corporate communication and public relation

1. Corporate
communication
and Public
Relations
Jyostna Jain

2. Unit 3
 Media Relations: Introduction, Importance of Media Relations, Sources of Media
Information, Building Effective Media Relations, Principles of Good Media Relations
 Employee Communication: Introduction, Sources of Employee Communications,
Organizing Employee Communications, Benefits of Good Employee Communications,
Steps in Implementing An Effective Employee Communications Programme, Role of
Management in Employee Communications c) Crisis Communication:
 Introduction, Impact of Crisis, Role of Communication in Crisis, Guidelines for Handling
Crisis, Trust Building
 Financial Communication: Introduction, Tracing the Growth of Financial
Communication in India, Audiences for Financial Communication, Financial Advertising

3. Media Relations
 Media relations can be described as a company’s interactions with editors, reporters and
journalists. The media can be newspapers, radio, television and the internet.
 The goal is to communicate a client’s newsworthy message, story or information using
the appropriate media outlets.
 A company may need only one person to work with the media or choose to hire a team
depending on the amount of information that has to be controlled.
 This can be accomplished internally or an external agency can get the job done.

4. Importance of Media Relations
 Positive news coverage offers higher credibility as compared to paid advertising.
 The cost of coverage in media is lower in comparison to the advertising cost.
 A third-party endorsement is a good idea to establish the reputation of an organization.
 It allows the press to give business coverage so that the audiences get to know about the
company’s products, services. It also helps companies in building their brand presence using
media.
 Businesses need it to maintain long-term relationships with the media professionals so that they
are able to bag advantages in the future.
 When a company maintains a good relationship with the journalist, it becomes easy to pitch
them for coverage.
 One of the essential aspects of getting press coverage via robust media relations campaigns is
that you are able to build more control and reinforce the brand image that you are aiming to
create through advertising and marketing.

5. Sources of Media Information
 Press Relations:-The newspaper is the most accessible and widely used channel of media
which is used by people. Companies use newspaper an instrument to persuade the masses
or to form their opinion about an incident, policies, reputation etc. Today, all businesses
go for a press release to reach to the wider audience.
 The Press Officer:-The press officer duty is to assess the press and do proper reporting.
The press officer makes sure that information about an organization which will help the
company to get a positive reputation should be reached on time to press.
 Press Release:A good press release must be brief, simple language, newsworthy, factual
truth, suitable for publication, and answer to five “‘W”s – Why, Where, When, What and
Who?.It is also important for an organization to make the material in any organization
based on its content, concise, clear, readable, and revised.

6. Building Effective Media Relations
 Before the Pitch: Research Your Angle:Research is a key to get all the relevant information.
The PR practitioner should do proper research about the information before sending to the
media sources. They need to understand the perspective very well.
 Find the white space:PR practitioner should make a research about the information which has
been uncovered and can address the brand of an organization.
 Show media that you’ve read their news and tailor:People want stories which connect them
emotionally. The PR practitioner should build up stories with certain backgrounds which have
mass connect. There’s no need to lie. A factual and emotional connect with audience sell the
project.
 Create a perfect story:The “perfect story” sometimes isn’t good enough to get covered today,
especially when it’s soft news. Find trusted third-party data points, trends and other insights
you can weave into your pitch to make it easier and more compelling to cover you.

7.  Before the Pitch: Anticipate Needs:
 Does your reporter often use images? Video? If so, pull some great visuals together to save your media from having to
hunt for images in addition to writing about your news.
 Spokesperson availability. What if your story is going to be slated for tomorrow? Are you prepared to get your
spokesperson on the phone? Don’t let email or phone delays for pulling availability be the thing that keeps you from
getting an interview.
 Quotes and press materials. Some media can write around a press release, or they’ll just want a simple quote from your
team. Get your press materials prepared and approved beforehand, so you know what you have to offer and can click send
right away.
 Your media may ask you about timelines and plans related to your news. If you’re so focused on the current announcement
that you’ve lost track of what you can speak to in the future, you might get yourself into a jumble.
 Third-party experts. Most media will find third-party experts if needed, but if you can offer recommended partners who
can flesh out your storyline along with interviews of your own team, you’re cutting out work for media, being helpful and
having greater control of the message you’re conveying.
 Questions and answers. It's always good to take a step back from your news and think critically about the types of
questions someone might ask. Prepare your Q&A beforehand, if possible, so you’re ready to respond as soon as possible
should question arise.

