Summary Strategic Planning For Public Relations PDF

Preview

Summary

Download Summary Strategic Planning For Public Relations PDF

Description

MIDTERM 2 READING

Smith: Step 6 Communication Process  Information: Flow of Communication (sender and receiver) o Focuses on the content and channels of communication. “Who says what to whom with what effect.” o Mathematical theory of communication- linear, virtually tangible data encoded and transmitted through a channel to a receiver o Cybernetic model of communication- circular, involving feedback from the receiver to influence the sender  Persuasion: Attempts to Influence (message content) o Attempts to influence people, using ethical means that enhance a democratic society o Associated with advocacy  Dialogue: Quest for Understanding (Relationship) o Involves the deeply conscious interaction of two parties in communication o “Confirming communication” o 4 goals 1. Nurturing an information exchange between individuals or groups 2. Helping communication partners make responsible and mutually acceptable decisions 3. Reviving the original vitality of a relationship 4. Deepening a relationship that continues to unite communication partners ever more closely o Consensus building and conflict resolution Rhetorical Tradition  Iliad and the Odyssey 2,800 years ago  Rhetoric- art of using words effectively in speaking and writing for the purpose of influencing, persuading or entertaining.  Relationship between certainty and probability: while physical evidence can prove something true and thus beyond argument, vernal evidence can show only greater or lesser probabilities that something is true.  Apologetics- the systematic attempt to explain the reasonableness of religious faith and to refute opposing arguments  Homiletics- the study and application of effective communication for preaching Ethos: Selecting Message Sources Ethos- communication effectiveness based on the character of the speaker and on the common ground shared by speakers and audiences. Three C’s:

Credibility: Power to Inspire Belief o Sources perceived as being highly credible are believed on their own merits and whatever evidence they present has little added value o Highly credible sources can appeal to fear and use intense or opinionated language o Expertise- message source that has experience, knowledge, intelligence, occupational or professional background, or the wisdom that comes with age. o Status o Competence-remain calm under pressure and to be clear and effective in presenting the message to others o Honesty  Charisma: Power of Personal Charm o Familiarity o Likability o Similarity o Attractiveness  Control: Power of Command o Power o Authority o Scrutiny Organizational Spokespeople  Celebrity Spokespersons o Celebrity endorsements don’t help political candidates o The celebrity must have some connection: the endorsement needs to make sense  Company Spokespeople o Two or more speakers presenting coordinated and complementary messages o Don’t always use the CEO or the PR director 

Logos: Appealing to Reason  Types of propositions: o Factual- states something exists, based on provable evidence o Conjecture- states something probably exists, based on reasoned conclusion drawn from physical evidence o Value- identifies the virtue of something o Policy- identifies a course of action and encourages its adoption  Verbal Evidence o Analogy- uses familiar situation and allusions to help an audience understand new ideas o Comparison- liken it to a something the audience might understand o Example o Statistics o Testimonial and Endorsement

 



Visual Supporting Evidence- enhance effectiveness (photos, charts, graphs, diagrams etc.) Errors of Logic o Don’t generalize the argument or leap to unwarranted conclusion o Facts must be indisputable o Don’t make false assumptions Statistics o Difference ways of measuring average o Problem with stats is the way they are interpreted o Must not mislead

Pathos: Appealing to Sentiment  Positive Emotional Appeals o Love o Virtue o Humor o Sex  Negative Emotional Appeals o Fear  Threat  Recommendation about how the audience should behave  Audience perception that the recommendation can effectively address the treat  Perception that the audience can actually behave as recommended o Guilt Verbal Communication  Message Structure o One sided argument  Audience already agrees  Members have low educational level  Your position the only one presented  The objective is immediate opinion change o Two sided argument  Undecided audiences  Speaker perceived as more honest o Order of Presentation- way the argument unfolds  Last point best remembered o Drawing Conclusions  Presenting the evidence and then telling the audience how to interpret it o Reiteration  Internal repetition of the main ideas within a persuasive message



