Corporate Communication and Public Relations

Assignment 2

Name : Parag. M .Kumbhar

Roll no. : 34
Class : TYBMS/Marketing

Q1) What is public relations and its essentials?

Ans :
Public relations is a marketing tool of communicating expertly drafted
messages using non-paid/earned media to build mutually beneficial
relationships with the public. Advertising is the action of calling public
attention to an idea, good, or service through paid announcements by an
identified sponsor.

Essentials of Public Relations :

1) A PR strategy
Just like with any marketing tactic, if you do not have a clear purpose
and accountability within the overall market plan, it is easy to get off
course.

2) A Niche
To be most successful, have a focused approach around defined
target markets.

3) A Scope
Determine if you are looking for local community relations or if you
want to be a national “go to” expert.

4) Relationships
 Build connections with the journalists that cover your industry and
target markets. At first, trade publications will help you build up
credibility to be later covered in consumer-oriented publications that
focus on your prospects.

5) Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Track contact activities and conversations in a database, treating
them like your best clients.

6) An expert opinion
The press do not want a boring middle-of-the-road contribution. They
need something newsworthy to sell their publication. Determine
topics, pick a side and take a clear stance. Just make sure your
opinions stay within your brand image and core values.

7) Media focus
Determine the list of media outlets and then the journalist, editors and
producers within each organization.

Q2) Importance of PR

Ans:
Importance of PR are :

1) Increases Awareness:
The company and the PR department primarily focuses on spreading
awareness by making people understand the product specifications
and brand values.

2) Creates brand image and reputation:

The company has a chance to improve its image and build up a
reputation among the public through public relations practice.

3) Develops loyalty:
 The customers generate a loyalty factor for the brand because of an
intense public relations practice. They tend to buy from the company
repeatedly.

4) Promotes goodwill:
In the long term, public relations practice paves the way for creating
substantial goodwill for the company.

5) Builds trust and credibility :

The repetitive brand promotion, done in a way to align the company’s
objectives to those of the society and the target audience, develops
trust and credibility among the public.

Q3) Trace the growth of PR

Ans:
There is no universally agreed history of public relations. But most of
the historians are of the view that man has been using various public
relations skills and techniques, since the time he formed social groups, for
moulding and influencing public opinion.

Ancient beginnings
● In 1800 B.C., farm bulletins in Iraq told the farmers how to sow their
crops, how to irrigate, how to deal with field mice and how to harvest.
Producing better food created more wealth in the country. This is an
early example of a planned persuasion to reach a specific public for a
particular purpose (public relations).
● The Greek sophists (fifth century B.C.) were renowned for their
reasoning and rhetoric. They set the stage for today's lobbyists in
terms of attempting to influence opinion through communication
techniques. Since the sophists, public relations has grappled with
questions of ethics, that is, whether talent should be sold to the
 highest bidder regardless of one's personal beliefs, values or
ideologies.
● In the 1600s, Pope Greogy XV established a College of Propaganda
to "help propagate the faith," in order to inform the public about the
advantages of Catholicism

EARLY AMERICAN EXPERIENCE (1700S)

● At the core of the American revolution was the ability to influence and
persuade the public and manage communications. The slogan for the
revolutionary campaign was: "Taxation without representation is
tyranny!"
● Samuel Adams organized Committees of Correspondence in order
to distribute anti-British information throughout the colonies. He also
organized the Boston Tea Party in 1773 in order to build up
revolutionary sentiment.
● In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote the Crisis Papers, where he urged
colonists to band together. These pamphlets were circulated
throughout the colonies and published in colonial newspapers.
● In 1791, James Madison framed the Bill of Rights, which included
the first amendment to the Constitution, securing the right to free
speech and of the press.

LATER AMERICAN EXPERIENCE (1800s)

● The early history of modern public relations occurred in the 1800s as

press agentry, where attention of the press was garnered through
performances in order to make headlines.
● An American journalist, lawyer and politician from Kentucky, Amos
Kendall was selected by President Andrew Jackson in 1829 to serve
in his administration. He's considered the first authentic press
secretary, and wrote speeches, state papers, and press releases,
conducted opinion polls and is considered one of the earliest users of
the "news leak."
 ●
P.T. Barnum was a master publicist. He was respected as a user of
written and verbal public relations techniques to drive interest in his
museum and circus. Some say his motto might have been "the
public be fooled." But Barnum understood promotion. According to
this blog post, he is quoted as having said "without promotion
something terrible happens - nothing!" His "greatest show on
earth" used unorthodox and shady techniques in advertising,
marketing and public relations, but generated great interest.

