PURE 3800 Final

Two-Way Symmetrical Public Relations

This model focuses on dialogue that creates and sustains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its key stakeholders. This model attempts to minimize the potential imbalance of power between organizations and stakeholders found in the asymmetrical model of public relations and embraces a broader social responsibility perspective. As a result, the organization is not considered the primary beneficiary of public relations activity. Rather, stakeholders and society are both important considerations.

James Grunig's "Excellence Theory"

Explained that the value of public relations lies in organization-public relations. Good relationship with its strategic publics is helpful for an organization to develop and achieve goals desired by both the organization and its publics, reduce costs of negative publicity, and increase revenue by providing products and services needed by stakeholders. To maximize value of public relations, public relations must identify strategic publics and build long-term relationships with them through symmetrical communication programs.

Concept of "Trust"

Annual Edelman Trust Barometer research study

Ethical and moral

Transparency, trust, and truth

PRSA

Public Relations Society of America

Controlled Media

those media that the public relations practitioner has actual control over, such as a company newsletter

Uncontrolled Media

Communication channels, such as newspaper stories, in which a public relations practitioner cannot control the message, its timing, or its frequency.

PESO Model

Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned

Paid Media

advertising, company is in complete control of content

Earned Media

media relations, doing something good, media comes and covers it for free

Shared Media

social media, don't have control over it

Owned Media

Internet sites, such as websites, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter accounts, that are owned by an advertiser.

PR Professionals

Advocates, or advocates for the position they work for (doesn't need to be unethical, follow Page Principles), PR thinks of customers as only one object of concern. Also care about employees (PR is an umbrella where's marketing is under the umbrella)

Journalist

Neutral and objective in their reports

Marketing

Focused on customers, sales/ earnings, and products

ROPE Model of PR

Research, objectives, programming, and evaluation

RACE Model of PR

Research, action, communication, and evaluation

Excellence Theory

Considered by many as the dominant public relations theory, it calls for symmetrical two-way communication between organizations and publics, compromise and shared power. Information, rather than persuasion, is considered the most ethical approach to achieving mutual understanding between the organization and its publics.

Contingency Theory

Organizations behave in a variety of ways depending on the particular situation that an organization is involved in. Glen T. Cameron said that there is an axis of advocacy and accommodation. His matrix contained 86 variables that influenced the action of PR professionals in deciding whether more advocacy or more accommodation was needed.

Situational Theory of Publics

Building strategic relationships for an organization involves understanding publics. Situational theory describes the factors that contribute to creating active publics based on their situation. First comes awareness (problem recognition), followed by how the issue affects people's lives (constraint recognition), and, finally, the ability to do something about the problem (level of involvement).

Relationship Management Theory

Scholars John Ledingham and Steven Bruning said that these relationships are essential to PR practice and that those relationships must be mutually beneficial if they are to continue. This theory helps explain the management of successful relationships.

Situational Crisis Communication Theory

This theory offers crisis response strategies depending on the threat/crisis type and an assessment of the organization's crisis history, to protect an organization's reputation.

Systems Theory

Organizations cannot survive alone. They are interdependent with others and must interact to some degree with various constituencies in the political, economic, and social realms to survive and thrive. Every organization has stakeholders, such as employees, customers, and government regulators, who must be dealt with. PR helps to identify, build, and monitor these crucial relationships.

Diffusion Theory

This theory by Everett Rogers claims people make decisions or accept ideas following ordered steps: awareness, interest, trial, evaluation, and adoption.

Indirect Effects Theory

The media can have an effect on people, but that effect is usually indirect because it is often "filtered" through other people, such as friends and social groups.

Limited-Effects Theory

The media have little effect on people because many factors intervene or mitigate the message.

Agenda Building Theory

This is the process by which active publics and organizations focused on a cause can catch the attention of the news media and public officials to put a cause on the agenda for potential change.

Agenda Setting Theory

While the media can't tell people what to think, the media can be effective in establishing what topics are talked about, according to Bernard Cohen's theory. An organization or issue can suddenly gain a national stage if the media decide it's worth a look.

