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3 The Growth of a Profession 43
The Advancement of Women 43
A Brief History of Public Relations 44
Ancient Beginnings 44 • Public Relations in Colonial
America 44 • The Age of the Press Agent 45 • Public
Relations Grows as America Grows 46 • The Rise of Politics
and Activism 47 • Modern Public Relations Comes of Age 48
PR Casebook Lee Advises Rockefellers and Coal
Industry 50
Public Relations Expands in Postwar America 52 • Evolving
Practice and Philosophy 52
Trends in Today’s Practice of Public Relations 55
Feminization of the Field 55 • The Importance of
Diversity 57
Social Media in Action Diversity Shows Up in Social Media
Use 58
Other Major Trends in Public Relations 59
A Growing Professional Practice 61
The Public Relations Society of America 61 • The
International Association of Business Communicators 61
• The International Public Relations Association 61
Professionalism, Licensing, and Accreditation 62
Professionalism 62 • Licensing 62 • Accreditation 63
Summary 64
Questions for Review and Discussion 65
Tactics | Women Make Great Strides in PR by Rebecca
Knight, The Financial Times 66

Today’s Practice: Departments and Firms 69

4 Texting Program Reaches Out to Mothers 69
Public Relations Departments 70
Organizational Factors Determine the Role of Public
Relations 70 • How Public Relations Departments Are
Organized 72 • Line and Staff Functions 72 • Levels of
Influence 73 • Sources of Friction 75
The Trend Toward Outsourcing 77
Public Relations Firms 78
Social Media in Action Firms Tweet to Self-Promote 80
Global Reach 81 • The Rise of Communication
Conglomerates 81 • Structure of a Counseling Firm 83
• Pros and Cons of Using a Public Relations Firm 83
PR Casebook Ogilvy and LG Team Up to Raise
Technology Awareness Through a Texting
Championship 84
Fees and Charges 85
Summary 87
Questions for Review and Discussion 87
Detailed Contents vii
 Research and Campaign Planning 89
5 Tapping Into Research Helps Ensure Success 89
The Four Essential Steps of Effective Public Relations 90
Research: The First Step 90
Achieving Credibility with Management 91 • Defining Audiences
and Segmenting Publics 92 • Formulating Strategy 92 • Testing
Messages 92
Social Media in Action Measuring Social Media 93
Preventing Crises 94 • Monitoring the Competition 94 • Generating
Publicity 94 • Measuring Success 94
Research Methods 94
Research Techniques 94 • Scientific Sampling Methods 99
• Reaching Respondents 100
Planning: The Second Step 103
Approaches to Planning 103 • The Eight Elements of a Program
Plan 103
PR Casebook Zumba and Komen Party in Pink to Support
Breast Cancer Research 108
Summary 111
Questions for Review and Discussion 111
Tactics | Master Class Are Traditional Ways of Doing Research
Still Valuable in the Age of Social Media? PRWeek 112

6 Communication and Measurement 115

An Interesting Campaign for a “Most Interesting” Beer 115
Communication: The Third Step 116
The Goals of Communication 116 • Making Sure the Audience
Receives the Message 118 • Making Sure the Audience Pay Attention
to the Message 119 • Making Sure the Message Is Understood 120
• Making the Message Credible 121 • Making the Message
Memorable 122 • Making Sure the Audience Acts on the
Message 124
Social Media in Action Facebook Friends = Brain Power? 126
Measurement: The Fourth Step 127
Objectives: A Prerequisite for Measurement 127 • Measurement and
Evaluation Status 128
Measurement of Message Exposure 128
Media Impressions 130 • Internet Hits 130 • Advertising
Equivalency 130 • Systematic Tracking 131 • Information
Requests 132 • Cost per Person 132 • Audience Attendance 132
Measurement of Audience Awareness, Attitudes, and
Action 132
Audience Awareness 132 • Audience Attitude 133
• Audience Action 133
PR Casebook “Don’t Be That Guy” Campaign Fights Binge
Drinking 134
Summary 135
Questions for Review and Discussion 135
viii Detailed Contents
7 Public Opinion and Persuasion
Going Green: Everybody’s Doing It
137
137
What Is Public Opinion? 138
Public Opinion Is a Moving Target 138 • Public Opinion
Is Powerful 140
Opinion Leaders as Catalysts 140
The Role of Mass Media 143
Agenda Setting 144 • Framing 144
The Role of Conflict 146
PR Casebook Handguns in America 147
Persuasion in Public Opinion 148
The Uses of Persuasion 149 • Persuasion and
Negotiation 149
Social Media in Action Persuading Citizens to Join the U.S.
Army 150
Factors in Persuasive Communication 151
Audience Analysis 151 • Appeals to Self-Interest 153
• Audience Participation 154 • Suggestions for Action 154
• Source Credibility 154 • Clarity of Message 155
• Channels 155 • Timing and Context 155 • Reinforcement 156
The Limits of Persuasion 157
Lack of Message Penetration 157 • Competing or Conflicting
Messages 157 • Self-Selection 158 • Self-Perception 158
Summary 159
Questions for Review and Discussion 159
Tactics | Three lessons all tech companies should learn from
Apple’s latest audit by Chris O’Brien, Mercury News 160

Managing Competition and Conflict 163

8 Good Intentions Go Further with Smart PR 163
A New Way of Thinking: Conflict and Competition 164
The Role of Public Relations in Managing Conflict 166
It Depends: Factors That Affect Conflict Management 169
The Threat Appraisal Model 169 • Contingency Theory 169
PR Casebook Free Silva 170
The Conflict Management Life Cycle 171
Proactive Phase 171 • Strategic Phase 172 • Reactive
Phase 172 • Recovery Phase 172
Managing the Life Cycle of a Conflict 173
Issues Management 173 • Strategic Positioning and Risk
Communication 173 • Crisis Communication 174 • Reputation
Management 176
Social Media in Action Social Media and the BP Oil Spill Crisis 177
Déjà Vu—All Over Again 178
Summary 179
Questions for Review and Discussion 179
Detailed Contents ix
 Ethics and the Law 181
9 Helping a Tyrant Burnish his Image 181
What Is Ethics? 182
Professional Guidelines 184
Codes of Conduct 184 • Ethics in Individual Practice 185
Dealing with the News Media 186
Public Relations and the Law 188
Defamation 188
PR Casebook Facebook Campaign Raises an Ethical
Ruckus 189
Avoiding Libel Suits 190
Employee Communications 190
Product Publicity and Advertising 190 • Employee Free
Speech 191
Social Media in Action Challenges Arise in Social Media
Regulation 192
Copyright Law 193
Fair Use Versus Infringement 193
The Rights of Photographers and Artists 194 • The Rights of
Freelance Writers 195
Trademark Law 195
The Protection of Trademarks 195 • Trademark Infringement 195
• Misappropriation of Personality 196
Regulations by Government Agencies 197
The Federal Trade Commission 197 • The Securities and Exchange
Commission 198 • Other Regulatory Agencies 198
Liability for Sponsored Events 199
Working with Lawyers 200
Summary 201
Questions for Review and Discussion 201
Tactics | The PR Hacks Behind Facebook’s Google Smear by
Dan Lyons, www.thedailybeast .com 202

