Review and

Consolidation

DECEMBER 9

1
 Chapter I
PR OVERVIEW
I. Publics:
1.1. Definition:
- Publics are the interested audiences that are important in some way to an organization
including current and potential customers, current and potential employees and
management, investors, vendors and suppliers, media, government, and opinion
leaders. They can be internal within an organization or external from an organization.
- There are about 10 publics that businesses must target as follows:
+ Media: Press, radio, television, etc.
+ State management agencies: Have a dominant influence on the activities of
enterprises through the legal system.
+ Mass organizations and communities: Trade unions, youth unions, women's unions,
people living in the area where the business operates. They may have common
concerns with the business regarding the environment, infrastructure, public security
or other social issues.
+ Social activists: Consumer protection organizations, environmental protection
organizations, etc.
+ Investors and financial institutions: Shareholders in joint stock companies, joint
venture parties, investment funds, banks and credit institutions.
+ Employee
+ Customers: Current and potential customers.
+ Supplier
+ Agents, intermediaries
+ Competitors.
1.2. Types of public:
- By organization:
+ Internal Public: Are people employed by a firm or members of an organization and
they are intimately related with the functioning of the organization. Internal Publics

1
 of an organisation looks into the goodwill of its collaborators and maintain good
relations. They take corrective actions when problems arise within the company.
Internal Public of Public Relations includes Shareholders or Investors, Employees,
Suppliers, Distributors, Retailers/ Dealers and Other business associations. Company
need to win their loyalty, confidence, trust them and provide them facilities.
+ External Public: Are people and organizations that are clients doing business with
a firm or agency or company. External Publics of Public Relations includes
Consumers/Customers, Community, Mass Media, Government, Financial Institutions,
Action Groups and General Publics. It is the image and credibility that it enjoys in the
minds of external publics which makes an organisation successful.
- By level of activity: When communicating with publics a public relations professional
should take into mind the behaviors of the public they want to influence and
communicate with. Each of the four publics have different ways they gather and react
to information on a scale from most active to most passive:
+ Non-Publics: This group is made up of people who are unaware or do not
acknowledge certain situations.
+ Latent Publics: This group is aware of a topic or issue but do not recognize it as a
problem.
+ Aware Publics: eople that recognize a problem and could become active in the
problem/opportunity.
+ Active Publics: These people see a situation as a problem and are involved in finding
the solution to it.
1.3. Defining key public:
After segmenting the public, the enterprise will proceed to choose which public groups
are most suitable for its goals, capabilities and conditions to allocate resources, choose
appropriate methods and means of communication influencing those publics so that
business objectives can be most effectively achieved.

2
 Such public groups are called the key public of the business. When identifying the target
audience, businesses need to influence their perception so that they better understand
what the business is and what benefits the business will bring to them.
“Key” publics are the primary publics a campaign will be reaching. They’re the people
that need to be involved with the campaign to motivate and influence others in order for
the campaign to be successful. When a PR professional develops a strategic plan, he or
she will want to target people (the audience), which this may be broken down in several
levels.
1.4. Public perception:
Public perception is the public's thoughts or opinions about a certain business, product
or brand.
The public perception of a business or a product is highly dependent on the information
they receive. To influence public perception, businesses must provide them with
information about the business (purposes and principles of operation, products, etc.).
Based on the information received, the public will understand the business, from which
they will decide whether to accept and support the business or not. However, it is not
easy for the public to understand, care and support the business because of a number of
obstacles such as:
- Improper perceptions and thoughts have been formed for a long time
- Overwhelming "current" issues
- Government policy
1.5. The process of influencing public perception:

3
II. Public Relation (PR)
2.1. Definition:
PR is the management of communication to build and maintain good relationships and
mutual understanding between an organization, an individual and their public. Thereby
creating a good image, reinforcing prestige, building public trust and attitude towards
organizations and individuals in the most beneficial direction.
2.2. The role of public relations:
- Being an effective tool of all organizations and businesses in creating their own
image, enlisting the public's affection towards long-term strategic goals..
Because the nature of PR is to establish, maintain, and protect a good relationship,
and reputation of individuals and organizations with the public that they pursue =>
Use PR as a powerful and effective weapon to identify, build trust and affection.
- PR promotes the image of the organization, the products and services they trade, the
field in which the organization operates to publics => has a very high
communication role, more prominent than communication tools (advertisement,
promotion, etc.)
- Contributing to the establishment of public sentiment and trust in the organization;
overcome misunderstandings or prejudices, unfavorable public opinion for the
organization; building a good relationship within the organization and creating good
feelings of public opinion through community relations activities…
- PR is a tool to build a brand and create a good effect on the target audience.
- Through PR activities, organizations and businesses build their own culture
- Through PR activities, organizations and businesses will strengthen trust and
maintain the prestige of their activities.
2.3. Features of public relations:
- Key publics: Organizations and individuals with an interest in the organization
- Key function: Building good relationship between business and public
- Key tools: Communication Operations
- Key point: Building trust and mutual understanding between business and the public

4
 2.4. Main activities of public relations:
- Media Relations: The press coverage is the most widely used public relations
activity that helps to reach a large group of customers. The organizations use several
media relations tools such as, press kits, audio recordings, video recordings, website
press rooms, matte releases, newsletters, corporate social responsibility, etc. to
manage the flow of information between the organization and its public
- Publicity: The publicity means supplying the factual, meaningful and interesting
information to the media on which the organization has no control. The purpose of
publicity is to encourage prospective customers to make purchases and provide all
the necessary information about the company and its products with which the
customers can associate their needs, wants and desires.
- Communicating: Includes internal and external communication to deepen people's
understanding of the organization
- Lobbying: Working with legislators and government officials to advocate for or
repeal a law or regulation.
- Counseling: The PR expert practices the advisory role wherein he guides the senior
management of the organization in special communication programs. They give
suggestions and recommendation on the policies of the organization as well as help
in making the decisions particular to the communication. This helps the management
to efficiently manage their flow of information to its public.
III. The relationship between PR and Marketing
Marketing is a company management function in terms of organization management of all
business activities, from discovering and converting consumer purchasing power into actual
demand for a particular product, to selling goods to the final consumer in order to ensure
that the company earns the expected profit.
7 basic steps of the marketing process:
Researching
Defining Market Segmentation
Defining Target Market

5
 Posisioning
Designing Marketing – Mix (4Ps)
Implementing Marketing plan
Evaluating and Controling

Commonly known across the marketing world are the “four Ps” of marketing, or the
marketing mix. They consist of products (or services), the price of those products,
promotion, and place (distribution). The role of public relations can be more difficult to pin
down. Public relations should be an integral part of the marketing mix. The Promotion
strategy is implemented by tools:
Advertising
Public relation
Encourage consumption
Personal selling
Direct Marketing

 PR is a component, a tool of the mixed promotion strategy in the Marketing strategy.

The goal of PR is to realize the goal of the Marketing strategy. When building a PR
strategy, it must be based on the Marketing strategy, and must be based on the
marketing research that has been implemented.
 Thus, the main differences of PR and Marketing are summarized in the following
table:
Public relation (PR) Marketing
Function
The function of PR is related to the public The function of Marketing is to promote the
perception of the company and the brand activities of bringing products from
PR is to create and enhance the brand and manufacturers and distributors to customers
image of the company Marketing is to promote products

6
 Public relation (PR) Marketing
Role
PR plays a pivotal role in brand strategy Marketing plays a role in supporting sales
PR activities are to make businesses more Marketing activities are to make a product or
prominent in the eyes of consumers service attractive to consumers
Assess consumer perception and analyze Marketing explores trends to determine how to
response to products and marketing set the right price for a product or service to be
strategies. sold in the market.
Goal
PR focuses on maintaining and improving a Marketing, aims to research target audiences by
company’s public image and relationship creating a plan to attract customers to participate
with its clients and stakeholders or buy a product.
Form of implementation
Long-term activities
Short-term strategic activities
The measure of the success of PR activities
Sales or an increase in revenue is a measure of
is the opinions from the community or the
the success of Marketing activities
evidence of support from the public.
Đối tượng
All parties that influence the interests of the Customers (in B2C businesses) and Business
organization partners (in B2B businesses)

IV. Public relation and advertisement:

Public relation (PR) Advertisement

Similar: Both are a communication process to the public to introduce goods, services, and
image of an organization or business; create feelings and good impressions in them,
strengthen trust and promote action in favor of the informant.

