ISL451U-BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Chapter 7: Public Relations
Definition of Public Relations
It is alleged that there are hundreds of definitions for public relations concept. When many definitions are assessed, it is indicated that public relations are based on the following fundamental matters (Broom, 2009: 24-25).
• They are activities that are carried out under a plan in the scope of management function and that are continuous. • They are focused on maintaining the relation between the organization and its shareholders. • They are carried out to follow up the ideas, attitudes and behaviors in and out of the organization. • They analyze the impacts created by the organizational policies, procedures and executions on shareholders. • They ensure the determination of conflicts occurring between the continuation of the organization and the wishes, needs and thoughts of the shareholders. • They provide consultancy service to top management in relation to the new policies, procedures and executions that are likely to be beneficial for the organization and its shareholders. • They strive for establishing and maintaining a bi-directional communication between the organization and its shareholders. • They have the purpose of ensuring measurable attitude, behavior and opinion changes both inside and outside the organization. • They provide support for the efforts of establishing a new or problem-free relation between the organization and its shareholders
Public Relations and Management from System Theory Perspective
In accordance with system theory, the organizations are defined as units, which affect each other in a direct or indirect way and which come together to interact with the environment. The key word in this theory is interaction. What is meant with interaction is the symmetric communication management performed by each organization both within its internal structure and with its environment – shortly internally and externally. With the system structure, the differentiation of organizations from the other units and systems in their environment to some extent is predicted and it is taken into consideration that their interaction with each other continues.
Proactive and Reactive Public Relations
The organizations with a closed system structure prefer reactive public relations methods and the organizations with an open system structure prefer proactive public relations executions. How can we define proactive and reactive public relations and how do they differ? The efforts of the organization for creating opportunities rather
than solving problems correspond to proactive public relations; and the efforts of the organizations for successfully overcoming problems or adverse conditions correspond to reactive public relations.
Public Relations and Management Function
Strategic management approach is based on objectives that are defined and accepted by the organizations and on the methods and tactics used in reaching such objectives. Those objectives are frequently indicated in the mission and vision of the organization.
Recognition of Publics
The responsibility for recognizing and understanding the relevant audiences is included in the role of public relations, which is defined as a management function. Public relations is responsible for gathering information on all shareholders of the organization (employees, suppliers, shareowners, customers, local audience).
Following the Trends and Ensuring Adaptation
Public relations is responsible for or is an important actor in the responsibility for following up the environment and trends and being aware of uncontrollable reasons or unexpected developments and producing solutions ensuring adaptation to such changes and for putting them into force.
The most important duty of public relations in the efforts for following the trends and adapting to the environment and changes, and the management function of public relations in this sense, is called bridging.
Crisis Communication and Interaction Process
Together with the recognition of the crisis management process as a valuable public relations effort and definition of public relations as an area of responsibility starting before the crisis, the crisis communication management was accepted as one of the leading management functions of public relations.
Corporate Reputation Management
9 Corporate Reputation Components of Fortune are listed hereunder:
• Innovativeness • Financial strength • Employee skills • Use of corporate assets • Long term investment value • Social responsibility • Management quality • Product and service quality • Globosity
Corporate Communication Management
The management function of public relations that is examined on system theory basis, is based on internal communication, which is ignored and not well understood most of the time, although it is as important as the external
communication of the organizations. In the system structure, corporate goals and individual goals have to be synchronized and managed in a just expectation.
Public Relations and Similar Areas
The main areas, which are accepted to be similar with public relations, are marketing, advertising and propaganda.
Public Relations and Marketing
One of the areas of execution similar to public relations is marketing. The experts of those two areas have different opinions on the relation of public relations with marketing. The marketing experts have the tendency of assessing public relations as a marketing tool. On the other hand, public relations experts defend that this area should be kept separate from marketing (Okay and Okay, 2002: 55).
Both marketing and public relations have a fundamental goal that secures the success and economic survival of a corporate. However, marketing and public relations act with different perspectives while reaching those goals (Wilcox et al., 2001: 13). There are important differences indicated herein above between marketing and public relations.
Public Relations and Advertising
Advertising is generally defined as purchasing space and time in media (Pohl, 1995: 3, Wilcox et.al.,2001:12). While people or organizations give advertisements, they purchase space in printed media such as newspapers and magazines.
There are differences between advertisement and public relations as well as the similarities indicated above.
Public Relations and Propaganda
Propaganda is among the main areas, which are similar to and confused with public relations. In the beginning periods of public relations executions, some works have been performed for propaganda purposes. Today, it can be seen that public relations are deviated from their essence in some works performed under the name of public relations, and that they are directed towards a propaganda objective. However, it is not correct to deem those works as public relations. The important differences between propaganda and public relations.
Public Relations Execution Areas
We will examine those executions, which can be gathered under different names such as public relations instruments, in this unit under headings such as marketing – purpose public relations, financial public relations, media relations, relations with employees, damage control and crisis communication.
Marketing Public Relations
Marketing – purpose Public relations are the process of planning, applying and assessing programs for the
satisfaction of consumers and for encouraging them for purchase through the credible transmission of impressions and information, which keeps companies and their products with the interests, benefits, wishes and needs of customers (Haris, 1991).