Reaching Diverse Audiences 205

10 Engaging Ethnic Audiences 205
The Nature of the Public Relations Audience 206
Dynamic and Segmented Audiences 206 • Strategic Public
Relations Targets Key Audiences 209
Age Group Audiences 209
Youth 209 • Baby Boomers 210 • Seniors 211
PR Casebook Reaching Emerging Youth and Male
Audiences 212
Gender/Lifestyle Audiences 213
Women 213 • The LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender)
Community 213 • Religious Groups 214
x Detailed Contents
 Social Media in Action A Comfortable Discussion or Too
Much Information? 215
Ethnically Diverse Audiences 216
Diversity Media 217 • Hispanics 217 • African
Americans 219
Global Audiences 220
Matching the Audience with the Media 220
Print 220 • Radio and Video 221 • Television 221
• Online and Social Media 221
Summary 223
Questions for Review and Discussion 223

THE MASS MEDIA 225

11 A Varied Campaign Helps Slurpee Unite
America 225
News Releases 226
Is It Time for a News Release? 226 • The Content of a
News Release 228 • Publicity Photos 229
Media Advisories, Fact Sheets, Media Kits, and Pitch
Letters 230
PR Casebook Saving the Arctic with Iconic Brand
Mascots 231
Interviews with Journalists and News Conferences 232
Interviews 232 • News Conferences 232 • Planning and
Conducting a News Conference 233
The Media Party and the Media Tour 234
The Reach of Radio and Television 235
Radio 235 • Television 237
Social Media in Action YouTube Video Challenges
Stereotype: Community Crafts Its Own PSA 239
Personal Appearances 240 • Product Placements 241
Summary 243
Questions for Review and Discussion 243

The Internet and Social Media 245

12 Tweeting the Revolution 245
The Internet 246
Leveraging the Power of the Internet 247
Interactivity 248 • Cost-Effectiveness 249
Webcasts, Podcasts, and Wikis 249
Social Media 251
Blogs 252 • Facebook 254
PR Casebook American Airlines Soars and Penn State
Crashes 256
Twitter 257 • YouTube 258
Detailed Contents xi
 The Rising Tide of Mobile-Enabled Content 260
Texting 260 • Apps Everywhere 260
Social Media in Action On Campus and in the Kitchen 261
QR Codes: Just a Scan Away 262
Summary 263
Questions for Review and Discussion 263
Tactics | Of Lowe’s, All-American Muslim, and Facebook
Home Page Improvement by Catherine P. Taylor, Social Media
Insider (news@mediapost.com) 264

Events and Promotions 267

13 Mr. Bubble Turns 50 with a Splash 267
A World Filled with Meetings and Events 268
Group Meetings 269
Meeting Location 270 • Meeting Invitations 270 • Getting the
Meeting Started 270 • Speakers 270 • Meals 271
Banquets 272
PR Casebook Cars and Comedy Benefit Boys and Girls
Clubs 273
Receptions and Cocktail Parties 274
Open Houses and Plant Tours 275
Conventions 276
Convention Planning 277 • Convention Programs 278
Trade Shows 279
Exhibit Booths 280
Social Media in Action Are You A Mayor? 281
Press Rooms and Media Relations 282
Promotional Events 282
Corporate Sponsorships: Another Kind of Event 283 • Celebrity
Appearances 283 • Promotional Event Logistics 284
Summary 285
Questions for Review and Discussion 285

Global Public Relations 287

14 Bono: “PR Man” for the World’s Poor 287
What Is Global Public Relations? 288
Public Relations Development in Other Nations 289
International Corporate Public Relations 291
Language and Cultural Differences 293
Social Media in Action Making the Most of Social Networks Around
the World 294
Foreign Corporations in the United States 295
Representing U.S. Corporations in Other Nations 296

xii Detailed Contents

 PR Casebook Happiness Ambassadors Lead
Convergent Media Campaign for Coke 297
Public Diplomacy 298
U.S. Public Diplomacy Efforts 298 • Foreign Public
Diplomacy Efforts 299
The Rise of NGOs 301
Opportunities in International Work 302
Summary 303
Questions for Review and Discussion 303
Tactics | PR Firms Turn London into the Capital of
Reputation Laundering by Robert Booth, The Guardian
Weekly (UK) 304

Corporate Public Relations 307

15 Netflix Announcements Draw Consumer Ire 307
Managing Corporate Reputations 308
Media Relations 310
Customer Relations 312
Consumer Activism 313 • Consumer Boycotts 314
Social Media in Action LinkedIn as a Public Relations
Tactic? 315
Employee Relations 316
Investor Relations 318
Marketing Communications 318
Product Publicity 319 • Cause-Related Marketing 320
PR Casebook Macy’s Strives to Activate Millennials 321
Corporate Sponsorship 321 • Viral Marketing 323
Environmental Relations 324
Corporate Philanthropy 325
Summary 327
Questions for Review and Discussion 327

Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism 329

16 Internal and External Expectations Shape Tourism PR
in Egypt 329
Public Relations in Entertainment, Sports, and
Tourism 330
Promoting a Personality 331
Social Media in Action Celebrities Thrive and Crash in
140 Characters 334
Promoting an Entertainment Event 335
The “Drip-Drip-Drip” Technique 335 • Movies and
Television 335

Detailed Contents xiii

 Sports Publicity 337
PR Casebook Racing Sausages Win Fans’ Hearts 340
Travel Promotion 341
Appeals to Target Audiences 342 • Tourism in Times of Crisis 343
Summary 345
Questions for Review and Discussion 345
Tactics | Mexico Leans on PR to Lure Back Tourists by
Alexandra Bruell, Advertising Age 346

Government and Politics 349

17 NuVal and Nutrition Keys vs. the Food and Drug
Administration 349
Government Public Relations 350
Public Information and Public Affairs 351
The Federal Government 352
The White House 352 • Congress 353 • Federal Agencies 353
State Governments 356
Local Governments 357
Government Relations by Corporations 358
PR Casebook A Short History of Government Efforts to
Promote Nutrition 359
Lobbying 360
Pitfalls of Lobbying 362 • Grassroots Lobbying 362
Election Campaigns 363
Social Media in Action Seeing the Light: Social Media in
Politics 365
Summary 367
Questions for Review and Discussion 367

Nonprofit, Health, and Education 369

18 Faith-Based Advocacy Comes of Age 369
The Role of Public Relations in Nonprofit, Health, and Education
Organizations 370
Competition, Conflict, and Cooperation 371
Fund-raising 372
Motivations for Giving 373 • Fund-Raising Methods 374
Social Media in Action Continuous Interaction Among Donors
Through Social Media 376
Membership Organizations 377
Professional Associations 377 • Trade Associations 377
Labor Unions 378 • Chambers of Commerce 378
Advocacy Groups 379

xiv Detailed Contents

PR Casebook Digital Grassroots Public Relations
Campaigns 380
Activist Groups 381 • Social Issue Organizations 381
Social Service Organizations 381
Philanthropic Foundations 381 • Cultural
Organizations 381 • Religious Organizations 383
Health Organizations 383
Hospitals 383 • Health Agencies 383 • Health Campaigns:
Strategies and Tactics 384
Educational Organizations 385
Colleges and Universities 385 • Elementary and Secondary
Schools 386 • School Districts 386
Summary 387
Questions for Review and Discussion 387
Tactics | Mattel Says Yes to Greenpeace, No to
Rainforest Destruction by Raz Godelnik,
www.triplepundit.com 388

Credits 390
Index 391

Detailed Contents xv
Acknowledgments
We’d like to thank the many reviewers who offered us their invaluable sugges-
tions on how to improve this new edition of the THINK Public Relations

Bill Brewer, Miami University

Ovril Cambridge, Ohio University
Terry Hapney, Marshall University
Kirk Hazlett, Curry College
Andrew Lingwall, Clarion University
Robert O’Gara, Point Park University
Mary-Jo Popovici, Monroe Community College

