Public relations

● Public relations is a fundamental communication discipline covering a wide range of functions

that help an organization connect with the audiences it touches. (In public relations, audiences
are also known as publics.) In essence, public relations is used to generate goodwill for an
organization. The opening case study illustrates how Always generated goodwill by making
consumers feel good about themselves and the brand.
● Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial
relationships between organizations and their publics.”1
● Its publics may be external (customers, the news media, the investment community, the general
public, and government bodies) and internal (shareholders and employees)
● public relations is a tactical function in that public relations staff produce a variety of
communication tools to achieve corporate image objectives. On a higher level, it is a
management function that monitors public opinion and advises senior corporate executives on
how to achieve positive relationships with various audiences
● Public relations programs are built on an understanding of public opinion on issues critical to the
organization, such as the company’s impact on the environment and its local community or
workers’ rights and how a company deals with its employees
● To design effective public relations programs, the public relations strategist researches the
answers to two primary questions about public opinion. First, which publics are most important
to the organization, now and in the future? Second, what do these publics think? Particular
emphasis falls on understanding the role for each of the publics of opinion leaders, important
people who influence the opinions of others

Reputation: Goodwill, Trust, and Integrity

● Public goodwill is the greatest asset any organization can have. A well-informed public with a
positive attitude toward an organization is critical to the organization’s survival. That is why
creating goodwill is the primary goal of most public relations program
To underscore the importance of acting with integrity as a prerequisite for creating goodwill,
public relation
Values es of conduct, such as advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty, and fairness.
It also includes specific provisions regarding the free flow of information, fair competition,
disclosure of information, safeguarding confidences, and avoidance of conflicts of interest.8
● Reputation, however, is based on an organization’s actual behavior. Image mirrors what a
company says about itself, but reputation reflects what other people say about the company.9
● public relations as ‘the conscience of the corporation’
● Principles,13 to guide the actions and ethical behavior of public relations and all
communications professionals: 1. Tell the truth. 2. Prove it with action. 3. Listen to stakeholders.
4. Manage for tomorrow. 5. Conduct public relations as if the whole enterprise depends on it. 6.
Realize an enterprise’s true character is expressed by its people. 7. Remain calm, patient, and
good-humored
● what's the difference between advertising and PR, how do each affect brand perception/
reputation?
● Public relations, like advertising, contributes significantly to brand perceptions. In integrated
programs, advertising and public relations aim at selected targets with different but
complementary messages. Advertising and public relations specialists share a joint responsibility
to promote a brand, and at times their efforts converge
● To understand public relations better, let’s consider how the role of public relations differs from
advertising. Advertisers create the consumer awareness and motivation that deliver sales for a
brand, and they do so by designing ads, preparing written messages, and buying time or space.
The goals of public relations specialists are to communicate with various stakeholders, manage
the organization’s image and reputation, create positive public attitudes, and build strong
relationships between the organization and its constituents.
● Public relations and advertising also differ in how they use the media, the level of control they
have over message delivery, and their perceived credibility
● Media use In contrast to buying advertising time and space, public relations people seek to
persuade media gatekeepers to carry stories about their company. Gatekeepers include writers,
producers, editors, talk-show coordinators, and newscasters. Although public relations has a
distinguished tradition, people often mistake it for publicity, which refers to getting news media
coverage. Publicity, however, is focused on the news media and their audiences, which is just
one aspect of public relations, and it carries no direct media costs.
● Control: To exert more control, some organizations use brand journalism, in which they can
create content in media they own using journalismstyle stories about their brand or
organization.
● Credibility The public tends to trust the media more than they do advertisers. This consumer
tendency to confer legitimacy on information simply because it appears in the news is called the
implied third-party endorsement factor.
● How Does Public Relations Work: public relations refers to relationships with various
stakeholders.
term relationship marketing introduces a point of view in marketing planning that evolved from
public relations.17
Aspects of Public Relations That Focus on Relationships
● Media relations The area that focuses on developing media contacts—that is, knowing who in
the media might be interested in the organization’s story—
● successful relationship between a public relations person and editors and producers is built on a
public relations person’s reputation for honesty, accuracy, and professionalism. Once this
reputation is tarnished or lost, the public relations person cannot function effectively as a liaison
between a company and the media.
● Employee relations: A related program is called internal marketing, which deals with
communication efforts aimed at informing employees about marketing programs and
encouraging their support. Public relations professionals are sometimes involved in employee
recruitment, working with human resources and also membership recruitment for
organizations. This role may involve preparing ads, websites, and literature on the company or
organization as well as arranging events.
 ● Financial relations All the communication efforts aimed at the financial community, such as
press releases sent to business publications, meetings with investors and analysts, and the
annual report that the federal government requires of publicly held companies, are referred to
as financial relations.
● Public affairs Corporate communication programs with government and with the public on
issues related to government and regulation are called public affairs. For example, a company
building a new plant may need to gain the approval of government health and public safety
regulators. Public affairs also includes lobbying, which occurs when a company provides
information to legislators to get atheir support and vote on a particular bill, as well as
communication efforts with consumer or activist groups that seek to influence government
policies
● Issue management is another function under the purview of public affairs in which practitioners
proactively manage issues to prevent escalation to a crisis. • Community relations The scope of
community relations has grown from a focus on the local community to encompass a larger
meaning, including communities in broader society, both geographic and ethnic.
● One way companies can build community relations is through cause marketing.
● Consumer relations One area where advertising and public relations overlap is the growing field
of consumer relations. Simply stated, consumer relations is defined as building relationships
with people who buy things in the United States and elsewhere around the globe