MODERN PUBLIC RELATIONS (1900S)

● As public relations continued to grow, it branched out to other sectors

of American society, including government, particularly due to the war
effort.
● Former Wall Street reporter and son of a Methodist minister, Ivy
Ledbetter Lee is considered the modern father of public relations.
He believed that the key to business acceptance and understanding .
. was that the public be informed. He also believed that:
1. Critics should be answered honestly
2. A company should strive for public confidence and goodwill
● During the U.S. effort in WWII (1942-1945), the Office of War
Information was created under the leadership of veteran journalist
Elmer Davis. It became a centralized agency that communicated
U.S. war information at home and abroad.

Public Relations today (1965-present)

 There are five factors that led to the next evolution of modern public
relations in the post-war period.

1. Growth of large institutions.

2. Heightened Public Awareness
3. Societal Change, Conflict, Confrontation
4. Globalization and the Growth of Global Media, Public Opinion
and Capitalism.
5. Dominance of the Internet and Growth of Social Media.

Q4) Objectives and scope of PR

Ans:
Objectives of PR

1) Building Product Awareness.

When introducing a new product or relaunching an existing product,
marketers can use a PR element that generates consumer attention
and awareness through media placements and special events.
2) Creating Interest
Whether a PR placement is a short product article or is included with
other products in “roundup” article, stories in the media can help
entice a targeted audience to try the product.
3) Providing Information
PR can be used to provide customers with more in depth information
about products and services.

Scope of PR

1) PR as an industry emerged in the 90's in India and has gone along to

become one of the most competitive and rewarding career
opportunities.
 2) Though there is growth, there is also a lack of skilled professionals,
which makes the career a pool of opportunities for newcomers who
have polished soft skills and experience.
3) There are agencies popping up everywhere, because every
organization, every client who has a public profile needs to be
groomed and showcased in a positive manner.

Q5) What are the various theories used in PR?

Ans:
Theories Used in Public Relations

1) Systems theory:-
● Systems theory is made up of interrelated parts, adapting and
adjusting to changes in the political, economic and social
environment in which they operate.
● It is used to explain how public relations helps understand and
manage the relationships an organization has with its
stakeholders and publics who make up its environment.

2) Situational Theory:-
As the term suggests, it is about identifying a group of people within
the group who can influence the larger sections of society. They are
the active people who have an influence on the larger people.

3) Theories of Persuasion and Social Influence:-

Pfau and Wan define persuasion as “the use of communication in an
attempt to shape, change, and/or reinforce perception, affect
(feelings), cognition (thinking) and/or behavior. Public Relations
people try to persuade audiences to learn new information, to change
emotions and to act in a certain way.

4) Social Exchange Theory:-

 ● Social Exchange Theory uses the economic metaphor of costs
and benefits to predict behavior.
● This theory was propounded by John Thibaut and Harold
Kelley and applies to many fields of study, including
interpersonal communication, public relations, and theories of
organizations.

5) Diffusion Theory:-
● Diffusion theory is another way to look at how people accept
and process information.
● This theory helps to reach important decisions. Here, the first
importance is given to the mass population rather than the
personal contacts.

Q6) Explain the factors of the public relations department.

Ans:
Factors of Public relations department :

1) Human Relations:
PR is getting along with the people or ‘publics’ both internal and
external. No individual is rational. Each person who works in an
organisation has to get along with others. He is expected to
understand and know thoroughly another and demonstrate interest in
his progress as one does his own.

2) Empathy:
Empathy is the power of understanding feeling of others. For instance
feeling sorry for others is sympathy. Empathy is the primary pre
requisite for-a-satisfying exposure in relationships where a certain
degree of depth of understanding is expected. That is to feel one’s
feeling stepping into the boots of another who is affected.

3) Persuasion:
 There are two ways of changing the mind of another or others namely
by persuasion and by force. The persuasion is positive and hence
results in positive outcome and force is negative and, therefore, the
outcome will be not encouraging.

4) Dialogue:
Dialogue is a conversation with some purpose. Dialogue is a
reasonable exchange of ideas bringing into being a new form of
knowledge; the use of dialogue is for influencing behaviour, selling
goods or inspiring ideas.