7
 Public relation (PR) Advertisement

Information transmission process

PR is a way of conveying information related

Advertising is mainly a way of conveying
to the entire internal and external
information from businesses to target
communication activities of an organization,
customers. This information process is
with broader coverage and two-way
often one-way in nature and imposes no
information (at seminars, press conferences
immediate response from businesses and
there will be immediate feedback from
organizations.
businesses to customers…)
Soure of Information

PR is information that the media says about Advertising is the information of the
the organization, so it is indirect and non- business talking about themselves, so it is
commercial (in order to establish and commercial (advertising to stimulate
maintain a good relationship). consumption, increase revenue).

Goal

Public relations helps build brand awareness

Advertisements are generated for a
and reputation. The goals and objectives
specific target market in order to generate
behind a successful PR campaign revolve
sales. They usually focus more on
around the fact that consumers place more
promoting a product or service than on
trust in and are more likely to do business
building a reputation.
with a company they know and admire

Cost

No pay Have to pay

8
 Public relation (PR) Advertisement

Control
When you buy an advertisement, you
When it comes to PR, and specifically
decide how the advertisement will look,
working with the media, you have less
what it will say, where it will be placed,
control. The media decides how your
and when it will run. How much exposure
information is presented in the news and if it
your ad receives is largely dependent on
will even be covered.
how much money you have to spend
Target
Publics targeted through PR can be internal
or external. They can include employees,
investors, customers, the media, legislators,
and many more. There is also a new category
Potential customers
called influencers, which refers to people
who have a lot of connections personally,
like celebrities or politicians, or who have a
large following on social media.

V. RACE Process:
RACE is an effective process to follow when developing a strategic PR plan if you want to
have a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with your publics. The R.A.C.E process
encompasses the following 4 phases:
- R – Research: finds out about the situations facing your organization, how they came
about, who is involved in them, how they relate to your organization's goals, and how
you - as a public relations practitioner - can maximize the benefit and/or minimize the
harm they might do.
- A – Action Planning: uses your research findings to determine the best course of action,
plan your response, and then implement these plans.

9
 - C – Communication: takes advantage of all available media to deliver carefully-focused
messages through the most appropriate channels so they can have positive effects on
each of your organization's publics.
- E – Evaluation: analyzes what's been done during the first three steps to see how it
affected your publics and their perception of your organization. Once this step is
completed, you return to the research step and begin the process again.
VI. Roles, functions, qualities and skills of PR people
6.1. Roles and functions
- The role of advisors.
- The role of a representative to protect the legitimate interests of organizations and
businesses.
- The role of inspecting and monitoring the activities of organizations and businesses.
- The role of the “gatekeeper” for ethics of organizations and businesses.
6.2. Qualities and skills:
- Creativity.
- Honesty.
- Organizational ability.
- Decision making ability.
- Good communication skills and professional skills.

10
 Chương II
RESEARCH AND EVALUATION IN PR ACTIVITIES
I. Research
1.1. Definition:
Research is thorough and systematic investigation aims to discover or add knowledge or
facts or general rules.
PR research, as the name indicates emphases on the entire public relations process and
examines the communications relationships that exist among and between organizations
and their key target audience.
1.2. Objectives of research in PR:
- To gather information that public relations professionals want to have and to know to
do their works more effectively.
- To obtain benchmark data about the views of key goal audience groups.
- To plan, improve, or perhaps refine a public relations, public affairs or marketing
communications program or activity or events.
- To track or monitor programs, activities or events that are or can be significant to the
organization.
- To assess the overall effectiveness of a specific public relations or public affairs
program or activity, by determining outputs and outcomes against a predetermined
set of purposes.
- When facing an unexpected and sudden crisis, to put the issues involved into good
perspective through emergency monitoring or polling.
- When conditions allow, to provide proper support in publicizing or promoting a
specific program, event or activity
1.3. What to research:
Input Outcome
Output
(Problems or (The resulting impact
(Activities of a PR .
opportunities that the of the outputs on the
Program)
organization is facing) target audience)

11
 Reflect on conditions
and circumstances
inside and outside the
organization to
Information
determine the
appropriate PR situation messages delivered to
to serve strategic
planning.
- Identify problems or
opportunities for PR
campaigns
- Identify public
Purposes awareness, attitudes
and behaviors
- Identify effective
communication tools
and channels
Reflect on the issues
of message delivery Reflects the target
(Number of activities audience's changes in
conducted, number of awareness, attitudes,
and behavior.
the media, etc.)
- Adjust, modify,
change the
- Determine the
program to be
success/failure of
more effective
the PR campaign.
- Feedback to the
- Provide input for
planning phase
further program
(strategic/tactical)
planning
improves message
delivery.

1.4. Research methods

To measure by quantity rather than quality. When we do
quantitative analysis, we are exploring facts, measures,
numbers and percentages. When we do quantitative work,
Qualitative we work with numbers, statistics, formulate and data.
and Quantitative research criteria:
Định lượng
Quantitative - Number of people attending an event
methods - Number of people who know the message
- Number of articles published in the mass media
- Number of articles per channel
- Chance to see the message in each media

12
 - Number of times the main message is mentioned
- In which category the articles appear
- Public reception: how many letters/emails/phone calls
have you received regarding this issue? More or less
than usual?
- Which newspapers reported it? Who is their public?
Fundamentally means to measure something by its quality
rather than quantity. When we do qualitative analysis, we
are exploring how we describe something. Very often, we
cannot use numbers or numerical expressions to describe
those things. When we do qualitative work, we work with
descriptions. We work with feelings, thoughts,
perceptions. We attempt to understand motivations and
Qualitative behaviors.
Qualitative research criteria:
- The public's attitude is indifference, concern or support
- The importance of the article
- The tone of these articles (negative or positive)?
- Did you achieve the desired image?
- Does the public remember your message?
- The visual effect of the article
Primary research is research organizations conduct
themselve (or hire someone to do for the,.) It involves
going directly to a source – usually customers and
Primary and
prospective customers in their target market – to ask
secondary Primary
questions and gather information.
research
Primary research usually costs more and often takes longer
to conduct than secondary research, but it gives conclusive
results.

13
 Secondary research is a type of research that has already
been compiled, gathered, organized and published by
others. It includes reports and studies by government
Secondary agencies, trade associations or other businesses in your
industry. For small businesses with limited budgets, most
research is typically secondary, because it can be obtained
faster and more affordably than primary research.
Formal research normally takes place in order to generate
numbers and statistics that we can use to both target
communications and measure results. Formal research also
is used to gain a deeper, qualitative understanding of the
issue of concern, to ascertain the range of consumer
responses, and to elicit in-depth opinion data. Formal
Formal
research is planned research of a quantitative or qualitative
nature, normally asking specific questions about topics of
concern for the organization. Formal research is both
formative, at the outset of a public relations initiative, and
Formal in
evaluative, to determine the degree of change attributable
informal
to public relations activities.
research
Informal research is collected on an ongoing basis by most
public relations managers, from sources both inside and
outside of their organizations. Informal research usually
gathers information and opinions through conversations. It
consists of asking questions, talking to members of publics
Informal
or employees in the organization to find out their concerns,
reading e-mails from customers or comment cards, and
other informal methods, such as scanning the news and
trade press. Informal research comes from the boundary
spanning role of the public relations professional, meaning

14
 that he or she maintains contacts with publics external to
the organization, and with internal publics.