Many people have contributed to the production of this book. The authors wish
to express our deep appreciation and admiration to development editor Erin
Mulligan, in particular, who provided excellent editing and worked very closely
with us on the manuscript and format. We also salute the continuing support
of our editor, Ziki Dekel. Other individuals at Pearson who deserve our thanks
include Kristy Zamagni and Katy Gabel, project managers at PreMediaGlobal,
Carolyn Arabascio at PreMediaGlobal, who arranged all the photo permissions,
and Megan Hermida, editorial assistant. We also wish to thank our respective
spouses—Marianne, Marilyn, Sharon, and Tony—for their love and patience dur-
ing the many nights and weekends we spent at our keyboards updating this new
edition.
DENNIS L. WILCOX
GLEN T. CAMERON
BRYAN H. REBER
JAE-HWA SHIN

xvi Acknowledgments
About the AUTHORS
DENNIS L. WILCOX, Ph.D., is profes-
sor emeritus of public relations and
past director of the School of Jour-
nalism and Mass Communications
at San Jose State University, Cali-
fornia. He is a Fellow and accredited
(APR) member of the Public Relations
Society of America (PRSA), former
chair of the PRSA Educator’s Academy, and past chair
of the public relations division of Association for Educa-
tion in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).
Dr. Wilcox has written six books and is the lead author of
Public Relations Strategies and Tactics and Public Rela-
tions Writing and Media Techniques. His honors include
PRSA’s “Outstanding Educator,” the Xifra-Award from the
University of Girona (Spain), an honorary doctorate from
the University of Bucharest, and awards from the Public
Relations associations of Serbia and India. He is active in
the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) and
a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, a group of senior
communication executives. Dr. Wilcox regularly consults
and gives lectures to students and professionals in Asia,
Europe, and South America. dennis.wilcox@sjsu.edu
GLEN T. CAMERON, Ph.D., is Gre-
gory Chair in Journalism Research
and founder of the Health Com-
munication Research Center at the
University of Missouri. Dr. Cameron
has authored more than 300 articles,
chapters, award-winning conference
papers, and books on public relations
topics. A popular lecturer internationally, Dr. Cameron
has received AEJMC’s Baskett Mosse and PRSA’s Path-
finder awards for career achievement. The University of
Missouri has honored him with the 21st Century Corps
of Discovery Lectureship, which is given once each year
by a globally recognized campus scholar. Dr. Cameron’s
ongoing public relations experience includes his man-
agement of more than $42 million in external funding of
health public relations projects from sources such as the
National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Insti-
tute, Missouri Foundation for Health, the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, the U.S Department of Defense, and Monsanto.
camerong@missouri.edu
BRYAN H. REBER, Ph.D., is associ-
ate professor of public relations at the
University of Georgia, Grady College
of Journalism and Mass Communica-
tion. Dr. Reber teaches courses that
offer an introduction to public relations,
management, writing, and campaigns.
On the graduate level, he teaches
classes in topics including management, persuasion, cam-
paign research, and public opinion. His research focuses
on public relations theory, practice, pedagogy, and health
communication and has been published in the Journal of
Public Relations Research, Journalism & Mass Communi-
cation Quarterly, Journal of Health Communication, Public
Relations Review, and Journal of Broadcasting & Elec-
tronic Media. Dr. Reber regularly presents his research at
national and international academic conferences. He is the
co-author of two books: Gaining Influence in Public Rela-
tions and Public Relations Today: Managing Competi-
tion and Conflict. Dr. Reber worked for 15 years in public
relations at Bethel College, Kansas. He has conducted
research for the Sierra Club, Ketchum, and the Georgia
Hospital Association, among others. reber@uga.edu
JAE-HWA SHIN, Ph.D., Mph, is asso-
ciate professor in the School of Mass
Communication and Journalism at the
University of Southern Mississippi.
Dr. Shin is recognized as a prolific re-
searcher in the field of public relations,
and has co-authored Public Relations
Today: Managing Conflict and Com-
petition. Her articles often appear in journals such as the
Public Relations Review, Journalism & Mass Communi-
cation Quarterly, Science Communication Journal, and
Journal of Communication in Healthcare. Dr. Shin is an
active presenter at national and international conferences.
Her research areas are public relations theories, strategic
conflict management, agenda-building process, and health
communication. She teaches undergraduate and graduate
courses in public relations, conflict/issue/crisis/risk man-
agement, campaigns, theories, and research methods, and
is the faculty co-advisor for the USM chapter of the Pub-
lic Relations Student Society of America and head of the
public relations sequence for the School of Mass Commu-
nication and Journalism. Prior to teaching at the University
of Southern Mississippi, she worked as the public relations
director for the Korea Economic Research Institute of the
Federation of Korean Industries. jae-hwa.shin@usm.edu
About the Authors xvii
 1
What is Public
Relations?
A Busy Day
Cierra is an account executive in a San Francisco public relations firm. When her
workday begins at 6 A.M., her East Coast colleagues, with their three-hour head Ask
start, have already been filling her e-mail inbox. As she drinks her coffee, she Yourself
checks e-mails as well as RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication—an online con-
tent aggregating system). Then she scans feeds from blogs covering industries
she represents for her clients and checks her clients’ websites. By 9 A.M., Cierra is > What Is Public Relations?
on her way to her downtown office via light rail; wasting no time, she monitors p. 3
the news and her e-mails on her smartphone during her commute. Her New York
colleagues have sent her a schedule for a client’s West Coast media tour. She > What Are the Components
makes some minor adjustments to the tour, since she knows the Bay Area jour-
of Public Relations? p. 10
nalists better than her Manhattan counterparts do. Next she turns her attention
to a news release about a client’s new mobile phone app. She finishes the edits,
> How Does Public Relations
gives it a once-over, and e-mails it to the client for approval. An electronic news
service will deliver the release to newspapers across the country as soon as the Differ from Journalism?
release is approved. p. 12
In her office, Cierra gets a visit from the firm’s student intern. In going through
news clippings to monitor client-related industries, the intern has identified some > How Does Public Relations
news about pending government environmental regulations that have the po- Differ from Advertising?
tential to negatively impact a client’s reputation. One legislator used the client as p. 14
an example of why the regulations are needed. Cierra sends several high-priority
e-mails and sets up a meeting with the client. > How Does Public Relations
Cierra’s next activity is a brainstorming session with staff to generate creative
ideas about a campaign to raise funds for the local art museum. She finds this
Differ from Marketing?
client to be one of her most challenging. Nonprofits compete for volunteers and p. 15
members as well as financial donations, especially in a lean economy. When she
returns to her office, there are a number of telephone messages. A reporter called > How Can an Integrated
for background information on a story; a graphic designer has finished a bro- Approach to Public
chure; a catering manager wants to finalize arrangements for a reception; and a Relations Benefit an
client has asked her to attend a video news release taping.
Organization? p. 17
Cierra lunches late with a client who seeks her counsel on how to
announce employee layoffs, a situation fraught with ethical issues. After
lunch, Cierra treks to a client pitch appointment, using her computer tablet
en route to check databases and gather information about the prospective
client’s industry. She also checks online news updates to determine if any-
thing is occurring that involves or affects her other clients. At 6 P.M., as she
winds down from the day’s hectic activities, she reviews stories from a clip-
ping service about one of her accounts, an association of California vintners.
She is pleased to find that her feature story, which included recipes, wine pair-
ings, and color photos, appeared in several daily newspapers.

1 Based on the description of Cierra’s day, how would you define public
relations if a friend asked you what you were studying in this class?
2 What role do the Internet and social media play in Cierra’s day?
3 How does Cierra interact with journalists and use news coverage to in-
form her work throughout the day?

