Definitions Of Public Relations

The universally accepted definition of public relations as per Edward Burneys popularly known
as the Father of PR is that:

�"It is a planned & sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an
organization & its publics.

�"However, Quentin Bell, another PR consultant thought the word persuasion would be better
than mutual understanding.

�Some PR professionals also described PR as a "phenomenon & necessity of our times."

Importance of Public Relations

Public Relations Increases Brand Credibility

Whatever the industry, trust plays a monumental role when it comes to determining the success
of a business. Without trust, a business leaves potential sales on the table. To bridge that trust-
gap between a business and its would-be clients or customers, the business can hire someone in
public relations.

The expert works on increasing their credibility within their given industry and increasing their
overall reputation. This is often done through thought leadership pieces, influencer connections
and networking strategies.

Increase Profits, Sales and Leads

PR isn’t complete without marketing.  A company that enhances its reputation through a range of
unique PR practices makes it likely that new potential customers will find their way right to its
door. Customers and clients will have more options to connect with the company through its
business stories and press releases.

PR agencies make that possible by helping organizations to craft the right messages to resonate
with their target customers in impactful ways. In the end, that means bigger profits.

PR Changes the Way People Think About a Business

The online world allows people to say whatever they want about a business, true or not, with the
business being able to do very little about it. A large number of businesses get a bad reputation
without doing anything to deserve it, while other businesses are not within easy online reach of
their intended markets. Both circumstances are hardly ideal.
The most effective way to fix that is through PR campaigns. PR support and the right campaigns
increase awareness for a brand while maintaining a positive and consumer-resonant image.

Audiences are also more likely to listen to a message coming from an objective source, as
opposed to paid-for advertising. By leveraging their connections with influencers, PR agencies
can gain trust for a company.

Increases Awareness:

The company and the PR department primarily focuses on spreading awareness by making
people understand the product specifications and brand values.

Creates Brand Image and Reputation:

The company has a chance to improve its image and build up a reputation among the public
through public relations practice.

Develops Loyalty:

The customers generate a loyalty factor for the brand because of an intense public relations
practice. They tend to buy from the company repeatedly.

Promotes Goodwill:

In the long term, public relations practice paves the way for creating substantial goodwill for the
company.

Builds Trust and Credibility:

The repetitive brand promotion, done in a way to align the company’s objectives to those of the
society and the target audience, develops trust and credibility among the public.

ROLE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN MARKETING

This lecture will explain various functions and roles of public relations in marketing and how
does it provide support in this effort. The students will also be apprised of the role of public
relations in market education, besides providing a guide line in relation to the market mix and for
devising an effective market education strategy. Public Relations has become a very important
profession as it provides the desired support as and when needed for the implementation of
various programs including marketing. In fact marketing now a days primarily depends upon the
support provided by the public relations department .The major components of the support
provided by PR in marketing are enumerated below:

1. Publicizing news & events.

2. Promoting established products or services.

3. Creating a favorable reputation of the company.

4. Arranging & publicizing public appearance of marketing spokespersons.

5. Probing public opinion. (Research)

6. Attracting news media coverage of sales conferences, trade shows &other sales promotion
events.

7. Assisting in programs concerning consumerism.

8. The following figure will explain the role of PR in marketing by using four P's signifying
different segments of this role

A well thought out public relations campaign is a very effective tool in understanding the client
and delivering the best outcome for their business. This guide will take you through six steps that
are easy to follow and will assist you in delivering a creative public relations campaign or
marketing plan.

Steps to successful public relations

Step 1: OBJECTIVES

It is essential that you define and write out your objectives for the public relations campaign or
marketing plan. This will allow you to determine how you will design the campaign and the
components that will make it successful. Whatever the objectives are, it is important that they are
clear and achievable!

Step 2: GOALS

Goals assist in achieving the objectives that were set at the beginning. In order for goals to be
successful they need to be S.M.A.R.T:

 Specific

 Measurable

 Achievable

 Realistic

 Time- bound

Note: It is also important that the goals you have selected align with the overall business and
sales objectives of the client.
Step 3: TARGET AUDIENCE

They key to any public relations campaign or marketing plan is to clearly define who the target
audience of the business is. This consists of determining who you want the campaign to reach,
and what key messages you want to deliver to them. When defining the target audience, it is best
to be as specific as possible, such as working out their gender, age, location and likes/dislikes.

Step 4: CREATE A TIMELINE

Creating a timeline for the public relations campaign or marketing plan allows you to determine
when each stage of the campaign will be completed and how long each stage should take you to
complete. A timeline also gives the client an idea of what to expect and how the campaign will
be carried out. Your timeline should also link with other marketing, business or sales efforts that
are being carried out by the client at the time of the campaign.

Step 5: PLAN OF ACTION

This includes developing and understanding the communication vehicles you will use to send the
key messages of the campaign to the target audience. Delivering these key messages can be
achieved through:

 Press releases

 Press conferences

 Interviews

 Newspaper or magazines articles

 Customer testimonials

 Television

 Radio

 Press interviews

 Events

Note: It is a good idea to select more than one communication vehicle in order to appeal to a
wider audience.
STEP 6: THE CAMPAIGN

Once you have put everything in place, the campaign can begin. The results of the campaign
should be tracked constantly to see whether goals and objectives are being achieved and to
determine whether the target audience are receiving the key messages of the campaign.

At the completion of the campaign, you should communicate with the client and determine
whether their desired results have been achieved. This will also allow you to determine whether
the campaign was a success or not. Evaluating the results will also provide an indication for
further campaign ideas and will allow you to consider whether the original plan needs to be
modified in any way.

