Introduction

To

Public Relations
Michaela T Anderson, MS., BA.
Intellectual property of Mathew
Cabot, Ph.D. SJSU
AJEEP 2012
Public Relations
Dr. Mathew Cabot
Lecture One – Public Relations Defined

Welcome to the AJEEP six-hour course on public relations. This course

provides an overview on the public relations profession. It describes the
profession’s history and evolution, the four-step public relations process,
strategies and tactics, ethical challenges, and the foundational principles
followed by public relations professionals.

In this first lecture, we attempt to define what public relations is, and trace
the evolution of the profession from its beginnings to the present.

The idea of public relations has been around as long as people have sought
to persuade other people to get them to do something, not do something, or
keep on doing something. But public relations became a formal profession in
America roughly between late 1800s and early 1900s.

In the 1800s, public relations techniques were used to encourage settlement

in the American West. Railroad companies – which were laying down new
tracks across America – employed former journalists to create flyers and
pamphlets that described the vast opportunities in the American frontier.
And many believe it was the railroad companies that first used the term
“public relations.”

While railroad companies were promoting westward expansion, the very

first celebrity “press agents” were promoting clients such as Buffalo Bill,
Annie Oakley, and Davy Crockett. In public relations history, the late 1800s
were known as the Age of the Press Agent. The characteristic feature of the
age was hype – or exaggeration. Press agents were concerned more about
creating legends and selling tickets to shows than truthful portrayals about
their clients.

The man who is credited for moving the public relations profession to its
next age was Ivy Lee. In 1906, he published his “Declaration of Principles”
that advocated truthfulness and openness, and thereby ushered PR into the
Public Information Age. The main difference with this new age was the
emphasis on the accuracy and honesty of the information issued by public

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relations people. Ivy believed that the best way to practice “public relations”
was to make sure the public had truthful information.

During this time, as the public increasingly found its “voice,” corporations
began to be concerned with public opinion. Only 20 years earlier had
railroad tycoon uttered his famous words: “Let the public be damned!”
Things had changed. Business executives began to realize that an angry
public could make doing business much more difficult, if not impossible.

That’s why many companies began to employ public relations professionals

whose job it was to keep the public informed. The goal was to provide
accurate information to an organization’s stakeholders (anybody or
institution that could be affected by the organization’s business).

The first big test for this newfound profession was persuading the American
people to enter World War I. To do so, President Woodrow Wilson
established Committee on Public Information (also known as the Creel
Committee) in 1917. The committee’s most famous member was Edward L.
Bernays, known as the father of modern public relations.

The committee’s success persuaded Bernays to open a public relations

agency after the war to apply committee’s techniques to commercial
interests. Major corporations such as General Electric, Proctor & Gamble,
CBS, and the American Tobacco Company hired Bernays to conduct a wide
variety of public relations activities.

In 1923 Bernays published his landmark book, Crystallizing Public Opinion

and established the profession’s theoretical foundations. Using theories first
introduced by his uncle, Sigmund Freud, Bernays wrote about how to move
people to do what you want them to do. By doing so, he transitioned the
public relations profession into its third major age: scientific persuasion (and
the two-way asymmetric model).

Using the tools of social science and psychology, Bernays showed his clients
how to tap into their audience’s deepest needs and wants. The scientific
persuasion age of public relations lasted for about 30 to 40 years until the
1950s and 60s when activism (i.e., public protests about perceived corporate
power and greed) necessitated a shift toward relationship building.

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When public relation practitioners saw their primary role as identifying,
building, and sustaining relationships between an organization and its
stakeholders, the nature of the profession changed. Now, instead of
emphasizing one-way communication, organizations began to place
increasing importance on two-way communication. Furthermore, if these
relationships were to be sustained, they had to be mutually beneficial –
where both organizations and their stakeholders benefitted.

When relationships became the primary focus for public relations activities,
spin (i.e., intentionally making something appear better than it is) became
counterproductive to long-term public relations goals. And that’s because
spin destroys the most important ingredient for a vital, healthy relationship:
trust.

Spin can take many forms. At one end of the spectrum is lying, either by
commission (saying it directly) or omission (intentionally withholding
important information). At the other end of the spectrum is exaggeration –
making a product or service appear better than it actually is. Whether it’s
lying or exaggeration – or something in between – spin destroys trust and
undermines an organization’s attempt to building valuable relationships.