3
The Challenge
OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
s the chapter-opening scenario
A illustrates, the challenge of
public relations (PR) is multifaceted.
A public relations professional must
have skills in written and interper-
sonal communication, research,
negotiation, creativity, logistics,
facilitation, and problem solving.
Individuals who seek a challeng-
ing career at the center of what’s
happening in modern organiza-
tions will find public relations to
their liking. Owing to the variety
of tasks— ranging from brochure
layout to focus groups and poll-
ing data analysis—and the chance
to work for clients and companies
across the gamut of profit, non-
profit, and government sectors,
more and more people like Cierra
are choosing the field of public re-
lations every year.
CNN.com lists “public relations
specialist” as one of the top 50 pro-
fessions for job opportunity and
salary potential. The U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts
“much faster than average” growth
for the public relations profession.
Between now and 2018, the BLS
predicts a very healthy 24 percent
job growth in the field.

Which skills make

think PR professionals
successful?

“ Public relations specialists are concentrated in large cities,

where...communications facilities are readily available
and where many businesses and trade associations have
their headquarters. Many public relations consulting firms,
for example, are in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco,
Chicago, and Washington, D.C., according to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics.

4 CHAPTER 1 What is Public Relations?

Global SCOPE
ublic relations is a well- China’s economy has been increas-
P established academic subject
that is taught throughout the world.
While the U.S. dominates the
public relations market, The Hol- ing at the rate of 8 percent annu-
ally. The public relations industry is
mes Report (holmesreport.com),
Large numbers of students around an annual agency industry list- sharing in this growth. The China
the globe study public relations as ing, reflects the global power of International Public Relations
a career field. In the United States, PR. Agencies in Belgium, Brazil, Association (CIPRA) reports there
more than 300 universities have Canada, China, France, Germany, are now 20,000 practitioners in the
sequences or majors in public re- Italy, Japan, Sweden, and the UK country and annual spending on
lations, and approxi-
mately 100 European “By geography, India and Korea are on fire. By sector,
universities offer stud-
ies in the subject. Many tech is hot and so is digital. I haven’t been this excited
Asian universities are about the market in a long time.”
offering new gradu-
ate and undergraduate Alan VanderMolen, Edelman’s Asia-Pacific President
public relations pro-
grams—from India to Singapore to were among the top 50 agen- public relations has reached $2.2
China. Student demand is increas- cies in 2011 according to income, billion.
ing dramatically. which ranged from $531.5 million Other Asian nations, such as
The public relations field is to $21.8 million among those top Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand,
most extensively developed in the agencies. Singapore, Indonesia, and India,
United States, where organizations Alan VanderMolen, Edelman’s are rapidly expanding their free-
are projected to spend almost $8 Asia-Pacific president told AdWeek market economies as well, which
billion annually by 2013 on public that he envisions growth of 23 per- creates a fertile environment for
relations, according to estimates cent in Asian revenue in the next increased public relations activ-
by Veronis Suhler Ste- five years. Major growth is occur- ity. Latin America and Africa also
venson, a specialty ring in the Asian public relations present growth opportunities. A
banker in the industry for several reasons. China more detailed discussion of inter-
communica- is emerging as the “new frontier.” national public relations is found in
tions industry. Since opening to market capitalism, Chapter 14.

