people can be at the focus of the new decision-making'.
Later in his talk he commented that 'A major cause for fail-
ure of our institutions is counter-productive anti-
communication'. He said he was 'critical of graphics that put
art ahead of meaning, type treatments that defy legibility, fast
cuts in film that thwart efforts to make out what is shown,
multi-media presentations that drown the audience in im-
pressions but communicate too little, colour combinations to
affront the eye, but make the word or subject illegible, and
logo types that convey no meaning'.
Returning to his people factor theme, Lesly says: 'In the
1950s undoubtedly the most widespread activity in our field
involved product publicity; today it is a lingering but vestigial
speciality, and if the trends of consumerism, pressures to re-
strain consumption, and shortages of materials and energy
continue, it may become even less of a factor.' He gave as two
of his guidelines for meeting the future:
1. There will be continuous need to urge all leaders to con-
sider the people factor as the primary factor in their de-
liberations. We will need to provide the input of
sensitivity to human attitudes and reactions into all of
management's equations and considerations.
2. There must be continuous effort to follow and under-
stand the shifting moods and attitudes of all the publics
that have a bearing on management's concerns.
Philip Lesly's words have been borrowed because they are
not only forward-looking but they coincide with the author's
theme that marketing management can enhance its efficiency
by adopting PR as a management philosophy. Moreover,

there is a lot more to PR than mere product publicity or the
supplementing of the advertising effort. When the people fac-
tor is thought about, PR certainly applies to the total market-
ing strategy, to every phase of the marketing mix.
Futurists may be unreliable prophets, and they may
concentrate too much on the magic of electronics and
microchips. Nevertheless, a major PR aspect of marketing
during the final decades of this century concerns the violent
change that is likely to follow the current era of recession,
unemployment, inflation, over-population, energy crises,
world banking dilemmas and political instability. There are
also the frustrations of the North-South dialogue, and
within that situation the contrasts between the less developed
countries of despair and the newly industrialised countries of
competition.
The industrial age of the North is dead while the South is
still trying to catch up with it, a devastating dilemma in
which the new South may be wrong to emulate the old North.
Labour-intensive industries are being replaced by robotics,
offices are moving out of town to Alvin Toffler's electronic
cottages. 9 The mass media are being de-massified, as we have
already seen with the intense competition for time on our
American and European television screens. And yet there are
countries which, like Malawi at the time of writing, still have
no television, and Indonesia, where commercials have been
banned because of their adverse effect on poorer people. The
North is disappearing into the twenty-first century before
some of the South has entered the industrialised twentieth.
Life-styles have changed since the first edition of this book
was published. For instance, the domestic VCR has become
almost commonplace, propelled by the Royal Wedding in
1981 just as the Coronation of 1952 popularized black-and-
white television! Meanwhile, Sinclair and other pioneers
have put the computer in the home, followed by more
sophisticated versions like Apple and Acorn.
Attitudes to work and hours of work and what constitutes
'work'- e.g. gardening and DIY- are changing rapidly. The
world may owe us a living, but it does not require a forty-
hour week to earn it. Service and leisure industries prosper
while steel works and car factories close down. Public
relations has a vital responsibility in reasserting man's
dignity through acceptance of new life-styles and values, and
the marketing of all the things that will satisfy very different
life-styles already with us in the 1980s.
The industrial age is over and PR can aid marketing in
educating the market to understand and accept products and
services which will serve the needs and wants of the society
that will emerge from the present upheaval. Future gazers
like Toffler may not have all the answers, but forward-
looking marketing/PR means not just survival but success.
Far from taking anything away from marketing, or giving
things another name, PR is a more intensive way of thinking
which can only enhance the performance of marketing man-
agement. The literature on marketing scarcely acknowledges
the existence of PR, and if it does it merely nibbles at a stale
crumb. This book invites marketing management to devour
the whole rich fruit cake.
This takes us back to the key chapter, Chapter 3, 'PR and
the Marketing Mix'. To overcome long-held inhibitions about
PR, to welcome PR as something more than product pub-
licity, and to see the inevitablility of PR influence- good or
bad- throughout the marketing strategy, is to give marketing
a new perspective.
REFERENCES
1. Frank Jefkins, Effective Press Relations and House Journal

Editing, 2nd ed. (Croydon: Frank Jefkins School of Public
Relations, 1980) pp. 109-11.
2. Frank Jefkins, Effective PR Planning (Croydon: Frank
Jefkins School of Public Relations, 1980) pp. 93-105.
3. Why News Analysis? (Pittsburgh, Pa, 1977).
4. Peter M. Chisnall, 'The Public Responsibility of Marketing',
Quarterly Review of Marketing (Spring 1977).
5. Philip Lesly, 'The Ascendance of the People Factor', Public
Relations Quarterly (New York: Winter 1975).
6. Ibid.
7. Philip Lesly, 'The New Human Climate Revolution',
Communication (Ottawa: Canadian Public Relations Association,

Spring 1976).
8. Philip Lesly, 'The Problems in our Future', Public Relations
Quarterly (New York: Summer 1976).
9. Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave (London: Pan, 1981).
Index
Abbey Life Assurance 40 Advertising Standards Authority

