PRL 206 Exam #2
Current purpose of crisis communications
- To examine the changing world of crisis management and crisis communications and to examine their role in business continuity planning - To emphasize the importance of communication planning in crisis management and media relations
History of not for profit PR
-1640s: pamphlets praising Harvard University -1900: Harvard hires its Publicity Bureau -1905: Ward & Pierce launched the first successful fundraising campaign for YMCA. -1909: One of the panelists at the National Conference of Charities and Corrections emphasized the benefits of PR to all not-for-profit agencies involved in social services. -1900-1920s: Development of labor unions, advocacy groups, and social service agencies -1940s: Use of not-for-profit PR to help war efforts (home front help, recruiting army) -1976: Legislation was passed by Congress which "allowed nonprofits to legally spend up to $1 million per year on lobbying efforts." -2000s: New technology emerges, allowing PR practitioners to find new avenues to distribute information about their not-for-profit and collect donations. -Coronavirus: New/shifting orgs devoted to helping with crisis, need to be supportive of constituents during crisis, deal with social distancing
Future of Not-for-profit PR
-2016: 57% of nonprofits anticipated new positions, whereas only 36% of for-profits planned to hire -Nonprofits project a 44% increase in fundraising & development jobs, 37% increase in marketing communications and PR (Page & Parnell, 2019) -Year-on-year wage gains, shrinking gender gap, and established PR environment has led to growth in income -Increase from $78,500 in 2018 to $85,000 in 2019 (PRWeek, 2019) -Demand for financial donations & volunteer support exceeds available resources -Gov. cutbacks jeopardize grants to nonprofits; growing public concern about credibility/accountability of tax-exempt organizations
Value of Strategic Planning to PR
-A strategic plan helps establish and further an organization's purpose, as well as its long-term and short-term goals. -Fuels action strategies, such as who to target (staff, vendors, etc), when to target them, and with what resources (budget) to do so
What to do during a crisis
-Assess immediate needs -Identify key needs -Respond to media -Track public opinion
Main goals of travel and tourism PR
-Attracting guests, visitors, media attention -Keep guests, employees, surrounding community informed and satisfied -Promote activities -Address crises, build and maintain reputation
Special Skills for travel and tourism PR
-Bachelor's degree in PR or similar field, CSR training -Cultural knowledge: know international policies as well as political, cultural, and social awareness -Crisis management: T&T PR is highly susceptible to political and international crises -Social responsibility: Consider the environment and local communities -Customer and influencer relations
Part Three: The Written Crisis Plan
-Background -Action Plan -Communications and media plan -Simulations, role playing, rehearsals -Gain support from top management -Share the plan widely -Conduct training, especially media interviews
How can an environment go from static to dynamic?
-Changes in technology -Extent of mechanization -Demand for org's product -Amount of competition -Degree of social or political support -Growth in knowledge used by the organization
Functional Linkages
-Classified as either input or output -Input: employees, volunteers, vendors, etc. -Output: users and potential users of the org's services. Customers, members, students, tourists, etc.
5 C's of Successful Public Relations
-Commitment by Top Management -Competent Practitioners -Centralized Communications Policy-Making -Communications: Two-Way -Coordination of All Efforts Towards Organizational Mission
What to do after the crisis
-Critique -Evaluate -Adjust operations -Fine-tune crisis plan for next time -Debrief team and employees -Move on!
Why is strategic planning particularly important to modern PR?
-Current pressures to think strategically and manage to bottom line -Changing economy, global marketplace, new expectations of CEOs (many with MBA degrees), -Emphasis on efficiency, measurability, accountability requires PR to prove its value to management and display its ROI (Return on Investment)
Advantages of travel and tourism PR
-Economic impact: travel and tourism brings in millions of dollars to host cities through events and attractions -Sustainability: Increase in CSR
Challenges facing public relations professionals when trying to communicate with and engage employees to achieve the organization's business goals:
-Employees are on alert for inconsistencies between word and action coming from management -Employees need their basic needs addressed -Noise: people are inundated with so much information (most of it irrelevant and conflicting) that it overwhelms and confuses them -Organizational noise creates cynicism instead of enthusiasm -People are having conversations everywhere - not waiting to be told -Low morale and engagement -Tired of lack of appreciation of effort, being treated like commodities, and high levels of work -Low understanding of employing business's strategy -Considering looking for new jobs
Ways of making strategic decisions
-Evaluating current performance results -Scanning external and internal organization environments -Analyzing strategic factors, like SWOT -Implementing selected strategies -Evaluating selected strategies
Qualitative research methods
-Focus groups -Depth interviews -Participant observation
"Old" way of closed systems
-Focus is on single unit or organization without thinking about interpenetrating systems -Focus is on organizing, motivating, controlling employees. Little or no attention to technology, political influences, social expectations -In PR: Emphasis on good journalistic product, no regard for product's impact
Steps of Part Two of crisis communications
-Gain support for the process -Form an internal team -Identify major considerations and concerns with the team, as well as key sources of external support -Collect and assess current and useful info -Do a crisis audit -Play "what if?" -Identify key publics and stakeholders
What is Linkages Theory?
