They may also conduct research on the potential results to better understand the cost and benefits of the campaign. For more information and resources, visit our Ethics Page. The value of member reputation depends upon the ethical conduct of everyone affiliated with the PRSA. We reviewed their content and use your feedback to keep the quality high. Simply put, public relations helps to influence an audiences perceptions by building relationships and shaping public conversations about a client or company. Investigate the truthfulness and accuracy of information released on behalf of those represented. For example, the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010 became a PR nightmare for BP, an oil company that had been using PR to rebrand itself as an environmentally friendly energy company. e- Publicity is not part of public relations. Disclose promptly any existing or potential conflict of interest to affected clients or organizations. It was founded in Philadephia in 1869. Disclose financial interest (such as stock ownership) in a clients organization. To build respect and credibility with the public for the profession of public relations. They employ ever-evolving techniques to try to stay ahead of information weary consumers. For example, if an unknown brand launches a new product, people need to be made aware of both the brand and product. Expert Answer 100% (5 ratings) Answer The accurate statement about public relations is; it includes the use of speeches, corporate websites and special events sponsorships. Being prepared for harmful situations is imperative. At the core of PR is a simple model developed by Harold Lasswell in the 1940s. For example, you may not drink Coke Zero, but you probably know what it is, and you may know that it is now called Coke Zero Sugar after a name change in 2017. That so many different groups have adopted branding as a means of communication is a testament to its ubiquity. The Body Shop, a cosmetics company that gained popularity during the 1980s and early 1990s, used PR to build its image as a company that created natural products and took a stand on issues of corporate ethics. Now the doctrine is you respond instantaneously, and where possible with a strong counterattack. C. Advertising is not useful for persuading an audience. The campaign was effective, however, not because it denied the harmful effects of smoking but because it stressed the disagreements between researchers. As uniformity in mass-produced goods became the norm andbrand differentiation became possible, so did the need to communicate it. During the 1990s, the country of Kuwait employed Hill & Knowlton to encourage U.S. involvement in the Persian Gulf region. We are faithful to those we represent, while honoring our obligation to serve the public interest. You do not legally have to tell journalists everything that has happened (depending on the circumstances and whether your institution is funded by taxpayers), but if journalists discover a negative impact that you failed to disclose, they will wonder what else you are hiding, and they may give your critics and detractors extra consideration and attention. Experts are tested by Chegg as specialists in their subject area. Often, above the line implies that the ad or ad campaign a series of related ads meant to work in tandem appears onlegacy media platforms. Here is how the third-person effect works with regard to advertising: You might think upon seeing a clever advertisement, Sure, that ad probably got someone else to buy the product, but it doesnt influence me. But media relations is the tip of the iceberg. But, the PRSA Board of Directors retains the right to bar from membership or expel from the Society any individual who has been or is sanctioned by a government agency or convicted in a court of law of an action that fails to comply with the Code. . Developing effective involvement in public policy and helping an organization adapt to public expectations. Core Principle Protecting and advancing the free flow of accurate and truthful information is essential to serving the public interest and contributing to informed decision making in a democratic society. Counsel subordinates in proper ethical decision making. To earn trust and mutual respect with clients or employers. Just as importantly, these efforts at least partially restored the stature that the brand lost due to health concerns (Saffir, 2000). The question is whether they are buying it up because they are unduly influenced by messages in the mass media, or they are responding out of fear of how other people will behave. PR campaigns begin with a research phase, develop objectives during a strategy phase, formulate ways to meet objectives during the tactics phase, and assess the proposed campaign during the evaluation phase. Emotional connections are crucial to building a brand or lovemark. However, this book focuses on a public relations approach based particularly on writing for the media. a. b- The most common publicity-based tool is the press conference. PR has always been an important part of political campaigning and activity. The gap between old PR methods and new ones became evident in 2006, when thenVice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a friend during a hunting trip. Providing advice to management concerning policies, relationships, and communications. tool. PR campaigns promoted the image of the Saturn family, associating the company with powerful American values and giving Saturn owners a sense of community. One of the first professional PR experts, Bernays made the two-way asymmetric model his early hallmark. Chemical companies should prepare for chemical spills. Receivers almost immediately become senders in a network. It was BP, a multinational corporation that up to that point had been working to create a more environmentally friendly image. Marketing professionals worry about all four and consider advertising as just one part of the promotion category. In any emergency situation, it is imperative that a company put the public interest ahead of the organizations interest. The Code is designed to be a useful guide for PRSA members as they carry out their ethical responsibilities. Following the third-person effect theory, an individual hears about a storm coming to the East Coast of the United States. Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices. Adbusters, a publication devoted to reducing advertisings influence on global culture, added action to its criticisms of Nike by creating its own shoe. (Recall that legacy media has been defined previously in this text to refer to platforms in existence before the transition to digital.) Public relations is not considered a management function. Which of the following statements about public relations is not correct? The company created stories about celebrity proposals and gifts between lovers that stressed the size of the diamonds given. This can refer to a variety of entry-level positions, including public relations specialist, communication assistant, and junior account executive. Despite his many years of service in the U.S. Senate, John McCain famously adopted this brand during the 2008 presidential election. By focusing on a consistent design style in which every product reinforces the Apple experience, the computer company has managed to position itself as a mark of individuality. At the same time that the concept of brands was developing, mass-media platforms such as daily newspapers and radio broadcasts grew their audiences and spread their influence geographically. There are several PR tools firms can utilize to ensure the efficacy of PR programs: messaging, audience targeting, and mediamarketing. Sale promotion. However, a company should not speculate; if they dont know the facts, they should say so and promise to get back to the media as soon as possible. The combination of detailed demographic information, search and digital media usage behaviors and physical world behaviors(such as whether someone has entered a Walmart or Macys in the past week) makes advertising in the information age more powerful, sometimes more meaningful and often more ethically questionable than in the past. This is not a flight of fancy. a. Douglas Atkin, who has written about brands as a form of cult, readily admits and embraces his own brand loyalty to Apple: Im a self-confessed Apple loyalist. In 2000, BP began a campaign presenting itself as Beyond Petroleum, rather than British Petroleum, the companys original name. The campaign began by giving diamonds to famous movie stars, using their built-in publicity networks to promote De Beers. release. The model is particularly popular in advertising and consumer marketing, fields that are specifically interested in increasing an organizations profits. (Recall that framing was defined in Chapter 9.) B) Advertising and public relations both give people and corporations direct control over the message. We provide a voice in the marketplace of ideas, facts, and viewpoints to aid informed public debate. As previously stated in this text, social institutions such as your family, friends, church and workplace can influence your behavior in tandem with or contrary to what you see and hear in the mass media. Public relations (PR) is the practice of using media channels to promote your organization and cultivate a positive public perception. For most of the 20th century, the shorthand definition of PR was that it was like advertising only instead of paying a media outlet to run a message, you sent the message out to journalists and other gatekeepers (see Chapter 7) in the hopes that they would share the information as news. In the press agent/publicity model, communications professionals use persuasion to shape the thoughts and opinions of key audiences. Grunig and Hunt (1984) developed four models of public relations that describe the fields various management and organizational practices. A major goal of PR efforts during a crisis is to try to make people forget there ever was a crisis. All audiences are stakeholders (or presumptive stakeholders), but not all stakeholders are audiences. To build trust with the public by avoiding or ending situations that put ones personal or professional interests in conflict with societys interests. Advertising is a relatively straightforward process, right? Rather than displaying one commercial for several months, the BTL social media campaign might be made up of dozens of targeted videos, tweets, influencer posts and online ads. Crisis communication planning can help a firm deal effectively with unexpected disasters, emergencies, or other unusual events that may lead to unfavorable publicity. For example, during the 1980s, the Marlboro Country Music Tour took famous country stars to major coliseums throughout the country and featured talent contests that brought local bands up on stage, increasing the audience even further. All the more reason to maintain good longstanding relationships with your consumers. In this model, accuracy is not important and organizations do not seek audience feedback or conduct audience analysis research. Before entering a managerial role, most public relation practitioners begin their career as a communication technician. There is also a thought process that defines a fifth P; Public Relations, and that it should be counted separately from the fourth P of promotion. Lasswells model asked five simple questions:who (Sender) sent what (Message) through whichchannel (Channel) to which audience (Receiver) and with what effect. Discussion PointDo you think the two-way symmetrical model is plausible? Creating a sense of mystery around a brand generates an aura that bypasses the usual cynical take on commercial icons. To improve, adapt and expand professional practices. All of the answers listed are correct It includes the use of speeches, corporate websites, and special event sponsorships It is usually more expensive and less cost-effective than traditional advertising. There are two other advertising concepts or theories that this text aims to introduce: the basic rule of seven and the third-person effect. Tobacco company Philip Morris started underwriting cultural institutions and causes as diverse as the Joffrey Ballet, the Smithsonian, environmental awareness, and health concerns. Part 2: Public Relations