Framing Theory

Journalists and editors make many critical decisions in their work, ranging from whom to interview to what questions to ask and what specific words to use when writing a story. These decisions can be affected by public relations "frame strategists"

Media Uses and Gratification Theory

People actively select and use the media to fulfill their own needs, such as finding information to make purchasing decisions or to be entertained.

Hierarchy of Needs Theory

People pay attention to messages based on their personal needs. These needs have been arranged in a pyramid form according to the most basic psychological needs for survival to the most complex ones dealing with self-fulfillment.

Two-Step and Multi-Step Flow Theories

Some individuals actively take the time to seek and understand information on certain topics, making them, in effect, subject experts. These individuals are called opinion leaders and can have an effect on their followers. Later research has indicated that the most effective opinion leaders are those who share the same social status as their adherents. More research has indicated that two-step flow oversimplifies the complexity of communication and influence and has offered the multi-step flow theory, positioning that there are many individuals who can serve to influence other opinion leaders.

Social Learning Theory

This theory says people use information processing to explain and predict behavior.

Cognitive Dissonance

Leon Festinger found people usually seek out and pay attention to media messages that do not threaten their established values and beliefs. Messages challenging a person's deeply held values and beliefs make a person uncomfortable (dissonance) and are often avoided.

Selective Processes

Leon Festinger found that because people are uncomfortable with information that challenges their values and beliefs, they generally seek information that is more attuned to their own values and beliefs.

Elaborated Likelihood Model

Petty and Cacioppo's theory looks at how people make decisions based on their level of involvement in processing the persuasive message. In this model, persuasive messages fall into two main categories: those that contain a great deal of information and cogent reasons for some product or issue, and messages with simple associations of negative and positive attributes to some object, action, or situation. Those self-motivated to think about the more complex persuasive message will be influenced by good arguments, repetition, rewards, and credible spokespersons. Attitudes formed under high elaboration tend to stay stable.

Press Agentry Model of PR

Public information flows one way from the organization to its publics and stakeholders. It uses persuasion to achieve its organizational goals.

Public Information Model of PR

This model also has information flowing one way from the organization to its stakeholders. It is not characterized by persuasive tactics of promotion or publicity.

Two-Way Asymmetrical Model of PR

While information flows both ways between the organization and its stakeholders and publics, this model uses scientific persuasion based on research and feedback from stakeholders; its goal is to convince others to accept the organization's way of thinking.

Two-Way Symmetrical Model of PR

This is characterized by the two-way flow of information between the organization and its stakeholders and seeks to build mutual understanding through research, but does not focus on one-way persuasive tactics.

Page Principles

1. Tell the truth 2. Prove it with action 3. Listen to the customer 4. Manage for tomorrow 5. Conduct public relations as if the whole company depends on it 6. Realize a company's true character is expressed by its people 7. Remain calm, patient and good-humored

Stakeholders

People who are affected in some way by the decisions of an organization. (employees, neighbors, shareholders, consumer advocates, the media, or government officials)

Publics

Stakeholders who become more aware and active when they recognize a problem caused by an organization's actions

Environmental Scanning

Help organization's anticipate problems or see opportunities by identifying issues and trends

PRSA

Public Relations Society of America

PRSA Code Provisions

free flow of information, competition, disclosure of information, safeguarding confidences, conflicts of interest, enhancing the profession

Public Relations

Public relations practice is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organizational leaders, and implementing planned programs of action which serve both the organization's and the public's interest.

Public relations is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the public on whom its success and failure depends.

Public Relations is the management function that entails planning, research, publicity, promotion, and collaborative decision making to help any organization's ability to listen to, appreciate, and respond appropriately to those persons and groups whose mutually beneficial relationships the organization needs to foster as it strives to achieve its mission and vision.