II. Evaluation
2.1. Định nghĩa:
PR evaluation is any and all research designed to determine the relative effectiveness of
a public relations programme, strategy, or activity, by measuring the outputs and/or
outcomes of that PR programme against a predetermined set of objectives.
2.2. Evaluation Criteria:
To evaluate a PR campaign, first of all, it is necessary to identify specific evaluation
criteria. And those evaluation criteria are the objectives set out before the campaign,
which is a prerequisite for evaluation. Types of evaluation criteria include:
- Quantitative evaluation criteria: Number of people attending the ceremony or
event; the number of people who know about such activities through delivery
leaflets and advertisements in newspapers and television; articles, TV channels…
- Qualitative evaluation criteria: Attendance level (applause, participation
attitude...), public attitude (indifferent, interested, supportive...), the importance of
articles (content, posting position ...)
- Criteria for evaluating cost effectiveness: Compared with advertising costs, public
relations programs will be effective if the cost to obtain articles or television
reports is lower than the cost of advertising.
2.3. Types of evaluation:
Corresponding to the above-mentioned criteria, the evaluation is classified into two
forms:
- Output measurement: processes to distribute messages, or the number of
communication products or services resulting from a communication production
process. The measurements are the immediate results of a particular PR program
or activity, which measure potential public exposure for the organization.
Examples of output measurements include the number of brochures distributed

15
 publicly, the amount of online communications produced, the number of events
held and the number of participants at events, counts of press releases and other
contacts with news media, and volume of news coverage (media clips). Outputs
have traditionally had an assumed value and an assumed impact on audiences.
- Outcome measurement: outcomes measure change in the targeted audience’s
cognition, affect and behavior. The outcomes are to support the organization’s
overall goals and objectives, as opposed to arbitrary objectives set specifically for
the PR campaign.
+ Measure public perception: Investigate the public's attention to the message,
their understanding of the message, their memory of the message, etc.
+ Measuring public attitudes: Investigate public opinion before, during and after a
PR campaign or a specific program or event.
+ Measure public behavior: Investigate what the public does after a PR campaign.
For businesses, a change in public behavior can be to buy goods and lead to
increased sales, sales will be an indicator of whether public behavior has changed
or not.
2.4. PR evaluation process:
- Step 1 – Defining the objectives of PR campaign:
+ Output: Measures the extent to which information is communicated to the target
audience
+ Outcome: Measures the impact of output activities on the target audience
- Step 2 – Measuring message exposure:
The message exposure is measured by:
+ Number of major press releases, news articles, images, and letters produced in a
given period of time.
+ Number of information and communication materials distributed to recipients
+ The amount of information published in newspapers or on radio or broadcast
+ Number of times the message appeared on the mass media (print press, electronic
newspaper, radio, television)

16
 + Number of readers or audience (or number of hotline calls, number of visitors to
the website, number of visitors to the event)
- Step 3 – Measuring feedback from the audience:
+ Check the message: Target audience that heard or saw the message reacted well
or badly; attention or help to understand better. To check the message, PR
practitioners need to choose evaluation tools such as surveys, interviews, etc. to
investigate the results of the following contents:
 Does the target audience increase their understanding of the business or
product?
 Does the target audience act as a result of PR efforts?
 Has the target audience changed attitudes or opinions?
 The target audience has a tendency to change their behavior?
+ Relying on media: The media treats information in a good, neutral or bad way.
- Step 4 – Measuring the impact of campaign:
There should be research tools to assess the impact of PR output activities on the
public based on the change in awareness, attitude and behavior after the campaign.
Content Tools
- Public attention to the message
Impact on Surveys, interviews,
- Their understanding of the message
awareness opinion polls, etc.
- Their memory of the message
Percentage of change in attitudes and opinions Surveys, interviews,
Impact on attitude
after increasing information and communication opinion polls, etc.
- Percentage increase in sales
- Revenues
Impact on behavior - Number of people responding to the
- Survey, interview..
organization's PR message

17
 Chương III
PR ACTION PLANNING
I. Definition
public relations planning is simply identifying with whom you want to have a relationship,
what you want from that relationship, and what you can do to achieve it. A PR plan is a
framework for creating and distributing content to your target audience, a PR plan will also
need to cover the monitoring of content performance thereafter.
A public relations plan helps maintain self-discipline as well as being an excellent
informational tool. This is especially true for public relations practitioners who have recently
changed jobs or taken on new clients. Planning forces them to ask questions and review their
underlying assumptions. Each successive step in the planning process sharpens their focus on
how the organization operates and where it's going, as well as clarifying public relations' role
in that operation.
II. Basic issues raised in strategic PR planning:
- What do we want to achieve? (Objectives)
- Who do we want to talk to? (Key publics)
- What do we want to say? (Message)
- How will we say it? (Communication tools)
- How do we know we did the right thing? (Evaluation)
III. Vai trò của hoạch định chiến lược PR:
- Good PR is essential for effective branding.
- Having a PR plan in place will help you leverage media opportunities.
- A solid PR plan frees you up to focus on running your company.
- Your company will recover from mistakes or crisis faster if you have a PR plan.
IV. Methods of PR strategic planning:
- Management by objectives (MBO) is a process in which a manager and an employee
agree on specific performance goals and then develop a plan to reach them.
Thus, management by objectives in public relations is the process of identifying specific
objectives in public relations, those objectives can be handling a crisis that the business

18
 is facing, launching a new product or repositioning the business's position in the market,...
Then the business implements a PR plan that clearly states each step to achieve the
objective of the strategy.
- Mô hình lập kế hoạch chiến lược Ketchum: Ketchum’s Model can be described as a
business-oriented, competitive set ofquestions to assist in an en effective program
planning for a successful PR Campaign. This model is considered flexible and applicable
to reality as it gets the main pointsacross in a simple and effective manner. Ketchum’s
model is made up of four steps:
 Facts: a truth known by actual experience or observation; something known to be true
 Goals: the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim
 Audience: the group of spectators at a public event; listeners or viewers. The persons
reached by a book, radio broadcast, or PR campaign
 Key message: what key points need to be communicated to change or strengthen
public opinion
V. PR planning process:
- Step 1 – Access the situation:
Must grasp and understand the current situation, the core issues
Purposes in order to create an effective and reliable PR program that
meets the organization's goals and objectives
Whether you call it an analysis or an assessment, this is the
foundation of any future decisions you make. This is where
PR teams can – and should – be working with other
stakeholders like Marketing, Product, Commercial, and
Customer Support to get a complete overview of the business
Basic content
situation, and the markets or environments that you’re
operating in. Your financial situation, business goals,
corporate image, product plans, and competitors are just
some examples of information you should have in your
situation analysis that will inform your PR strategy and goals.

19
 PEST Analysis:
 Political: How government policy and actions may
affect the economy, as well as the specific industry the
business operates in.
 Economy: Take into account the various aspects of the
economy, and how the outlook on each area could
impact your business.
 Social: Related to the cultural and demographic trends
Research methods of society. Social norms and pressures are key to
determining a society’s consumerist behavior.
 Technological: Linked to innovation in the industry, as
well as innovation within the overall economy. Not
being up to date on the latest trends of a particular
industry can be extremely harmful to operations..
SWOT Analysis:
 Internal factors: Strengths, Weaknesses.
 Environmental factors: Opportunities, Threats.
- Two basic research methods: Quantitative research and
qualitative research (attitudes, feelings, beliefs).
Research techniques
- Two methods of information collection: Documentary
study and Field study

- Step 2 – Set up PR goals and objectives:

+ Goals vs Objectives:
Objectives Goals
(Spelling out how you're going to (What you want to accomplish overall)
achieve it)

20
 The objective of the PR strategy is the
purpose of the PR strategy to be
implemented
Strategic objectives answer the question:
“What needs to be done?”, which are the
operational steps required to achieve a
goal, deliver short-term and quantifiable
results.
Goals focus on your company's image.
They typically describe reaching out to a
community or increasing the public's
interest in your company.
Goals will answer the question "What is it
for?", the results achieved are often
general, long-term and qualitative.