Abbey National Building Society 47, 53-5, 57, 58, 62-3, 105
44 AEI 65
Abbott Laboratories 139 aerosol 48
ABC radio stations 114 after-sales service 3, 54, 59-61,
above-the-line advertising, media 89, 109
25, 56, 121, 154 agent acts as principal 27, 153
Academy of the BBC Ill airlines 15, 41, 42, 51, 107, 136
acronyms 41 airtime 21, 25
action line columnists 114 All-Africa Public Relations
activists 166 Conference, First 129, 150
Adler, Eric 57, 63 Allders 98
advertisement manager 20, 73 Allen, Brady and Marsh 53
Advertiser's Annual 161 American English 140-1; milk
advertising ix, 3, 4, 5-6, 7, 12, companies 139
14, 16-17, 18, 24, 25, 27, 31, 32, anthropology 128, 129
38, 47, 49, 51, 52-6, 58, 69, anti-PR, bad PR ix, 6, 29, 38,
78-85,95, 103,115, 116-17,135, 53-5, 57-9, 74-5, 89, 94, 101,
138, 153-5, 160-1; agency 6, 104-5, 106
25-6, 54, 56, 153-4; co- appreciation of the situation 79,
operative 98; corporate, 155
institutional, prestige 39, 67; ARA Services 70-1
international 128; Arab countries, exporting to 138,
irritating 55-6, 78; 150
manager 92, 154; media 19- Arabic translations 138, 145, 147
20, 23, 25, 83; media articles: feature 22, 61, 83, 84,
schedule 19-20, 23; 108, 127; negotiating publication
premature 27, 49, 78, 79; 22, 61, 108; reprints 76, 122;
research 56; saturation 26, syndicated 108
55, 78, 83; support 98; arts sponsorship Ill
television 15, 17, 18, 55-6; ASA Cases Reports 53-4, 62,
theme 88; voluntary 105, 119
controls 21, 47, 52-5, 62 ashcanning 54
advertising and PR compared ix, Ashe Laboratories 53
12-28, 54 Ashley, Laura 96
Advertising Association 5, 52, Association for the Business
55 Sponsorship of the Arts Ill
172 INDEX
Atco 41, 103 breast-feeding 139-40

audience ratings 21, 56 bribery 1, 10, 68, 73
audio visuals, see documentary Britannia Building Society 44
British Airways 42; Shuttle
films, slide presentations, visual
aids Service 15, 51
Automobile Association, The I 02 British Association of Industrial
Avdel 43 Editors 93
British Code of Advertising
Baby Killer, The 139, 151 Practice 21, 52-5, 62
babymilkscandal 139-40,150,151 British Code of Sales Promotion
bad news 12, 66, 74, 112 Practice 58, 63
Baker, Michael i, 33, 62, 86 British Domestic Appliances Ltd
banana labels 40 59
Bang & Olufsen 42 British Export Contracts 144
Bangladesh 149-50 British Export Marketing Centre
banking 8, 50, 111, 121 Tokyo 144, 147
Bateman, Peter 65, 72 British Leyland 51, 55
BBC External Services 124, 127, British Market Research Bureau
143; TV Ill 65
beer 2, 34, 35, 41, 50, 52, 69-70, British Overseas Trade Board
110 143-4
behaviour I, 8, 15, 75, 89, I 0 I British Oxygen Company 2, 44,
Belgian press 25 105-6, 119
Belgium 25, 27, 39, 137 British Premium Merchandise
below-the-line advertising ix, 28, Association News 63
121 British Rail 53, 79
Benn 's Press Directory 141, 161 British Successes in Japan 62,
Berger 80 100, 151
Bernays, Edward 140 Brown & Polson 40
Bernstein, David 14, 28, I04, Budgerigar Information Bureau
119 109
Better Shopkeeping 132 budgets 3, 4, 24, 25-6, 57, 154,
bias 6, 7, 9, 18 156-8
billboard 138 building societies 43-4
Bisto Kids 44 Burrells' Press Clipping Service
Black, Sam 110, 119, 128, 150 115, 120
Black Cat cigarettes 41 Burroughs Machines 65
blister pack 48 Burroughs, Michael 65
BOCM-Silcock 109 bursts (advertising) 78, 82
Bolt, Gordon 125, 150 Business Trm•el World 100
Boot, Jesse 67 business visitors abroad 127
Boots the Chemist 67 By Another Name ... Corning
Borden 139 and Consumerism 119
Borden, Neil I 0 Byington, S. John 115
Bowthorpe development project
91 Cadbury 44
brand (product) manager 58-9, Cadbury Typhoo 112
98 Calendars 108
branding 39-44, 90, 160 Calor Gas 35
INDEX 173
CAM Certificate, Diploma 159 commission system 25-6, 121,
CAM Education Foundation 153, 154
ix-x, 159 Common Market, see EEC
camera-ready copy 114 Communication 170
Campaign 62, 119 communications department 152
Canada 69, 162, 170 community relations 2, 4
Canadian Pacific 69 Communication Studies, CAM
Canadian Public Relations Certificate Diploma x, 158
Association 170 community viewing 126, 134
car ferries 79 company results 51, 160
Care for the Customer campaign comparative copy, comparisons
105 54-5
Carothers, J. C. 131, 150 competitions 57, 96, 105;
carrier bag 90 dealer 96
cash vouchers 58 complaints I4, 31, 53-5, 57-8,
cassettes 50, 84, 94, 122 101-3, 105, 117, 162
Central Office of Information 18, computer industry 3, 42, 50, 103,
124, 142-3, 144; Foreign I68
Language Section 145 confectionery 60, 103
CERP 142, 159 conferences 34, 66, 76,
Chat burn, Angela Ill, 1 I 9 97-8
Chinese 136, 137, 138 confidence 65, 88-9, 93, 98, 99,
Chisnall, Peter 165, 170 121
Christianity 139, 168-9 Conservation Foundation 111
cigarettes 27, 41, 43, 110, 150 consumer panels 46, 102, 164
circus publicity 83 Consumer Product Safety
City and Financial Group, IPR Commission 113
66 consumerism, consumerists ix,
climate of opinion, favourable 16, 30, 104, 165-7
xi, 74 containers 47-9
clocks and watches 19, 47 contraceptives I 11
Coca-Cola 4I, 44, 48-9, 62, 111, co-'operative advertising 98;
138 public relations 98
Coca-Cola Company, The 62, 89, Co-operative Permanent Building
IOO, 119, I36 Society 43
Code of Advertising Practice copy, copywriter, copywriting
Committee 58 17,23,24,25,45,51,52-5
codes of conduct, IPR, PRCA Corning Glass Works 104, 1 I9,
159; BCAP 21, 52-5, 62; 113-17, 162
BCSPP 58,63 corporate: advertising 39, 67;
coffee 58, 90 communications 70-2;
cold calling 73 identity 69-70, 106; image 9,
Colgate Ill 50, 53, 64, 65, 139; public
colour, special meanings of 131, relations 2, 3 I, 50-1, 64-72,
136 99, 163
colour supplements, weekend corruption 1, 10, 68
19 cost per reply, conversion I 62
column centimetres, inches 25, costs of PR, see budget
161, 162 countervailing powers 16
174 INDEX
cover price 21 domestic appliances 45-6, 59,

