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ZIMBABWE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT PRESENTS DIPLOMA IN GENERAL MANAGEMENT Public Relations “PROMOTING THE ART, SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF GOOD, SOUND MANAGEMENT” COPYRIGHT RESERVED ZIMBABWE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT A hearty welcome to the Zimbabwe Institute of Management Public Relations Module. Introduction Why Study PR Public relations practices interwoven in all business and economic activities of any organisation. In the way we interact with colleagues, customers, suppliers and opinion leaders. Successful deals are as a result of good public relations. In business it’s not what you say that is of greatest value but how you say it.
The legal and regulatory environments of business are also crying out for Public relations solutions to facilitate good investment climates. AIM This Public Relations module aims to review the role and scope of the functions of Public Relations in contemporary organisation define and describe the Development of Public Relations in Business, to analyse the six points planning model of any public relations programme and review the Public Relations transfer process. Objectives At the end of this module participants will be able to:- ??? Define Public Relations ??? Identify Publics in organisation Describe the planning process in Public Relations ??? Distinguish Public Relations from marketing and propaganda ??? Evaluate the importance of PR to organisations. ??? Relate the transfer process to real issues ??? Measure the success of a PR programme Teaching Methods ??? Presenter led material ??? Transparencies used throughout ??? Group work and discussion ??? Question and answer sessions to test understanding ??? Hand outs ??? Exercises Contents 1. Definition of Public Relations 2. What are Publics in Public Relations 3. Essential distinctions 4. Public relations strategy 5. The transfer process . In-house PR versus consultancy PR 7. Routine PR functions 8. Non routine PR functions 9. Measurement of PR programmes PART 1 Objective At the end of this section student will be able to define Public Relations as used by authorities in the field of PR and be able to produce own definition to either contrast, relate or diversify context of definition. Definition Most effective definition to date is that by a public relations scholar and professional leader the late Dr Rex F Harlow. Dr Rex Harlow studied over 472 definitions of PR and out of that study produced the following. Public Relations is the distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation between an organisation and its publics, involves the management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinion, defines and emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve the public interest, helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, serving as an early warning system to help anticipate trends, and uses research and sound and ethical communication as its principal tool.
According to the British Institute of PR, Public Relations is a deliberate planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between the organisation and its publics. According to the Mexican statement Public Relations is the art and social science of analyzing trends predicts heir consequences , counseling organisational leaders and implementing planned programmes of action which will serve both the organisation’ s interest and the publics interests. Highlights of the definition . PR is planned ??? it is an organized undertaking wit a haphazard process it involves setting PR objectives which need evaluation periodically 2. PR is sustained – it’s a continuous process/ an ongoing process as long as an organisation is in existence PR exists. 3. PR establish develop and maintain good will and mutual understanding. The purpose of PR is to build goodwill. ??? Goodwill is the positive thoughts people or organizations have about the quality of service of the organisation to its publics. Mutual understanding is a two way process in Public Relations is reciprocal in as much as the organisation needs to be understood by its publics it should also try to make an effort to understand the publics. 4. Publics ??? these are people or organisations that an organisation constantly interacts with and affect the existence of the organisation e. g. community, government. PART 2 Objective At the end of this section students will be able to make clear distinctions between Public Relations and propaganda and Public Relations and Marketing
Public Relations and Propaganda Public Relations is an educational process, to tell it as it were, it’s not involved in flavoring messages just to win a sale. Public Relations education process involves advertorials and editorials which help consumers to make informed choices. This is different from advertisements which are paid for messages to secure sales. Public relations is concerned with image that is why it has to enlighten consumers instead of persuading people to buy products they may not need. Propaganda is as if you know the war of hearts and minds.
It dwells on creeds, beliefs, deep rooted emotional attitudes and psychological warfare. e. g. , Quote P K Van der Blye during the peak of the liberation war in Zimbabwe when he addressed wounded soldiers at Tsaga Lodge at Inyanga in 1976 or so. “Never in the history of mankind has so small a nation with so small a fault yet many virtues been subjected to a tremendous amount of propaganda to succumb to Russian Imperialism. No matter how fiercer the war will become, there is no question of surrender. We will contest at every, bridge, cross road, village, mountain and tow and in the final analysis the ground will suffer.
For to give in or surrender will be a monumental betrayal to those men who have already died defending this sacred nation ??? Rhodesia. ” This was typical of the RF leaders then. He was adopting a churchlian style during the World War Two when Winston and Churchil was quoted as saying against the allies. “We shall fight on the seas, mountains and in the air, and one day Britain will stand alone. Public Relations and Marketing A quick distinction between Public Relations and Marketing is that Marketing produces strategies to sell products while Public Relations produces strategies to sell the corporate image.