+ Types of PR Objectives:
 Informational Objectives: state expected awareness and retention from some
baseline, or phased increases in awareness and retention of that information
 Motivational Objectives: state interest and evaluation, also against some baseline
or phased expectation in terms of attitudes and beliefs regarding the campaign
object.
+ Principles of setting objectives: These should be SMART (specific, measurable,
achievable, relevant and time-based).
- Step 3 – Identify target audiences:
Sending your message out to the world at large is not an
effective approach. Identifying who you’re talking to – and
gaining an understanding of them – is the crucial foundation
Purpose of effective PR. Taking the time to research and connect with
your audience will help you develop your entire approach,
adding a focus and intent to your strategy that will speak
clearly through your end results.
When developing your strategy, keep your customers front-of-
Requirement
mind as your main target audience. Take the time to get to

21
 know them; the customers themselves will provide the most
important information for setting your PR strategy:
 Find out who your buyers are and why they pay for your
product/s or use your services.
 Define and craft the story that speaks to their needs.
 Research where and how they consume media.
Your PR plan should keep in mind two groups of audiences:
 Primary audiences: Primary audiences are those who
receive the communication directly and are also known as
the target audience. The person is also usually the decision
maker.
 Secondary audiences (intervening audience): include
anyone who may indirectly receive a copy of the
communication. These include anyone who will receive a
copy, need to approve, will hear about, or be affected by
your message. the secondary audience is the group(s) of
Popular public
people that you identify, educate and activate to influence
groups
the primary audience. This group can include journalists,
bloggers, influencers, and editors of publications in your
industry. Industry experts and thought leaders with a large
number of blog subscribers or social media followers, also
belong to this group.
How to identify the target audience:
 Demographics
 Geographic
 Psychology
 Behavior

22
- Step 4 – Develop key messages:
Key messages are the essence of what you want to
communicate with your customers and will be the building
blocks for all your tactics and activities.
Purpose
Think of key messages as the anchor that keeps all your
communication unified and consistent, and what will inform
all the messaging on your other PR channels.
Your key messages should be concise, simple, and adaptable.
 Concise: Lengthy messages are difficult to remember and
adapt.
 Simple: It should be easy to understand for most people. No
jargon or acronyms.
 Memorable: In this world of information overloading, easy-
to-recall messages stand out.
Requirement
 Adaptable: for being used in different channels and various
forms. Avoid using wordplay that only sounds smart, for
example, in writing but not when speaking.
 Compelling: You want your audiences to take action.
 Evocative: The best messages are the ones that evoke strong
feelings and the desire to be a part of something bigger than
themselves.
1. Aggregates existing public views and attitudes.
The process of 2. Identify content that can change those views.
developing the 3. Identify the factors of persuasion.
message 4. Ensure that the messages are credible and can be conveyed
through PR

23
- Step 5 – Developing strategies and tactics:
+ Distinguish between strategy and tactics:
 A strategy is the approach of an overall plan. It is often the hardest to determine.
Your company’s strategy is the overarching way you intend to accomplish your
objectives. The strategy has the following characteristics:
• Strategic design will help all related work to be implemented smoothly, PR
managers will not fall into mundane, awkward and passive, inefficient due
to wasted resources.
• The strategy can be applied to general programs as well as to individual
activities.
• Strategy is formed in advance and is the basis for developing tactics
 The tactics are the tools or the action items of the plan. They are the means used
to gain an objective. A tactic is sometimes referred to as a strategy on wheels.
+ Relationship between objective, strategy and tactics: The first is by having “Goals” as
the overall business or company goals, with PR objectives or strategies coming in below
to support the goal.
+ Notes when developing strategies and tactics::
 Always use strategy to guide the idea generation process
 Tactical activities that do not support strategy should be eliminated
 Align tactics with strategy and strategy with objectivess.
 Tactics need to be tested to ensure their real effectiveness. In case that a change is
necessary, it is advisable to change the tactics before deciding to change the
strategy.
 Different PR campaigns require different tactics
- Step 6 – Xác định khung thời gian và nguồn lực:
+ Determine the timeframe to ensure the PR program takes place on schedule; link and
coordinate well the departments, stages in work and individuals together.
+ Two factors are closely linked when determining the time frame: the deadline of the
tasks and the resources required to complete each task.

24
 + To ensure the deadline for each job, it is necessary to clearly define all the individual
jobs that need to be done to complete the project, assign people and reserve time for
each stage to take the initiative in managing the project.
+ Allocate 3 basic resources:
 Human resources (quantity and quality): when allocating, it should be based on the
scale, characteristics and requirements of the program to be implemented..
 Budget: Pay attention to efficiency and performance. Take into consideration the
cost of both earned media and branded (paid) content.
 Equipment: depends on the size, importance and characteristics of each job; the
adaptation between equipment and human resources using equipment and the
effectiveness of equipment use in PR activities
- Step 7 – Measure the results:
- Evaluation helps to focus all efforts on important agreed goals.
- Evaluation helps to determine the effectiveness of work,
successes or failures.
- Evaluation helps to use the budget effectively on the basis of
focusing on priority tasks.
Purpose - Evaluation helps the organization to manage by objectives: on
the basis of focusing on feasible and effective objectives, the
organization will identify and eliminate inappropriate
objectives.
- Evaluation to clearly define and enhance the responsibilities of
all individuals and stages in the whole system
- Obectives are the most important
- Evaluation should be considered at the beginning of the process
Rule - Evaluation is an ongoing process
- The evaluation must be done in an objective and scientific
manner

25
 - It is necessary to evaluate both the effectiveness of the programs
and the results of the process of managing them.
Objective evaluation method:
- Change in public behavior
- Reaction of the public
- Changes in public perception and attitudes (through interviews,
surveys, ...)
- Achievement results (number of event participants)
- Scope of message transmission, message content, number of
Evaluation methods readers
- Control budget and cost...
Subjective evaluation method:
- Warmth in communication
- Performance and professionalism
- Creative mind and creativity
- Quality of relationship with people
- Perception of correctness in specific situations

26
 Chương IV
PR EXECUTION/COMMUNICATION
I. Definition:
1.1. Communication process in public relations: Two way communication between both
the parties is essential and information must flow in its desired form between the
organization and public. The receiver must understand what the sender intends to
communicate for an effective public relation. The receivers (public, target audience,
stakeholders, employees, investors) must clearly understand the sender’s message.
(organization in this case).
1.2. PR execution process: is a combination of action plan and communication method to
convey information about the organization's activities to the public.
II. Purpose of communication in PR:
The purpose of communication in PR is to convey information about the organization's action
plan and receive feedback from the public, which is the change in awareness, behavior and
attitudes of the public towards a business or a product or service.
So to communicate effectively in PR, we need to pay attention to the following issues::
- The process of communicating and receiving messages
- The process of receiving information from the public and changing attitudes
- Tools and communication channels to convey the message
III. Communication process

27
- Basic elements of the communication process
The communication process begins with the sender, who is also
called the communicator or source. The sender has some kind of
information — a command, request, question, or idea — that he
Source or she wants to present to others. For that message to be received,
the sender must first encode the message in a form that can be
understood, such as by the use of a common language or industry
jargon, and then transmit it.
The message is the stimulus or meaning produced by the source
for the receiver or audience. When you plan to give a speech or
write a report, your message may seem to be only the words you
choose that will convey your meaning. But that is just the
beginning. The words are brought together with grammar and
organization. You may choose to save your most important point
Message
for last. The message also consists of the way you say it—in a
speech, with your tone of voice, your body language, and your
appearance—and in a report, with your writing style, punctuation,
and the headings and formatting you choose. In addition, part of
the message may be the environment or context you present it in
and the noise that might make your message hard to hear or see.
The channel is the way in which a message or messages travel
Channel
between source and receiver.
The person to whom a message is directed is called the receiver
or the interpreter. To comprehend the information from the
Receiver
sender, the receiver must first be able to receive the sender's
information and then decode or interpret it.
The communication process reaches its final point when the
Feedback message has been successfully transmitted, received, and
understood. The receiver, in turn, responds to the sender,

28
 indicating comprehension. Feedback may be direct, such as a
written or verbal response, or it may take the form of an act or
deed in response (indirect).
This can be any sort of interference that affects the message being
sent, received, or understood. It can be as literal as static over a
Noise
phone line or radio or as esoteric as misinterpreting a local
custom.
Encoding Encoding is the process of turning thoughts into communication
Decoding Decoding is the process of turning communication into thoughts.