Cox, William E. 33, 62 107, 116-17
CPC (Europe) 40 double meanings 41, 43, 138, 139
credibility 6, 9, 17, 18, 88, 134, Doyle, Peter 37, 62
135; factor 135 Duckhams Motorists Advisory
credit for achievement 33 Service 107
Crest Hotels 144 Duckhams Oils 96, 107
cricket 110 Durex Ill
critical-path analysis 156 dysfunction, mass media 134-5
criticism 4, 6, 31, 32, 53-4, 62,
101, 104-6, 117, 126, 166
Croydon Midweek Post 98 East, Vernon Ill
Cunard 35 ecological approach to marketing
Cuprinol 43 128
Currah, Philip 127, 150 Editor and Publisher 119
customer: interest, retaining 3, editorial appreciation 163
61; education 61, 107-10; educational literature 50, 108
loyalty 61; relations 2, 15, EEC 78, 95, 145, 147, 148
48, 56-61, 101-20 EIBIS International 145-6, 151
Elbeo 41, 45, 98
Elf Oil 84
Daily Mirror 62 elitist media 130
Dakin, Tony 65, 71 Engineering Consent 140
Danish Bacon 90 entertainment, hospitality I, 10,
Datsun 51, 54-5, 59-60 61, 73, 95, 99-100
Davies, Patrick B. N. 132 Ercol 41, 96
Dawood, Nessim 138 ESSO 41, 42; Blue 44
dealer: conferences 83, 97-8; ethics of advertising 21, 47,
contests, awards 94, 96-7; 52-5, 56-9, 62, 63; public
education, training 79, 80, relations 159
83-4, 87, 89-90, 93-4, 99; ethnic: groups 112, 126, 129,
relations 2, 13, 15, 47, 49, 137; markets in Britain 112;
56-8, 59, 75, 79, 83-4; visits media 112
79, 95-6 Europe, PR in 124, 127, 142,
definitions: advertising 5-6; 144, 145, 147, 150
billboard 138; distributors European Federation of Public
87; ecological marketing 128; Relations 142, 159
image 8-9; propaganda 7; examinations in PR 159
public relations 3, 4; publicity Excess Insurance Co. 40
6; sales promotion 56 exhibition press officer 83, 122-4;
desk research 31 press room 122-3, 124
Destination Europe 151 exhibitions 84, 96, 97, 121-4;
diffusion of ideas 80-1 advertising or PR purpose 121,
dispenser packs 48 122; centres 109; mobile,
distribution: adequate 47, 98; touring 94, 121-2; official
network 90, 148 opener 123; outdoor 81, 109,
distributors 75, 87, 90 121; overseas 123, 124, 144;
documentary film 6, 17, 18, 50, PR content 121, 122; press
61, 84, 94, 108-9, 122, 132 kits 124; previews 123;
INDEX 175
exhibitions-continued gas 35, 94, 118; cookers 94
private 109, 121; trade 81, GCE A-Level, Communication
97, 121 ; venues 97 Studies 159
exhibitions (named), All-British GEC 65
144; British Export Marketing Geest Food Group 98
Centre, Tokyo 144; Harrogate General Foods 53-4
Toy Fair 97; RAI Motor get-up 136
weekend Motorcycle Show 96 Ghana 125, 129, 131, 136, 137
export advertising 128 ghost writing 108
Export Customers, Finding 151 Gibbons Stamp Monthly 61, 107
Express Dairies 106-7 gifts 56, 58
Gillette Industries 102, 110
FABUS 65-6 GKN 42
Farm Forum programme, Zambia glass 104, 113-17, 119
134 Glynwed 43
Farmer's Wife News and Views Gold (St Ivel) 40, 46, 81, 92
13, 108 gong-man 134
favourable attitudes, climates ix, goodwill 14, 47, 90, 101, 121
74, 106, 112, 161, 169 Gray-Forton, Geoffrey 96, 100
Federation Internationale des Greater Glasgow Passenger
Bureaux d'Extraits de Presse Transport Executive 117-18
146 grocery trade 13-14
feedback 15, 31-2, 52, 56, 101, group discussion 164
106, 134, 146-7, 155, 160-70 guarantee cards 56
fees 25, 26, 153, 154-5, 157-8; guarantees 59-60, 103-4
analysis 158 Guardian, The 21, 63, 72, 105,
films, see documentary films 116, 119, 149, 150, 151, 170
financial PR 2, 31, 50, 64-72, Guinness 2, 34, 35, 41, 50, 52
103, 153; consultancies 64-6 Guy-Raymond Engineering 18,
Financial Times 23, 111 20
firefighting tactics 3, 156
Fleet Street contacts 22 Haig, John 110
Flesch, Rudolph 133, 150 Hall, Helen 114-15
Flora 38,40 hall testing 46, 102
Foods For Thought 13 halo effect 2, 44, 90
Ford Motor Company 16, 34, Hamilton Public Relations
54,90 Association 167
Four-P's 5, 10 Hardiman, E. W. 71
Fox, Harold 37, 62, 84 Harvey, Paul 114
free advertising ix, 1, 12, 24-5, Hassan, king of Morocco 135
73, 82 Hilton Hotels 144
free sheets 52, 98 Hodgkinson, A. G. N. 148
Frontline 151 Holiday Inns 144
fruit-picking machine 81 Holland 56, 96
Furukawa loaders 148 Hollar, Candace 114, 120
Fyffes bananas 40 Hollis Press & Public Relations
Annual 141, 146, 151, 161
Galbraith, John K. 16, 28 Honda 45, 96, 100
gardening aids, products 48, 103 Honda News 88, 92
176 INDEX
Hong Kong Mass Transit Institute of Motorcycling 45