PRESS RELATIONS IN PR

Overview

In this lecture we will study about press relations. Basically what are its methods and how does a
PRProfessional maintain these and what are basic ingredients for good press relations. The students will 
also beapprised about the definition of press relations and explain about News and news releases and h
ow shouldthese be written.
6 Points For Good Press Relations

A good public relations practitioner will take following six steps to
maintain good relations with the press

1. He will maintain TWO way Relationship.

2. He will by his conduct establish reputation of reliability.

3. The press will always provide good copy.

4. He will always cooperate with the press in providing material.

5. As and required he will provide Verification Facilities.

6. The PR practitioner will build personal rapport with the Media

Definition

The word Press, as commonly known should not be confined to press. It

covers all news media, like, radio, TV & cinema.

The objective of press relations is to `create knowledge & understanding.'

and not what the employer or client wants to be printed for favorable

mentions

All press material should be of 'interest & value ' to the readers, listeners

or viewers, as the material is likely to be used and the resultant publicity

will ultimately please the client or employer.

What is News.

`News is information which is not already known to recipients.

News Release.

Whenever a news release has to be prepared following essential points should be kept in mind.

1.The test of a PR story.

It means that it has news worthiness i.e. the information will be of interest to readers and is
therefore worth publishing.

2. Bad releases are bad PR.

A news release creates an image of the organization in the critical eye of the editors. A

badly written release will create a very bad impression of the sender's organization.

3.Good presentations.

Primarily following 4 things contribute to happier relations .with the press.

1. Releases should be composed in the style acceptable to journalists.

2. Release should be in manuscript style, and not in business letter style.

3. Releases should be appropriate to the journals to which they are sent.

4. Carefully select journals to which releases are sent and moreover send them well ahead of
time of publication.

Crisis Management

Meaning of crisis

The best meaning which is appropriate from PR point of view is that crisis means

"both danger & opportunity". Or an appropriate response to a challenge depends upon an

appropriate decision.
 2 Things Necessary For Preparedness.
1. Betterto have a crisis committee consisting of CEO, Personnel manager, works manager,
now a dayssecurity officer & Public relations manager.

2. These people should have regular contact by meeting for an overview & regular appraisal of
thesituation.

Do's In A Crisis Situation.

Basically in a crisis situation like an individual a public relation professional or
the management tends to panic. Therefore following are important things to do and not to do
in order to face and resolve the crisis inan efficient manner. Firstly let us identify the Do's in suc
h a situation.

�Gather all facts.

�Only credible spokespeople to speak or talk.

�Be accessible to the media.

�Report crisis yourself.

�Provide sufficient evidence of statements.

�Record events as the crisis evolve.

�Update crisis communications plan periodically.

Dont's In A Crisis Situation.

Following are the Don'ts in a crisis which must be avoided at all costs to face them effectively.

�Avoid "no comment" as it leads to speculation.

�Don't debate the subject.

�Don't attempt to assess blame, rather address & solve the problem at hand.

�Don't over react & exaggerate the situation.

�Don't deviate from corporate policy or agreed upon crisis procedures.

�Don't make "off the record" statements, there is no such thing.

Ethics Of Public Relations
Although the importance
of ethics has been discussed earlier too yet in order to emphasize and stress upon

its paramount importance it is being reproduced here again specially in

the context of obtaining positive

public response.

As is normally said:

"It pays to be honest". A business is more likely to succeed if it is trusted. Similarly in

Public Relations

credibility is vital , i.e. not only it is believable but it should also be

true. You must have also heard an old

saying; "Honesty  is the best policy." Lee Jaffe,1st female PR Gold Anvil winner said "Never, n
ever, do

anything or say anything that you are unwilling to see in print."

Why Honesty Is Important

�Dishonesty leads to lack of trust and cynicism.

�Lying is an exercise in coercion, forcing someone to act differently from the way he
or she would have

behaved if given the truth.

�Lying is resented by those deceived, even if the deceived ones are liars themselves.

�Dishonesty is likely to be discovered & no climate for credibility can be reestablished.

�Decisions about when
to lie are often made without calculating either alternatives or consequences.

�A lie often demands another lie to cover it up, and then others to maintain them.

Remember

Ethics  are founded on  moral principles.

Judgments about an organization's standing are based on 3 areas:

1. Ethics

2. Social Responsibility
3. Financial Responsibility

Ethics Of Public Relations

�Decisions about what is right or wrong some hold to be absolute: to others situation is

the factor.

�The fact that the PR works to change people's views causes the individual practitioner ethics to

be closely connected to the organizational responsibility.

�Political PR people often find themselves caught in the middle of conflicts

resulting from use of news media by public officials & vice versa.

�Ultimately the ethical, responsible practice of public relations is a personal choice.

PR Professional's Conduct Towards Practice Of PR.

�He should have a positive duty to observe the highest standards in
the practice of public relations & to

deal fairly & honestly with employers & clients.

�He should be aware of understand & observe the above in letter & spirit.

�Conduct his or her professional activities with regard to the public interest.

�He has a positive duty at all times to respect the truth and not disseminate false or misleading i
nformation

knowingly.

�He should honor confidences received or given in the course of professional activity.

�Heshould not misuse information regarding his or her employer's or client's business for perso
nal gain.

�He shall make every effort not to publish or otherwise disseminate false information.

�He will not conduct in a manner which is likely to be detrimental to the interest of

the reputation of a

public relation professional.

�He will never use inside information for personal gain.

�He will maintain complete secrecy if working for many clients during the course of their profe
ssional
duties

Roles of service charters

 clearly identifies the Court, the Court’s purpose, its client base and its services.

 establishes channels of communication between the Court and its clients.

 set out the agency’s client service standards and client rights and responsibilities.

 sets ways to obtain feedback and handling client enquiries and complaints.

 is developed in consultation with clients, staff and other key stakeholders

 is periodically monitored and reviewed