IV. Message:
4.1. Definition:
The message is the information that is being passed on during the communication
process. The message connects the sender to the receiver. A message is a compilation of
information—whether visual, verbal, or numerical—that can be written (and read),
created as images (and seen or felt), spoken (and heard), video recorded (and seen, heard,
and/or read), digitally analyzed (and interpreted), and so forth.
4.2. Features of the message:
- A communication message is a complete sentence or it can also be a symbol, a phrase,
an identifying sign... with the purpose of conveying a specific information or value to
the target audience.
- It is a solution where ideas and thoughts are presented in a concise manner to convey
information to the target audience through an appropriate form.
- The message is all content encoded in the form of illustrative elements. Most are
based on the foundation of tools and media such as images, text, sound, etc.…
4.3. Benefits of messages:
- Messages help attract attention of customer while increasing brand recognition.
- Messages help establish consideration of the brand's products and services when users
have a need for them.

29
 - Messages are the motivation for potential customers to exploit, consult and find more
information about products and services.
- Messages help provide a lot of information. As a result, potential users will be able
to absorb a lot of the value that the brand brings.
4.4. Principle 6Cs of setting messages:
- Credibility - Communication starts with a climate of belief. This is built by
performance on the part of the source. The receiver must have confidence in the
sender. He must have a high regard for the source’s competence on the subject.
- Context - A communication programme must square with the realities of its
environment. The context must provide for participation and play back. The
context must confirm not contradict the message
- Content - The message must have meaning for the receiver and it must be
compatible with his value system. It must have relevance to him. In general,
people select those items of information which promise them generates rewards.
- Clarity - The message must be put in simple terms. Words must mean the same
thing to the receiver as they do to the sender. The farther a message has to travel,
the simple it must be. An institution must speak with one voice, not many voices.
- Channel - Established channels of communication should be used channels which
the receiver uses and respects. Creating new ones is difficult. Different channels
have different effects and serve in different stages of the diffusion process.
- Capability - Communication must take into account the capability of the
audience. Communications are most effective when they require the least effort
on the part of the recipient.
V. Communication Execution Tool
- Interpersonal communication is the process of exchange of information, ideas and
feelings between two or more people through verbal or non-verbal methods. It often
includes face-to-face exchange of information, in a form of voice, facial expressions,
body language and gestures. The level of one’s interpersonal communication skills is
measured through the effectiveness of transferring messages to others.

30
 - Organizational communication is defined as the channels and forms of communication
in which organizations such as corporations, non-profits, and governmental bodies
engage, including both the internal communications that occur within an organization,
and external-facing communications between an organization and its stakeholders.
- News media provide opportunities for the credible presentation of organizational
messages to large audiences.
- Promotional communication: are those techniques that the company or a business
individual uses to convey promotional messages about their products and services.
Experts of marketing communication design different types of persuasive communication
and send it to the target audience

VI. Press relation:

4.1. Definition: Press relations is the establishment and maintenance of relationships
between an organization and the press. This relationship includes the purposeful
dissemination and communication of the organization's messages to the public through
selected, non-paid media, in order to serve specific purposes.
Press relations also assist in establishing and maintaining relationships between the
organization and community groups. Sponsored events and activities are often used by the
media as a bridge to let the public know about the organization's activities.

31
In addition, when some bad news about the organization appears, a good relationship with
the press will help the organization have many favorable conditions in correcting or handling
remedial actions.
2. Rule when working with the press:
- The relationship between businesses and the press is a win-win relationship,
completely equal, supporting and benefiting.
- The job of the press is to report information, the company has the right to refuse and
have the right to provide information to the press. The press is by no means a
"superior" agency of the business.
- Businesses can and should be open-minded, not shy or avoid the press in any
situation. Of course, sensitive and security issues should not be revealed.
- Business are a "source" of journalists and press agencies.

32
 Chương V
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL PR
I. Internal PR:
1.1. Definition:
Internal public relations refers to the promotional communication that takes place within
an organization. It is designed to ensure that your employees love working for your
company, and are happy and engaged.
1.2. The duties of Internal PR:
- Develop the objectives of internal PR:
When setting goals of internal PR, make sure to follow the SMART formula.
- Develop a plan to implement the internal PR program
- Implementing and testing.
1.3. Internal PR planning process:
- Evaluate your current situation
- Consider your audience
- Establish goals
- Determine strategies and tactics
- Execute
- Evaluate plan
- Modify plan if necessary
1.4. The importance of Internal PR:
- For general PR strategy:
 Help all members of the organization understand the mission and goals of their
organization. From there, each person determines his or her obligations and
responsibilities to contribute to the overall development and success of the
organization.
 Build a friendly and good emotional relationship within the business. Thereby
creating motivation for members to devote themselves to the common goal.

33
  As a basis for organizations and businesses to attract and retain talents; create the
most important internal resources for sustainable development.
 Building corporate governance practices based on humanity, mutual understanding
and trust, creating traditional cultural values.
 On that basis, every member of the organization will be self-conscious and devoted
to building a good relationship with external public groups, contributing to the
implementation of the organization's PR strategy.
- For branding:
Brand building elements: products, services, distribution systems, people, media,
culture.
 In the factors of building and protecting the brand, the most important emphasis is
on people with 3 basic elements: attitude, skills and capacity. People's attitudes,
consciousness and responsibilities are formed and developed depending on the
effectiveness of internal public relations activities.
 On the other hand, internal relations also have a strong influence on the way in
which the reputation and image of organizations and enterprises are viewed in the
eyes of the public outside that organization..
- For building organizational culture:
 Building the culture of an organization or business is the process of building and
preserving traditional values. That has a strong influence on the thought,
perception and behavior of members of the organization and the business.
 Building corporate culture includes two aspects: internal culture and external
culture. Internal culture is the building of values in the relationship between
members within the enterprise.
 Through internal PR, businesses form a unity of goals, create internal
motivation, and jointly build a successful corporate culture.

