Chapter 17

Public
Relations,
Publicity, and
Corporate
Advertising

Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 Learning Objectives
 To recognize the roles of public relations, publicity,
and corporate advertising in the promotional mix
 To know the difference between public relations
and publicity and demonstrate the advantages and
disadvantages of each

17-2
 Learning Objectives
 To understand the reasons for corporate advertising
and its advantages and disadvantages
 To know the methods for measuring the effects of
public relations, publicity, and corporate
advertising
 To understand the different forms of corporate
advertising

17-3
 Public Relations (PR)
 Evaluates public attitudes
 Identifies the policies and procedures of an
organization with the public interest
 Executes a program of action to earn public
understanding and acceptance

17-4
 Role of PR
Traditional role New role

• Maintain mutually • Work together with

beneficial the marketing
relationships between department
the organization and • Contribute to the IMC
its publics process in a way that
• Act as a management is consistent with
communications marketing goals
function

17-5
 Marketing Public Relations (MPR)
 Public relations activities designed to support
marketing objectives
 Functions
 Building marketplace excitement before media
advertising breaks
 Improving ROI
 Creating advertising news where there is no product
news
 Introducing a product with little or no advertising
17-6
Marketing Public Relations (MPR)
 Providing a value-added customer service
 Building brand-to-customer bonds
 Influencing the influentials
 Defending products at risk and giving consumers a
reason to buy

17-7
 Figure 17.2 - Advantages and
Disadvantages of MPRs

Sources: Thomas L. Harris, “Marketing PR—The Second Century,” Reputation Management, www.prcentral.com , January/February 1999, pp. 1–6

17-8
Determining and Evaluating Public
Attitudes
 Reasons
 Provides input into the planning process
 Serves as an early warning system
 Secures support internally
 Increases the effectiveness of the communication

17-9
 Steps to Develop a PR Plan
Define public relations problems

Plan and program

Take action and communicate

Evaluate the program

17-10
 Figure 17.3 - Ten Questions for
Evaluating Public Relations Plans

17-11
 Types of Target Audiences
Internal audiences External audiences
• People who are connected to • People who are not closely
a firm with whom the firm connected with the
communicates on a routine organization
basis • Media
• Employees • Educators
• Stockholders • Civic and business
• Investors organizations
• Members of the local • Governments
community • Financial groups
• Suppliers
• Current customers
17-12
 Tools Used for Implementing the PR
Program
 Press release: Statement provided to the media
 Must be factual, true, and of interest to the medium
and its audience
 Press conferences: Delivering information by
interacting directly with the media
 Exclusives: Offering one particular medium
exclusive rights to the story

17-13
 Tools Used for Implementing the PR
Program
 Interviews - Interactions involving a spokesperson
answering questions directed toward him or her
 Community involvement - Supporting and
contributing to a community
 Internet - Helps to spread PR information
electronically
 Social networks and blogs - Online social platforms

17-14
 Advantages and Disadvantages of PR
Advantages Disadvantages
 Credibility  Potential for incomplete
 Cost communication process

 Avoidance of clutter  Lack of connection between

receiver and sender
 Lead generation
 Lack of coordination with
 Ability to reach specific marketing unit
groups
 Erratic, redundant
 Image building communications

17-15
 Advantages of Measuring the
Effectiveness of PR
 Determines what has been achieved
 Provides a way to measure the achievements
quantitatively
 Provides a way to judge the quality of the
achievements and activities

17-16
 Measuring the Effectiveness of PR
 Should consider whether the target audience:
 Received the messages
 Paid attention to the messages
 Understood the messages
 Retained the messages
 Methods
 Media content analysis
 Survey research
 Marketing-mix modeling
17-17
Figure 17.4 - Criteria for Measuring the
Effectiveness of PR

17-18
 Publicity
 Generation of news about a person, product, or
service that appears in broadcast or print media
 Differs from public relations by:
 Being a short-term strategy
 Not always being positive
 Not always being controlled or paid by the
organization

17-19
 Video News Release (VNR)
 Publicity piece produced by publicists so that
stations can air it as a news story
 Used by marketers to have control over the time
and place where information is released

17-20
 Pros and Cons of Publicity
Pros Cons
 Substantial credibility  Lack of control
 News value  Timing
 Significant word-of-mouth  Accuracy
 Perception of media
endorsement

17-21
 Corporate Advertising
 Designed to promote the firm overall by:
 Enhancing its image
 Assuming a position on a social cause
 Seeking direct involvement in something

17-22
Reasons for Corporate Advertising
Being Controversial
Consumers are not interested

Costly form of self-indulgence

Belief that the firm must be in trouble

Perceived as a waste of money

17-23
Objectives of Corporate Advertising
 Creating a positive image for the firm
 Getting across the firm’s views on social, business,
and environmental issues
 Boosting employee morale and smoothing labor
relations

17-24
Objectives of Corporate Advertising
 Easing consumer uncertainty about newly
deregulated industries and answering investor
questions
 Helping diversified firms to establish an identity for
the parent firm

17-25
 Types of Corporate Advertising
 Image advertising: Promotes the organization’s
overall image
 Methods
 General image or positioning ads
 Sponsorships
 Recruiting
 Generating financial support
 Event sponsorships: Sponsoring specific events or
causes as part of a marketing strategy
17-26
 Types of Corporate Advertising
 Advocacy advertising: Spreading ideas and
explaining controversial social issues of public
importance
 Indirectly supports the sponsor’s interests
 Issue ads: Sponsored by an organization to bring
attention to what they consider to be an important
issue
 Cause-related marketing: Linking with nonprofit
organizations as contributing sponsors

17-27
 Advantages and Disadvantages of
Corporate Advertising
Advantages Disadvantages
 Excellent vehicle for  Questionable effectiveness
positioning the firm  Raises questions of
 Takes advantage of benefits constitutionality and ethics
derived from public
relations
 Reaches a selected target
market

17-28
 Methods for Measuring the
Effectiveness of Corporate Advertising
Attitude surveys

Studies relating corporate advertising and stock

prices

Focus group research

17-29
 Individual Assignment W6
 Question 1: Why do companies get involved in
event sponsorships? Is this an effective strategy?
Give examples of event sponsorships that were
successful and some that were not.
 Question 2: Social media have had a profound
impact on the power of publicity. Explain what this
means and whether you believe it to be true or not.
Provide examples to support your position.

17-30