-Important in identifying and communicating with key publics of any organization -Helps to know how the organization affects key publics and how these publics affect the organization; how they are linked to one another -Once linkages have been identified, they are used to create goals, objectives and strategies for each of the key audiences
Special PR activities - not for profit
-In addition to regular roles (management counsel, internal PR, media relations, issues management, crisis communications, research, branding, community relations, social media), some specific NFPs have advocacy groups and require the arrangement of special events like boycotts, protests, and mass demonstrations. PR specialists can be responsible for obtaining permits, informing the media, and other arrangements.
Enabling Linkages
-Individuals, groups, organizations providing authority, control -Enable the organization to exist -Examples: Board of Directors, members, funding sources, regulatory bodies, accrediting bodies
Rex Harlow bullet points
-Involves the management of problems or issues -Helps management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinion -Defines and emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve the public interests -Helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, serving as an early warning system to help anticipate trends -Uses research and sound and ethical communication as its principle tool
Proactive Media Relations
-Know your message -Pick the right location -Consider logistics (such as: parking, podium, power, internet connection, holding room) -How much access will media have?
Why do some PR practitioners ignore the strategic planning process?
-Lack of resources -Misunderstanding of PR as "immeasurable" quantitatively, old ways of writing newsletters and throwing events without considering ROI
Diffused Linkages
-Linkages with elements in society that cannot be clearly identified by membership in formal institutions -Audiences that arise when the org has consequences on people outside the org -Exs: Minority groups, activist groups, environmentalists -Media always included among these linkages
Types of survey
-Mailed -Telephone -In person (structured interviews) -Omnibus/"Piggyback" surveys -Web, email surveys -Cross-sectional surveys -Longitudinal or trend surveys
Differences in not for profit PR
-Main goal is to generate good for the community (money important of course but not the main mission) -Dependent on volunteers and donors -Main PR activity is fundraising -Money collected goes directly to cause -May adopt activist techniques (boycotting, lobbying, demonstrations, etc) -Storytelling essential (this is true for most specializations)
What are consequences of ignoring strategic planning?
-Management will not see ROI and will be less likely to continue to value PR, may even cut it entirely from their budget -Lower profits -Weaker audience engagement -Poorer quality of mission projected
PR Manager
-Mission oriented -Plans and manages programs -Counsels top management -Always on call -Well compensated
Barriers to effective crisis management
-Negative or ignorant opinions of crisis planning, such as "it can't/won't happen to us" -Varying capabilities of staff -Unknown, untested response to crisis
Main techniques in travel and tourism PR
-News releases, special events, placements in publications -Familiarization trips, journalists or critics writing favorable reviews -Press releases, promotional campaigns -Study cultural values depending on location -Curate special events
Why is research not done by many PR practitioners?
-Old ways of not really caring about ROI -Difficulty in gauging how audiences will respond, time and money upfront may seem like too much even if it will reduce costs in the end -Lack of resources
Purpose of linkages theory
-Once linkages have been identified, they are used to create goals, objectives and strategies for each of the key audiences -Serves as basis for comprehensive communications plan
Why has Employee Communications and Engagement become a top priority for today's CEOs?