34
1.5. The main techniques of internal PR
Role of Internal Media
- Provide information: tasks from time to time, changes in policies
and procedures.
- Propaganda and education: guidelines, policies, laws, traditions.
- Build internal relationships
- Encourage, motivate and emulate
Internal media tools:
- Print media (internal press: newsletters, books about the
organization, letters, speeches, etc.)
- Bulletin boards
- Intranet network
- Documentaries about the organization
Internal Media - Internal radio station
- Internal meetings and briefings
Content of internal media:
- Organization of the company's management and personnel system
- Business products, goods and services
- Tradition and achievements
- Tasks and plans in each period
- Innovations and innovative solutions
- Example of good people and good deeds
- Scientific conferences and discussions
- Cultural activities, sports, commemoration
- Sponsorship and charity programs
- New legal documents
It is the process by which people exchange information to understand
Internal
each other and act accordingly to each given situation.
communication
Internal communication evaluation criteria:

35
 - Trust and respect between leaders and employees
- The ability to devote and develop each individual's potential
- The interest in the company's common issues for the members
- Solidarity internally
- Faith in the future
- Sustainable development of the company
- The image of the company, the leader and colleagues in the
feelings of the members…
Principles in internal communication – It needs to ensure the
following properties::
- Purposeful: Communicating towards certain goals; members of
organization do not communicate in a free, arbitrary and
irresponsible manner; It is need to be appropriate for each
communication relationship.
- Organizational: Communicate in accordance with the functions,
powers and assigned tasks; obey and respect the rules and
commitments of the company.
- Standard: communicate on the basis of respecting the provisions
of the law; Follow the cultural standards, politeness.
- Friendly: Communication must build a trusting and friendly
relationship within the organization
Internal events contribute to building a good relationship within the
company. At the same time, it is also a way to attract attention and
enlist the affection of public opinion, bringing benefits to that
Organize internal organization and company.
PR events The way of organizing events is very rich and diverse, reflecting
many relationships within the company. The implementation of the
event is also done by many departments.
Types of internal events:

36
 - Organizing congresses and conferences
- Internal meeting and exchange activities
- Organize celebrations, receive titles
- Organizing the launching ceremony and summarizing the
emulation movement
- Cultural, physical and sports activities
- Internal sponsorship and charity activities
Requirements when organizing internal events:
- Must have a good idea
- Objectives must be clearly defined
- Program design, content must be specific and detailed
- Identify the right audience to attract
- There are different options, including backup plans
- Behind-the-scenes preparation must be attentive to each stage of
the work
- Pay attention to the evaluation and timely adjustment.
Steps in organizing an internal event
- Decide “5W and H” : What, When, Where, Who, Why and How.
- Pay attention to every basic detail, don't miss it
- Make a specific plan (scenario)
- Event design (Publication, decoration, venue...)
- Prepare behind the scenes (security, medical, risk...)
- Post-event follow-up (reviews, thanks, expenses, etc.)
Corporate culture is a system of values, beliefs, perceptions and
thinking methods built and preserved during the development of an
Build organizational enterprise; It has an influence on the feelings, thoughts, attitudes and
culture behaviors of all members of the enterprise.
Functions of corporate culture:
- Creating motivation for development and unity

37
- Adjust members' behavior
- System control
- Reduce conflict
- Resource building
- Branding
- Create a competitive advantage
- The most important intangible asset of the eterprise
Elements of corporate culture:
- Tangible entity elements: typical architectural style, environmental
landscape, machinery and equipment; Costume, communication,
behavior…; annual rituals and festivals; system of regulations,
procedures, modes of operation, etc.
- Traditional cultural features: principles, standards, regulations
become routines, common codes of conduct are instilled by all
members.
- Foundational assumptions and core values: Mission relationship
throughout the company, leaders and employees, peers, customers,
in public relations, work, outside work, relations with society and
habitat…
Contents of Building Corporate Culture:
- Building a system of values and common concepts
- Building a management mechanism, establishing tasks, functions
and relationships of all levels of management
- Distribution of power and status
- Building standards of internal communication and behavior
- Building standards of internal communication and behavior
- Building relationships of internal solidarity
- Organize internal events
- Develop a strict reward and punishment mechanism.

38
II. External PR – Media relation:
2.1. Definition: Media Relations involves working with media for the purpose of
informing the public of an organization's mission, policies and practices in a positive,
consistent and credible manner.
2.2. Press and PR:
- Press with mass communication function:
+ The press is an intermediary medium to help the public capture social information.
+ With the function of mass communication, information with the press is often
pervasive, highly reliable. Therefore, the press is an effective PR tool for businesses
in building and managing reputation.
- Press with public opinion:
+ Public opinion is a judgmental and evaluative opinion on social issues that the
public is concerned about.
+ Tasks of PR related to public opinion include:
 Analyze and explain the issues of public interest to the organization in order
to explain to the public clearly the issues of public concern.
 Identify measures and means that have an impact on public opinion to achieve
the objectives of PR..
 Create directed attention.
 Openly shed light on issues of public concern
- The press as an impartial news reporter:
 Press information is usually objective and honest to the public
 The transmission of messages through the press is always effective because it
is easy to win the hearts of the public.
- The press is the fourth power of society:
 The press, with its function of mass communication and orientation of public
opinion, has been considered as the “fourth power” in society after the
following rights: Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary.

39
  Therefore, in the process of operating and implementing PR activities,
businesses need to pay special attention to building good relationships with the
media.
2.3. Develop and implement a media relations plan
The main contents of the media relation plan include:
- Develop objectivess and target audience:
+ Determining the objectives of the press relationship must be consistent with the
objectives of the PR strategy and towards the common goal of the Marketing strategy
in each period: building a good relationship between enterprises and the media in
order to enlist their support in enhancing the company's reputation and credibility in
the market.
+ Identify the target audience by:
 List all public groups of the organization
 Clearly define the target audience, and the relevant public as they can convey
the message to other publics.
 Find out how target audience receive information? (Which newspaper or radio
do they watch...)
- Develop Message:
When determining the message, attention should be paid to both content and
appropriate presentation, and should pay attention to the following issues:
+ The message should be consistent with the objectives of the campaign: consistent
with the objectives of press relations and must be towards the overall goal of the PR
campaign.
+ The message needs to be typical, short and concise.
+ The message needs to be simple, easy to understand, suitable to the level of the
target audience (media)
+ The message needs to be specific and outstanding
+ The message needs to be specific and outstanding.

40
 - Determine budget:
+ This is an important step to ensure the effectiveness of press relations building
activities, clearly determining the amount of budget for each activity to ensure that
PR practitioners use their financial resources effectively.
+ When determining the budget for press relations, it is necessary to base on:
 What is the general budget for all PR activities of the business in the year?
 Objectives and role of press relation in implementing the overall goal of PR
strategy.
+ After determining the budget, it is necessary to allocate that budget for each specific
press relationship that the enterprise wants to establish. It should be calculated the
effect of using the right budget and chose the right communication method
- Media selection and detailed planning:
+ Listing all possible communication channels: printed newspaper, radio, television,
electronic newspaper, company website, email, hand letter, postal mail... or direct
communication
+ Defining specific media
+ Planning the use of media: number of days, time, frequency, location...
+ Making a plan to approach and work with the media (working time, form of
communication ...)
- Evaluate and adjust:
+ It is an essential step of all management programs and strategic planning.
Continuous stretching is required for long-term programs.
+ It is necessary to develop an evaluation schedule according to each specific
timetable:
 Periodic and regular assessment.
 Unscheduled assessment for each stage of work
+ Through the evaluation process, inadequacies will be detected to have timely
corrective solutions.