Global Scope 5
A VARIETY OF definitions
eople often define public
P relations by referring to some
of its most visible techniques and
tactics, such as coverage in a news-
paper, a television interview with an
organization’s spokesperson, or the
appearance of a celebrity at a special
event. Knowing what profession-
als do every day is important, but it
does not suffice as a definition.
Public relations is a process
involving numerous subtle and
far-reaching aspects beyond media
coverage. It includes research and
analysis, policy formation, program-
ming, communication, and feed-
back from numerous publics (for
example, employees, consumers,
investors–basically any stakeholder
is a “public” for an organization).
Its practitioners operate on two
distinct levels—as advisers to indi-
vidual clients or to an organization’s
top management, and as technicians
who produce and disseminate mes-
sages in multiple media channels.
A number of formal definitions
for public relations have been for-
mulated over the years. In Ef-
fective Public Relations, Scott M.
Cutlip, Allen H. Center, and Glen
M. Broom state that “public re-
lations is the management func-
tion that identifies, establishes, and
maintains mutually beneficial rela-
tionships between an organization
and the various publics on whom its
success or failure depends.” This ap-
proach represents the current belief
that public relations is more than
persuasion. Public relations should
foster open, two-way communica-
tion and mutual understanding,
How can PR help
think to foster a
mutually
beneficial relationship
between an organization
and its public?
6 CHAPTER 1 What is Public Relations?
You can grasp the essential elements of effective public rela-
tions by remembering the following words and phrases that
make up public relations activity: deliberate . . . planned . . .
performance . . . public interest . . . two-way communication . . .
strategic.
DELIBERATE. Public relations activity is intentional. It is designed to
influence, gain understanding, provide information, and obtain
feedback.
PLANNED. Public relations activity is organized. Solutions to prob-
lems are discovered and logistics are thought out. The activ-
ity is systematic, requires research and analysis, and takes
place over a period of time.
PERFORMANCE. Effective public relations is based on actual
policies and performance. No amount of public relations will
generate goodwill and support if an organization is unrespon-
sive to community concerns.
PUBLIC INTEREST. Reputable public relations activity is mutually
beneficial to the organization and the public; it provides for the
alignment of the organization’s self-interests with the public’s
concerns and interests.
TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION. Public relations is more than one-
way dissemination of informational materials. It is equally im-
portant to solicit feedback.
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF COMPETITION AND CONFLICT.
Public relations is most effective when it is an integral part of
decision making by top management. Public relations involves
counseling and problem solving at high levels, not just the dis-
semination of information after a decision has been made by
other leaders.
It isn’t necessary to memorize any particular definition of public
relations. It’s more important to remember the key words used
in the definitions that frame today’s modern public relations.
while complying with the principle Although definitions of public
that an organization changes its at- relations have long emphasized the
titudes and behaviors in the process. building of mutually beneficial re-
It is a two-way process because lationships between the organiza-
change and accommodation occur tion and its various publics, a more
for the organization—not just the assertive definition has emerged
target audience. over the past decade that forms the
 basis of this book. Glen T. Cam-
eron, of the Missouri School of
Journalism (and one of the authors
of this book), defines public rela-
tions as the “strategic management
of competition and conflict for
the benefit of one’s own organi-
zation—and when possible—also
for the mutual benefit of the or-
ganization and its stakeholders or
publics.” This definition casts the
public relations professional first
and foremost as an advocate for the
employer or client, but acknowl-
edges the importance of mutual
benefit when circumstances allow.
It does not imply that the public
relations professional acts only in
PUBLIC RELATIONS AS A process
ublic relations is a process—a
P series of actions, changes, or
functions that bring about a result.
A number of attempts have been
made to capture the public rela-
tions process, several of which are
summarized here to provide a sense
of how work in public relations
unfolds. One way to describe the
public relations process, and to
remember its components, is to use
the RACE acronym, which was first
R
THE RACE ACRONYM
ESEARCH:
What is the problem or situation?
A CTION (program planning):
What is going to be done about it?
C OMMUNICATION (execution):
How will the public be told?
E VALUATION:
Was the audience reached and what was the effect?
Direct-delivery video company Net-
flix made both customers and in-
vestors unhappy; when it increased
prices by 60 percent, its stock price
tumbled by 50 percent. An e-mail
apology from the CEO was judged
by many as being insincere. The
company eventually acknowledged
its communication failure.
the self-interest of the employer
without due regard to honesty,
i n t e g r i t y, a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l
transparency. Indeed, an ethical
framework always guides the PR
professional in his or her work.
articulated by John Marston in his
book The Nature of Public Relations.
Diffusion-of-knowledge theo-
think
How does
research inform
rists call public relations people the actions that
“linking agents.” Sociologists refer PR professionals take?
to them as “boundary spanners,”
because they act to transfer infor-
practitioner utilizes a variety of pro-
mation between two systems. As
fessional communication skills and
the concluding lines of the official
plays an integrative role both within
statement on public relations by the
the organization and between
Public Relations Society of America
the organization and the external
“
(PRSA) note: “The public relations
environment.”
No matter
the situation,
exceptional
communications
”
practices do not
change. Do what you
know. People forget
the basics.
Lisa Davis, vice president
of corporate affairs at
Medlmmune
Public Relations as a Process 7
 PR CASEBOOK
PR, Advertising, and Marketing
Combine Forces to Change the
Reputation of “Junk” Food
AS YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER, public and the American Dietetic Association. Booths were set up
at blogger conferences, including the Healthy Living Summit
relations shares qualities with, but is dis-
and the SocialLuxe Lounge. Direct mail was employed to dis-
tinct from, advertising, marketing, and tribute new product “sneak peeks” to journalists, bloggers,
journalism. However, public relations often and health professionals. Similarly, brand fans were sent “fan
joins forces with these professions to edu- packs.” In both instances, educational materials were in-
cluded in the packages.
cate key publics. That’s the strategy that
These same influencers—journalists, bloggers, and health
the public relations firm Ketchum and word- professionals—were invited to production plants to see the
of-mouth and social media marketing firm food being made firsthand. Registered dietitians representing
Zócalo Group adopted in an award-winning grocery chains were hosted at a two-day workshop to deter-
mine how best to get the good fat/simple ingredients mes-
campaign for Frito-Lay.
sage into their stores.
Online resources included YouTube videos featuring a
Frito-Lay was concerned that snack foods like its Lay’s
Frito-Lay chef offering recipe and chip pairings. SnackSense.
potato chips, Fritos and Tostitos corn chips, and SunChips
com and LicensetoSnack.com were developed as centers for
multigrain chips suffered from the “junk food” label. They
product information and snacking research.
wanted to educate “influencers” about the healthy ingredi-
At the conclusion of the influencer campaign, 90 percent
ents in Frito-Lay products. Ketchum and Zócalo conducted
of the health professionals who were reached by the program
pre-campaign research and found that 92 percent of people
became Frito-Lay advocates. Plant tours resulted in 130
said the most powerful influencers in purchase decisions are
participants tweeting or blogging about what they learned.
family, friends, and experts. The research also showed that
Thirteen hundred brand fans signed up to be evangelists for
only 30 percent of influencers believed that Frito-Lay offered
the brand. Each fan boasted an average following of 10,000
healthy snacks. A focus group identified “good fats/simple in-
people.
gredients” as the most convincing message in shifting influ-
In this innovative and successful campaign, traditional
encers’ perceptions. Frito-Lay had removed unhealthy trans
public relations tactics like media relations and educational
fats from its snacks years ahead of the competition, accord-
activities such as plant tours were paired with word-of-mouth
ing to Ketchum’s situation analysis. And products like Fritos
marketing by brand fans and health experts to create a syn-
had simple ingredients—“corn, corn oil and salt—that’s
ergy that raised the reputation of Frito-Lay snacks from junk
it.” The message was good but it wasn’t enough; to make
food to sensible snack. In 2011, Ketchum, Zócalo, and Frito-
sure that consumers did not think the company was trying to
Lay won a PRSA Silver Anvil for the campaign.
promote chips as health foods, Frito-Lay also consulted with
nutrition experts and developed educational materials about 1 What publics were identified as “influencers” in this case?
smart snacking. Do you think some would be more influential than others?
To communicate their message about Frito-Lay’s ingre- If so, why?
dients and smart snacking, Ketchum and Zócalo identified
2 Which tactics in this PR Casebook would you identify as
nutrition, health, and food experts as prospective influencers.
public relations and which as marketing?
They also reached out to bloggers and online “brand fans.”
Educational roundtables were held at national conferences 3 What research was conducted? How was research essen-
attended by influencers—the Society for Nutrition Education tial to a successful campaign?

8 CHAPTER 1 What is Public Relations?

The public relations process also may be conceptualized in several steps. The PR Casebook
example from page 8 is detailed in the steps outlined here in this figure.

The Steps of The Public Relations Process in Action.

In Step A, Frito-Lay used primary and
secondary research to identify media trends
Public relations is a cyclical process.
and determine how to reach influencers— In Step F, the company undertook post-analysis
journalists, bloggers, and health professionals. Feedback leads to assessment of the and adjustment of the public relations program.
During this process, the company essentially program, an essential element of The cycle was then repeated to solve related
conducted a situation analysis— obtaining project refinement and development. aspects of the problem that might require
feedback from the target public, looking at additional decision making and action.
what media were currently reporting on in
its industry, examining past campaigns, and
performing other forms of research.

The PR
PR professionals at Frito- campaign was evaluated in terms
Lay used research and analysis of attitude change and behavior F
to obtain insights into a problem among the target publics—nutrition
A from numerous sources, including
experts, journalists, and brand fans to
assess the effectiveness of the
comments from consumers and communication program and make
and experts. any necessary adjustments.

In Step B, public relations personnel In Step E, the effectiveness of these

used the research results to establish actions was measured by the percentage of
objectives, which led to strategy attitude change, number of positive blog posts
development and recommendations to and tweets, and success of brand fans in
management. This is the adviser role of influencing their friends and family.
public relations.
The PR team analyzed these In an effort to
inputs and found that educating capture both informal
and formal feedback about
brand fans, nutrition experts, and
journalists was essential B E the communication process and
its impact, Frito-Lay closely
and recommended different ways monitored consumer and expert
to do this in the campaign. attitudes.

In Step C, after management made its In Step D, the program was

decisions, public relations personnel fully
developed the Snack Sense and License
to Snack campaign, including defining
measurable objectives, strategies, and
tactics; a timeline; a budget; and
evaluation guidelines.
Based on company protocol, the
PR team developed Frito-Lay’s C step. For the Frito-Lay campaign, the
multifaceted campaign and secured
approval from management.
executed. Frito-Lay set up booths
at blogging conferences, held
workshops for dieticians, sent
educational materials and product
samples to journalists and brand fans,
created YouTube content, developed
educational web sites, and more.
The PR
team executed a program
of action called the communication
D
communication step included inviting experts
to workshops, targeting brand fans
online, and showing the production
process.