8. Principles of Good Media Relations
 Answering the questions – sometimes, a PR also has to face lots of allegations or need to
clarify certain doubts or queries from audience side. The PR person is expected to give the
answers to the questions without losing the temper and aggressive in nature.
 . Find out which reporter(s) cover your topic area and call them. Introduce yourself and your
agency, emphasize you can be a good source of news for their readers/viewers, and invite them
to visit your Web site.
 Also determine their preference for receiving news releases — fax, e-mail attachment, the
body of an e-mail — and their deadlines.
 Good media relations often comes down to this: Providing the right information to the right
reporter at the right outlet at the right time in the right way.
 It is also important to make media as an ally, have a friendly approach, openness and respect
mind.

9. Employee Communication
 Employee communication, or internal communication, is the discipline and practice of
communicating effectively with employees across an organization.
 The public relation officer must know the needs, objectives, and problems of his employees.
They have to make sure that they do communication in all four layers of an employee within
the organization like managerial levels teammate, project mate as well internal corporate
communication.
 An employee is the people who also help a company to get the right masses, completion of
work on time.
 Their involvement in an organization and structure growth of the employee in an organization
create a win-win situation for both of them.
 They are the people who actually share the responsibility with company owner and help them
to fulfill their objectives and goals.

10. Sources of Employee Communication
Formal Sources
• Involvement of human resource management department of an
organization
• Public Relations Department
Informal Sources
• Create a culture and schedule an informal communication meeting
• Listening to your employees

11. Role of management in Employee
Communication
 Giving them a close look at the organization: – A progressive organization should them to set up their
goals, help them to make a systematic plan for getting over there. The organization should also empower
them and make them feel confident about the value of their contribution toward those plans.
 Communicate:-. Two main ingredients are needed to ensure that information comes from the right source,
is timely, and reaches all employees.
 Empower and Support Middle Management: – . The middle managers are actually one who gets
involved with their staff and make the work done. Therefore, they should be allowed to make certain
decisions with less intervention.
 Limit Rumors and Enhance Transparency: – Grapevine word-of-mouth can sometimes help employees
to interpret managerial information; it often reaches those who might have otherwise missed the original
transmission, and it’s more flexible than formal communication. In addition, the grapevine helps to improve
relationships between employees and it spreads knowledge and tips that can make work more effective.
Providing both—a rumor-free environment and transparency—is central to a generation of employees (and
customers) who are skeptical to the core.

12. Good Employee Communication gives following
benefits to Employees
 Clarity to purpose: – An employee knows what his role is and what he needs to
contribute.
 Employee motivation: – Clear vision, defined job responsibility, structured growth path
motivate an employee to perform well in his life and contribute productively to the
growth of an organization.
 Teamwork: – Foster confidence, inclusive environment develops a healthy culture and
builds a strong team.

13. Benefits to Company
 Productive staff input: – All staff gives their best which reach the consumer of the
companies.
 Demonstrate integrity – the standard ethics and culture of an organization unanimously
create a positive mindset and demonstrate a sense of integrity and honesty in consumer
minds and help them to form perceptions accordingly.
 Goodwill and Customer Service: – Clearly-communicated goals, well-trained and
informed staff, and happy faces will significantly improve a customer’s encounter with
the brand and, consequently, enhance revenue.

14. Crisis Communication
 Crisis Communication can be defined as “the collection, processing, and dissemination
of information required for addressing a crisis situation”

15. Crisis process
 Pre – Crisis involves an organization to communicate with audiences in advance before
the crisis occurs to create a positive image and credibility. It is important for an
organization to accept honestly if, in future, they understand that there is a crisis going to
occur. Rather than defending their position, they should come upfront and communicate
to the audiences about their challenges.
 In-Crisis – when company is in crisis, the key crisis management team, should
consistently get in touch with their audience and try to repair the image.
 Post-crisis – post-crisis, it is again important for an organization to focus more on
building a positive relationship and accordingly start initiating the relationship with key
officials of different departments.