Message Content o Clarity o Salience- unique selling proposition o Power words- terminology and definition that are so influential that they often determine public relations success for a movement campaign o Product and Program names o Branding rights o Strong quotes o Ethical language  Pretentious language- words imply more than is warranted  Double speak- outright dishonest o Legal language  Defamation- false, published, identifies a person, holds person to public contempt, negligence  Libel or slander

Nonverbal Communication  Kinesics- body language (affective displays)  Occulesics- eye behavior  Proxemics- social use of space  Haptics- touching  Vocalics- vocal cues (accent, loudness, tempo, pitch, cadence, rate of speech, etc.)  Chronemics- time Visual Communication  Symbols  Logo  Music  Language  Physical artifact  Clothing  People  Mascot  Color  Setting Branding the Strategic Message  Branding- creation of clear and consistent message for an organization

Smith: Appendix B- Ethical Standards  

PRSA member statement of professional values o Advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty, fairness PRSA Code Provisions o Free flow of information, competition, disclosure of information, safeguarding confidences, conflicts of interest, enhancing the procession

Austin and Pinkelton: Theories for Creating Effective Message Strategies 3/30 Mendelsohn’s Three Assumptions for Success  Successful communication campaigns depend on a good understanding of two types of theories o Those that explain how someone will process and respond to a message o Those that explain why someone will or will not respond to a message in desirable ways  Decline in confidence of PR agencies= overpromising  Campaign assumptions: o Target your messages o Assume your target public is uninterested in your messages o Set reasonable, midrange goals and objectives How People Respond to Messages (McGuire’s Domino Model of Persuasion) 1. Exposure 2. Attention 3. Involvement (liking or interest) 4. Comprehension (learning what) 5. Skill acquisition (learning how) a. Potential voters without transportation will not vote 6. Persuasion (attitude change) a. Often precedes skill development 7. Memory Storage 8. Information retrieval 9. Motivation (decision) 10. Behavior 11. Reinforcement of behavior, attitude, or both a. Avoid buyer’s remorse 12. Post behavior consolidation Just How Difficult is it?  50% at each stage Problems With a Source-Oriented Perspective  Common problems in application of the domino model o The attenuated effects fallacy: outcome likely to be less an 0.1% of the original number exposed to the campaign

o Distant measure fallacy: most measure behavior not attitude o Neglected mediator fallacy: well meaning program planners can make unwitting mistakes if they assume elements that enhance success at one step will continue to enhance success at every step (just because it gets lots of exposure does not mean it received a lot of attention)  Recommendation to help maximize success at each step o Compensatory principle o Golden mean principle: moderate amount= maximum effect o The situation weighting principle: some steps easier to achieve than others Limitations of Domino Model- People are not always logical  Ketchum effectiveness yardstick o Level #1: measuring outputs  Media placements, impressions, targeted audience o Level #2: Measuring outgrowths  Receptivity, awareness, comprehension, retention o Level #3: measuring outcomes  Opinion change, attitude change, behavior change  Two routes of persuasion o Central approach- emphasizes logic and careful consideration o Peripheral approach- forgoes logical arguments in favor of more emotionally based strategies Why People Respond to Messages-Finding the Right Motivating Strategy  Logical strategies- useful for publics who have an interest in a topic and some motivation to ponder it o Consistency o Categorization (good vs. bad) o Noetic or attribution- highlight an association that gives target public and the organization some common ground o Autonomy- people’s desire for independence o Problem solver o Stimulation- exciting payoff o Teleological- positive alternative to problem solver approaches  Affective/Heuristic Strategies- useful for undecided or uninterested o Tension-reduction (fear) o Ego defensive- sets up situation in which the target public will associate smartness and success with the desired attitude o Expressive- positive twist on fear o Repetition o Assertion- people’s desire to gain power and status o Identification- people aspire to feel better about themselves o Empathy- people’s desire to be loved o Bandwagon  Diffusion of Innovations  Inoculation- address potential trouble before it starts