LEVEL ONE LEVEL TWO

Public Relations as a Process 9

The Components
OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
ccording to a monograph
A issued by the Public Relations
Society of America (PRSA) Foun-
dation, public relations includes the
following components:
• Counseling—Providing advice to
management concerning policies,
relationships, and communications.
• Research—Determining the
attitudes and behaviors of groups
to plan public relations strate-
gies. Such research can be used to
generate mutual understanding
or influence and persuade publics.
• Media Relations—Working with
mass media (television, web sites,
newspapers, magazines and the
like) by seeking publicity or re-
sponding to their interests in the
organization.
• Publicity—Disseminating
planned messages through
selected media to further an
organization’s interests.
• Employee/Member Relations—
Responding to concerns, inform-
ing, and motivating an organiza-
tion’s employees or members.
• Community Relations—Under-
taking activities within a commu-
nity to maintain an environment
that benefits both an organiza-
tion and the community.
• Public Affairs—Developing effec-
tive involvement in public policy
and helping an organization adapt
to public expectations. The term
“public affairs” is also used by gov-
ernment agencies to describe their
public relations activities and by
many corporations as an umbrella
term to describe multiple
public relations activities.
• Government Affairs—
Relating directly
with legislatures and
regulatory agencies on
behalf of an organiza-
tion. Lobbying can be
part of a government
affairs program.
• Issue Management—
Identifying and ad-
dressing issues of pub-
lic concern that affect
an organization.
• Financial Relations—Creating
and maintaining investor confidence
and building good relationships
with the financial community.
This aspect of public relations is
also known as investor relations
or shareholder relations.
• Industry Relations—Relating
with other firms in the industry
of an organization and with trade
associations.
• Development/Fund-Raising—
Demonstrating the need for
and encouraging the public to
support charitable organizations,
primarily through financial
contributions.
• Multicultural Relations/Workplace
Diversity—Communicating with
individuals and groups in various
cultural groups.
• Special Events—Stimulating an
interest in a person, product, or
organization by means of focused
“happenings” as well as other
activities designed to encour-
age interacting with publics and
listening to them.
• Marketing Communications—
Employing a combination
of activities designed to sell
a product, service, or idea,
including advertising, collateral
materials, publicity, promotion,
direct mail, trade shows, and
special events.

Working with a public relations firm, the Charleston (SC)

Animal Society (CAS) organized a mock election campaign—
Spike versus Biscuit—to raise awareness for the animal
shelter. Spike the dog and Biscuit the cat announced
platforms as they ran for president of the organization. The
“candidates” produced posters, announced key endorse-
ments, made campaign appearances, maintained Facebook
diaries, and made YouTube commercials. The campaign
raised awareness for a new $11 million adoption center and
increased animal adoption rates in the Charleston area.

10 CHAPTER 1 What is Public Relations?

 # SocialMediaInAction

Beware of Bamboozling Bloggers

Many public relations firms and professionals are do- ConAgra and Ketchum reported that most attendees
ing their best to reach out to social media sites and the had fun at the event. But even a verbal few who feel
blogosphere. But the best intentions can fail if these they were duped can cause an uproar and at least mo-
new media are not handled correctly. For example, the mentarily sully your organization’s reputation.
interest of food bloggers and mommy bloggers was Deborah Silverman, head of the PRSA Board of
naturally piqued when they received an invitation to Ethics and Professional Standards, called the incident
dinner at the intimate Italian restaurant Sotto Terra, “unfortunate.” Ketchum has a strong reputation for
hosted by Food Network celebrity chef George Duran. ethical public relations but public relations practition-
Suzanne Chan, the blogger ers must remember that
mom behind Mom Confes- bloggers wield substantial
sionals wrote, “We were influence among their
promised a delicious Ital- loyal readers. After all,
ian four-course meal and that’s why PR pros enlist
scintillating conversation bloggers’ support. But PR
on the latest food trends missteps can take on what
with other foodies. I was may seem like dispropor-
salivating at the thought of tional importance when
this meal.…” Both blog- those missteps fly instantly
gers and the hosts were around the blogosphere.
unpleasantly surprised PR blogger Bob Conrad
however when, the food (thegoodthebadthespin.
they were served was not com) offers six observa-
prepared by a chef but was tions about dealing with
instead Marie Callender’s bloggers: 1) Genuinely
frozen lasagna from engage bloggers on their
ConAgra Foods. blogs rather than spam-
Employees from Chef George Duran ming them with press
Ketchum recorded diner materials; 2) target blog-
reaction to the lasagna and Marie Callender’s Razzle- gers appropriately; 3) understand that bloggers can be
berry Pie with hidden cameras. While the public more influential than traditional journalists; 4) monitor
relations firm may have expected the foodies to ex- and contribute to blogs, always keeping your client’s or
press pleasant surprise when the truth was revealed, organization’s needs in mind, 5) do your own blogging;
the bloggers instead wrote about the event being a 6) be helpful, transparent, honest, and genuine rather
“sham” and “bait and switch.” than trying to pitch to bloggers.
Bloggers have become important citizen journalists,
product/service/food reviewers, and influential opinion 1 How are bloggers different from traditional
leaders. Naturally, public relations professionals want journalists? How are they similar?
to woo such leaders, but just like other journalists, 2 Hidden camera surprises have often been used in
bloggers must be handled with care. advertising. Was the Italian meal stunt ethical?

The Components of Public Relations 11

HOW PUBLIC RELATIONS
DIFFERS FROM journalism
riting is a common activ- from counseling to issues manage- the objective is not only to inform,
W ity of public relations profes-
sionals and journalists. And both
ment and special events. Journal-
istic writing and media relations,
but also to change people’s attitudes
and behaviors so as to further an or-
go about their jobs in many of the although important, are only two ganization’s goals and objectives.
same ways: They interview people, of these elements. In addition, ef- Whereas journalists are objective
gather and synthesize large amounts fective practice of public relations observers, public relations person-
of information, write in a journal- requires strategic thinking, prob- nel are advocates. Harold Burson,
istic style, and produce good copy lem-solving capability, and other chairman of the Burson-Marsteller
on deadline. In fact, many reporters management skills. public relations firm, makes the fol-
eventually change careers and become lowing point:
public relations practitioners. Objectives
This has led many people, includ- Journalists gather and select infor- To be effective and credible,
ing journalists, to draw the incorrect mation for the primary purpose public relations messages must
conclusion that there is little differ- of providing the public with news be based on facts. Nevertheless,
ence between public relations and and information. Professors David we are advocates, and we need to
journalism. For these misinformed Dozier and William Ehling state remember that. We are advocates
people, public relations is simply that in journalism, “communication of a particular point of view—our
being a “journalist-in-residence” for activities are an end in themselves.” client’s or our employer’s point
a non-media organization. In real- Public relations personnel also of view. And while we recognize
ity, despite sharing techniques, the gather facts and information for the that serving the public interest
two fields are fundamentally differ- purpose of informing the public, best serves our client’s interest,
ent in scope, objectives, audiences, but their objective is different. Pub- we are not journalists. That’s not
and channels. lic relations communication activ- our job.
ity is a means to the end—a way of
Scope managing competition and conflict Audiences
Public relations, as stated earlier, in the best interests of the practi- Journalists write primarily for a
has many components, ranging tioner’s employer. In other words, mass audience—readers, listeners,
The channels that
public relations
professionals
employ may
combine mass
media outlets—
newspapers, mag-
azines, radio, and
television. They
may also include
direct mail, pam-
phlets, posters,
newsletters, trade
journals, spe-
cial events, and
messages shared
via blogs, social
media networks,
or websites.