Railway 117-18 Institute of Practitioners in
Horlicks 38 Adv~rtising 5
horse-racing 110 Institute of Public Relations 3, 4,
hot-line columns 114, 117 10, 66, 68, 142, 159, 161
hourly rate 25, 154, 158 in-store displays 94, 114-15
house building 91 insurance 40, 92, 110-11
house journal 13-14, 17, 25, 51, instructions 60, I09, 139, 140
75, 106, 107-8, 153, 158; Insulation Glazing Association
external (incl. dealer) 59, 61, 109
84, 88, 92-3, 94, 98, 153 intangibility of PR 160--1, 162
house style 44, 53, 56, 69 lllferchange I 18
Inter-Faith Center on Corporate
IBM 3, 41 Responsibility 139
ICl 18, 41, 109 international advertising 128;
idiomatic language 138, 140, 145 marketing 125-51
illiterates 5, 129, 130, 131, 137, International Association of
169 Business Communicators 142,159
ILO 132 International Herald
ILR 51, 108, 112, 116, 117 Tribune 158
image 8, 14, 40, 44, 45, 46, 71, International Public Relations
74-5, 79, 101, 109, 169; Association 119, 142, 159
company 28, 44, 53, 75, 89, IPRA Newsletter 119
99; corporate 9, 50, 53, 64, 65, International Wool Secretariat 44
139; current 9, 15, 39; Iran 145
favourable ix, 106, 109; irritation scale 56
mirror 9; multiple 9, 87; ITN 21
optimum 9; product 8-9, 33, ITT Europe 39, 40, 66-7
44-5, 51, 53, 58; study 38, 39,
163-4; tarnished 8; wish 9 Japan, Japanese 41, 45, 51, 54-5,
immigrants 16, 112, 129 60-1, 102, Ill, 136, 144, 145,
impartiality 17 147-9; as an export market 45,
India 99, 100, 129-30, 131, 137, 51, 96, 144, 14 7-8; exporters to
138, 150 45, 96, 147-9: firms, exports
Industrial Advertising and 41, 45, 51, 54-5, 59-60, 136,
Marketing 72 147
industrial : disputes I 06; jargon 139, 145
espionage 82; films, see jeans, denim 128
documentary films; relations 2, jewellery 47, 128
31 job numbers 154
inflation, inflated prices 99, 104, Johnson, Dr 104
166 Joint Ventures 128, 144
in-flight magazines 107 jollies, jaunts 95, 96
Infoplan 79 journalism, journalists 5, 82, 95,
innovator theory 80-1, 149 118, 123, 159
insect control 135 journey cycle 75, 88
Institute of Export ix
Institute of Linguists 145 Kaul, J. M. 129, 150
Institute of Marketing ix, x, 129 Kaunlaran 72
INDEX 177
Kenwood 105, 116-17 Malaysia 137, 138, 148
Kenya 137, 149 malredemption 58
Knauer, Virginia 115 management by objectives 4,
knocking copy 54 155
Knorr Soups 40 Management Review I 00
Kobe excavators 148 man hours 1, 8, 12, 154-8
Kotler, Philip ix, 4, 10-11 margarine 38
Margulies, Walter 69
labelling, label~ 34, 40, 54, 57, market: education 3, 15, 27-8,
58, 60 33, 49-50, 79-85, 107-10; seg-
Lahiri, Sanat 99, 100 ments 12, 36,45-6, 47, 155
Landor Associates, Walter 69 Marketing 62, 72, 119, 151
language problems 126, 136-8 Marketing Education Group 29
lead time 57, 84 Marketing Forum 119
leakage of information 69 marketing: mix ix, 1, 2, 3, 5,
Lee, Ivy Ledbetter 17 9-10, 28, 29-63, 30-1' 64, 168;
Leek Westbourne & Eastern research 32, 38-9, 46, 56, 102,
Counties Building Society 115, 136, 160, 164-5
43-4 Marks & Spencer 2, 35, 41, 101,
Lesly, Philip 165-8, 170 160
Levitt, T. 36, 62 Mars 43
Lexington Public Relations 66 Martin, Arthur N. 113, 119
licensing of PROs 158 Mass Observation 164
light viewer 36 Massey-Ferguson (UK) Ltd 109
limits of experience 133 maximising profits 3, 29, 47
Lippincott & Margulies 69 meat substitute 126
literacy: extent of 5, 138-9; Media Information Group 142,
kindsof 131 146
liveries 44, 136 Members of Parliament 68-9
Lloyd, Herbert 28 Meraklon 43
lobby, lobbying, lobby Mercedes-Benz 44
correspondent 16, 68 merchandising I, 28, 29, 56-9,
Lockheed 72 80, 105, 140
logotype 44, 53, 56, 69-70, 167 Metex 126
London Chamber of Commerce Methven, John 55
and Industry x, 158-9 Michelin man 44
London Electricity Board 59 Mickey Mouse 44
London Symphony Orchestra 111 Middle East 138, 145, 147
low profile 117 Midland Bank 50, Ill, 121
LR/Sanitas 111 milk, milk products 13-14, 15,
78, 106-7, 139
McCall's 104 Milk Marketing Board 78, 109
McCarthy, E. Jerome 10, 11 milk powder 139-40, 151
McDougalls flour 105 Michelmore, Cliff 91
Machell, Joy 98 Mitsui compressors 148
Maggi Soup 57 mobile: cinema 130, 132; exhi-
Magicote paint 80 bition 121-2
mail order 56, 87 money-off vouchers 58
mailing list 19 monitoring radio, TV 161
178 INDEX
Monsanto 27 North Thames Gas 118

