Situation Analysis

A good PR campaign has a significant role in the achievement of future

succession in an organization (Dozier, 1992). The paper focuses on the

strategic approach used for increasing awareness among international

students of the health services provided by Sane Australia. The primary PR

objective is to increase awareness among international students of health

services available. The secondary objective is to clearly communicate the

ways in which these services could be accessed. The target audience of the

campaign are the international students residing in Australia for seeking

education. In Australia, students coming from other countries are found facing

mental health problems that are in the form of “stress” and “emotional”

problems resulting in serious psychiatric conditions of psychosis, depression

and suicidal behaviours (Forbes-Mewett and Sawyer, 2011). Thus, the

campaign is aimed to serve the healthcare needs specifically mental health

needs of these students who are fighting with their disturbed state of mind.

Strategic Approach

As stated before, the PR campaign is aimed at increasing awareness

among international students of mental health services provided by Sane

Australia. The challenge was how to approach students and to what should be

the scope of this campaign. Thus, it was decided to target the universities and

collages in the premises of South Melbourne. The purpose of specifying the

geographical region of the campaign is to specify the scope. It will also help to

develop strategies for facilitating the strategies of approaching the target

segment and enhancing accessibility of the services provided. The strategic

approach used for the purpose is aligned with the objectives of the
organization that works for creating mental health awareness, stigma

reduction, online peer support and information, research and advocacy and

specialist helpline support (SANE Australia, 2018).

The message of the campaign is that,

“Feel like home and share your mental problems with us. SANE is here to

help you in having a healthy mind and stable mental situation”

The campaign will be run in stages. In the first stage Community

Service Announcements (CSAs) will be made in radio and print moving to

paid print and radio CSAs. Radio ads will be run in the programs that are

specified for youth so that message could easily be delivered to the target

segment. Ads will be displayed on large billboards in areas where collages

and universities are situated and also in markets where majority of students

visit. Flyers will also be distributed in the collages and universities. A

television advertisement will also be developed and piloted. In the second

stage, strategies will be evaluated which consists of mixture of paid radio,

print and television advertisements, and airport, tram stop and notice board

posters. The purpose of using paid advertising is to make large number of

announcements, thus, advertisements were sent by media buyers through

wide range of media outlets.

The media releases will also be distributed to the mental health sector

and targeted collages and universities describing the aim of the campaign,

services provided by SANE and ways to access them. Online platforms will be

specifically used for extending the approach to target segment and letting

them about the campaign. They will be facilitated to approach the organization

through social media forums such as Facebook and Twitter, email and official
webpage. The services will be extended to the target segment through these

platforms. The press release of targeted institutions will publish the internal

publications or newsletters. Different organizations will be approached at

grass root level letting them know about the campaign so that they can make

it a part of their training and awareness activities and showcase the

advertisements at stall, conferences and other venues.

Research

Consultation with students affected by mental illness and analysis of SANE

Helpline data highlighted the importance of people understanding more about

the early signs of illness and feeling empowered to take action. In consultation

with advertising agency, SANE will examine campaigns from other

organisations in Australia and overseas and then developed

messages/images that would best communicate with the community and the

public. The evaluation of the Campaign will inform the current strategies,

identifying which media channels to use for maximum response

Evaluation

Success of the campaign will measured through response to the SANE

Helpline – which is the action point for the advertisements – before, during

and after campaign advertising. Helpline callers will be asked to identify the

reasons why they had called the SANE Helpline and where they had heard

about it. Demographic data will be collected from callers

Advisors could determine when the television commercials are running (and in

which regions), as there will be an immediate increase in callers to the

Helpline. Helpline data will indicate dramatic increase in the number of callers

seeking information about mental illness and referral to other services. There
will also anecdotal evidence from the community reporting they had seen or

heard the ads

Theories

There is application of following three theories in the development of PR

campaign for SANE Australia:

The Basic Model of Communication

This model was presented by Shannon and Weaver (Wilcox, Ault and

Agee, 2006). The model was originally designed to replicate the function of

telephone and radio technologies. Initially, the model was based on three

primary components; receiver, sender, and channel. The send would be that

part of a telephone in which a person would speak, the channel would be the

telephone, and the receiver would be that part from which a person could hear

the voice coming from the other side. According to Shannon and Weaver,

most of the times there are static charges in the telephone which interfere with

the conversation of two people (Wilcox, Ault and Agee, 2006). They called it

as noise on the phone. However, strangely absence of signal in the telephone

would also be considered as noise. The most common and basic model of the

telephone which is also known as standard view of communication or the

transmission model, included content or information, a message in natural

language, which is sent from a sensor, encoder, or emisor, to a receiver,

destination or decoder (Dozier, Grunig, and Grunig, 2013). This conception of

communication gives it a shape where it is used for the exchange of

information between two parties.

This model has several strengths such as quantifiability, simplicity, and

generality. Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver, the social scientists, shaped
this model so that it had some elements such as a source of information

where the message would originate (Dozier, Grunig, and Grunig, 2013). A

transmitter, which would convert the message into signals and transfer it to

the other end through a channel. (Dozier, Grunig, and Grunig, 2013). A

receiver which would decode the signals again to a readable message for the

destination where the message would arrive.

