Learning Target
What Is Public Relations?
•
Public relations
– the management
function that evaluates public attitudes,
identifies the policies and procedures of
an organization and plans, and executes a
program of action to earn public
understanding and acceptance
•
Public relations refers to any activity
designed to create goodwill toward a
business:
•
Increases sales
Public Relations
•
A business, like you, has a personality.
•
Your personality is the face you show the
world…
•
A business
’
s personality is its image.
•
People form an impression of a business
based on how well its employees treat the
public, how reliable its products are, and
how well its locations are maintained.
•
People also consider a business
’
s policies,
its advertising, and publications… how they
are presented in the media and what it
Public Relations
•
…Conditions a customer to expect
quality products from the firm.
•
…Reduces the impact of problems
such as complaints, critical news
stories, and employee disputes.
•
…Helps to obtain better treatment
from government regarding
Growth of Public
Relations
•
“
So pervasive has the influence of public
relations become in our society that
some even fear it as a pernicious force;
they worry about the power of public
relations to exercise a kind of thought
control over the American public
”
.
•
In the United States alone, public relations is
a multi-billion dollar business practiced by
nearly 200,000 professionals.
•
Approximately 200 colleges and universities
Public Relations
•
A public relations specialist has
numerous responsibilities which
help to create a favorable
image.
•
A public relations department
Community Relations
•
Refers to the activities that a business uses to
acquire or maintain the respect of the
community.
•
Businesses foster good community relations
by participating in and sponsoring activities
that benefit the civic, social, and cultural life
of a community.
•
Businesses need to be active members of
their communities.
• Although the primary aim of community relations
work is to promote civic pride and help the local
Social Media Relations
•
Here is where your generation really
focuses! There are now careers developing
for people who can successfully build social
media.
•
•
YouTube
•
•
•
Yelp
•
FourSquare
•
Blogs
Public Relations
Specialists
•
JOB: Attempt to get good publicity for their
companies by creating news events.
• The opening of a new store
• An interview with a company official
• The launching of a new product or product line • The announcement of promotions or retirements
• The presentation of an award to the company or one of its employees
• A community activity such as a parade or an exhibit sponsored by the business
• A charitable activity in which the business
participates, such as the U.S. Marines “Toys for Tots”
Public Relations
Specialists
•
Work with more than just customers, employees,
and the media
• They consult with social and professional groups, legislators and government officials, consumer activists, environmentalists, stockholders and suppliers
News Release
•
The specialist
’
s main tool is the
press
release (Old School)
• A press release is a prewritten story about a
company that is sent to the various media outlets
• It usually contains information about the company’s employees, stores, operations, products, or
corporate philosophy
•
A press release must contain a certain
amount of newsworthy information in order to
be picked up and carried by the media
• To be successful, specialists must observe
Elements of a Press Release
•
Release Statement
• The words FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE should appear in the upper left-hand margin, just under your letterhead
• Capitalize every letter
• If you do not want the information released
immediately, replace with TO BE RELEASED ON______ (the earliest date on which the information should be released)
•
Contact Information
• Skip a line or two after the release statement, and list the name, title, and telephone and fax numbers of your spokesperson – the person with the most information
Elements of a Press Release
• Headline
• Skip two lines after your contact information and use a
boldface type
• The headline should not necessarily be written as though
the media will use it… rather, it should be written to get the attention of the media (you need them to read the release in order to “sell” your information)
• Dateline
• This should be the city your press release is issued from
and the date you are mailing your release • Lead Paragraph
• Needs to grasp the reader’s attention
• MUST contain the five W’s (who, what, where, when, why)
• Text
• The main body of your press release is where your
Press Release Format
• Requirements:
• Use company letterhead (8½ x 11)
• Use a minimum of 1-inch margins on each side of the
page…2 inches in recommended on top
• Single space text if longer than two paragraphs
• Capitalize the first letter of all words in the headline
except: a, an, the, of, to, from
• Do not use all caps in the headline
• Complete the paragraph on one page instead of carrying it
over onto the next page
• Maximum length: 1 page
• Use three number symbols (###) immediately following
Guidelines
•
Publicity projects should be selected for
multiple uses.
•
Public affairs staff should send only important
news releases to the media.
•
News releases should be sent to all media:
print, broadcast and social.
•
News releases should have a continuity of
theme extending over many months or even
years.
•
Remember that the newspapers, magazines,
radio, and television are interested in news, not
publicity.
Public Relations
•
Public relations practitioners are basically
interpreters.
• On the one hand, they must interpret the
philosophies, policies, programs, and practices of their management to the public.
• On the other hand, they must convey the attitudes of the public to their management.
•
Internal ( Inside the organization)
• Supervisors, clerks, managers, stockholders, and Board of Directors
•
External ( Not directly connected with org. )
The Truth...
•
Good public relations is about ethics,
truth, and credibility.
•
Cover-up, distortion and misleading are
the antitheses of good public relations.
•
Most organizations today understand
clearly that it takes a great deal of time
to build a favorable image for a
ASSIGNMENT
•
Go to the Internet, and
research a company who has
recently received some
publicity.
•
Write a Press Release using
the formal format from the
perspective of the company
surrounding the events of the
publicity.
•