Morocco 134-5 Norwich City Council 91
mothercraft nurses 139 NSM 27
motor-car industry 20, 34, 40, nylon 35
54-5, 57, 90, 96
motor-cycling 8, 45, 96, I 36, I 63; objectives 4, 8, 14-15, 26, 155,
Show, Amsterdam, 96 162, 163
Mr Cube 44 Observer, The 116, 150
multi-language problems 126, Office of Fair Trading 55
136-8 omnibus survey 46, 164
multinationals 39, 40, I 68-9 on-pack offers 105
Murray, Angus 64, 7I open days 110
Murray, Lawrence 70-1 Open University, The 160
Myojo instant noodle I28 opinion: leaders 2, 32, 110, 162;
Mytton, Graham I 34, 150 (attitude) surveys 104, 113,
164-5
naming 39-44 Outline 38, 40
National Benzole 18 Over-100 Club 115
National Cavity Insulation own labels 36, 90
Association 109 Oxfam 149
National Farmers' Union 109-10 Oxo 40
National Panasonic (UK) Ltd 60,
116--17 packaging 47-9, 89, 109, 135,
Nationwide Building Society 44 136, 160
Nestle 90 Pakistani immigrants 112
network advertising, programmes, p & 0 35,42
TV 21, 82 Pan Britannica 48
New Internationalist 150-1 Parker pens 47, 54
New Zealand Meat Producers Parkinson, Stephen T. 84, 86
Board 90, 148 Parliament, Members of 68, 69
News Analysis Institute 114, Parliamentary: adviser 68;
161-2 connections, Register of 68;
News at Ten 21 liaison 68, 69, 153
news: release 5, 24, 84, 112, 114, Pathfinder service (UNS) 147
122, 123, 152; criteria for 5, Pedigree Pet Foods 109
17, 54; distribution services 142, Pennant 106
146, 147 'people factor', the ix, 164-8,
Newspaper Publishers' 169, 170
Association 26 percolators, coffee 113-17
Newspaper Society 26 Periodical Publishers'
newsreels 143 Association 26
Newswire Services 114, 147 Perkins Engines 148
nicknames 41 personality-building overseas
Nigeria 41, 50, 51, 87, 112, 125, 127, 142, 147
126, 129, 134-5, 136, 147, 148, persuasion 3, 4, 6, 12, 15, 19, 85
149, 150, 168 pets 108, 109
Nippon Jimuki 50 Peugeot 55, 136
Nissan-Datsun 51, 54-5, 59-60 pharmaceutical products 48, 100,
no comment 106 149-50
INDEX 179
Philippines, The 69-70, 111 Press Information & Mailing
photographs, photography 95, Services Ltd (PIMS) 145-6
124, 143, 146, 163; assessing pressure group 69, 166
use 163 Pretty Polly 40
photogravure 22, 82 prices: increased by advertising
picture record check 163 78; reduced 58
pictures, reading, understanding pricing 46; economic 46;
131 market 46; opportunity 46;
piggy-backing 164 psychological 46
Piper, Julia 112, 119 prizes 57
planning formula, six-point 155 problems of scale 135
plugs 6, 17, 24, 108 product: defective 60, 102,
Plumb, Sir Henry 109 112-17, 162; identification 40,
police 110, 121, 157 48-9; image 8-9,44-5,51, 65;
political PR 66, 68-9 failure 60, 112-17, 162;
pollution 2, 48 manager (brand) 58-9, 98;
Post Office 117 pre-testing 39, 102; publicity
postal (poster) advertising 138 ix, 2, 101, 153, 167, 168, 169;
Poulson 73 range 46; recall 60, 112-17,
PR Aids Inc., New York 146 119
PR: budget, specimen 158; product career path 38-8, 84-5
consultant 2, 66-8, 152-9; product: life-cycle 32-8, 85;
counselling 153; department leapfrog effect 34-5; recycled
2, 27, 31, 152-9, 157; fee 34; staircase effect 35-6, 38, 45,
analysis 158; fees 25, 26, 49
154-5, 157-8; in Europe 126, proficiency diplomas, dealer 94
127, 142, 144, 146, 147, 150; Profile 67
-mindedness 3, 29, 31, 47, 54, progress meetings 158
59, 65, 140; professionalism proliferation 46-7
158-9; transfer process 8, promise 14, 15, 29, 54, 60, 104
26-7, 29, 30, 49, 78, 79, 162 propaganda, 4, 5, 7, 9, 165
PR-Monitor 72, 146 Protection 92
PR Newswire 114 Prudential Assurance 110
PRO: licensing of 158; recruit- pseudo-PR 139
ment of 159; training, public accountability 169
qualifications of 158-9 publicity ix, 5, 6, 12, 22, 57, 83,
PR-Pianner Europe 142, 146 162
PR/Systems I08 Public Relations 72
premium offers 58-9 Public Relations Consultants
Press Association 23, 116 Association 68, 159
wess: coverage rating 162-3; public relations exercise 74
cuttings 32, 76, Ill; 143, Public Relations News 115
146, 161-3; kit, pack 24, Public Relations Quarterly 72, 170
123, 124; leaks 68; officer Public Relations Society of India
153, 157; reception 7, 17, 45, 100
52, 122, 158; relations 2, 5, 51, public services 117-18
81, 95, 101, 114, 116, 126, public transport 117-18
145-7, 156, 158; release, see publics 4, 7, 14, 15, 91, 155, 165,
news release 167
180 INDEX