Public Information Model

The public information model serves the purpose of informing the

public without emphasizing the message or promoting publicity. The model is

not designed to directly change the behavior of the public or persuade them to

do or not to do something, but to give relevant information to them (Dozier,

1992). It is more of an indirect persuasion because it is believed that if the

adequate and relevant information is given to the public the public will start

behaving in the way an organization wants (Guiniven, 2002). In the public

information model, the practitioners have to give relevant information to the

public in an objective manner which is also being referred to as “journalist in

residence” (Guiniven, 2002).

Moreover, the public information model explains the importance held

by the maintenance and enhancement of a company’s image by giving correct

information to the right set of audience. It has been put in the category of one

way communication. It is highly used by the practitioners of Public Relations.

Press release, video release, features story or any other communication

related to the information of a company are included n the public information

model (Guiniven, 2002).

 Though out their daily life people are exposed to various kinds of

information. Mass media is a very import partner for the public relations

practitioners which they used to target their audience. Gruing and Hunt

(1984) have explained that when it comes to Public information model and

press agentry, media relations become more and more important. So to serve

the purpose public relation practitioners act as a third party and endorses

information to the media however it is the media which is responsible to make

sure that the information given to the public is valuable and credible (Wilcox,

Ault and Agee, 2006).

Today, the Public Information Model can be found in for the most part

in government offices, NGOs, training and wellbeing foundations or in some

different organizations. Truth be told, the idea of this model is to give out the

data to the general population for the most part through the media by trusting

somebody will focus on the data. Plan setting hypothesis clarifies the great

impact in the media that ready to make open mindfulness on imperative

issues (Hutton, 1999). The media can't advise what the general population to

think yet can educate the general population what to think about. All together

word, Public Relations specialists ready to raise the significance of an issue

through the reiteration of news in the media (Grunig, 1994).

The Two Way Symmetrical Model Of Communication

The two way symmetrical model of communication used for the public

relations is defined n the Excellence Theory of Gruing, which is primarily

focused to make sure that when an organization makes decisions, they are

mutually beneficial for both the parties i.e. the organization as well as the

audience or the public (McQuail and Windahl, 2015). According to Gruing

(2017) the goal of this approach is to make sure the symmetry of benefit as

well as understanding. There should be fair negotiation between them as well

as they must equally understand each other. His model acts a level for the

mutual benefit of both the parties involved in communication i.e. the audience

as well as the organization. This approach equips the practitioners with such

tools which allow them to create a strong image for the company in the eyes

of the public (Leichty and Springston, 1993). They allow them to build long

lasting relationships as well as solve any budding issue or problem. All these

are made sure by giving each of the parties a voice during the process so that

they can speak for safeguarding their rights. This model makes sure that both

interests of the company and the audiences are taken care of in the best way

possible where there is a balanced way for carrying out things. By using this

model both the parties can work together to grow and strengthen themselves

as well as the other party, which will lead to a greater success (Guth and

Marsh, 2016).

The aim of the two-way symmetrical model is to create a bridge of

mutual understanding. The communications should bring about improvement

in the position of both the parties, however, the benefits should be mutual and

symmetrical. Research says that this type of Public Relations takes great

measures to measure attitudes it also investigates the how and what kind of

understandings have led to such attitudes (Baskin, Aronoff, and Lattimore,

1997). Therefore, to establish relations dialogues must take place which must

be of great quality.
Bibliography

Baskin, O.W., Aronoff, C.E. and Lattimore, D., 1997. Public relations: The

profession and the practice. McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences

& World Languages.

Broom, G.M. and Dozier, D.M., 1990. Using research in public relations:

Applications to program management. Prentice Hall.

Dozier, D.M. ed., 1992. Excellence in public relations and communication

management. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Dozier, D.M., Grunig, L.A. and Grunig, J.E., 2013. Manager's guide to

excellence in public relations and communication management.

Routledge.

Forbes-Mewett, H. and Sawyer, A.M., 2011. Mental health issues amongst

international students in Australia: perspectives from professionals at

the coal-face. University of Newcastle New South Wales.

Grunig, J.E. and Hunt, T.T., 1984. Managing Public Relations CL. California:

Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Grunig, J.E., 1994. World view, ethics, and the two-way symmetrical model of

public relations. In Normative aspekte der public relations (pp. 69-89).

VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden.

Grunig, J.E., 2017. Symmetrical presuppositions as a framework for public

relations theory. In Public relations theory(pp. 17-44). Routledge.

Guiniven, J.E., 2002. Dealing with activism in Canada: an ideal cultural fit for

the two-way symmetrical public relations model. Public Relations

Review, 28(4), pp.393-402.

Guth, D.W. and Marsh, C., 2016. Public relations: A values-driven approach.

Pearson.

Hutton, J.G., 1999. The definition, dimensions, and domain of public

relations. Public Relations Review, 25(2), pp.199-214.

Leichty, G. and Springston, J., 1993. Reconsidering public relations

models. Public Relations Review, 19(4), pp.327-339.

McQuail, D. and Windahl, S., 2015. Communication models for the study of

mass communications. Routledge.

SANE Australia., 2018. About Sane Australia. Available at

https://www.sane.org/about-sane

Wilcox, D.L., Ault, P.H. and Agee, W.K., 2006. Public relations: Strategies and

tactics.