MIDTERM NOTES Lecture #1: What is Public Relations? Define PR  PRSA Definition: Public Relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics  Grunig and Hunt’s (1984): “management of communication between an organization and its publics”  Cutlip, Center and Broom (2012): “The management function that identifies, establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the various publics on whom its success of failure depends” Define Strategic Communication  Planned communication campaigns associated with public relations or marketing communication, undertaken by an organization, usually for information or persuasive purposes  PR is an example of strategic communication in action  Strategic = planned Integrated Communication  Most common integration is marketing and PR o Marketing communication: also a management function, but it focuses on the more immediate needs of products and services that respond to the wants and needs of consumers. Economic exchange. o PR: focuses on long term patterns of interaction between an organization and all of it publics  Example (NIKE) o PR elements- strategy (She Runs at Night), tactics (events, social media) o Marketing elements Advertising  Persuasive communication through purchased media to promote a product, service or idea on behalf of an identified organization or sponsor  Visual, defends brand does not build one, big bang, advertising is way more targeted than it was before due to new media Strategic PR  ROPE, RAISE, ROPES, RACE 1. Formative research 2. Strategy (thought) 3. Tactics- (actions) tangible things that you are doing to execute the strategy 4. Evaluative research- proves that the campaign worked

Formative Research  Situation: need to sell shoes  Organization: what do other brands have that we don’t  Public: young women running at night Strategy  Established goals (broad) and objectives (specific)  Formulate action (tangible) and response strategies  Develop the message strategy Tactics  Select communication tactics (social media, events)  Implement the strategic plan Evaluate Research  Evaluate the strategic plan  44% increase in sales in shoes

Lecture #2: Analyzing the Situation The Situation  A set of circumstances facing an organization *sometimes called the problem or issue o Most “situations” can be framed as opportunities and obstacles  Ex. Dove, Tylenol  Not that even in crisis situations an obstacle can be approached as an opportunity if the problem has not been selfinflicted  Leadership must reach consensus about whether the situation is an opportunity or an obstacle o Situations are stated as nouns (ex. Availability of airbags or fear of youths) Issues Management  Issue- a situation that presents matters of concern to organization o Often the result of conflicting values o “A social problem, often conflictual, that has received media coverage”  Issue management- the process by which an organization tries to antipate emerging issues and respond to them before they get out of hand o Benchmarking- looking at competitors to see what they are doing o Environmental scanning  (Ex. Advil adopting Tylenol’s safety seals)



Issues= future issues (might affect your organization)

Risk Management  Risk management: the process of identifying, controlling and minimizing the impact of uncertain events on an organization Crisis Management  The process by which an organization deals with out of control issues  Could be predicated o 39% burst suddenly onto the scene o 61% have been smoldering slowly  Causes o 50% management o 32% employees o 18% outside influences Strategic Principles for Crisis Management  Existing relationships  Media-as-ally- BE OPEN  Reputational priorities  Quick response- respond in 1 hour  Full disclosure  One voice (one person)

Lecture #3: Analyzing the Organization- I Pieces of a Problem Statement  What is the problem (issue/opportunity)?  Where is this a problem?  When did it become a problem?  How did this become a problem?  Who is involved/affected? How are they affected?  Why should the organization care? Why should stakeholders care? Where we Start?  Public Relations Audit o Internal Factors o External Factors o Public Perception  SWOT analysis Internal Factors  Mission: Why does the organization exist? What is its stated mission? (Present-focused purpose)

 





  

Vision: What does the organization seek to become? Where is it going? (Future based) Values: What matters to the organization? What does it contribute? What qualities does it promote? (Ethics focused) (could be meshed into the other 2 statements) Organizational History and Performance o Why was the organization established? o When was it established? o Performance  Any major changes in organizational direction or policy?  Quality of goods/service  Bottom line numbers Organizational Structure o What is the decision-making and operating structure? o What is the total number of staff? PR-specific? o How are the responsibilities/functions divided? o What importance does the organization attribute to each function? o What re the sources of funding?  Resources are a huge part of a campaign o Are there multiple locations? Different functions? Position or Niche o What is unique about the organization? Ethical Base o Personal or Structural Internal Impediments o Obstacles within the organization  Proper education/training  Lack of support/collaboration  Shortsightedness

Lecture #4: Analyzing the Organization-II External Factors  Trends or issues emerging in the “industry” o What’s going on outside of the organization? o What regional/national trends inform your current situation or campaign?  Examples: volunteerism, philanthropy  Supporters o Those who help people achieve its objective  Competing forces o Who/what else is trying to win your target audience or achieve the same goals as your organization?