41
2.4. Techniques used in media relations
- Press release:
+ Definition: A press release is a short, compelling news story written by a public
relations professional and sent to targeted members of the media. The goal of a press
release is to pique the interest of a journalist or publication. Therefore:
 Press release is a very important tool to attract the media and inform the public
(a bridge between PR activities of enterprises and the media).
 As a form of material "no copyright", providing news for the press to write
articles, so it is often difficult to control.
+ In essence, a press release is a type of message, which should be written with the
following 4 contents:
 What is the issue here?
 Solving that issue is urgent and important..
 We can handle it and that's the best way.
 When the issue is solved, what are the benefits?
+ Contents of press releases: Press releases are sent to media that are printed (Press
Release), or Video news Release, or online newspapers… all need to answers the
questions:
 Who?: Who is the subject of the information, is it an event or an activity.
 What ?: What happens that the public and the press are interested in..
 Where?: Where the event takes place
 When?: The specific time the event takes place.
 Why & How?: Cause and importance of the event.
+ Structure of a press release: It typically consists of four parts: a headline, a lead
paragraph, second and third paragraphs, and a final paragraph containing background
information.
 Compelling headline: For a press release to stand out among the countless
emails that a journalist or editor receives every day, the key message should
be communicated through a compelling headline, and reinforced in a lead

42
 paragraph. A good lead paragraph will also answer the ‘5W1H’ questions,
when applicable. If an editor chooses only to publish the lead paragraph, the
text should contain all primary information.
 The second and third paragraphs should include more detailed information,
such as the purpose of an event, the number of expected participants, etc. If
journalists or editors want more information, they should be able to find it in
these two paragraphs.
 If a press release is sent out prior to an event with a view to attracting
participants and members of the press, an invitation message should be
communicated in the third paragraph. The date, time and venue of the event,
along with additional contact information, should be placed in a small, separate
box at the end of the press release.
 The fourth paragraph is generally reserved for background information, such
as a company’s history, similar events held in the past, or other details related
to the subject of the press release
+ Tips for writing a successful press release:
 Use a media release letterhead which reflects your group's identity - keep the
design uncluttered and avoid using small typeface.
 Make sure you grab the reader's attention in the headline and the first sentence.
 Place the most important facts at the top and then arrange your material in
descending order of importance. Do no attempt to get everything into the first
(lead) paragraph, which should consist of no more than 30 words.
 Ensure material is accurate. Check all facts, especially spelling of people's
names and titles.
 Keep it short, preferably a single page, two pages at the most. (Keep to 400
words or fewer).
 Ensure it is dated and contains a contact name and phone numbers/email
address. Make sure the contact person and telephone number are obtainable

43
 when journalists are likely to call as many journalists work at night or early in
the morning.
 Know the copy deadlines of your target media outlets.
 Make sure you issue your release on the best day for maximum coverage.
Generally a release issued on a Monday or Tuesday will get better coverage
than one released on a Friday.
 State the timing for release if not for immediate use i.e. embargoed until date
and/or time.
 Attach any visual material, photographs, logos, maps, diagrams
- Press Conference:
+ Definition: A press conference serves to communicate important news (e.g. launch
the campaign) connected with an organisation or company and involves the
participation of journalists and representatives of the company/organisation. The
event offers journalists an interactive forum to find out about your organisation and
campaign.
+ Tips for organizing a successful press conference:
 Have specific goals and messages
 Prepare information in advance for the press
 Make a list and invite only reporters, newspapers, magazines, and radio
stations that match the content of the press conference
 The press conference program should be focused and concise, avoiding
roundabouts because the press is very busy.
 Prepare in advance for relevant questions the press may ask, especially the
most difficult ones. Only then will businesses be confident when running a
press conference
 Limit the number of people sitting at the chairperson's table
 Be careful with answers to the press, if the answer is not concise and
misleading, it will lead to misleading information, sometimes even affecting
the image of the company later.

44
  The person responsible for the presentation must be very knowledgeable about
the product or service.
 Need to actively create topics for journalists to exploit.
 The information answered must be honest, clear and consistent.
 Never say: “We cannot provide this data/information or we do not have the
information”
2.5. Principles of working with media: 5Fs

45
 Chương VI
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
I. The nature of challenge of public relations:
Public relations is a multifaceted activity involving different audiences as well as different
types of organizations, all with different goals and objectives.
II. Crisis:
2.1. Crisis definition: A crisis is a sudden change or cause of a process that leads to an urgent
problem that needs immediate resolution.
A crisis is a situation that has reached a critical, dangerous stage, requiring dramatic and
extraordinary intervention to avoid or repair damage.
Crisis occurs when the communication process between businesses and the public is
interrupted or corrupted. At that time, the public was in a state of not knowing what the
truth was and they needed complete and accurate information from the business. Public
relations activities will help businesses convey the necessary information to the public to
reassure them.
2.2. Type of Crisis:
- Chronic crisis: A situation in which at least one hazard or stressor has manifested with
disastrous impacts, yet over years or even decades, there is no resolution or reduction of
this hazard, stressor or combination of each to a level that is manageable by the community
affected..
- Acute crisis: Any life-threatening situation that could occur suddenly and would need
urgent medical attention.
III. Crisis management:
3.1. Definition: Crisis management is the application of strategies designed to help an
organization deal with a sudden and significant negative event..
3.2. Crisis management goals: Crisis management seeks to minimize the damage a crisis
causes. However, this does not mean crisis management is the same thing as crisis
response. Instead, crisis management is a comprehensive process that is put into practice

46
 before a crisis even happens. Crisis management practices are engaged before, during
and after a crisis.
3.3. Contents of crisis management:
- Risk Analysis: Outline the scenarios you think your organization could face. Having a
more specific sense of these potential occurrences will guide your planning. You do not
need to include every conceivable risk, but cover a broad range, such as a natural
disaster, a cyberattack, a loss of utilities, a technology failure, the death of a CEO, a
shooter in the workplace, a financial crisis, an operational accident, and a product failure.
- Activation Protocol: Be sure to include triggers for the crisis management plan, as the
natural first response to an emergency is often paralysis. Using levels of urgency as your
criterion, define the circumstances that activate a particular crisis response. In addition,
explain how to escalate that response, in the event that a crisis turns out to be more
serious than it first appeared. Based on the type or location of the incident, the protocol
should also direct your staff on how to respond. And, the protocol should establish some
type of communication that signals the end of a crisis.
- Chain of Command: Include a crisis management-related organization chart in your
plan, so it’s clear who has final authority and who reports to whom. Making a well-
defined org chart supports coordination and consistency, which decentralized
organizations sometimes struggle to achieve. Depending on the seriousness of the event,
your plan may call for additional layers of command. For example, an emergency at one
site may activate the response team and leader at that particular site, but a company-
wide crisis may require a headquarters crisis team that has regional teams operating
underneath it.
- Command Center Plan: Determine what will serve as the base of operations for the team
during a crisis. In addition, indicate what supplies and utilities the team will require. In
the event that the first command center is unavailable, you will also need to designate a
backup command center. Please see below for complete details on setting up a command
center.

47
- Response Action Plans: Perform detailed planning around how you will respond to
various scenarios. This planning includes assigning responsibility for each task. Think
of these response actions as modular elements that you should employ as the situation
requires. Conceptualizing crises in this way makes your crisis management plan
adaptable.
- Internal Communication Plan: Create systems and backup methods for members of the
crisis management team to communicate with each other. Collect contact information
for all team members as well as anyone they might need to call upon, including outside
consultants and subject matter experts. You must also establish ways to disseminate
urgent information to all employees, such as using a notification provider to send texts
and automated calls or implementing a method for your employees to check in and report
their safety and whereabouts. Determine how you will share sensitive news internally,
such as a threat to the company’s viability or a loss of life. In addition, don’t forget to
establish a schedule and mechanism for updates.
- External Communication Plan: Define plans for communicating with the public and key
external stakeholders. Appoint a spokesperson. Write detailed instructions, including
whom you will notify (e.g., media outlets in a particular geographic area). Also, draft
holding statements, the details of which you can fill in later, once you have the relevant
information. Prioritize your strategic communication objectives and outline talking
points. Make sure your plans align with other communication efforts. Be ready to create
a special website or telephone line to answer consumer or community questions.
- Resources: Think about everything the crisis management team might need, from
hardhats to credit cards and a standby public relations advisor, and line these things up.
Information resources will be especially important in a time of crisis. These resources
include many kinds of stakeholder agreements, including union contracts, maps of
facilities, timelines, flowcharts of key processes and procedures, supplier contracts,
benefits information, and more.
- Training: Being able to execute your crisis management plan quickly is paramount, and
holding drills and exercises with the crisis management team is crucial to that goal.