puff, puffery 5, 9, 17, 95, 152 RHM 43-4; RHM Foods 105
pull-push 56 Rice Krispies, Kellogg's 105
pulls of advertisements 76 road show circuits 61
Pur1e 65 Robin 43
Pyrex 104 Robinson's golliwog 44
Rockefeller, John D. 42
Quarterly Review of Marketing Rodger, Leslie W. 74, 77
170 Romeike & Curtice 69, 146
Quest 107 Rotaprint 50, 148; Users
questionnaires 56, 102, 164-5 Association 50
Rowe, Nigel 67, 72
radio 61, 114, 126, 130, 133-5; Rowntree 44
limitations of 130, 133-4, 137; Royal Ballet II l
local 51, 116, 117; power of Rudge bicycle 41
134-5; tapes 61, 108, 114, 124,
141
Radio Times 19 sachet 48
range, product 46, 89 Sainsbury, J. 50
Rank Organisation 42 StGeorge's Taverns 100
Ranks Hovis McDougall 42-3 St !vel 13; Gold 40, 46, 81-2,
Rantzen, Esther 53, 104-5 92
Raphael, Adam 67 St Michael 35, 41, 90
rate card value 25, 161 Sale of Goods Act, 1893 103
rating chart, press coverage 163 sales: force, salesmen 15, 49,
ratio of publication 163 73-7, 80, 82, 87, 88, 90, 92;
rationalisation 46-7, 89 promotion ix, 5, 17, 38, 56-9,
RCA 70 97, 99; training 73
reader service features 114 Sales Promotion Executives
Ready Mixed Concrete 65 Association 58
recall: product 60,112-17, 162; sampling, research 39, 113, 164
test 56 San Miguel Corporation 69-70
rediffusion 126 Save the Children Fund 15
Redland 65 scale, problems of 135
reductions in size 135 school projects 84
Reid & Taylor 45 Schweppes Ill ; Gold Cup 110
reiteration, repetition 80, 83, 116 Sedgwick, A. R. M. 119
Rentokil Ltd 20, 27-8, 41, 43, Seligman, Adrian 151
103, 160 selling environment, situation 15,
reprints of articles 76, 122 92, 160
repro slicks 114 selling-in period, tactics 82-3,
reputation 16, 17, 28, 40, 44, 55, 88-9
68, 74, 90, 99, 106, 110, 112, seminar 17, 50, 66, 76, 94, 109
127 Sense 63, 72
research and development 3, 31-2 sewing-machines 23, 89, 108, 136
residential course 50 share market 2, 65
results, evaluation of 26, 113, Sharman, Howard 62-3
114-15, 160-70 Shell 18
reverse communications 102-3, Sheraton Hotels 40, 144
104,109 shipping 8, 35, 79, 108
INDEX 181
Shop Talk 92 Tanzania 149
shop traffic 15, 162 target audience 4, 12, 155
Sifbronze 89 Tata Iron & Steel Co Ltd 99
Silver Jubilee 96, 106, 118 Tate & Lyle 44, 105, 111
Singapore 128, 136, 137, 138, TCM fork lift trucks 148
139 tea 36, 58
Skateboards Ltd 52, 97 telephone interviews 39
Skuda News 52 teleprinter networks 147
Skuda skateboard 97 television 51, I 06, 126, 130, 134;
slang 138 commercial 78, 82-3; commer-
slide, slide-and-tape, presentations cials 15, 17, 18, 55-6, 76, 78, I 06,
50, 84, 91, 94, 109, 122 137; contractors 21, 36; network
Smit Sleepdienst 108 advertising 82
Smith, Adam 16 Television and Radio Advertising
Smith & Son Ltd, W. H. 40, 107 Foundation, Holland 56
Smith Travel, W. H. 107 Tell the World . . . 151
Smiths Industries 19, 42 Terry 49
sociology 128, 129 test marketing 48, 51-2;80, I02,
soft drinks 38, 70, 110, Ill 126
soft sell 6 Tetrion 43
Sound Broadcasting Acts 22 Texas Ruby Red grapefruit 98
sounds, world of 131, 134 'third country' potential 148
South Africa 137, 169 Third World 5, 16, 41, 125, 126,
span of consciousness 133 129-40, 148-9
spare parts, spares service 59-60, That's Life 104-5
89 thermometer 37
speaker's notes 76 Thomas, Benjamin F. 48
special offers I05 Thompson, J. Walter 66
Spencer, John 66, 68, 72 Thomson, Newman 92
sponsored film, see documentary Thorelli, H. B. 125, 128, 150
film Thoresen car ferries 79
sponsorship 13, 84, 110-11 Thorn Domestic Appliances
sports sponsorship II 0-1 I (Electrical) Ltd 116
staff relations 15, 73-5, 88, 107 Tibbenham PR 20, 52, 89, 91, 98
Standard Oil 42 Tic-Tac 48
starch 105 tights 45, 98, 163
stock market, see share market Tilling, Thomas 40
Stone Platt Industries 148 Timber Research and Development
Stravinsky's Rite of Spring 27 Association 108
stutTers 60 time: planning of, paying for 8,
Sunday Times, The 21 25, 154, 156-8; sheets 154, 157
Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Toffler, Alvin 168, 169, 170
Act, 1973 59, 103 tokens 58
swastika 44 Toshiba 41
symbol 44, 70, 136; group 36 trade: characters 44; press 14,
20, 81, 83, 93, 95, 114, 123, 126,
Takashimaya store group 96 145-6, 147; propaganda 7;
take-overs 65 terms 49, 80, 89, 92
tangibility of PR 160-1, 162 Trade Descriptions Acts 53
182 INDEX
training manuals 94 Viking car ferry 79