Competitors vs. Opponents  Competitors: doing the same thing as you, fighting for same customers, have same goal  Opponents: doesn’t agree with your organization, different goals  External Impediments o Political o Social o Economical Public Perception  Visibility o What people know about you  Reputation o How people evaluate the information they have  Generally the stronger the visibility the stronger the reputation o Can you think of an example of when this isn’t the case? SWOT Analysis  Strengths- preexisting, capitalize (internal) o Find from surveys, employees, performance, customer feedback, resources, brand, process (training, communication)  Weakness- (internal)- same as strengths  Opportunities- invest (external) o Environmental data, competitive data, industry data  Threats-Identify (external)

Lecture #5: Analyzing Publics (Part 1) Public, Segment, and Audience  Public o A group of people who share a common interest in an organization, recognizes its significance, and sets out to do something about it  Homogeneous  Aware of the situation  Understand their relationship with the organization  Segment o Public you chose because they can help you achieve your PR goal  Audience o People who pay attention to a particular medium of communication and receive messages through it Types of Publics  Producer  Customers  Limiter

 Enabler Segmentation  Segmentation o Dividing the publics into homogeneous groups that can be differentially targeted o Targeting in on a specific group in the public Why Segmentation is Critical?  Allows for a more effective use of resources  Reduces your audience to a more manageable size  Allows for informal (strategic) channel selection  Aids in message development and persuasion What Makes a Segment?  Identifiable o The attributes that make this segment distinct must be measureable  Accessible o Able to communicate with this segment  Substantial o Size of the segment, large enough to matter  Unique needs o This segment may respond differently to your PR message/channels/tactics  Durable o Segment should be present over period of time Common Segments  Geographic o City, neighborhood, urban, rural…  Demographic o Age, gender, generation, income, education, ethnicity How you Segment?  Learn more about them! o Secondary research o Key informant interviews o Focus groups o Surveys Situational Theory  The more a public recognizes the situation, perceives it as relevant, feels able to impact, the more effective the communication campaign will be  Non-Public o No shared connection or consequences with issue/org  Latent public o Potential to have a stake in the issue/org, but unaware of issue/org  Apathetic public o Potential to have a stake in the issue/org AND aware of the issue/org, but it is not perceived as relevant/important  Aware public

o Have stake in issue/org, aware and recognize as relevant, but not organized or active on the issue/org  Active public o Similar to aware public, but organized and active How to you know which public?  Ask your publics about: o Problem recognition o Constraint recognition o Current level of involvement o Current or past information-seeking o Information processing Intercessory Publics  Intercessory public o A group that can serve as an influential go-between on your organization’s behalf o These publics can intercede on behalf of the organization to reach out to desired key public  Opinion Leaders o Individuals with a particular influence over an organization’s public (informal or formal) Two-Step-Flow Theory  Media-Opinion Leaders-Audience members  Opinion leaders increase distribution and usually have a stronger relationship with your audience

Lecture #6: Analyzing Publics (Part 2) Characteristics of Key Publics  These assessments tools include: o Situational (wants vs. needs)  Assess the public’s wants, needs and expectations related to the issue, as well as what it does not want or need o Organizational  Evaluate the relationship your organization has with each key public  How does the organization impact this group? o Common Segments  Geographical, demographic, psychographics, behavioral characteristics Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs  Basic needs: physiological needs, safety  Psychological needs: belonging, love, esteem  Self Actualization: achieve full potential Assessment of Key Publics

Communication o Evaluate the communication habits and preferences of these audiences o This is critical in identifying the most effec...