Public relations and Lobby

Professor: Elkin Carmona ecarmona3@eafit.edu.co

How companies make relations with the society in general, with lobby is more government wise.

Unit 1 History, definition and framework of public relations

Unit 2 Public opinion

United 3 Public relations tools and techniques

Unit 4 introduction to Lobby

Unit 5 Lobby and ethical implications

Unit 6 international lobby

Unit 7 Special Interest groups

Fechas importantes

 Febrero 14: Case study en grupos (10%)

 Marzo 7: Workshop Parejas (20%) de public relations tools & techniques

 Abril 18: Midterm individual 20%

 Mayo 16 y 23: Presentaciones 20%

 Junio 6: Final 30%

31 de enero

Changes around 1900 created the grounds for public relations

 Emerging of mass media (nes papers)

 Urbanization
 Industrialization
 As modern society began to take shape, public consent became important

George Michaelis, Herbert Small and Thomas Marvin found the Publicity Bureau who specialized in general press
agent business, that handled newspaper coverage. Agents created or place favorable stories about corporations
and the men who ran them.
 Edward Bernays

In 1923 coined the term “Public Relations Counsel” in his first book, Crystallizing Public Opinion.

 Fue el que hizo que las mujeres se vieran cool fumando (Torches of Freedom)
 He also taught the first course on public relations at the New York University
 Bernays offered advice to corporations, government agencies and a host of U.S. presidents, including
Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.
 Create the American breakfast (bacon, eggs, pancakes)

Principles
1. Know your audience and tailor the message: By knowing your audiences, a carefully, targeted, crafted
message can be created to address each group.
2. Cultivate influential people: Built strong relationships with influential press contacts, politicians,
celebrities and any other who could help advanced your clients interest.
3. Be ready to sell an idea on a different basis: Ej hairnet
4. Watch your timing: It is important to calculate the right moment to make an announcement.
5. Be succinct and memorable: you have to be easy to remember.
6. Get others to communicate your message: Use other people or groups (influencers) to lend credibility to
your cause. (GO VIRAL)

Four models of Public Relations

1. Press agent/publicity – persuasion and manipulation: Communications

professionals use persuasion to shape the thoughts and opinions of key
audiences
 Accuracy is not important, and organizations do not seek audience
feedback or conduct audience analysis research.
 Ethics are not concern in this model.
 Receive publicity is the main goal.

2. Public information model – accurate information: Moves away from the manipulative tactics used in the
press agent model and present more accurate information
 Awareness of information rather than persuasion
 One way form of communication
 Ex. Government communications

3. Two-way asymmetrical model – scientific marketing to send messages: “Scientifically persuasive” way of
communicating with key audiences
 Content creators conduct research to better understand the audience’s attitudes and behaviors,
which in turn informs the message strategy and creation.
 Persuasive communication is used in this model to benefit the organization therefore; it is
considered asymmetrical or imbalanced

4. Two-way symmetrical model – Perfect model of communication: based upon collaboration and
agreement among an organization and its audiences / publics
 Uses social science theories for better understanding not for influence
 Seeks to resolve conflict and promote mutual benefits
  Incorporates honest public feedback
 Two-way communication model (balanced and ethical)

7 de febrero

Models of PR

4 MODELS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

1. Publicity
2. Public information
3. Two way asymmetric model: use science and knowledge in order to influence the public. It is consider
asymmetric because not everyone have this knowledge and there is manipulation techniques.
4. Two way symmetric: equals have this public relation and they have a conversations where everybody is
looking for mutual understanding to have a balanced effect. Today it is practiced in regulated business
agencies.

Public relations: is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between
organizations and their public.

At its core, public relations is about influencing, engaging and building a relationship with key stakeholders across
numerous platforms in order to shape and frame the public perception of an organization.

Public opinion:
influence the opinion of different public.

Is the aggregate result of individual opinions – now uniform, now conflicting – of the men and women who mark
up society or any group of society.

Hypodermic Needle OR Magic Bullet Theory: developed based on observations of effect of propaganda 1910’s.
- Omnipotent media
- Media messages are injected in the brain of a passive audience
- All recipients react to media messages in the same way.

The public Sphere Theory: Created by Jurgen Habermas. Is the are where the state and people share.
- Public opinion emerged as a new form of political authority
- Free exchanges of information and critical
- Open and public debate of ideas
- Authority of argument supplanted by the authority of title
- The coffeehouses in England, Paris, Germany. Everybody is equal.
- Consolidation of bourgeoisie with power.

Ted Talk: Conditions

1. Rational arguments
2. Citizen participation (legitimacy)
3. Competition
4. Open to all

14 de febrero

2,3 pages thoughts and have biography case study.

21 de febrero

Public Opinion Theories

 The public sphere is a domain of social life where public opinion can be formed.
 Mainly it is open to all citizens and constituted in every conversation in which individuals come together
to form a public.
 The citizen plays the role of a private person who is not acting on behalf of a business or private interests
but as one who is dealing with matters of general interest to form a public sphere.
 There is no intimidating force behind the public sphere, but its citizens assemble and unite freely to
express their opinions.