It should be noted that the shift to relationship building does not negate the
profession’s emphasis on persuasion. Public relations professionals spend a
great deal of time persuading an organization’s many stakeholders that the
organization is worthy of being in a relationship together. That is achieved
by demonstrating that the organization is being responsive to stakeholder
needs. That means adjusting policies, positions, and products to fit
stakeholder needs.

Public relations professionals have always realized the importance of

influence with senior management. Beginning roughly in the 1970s, public
relations professionals began to increasingly identify themselves as
“business people first, and communicators second.” As a result, public
relations became more concerned with establishing measurable objectives
aligned with organizational goals, and demonstrating a tangible ROI (return
on investment). After all, if businesses were going to allocate resources to
public relations activities, they deserved to know what kind of “return”
they could expect.

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Did the public relations activities boost the organization’s reputation? If yes,
how? Did it increase sales? How would you know? The need to
“demonstrate results” has led to a variety of innovations in public relations
measurement – most notably in social media – where organizations are still
assessing the value of engagement.
Type text here
The emphasis on business strategy ushered more public relations
professionals into senior management where PR input could be made prior
to policy formation or product creation. As a result, public relations became
more effective because PR activities became more proactive and less
reactive. With proactive public relations, organizations can plan and execute
strategies and tactics on their own timeline – rather than having to react to a
PR problem. It is in these reactive situations that organizations will be most
tempted to spin – to make things look better than they are. While it is
impossible to avoid reactive public relations entirely, many PR problems can
be prevented through proper proactive planning.

In the beginning of the profession in the early 20th century, public relations
was narrowly focused on media relations/publicity. Consequently, most
practitioners were former journalists who understood news and how to craft
an effective media story.

Today, however, public relations is much broader. In addition to media

relations, public relations practitioners work in the following areas:
employee relations, investor relations, community relations, public affairs,
lobbying, and social media, among other areas. As the scope of the
profession has expanded, so has the skill set practitioners need to be
successful.

Writing continues to be the core skill public relations practitioners need to

possess. But employers are also looking for research skills, good
interpersonal communication, media and cultural literacy, critical thinking
skills, and business knowledge (i.e., what makes businesses more effective).

Today, the trend is to combine advertising, marketing, and public relations

into integrated marketing communications (IMC) or integrated strategic
communications. Under these integrated models, public relations works
much more closely with advertising and marketing to achieve consistent
messages/strategies and realize cost efficiencies.

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Today, public relations is practiced worldwide. In fact, some of the
profession’s fastest growth is overseas – especially in developing countries
and emerging markets. Any place or situation where public support is key to
an organization’s success, public relations will be valued.

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AJEEP 2012
Public Relations
Dr. Mathew Cabot
Lecture Two – 10 Foundational Principles

The public relations industry has evolved greatly since it first began in the
early 1900s. In fact, it has dramatically changed even in the last decade with
the introduction and expansive growth of the social media.

The purpose of this lecture is to explore 10 public relations principles that

should remain true regardless how the media landscape changes in the next
10 to 20 years. These are principles that have proved to be true over and
over again in the public relations industry and are adhered to by PR
professionals all over the world.

These principles are based on the idea that the purpose of public relations is
to “identify, establish, and maintain mutually beneficial relationships
between an organization and its various publics” – a classic definition of the
profession developed by Cutlip, Center, and Broom. All of the following
principles are designed to achieve that objective.

Principle #1 – Organizations exist only by public consent.

This is one of the oldest principles in the public relations profession. The
word “consent” here means “agreement” or “permission.” But in what way
does the public give its “consent” for an organization to exist? If the
organization is a “for-profit” company, its existence rests upon whether the
public buys its product or services. Without this consumer public, that
organization would not exist.

If it’s a “not-for-profit” organization, its existence is dependent upon people

giving their time (volunteering) or money (donations). Without these things,
this organization would not exist.

More broadly, though, an organization’s existence is dependent on a wide

variety of publics – many of whom will never buy the product or donate
money. That’s because organizations have many publics that more or less
have a stake in what the organization does. These people or groups or
associations are called stakeholders because in some way they can either
influence or are influenced by the organization’s business. These
stakeholders include the consumers of the product, but they also include
employees, government, media, financial institutions, and neighbors in the
community where the organization conducts its business.