48
 Rehearsals or even tabletop drills can reveal flaws in the plan, and practice will help the
crisis team become comfortable with their individual roles and work together. Make sure
to stay current by doing regular training. In addition, provide training to other staff
members based on their particular jobs, such as showing a warehouse manager how to
use a fire extinguisher, explaining to a production associate how to stop an assembly
line, or teaching an executive assistant how to respond to a media phone call.
- Review: Create a structured review process in order to schedule regular follow-up check-
ins regarding your plan. As your business or the risk environment changes, you will need
to update your crisis management plan. After an actual crisis, the team should analyze
what went well and what did not. Identify important lessons, and implement any
necessary changes.
3.4. Crisis management process:
Prevention involves seeking to reduce known risks that
could lead to a crisis. This is part of an organization’s risk
management program. Preparation involves the following
activities:
+ Crisis management plan: A crisis management plan
(CMP) is a reference tool, not a blueprint. A CMP provides
lists of key contact information, reminders of what typically
should be done in a crisis, and forms to be used to document
PRE-CRISIS
the crisis response.
PHASE
+ Crisis management team: the common members of the
crisis team as public relations, legal, security, operations,
finance, and human resources. However, the composition
will vary based on the nature of the crisis.
+ Spokeperson: Một thành phần quan trọng của đào tạo
nhóm xử lý khủng hoảng là đào tạo người phát ngôn. Các
thành viên của tổ chức phải sẵn sàng nói chuyện với giới
truyền thông trong thời kỳ khủng hoảng.

49
 + Communication channels: Be prepared to use the Intranet
as one of the channels for reaching employees and any other
stakeholders than may have access to your Intranet. Be
prepared to utilize a mass notification system for reaching
employees and other key stakeholders during a crisis.
The crisis response is what management does and says after
the crisis hits. Public relations plays a critical role in the
crisis response by helping to develop the messages that are
sent to various publics. A great deal of research has
examined the crisis response. That research has been
divided into two sections:
The initial crisis response: Practitioner experience and
academic research have combined to create a clear set of
guidelines for how to respond once a crisis hits. The initial
crisis response guidelines focus on three points: (1) be
CRISIS RESPONSE quick, (2) be accurate, and (3) be consistent.
Reputation repair and behavioral intentions: A number of
researchers in public relations, communication, and
marketing have shed light on how to repair the reputational
damage a crisis inflicts on an organization. At the center of
this research is a list of reputation repair strategies. The
reputation repair strategies vary in terms of how much they
accommodate victims of this crisis (those at risk or harmed
by the crisis). Accommodate means that the response
focuses more on helping the victims than on addressing
organizational concerns.
In the post-crisis phase, the organization is returning to
POST-CRISIS
business as usual. The crisis is no longer the focal point of
PHASE
management’s attention but still requires some attention.

50
As noted earlier, reputation repair may be continued or
initiated during this phase. There is important follow-up
communication that is required. First, crisis managers often
promise to provide additional information during the crisis
phase. The crisis managers must deliver on those
informational promises or risk losing the trust of publics
wanting the information. Second, the organization needs to
release updates on the recovery process, corrective actions,
and/or investigations of the crisis. The amount of follow-
up communication required depends on the amount of
information promised during the crisis and the length of
time it takes to complete the recovery process.

51
 Chương VII
LEGAL AND ETHICS IN PR ACTIVITIES
I. Legal:
1.1. The necessity of legal in PR activities:
- Laws are an important factor that prevails in any organization for its legal procedure.
These laws protect the rights of the organization and let them work under guideline
without harming the company’s reputation. These laws help PR professional to handle
crisis that might exist in the organization.
- Public relations doesn’t seem like a dangerous profession.
- The product of public relations—information—can be just as dangerous as many lethal
weapons.
- Information used improperly or illegally can result in individuals going to jail and
organizations going out of business.
1.2. Defamation:
- Definition: Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about
a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation.
- Type of defamation:
+ Slander: an untrue defamatory statement that is spoken orally.
+ Libel: an untrue defamatory statement that is made in writing.
- In order to conclude that a given information is truly defamatory, it must satisfy four or
five of the following conditions:
+ Damages the reputation of others
+ Identify the victim by name or other means clearly visible to everyone.
+ Published, posted or broadcast to other individuals.
+ Containing false elements – maliciously distributed (to celebrities) or negligently (to
individuals)
+ Prove the damage or injury caused by the act
Once the business is on digital platform, it makes people easy to speak anything about anyone
without any fear or threat. In such cases people usually do not care much about the loss or

52
damage that will be done to the company’s reputation. Defamation law on this aspect gives
the right to act against the required party or an individual. The law prohibits anyone to harm
the dignity of the person neither in written or verbal, which in legal language is termed as libel
or slander.
1.3. Invasion of Privacy:
- Definition: Public relations law is the application of other areas of law that pertain to
particular practices, such as explaining business or institutional concerns to the public.
An area of law that public relations staff in any business must be particularly sensitive to
is the issue of privacy. This deals with employee communication, photo releases, product
publicity, and advertising and media inquires about employees. Public relations
professionals must research their legal protections, and keep up-to-date on changes, to
ensure that they adhere to proper legal standards.
- Forms of invasion of personal privacy:
+ Intrusion on a person’s seclusion or solitude.
+ Public disclosures of embarrassing private facts about a person.
+ Publicity that places a person in a false light in the public eye
+ Appropriation, for the Defendant’s gain, of a person’s name or likeness
 Written permission is required before using photos or any personal information for
PR purposes.
1.4. Intellectual Property:
- Definition: Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible
creations of the human intellect. There are two types of intellectual property that are
important in the field of public relations i.e. trademark and copyrights.
- Copyright:
+ Public relations involves a lot of creative work. PR professionals are only as valuable
as the work they produce, and therefore must protect their creative ideas and work.
Copyright means protection of a creative work from unauthorized use. It does not protect
ideas, only the specific ways those ideas are expressed. Major public relations materials,
such as brochures, annual reports and videotapes, must be protected to prevent

53
 unauthorized use by competitors. Press releases, documents that are only successful if
they're redistributed by the media, are often directly copy and pasted by media
organizations because the companies issuing the press releases authorize such
publication. For companies distributing press releases, this works to their advantage
because what's distributed to the media is written in their own words..
- Trademark: A trademark is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable
sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source
and distinguishes them from others. The trademark owner can be an individual, business
organization, or any legal entity. A trademark may be located on a package, a label, a
voucher, or on the product itself. Trademarks used to identify services are sometimes
called service marks. Trademark law governs the use of a device (including a word,
phrase, symbol, product shape, or logo) by a manufacturer or merchant to identify its
goods and to distinguish those goods from those made or sold by another.
1.5. Working with lawyer:
- PR practitioners and lawyers have a close relationship.
- PR practitioners need to know the issues related to the law, legal documents, guidance on
legal documents. PR practitioners receive information and guidance from legal
consultants and lawyer
II. Ethics:
2.1. Definition: In the public relations discipline, ethics includes values such as honesty,
openness, loyalty, fair-mindedness, respect, integrity, and forthright communication.
Ethical behavior is behavior that is “consistent with ethical principles that are considered
right, especially those of an industry or an organization.”
2.2. Characteristics of ethical behavior in PR activities:
In PR activities, ethical behavior concerns both the individual PR practitioner and the
organization where they serve. PR practitioners need to care about their own ethics as
well as the ethical values of the organization where they work.

54
2.3. Factors affecting ethical behavior in PR activities:

2.4. Ethical Issues in PR:

- Most of the ethical challenges in PR activities stem from issues related to social
responsibility, relationships with customers, organizations and colleagues.
- Ethical challenges arise when PR practitioners are faced with professional ethical
conflicts that occur at various levels, including:
 Conflict between individuals
 Organizational conflict
 Conflict between the organization and the public
2.5. The most common issues in a code of ethics:
- Comply with the law
- Bribery
- Information security
- Conflict of interest
- Use of assets of the organization
- Political activities
- Corporate social responsibility
55
 - Financial reporting data
- Relationships with suppliers, customers, competitors, etc.
2.6. PR Code of Ethics:

56