The spiral of silence theory

 The individuals’ willingness to express his or her opinion as a function of how he or she perceived public
opinion
 The theory also explains how sways in public opinion may come about, especially in morally and
emotionally laden debates
Its core hypothesis are:
- Most people are afraid of social isolation.
- Therefore, people constantly observe other people’s behavior to find out which opinions and behaviors
are met with approval or rejection in the public sphere.
- People exert isolation pressure “on other people, for instance, by frowning or turning away when
somebody says or does something that is rejected by public opinion
- People tend to hide their opinion away when they think that they would expose themselves to isolation
pressure with their opinion
- People who feel public support, in contrast, tend to express their opinion loud and clear.
- Loud opinion expressions on the one side and silence on the other side sets the spiral of silence into
motion.
- The process is typically ignited by emotionally and morally laden issues.
- In case of consensus on an issue in a given society, it is unlikely that a spiral of silence will be set into
motion. The spiral is usually elicited by controversial issues.
- The actual number of partisans of an opinion is not necessarily decisive for their weight in the spiral of
silence. The opinion of a minority may actually be perceived as majority in the public sphere if their
partisans act assertively enough and publicly defend their opinion with emphasis.
- Mass media may have a decisive influence on the formation of public opinion. If the media repeatedly (in
a cumulative way) and concordantly (in a consonant way) support one side in a public controversy, this
side will stand a significantly higher change of finishing the spiral of silence process as winner.
- Fear of and threat with social isolation operate subconsciously. Most people do not consciously think
about how their behavior is oriented by public opinion.
- Public opinion is limited in time and space. Wherever people live together in societies, public opinion will
function as a mechanism of social control. However, that specifically public opinion approves, or rejects
will change with time and differ from place to place.

Agenda Setting Theory

 In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in
shaping political reality.
 In reflecting what candidates are saying during a campaign, the mass media may well determine the
important issues that is, the media may set the agenda of the campaign.

Priming theory
 It is viewed as an extension of the agenda setting theory
 Priming is defined as the fact that recently and frequently activated ideas come to mind more easily than
ideas that have not been activated.
 By making some issues more salient in peoples’ mind (agenda setting), mass media can also shape the
considerations that people consider when making judgments about political candidates or issues
(priming).

7 de marzo
Analysis made of the media manipulation technique.

Caso del aborto en EEUU Netflix

28 de marzo

Organization PR Goals

Anticipate, analyze and interpret public opinion, attitudes and issues that may have an impact, (positive, or
negative), on the organization’s operations and plans

Advise all levels of the organization management regarding strategic decisions, lines of conduct and
communication, taking into consideration their complexity and the organizations responsibility to citizens or
society.

Maintain an ongoing investigation, direction and evaluation of the action and communication programs to
achieve the understanding of an “informed public”, necessary for the organization’s objectiveness success. This
may include marketing, finance, fundraising relationships, employee relations, city councils or government
relations and other programs.

Plan and implement the organizations actions to influence or change public policy (Lobby and other actions to
influence the government decisions)

Setting goals, planning, budgeting, hiring and training staff, developing services; and secure the necessary
resources to achieve the Organizations PR Objectives.

Basic Activities of the Organization PR Department

 To serve as management advisor on policies, relationships, and communications

 To have a deep knowledge the organizations stakeholders to customize the communication strategies to
each one of them
 Secure good relationships with the media
 Publicity: disseminate planned messages of the organization (through media) to promote the
organizations interests.
 Advise management on communications channels and strategies with its employees to respond to their
concerns, to keep them informed and motivated
 To relate the organization to the community in which it is located, to maintain a mutually beneficial
environment for both parties
 Help the organization to adapt to a public expectation (public affairs) and even to relate and/or influence
the legislative and execute powers.
 To monitor social media for potential PR threats and/or opportunities.
 Manage controversial issues that affect the organization
 Manage the relationship between the organization an investor, shareholders, creating and maintaining
trust with the financial community
 Look after the organization relations to the unions
 Introduce the organization to potential donors (fundraising)
  Introduce the organization with individuals and groups in diverse cultural collectives.
 Organize special events that stimulate interest about a person, product, or organization.
 Combinations of activities designed to sell a product, service or idea, including advertising, promotional
materials, direct mall, special events, etc.

7 main publics of PR (Best allies or worst foes)

1. Customers, users, shareholders
2. Media
3. Opinion leaders, influencers (online and offline)
4. Authorities (government)
5. Activist and pressure groups
6. Financial community / financial analyst
7. Unions and org. comities

The organization PR Process

1. The PR Problem definition:
- Situation analysis
- What is happening?

2. Planning
- Strategy
- What can we say
- Why can we say it?

3. Action and communication

4. Esta en la diapositive

90 communication & PR Techniques

Group 1
1. Writing letters, speeches, opinion articles, memos, and directives
2. Training of spokespersons
3. Leadership trainings
4. Public presentation: speech or conference to different audiences
5. Public presentation: medias interview

Group 2, address to the media

6. Written press release
7. Audiovisual press release
8. Press dossier
9. Press conference
10. Online press room
11. Informative / ludic relationship with journalists
12. Training relationships with journalist
Groups 3. Simplify investigation and evaluation

13. Survey and interview

14. Documentary observation
15. Observatory of public opinion
16. Discussion groups
17. PR Clipping
18. Dynamic audience directory
19. Organizational …

Group 4. Manage organizations conflicts with its public

20. Crisis handbooks

21. Crisis teams training
22. Risk audit

Other groups en las diapositivas