All of these stakeholders can either help or hinder your organization’s

mission. The function of public relations is to manage the relationships
between these stakeholders and the organization.

Principle #2- Mutually beneficial relationships require two-way

communication.

As we saw in the previous lecture, the public relations profession has

evolved from one-way communication to two-way communication. With the
possible exception of the government, which practices the public
information model, most PR professionals practice two-way communication.
What this simply means is that in addition to sending messages to their
publics, organizations receive them as well.

Today, organizations must listen to their stakeholders/publics – especially

given the prevalence of social media. There needs to be a dialogue, not a
monologue. Additionally, organizations must demonstrate they have heard
their publics by adjusting policies and products to their publics’ needs and
wants – as much as possible.

If the goal is to build and sustain mutually beneficial relationships between

an organization and its various publics, two-way symmetric (balanced)
communication must be practiced.

Principle #3 – It’s not our job to put a clean shirt on a dirty body.

Many people believe this is the fundamental job of a public relations

practitioner – to make something appear better than it actually is. Using
hype, manipulation, distraction – and maybe outright lies – the practitioner
uses “spin” to put a good face on someone or something that is essentially
not good.

While spin may work – and many amateur PR hacks still do it – it is

counter-productive to long-term public relations goals. If our job is to build
and sustain relationships, spin destroys the most important ingredient to a
healthy relationship: trust. Once that trust is lost, it is very difficult to regain
it. And, at that point, the relationship is in jeopardy. If your public has a
choice whether to be in relationship with you or not (e.g., there are
comparable products or services on the market), it may decide to severe the
relationship.

Even if that public decides to stick with you, the lack of trust will cost you.
In their book titled The Speed of Trust, Stephen Covey and Rebecca Merrill
argue that trust is fast. In other words, when you are in a trusting business
relationship, you don’t have to spend a great deal of time parsing out every
bit of communication between you and your public. (Read the quote on
slide).

Trust in business – as with all of life – is a valuable asset. Public relations

practitioners can help organizations make better products, policies, and
services, and communicate more effectively with all of their publics. They
can ensure that their publics are “heard,” and that everything the
organization does – as far as possible – is in their publics’ best interest.

Principle #4 – Act, then communicate.

The key idea here is that you cannot talk your way out of something you
behaved your way into. Americans have a saying: “Talk is cheap.” Public
relations practitioners have the reputation of talking; publics need to see
action.

(Read the slide: If you’re product is defective…)

One company that clearly understands this principle is JetBlue. In 2007,

JetBlue had its first major public relations crisis. The airline was established
in 2000, and for five years enjoyed some of the best reviews from airline
passengers. Then, on Valentine’s Day 2007, the airline showed its lack of
experience by not effectively handling a snow-and-ice storm in New York.
Some passengers had to sit in grounded planes for more than 10 hours!

But, under the leadership of CEO David Neeleman, the company acted
quickly and then communicated. First, Neeleman didn’t shift the blame and
took full responsibility for Jet Blue’s failure. He then apologized to the
passengers who were involved and the many other loyal passengers who
were disappointed by the airline’s mishandling of the situation. Finally, and
importantly, Neeleman discussed the changes that would immediately made
to ensure the problem did not happen again.

(Read the “What did the company do?” slide)

Principle #5 – Clarity is more important than cleverness.

Clear communication is difficult. Don’t lose your message by trying to be

clever. If your goal is to build relationships, then clear communication is
essential. There is a lot of focus today about the channels of communication
– from the changing digital landscape (e.g., media convergence) to the ever-
expanding social media toolbox.

Selecting the right channel to reach your audiences is critical. The wrong
channel ensures that your message will be not be delivered. But using the
right channel does not necessarily mean communication will take place; it
only means the message was received. In order for a message to be acted
upon, it needs to gain the attention of the audience, be understood, and
clearly address the audience’s needs and wants.

Principle #6 – Activity does not equal results.

There is a difference between production and outcome, between activities

and results. Your clients or bosses will expect that your public relations
strategies and tactics will “move the needle.” In other words, something has
to happen as a result of your public relations efforts. The public relations
situation needs to change.

