In advertising, ad space is purchased by an individual in the required format (such as radio, print or online) and this would mean that the individual has control over what information are communicated and as long as the ad space is paid for, the information would be published.
In public relations however, a practitioner would be able to control what he/she writes for the company but what takes place after the information is released is often uncontrollable. An important factor is whether the media view your information as newsworthy.
Public relation is often referred to as credibility (by building ties with endorsers, stakeholders and media) while advertising is visibility.
Marketing focuses on sales while public relations is concerned with many more public groups. PR allows questions to be raised which marketing with ‘its focus on market and its orientation towards growth and consumption’ (Smith, P. R & Taylor. J, pp. 445) cannot.
These 3 elements complement each other as advertising acts as the visibility tool for a product while marketing generates focus on customers, distributors and competition, at the same time public relations open up to a bigger number of public groups while building bridges with stakeholders and media.
The 4 James Grunig’s models of public relations are: press agentry, public information, two-way asymmetrical and two-way symmetrical.
Elaborating on the public information model, it is essentially disseminating accurate information about an organization but do not volunteer negative information. Since the model is considered to be a one-way model in that practitioner who follows this model give information about an organization to the public but do not seek information from the public through research or informal methods. (Grunig et al. 1995, pp. 169)
In Singapore, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) engaged in a PR campaign (promoting the adoption of dogs) with the public information model. The campaign was in the form of ads that were put up at bus shelters and local magazines and newspapers such as 8-Days, TODAY and The Sunday Times. The ads consist of the photography of a person with a dog in a unique situation. Information on the ads were little and to the point. A hot line number and website address were provided on the ads to allow the audience to further enquire information should they wish too. The ads act as a disseminator of information.
Should I be required to by my marketing manager to write a media release launching an old product as new without having changed any of its features, I would advise him to be truthful about the product to the audience from the start. Launching an old product as new, goes against the ethics of public relation.
The situation described as above opposes four rules of ethics as stipulated by the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) and four rules by the Institute of Public Relations of Singapore (IPRS).
The four rules from PRIA are as follows: (1) Members shall deal fairly and honestly with their employers, clients and prospective clients, with their fellow workers including superiors and subordinates, with public officials, the communication media, the general public and with fellow members of PRIA. (2) Members shall avoid conduct or practices likely to bring discredit upon themselves, the Institute, their employers or clients. (3) Members shall not knowingly disseminate false or misleading information and shall take care to avoid doing so inadvertently. (4) Members shall, in advertising and marketing their skills and services and in soliciting professional assignments, avoid false, misleading or exaggerated claims and shall refrain from comment or action that may injure the professional reputation, practice or services of a fellow member.
The five rules from IPRS are as follows: (1) A member shall conduct his professional activities with respect for the public interest and the interest of the profession. (2) A member shall at all times deal fairly and honestly with his client or employers, with his fellow members and with the general public. (3) A member shall not knowingly disseminate false or misleading information, and shall use proper care to avoid doing so. He has a positive professional duty to maintain high standards of truth, accuracy and good taste. (4) A member shall not engage in any practice, which tends to corrupt the integrity of channels of public communication.
As seen above, PRIA and IPRS share similar rules. With regards to the situation if I were to adhere to the marketing manager, I would be working against the public interest and will not be dealing fairly and honestly as the information for the product would not be entirely true. Giving falsified information could also prove to be fatal to the company’s reputation and image as the public could stage a backlash. Thus I would advise my marketing manager against launching the old product as new.
It is untrue that PR professionals have to honour every request for a media interview. A PR professional can chose to decline or accept media request. If he/she believes that the company’s targeted audience would not be reached through a certain media outlet, there is a higher chance that the interview will be rejected. Once they have agreed to give an interview however, they should honour that commitment although limiting factors may be placed on the material to be discussed.
It should be highlighted that PR professionals need to be aware that they hold a two-way relationship with the media. There will be occasions when the PR professional would require the help and co-operation of the media. If he/she is too strict about the interviews he/she is prepared to give then there would be a chance that the PR professional may not get the co-operation when he/she needs it, for example during times of crisis.
A focus group is a qualitative research technique that consists of between eight to fifteen people who share similar characteristics in a discussion of a topic.
A pro of focus group is that it enables the practitioner to collect, explore and identify preliminary information from the target audience about message awareness and acceptance. Practitioners are also able to read non-verbal feedback through the focus group’s body and facial language. Visual aids can be used in a focus group and practitioners are able to move the discussion in a direction that is relevant to the topic to avoid resource wastage. Practitioners could also assist the focus group with unfamiliar questions or concepts pertaining to the topic.