translations 144-6, 151 VIPS formula (Bernstein) 14
Translations, The World's Most visual aids 50, 84, 90, 91, 94,
Expensive 151 109, 122; literacy 131; percep-
transnationals 168-9 tion time 132-3
travel agents 79, 96, 107 vocabulary: block 132; picture
Travel Link 107 132; word 129, 138-9
Travelers Insurance Company 92 Volvo 55
triangular trading 148 Volvo 76 For People Who Think
Truman Ltd 100 62
Tug 108 voluntary control of advertising 21,
Tuluhungwa, R. R.N. 132, 135, 47, 52-5, 62; public relations
136, 150 159; sales promotion 58, 63
Tunstall, Jeremy 130-1, 150 vouchers, cash, premium 58
TV Times 19, 21 vowels 41-3
typography 53, 116
Walker, Johnnie 44
Ugboajah, Frank Okwu 134-5, wall charts 94
150 War on Want 139, 149-50, 151
UK Press Gazette 119 Wareite 40
umbrella model for mass media Warner, Harland W. 113, 119
dysfunction 130-5 warranties 59-60, 103-4
understanding 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 80, Watergate 112
107, 121, 160 Weir power converters 116
UNICEF 132 Weller King Ltd 92, 100
Unigate Dairies Ltd 106, 108 West End PR consultancies 66,
Union Castle 35 72
Universal News Services 108, Whitbread Gold Cup 110
123, 146-7 Williams, Mrs Shirley 55
Universal Primary Education Wills, Gordon 102, 103, 104, 119
programme 129 Woman's Realm 40
universities: Dares Salaam 149; women's press 22, 40, 45, 82
Kent 29; Lagos 129, 134; Woolworth 14, 15, 36, 41, 43, 53
The Open 160; Zambia 134, works, store, visits 94, 95-6, 110
150 Worldwide Export Publicity 151
US Senate Committee on
Commerce 104
USA 5, 48, 87, 95, 104, 113-17, Your Clipping Analyst 120
125, 126, 128, 137, 138, 139, Yudkin, Dr John S. 149
140-1, 146, 161-2, 166-9 Yudkin, Professor John 149, 150
Van den Bergh & Jurgen 38 Zambia 132, 133, 139, 148
vernacular newspapers 135 Zambia Broadcasting Services
Victory cigarettes 41 134, 150
video cassette recorder 84, 90, Zambia Information Service 132
122; cassettes 50, 84, 94; tape Zambian milk powder 139-40
50, 94, 122 Zube 138