More than ever before, organizations are seeking – even demanding – and
tangible ROI (return on investment). They want to know if they spend
money and resources on public relations that will yield a return in the form
of better stakeholder relationships, less opposition, stronger support,
improved reputation, positive attitudes, greater cooperation, more customers
buying the product or using the service.

Because there is more client demand to demonstrate results, measurement

tools are becoming increasingly sophisticated. It is no longer sufficient to
simply count press clippings. Clients want to know the quality of those
clippings. Are they positive or negative? How many of the organizations key
messages were included in the stories? Who read the stories?
Ultimately, organizations want behavioral results: winning an election,
increasing product sales, sold-out attendance at an event.

The more public relations professionals can demonstrate real results – that
are tied directly into the organization’s goals – the more valuable they
become.

Principle #7 – Never refuse an opportunity to tell your side of the story.

This is one of the most common public relations errors. If you don’t tell your
side of the story, someone else will: a former (angry) employee, competitor,
victim, or sour neighbor. If the media is doing a story, they need a quote. Let
it be from you, and not from of these people.

When the news is bad, many organizations refuse to talk to the media.
Instead, they say, “no comment.” To the public, however, “no comment”
means “we’re guilty.” It also means “we’re uncooperative.”

By telling your side of the story (especially in a bad situation), the public
relations professional can help “frame” the story in the best possible light –
without, of course, making a bad situation look better than it is (i.e., spin).
But, the fact is, there are usually multiple “frames” that can be legitimately
applied to the same situation. The media usually will pick the most dramatic
frame because it makes for a better story. Your job as the PR professional is
to make sure the frame is fair and accurate – and also to suggest another
frame, if necessary, that more accurately reflects the reality of the situation.

All of this requires that the organization cooperates and works with the
media to help them get a story. Understanding a journalist’s job – from what
they need to when they need it – is fundamental to establishing constructive
media relationships.

Principle #8 – Manage expectations.

The key to fostering healthy relationships with all stakeholders is managing

expectations. For example, if a company exaggerates product claims,
consumers will be disappointed when the product falls short. Likewise,
when PR practitioners hype (exaggerate) an event, attendees will be upset
when the reality doesn’t match the rhetoric. Same is true about pitching a
story to the media. Journalists will stop using you as a news source if you
consistently offer “fluff” stories with little or exaggerated substance.

This principle is also true, by the way, in maintaining positive relationships

between PR practitioners and their clients. Your clients (and bosses) need to
know what public relations can do, and what it cannot do. For example, if an
organization has a negative reputation in the eyes of its publics, PR
professionals cannot change a negative into a positive overnight. And ethical
practitioners – aware of long-term public relations goals – will not put a
clean shirt on a dirty body.

Principle #9 – Practice public relations proactively, whenever possible.

According to the [Link], “proactive” means “controlling a

situation by causing something to happen rather than waiting to respond to it
after it happens.” Public relations is more effective if it is planned,
intentional, and controlled. Reactive public relations puts an organization on
the defensive and creates an environment ripe for spin.

Proactive public relations requires that organizations are continually

monitoring various environments, assessing relationships, and identifying
and tracking issues that may affect the organization. Research shows that
most organizational crises could have been prevented through early
intervention. The goals of “issues tracking” are to prevent problems and take
advantage of opportunities.

In terms of managing relationships, organizations should be continually

filling the “reservoir of goodwill” or “making deposits into the emotional
bank account.” Both of these metaphors speak to the idea of proactively and
intentionally managing relationships. If the reservoir of goodwill is filled,
there will be something left in times of drought (a crisis with that particular
stakeholder or stakeholders). Likewise with the emotional bank account. If
it’s full, you’ll have something left even if there’s a big withdrawal (i.e., a
crisis).

Principle #10 – Be a bridge, not a barrier.

There are at least two ways to practice public relations – and they are the
polar opposites of each other. One way to practice PR is to be a barrier that
protects an organization from its publics. This kind of PR uses one-way
communication, doesn’t listen to stakeholders in any meaningful way,
ignores the media, and uses spin to help an organization not take appropriate
responsibility. The problem is, if the organization wants to maintain
relationships with its stakeholders, “barrier” public relations doesn’t work –
at least in the long term.