With a good image you can sell both good and sometimes bad products. But with a bad image you can sell good products with some difficulty and can hardly sell a bad one. Group exercise 3 Elaborate by way of clear example why Public Relations is not the same thing as Propaganda. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ _______________ PART 3 Public Relations Strategy Objective On completing this section students should be able to put together a Public Relations programme based on the six point planning model. 1. Mission Statement and Strategy PR Strategy is produced in aid of the overall corporate strategy and for the PR Strategy to be effective it must be based on the Mission and goals of the company. It is of crucial importance that the mission statements and goals be clear and unambiguous if the PR objectives to be developed are to be quantifiable and measurable. . Problem Statement The problem statement summarises what we have learnt from the problem situation. A problem statement describes a situation in specific and measurable terms. i) What is the source of concern ii) How and where is this a problem iii) When is this a problem iv) Who is involved v) How are they involved or affected vi) Why is this a concern to the organisation and its publics? 3. The Six Point Planning Model i) Situational analysis (identify problem) ii) Determine publics (who is affected by problem) ii) Define plan objective (what do you hope to achieve with your plan) iv) Select implementation methodology (e. g. , seminars, press conference, advertising direct approach) v) Ascertain budget (how much will it cost to implement plan and get the budget approved) vi) Implementation and evaluation (This will involve now the measurability of PR programmes to be dealt with later. Group Exercise Assume you are a group public relations manager of a huge organisation which is facing serious cash flow problems and possible retrenchments due to lack of viability.
You have been assigned by the Board of Directors to devise a Public Relations communication strategy to those who will be retrenched if the situation does not improve in the next six months. Use the six point planning model to elaborate each stage of your communication strategy. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ PART 4 Objective At the end of this section the student will be able to recognize bottlenecks to effective communication for PR practitioners. The Transfer Process Involves transferring negative perceptions to positive. These usually curtail PR practitioners effectiveness because no support from management and other departments. |Negative Positive | |Prejudice |Acceptance | |Ignorance |Knowledge | |Hostility |Sympathy | |Apathy |Interest |
As a management function, it’s important for senior management to have sufficient appreciation of the PR discipline in order to give it support. Group exercise You have been tasked to carry out an antismoking campaign. Use six point PR model to develop the campaign. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______________________________ PART 5 Objective At the end of this section students will be able to advise whether to use in-house PR department or consultancy services in their own organisation. In-House Public Relations Department and Use of PR Consultancy In-House |Consultancy | |Advantages |Disadvantages | |Close product knowledge |Product knowledge not close | |Commitment total |No otal commitment | |Loyalty |Loyalty questionable | |On the sport |Far from problem | |Workload manageable |Workload not manageable | |Attention to detail |Attention to detail minimal | |Low cost (salaries) |High cost (production cost) | B) Consultancy |In-house ??? house | |Advantages |Disadvantages | |Objectivity |Subjectivity | |Broad subject knowledge |No broad subject knowledge | |Easy access to specialist knowledge |Limited access to specialist knowledge | |Multiple experience base |Limited to company activity | |Level of professional high |Level of professionalism could be low | Group Discussion
In-house Public Relations is ineffective and lacks objectivity and should be replaced with external consultancies. Discuss showing practical examples to support your agreement or disagreement with the above contention. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________
PART 6 Objective To give students some idea on what Public Relations deals with in a closed and routine environment terms of reference. SOME ROUTINE FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS Department 1. Produce in house magazine 2. Produce corporate brochures 3. Customer profiles (information technology) 4. Organize seminars 5. Protocol arrangement 6. Accompany senior executive to important meeting in order to capture issues with pr implications 7. Attend divisional meetings in order to identify areas with pr implications and to follow up on them 8. Newspaper analysis and cuttings interpretation and filing 9. Coordinate the production of the annual report 0. Any other function assigned by the chief executive board Group Exercises Can you list topics you think should be included in the in-house magazine and those you think should not be included giving reasons for either case. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________ PART 7 Objective To give the student the breadth and diversity of Public Relations and demonstrate why it is a management function at corporate level. The Roles of the PR Practitioner The PR person has the following responsibilities 1. He/she acts as link between an organisation and its publics 2. He/she tells people about his or her organisation 3.
He/she promotes a policy of social responsibility within his/her organisation 4. He/she ensures that products and services receive public acceptance and support by providing relevant information to the relevant people as well as gathering relevant information from relevant people. 5. He/she recognizes that goodwill cannot be bought and that recognition can only follow on good performance therefore encourages everyone in the organisation to be effective communicators. 6. He/she gives out information and gathers information about publics need and wants. 7. He/she advice thoughts, judgments and experiences to management to assist in improving their communication 8.
