PUBLIC RELATIONS

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public Relations (PR) is a means of positioning
one's products or company through a perceived
third-party endorsement.
 It is one of the most effective means of shaping
attitudes and building credibility for a marketer,
his/her organization, and its products.
 With the rise of the social web, the definition of
public relations has expanded.
 Bloggers and consumer journalists have become
increasingly important.
 While the media have changed, the principles of
good public relations remain the same.
 PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public Relations encompasses a wide variety of
disciplines, including investor relations, crisis
management, internal communications,
influencing government policy, and community
relations.
When an outside source lends a marketer or
his/her company credibility, s/he have received a
third-party endorsement.
– It is the third-party, presumably objective, nature
of this endorsement that brings the marketer and
his/her organization believability.
By directing a marketer's message to the
audiences s/he want to reach, his/her goals are to
generate positive feelings toward his/her firm,
differentiate the company from its competitors, and
help position the company in the marketplace.
The classic PR tool is the press release or press
kit.
 A Press Release is a structured document.
It is written like a news story, beginning with
the head line.
The headline should convey something
newsworthy or something contrary to the
expectations, and must serve the marketer's
objective.
The press release continues in newspaper
style, with the most important points of the
story coming in the first paragraph.
 Press kits (Cont’d):
 The second paragraph often contains a quote
from one of those involved in the story.
 The idea is to make it simple for an editor to use
your release as it is written.
 The traditional press kit provides additional
information.
 It can be mailed, distributed during a press
conference/event, or given personally to a
reporter.
 Press Kits (Cont’d):
 A press kit may contain any or all of the following
• Press releases.
• Backgrounders/fact sheets about the company/ product
• White papers about industry/a particular issue of
importance
• Biographies and photographs of the principals
• Suggested interview questions, with sample answers
• Brochures, newsletters, and other marketing material
• The URL of your website, which should post all of your
press releases and supply background pages that
reporters can refer to for information
 Video news releases (VNRs):
 Local television stations may run a VNR as part
of a news show, often as a feature, and
sometimes without even mentioning that it came
from a corporation.
 The more a VNR looks like a real news segment
and is tied to news of interest to a general
audience, the more likely it is to run.
 The VNR needs to be of equal or better quality
than the footage shown on the news program.
 Radio:
 It is a highly segmented medium, which means
that there is probably a radio program in your
local market that is targeted to your particular
demographic segment.
 There are stations directed at every age group
and ethnicity.
 Radio interviews can be conducted at the studio
or by phone and can be done on a low budget
 No Budget:
 Add a short (one-sentence) message to your e-mail
signature
 When reprinting your business cards, add a sales
message.
 Research local organizations that might be
interested in having you as a speaker.
 Find out if a local or trade publication is interested in
a signed article or white paper.
 Contact local radio station news and community-
service programs to suggest interview topics.
 Make yourself available to the press as an expert.
Small Budget:
 Create a special event in conjunction with a
nonprofit partner.
 Send out press releases whenever you or your
firm does something newsworthy (no more than
once a month).
 Attend targeted trade shows and conferences,
even if you can’t afford to have a booth.
Bigger Budgets:
 Hire a PR agency to spread the good word about
you and your firm.
 Sponsor or cosponsor an event
 Create a sponsored publication
 Plan a media tour
Selecting the PR media to target is somewhat
similar to deciding where to run advertising.
When picking the media to whom you will send
your press release or press kit, keep their target
market in mind, as well as your own..
To cultivate the journalists who cover your market,
make sure to introduce yourself at trade shows.
Think of reporters and editors as if they were very
special clients
Remember that even if they cultivate you as a
source, they don’t work for you.
The following practices will help you to work
effectively with the press:
– Be positive at all times.
– Know the publication and its target audience.
– Take the time to know the kind of information the
reporter will be looking for.
– Take time to build a relationship.
– Know the difference between news and
information.
– Don’t use industry jargon or acronyms.
The following practices will help you to work
effectively with the press:
– Know what you are going to say before you call a
reporter, editor, or producer.
– Never promise what you can’t deliver.
– Determine if charts, graphs, or illustrations are
appropriate.
– When possible, make executives available for
questions.
To work effectively with the press(Cont’d):
– Make sure you or your spokespeople are trained
in handling the media, especially for broadcast
interviews, where you need to respond quickly
and clearly
– Follow up intelligently.
– Don’t keep calling to find out if or when your
press release or interview will appear.
– Be ethical; never misinform, and be careful what
you omit in the service of spinning your story.
To work effectively with the press(Cont’d):
– If you don’t know the answer, say so, and get the
answer.
– If you can’t reveal certain information, say so.
If direct access to the press is important to you,
build a relationship with your public relations or
corporate communications group, just as you
would with the press.
 When you or your company receives bad press, if
the charges are true, the best course is to publicly
acknowledge the problem and fix it.
 That can hurt your reputation in the short run, but in
the long run, your reputation will probably be
strengthened by your quick action.
 Of course, if there is any risk of legal liability, you
should consult your attorneys before making any
statements.
 Financial services firms have not always been
willing to admit their mistakes or to publicly offer
corrective action.