Aspects of Public Relations That Focus on Particular Functions:

1. Corporate reputation management:
2. corporate social responsibility,
3. Crisis management There is no greater test for an organization than how it deals with a
crisis. The key to crisis management is to anticipate the possibility of a disaster and plan
how to deal with the bad news and all the affected publics
4. Public communication campaigns
5. Fund-raising

What Are Common Public Relations Tools?:

Public relations activities, such as publicity and corporate advertising, can help drive traffic to
the corporate website. Sales promotion is used in support of public relations activities, such as
special events. In some cases, it’s hard to know whether an event is a sales promotion or public
relations effort. But it’s not just the use of these tools that makes public relations a viable
function of brand communication; it’s also that public relations can contribute valuable effects,
such as credibility.
● paid vs owned vs earned media
Advertising Public relations programs sometimes employ advertising as a way to create
corporate visibility or strengthen relationships with various stakeholder audiences. The primary
uses of advertising are house ads, public service announcements, and corporate advertising.
1. House Ads
2. Public Service Announcements
3. Corporate Advertising With corporate advertising, a company focuses on its corporate
image
Media Relations
1. News Releases
2. Pitch Letters:Ideas for feature stories
3. A press conference—an event at which a company spokesperson makes a statement to media
representatives
4. Media Tours
5. Publications Organizations may provide employees and other publics with pamphlets, booklets,
annual reports, books, bulletins, newsletters, inserts and enclosures, and position papers.

Other Tools In addition to advertising, publicity, and publications, public relations practitioners have
various other types of materials and activities
● Videos, CDs, Podcasts, and Books
● Speakers and Photos Many companies have a speakers’ bureau of articulate people who will talk
about topics at the public’s request.
● Displays and Exhibits
● Special Events and Tours
Online Communication
● Brand journalism, email, intranets (which connect people within an organization), extranets
(which connect people in one business with its business partners), internet advertising and
promotions, and websites and social media, such as blogs, Facebook, and Twitter,
● External Communication Corporate websites, which allow for communication directly between
organizations and audiences, have become an important part of corporate communication.
These sites can present information about the company and open up avenues of interactivity for
stakeholders to contact the company and receive responses. Website newsrooms distribute a
company’s press releases to the media and other interested stakeholders.

What’s Trending in Public Relations

1. Mobile communication
2. Visual storytelling
3. Real-time marketing
4. Educational video content
5. Attempts to go viral
6. Digital security
7. Twitter users: avoid creating blunders
8. Brand owners: create one consistent voice
9. social responsibility
10. Measuring the effectiveness of public relations
 Direct Response and Promotions:
Functions and Elements of Direct-Response Communication:
Direct-response communication (DRC) makes personal interaction between an organization and its
customers or members possible.