He/she fosters, sound internal pr within his/her organisation realizing that the good reputation of his/her organisation depends on everyone in the organisation. Typical structure of in-house PR department Special functional areas of public relations which are not routine 1. Issues Management Issues management is a new trend in Public Relations in third world countries but it took effect in America in the 70s. It is an effective method by PR specialists to identify emerging policy issues and to develop corporate responses in time to mitigate or capitalize on their consequences. This involves counseling management on the pending issues and to appreciate the strategies devised in the interim. 2. Crisis Management
Crisis happen all the time and they can threaten reputation, credibility, market share and image if left unattended. There are three possible crisis scenarios; immediate crisis, emerging crisis and sustained crisis. It’s essential that there is a rescue operation for all the crisis scenario above. Immediate Crisis e. g. place rash, product tempering death of key officer, fire, earthquake, bomb scare etc. These require that management put a plan together in advance which can be used as soon as any of the above occurs. 3. Emerging Crisis These can erupt after brewing for sometime e. g. employee dissatisfaction, low moral, sexual harassment at work, substance abuse on the job and over charges on government contracts.
The solution here is to urge management to take corrective action before the eruption take place. 4. Sustained Crisis These can persist for months or years despite management best efforts, e. g. rumors or speculation yet reported in the media or by word of mouth all beyond the control of Public Relations, e. g. the promiscuity of Bill Clinton which moved his presidential campaign. 5. Customer Relations This involves the quality of service to customers, product knowledge to customers, policy changes that affect customers, complaints channels for customers e. g. suggestion boxes. Direct mail tactics are most ideal for reacting customers effecting with a personal touch. 6.
Employee Relations Here it is important for the organisation to maintain transparent and sound communication with employees to keep up moral. Issues relating to incentive schemes, good salaries commensurate with what obtains on the market and consistent with productivity and profitability, staff perks/benefits and employee shares etc. this is important for institutional loyalty. 7. Corporate Knowledge The PR department must produce or conduct seminars for staff to educate them on the corporate history mission, goals, structure and product prices and policies because these are of critical importance to any organisation. 8. Social Responsibility
Large or Small Corporation must respond to the needs of society by donating towards worthy causes towards the less privileged members of community. These donations if well publicized help towards corporate image. 9. Public Affairs The corporate must keep abreast of issues that affect public policy and regulation. Public affairs in the specialized part of public relations that builds and maintains mutually beneficial governmental and local community relations. 10. Lobbying Lobbying is the specialized part of public relations with government primarily for the purpose of influencing legislation and regulation. It’s crucial for decision making in any business setting to lobby the strategically positioned authorities before hand. It helps. 11. Investor Relations
Investor relations is the specialized part of corporate public relations that builds and maintains mutually beneficial relationships with shareholders and others in the financial community. The investor relations practitioner keeps shareholders informed and loyal to the company so as to maintain a flair valuation on the community securities e. g. rights issue floatation become easy with good investor relations. 12. Publicity/Press Agency Publicity must be necessary/relevant and in aid of a particular objective, i. e. , in aid of a PR plan, marketing strategy implementation and it must appear in relevant media for relevant audiences. 13. Advertising These are planned messages placed in the media to create demand.
Public assists advertising in educating the market to create awareness in order for customers to make an informed choice. Unfortunately some advertising messages create demand for unwanted product in vulnerable customers. 14. Development Development is the specialized part of public relations in non profit organisations that builds and moulds relationships with donor and members for purposes of securing financial and volunteer support e. g. , community arts work, research foundations, disease prevention etc. 15. Corporate Videos The PR department must produce corporate videos that profile image and products and all success stories with image qualities. 16. Direct Mail
This is a tactic used in relationship marketing and can be used effectively when there is a targeted capture market. 17. Speeches Prepare speeches for important occasions for senior management 18. Presentations PR department should make regular presentations to staff, at externally targeted audiences on topical issues on products, customer relations etc. Group Exercise Write a report to your Chief Executive officer to justify why it is important to have a PR department in your organisation. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______________________________ PART 8 Objective
At the end of this section students will be able to measure the success of PR programmes both qualitatively and quantitatively. Measurement of Public Relations Programmes Public relations is definitely a measurable discipline contrary to popular belief and criticisms from marketers and finance gurus. The argument has always been how you can measure an intangible activity. It can be measured in two ways; qualitatively and quantitatively e. g. , a Public Relations programme is devised to correct client negative attitude towards an image of a company and its product. a) If image improves say from 20% negative to 75% positive then there is a qualitative shift for the better. ) If by the same token the product sales which had an all time low of say 10% of plan improve to some 80% then there is a positive quantitative shift. The actual methods of quantitative calculators can be done by the marketing department who have quick access to the sales trends etc. the qualitative image shift can be extrapolated by use of research questionnaires. References ??? Grunig and Hunt 1st Edition ??? Frank Jefkins 2nd Edition Group Exercise In a hypothetical general election in the Republic of Zambia the following information was made available to you. |Population |4 million | |Registered voters |2. million | |Votes cast |. 5 million | Using Public Relations measurement skills can you describe the poll result as a success. Support your answer by reference to the importance of the statistics. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________ ———————– Events Press Evaluation & Research Film Evaluation & Research Film Admin & office support personnel Client A Client B Events Press Manager Secretary Graphic designer Ast PRO Ast Photographer Writer House Journals Editor Publications officer Press officer Photographer Events organisaniser Manager