-Only one in five workers is giving full discretionary effort on the job (disengagement) -Lack of employee understanding of company's mission, leading to lack of motivation -Companies with highly engaged employees enjoy higher rates of operating income and earnings per share, whereas companies with low engagement rates face lower rates of those factors -Nine out of ten employees say employers earn their trust through communication -Organizational success starts from the inside -Strong culture, consistent and definable brand promise, progressive management model, focused strategy, clear narrative -Engagement is at the center of today's leading companies
Role of PR in an organization
-Part of management subsystem -Helps production and distribution subsystems (product promotion, new product introductions, trade shows, sales presentations) -Helps adaptive systems as a liaison to external groups (community and gov relations) -Helps maintenance systems (employee communications and training) -Management subsystem: counsel to top management and overall communications plan
Types of informal/exploratory research
-Personal contacts and observation -Key informants -Focus groups -Community forums -Advisory committees and boards -Blogs, chatrooms, activist websites -Ombudsman: an official appointed to investigate individuals' complaints against maladministration, especially that of public authorities -Call-in phone lines for customers, employees, etc -Mail and email analysis -Social media -Field reports
Getting to know journalists and the media
-Places to meet journalists: media events, conferences, social media -Developing relationships: read their articles, introduce yourself and establish rapport (omg i went to newhouse too!), develop a two-way relationship, be available when needed
New way of open systems
-Realization that subsystems affect one another and are affected by external systems -Holistic approach -Challenges established practices; seeks innovative solutions -In PR: Mission-oriented, quantitative measurement of progress, seeks feedback
Normative Linkages
-Relationships with other organizations which share similar problems -Examples: Similar businesses, business associations, national trade and professional associations
Why is research so important in PR?
-Relationships with publics are too complex to leave to chance -Must know what public thinks to be able to respond to their needs -Complexity of modern organizations -Reduces uncertainty -Saves time, money, mistakes -Forms basis to measure and evaluate results later on -Speaks language of managers and technical experts -Formulates strategy -Tests messages -Helps management stay in touch with reality -Prevents crises -Monitors competition -Sways public opinion (potentially) -Generates publicity
History of travel and tourism PR
-Religious pilgrimage, travel to Jerusalem and holy lands -Around 1500s, travel became motivated more by economics than religion -Attracting colonists to the Americas and promoting colonial development -Industrial revolution: more efficient travel, trains and railroads, eventual development of cars and airlines -1984: Travel and tourism section created by PRSA - dismantled in 1996 -Industry hit hard by 9/11, coronavirus worst crisis since then
Best practices in media relations - working with journalists
-Research the journalist (and the publication they work for if applicable) before you pitch to them -Appeal to their relevant audiences -Emails should be personalize, cold calls are difficult but worth it, try non-conventional pitches like prepackaged or video packaged stories, or lists -Be honest! -Be professional: answer calls and texts, always respond in some way, don't bug or plead, and follow up -Be helpful and respectful
Advantages of not-for-profit PR
-Rewarding work, making a difference -Problem-solving and developing wide variety of skills
PR Theory draws on...
-Rhetorical theory -Organizational theory -Communications theories -Management theory -Itself
Methods of quantitative research
-Secondary analysis: public opinion polls by others -Online databases -Surveys -Content analysis: examining and categorizing current communications through a structured coding system -Digital analytics: analyzing online data
PR Technician
-Skills oriented -Implements decisions of others -No decision making -9 to 5 job -Low end of salary spectrum
Disadvantages of not-for-profit PR
-Smaller budgets, less up-to-date technology -Lots of pressure on employees to raise money, volunteers, etc -Lower salaries -Less room for advancement
Differences of travel and tourism PR
-Split into major sectors (hotel/lodging, restaurants, transportation, and destination/ tourist attractions) -Business relies on stability and relationship with international communities -Diverse and widespread clientele -Seasonal changes in business -Vulnerable to international crisis -Custom publications for some hotel chains and airlines -Meeting planners huge source of revenue for hotel, major audience to reach to
Reputation
-The general estimation in which an organization is held by its employees, customers, suppliers, distributors, competitors and the public -A highly desirable competitive advantaged which cannot be fabricated through image-making. It is earned over a period of time, but can be tarnished in a matter of hours or days
Disadvantages of travel and tourism PR
-Threats to travel destinations: war, terrorism, disease (coronavirus!) -Stressful crisis management
What factors help something constitute news?