16. Impact of Crisis
 Human and Social:-Employees who involve in crisis can suffer trauma, stress,
depression, withdrawal and severe other health-related issues. The ability to deal with
stressful situation varies. The emotional consequences of crisis can appear at any time
during the crisis and it has an impact later on as well.
 Financial:– Finance is a very sensitive aspect of any organization and if any financial
related matters happen, first it impacts on their employees, their wages get reduced and
they have to work under utmost pressure. Besides this, the promotion also dims.
 Tarnishing of corporate reputation:-The crisis threatens the image of an organization as
well. Recent scams of leading businessmen have not only demolished their image but the
reputation of their companies as well. Therefore, it is extremely imperative for the
representative of an organization to be sensible enough to take the right decisions and not
to fall under any unethical considerations.

17. Role of Communication in Crisis
 According to Benoit, there are certain communication strategies in crisis situations: the
negation strategy (by rejecting accusations);
 the responsibility denial (by declining charge with regard to certain events);
 the lessening of the dangerous action nature (by trying to obtain support, by reducing the
negative sentiments, by differentiating, by transcending, attacking or compensating)
 ; the correction strategy, and the humiliation strategy.
 According to Coombs, the communication strategies in crisis situations are classified into
negation, outstripping, partiality, humiliation, and suffering. Once the action strategy has been
established, the tactical steps need correlation with the action, based on logical sequencing; in
other words, the solution to the problem (the analogical approach) must come into gradual
steps (the digital approach), and respectively, for each of these steps, there must be specific
objectives and action deadlines.

18. Challenges of communication during crisis situation
 Respond adequately at the moment of crisis.
 The company should anticipate in advance that what media wants to know.
 Use all the channels of social, print and electronic media to build the image of an organization
and maintain good relations with its stakeholders and shareholders.
 There should be an effective communication within an organization
 The employees should be provided sufficient information on the matter concerned to them.
 Effective media relation by PR personnel can help the company to convey its messages across
to the target public.
 Contacts can be any group that can be affected by the crisis including employees, customers,
and community members. Crisis managers can enter short messages into the system then tell
the mass notification system who should receive which messages and which channels or
channels to use for the delivery. The mass notification system provides a mechanism for people
to respond to messages as well. The response feature is critical when crisis managers want to
verify that the target has received the message.

19. Tips for handling media in crisis
Develop key messages and
steps taken so far
Anticipate journalist
questions and keep
answers ready accordingly
Be positive and show
empathy
Correct misinformation
Make yourself accessible
Speculate about
circumstances or facts
Repeat loaded words like
Crisis or devastating
Make off the record
statements.
Use jargon
Lose your temper
Try to stop journalist for
writing a story
Do’s
Don’t’s

20. Contd..
 Communicate, communicate, and communicate: – the rule of crisis management is to communicate.
When any crisis happens, it is essential to give the detailed information of all WH-type questions (where,
what, why, how, etc.) it is always better if the masses get the information about any crisis from the
respective organization which helps them to not to form any negative image about an organization.
 Take Responsibility: – A company should always take a prompt action if someone is a reason for occurring
of any crisis or misinformation. Taking responsibility means communicating what an organization is doing
to remedy a situation that the media and the public have determined involve that organization in some way.
 Centralize Information: – PR department should be centralized and they should be only responsible
people to disseminate information about organization among masses.
 Establish a crisis team: – A small team of senior executives should be identified to serve as your
organization’s Crisis Communications Team. Ideally, the organization’s CEO will lead the team, with the
firm’s top public relations executive and legal counsel as his or her chief advisers.
 Establish notification and monitoring systems: – A smart PR team should be tech savvy, and aware of all
the technology-related advancement and system so that they can handle external communication effectively.
 Develop holding statements: – “holding statements,” messages designed for use immediately after a crisis
breaks, can be developed in advance to be used for a wide variety of scenarios to which the organization is
perceived to be vulnerable. An example of holding statements by a hotel chain with properties hit by a
natural disaster, before the organization’s headquarters has any hard factual information, might be:

21. Example
 HSBC ATM issues
 HSBC is one of the most popular banks in the UK, however it left its customers a little annoyed
after a technical fault.
 The issue:
 HSBC’s ATM machines decided to stop working one fateful night in 2012 leaving its customer
base struggling to access their money.
 The fix:
 Absolute transparency. HSBC immediately took to Twitter and explained the situation, had
their most senior members release statements and teamed up with journalists to get the message
out. They didn’t just try and handle the situation, they led the situation, and as a result they
received very few customer complaints and praise for their communication teams.