9 contributions of Public Relations to Organizations

Awareness and information

Organizational motivation

Issue anticipation

Opportunity identification

Crisis management

Overcoming executive isolation

Change agentry

Social responsibility

Influencing public policy

The Public Relations Process

Research the issue that prompts the organization's concern (i.e., the opportunity or problem)

Develop goals and objectives that address the opportunity or problem

Develop a public relations strategy that addresses goals and objectives

Select and implement the communication tactics that would best achieve the strategy's goals and objectives

Evaluate the effectiveness of the public relations program in reaching its goals and objectives. Practitioners must complete the public relations process and evaluate the results of their efforts so that management can clearly see a return on its investment in money, staffing, and time. That requires research and evidence.

Nonpublics

Those who are not affected by the organization's actions and do not interact with the organization

Latent Publics

Those who are affected by the organization's actions but are not yet aware of it

Aware Publics

Those who are aware that the organization is affecting them but have not taken any action

Active Publics

Those who do something about the organization's impact on them

Strategic Relationships

Often build over time through actions and words

How are strong relationships developed?

Each participant observes and learns about others through experience- what they do, as well as what they say.

Dialogue

Both parties exchange information

An effective means for two parties to work out problems

Trust

Ability to rely on the other party

Good Relationships

Should offer something of value to each participant

Environmental Scanning

An early warning system for organizations, can help anticipate problems or see opportunities by identifying issues and trends

Issues Management

Answering the "what if" with a strategic plan

Goal of a Public Relations Practitioner

Anticipate, identify, and plan for problems

"yes people"

Subordinates who do not dare question the wisdom of their boss

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)

Marketing and public relations use many of the same communication tactics. IMC coordinates communication activities of marketing and public relations departments that, in the past, often operated independently. Keeps messages to key publics from getting mixed.

Marketing and how it relates to PR

Focuses on increasing customers sales for an organization's product or service. Concerned with ensuring the product or service is designed to meet customer needs, is attractively packaged, is distributed efficiently, and satisfies customers.

Public relations taught marketers that relationships matter and that catering exclusively to consumer behaviors can create man problems down the road.

Advertising

Space or time purchased for the purpose of persuading people to do something, such as buy a product, attend an event, or support a cause.

Public Relations' Advocacy Role

PR practitioners are hired by organizations to advocate their interests and promote their views in public discourse.

The Future of PR

PR is changing to adapt to emerging technology and evolving consumer behaviors.

Brand and corporate reputation are intertwined

Marketing and integration is strong

Activity thrives on partnerships

Ethics

Provides the framework for deciding what behavior is right and what is wrong.

PRSA Code of Ethics/ 6 Core Values

advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty, fairness

PRSA's Ethical Decision Making Guide

Define the specific ethical issue/ conflict

Identify internal/ external factors (e.g., legal, political, social, economic) that may influence the decision

Identify key values

Identify the parties who will be affected by the decision and define the public relations professional's obligation to each

Select ethical principles to guide the decision-making process

Make a decision and justify it

Defamation

The negative and harmful use of language that is directed at a person, particularly an individual who is considered a private person.

Libel

Written/ published defamation

Slander

Spoken defamation

Defense against libel

Truth, stated as opinions

For public figures: actual malice must be proven

Privacy- Legal Issues

Revealing private facts without legitimate public concern, secretly gathering information on individuals, such as taping a conversation, or misappropriating a person's name or image is not allowed. It is harder to invade someone's privacy if they're a public figure (e.g., elected officials and celebrities)

Financial Information- Legal Issues

Publicly traded companies are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Withholding "material" information that could have a financial impact on stockholders is not allowed. "Full and prompt disclosure" of material information is required.

False or Deceptive Advertising

Publicity such as deceptive testimonials or claims about the product are not allowed by the Federal Trade Commission.

Copyright

Use of copyright information created by an individual or organization is not allowed without the permission of the copyright holder. Fair use of copyrighted materials is generally allowed with limits for nonprofit or noncommercial educational purposes, for comment for reviews, or for transformation into a new creative work. Use of copyrighted work must be limited to excerpts, and the use of this material must not affect the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Trademark

Prevent the use of names, logos, slogans, mascots, and other products without permission of the owner.