Investor Relations and Financial Public Relations
Hockerts and Moir (2004) define traditional investor relations as a strategic management responsibility using marketing, communication, finance disciplines to manage the information flow and information content for finance and for other selected areas in order to maximize the relative value of the company. Investor relations can also be defined as the connection between the company and the investor society (Dolpin, 2004).
Media Relations
Today, public relations is a management acting in a very wide area for the strategic objectives of corporates, however it is a reality that media relations constitute one of the most important operational areas of public relations (Göksel, 2010). The path to success in media relations, which is one of the most important areas of action in public relations, passes through the establishment of long- term, consistent relations based on mutual good faith.
Relations with Employees
Public relations deal with the relations between the organizations and those target audiences have a role in the success or failure of those organizations. Public relations are generally observed as communication with the external target audience. However, the employees, who constitute the internal target audience, are the most important target audience of an organization as well as the external target audiences (Broom, 2009).
Crisis Management
A crisis can be deemed to be a problem or an opportunity. Many times, a crisis has the potential to develop the position and image of a company. In general, crisis management steps consist of the following:
1. Preliminary preparations for any crisis 2. Understanding the reality of crisis 3. Taking the crisis under control 4. Solving the crisis 5. Deriving advantages from the crisis
Planning Process in Public Relations
Public relations is a management function based on establishing long-term healthy relations with various audiences with objectives such as conviction, representation, training, informing, image creation and reputation formation. Undoubtedly, due to this wide scope, public relations can be deemed as a management of strategic relations. The objective of strategy, which is defined as the direction that an organization prefers to take to reach its targets, is to determine how to reach the target. Today, for the corporations to have their places in the
competition environment, public relations have an important role as a strategic value, because intangible values such as reputation, trademark management etc. constitute a big part of the corporation’s value in information economies based on globalization.
The general headings of the stages that must be followed in the creation of a public relationsstudy are research, information collecting, planning and programming, communication and action and assessment. The strategic planning process in public relations, which consists of opening of those four main headings contains the following consecutive stages:
• Strategic Planning Process in Public Relations • Problem determination and situation analysis • Objectives • Target audience • Purposes • Communication strategies o Determination of message strategies o Determination of media strategies • Activity strategies • Execution plans • Measurement and assessment
Problem Determination and Situation Analysis
In public relations, expression of the problem consists of the effort to clarify what is happening right now. The reason for being dealing with the problem are the questions of where the problem is, since when the problem exists, who will be affected by such a problem, what benefit dealing with the problem will provide to the corporate or target audience. The analysis contains internal factors (mission, structure, history, employees etc. of the corporate) and external factors (the place reserved in the mass media for the problem, research results, relevant target audiences). The analysis, where the strong and weak aspects and opportunities and threats are explained can be applied for both the products and the services.
Objectives
The determination of the problem and determination of the objectives for the solution of such problems by the public relations constitute one of the most important stages of strategic planning. The objectives of a public relations campaign express the wanted result. The objectives have to be measurable, realistic and reachable to be successful. There are some rules to be taken into account while determining the targets.
The targets that can be reached in a public relations program can be one of the following expressions:
• Increasing recognition, • Developing relations, • Creating preference, • Changing image, • Creating a new identity,
• Increasing reliability, • Training the consumers, users or concerned people, • Creating sympathy, • Informing the public on any matter.
Target Audience
Target audience includes the people, who the public relations works target to internally or externally reach and influence. Target audience is a group of people, who are assumed to have homogeneous qualifications and move together, who share common problems or goals and who are aware of their common interests. There are demographic, socio-economic, cultural and personal characteristics determining those groups. Target audiences are also feedback sources for public relations (Bıçakçı, 2006).
Goals
The key results, to which each target audience must reach in order to reach the objectives determined in the program, are called goals. We can define goals as sub-objectives, which will ensure that the previously declared objectives are reached.
• Goals constitute a focus in developing the strategies and tactics of public relation works. • They ensure motivation and guidance in the execution of public relations works. • They express the result outputs to be used for evaluating the public relations works.
Communication Strategies
Communication strategies constitute the process of deciding on the messages to be given to reach the points indicated in the goals and on the instruments to be used for giving those messages. Communication strategy supports the activity strategy and,
1. Informs the internal and external target audiences on the activity, 2. Convinces the target audience to adopt and support the activity, 3. Leads the target audience in converting the intention into action
Activity Strategies
The activity concept consists of the process of execution of works planned within the frame of the general communication strategy of the enterprise. Activities constitute the meeting point of organizations with their target audience and the public. Therefore, they are important factors for the reputation of the organization and they constitute a process requiring very good management.
Execution Plans
The execution plans included in the public relations program constitute a process related with the determination of the people, who will be responsible for
the realization of the mentioned activities and communication tactics, the preparation of the execution schedule and the budget.
We can gather the works to be performed in the execution plan under the following four headings:
• Execution diagram • Execution schedule • Execution checklist • Reporting
Measurement and Evaluation
Evaluation is performed by measuring how much the applied program helped the organization reach its objectives and continue its mission.
The process, where the planning, execution and effect of the study are assessed is called the “evaluation research”. This process covers the following basic concepts:
• Conceptualization and patterning of the program • Digitalization and orientation of the program executions • Effect of the program.