22. Financial Communication
 Communicating with the financial public is known as financial public relations. The
financial public/audience are that public who are:-
 the registered shareholders
 The investing community including potential shareholders
 The direct financial community consisting of banks and financial institutions
 The employees and audiences who are connected with the organization
 The financial and economic press which includes newspapers, trade journals, and other
publications who create interest in economics and finance.

23. Function of Financial Communication Expert
 Liaison with executive management: – A financial communication expert usually liaise with – Board of Directors, Executive and
Finance committee, Key officials and department heads, directors of public relations, industrial relations and investor relations.
 Financial publicity:- uncovering and developing news as per the interest of stockholders, develop relations with financial editors,
create a financial press release, annual reports, and information about mergers, Interviewing media financial reporters to
determine their needs.
 Stockholder Correspondence
 Conducting stockholder surveys and preparation of stockholder publications:- quarterly earnings statements, folders interpreting
company policies, preparing biographical digests of executive officers members of the board of directors.
 Financial and Educational Advertising – prepare institutional advertising, including annual reports, advertisements, the
announcement of acquisitions, opening and closing of plants and more.
 Planning the annual & regional meeting of the stockholders:- organizing program, selecting place of meeting, preparations for
answers to questions and criticisms, offering gift packages of company products
 Working with security analysts: – questioning analysts to determine the extent of their knowledge of their company and attitudes
towards the company, arranging analyst meetings with company’s executives and tours of plants and research facilities, preparing
and distributing informational materials to analysts.

24. Audiences for Financial Communication
 Financial Analysts:-Financial analysts work in banks, pension funds, insurance
companies, and other businesses. Financial analysts provide guidance to businesses and
individuals making investment decisions. They assess the performance of stocks, bonds,
and other types of investments. Therefore, it is important to have a responsive, regular
and open communications.
 Individual stockholders:-Individual stockholders who buy company shares but hold it
for better profits

25. Financial Advertising
 Financial advertising is done by Financial Institutions, such as Public Ltd. Companies,
banks, insurance companies etc. in order to invite public to subscribe to the shares and
debentures.
 These institutions have also to provide project details, details of an issue, closing date etc.
in the ads. Agencies like Pressman, Saubhagaya concentrate on financial and public
equity issue advertising.
 The investing public is motivated to invest by suitable body copy, a slogan and a promise
of dividends/returns.
 For example, the advertisements by UTI and ICICI (Financial Institutions).


27. Points to draft a powerful Financial Advertising
 Build trust:- In financial advertising, it is important to build trust by demonstrating company’s stability, identify a spokesperson and
train the person accordingly, honest in their offers, show them the face which is handling their money and don’t be whimsy while
doing financial advertising.
 Offer a unique benefit and advertise it: – American Express is the only brand of traveler’s cheque which guarantees an emergency
refund within 24 hours a day. Anywhere in the continental U.S., their advertisement never fails to mention the fact.
 Simplify your offer: – The above advertisement of UTI banks have simplified their offers which helps an audience to understand
their products better.
 Go on Television: – the visibility of TV is faster than any other source of medium to share the information on any channels of media
communication because if offset the diversity of its audience.
 Find a unique symbol: – a distinctive and memorable visual symbol can give advertisement a hook that will catch prospect’s mind.
E.g. The Merill Lynch Bull symbolizes the company’s confidence in the long-term strength of the American economy.
 Go first class: – Have a good advertisement. The advertisement should not look cheap and shabby as it talks about the brand of an
advertisement.
 Unify your advertising: – Even if a company offers different services to different groups of people, they need to unify it based on
common theme toward a consumer cause.
 Talk in your customer’s language: – Use the language which your customer understands and avoid jargon.