Short term, being a barrier can work. But as soon as the stakeholders know
that they have been lied to or manipulated – or are simply not being heard –
the stakeholders will leave (i.e., use another product or service) or protest if
they cannot leave (i.e., neighbors near a factory, etc.).

But long-term, being a barrier is counter-productive to organizational goals.

And, in today’s world where transparency is becoming increasingly
important, barrier PR simply won’t work.

A much more effective (and ethical) way to practice public relations is to be

a bridge that connects an organization to its publics. Practitioners who see
themselves as bridges use two-way communication with the organization’s
stakeholders, conduct transparent dialogue through the social media, and
respond affirmatively to journalists’ needs.

The world doesn’t need any more spin doctors. But it does need bridge
builders who can foster dialogue, create mutual understanding, and build
cooperative, mutually beneficial relationships.

Questions for Discussion

AJEEP 2012
Public Relations
Dr. Mathew Cabot
Lecture Three – RACE

Effective public relations is accomplished through a process known as

RACE (Research, Action, Communication, Evaluation). This process is used
to practice proactive public relations – PR that is intentional, planned, and
strategic.

There are four fundamental questions asked in the RACE process (read
slide).

Research is the first step. Nothing happens before doing research. Research
helps determine objectives, messages, strategies and tactics. The first step in
research is to clarify the public relations situation. Both the public relations
practitioner and the client need to have a clear understanding of the situation
before them. Without that, public relations plans are developed that do not
accurately address the situation.

One of the most important aspects of situational analysis is identifying the

stakeholder(s) or public(s) that are most involved in the situation. Since
public relations is essentially about identifying, building and sustaining
relationships between an organization and its various publics (stakeholders),
the situational analysis allows an organization to focus on one (or more)
stakeholders where either a problem or opportunity exists.

If it is a problem, what kind of problem is it? Two common public relations

problems are awareness and reputation. If it’s an awareness problem, the
stakeholders lack awareness about the organization and/or its products and
services. If it’s a reputation problem, that means the stakeholder is aware of
the organization but does not have a favorable opinion toward it.

Those are two very different kinds of public relations problems that require
different strategies and tactics.

But the situation may not be a problem at all. It could be an opportunity (i.e.,
launching a product or leveraging customer enthusiasm). Whether it’s a
problem or opportunity, the situation needs to be clearly defined.

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Once the audience/public/stakeholder has been identified, now it’s time to
do an audience analysis. The goal at this stage of your research is to learn as
much as possible about your target audience. What do they know about the
situation? What would you like them to know? What are their needs,
concerns and wants? How do they get their information? What do they read,
watch, listen to?

This kind of audience analysis goes beyond demographics that simply make
distinctions based on ethnicities, age, gender, etc. A more useful research,
perhaps, delves into “psychographics”: values, attitudes, and lifestyles. The
fact is, the more you know your target audience, the more likely you will be
able to craft a motivational message, delivered by the right source, through
the right channel.

In addition to the situational analysis and the audience analysis, your

research should also include an organizational analysis. One common way to
do this is to conduct a S.W.O.T. analysis, which stands for Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

The public relations practitioner needs to know how to “position” the

organization in the face of the situation – whether it’s a problem or an
opportunity. Once the S.W.O.T. analysis has been completed, the public
relations practitioner will be more effective in maximizing strengths,
minimizing weaknesses, capitalizing on opportunities, guarding against
threats.

One question that often arises is, “What constitutes a threat?” A threat is
anything that threatens the success of organization, from aggressive
competition to poor legislation to organizational mismanagement.

Analyses of the situation, organization, and audiences can be conducted in a

variety of ways. Research can either be primary or secondary, qualitative or
quantitative. Primary research involves generating new information;
secondary research uses existing information.

Despite being called “secondary research,” this kind of research is conducted

first. Public relations practitioners analyze existing information from
organizational websites and electronic databases, among other sources, to
gain understanding about the situation, organization, and target audience.

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Since the information is available, it is the research most commonly used by
public relations practitioners – either first or exclusively.

If, however, there are significant gaps in the secondary research, primary
research is conducted – if there is enough time and money. If practitioners
have both of these are their disposal and can conduct primary research, they
can choose qualitative or quantitative methods.