1. Personal sales: Personal sales involve salespeople who engage with customers directly, either in
stores, through phone calls, or through home parties. Examples include companies like Avon and
Amway, which have sales representatives who promote and sell products.
2. : the text discusses the environmental concerns surrounding direct mail, debates the potential ban on
direct mail, explores the evolution of catalogs, and highlights the use of video and CD catalogs in
marketing.

The primary media used by direct response communications include:

1. Direct Mail: Communication sent via mail or electronically to a specific person or business, often
personalized and targeted.

2. Catalogs: Multipage publications showcasing a variety of merchandise, available in print or online

formats.

3. Direct-Response Advertising: Advertising that includes a specific call to action, prompting immediate
response from the audience.

4. Telemarketing: Marketing and sales conducted through phone calls, where a representative contacts
potential customers directly.

5. Online E-Marketing: Various digital channels used for direct response marketing, including email
marketing, online ads, social media promotions, and website landing pages.

These media provide opportunities for in-depth information, direct interaction with customers, and a
clear call to action, allowing businesses to engage with their target audience and generate measurable
responses.

Promotional big ideas:

The challenge is to come up with exciting, interesting promotional ideas that are involving and that
capture the attention of the market while at the same time remaining true to the brand strategy. This
challenge to be engaging as well as effective in terms of business results includes consumer as well as
trade promotions.

Trade promotions are promotions and incentives targeted at retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and
other trade partners to encourage them to promote and sell a particular product or brand. Here's an
example of a trade promotion:
Example: Trade Allowances

A beverage company wants to boost the visibility and sales of its new line of energy drinks. They decide
to run a trade promotion by offering a trade allowance to retailers.

The promotion works as follows:

1. Trade Allowance Announcement: The beverage company announces a trade promotion offering a $1
per case allowance to retailers who purchase a minimum quantity of the new energy drinks.

2. Minimum Purchase Requirement: Retailers are informed that they must purchase a certain quantity
of the energy drinks to qualify for the trade allowance. For example, retailers need to purchase a
minimum of 100 cases to receive the $1 per case allowance.

3. Claim Submission: Retailers who meet the minimum purchase requirement submit their claims to the
beverage company, providing proof of their purchases.

4. Trade Allowance Redemption: The beverage company verifies the claims and reimburses the retailers
with the agreed-upon trade allowance. If a retailer purchased 100 cases, they would receive a $100
reimbursement.

Benefits of Trade Allowances:

- Retailer Incentive: The trade allowance provides an incentive for retailers to purchase and promote the
new energy drinks. It helps offset their costs and increases their profit margin.

- Increased Sales: The promotion encourages retailers to stock up on the energy drinks, leading to
increased visibility and availability for consumers. This, in turn, can lead to higher sales volume.

- Brand Awareness: By offering trade allowances, the beverage company creates stronger relationships
with retailers and increases their loyalty to the brand. Retailers are more likely to promote the energy
drinks and recommend them to customers.

Trade promotions can take various forms, including discounts, trade show incentives, point-of-sale
materials, co-op advertising programs, and volume-based incentives. The specific type of trade
promotion used depends on the industry, target audience, and goals of the promotion.

Certainly! Here is a summarized list of how consumer promotions are commonly used:

1. Increasing Sales: Promotions are used to stimulate consumer demand and encourage purchases,
thereby boosting sales for a product or service.
2. Building Brand Awareness: Promotions help create awareness and generate buzz around a brand,
attracting new customers and increasing brand visibility.
3. Encouraging Trial: Promotions such as free samples or limited-time offers motivate consumers to try a
product or service, overcoming barriers to entry.
4. Rewarding Customer Loyalty: Loyalty programs and rewards offer incentives to loyal customers,
encouraging repeat purchases and fostering brand loyalty.
5. Clearing Inventory: Promotions can be used to clear excess inventory or seasonal products, preventing
stockpile and maximizing revenue.
6. Encouraging Upselling and Cross-selling: Promotions can incentivize customers to upgrade to higher-
priced items or purchase complementary products, increasing the average transaction value.
7. Driving Online and Offline Traffic: Promotions attract foot traffic to physical stores and drive website
visits, enhancing customer engagement and potential sales.
8. Generating Word-of-Mouth: Promotions such as contests or referral programs encourage customers
to share their positive experiences with others, generating word-of-mouth marketing.
9. Differentiating from Competitors: Unique promotions help distinguish a brand from competitors and
create a competitive advantage in the market.
10. Stimulating Off-Season Sales: Seasonal promotions and special offers during slow periods help
maintain sales momentum and prevent a decline in business.