-Timeliness -Conflict -Proximity -Prominence (story about well-known people) -Currency ("it subjects" - coronavirus right now, police brutality, climate change, impeachment in recent months) -Unusualness -Human interest -First, last, only
4 Main challenges to reputation driven by technology
1. Age of transparency: expectations of higher levels of product information and company knowledge 2. New digital healthcare ecosystem, lines between stakeholders are blurred 3. Growing sense of distrust 4. New balance of power, shifting towards employees and stakeholders
Main three parts of crisis communications
1. Be Prepared 2. Build a team, collect and analyze current information, develop hypothetical situations and responses 3. Written crisis plan
Four elements of strategic management
1. Environment scanning 2. Strategy formulation 3. Strategy implementation 4. Evaluation and control
8 Crisis Communications Lessons
1. Erase "It can't/won't happen to us" from your vocabulary 2. Speed is of the essence 3. Crisis communications lists in textbooks are real, use them! 4. Don't underestimate how much staff you'll need 5. Information - like food, water, blankets - is a valuable commodity 6. Hold regular briefings for the media 7. Your spokesperson can make or break you 8. Don't overlook the symbolism of your CEO
Three Steps of Analytics
1. Follow the right data: Traditional research to build a foundation (market research, segmentations, surveys) 2. Get to the point: Data Integration to confirm online and offline behaviors (social media, blogs, private communities) 3. Adapt faster: Insights & measurement to understand approach and impact (Insight mining, behavioral targeting and mapping, return on market investment modeling, campaign testing)
3 Most Common Types of Analytics Projects
1. Meme/influencer ranking: Identifies top individuals driving a specific conversation online and ranks them according to relative influence 2. Blueprint/Conversation landscape: Exploration of online conversations surrounding a client and its competitors and industry 3. Social Graphics: Supports audience identification and segmentation by identifying audience affinities, personalities, brands, and online platforms that they follow and engage with
Continuing Crisis
A chronic problem that takes a long time to appear, is usually complex, and won't disappear easily (ex. business fraud)
Definition of crisis
A significant business disruption which stimulates extensive news media coverage. The resulting public scrutiny will affect the organization and also could have a political, legal, financial and governmental impact on its business
Exploding Crisis
A well-defined, noticeable event with prompt impact (Ex: The events of September 11, 2001). No real time to prepare.
Immediate Crisis
An event or situation that can be anticipated (Ex: a weather-related crisis).
Building Crisis
An event that may catch you by surprise, but you have some time to prepare (Ex: A labor strike)
What is a system?
An organized set of interacting parts or subsystems. Each affects the other as well as the total
What happens when research is not done before a campaign, initiative, or program?
Basically the opposite of all the reasons listed above. Relationships are left to chance, you risk offending, alienating, boring, or not resonating with an audience, and you may spend way more money or time than you need to.
Goal
Defines the end state of what you want to accomplish
Strategy formulation
Development of long-range plans for effective management of environmental opportunities and threats, taking into consideration strengths and weaknesses
Why do so many practitioners avoid the final step of Measurement and Evaluation?
Difficulty of measuring PR and numbers, unwillingness or fear of admitting a program didn't do as well as planned, don't want to waste resources once project is finished
Types of linkages
Enabling, Functional (Input & Output), Normative, Diffused
Types of not for profit PR
Environmental, health, human services (YMCA, Wounded Warrior), education, cultural (zoos, museums), religious, relief, foundations
Summative research is also known as...
Evaluation, measurement
4 Types of Crisis
Exploding, immediate, building, continuing
Informal Research definition
Exploratory, good for probing and detecting but not generalizable. Research that is not quantified
Management (def in context of subsystems)
Function is to control and integrate the other subsystems. Must control conflict, negotiate demands of the environment and the needs of the organization to survive (ex. top executives)
Adaptive (def in context of subsystems)
Function is to help organization survive when the environment changes (ex. research and development)
Maintenance (def in context of subsystems)
Function is to hold organization together and get employees to work as a single unit (e.g., human resources, training)
Distribution (def in context of subsystems)
Function is to market and distribute products and services (e.g., marketing, sales, distribution)
Production (def in context of subsystems)
Function is to produce products or services (ex. manufacturing, engineering)
Main 4 forms of travel and tourism PR
Hotels, restaurants, transportation (trains, planes, cruises, etc), destinations (resorts, festivals, cities, theme parks, etc)
Special skills for not for profit PR
In addition to regular PR skills: -Communicate nonprofit's message to media and stakeholders -Develop fundraising programs, serve as grant writers, identify potential partners -Relay financial status to stakeholders -Benefit from courses in desktop publishing, sociology
Strategy
Master plan of how goals, missions, and objectives will be achieved
Environment scanning
Monitoring, evaluating and disseminating information from the external and internal environments to key people in the organization
What is the role of PR in organizational theory?
Monitors the changes in the actual exchange between the organization and its environment, and in the adaptation of the organization and its environment to each other
How do systems survive?
Must engage in exchanges with their environments
Throughput (def)
Organizations analyze this information, energy or matter and formulate solutions to respond to input
Input (Definition)
Organizations receive information, energy or matter from the environment
Output
Organizations release information, energy or matter into the environment to restore equilibrium
Feedback
Organizations seek response from the environment to determine if the problem has been solved (equilibrium established or re-established)
What is P.E.S.O.?
Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned
Evaluation and control
Process by which an organization's activities and performance results are monitored so that actual performance can be compared with desired performance
Strategy implementation
Process by which strategies and policies are put into action through the development of programs, budgets and procedures
Rex Harlow's Definition of PR
Public relations is the distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance, and cooperation between an organization and its publics
Rex Harlow Def. 2 (ask tmrw which one to use)
Public relations is the management function which builds and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics who can bring about its success or its failure
Not-for profit PR: Main focus
Recruiting volunteers and donations, and explaining how the org helps the public good.
RACE's correlation to system behavior
Research = Input Analysis = Throughput Communication = Output Evaluation = Feedback
Summative research
Research conducted after a program to assess progress and document impact
Formative research
Research conducted before and during implementation to guide, plan, and help make adjustments
Formal Research definition
Research designed to gather data from scientifically representative examples
R.A.C.E.
Research: What's happening now? Analysis: Based on this information, what should we do? Who are the key audiences? What changes do we want? Communications: What are our messages, channels, timing? Evaluation: How did we do?
Objective
Specific measurable results to be achieve (ex: by the end of the year, 80% of employees will be able to articulate how their job supports our organization's strategy)
4 S's of personal characteristics during a crisis
Stoicism, Steadiness, Stamina, Sensitivity
S.W.O.T.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
An organization is made up of ______
Systems and subsystems
What is a theory?
The body of generalizations or principles developed in association with practice in a field of activity
Boundary Spanning Theory
The boundary spanner stands at the edge of the organization, serving as a liaison between and among various subsystems, and between the organization and external systems.
What is analytics?
The field of data analysis. Often involves studying past historical data to research potential trends, to analyze the effects of certain decisions or events, or to evaluate the performance of a tool or scenario. Goal of analytics is to improve the business by gaining knowledge to use for improvements or changes.
Mission
The organization's purpose or reason for being. States what it provides to society.
How does Linkages Theory relate to the ten-step plan?
The relationships and links between various audiences and constituents must be considered throughout every step of the program to create an effective strategy. Research must be conducted to understand each audience's relationship to the organization and to each other, analysis must be made of who to communicate with and why, and when and how each audience each audience should be communicated to and with.
What is the environment in the context of (PR) systems?
The sum total of all conditions that affect the strategic options of an organization, but that are typically beyond its ability to fully control
Research
The systematic gathering of information to describe and understand situations and to check out assumptions about publics and public relations consequences
How does the 10-step plan relate to RACE?
The ten-step plan correlates roughly to RACE. Defining problems/opportunities and conducting a situational analysis relates to research. Developing goals, identifying significant audiences, developing objectives, and developing action program strategies relates to analysis. Developing communication program strategies, program implementation plans, and program evaluation relate to communications. Finally, feedback, evaluation and program adjustments directly correlates to the evaluation stage of RACE.
What are the practical implications for those who do not measure and evaluate their work?
They will waste valuable time, money, and resources repeating things that do not work instead of learning from mistakes and devoting those resources to coming up with better plans and strategies. Even if they get lucky and the work was successful, they will not understand as clearly why they were as successful as they were and will have more difficulty repeating their success and applying it to other facets of the organization's mission and goals.
How does PESO relate to the ten-step program?
Understanding audiences, different communication channels, and ways of measuring things like audience engagement and proper tone and timing of messages across different forms of media is essential to a successful strategic communication plan.
5 Key Drivers that build better marketing programs
1. Right Audience 2. Right Content (know which content, channels and people have the most influence) 3. Right Language 4. Right Channels (outlet, time of day) 5. Right Time (know the right time to distribute content based on a keen understanding of channels, audience and content)
4 Main Types of Data used for conducting research and analysis
1. Social & Digital Media: Audience-owned, earned channels, social platforms, blogs, looks for trend and audience data 2. 3rd Party: Desktop research, including market and purchase trends, audience, consumer, platform/media trends and overall demographics, and psychographic and technographic behaviors and tendencies 3. Influencer Identification and Affinity Analysis: Identification of target audience, as well as preferences and affinities through follower behavior and interactions. 4. Primary Research: Customized market research (qualitative & quantitative) to address particular business challenges and needs - polling, surveys, focus groups, interviews; domestic and global.
Crisis management: What three levels do you assess the current situation on?
1. The organization: Past history of and performance in crises? Do they have a culture of openness and transparency or not? 2. The top management team: What is their attitude toward the potential of organizational disaster? Toward the role of communications, public relations, and media relations? 3. The in-house communicator: Are they a technician or manager? A lifelong learner? Do they act like a leader? Do they have management's confidence, trust, and/or respect?