12 CHAPTER 1 What is Public Relations?

 Why is it
journalist on a daily newspaper, for Channels
think important that
example, writes for the general pub-
lic. A public relations professional,
Most journalists, by nature of their
employment, reach audiences
journalists in contrast, carefully segments audi- through one channel—the medium
remain objective? ences based on various demographic that publishes or broadcasts their
and psychological characteristics. work. Public relations profession-
Such research allows public rela- als use a variety of channels to reach
or viewers of the medium for which tions messages to be tailored to their target audiences.
they work. By definition, mass audience needs, concerns, and in-
audiences are not well defined. A terests for maximum effect.

b t w…
China has the fastest- activity by international
growing public relations companies that are com-
market in the world. The peting fiercely for custom-
country, with more than ers around the globe. The
1.3 billion people, now biggest development, ac-
has approximately 20,000 cording to The Economist,
public relations practi- is the soaring demand for
tioners and 3,000 public public relations among
relations firms. Among Chinese companies as
them are a host of inter- they actively seek local
national public relations consumers, foreign invest-
firms in residence, whose ment, and international
presence reflects China’s outlets for their goods.
emergence as a major Undoubtedly, China’s
economic power. public relations prac-
The Economist reported titioners will become
that in 2010, public rela- leaders in the practice
tions revenues rose 33 of digital public rela-
percent to $242 million. tions. Blogger Chris Lee
The China International of planetcontent.co.uk,
Public Relations Associ- reported on a statement
ation (CIPRA) estimated by Ogilvy PR officials in
even higher revenues, 2011 that there are an
and the industry continues to experience double- estimated 470 million Internet users in China,
digit growth every year. The growth of Chinese and half of those access the web on mobile
public relations began to take off in the early devices. Lee notes that China is the only Asian
1990s as the country started to develop a market country in which people typically have more
economy. Its gross domestic product (GDP) has online than offline friends. Trust in Internet
rapidly expanded in recent years, and the cen- sources is high—45 percent of Chinese trust
tral government has given a boost to the public online reviews, and trust in bloggers is “huge,”
relations industry by initiating significant mass according to Lee. Microblogging is popular, Lee
media reforms, which in turn have resulted in writes, and you can say more in 140 Mandarin
a friendlier environment for business news and characters than you can in 140 English-language
product publicity. characters. This all suggests a potentially recep-
China also has joined the World Trade Organiza- tive audience in China, ready for digital, social
tion (WTO), which has led to more public relations media, and online public relations campaigns.

How Public Relations Differs from Journalism 13

HOW PUBLIC RELATIONS DIFFERS
FROM advertising
ust as many people mistakenly
J equate publicity with public re-
lations, there is also some confusion think
Is PR more
cost-effective
media outlet for a full-page ad or a
60-second commercial. An organi-
zation writes the advertisement,
about the distinction between pub- than advertising? chooses the type style and graph-
licity (one area of public relations) ics, and controls where and when
and advertising. the advertisement runs. In other
Although publicity and adver- departments for consideration. Re- words, advertising involves rent-
tising both use mass media to dis- porters and editors, in their cru- ing space in a medium, where the
seminate messages, the format and cial role as gatekeepers, determine advertiser has considerable control
context are different. Publicity— whether the material will be used or over the final message. The lion’s
information about an event, an simply thrown away. share of revenues for all mass me-
individual or group, or a product— Advertising, in contrast, involves dia comes from the sale of advertis-
appears as a news item or feature paid space and broadcast time. ing space.
story in the mass media. Mate- For example, organizations and Other differences between
rial is prepared by public relations individuals may contract with the public relations and advertising
personnel and submitted to news advertising department of a mass are summarized in the nearby
table.
Advertising Public Relations The major disadvantage of ad-
vertising is its cost. For example,
Advertising works almost Public relations relies on a number of a full-page color ad in the na-
exclusively through mass communication tools—social media, brochures, tional edition of Parade magazine,
media outlets. special events, speeches, news releases, feature which is distributed weekly in
stories, etc. 610 newspapers to a circulation
of 67 million, costs as much as
Advertising is addressed Public relations presents its message to specialized $1 million. Costs for advertising
to external audiences— external publics (stockholders, vendors, commu- campaigns that appear on net-
primarily consumers of goods nity leaders, environmental groups, and so on) and work television can run multimil-
and services. internal audiences (employees). lions of dollars. For this reason,
companies increasingly use one
Advertising is readily Public relations is broader in scope than tool of public relations— product
identified as a specialized advertising, dealing with the policies and publicity—that is more cost-
communication function. performance of the entire organization, from effective and often more credible
the morale of employees to the way telephone because the message appears in
operators respond to calls. a news context. Product public-
ity is news coverage of a product
Advertising is often used as a Public relations’ activity often supports advertising or service. While the message is
communication tool in public campaigns. not as controlled as purchased
relations. advertising space, it is believed to
be more credible. One national
study, for example, found that
Advertising’s function is Public relations’ function is to help an
almost 70 percent of consum-
primarily to sell goods and organization thrive in complex, competitive
ers place more weight on media
services. environments. This goal calls for dealing with
coverage than advertising when
economic, social, and political factors that can
determining their trust of com-
affect the organization.
panies and buying a product or
service.

14 CHAPTER 1 What is Public Relations?

HOW PUBLIC RELATIONS DIFFERS
FROM marketing
ublic relations is distinct from
P marketing in several ways, al-
though the boundaries between
marketing and public relations often
overlap. Both deal with an organiza-
tion’s relationships and employ simi-
lar communication tools to reach the
public. They also share the ultimate
purpose of ensuring an organiza-
tion’s success and economic survival.
Public relations and marketing,
however, approach this task from
somewhat different perspectives.
Public relations is concerned with
building relationships and generat-
ing goodwill for the organization;
marketing is concerned with custom-
ers and selling products and services.
Public relations does support sales,
but additionally deals with a broad
array of publics beyond customers.
As James E. Grunig, editor of Excel-
lence in Public Relations and Communi-
cation Management, explains:
[T]he marketing function should
communicate with the markets
for an organization’s goods and
services. Public relations should
be concerned with all the publics
of the organization. The major
purpose of marketing is to make
money for the organization by
increasing the slope of the demand
curve. The major purpose of public
relations is to save money for the
organization by building relation-
ships with publics that constrain or
enhance the ability of the organiza-
tion to meet its mission.
Grunig also points out a funda-
mental difference between market-
ing and public relations in terms of
how the public is described. Mar-
keting and advertising professionals
tend to speak of “target markets,”
“consumers,” and “customers.”
Public relations professionals talk
about “publics,” “audiences,” and
“stakeholders”—that is, groups that
are affected by or can affect an or-
ganization. According to Grunig,
“Publics can arise within stake-
holder categories—such as employ-
ees, communities, stockholders,
governments, members, students,
suppliers, and donors, as well as
consumers.”
Philip Kotler, professor of mar-
keting at Northwestern University
and the author of a leading market-
ing textbook, calls public relations
the fifth “P” of marketing strategy,
the original four Ps being product,
price, place, and promotion. As he
wrote in Harvard Business Review,
“Public relations takes longer to
cultivate, but when energized, it
can help pull the company into the
market.”
When public relations is used to
directly support an organization’s
marketing objectives, it is called

The goal of public relations is to The goal of marketing is to attract

attain and maintain accord and and satisfy customers (or clients)
positive behaviors among social on a long-term basis to achieve an
groupings on which an organization organization’s economic objectives.
depends to achieve its mission. The The fundamental responsibility
fundamental responsibility of public of marketing as a management
relations as a management process process is to build and maintain

VS
is to build and maintain a hospitable markets for an organization’s
environment for an organization. products or services.