Writing - Skills and Basics, The Evolving World of Public Relations : Beyond the Press Release. Companies develop brands and specific products they want to sell. Colleges send informational brochures to potential students; a company includes an about section on its website. Free marketing time and space in digital and print publications can help push a brand from being a leader to being legendary. If a product or service proves to be harmful, advertisers and public relations professionals have to decide if and when they will stop marketing the brand. We do not want anyone to beat us to the bread and milk. That entire doctrine has come and gone. a- Marketers cannot control whether the media choose to publish their public relations material. The brand may need to establish itself with an awareness campaign. The term public affairs is also used by government agencies to describe their public relations activities and by many corporations as an umbrella term to describe multiple public relation activities. Communication technicians write press releases, pitches, feature articles, and other communication materials and assist in event planning. 2003-2023 Chegg Inc. All rights reserved. Advertising is a communication tool used by marketers in order to get customers to act. In response, the tobacco industry began using PR techniques to increase brand presence. D) Public relations is a strategy to . The scenarios outlined in the Code provision are actual examples of misconduct. S-M-C-R assumes that the sender comes first and the receiver comes last. While it is true that PR often tries to put a good face on companies with all manner of reputations and harmful business practices, it also serves charities, governmental services and small local businesses. Finally, we presume that they will behave in certain ways because of the message and because of our preconceptions about different groups. These chats aimed to justify many New Deal policies, and they helped the president bypass the press and speak directly to the people. People are, in fact, buying up the bread and milk. Scott Adams, creator of the "Dilbert" comic strip, works in his California studio in 2006. The groups working against smoking were not familiar with media relations, making it harder for journalists to quote them and use their arguments. Noise must be accounted for, and in an age dominated by the digital information glut, the opportunity for immediate feedback and engagement must also be considered. By attaching the Marlboro brand to such an important cultural event, the company gained an enormous amount of publicity. Viewing public relations as a key management function of a business or an essential strategy to manage ones individual reputation will help accomplish important goals such as establishing trust among key publics, increasing news media and social media presence, and maintaining a consistent voice across communication platforms. Pioneered by such companies as Procter & Gamble during the 1930s, the older, advertising-centric model of branding focused on the product, using advertisements to associate a particular branded good with quality or some other positive cultural value. Journalists know that people care about safety perhaps more than any other issue, so they focus on safety concerns during times of crisis. It took almost three months to cap the oil gusher. Advertising is synonymous with public relations. It is wide and the top and narrows at the bottom. It involves developing consistent messages and content of uses that are so compelling people will come to the brand to experience them. The idea of inbound marketing is that you bring people in to learn about your product using content marketing and then you can make sales to them in the context of a relationship where they found you rather than vice versa. Examples of Improper Conduct Under this Provision: Core Principle Promoting healthy and fair competition among professionals preserves an ethical climate while fostering a robust business environment. It is also possible to set up a communication system that can be activated in almost any emergency situation. These public conversations often take place through mass media and social media, which is why public relations professionals need to understand how to work with and write effective messages for the media. During the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, activists targeted Starbucks and Nike stores for physical attacks such as window smashing. In cases when consumers have discovered that trusted sources were content marketers rather than independent reviewers, the revelations have created public relations problems for the brands. All of the answers listed are correct It includes the use of speeches, corporate websites, and special event sponsorships It is usually more expensive and less cost-effective than traditional advertising. More is expected of advertisers than to put interesting messages in front of the right people based on general demographics. Government propaganda is a good example of this model. Publicity on these channels can be worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Today there are about 500,000 ad agencies in the world of all shapes and sizes. Whether you understand the logic behind the name change or you actually buy the soft drink is another question. Historically, PR depended on other media platforms such as TV, newspapers and magazines to promote its content. An alliance of tobacco manufacturers hired the PR group Hill & Knowlton to develop a campaign to deal with this problem. After the overall campaign has been determined, PR practitioners enter the evaluation phase. Edward Bernays has been called the founder of modern PR for his work during World War I promoting the sale of war bonds. questions. Ultimately, from the advertisers point of view, the goal is not only to move the consumer to purchase the product but also to inspire them to advocate for the brand. Public relations also encompasses the following: Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinion, attitudes and issues that might have an impact, for good or ill, on the operations and plans of the organization.