Cons of focus group include biasness as the people in a focus group only constitutes to a small percentage of the actual population. If the practitioner is not properly trained in leading a focus group discussion, he/she could influence the data collected thus quality is compromised. Certain topics may cause individuals of a focus group to feel reluctant to share personal opinions and beliefs as they may feel uncomfortable. Cost effectiveness of conducting a discussion should also be taken in consideration.
According to Johnston & Zawawi (2009), planning is about developing a carefully sequenced series of actions to progress and access the strategy. Planning is important as it maximises the return on effort placed into planning as with proper step by step plan an individual could complete more tasks simultaneously. Also it could retain confidence, focus and motivation on the team as it is possible to track and monitor progress. Planning prevents putting people offside as a systematic plan will allow more tasks to be delegated thus making use of all resources.
Planning also enables easier check backs on issues. With all tasks documented and organized systematically, it is easier to check back tactics against objectives – whether they match or check back objectives against goals – is there any consistency.
Key elements in developing a crisis plan consist of the following - identifying participants, premise to the crisis, objectives, working through the crisis and choosing a media spokesperson.
Identify a crisis team that could include company’s CEO and legal and financial advisers. It is important for relevant staff to be informed of after-hours contact details of the crisis team. Distinguish industry experts or academics that can be ‘enlisted to support or expound on the company’s position’ (Moster, M. C. & Franklin, T 1997, pp. 14) and making use of the crisis team’s expertise to execute a risk audit. The next group of participants are the key stakeholders. Determine who they are and their communication needs as different audiences require different communication strategies.
In premise to the crisis, a web page with the company’s hotline details, contacts and other information for media and stakeholders should be prepared and ready to be published when needed. Create a protocol to prioritise different crises to ‘minimize confusion, and to avoid poor use of resources, or duplication of effort and misplaced focus’ (Johnston & Zawawi 2009, pp. 311). Train management and staff with media training especially support staff like customer service officers and secretariats and carry out simulations of a crisis. Establish a plan for a crisis centre that is equipped with a communication and media monitoring area.
The objectives of training staff and management are to allow staff to familiarize themselves with what to anticipate and to plan for shortfalls. Support staff should undergo media training as they are often the first to receive calls. Phrases such as ‘I’m not at liberty to say’ could point to speculation and this could be damaging to the company. Employees of a company in a crisis have to be able to work under media pressure.
When working through a crisis, consider arrangements to receive large numbers of calls and other issues such as this. It should also be noted that crisis management has to be flexible as plans may not match the actual situation.
Choosing a spokesperson is important as they will be communicating with the media directly. Media liaison has to be ensured that they are equipped with the right information before speaking, and knows the information well, especially the key areas and any difficult topics within the information. The message should be stated immediately in plain English. Any untruths must be refuted straightaway.
In addition to the above, building a reliable trust bank is also essential in crisis planning.
The web raises issues such as truth – what is true on the internet, trust – people can be suspicious of information found online, timeliness – expectations audiences hold on immediate communication and technology – which outlet (twitter, facebook, company website) to use. To further elaborate on timeliness, Kaplan and Norton (1992) suggest that where information is stale it is no more useful than an absence of information. A company website that is not updated with the latest news and information and poorly maintained is no longer beneficial to the audience.
With the advancement of technology, public relations professionals are able to deal with international time difference with ease. For example, a handphone company located in the United States (US) is in a crisis over bad reviews on its latest handphone model. It is essential for the company to address the situation as people will believe what they see, hear or read in the media and ‘basing opinions and intentions on media-provided information’ (Johnston & Zawawi 2009, pp. 309) thus to alleviate the situation and ease its global customer’s discomfort, the company’s PR person could post a brief statement regarding the issue on its company website initially before organizing a press conference which would require planning and take a longer time. The posted statement could be accessed by all audience regardless of where they are located.
The pro to technology advancement (with regards to the timeliness situation above) is that it reduces waiting time such as time to take a press conference to be televised and time to take for the report to be printed on paper. With the internet, updates and posts are almost instantaneous.
However it should be highlighted that even though timeliness is important for a company to maintain good reputation, the updates and posts of what is said must be true and if the situation has not been well investigated it is not wise for the company to speculate because if proven wrong it will bring about a bad image.
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