Public Relations is often percieved as a cost centre activity but there are palpable contributions from PR in the attainment of Corporate Objectives.

1. PUBLIC RELATIONS
AND CORPORATE
OBJECTIVE
By Mobolaji Okusaga
Managing Director, The Quadrant Company

2. What’s Your Company’s Objective?
 Corporate Objective articulates a Company’s manner of
doing business and the kind of relationships it need to
create with its Stakeholders to deliver on its purpose
 These objectives are encapsulated in the organisation’s
mission, vision and culture and help set the tone for
interactions with its Stakeholders
 Corporate Objective asks the questions: What is the
purpose of our organisation? What value do we intend to
create? What kind of ideals bind our stakeholders
together?
 By answering these questions, Corporate objective helps
an Organisation to differentiate, plan, execute and deliver
exceptional performance

3. Identifying your Stakeholders
Anyone on the Street
Influencers
Core Target

4. Corporate Objectives and
Stakeholder Theory
 Stakeholder theory begins with the hypothesis that values are
essentially and decidedly part of doing business
 It address the Principle of Who or What Really Counts by establishing
which groups are Stakeholders in a corporation
 In traditional input-output models of the corporation, Organisations
use the inputs of investors, employees, and suppliers and converts it
to usable outputs
 By this model, firms only address the needs and wishes of four
parties: Investors, Employees, Suppliers and Customers
 Contemporary Stakeholder theory however recognizes other parties
such as governmental bodies, political groups, trade associations,
trade unions, communities, associated corporations, etc as
Stakeholders.
 The theory recognizes that Stakeholders are constituencies that
contribute, either voluntarily or involuntarily, to an Organisation’s
wealth-creating capacity, and may be its beneficiaries and/or risk
bearers
 In fulfilling its Corporate Objective therefore, an Organisation must
clearly identify its Stakeholders and strategically relate with them.

5. The Organisation and its Stakeholders
CUSTOMERS
GENERAL
EMPLOYEES
PUBLIC
THE
MEDIA GOVERNMENT
ORGANISATION
SUPPLIERS SHAREHOLDERS
COMPETITORS

6. What are the Demands of
Stakeholder Engagement?
 Every organisation relates with different publics -
from the Shareholders, Staff, Customers,
Industrial Unions, Government and Regulatory
Bodies, Counter-parties, the Press to the local
community.
 These stakeholders are different in terms of their
interests and expectation from the organisation
 The organisation therefore needs a deep-seated
understanding of these interests and
expectations to maintain a dialogue, enhance
relationships and retain its goodwill among its
stakeholders.

7. Outcomes of a Sound Corporate
Objective
 Products / Service Quality / Technology
Leadership
 Increased Sales
 Preference for Company’s Products / Service
 Customer Acquisition / Quality of Customers
 Growth in Market Share / Market Leadership
 Turn-over
 Operating Margin
 Gross Profit
 Market Capitalisation / Stock Price
 Attraction and Retention of Quality Employees

8. Public Relations in Organisation-
Stakeholder Dialogue
 Public Relations is the art and science of building relationships
between an organization and its key publics .
 Public Relations engenders purposeful communications between an
organisation and its publics, it is proactive and future orientated, and
has the goal of building and maintaining a positive perception of an
organisation in the mind of its publics.
 In the dialogue between Organisations and their stakeholders, the
following branches of Public Relations suffice:
 Employee / Labour Relations
 Customer Relations
 Investor Relations
 Media Relations
 Government Relations
 Community Relations
 Reputation Management
 Issues Management
 Crisis Management

9. Its Implication
 Generally, Public Relations function as the conduit of the organisation to the
world outside
 Public Relations practitioners must therefore, be abreast with their
organisation’s vision, mission, strategy, corporate concern and culture
 They also need to understand their place in their company’s overall objective
and to understand the market environment in which their organisation operates
 The Public Relations Executive should read the competitive landscape and be
able to predict the move of competition
 He /She needs to be able to identify the organisation’s different stakeholders
and the varying expectations that arise from operations and interaction with
these stakeholders
 Finally, the Public Relations Practitioner must be able to relate his activities
with the drive at achieving the organisation’s objectives.

10. Creating the Link
 Public Relations Executives need to think like a
Business Managers by measuring their activities
against their Organisations goals
 They must develop PR metrics which correlate
with their Organisations objective
 PR Executives must initiate programmes which
cover the entire competitive landscape with a
view to seizing the higher ground for their
Organisations
 In relating with the media, they must think of
them as a channel to the Organisations
Stakeholders

11. Stakeholder Relationships
CONSUMERS
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS / INVESTORS
COMMUNITIES
BUSINESS LEADERS
PA
PA
FINANCIAL ANALYST / BUSINESS PRESS
E
NC
TH
TH
RE
OF
OF
FE
REGULATORS
IIN
RE
FL
FL
MAJOR
OF
UE
UE
CUSTOMERS
TH
NC
N
DISTRIBUTION / CHANNEL
PA
E
E
PARTNERS
POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES
EMPLOYEES
Source: Regis McKenna

12. Expectation from Relationships
 EMPLOYEES / POTENTIAL Career Opportunities,
EMPLOYEES Competitive
Remuneration,
Good Management
 CUSTOMERS Trustworthy, Good/Successful
Products
 DISTRIBUTION / CHANNEL
PARTNERS Attract Customers, Make Sales
 REGULATORS Ethical, Compliant
 COMMUNITIES Philanthropy, Good Corporate
Citizenship

13. Elements of a Good Message
 Messages disseminated must be within
the Stakeholders frame of Reference
 Must be relevant and useful to the
Stockholder's need
 Should be distinctive and distinguishable
from that of competition
 Should be able to compel positive action
 Should deliver intended value

14. Developing PR Objectives
 In developing objectives which are
scientific, it is essential to include precise
milestones that evaluate progress in the
realization of set aspirations. This
process may include the following:
1. Map desired communications outcome
2. Spot target segment for desired outcome
3. State expected level of success
4. Identify timeframe for target outcome

15. Understanding Strategies and
Tactics
 Strategies are logical and systemic outlines for
the attainment of desired goals.
 It basically considers the big-picture rather than
details.
 Tactics are detailed plans designed for the
actualization of strategies. Tactics identifies
personnel, timelines, budget and the structure
for the attainment of set objectives.

16. The Five Steps of Strategic PR Management
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5
Develop a Monitor,
Craft a Implement
Strategic Evaluate,
Set Strategy and
Vision and Take
Objectives to Achieve Execute
and Corrective
Objectives Strategy
Mission Action
Revise as Revise as Improve/ Improve/ Recycle
Needed Needed Change Change as Needed

17. Communication Matrix
TARGET EXPECTATIO DESIRED CORPORATE MESSAGE COMM METRIC
N ACTION OBJECTIVE STRATEGY
LABOUR Positive outcome of understand Reduce Staff Best place to Proactive Obtain 2x
UNIONS outstanding Staff Managements Attrition work response to Staff competitors
issues position Create a Understands enquires commendation of
Information on Staff contentious Staff harmonious working smart Build good in Labour Articles
Welfare issues organisation / Develops internal Generate 2x
Spread a labour relationship industry’s best communications competitors buzz
positive buzz on Attract the best hands &Information Flow on good staff
career talents in the Establish Monthly welfare and attract
development industry best industry
In-house Journal
and staff welfare talents
Positive
Speaking
PRESS / News on Articles on Increase share of Best product s Engagements
FINANCIAL Developments Company’s industry voice Customer Opinion
Financials and Generate stability
ANALYST within the friendly Articles
Organisation Activities Through good and Company’s Upgrade IR
Company Recommend Consistently Performance Website
Financial Results Stock to investing improving Financial exceed Focus Road
Public performance industry shows on
Continuous leaders priorities
coverage
CUSTOMERS Quality Products Buy and Increase market Best Products Drive preference 2x number of
Satisfaction of recommend share Leadership gives by providing and competitors lead
needs company’s Widen Customer access to new campaigning
products Base markets highest standards
Innovation 100% increase in
Differentiate and Easy to do Leverage product
Trust
engender business with constant two way preference
preference for communications against
Where the
products above by constantly competitor’s
customer is truly
competitors requesting
a king
offerings feedback
Develop internet
site as business
tool

18. MEASURING PUBLIC
RELATIONS OUTCOMES
AGAINST CORPORATE
OBJECTIVES

19. Why Measure?
 Guts does not cut it anymore, you’ve got
to be able to justify your activities.
 If you aren’t measuring, you are not
managing your budget effectively and
deserve to be fired.
 Without data, how do you know what’s
working and when to intensify or
discontinue a line of action.

20. Determining Measurement Technique
 Always match measurement technique to available
resources
 PR measurement does not have to be expensive
- soft sounding surveys are an economical way of
knowing designated audiences perception of a particular
media message on your organisation
 Quantitative / message tracking can be done internally
rather than through a media research firm in order to
reduce cost, all that matters is for Management to be
able to get the information on which action can be taken.
 Creating a valid measurement parameter for you activity
will help you to be able to justify your budget and
prioritize your activities.

21. Measurement and Evaluation Methods
 In-house:
- quantitative / message tracking using Excel to plot graphs and charts.
 PR agency research tools:
- Quantitative Research
- Qualitative Research (article type, tone, ideological bent, latent
issues)
 Media Research:
- Competitive tracking studies to measure quantitative and qualitative
indices.
- Trend analysis to measure specific trends and influences
 Research Firms:
To measure the insight of the target audience beyond the media message
using Focus Group Discussions, Surveys and Observation and sampling
methodologies

22. Examples of PR Reporting

23. Positioning of Company on Issues
Number of times Company was favourably positioned on
key issues in the media
Corporate Governance
Industrial / Labour Issues
Product Quality
Philanthropy / Corporate Responsibility
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 180 200

24. Quantitative / Qualitative
Performance Map
Mention of competing Brands in the media in a
Quarter
Qualitative (times positioned on key issues)
Brand A
Brand B
Brand C
Brand D
0 Quantitative (Number of Articles) 200

25. Lotus Press Coverage Analysis
Percent of impressions containing messages by Company
COMPANY A
COMPANY B
COMPANY C
COMPANY D
0 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %
Positive message No message Negative Message
R. Paine and Partners

26. Lotus Press Coverage Analysis
Cost per message communicated
COMPANY A
COMPANY B
COMPANY C
COMPANY D
N0.00 N0.50 N1.00 N1.50 N2.00 N2.50

27. Industry Best Practice
 Competitive analysis is compulsory in measuring
your success.
 Analysis of messaging, positioning and issues
identification are the norm.
 Analyst and quote measurement are some of the
latest trends.
 Integrating media analysis with web activity and
customer outcomes is starting to emerge as a
pervasive trend in the developed world.

28. 8 Steps for Effective Measurement
1. Define your mission
2. Map your needs
3. Identify what you are benchmarking against
4. Select an appropriate and cost effective
research methodology
5. Embark on research
6. Analyze result and pick up insights
7. Take appropriate action
8. And then measure again

29. Matching PR
Objective and
Spend
With the Outcomes of
PR Activities

30. Prioritize your PR Spend
 There is a need to define your focus in alignment
with the overall Corporate objective and then
prioritize your spend on the following:
 Employees
 Customers
 Analysts
 Consumer media
 Business media
 Trade media
 Government officials
 NGO’s and Community Based Associations (CBO’s)
 Religious Institutions
 Labour Unions
 Opinion moulders

31. PR as Profit Centre
 Sometimes top management often wonder if they are getting
their money’s worth from PR programmes and often believe that
PR activities are as ephemeral as the air.
 To counter this notion, PR executives often points to “Ad Value
Equivalency”, which equates PR hits against the value of an
advertisement in the same news media that the article or
programme appeared, as a measure of the value of PR in
advancing the Corporate objective.
 But that does not pass the sniff test, what is key to note is that
PR sets a criteria for relating with profitable and influential
stakeholders and helps prepare the ground for marketing in the
sense that its activities go well beyond engendering an
awareness for a Product / Company and most importantly, help
to build a sustainable platform on which to carry out branding
and marketing activities.
 That platform is “GOODWILL”.
 GOODWILL can therefore be said to be the profit procurable
from PR activities.

32. Thank you.