Multiplatform promotions: (sponsorships, events, event marketing, loyalty programs)

Media
The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a network of interconnected physical devices, vehicles, appliances,
and other objects embedded with sensors, software, and connectivity capabilities that enable them to
collect and exchange data over the internet. In simple terms, IoT involves connecting everyday objects to
the internet, allowing them to communicate and interact with each other and with humans.

IoT (Internet of Things) and VR (Virtual Reality) have the potential to revolutionize marketing
communication by creating immersive and emotional connections with consumers. Here are some early
efforts and examples of how these technologies can be utilized:

1. IoT in Marketing Communication:

- Smart Devices: Marketers can integrate IoT-enabled devices, such as smartwatches, fitness trackers,
or home appliances, to gather data about consumer behavior and preferences. This data can be used to
personalize marketing messages and deliver targeted promotions.

- Beacon Technology: IoT beacons placed in physical locations can transmit personalized messages,
offers, or product recommendations to consumers' smartphones based on their proximity, enabling
targeted and location-based marketing.

- Connected Retail Experiences: IoT can enhance the in-store experience by connecting physical
products with digital platforms. For example, interactive product displays or smart shelves can provide
detailed information, reviews, or related content to shoppers, influencing their purchasing decisions.
2. VR in Marketing Communication:

- Virtual Product Demonstrations: VR can allow consumers to virtually experience products or services
before making a purchase. For example, automotive companies can provide virtual test drives, or travel
agencies can offer virtual tours of destinations, creating a more immersive and engaging experience.

- Branded VR Experiences: Companies can create branded VR content or experiences that align with
their products or brand values. This can include immersive storytelling, virtual brand activations, or
interactive VR games that promote brand awareness and engagement.

- Virtual Retail Environments: VR can recreate virtual shopping environments, enabling consumers to
browse and shop from the comfort of their homes. Virtual showrooms or virtual fitting rooms can
enhance the online shopping experience and help consumers make more informed purchasing
decisions.

By combining IoT and VR, marketers can create even more impactful and personalized experiences:

- IoT devices can collect real-time data about users' behaviors and preferences, which can be used to
tailor VR experiences to individual consumers.

- VR experiences can be enhanced with IoT-connected elements, such as haptic feedback devices or
smart objects, to provide a more immersive and sensory experience.

- VR experiences can gather user data during the interaction, allowing marketers to gain insights into
consumer engagement, preferences, and emotional responses, which can inform future marketing
strategies.

Overall, the integration of IoT and VR in marketing communication opens up new possibilities for
creating emotional connections, delivering personalized experiences, and engaging consumers in more
immersive ways.

Guerilla marketing:

Media planning
Media planners work in the media department of most advertising agencies. They are responsible for
putting ads in the right place at the right time, reaching the desired audience for the least amount of
money. Media planners gather information on the people's viewing and reading habits. how to gather
information from customers?

A media kit is also known as a press kit. It's a set of promotional materials to provide information to
members of the news media to help them write articles.

PRIZM (Potential Rating Index for Zip Markets) Premier combines demographics, consumer behavior and
geographic data for marketers. PRIZM Premier classifies every U.S. household into one of 68 consumer
segments based on the household's purchasing preferences.
Marketing communication objectives, as you will recall, describe what a company wants target
audiences to think, feel, and most importantly, do. Media objectives describe what a company wants to
accomplish regarding the delivery of its brand messages and their impact on the target audience

, frequency refers to the repetition of message exposure. You should keep in mind that the frequency
number for a media buy is actually the average number of exposure opportunities of those reached.