Service Mark

Protect symbols and words associated with services and programs rather than products.

Actions to take during a crisis

Put the public first

Take responsibility

Be honest but don't speculate

Be accessible and accommodate the media: communicate frequently

Designate a single spokesperson- create message points

Monitor news coverage

Communicate with key publics (ie stakeholders, investors, employees)

Consult crisis communication experts

Prebuttal

An organization tries to be the first one to tell the story and set the tone before other versions of the story are published

Conflict Management 4 Phase Life Cycle

1.) Proactive phase: includes environmental scanning, issues tracking, issues management, and a crisis plan

2.) Strategic phase: includes risk communication, conflict positioning, while adapting the crisis plan

3.) Reactive phase: includes crisis communication, conflict resolution, and litigation PR

4.) Recovery phase: includes reputation management and image restoration strategies

Greenwashing

Organizations promoting their environmental activities for reputational gain and failing to live up to their promises

Financial Information

Companies cannot withhold financial or material information from shareholders

PESO Model

Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned media

Corporate Activism

A public stance taken by a major company to positively impact social change or legislation. In some situations the activism might be driven by a desire for a company to reach a specific audience or demographic who purchase their products. In other situations the owners and leadership within a company may use their personal social influence to support a particular cause such as green computing or robot ethics.

HARO (Help A Reporter Out)

https://www.helpareporter.com/

1n 2008, Peter Shankman created HARO, now owned by Vocus, Inc. to connect expert sources with journalists working on relevant stories. Journalists can submit their queries for information sources without cost and gain access to many potential sources. Other similar services include SourceWire, Expert Central, and Expert Click.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis as they are increasingly aware that responsible behavior leads to sustainable business practices

Business of business is business

Said by the Economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman in 1962

Social Responsibility can include:

Sustainability, sustainable development, environmental management, business ethics, philanthropy and community investment, worker rights and welfare, human rights, corruption, corporate governance, legal compliance, and animal rights

Differences between Capitalism (1st point) and CSR (2nd point)

Motivation/ Drive: self-interest vs. collective/ communal interests

Goal Orientation: profit vs. social welfare

Process: efficiency vs. equity/ fairness

Guide: rationality (logic) vs. empathic rationality

Performance Criterion: shareholder value vs. externalities (impacts)

Nature of Firms: private institutions vs. social institutions

Governance of Firms: contractual (legal entity concepts) vs. networked governance

Dominant Strategy: competing with strife vs. competing responsibly

Dominant Operational Time Horizon: short-term vs. long-term

Philanthropy

Donation of money or in-kind services to a cause, generally results in a tax write-off for the business

Cause-related marketing campaign

Commercial activity in which businesses collaborate with a charitable organization to market a product or service for their mutual benefit. (example: General Mills Box Tops for Education, benefiting schools)

Public Relations practices can contribute to establishing CSR culture in an organization by:

- support top-down commitment of organizational leadership to create a CSR program and culture

- assist with the creation of a CSR framework

- assist with the creation of a CSR position statement

- develop a CSR ombudsman program

- develop CSR audits and reports

- encourage stakeholder involvement

- encourage corporate governance involvement

- create awareness

- manage key messages

- manage stakeholder relationships

Pinkwashing

Calls out organizations that use Breast Cancer campaigns to cover up actions, especially their products or services that could cause cancer

Partnerships- communications effort

Charity tie-ins, community service and co-branding

Influencer Engagement- communications effort

Response to detractors, detractors turned to loyalists, and loyalists turned to advocates

Incentives- communications effort

Affiliate, brand ambassadors, sponsored content, and native advertising

How to Think and Write Like a Reporter

- Use news elements (timeliness, prominence, proximity, significance, unusualness, human interest, conflict, and newness)

- respect deadlines

- build a lasting relationship

News Release

The standard document that makes the case for news coverage

Don't bury the lead