(Macmillan Studies in Marketing Management) Frank Jefkins BSC (Econ), BA (Hons), MCAM, FIPR, MInstM, MAIE, ABC (Auth.) - Public Relations For Marketing Management-Palgrave Macmillan UK (1983)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

(Macmillan Studies in Marketing Management) Frank Jefkins BSC (Econ), BA (Hons), MCAM, FIPR, MInstM, MAIE, ABC (Auth.) - Public Relations For Marketing Management-Palgrave Macmillan UK (1983)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

MACMILLAN STUDIES IN MARKETING MANAGEMENT

General Editor: Professor Michael J. Baker

Each volume is the work of an acknowledged authority on that subject and

The titles so far published in the series are:

Michael J. Baker (ed.), Marketing: Theory and Practice

Advertising Made Simple (3rd ed.)

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of

First published 1978 by

ISBN 978-0-333-35915-0 ISBN 978-1-349-06925-5 (eBook)

First edition reprinted 1983

Preface to the First Edition viii

Preface to the Second Edition X

What is Public Relations? 1

2 How PR Differs from Advertising 12

3 PR and the Marketing Mix 29

14. Industrial relations 51

4 Corporate and Financial PR 64

5 PR as an Aid to the Sales Force 73

8 Customer Relations 101

9 PR and Exhibitions 121

10 PR and International Marketing 125

Public relations is frequently misunderstood and undervalued

This book should be helpful to the increasing number of

What is Public Relations?

The purpose of this chapter is to define public relations and to

management philosophy of successful, socially responsible

Public relations practice is the deliberate, planned and sus-

It will be noticed that the IPR definition stresses that PR

communication. The author's definition takes this general

Public relations consists of all forms of planned communi-

In this modified version of the IPR definition the word pub-

The special merit of this definition - the Mexican

how to grow more food; it may be a foreign manufacturer who

Advertising is the means of making known in order to sell

The second definition implies a combination of market re-

Propaganda is the means of gaining support for an opinion,

Occasionally the expression 'trade propaganda' is used for

as when the Minister addresses a press reception or makes a

The expression image is commonly associated with PR, often

deal of PR information is suspected, and is therefore wasted,

This is a longer list than the original one of twelve intro-

One of the easiest ways of understanding the difference be-

enthusiasts and other publics. Journals of vague general

There can also be differences of purpose or objective. Again,

understanding of the company, service or product is such that

spondent of a national newspaper made the remark that saved

It will already have occurred to the reader that advertising and

cessful field for PR is likely to be the regional press, and the

Parts ofthe media, and media people

same applies in a slightly different way to radio and television,

Kind and choice ofmedia

Limited or unlimited usage ofmedia

The presentation of the information contained in adver-

equally good sea captain. However, it is not impossible to have

It is here that we are confronted by fundamental differences

A. Initial situation B. Eventual situation -

FIG. 2.1 The PR transfer process, converting negative attitudes into

twelve months, eighteen months, perhaps longer to gain

After defining public relations, and having differentiated be-

sales services - all these excesses and deficiencies can create

THE MARKETING MIX

should be devised either directly by marketing management or

2. Product Life-cycle (PLC)