How Public Relations Differs from Marketing 15


Old Spice was looking to leverage the popularity of its “Old Spice
Guy” Isaiah Mustafa to publicize a new advertising campaign.
An interview with Oprah via Skype, two appearances on The
Ellen DeGeneres Show, coverage in Entertainment Weekly and
USATODAY.com, and more resulted in an unbelievable 2 billion-
plus impressions.
marketing communications. This
capacity was identified as a compo-
nent of public relations earlier in
the chapter.
Thomas Harris coined the term
“marketing public relations” in his
book The Marketer’s Guide to Public
Relations. He writes:
I make a clear distinction
between those public relations
functions [that] support
marketing, which I call marketing
public relations (MPR), and the
other public relations activities
that define the corporation’s
16 CHAPTER 1 What is Public Relations?
relationships with its non-
customer publics, which I label
corporate public relations (CPR).
Dennis L. Wilcox (one of the
authors of this book), in Public
Relations Writing and Media Tech-
niques (seventh edition), lists eight
ways in which public relations
activities contribute to fulfilling
marketing objectives:
1 Develop new prospects for
new markets, such as people
who inquire after seeing or
hearing a product release in
the news media
“
In its market-support
function, public
relations is used to
achieve a number of
objectives. The most
important of these are
to raise awareness, to
inform and educate,
to gain understanding,
to build trust, to make
”
friends, to give people
reasons to buy, and,
finally, to create a
climate of consumer
acceptance.
Thomas Harris, The Marketer’s
Guide to Public Relations
2 Provide third-party
endorsements—via news-
papers, magazines, radio, and
television—through news releases
about a company’s products or
services, community involvement,
inventions, and new plans
3 Generate sales leads, usually
through articles in the trade press
about new products and services
4 Pave the way for sales calls
5 Stretch an organization’s
advertising and promotional
dollars through timely and support-
ive news releases
6 Provide inexpensive sales
literature—articles about a
company and its products can be
reprinted as informative pieces for
prospective customers
7 Establish a corporation as an
authoritative source of
information on a given product
8 Help sell minor products
that don’t have large
advertising budgets
TOWARD AN INTEGRATED
PERSPECTIVE: strategic
COMMUNICATION
lthough well-defined differ-
A ences exist among the fields of
advertising, marketing, and pub-
lic relations, there is an increasing
realization that an organization’s
goals and objectives can be best ac-
complished through an integrated
approach, not just through market-
ing but through all communication
functions. This understanding gave
rise in the 1990s to such terms as
integrated marketing communications,
convergent communications, and inte-
grated communications.
Several factors fuel the trend
toward integration:
1 Downsizing and reengineering
of organizations have led to
consolidated departments and
reduced the number of staff mem-
bers dedicated to various commu-
nication functions. As a result, one
department, with fewer employees,
is expected to do a greater variety
of communication tasks.
2 Organizational marketing
and communication departments
are making do with tighter budgets.
To avoid the high cost of advertising,
many organizations are looking for
alternative ways to deliver messages.
These efforts may include building
buzz by word-of-mouth, targeting
influentials (i.e., “opinion leaders”
or “trend setters”), web marketing,
grassroots marketing, media rela-
tions and product publicity, and event
sponsorship.
“We’re beginning to see
research that supports
the superiority of PR over
advertising to launch a
brand. A recent study of
91 new product launches
shows highly successful
products are more likely
to use PR-related activities
than less successful
ones…. PR creates the
brand. Advertising defends
the brand.”
Al and Laura Ries, The Fall
of Advertising and the Rise of PR

3 There is a growing
realization that adver-
tising, with its high costs,
isn’t the silver bullet that
it used to be. Part of the
problem is the increasing
clutter of advertising (one estimate
is that the average U.S. consumer is
exposed to 237 ads each day, or about
86,000 each year) and advertising’s
general lack of credibility among
consumers.

Strategic communication requires grit and determination—

but more specifically GRRIT—to successfully integrate
advertising, marketing, and public relations:

G lobal/multicultural
The concept of integration reflects the R esearch based
increasing sophistication of organizations as R elationship focused
they seek to use a variety of strategies and
tactics to convey a consistent message. Think
I nternet/new media oriented
of a golfer with a variety of clubs in her bag. T oolbox-driven tactics
She may use one club (public relations) to GRRIT enables professionals to battle for success
launch a product, another club (advertising) on behalf of an organization across a broad range of goals—
to reinforce the message, and yet another from increased sales or better community relations, to brand
club (Internet marketing) to actually sell the loyalty or long-term donations for worthwhile causes.
product or service to a well-defined audience.

Toward an Integrated Perspective: Strategic Communication 17

 Starbucks raised awareness of
4 It is now widely recognized
that the marketing of prod- environmental issues. The
ucts and services can be affected company noted that the typical
by public and social policy is-
sues. For example, environmental person who replaces paper cups
legislation influences packaging with a coffee mug saves seven
and the content of products, a trees each year. As part of a larger
proposed luxury tax on expen-
sive autos affects sales of those awareness campaign, Starbucks gave
cars, and a company’s support of 1.2 million customers a free cup of
Planned Parenthood or health coffee on a single day if the customer
benefits for same-sex partners may
spur a product boycott. brought in his or her own mug.
The impact of such factors, which people understand the richness of
for Siemens Corporation, agrees
have not traditionally been consid- the audiences that have an inter-
that organizations should do a
ered by marketing managers, has est in the company; advertising just
better job of integrating public re-
led many professionals to suggest focuses on customers. Strategy
lations and public affairs into their
that organizations should do a bet- is the development of options to
overall marketing considerations.
ter job of integrating public rela- accomplish an objective. PR people
In an interview with PRWeek, he
tions and public affairs into their can develop these as they have the
noted that public relations is the
overall marketing considerations. multiplicity of audiences and chan-
best place for leading strategy in
Jack Bergen, senior vice president nels to use to reach them.”
marketing: “In developing strategy,
of corporate affairs and marketing The concept of integration is less
you have multiple stakeholders. PR
controversial than its implementa-
tion. It makes sense for an organi-
APPLY zation to coordinate its messages
and communication strategies,
YOUR What Would You Do? but considerable discord arises on
KNOWLEDGE exactly how to accomplish this.
According to the consulting
Managing Competition firm Osgood O’Donnell & Walsh,
Yogurtini is a relatively new player in the burgeoning frozen yogurt business, “The single biggest obstacle is
and it faces stiff competition in the marketplace from more established brands company structure.” In an article
such as TCBY, Pinkberry, and Red Mango. You have just been hired to help the for The Strategist, the firm’s princi-
company out with its public relations efforts. pals wrote, “The communications
The first Yogurtini was founded in Tempe, Arizona. There are now 15 stores functions—corporate communica-
in eight states, with 13 more locations “coming soon.” In these stores, custom- tions, advertising, investor relations,
ers personalize their servings by filling their own cups with anywhere from 10 and governmental affairs—are usu-
to 16 flavors and choosing from 65 toppings. Yogurtini promotes the concept: ally in different silos within compa-
“Swirl it, top it, weigh it, pay it.” nies, and interaction between their
Imagine that research shows that the typical Yogurtini customer is a woman be- leaders is, for the most part vol-
tween the ages of 24 and 35, who brings her friends and family members with her untary (i.e., not required by senior
to the shop. The company has decided to do an integrated communications pro- management) and informal.”
gram for the next year that would involve public relations, advertising, and in-store In some organizations, the mar-
marketing promotions. The focus keting department has the domi-
will be on enhancing the visibility nant voice, and public relations is
of its stores at the local level and relegated to a support function in
making Yogurtini a distinct brand terms of techniques instead of play-
among the clutter of other frozen ing a role in overall strategy de-
yogurt franchises in the com- velopment. This often means that
munity. Do some brainstorming. public relations is responsible only
Which ideas and activities would for tactical work, such as creating
you suggest? Remember—you product publicity, planning event
need to be creative because you promotions, and arranging media
don’t have a big budget. interviews at trade shows. Problems
also arise in other organizations

18 CHAPTER 1 What is Public Relations?

Another random document with
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 DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
 FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
 Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
 The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

 This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
 “We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
 Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
 BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE

 FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

 LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
 Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

 BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN