The Path to Product Excellence: Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Enhancing Commun...
Lecture 8: Intro to PR
1. Intro to public relations
Jennifer Cox
http://cmat240summer.wordpress.com
2. Objectives
• Discuss the roles of public relations practitioners
• Observe and discuss similarities/differences in the two
fields
• Dispel myths about the industry
• Discuss different PR types of jobs
• Identify qualities of a good practitioner
3. What is pr?
• Programming
• Analyzing problems
• Defining goals and publics
• Planning activities
• Relationships
• Gathering information from managers, colleagues, clients
and the public
• Writing & Editing
• Emails, press releases, speeches, media kits, etc.
• Sharing Information
• With the media, the public and fellow employees
4. What is pr?
• Production
• Written: newsletters, press releases, emails, fact sheets,
letters
• Art: page layout, photos, graphics
• Multimedia: audio, video, online, blogs
• Special events
• Conferences, exhibits, fundraisers, etc.
• Speaking
• Press conferences, speeches, promotions, etc.
• Research evaluation
• On issues, organizations, your public, competition
6. Pr & journalism
How is PR different from journalism?
• Heavy Writing: About your client
with a positive spin
• Building Relationships: Less
objective; fewer boundaries
ADVOCACY
• Finding Facts: Protection vs.
revelation
• Public Service: Informing
consumers on behalf of your
organization
7. Pr/marketing differences
Marketing goal – to generate profit
PR goal – to make sure profit-making abilities are unharmed
• Public relations:
• Focusing primarily on influencing reputation/peoples’
perception about organization
• Marketing:
• Influence peoples’ desire for a product or service
8. PR Goals
• Promote an event/service/product
• Build an image/idea
• Keep consumers abreast of
changes/information
• Get direct feedback from consumers
• Provide industry/internal news
• Communicate with media
9. Types of pr jobs
• Corporations
• PR Consulting/Agencies
• Government
• Non-profit
• Associations (trade, unions, foundations)
• Health Care
• Religious/Charitable
10. Types of pr jobs
• Typically work in teams to provide resources to their
company
• Good at communicating organizational goals to larger
audiences
• Recruiting
• Bring in money, investors, clients, media attention
• Responsible for brainstorming/executing PR campaigns
• Public response
11. Types of pr jobs
• Must be equipped to handle a variety of clients,
strategies and issues
• Work on teams to create “pitches” for marketing and
advertising strategies
• Pursuing/retaining clients is a key responsibility
• You don’t get to chose your clients
12. Types of pr jobs
• Keep citizens well-informed
• Distribute accurate messages regarding government
programs
• Involves public speaking/press relations
• Elements of organization/marketing
• Roles may include lobbying politicians on behalf of
agencies or organizations
13. Types of pr jobs
• More altruistic goals
• Rallying a community for a cause
• Lots of media communication
• Finding money
15. announcements
• For tomorrow: read chapter 13, “Public Relations Writing”
• AP Style quiz tomorrow
• Tomorrow – how to write a press release
• Turn in your nut graph and lede for project one via email
by Tuesday night; phone conferences with me
Wednesday
Editor's Notes
Welcome to lecture 8, introduction to public relations
Today, we are going to talk about the different types of public relations opportunities there are in the field and what qualities you will need to be a successful PR practitioner. We’ll also discuss ways in which journalism and public relations are similar and different to help you transition and see why it is that we often teach them together.
First, let’s examine the different aspects of public relations work. It is a wide open field with several different specializations. Although jobs in the field range event planner to grant writer to press relations coordinator, most PR jobs include many of the same qualities. First is programming…
Public relations and journalism are similar in some obvious ways, in that they both use AP style and write in short paragraphs and work with many of the same types of people. But they are more similar in some other ways, too. Both jobs involve heavy writing. In journalism, you write articles and website updates, but in public relations, the writing can be even more extensive. You will often be given the task of writing press releases, tons of emails, newsletters, fact sheets, media kits, grant proposals, speeches, and any number of other things.Both journalism and public relations require you to build relationships with sources and finding facts, or gathering information. Whether you are a journalist or a PR representative, you will be charged with talking to people, interviewing them for information that you can use to do your job and inform your public.Both journalism and PR also require a fair amount of public service. In journalism, you serve the public by gathering information that could be useful to the people and presenting it in a way that is fair and impartial. In public relations, it is your responsibility to keep your public informed and happy.
Yet, within these similarities, there is one main difference: advocacy. As a journalist, you are a liaison of information, helping guide the public in its decision-making abilities and serve as a watchdog for your community. In public relations, your primary responsibility is to advocate on behalf of your company, helping guide the public to embrace your organization as one that is positive that people would want to patronize. So, while both pr and journalism require heavy writing…
One big issue a lot of people have right away is they don’t know they difference between PR and marketing. What it boils down to is this: the goal of marketing is to generate profit by influencing people’s desire for a particular product or service. For example, think about Coca-Cola’s polar bear cans at Christmas time or Coors Light’s “colder than the Rockies” ad campaign. Both of these evoke thoughts of “cold,” which is how people generally like their sodas and beers. But, really, any soda or beer could be cold just by being put in the refrigerator. What these companies did was use the image of being cold as a marketing campaign that gets people to think they desire that product because it looks appealing. Public relations is different in that it focuses more on influencing people’s attitudes about the organization as a whole. For instance, when you hear about a company donating millions of dollars to a charity, that is a public relations campaign to make the public view the organization as a favorable one. As a pr person, one of your primary jobs will be to do everything you can to make sure the media write a story about those positive efforts, because if no one knows about it, it won’t improve your organization’s image. By the same token, if your organization is involved with some kind of scandal or issue, it would be your job to speak to the media and figure out ways to minimize the harm to your organization’s public image. The line between marketing and pr can be a bit blurry sometimes, with some of the responsibilities overlapping from time to time. At a smaller organization, you may find yourself doing both jobs. However, in most cases, the marketing angle will be left up to those with more of a business background, and your job will revolve more around communication with the press and public.
Here are some of the primary goals of any PR person:
There are several different fields you could work in as a pr practitioner…
Corporate pr…
When you work for a pr agency or as a consultant…
As a government pr practitioner…
PR practitioners really need to be multifaceted workers…