● The Reach Objective The percent of people exposed to a brand message one or more times
within a specified period of time is called reach. A campaign’s success is due in part to its ability
to reach as many of the targeted audience as possible within a stated budget and time period.
● Writing Media Objectives:
● Regardless of whether a company spends a few hundred dollars on one medium or millions of
dollars on a variety of media, the goal is still the same: to reach the right people at the right time
with the right message. It’s good to remember that there are always multiple ways to reach an
objective; the difficult decision is deciding which way is the best. Specific media strategies are
based on analyzing and comparing various ways to accomplish the media objectives and then
selecting the approach that is estimated to be the most effective alternative
● Most brands use a variety of targeted media vehicles, called a media mix, to reach current and
potential customers. ESPN, for example, uses television, magazines, radio, and the internet as
well as original programming on its own ESPN channel to promote its programs. Media mixes
are used for a number of reasons.
● Still, the reason for choosing a particular medium or a set of media vehicles depends on the
media objectives matched with the strengths of particular media. What media will best deliver
what effects, and can you reinforce and extend those effects with a mix of media? Will the
campaign deliver the desired return on investment (ROI)? If audience reach is an objective,
television still reaches the largest audience; if frequency is important, radio may be the best
media vehicle to use. Print and television are considered more trustworthy than other media, so
they might be used by a media planner for a campaign that seeks to establish credibility for a
brand or believability for a product claim
● Guide to Media Evaluation and Selection
● Timing Strategies: When to Advertise? Timing decisions relate to factors such as seasonality,
holidays, days of the week, and time of day. These decisions are driven by how often the
product is bought and whether it is used more in some months than in others. Timing also
encompasses the consumers’ best aperture and competitors’ advertising schedules. Another
consideration is lead time, or the amount of time allowed before the beginning of the sales
period to reach people when they are just beginning to think about seasonal buying
● Duration: How Long? For how many weeks or months of the year should the advertising run? If
there is a need to cover most of the weeks, advertising will be spread rather thin.
● • Continuity: How Often? Continuity refers to the way the advertising is spread over the length
of a campaign. A continuous strategy spreads the advertising evenly over the campaign period.
● A pulsing strategy is used to intensify advertising before a buying aperture and then to reduce
advertising to lower levels until the aperture reopens.
● A flighting strategy is the most severe type of continuity adjustment. It is characterized by
alternating periods of intense advertising activity and periods of no advertising, called a hiatus.
This on-and-off schedule allows for a longer campaign. The hope in using nonadvertising periods
 is that the consumers will remember the brand and its advertising for some time after the ads
have stopped
● Step 4: Media Metrics and Analytics Like every other aspect of marketing communication, media
plans are driven by questions of accountability. And because media decisions are based on
measurable factors, identifiable costs, and budget limitations, media planners are engrossed in
calculating the impact and efficiency of their media recommendations. With millions of dollars
at stake, clients want data to justify media recommendations
● Gross rating points (GRPs) indicate the weight, or efficiency, of a media plan. The more GRPs in a
plan, the more “weight” the media buy is said to deliver
● Cost per click (CPC): CPC is the cost of digital advertising based on the number of clicks an ad
receives. For example, if a $5 online ad gets 20 click-throughs, the cost is $0.25 per click. Google
AdWords uses CPC pricing.
● • Cost per action (CPA): CPA assesses a digital ad based on how many users click it and then take
a certain action (e.g., sign up for your newsletter, download one of your white papers, make a
purchase).
● • Cost per view (CPV): Ad networks sometimes offer marketers the option of paying for an ad
based on the number of times it is viewed on a website. CPV rates tend to be much lower than
CPC rates.28 Media Optimization
● Cost per thousand (CPM) is a marketing term that refers to the cost an advertiser pays per one
thousand advertisement impressions on a web page.
● Provide Inside Information Media buyers are important information sources for media planners.
They are close enough to day-to-day changes in media popularity and pricing to be an important
source of inside current information
● Negotiate Costs Just as a person buying a car often negotiates for the best price, so does a
media buyer negotiate for the best prices. The key questions are whether the desired vehicles
are available and whether a satisfactory schedule and rates can be negotiated.
● Monitor Performance A media buyer’s responsibility to a campaign does not end with the
signing of space and time contracts. The media buyer is responsible for tracking the
performance of the media plan as it is implemented and afterward as part of the campaign
evaluation
● Postcampaign Evaluation Once a campaign is completed, the planner’s duty is to compare the
plan’s expectations and forecasts with what actually happened. Did the plan actually achieve
GRP, reach, frequency, and CPM objectives? Did the newspaper and magazine placements run in
the positions expected? Such analysis is instrumental in providing guidance for future media
plans.

• Monitor Billing and Payment Bills from the various media come in continuously. Ultimately, it is
the responsibility of the advertiser to make these payments.