LECTURE OF PUBLIC

RELATIONS MANAGEMENT
(PRM)
 FRIDAY, 1.30 – 4.15
 STUDY PROGRAM OF PUBLIC
RELATIONS FACULTY OF
COMMUNICATIONS
What is Public Relations ?
 “The discipline which looks after
the reputation, with the aim of
earning understanding and
support, and influencing opinion
and behaviour. It is the planned
and sustained effort to establish
and maintain goodwill and mutual
understanding between an
organisation and its publics “. (The
Institute of Public Relations,
London, UK)
Public Relations & Reputation
Management
 Of all the elements of the communications
mix, Public Relations is the hardest to define.
Many different definitions have been
suggested by practitioners and academics
alike

 However, Public Relations has, rather

ironically, suffered from ‘an identity crisis’. A
search through marketing literature will reveal
dozens of different definitions, some placing
emphasis on its role in media relations, others
offering a much wider perspective.
Public Relations, Marketing
& Information Technology
 Given that the marketing
environment has changed so
radically over the last two decades
and,
 Information & technology has
allowed considerable marketing
convergence, it is not surprising
that a topic as amorphous as
Public Relations finds itself with
Public Relations &
Corporations
 The value of PR within the
communications mix has increased
considerably since the 1980s.
Today, corporations depend less
on mass media advertising and
have adopted a more credible PR
approach based on third party
endorsement and consumer
education.
Public Relations Essentials
in Management
 Public Relations in essence, is
about managing reputation and
perception and establishing good
relationships with key
stakeholders.
 As such, it can be considered the
key weapon in the armoury of
corporate communication and
reputation management
The Scope of Public
Relations
 The ascendancy of reputation capital
and the shift from product to value-
focus means that the demands on PR
have significantly increased
 Traditionally within the communications
mix, Public Relations focused on
changing or influencing stakeholder
beliefs and attitudes towards
organisations and brands
Public Relations Activities
& Reputation Management
 Public Relations activities were
either proactive, by helping to
generate attention and
understanding through media
awareness or reactive, in helping
to protect an organisation's
reputation during crisis or adverse
publicity.
Public Relations Major
Roles
 For many in communications, the
term public relations has become
redundant. The reasons behind
this revolve around a mixture of
negative connotations, the need to
broaden their agency services and
PR’s own inability to address its
own identity issues
Public Relations Major
Roles
 Public Relations plays a key role in
educating audiences and further
converting awareness, often generated
by advertising and sales promotion into
understanding and acceptance.
 From the viewpoint of many
organizations, its principal advantage
comes from its third party credibility,
when obtained through positive editorial
coverage in major news media
Public Relations & Brand
 Public Relations is one of the most
important elements in building
brands and creating both the right
environment for the brand to
prosper, but also for the right
messages to be received at the
right time to the relevant
audiences
Public Relations & Brand
 Public relations is also critical in
brand building, as brands cannot
rely solely on advertising and sales
promotion to foster the desired
image
FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC
RELATIONS
 Media relations: gaining editorial
coverage
 Issues and risk management
 Crisis management
 CEO reputation management
 Change management
 Internal communications
FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC
RELATIONS
 Corporate identity and image
management
 Managing stakeholder conflicts: Non
Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
and managing activists
 Corporate social responsibility
 Publications of Annual Reports:
corporate reporting
 Corporation reputation management
 Financial and investor relations
FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC
RELATIONS
 Managing shareholder
expectations
 Exhibition and event management
 Brand building
 Promoting professional services
and business to business services
 Managing sponsorship
FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC
RELATIONS
 Managing relationship with
suppliers and distributors
 Building relationships with various
buyers
 Media and competitor analysis
 Public affairs and lobbying
 Supporting other elements of the
mix
Key Tools for Public
Relations Practitioners
 E-mail: press release
 Press briefings/ conferences
 Site, press and VIP visits
 Photography
 Video News Releases (VNRs):
digital
Key Tools for PR
Practitioners
 Stunts
 Editorial coverage
 Hospitality events
 Viral campaigns
 Advertorials
Key Tools for PR
Practitioners
 Features
 Webcasting
 Interviews
 Competitions
 Surveys and results of market
research
 Case studies
Key Tools for PR
Practitioners
 Corporate literature and
publications
 Newsletters and e-zines
 Contract publishing
 Web sites and portals
 Published surveys and reports
based on consumer, medical or
scientific research
Management of Reputation
by Public Relations

 The Study Program of Public Relations

at Faculty of Communications of
President University supports the idea
that,
 ”Public Relations can also be termed
reputation management, although it
recognises that Public Relations has not
yet fully evolved a complete reputation
management function”.
Management of Reputation
by Public Relations
 Although many different definitions of Public
Relations are available, rather ironically Public
Relations itself has suffered to a certain extent
from both an identity and credibility crisis
during the 1990s. The main reason for such
difficulties in defining not just the nature of
Public Relations, but also its scope, is the
ascendancy of reputation capital. Within brand
management this has resulted in a shift form
product to value focus, which in turn has
placed greater demands on Public Relations
and its campaign outcomes.
Management of Reputation
by Public Relations
 Public Relations is developing
slowly into a more strategic and
holistic discipline termed
reputation management. Such a
view would have to recognise
reputation management as an
interdisciplinary subject that acts
to present realistically and manage
a corporation or its brands in the
best way possible
Management of Reputation
by Public Relations
 Unlike traditional approaches to Public
Relations, the reputation management
approach does not just seek to offer
promises, but actively and strategically
guides a brand in such a way that
delivers on the promise. The logical
outcome of such an argument is that
brand and reputation are not the same,
which is brands make promises,
reputation is about the delivery on such
promises.
Corporate Reputation
 Corporate reputation is the sum of
the values that stakeholders
attribute to a company, based on
their perception and interpretation
of the image the company
communicates and its behaviour
over time
Corporate Reputation
 Brands and brand management
should now be considered part of
the Public Relations armoury,
especially for corporate brands.
The hub of the reputation wheel is
brand, as it is around this construct
that most reputations are lost and
made
Public Relations & Identity
Crisis
 The problems of Public Relations are
numerous; definitions cannot be agreed
upon, those that are available are
vague and a large degree of discord
exists between theorists and
practitioners.
 To compound these problems many of
the supporting elements of Public
Relations, such as sponsorship and
event marketing, have become
decentred and fragmented disciplines in
their own right
Public Relations
Achievement
 Educating consumers about new
products and services
 Gaining third party endorsements
through articles and editorial
coverage - media coverage
 Changing perceptions and
attitudes
 Raising awareness about issues
through surveys and research data
Public Relations
Achievement
 Building brands and image
 Building reputation
 Crisis management
 Event management
Public Relations
Achievement & Corporate
Reputation
 corporate identity symbols
 good corporate reputation
 desired corporate image
 reputation attributes
 external fit
 corporate ads
 corporate affairs department
Public Relations
Achievement & Corporate
Reputation
 corporate advertising campaign
 positioning theme
 corporate advertisements
 marketing leverage
 identity consultants
 corporate slogan
 internal fit
 desired image
 various stakeholder groups
 corporate reputations
 image attributes
References
 Anne Gregory, 2000, Planning &
Managing a Public Relations Campaign
 John Dalton & Susan Croft, 2003,
Managing Corporate Reputation
 Graham Dowling, 2002, Creating
Corporate Reputation : Identity, Image,
Performance; Oxford University Press,
USA
 W. James Potter, Media Literacy, 2005,
Sage Publication Inc., USA