Qualitative methods produce “soft” (as opposed to “hard”) data that

sometimes is called “exploratory.” Using qualitative research techniques
such as focus groups, in-depth interviews, observations, or surveys with
open-ended questions, public relations practitioners can gain some valuable
information about the situation, organization, and target audience. But they
cannot extrapolate the data gathered scientifically to a larger audience.
That’s why the data is called “soft.”

However, using quantitative techniques – such as surveys with closed or

structured questions and random sampling – practitioners can produce
“hard” data. Using statistical analysis, the practitioner can they make some
definitive statements about the whole – if the sample population was
representative and randomly sampled.

Given the fact that quantitative research is more costly and time-consuming,
it is not conducted as much as qualitative research. Plus, crafting a
scientifically valid quantitative study is beyond the skill set of most PR
practitioners.

So, whether it’s primary or secondary, quantitative or qualitative, the

practitioner needs to conduct research prior to developing a plan. The
research will help determine the strategy and provide more credibility for the
practitioner before his or her clients. Finally, research is used to measure the
results of the campaign – the essential last step in the RACE process.

Once the research phase of the process is complete, the practitioner can
move on to the second phase: planning (or action). Now we understand more
about the situation, the organization, and the audience, we can determine
what to do about it.

The first step in the planning process is to set goals and objectives. Goals are
the overarching purpose of the public relations efforts (e.g., To become the

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low-cost leader in the category). Objectives support goals, and they need to
be S.M.A.R.T.: Specific, Measureable, Agreed Upon, Relevant, Timetabled.
It is also important to remember that objectives should measure outcomes,
not the means to those outcomes. For example, the objective should NOT be
measuring how many news releases are produced in a given period of time
(the means), but rather the outcome of those news releases (for example,
awareness).

Once the goals and objectives have been set, then the practitioner can create
the theme and messages for the campaign. The theme is overarching
message – the one “takeaway” – you want your target audience to receive.
Other messages flow out of – and support – your theme.

Your themes and messages are designed to support your goals and objectives
by tapping into what you learned about your target audience through your
research. Those messages need to be clear and understandable to your
audience; delivered by a credible source (i.e., credible to that audience); and
targeted at audience needs. Psychologist Abraham Maslow’s “hierarchy of
needs” helps practitioners understand what kinds of needs are being
addressed, from “lower-level” physiological needs (such food, safety,
shelter) to “higher-level” needs (such as living up to one’s potential).

Ideally, these messages should be copy-tested with representatives from the

target audience to see if the messages make sense with the audience and
achieve the desired effect.

Once the themes and messages have been developed, then the practitioner
needs to choose the channel through which they will be delivered. These are
the strategies and tactics. The strategy is the main way you plan to
accomplish your objectives. For example, there are many different PR
strategies, from traditional media (pitching stories to print and broadcasting
media) to social media (using Twitter, Facebook, etc., to build online
communities) to more interpersonal strategies (creating slide presentations
for key audiences).

Research has shown that the most persuasive form of communication is

interpersonal (one-on-one, or one before a group). In those settings, the
communicator can receive immediate feedback and answer questions from
the target audience. Interpersonal communication strategies, however, can be
used only when the target audience is small and identifiable.

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Larger audiences, which are more difficult (or even impossible) to reach
through interpersonal means, need to be reached through the media (either
social or traditional, or both).

Once the overall strategy is set, the practitioner decided exactly how to
implement the strategy through tactics. For example, if the practitioner has
chosen a social media strategy as the best way to achieve the public relations
objectives, then he or she needs to recommend a specific way to “flesh out”
that strategy. That tactic could be a Twitter campaign designed to involve
consumers in creating the next version of a product (e.g., creating a new
flavor potato chip flavor for Lay’s). Or, it could be a campaign designed to
get more “friends” on Facebook.

The last part of any public relations effort is measurement. The practitioner
needs to determine if the objectives were successfully met. There are
different levels of measure, starting with the easiest – and least valuable –
production. At this level, the practitioner is simply measuring what has been
produced: counting “communication assets.” Of course, your clients need to
know what has been produced for the money they have expended on public
relations. But that says nothing about the results of that production.

Increasingly, practitioners need to demonstrate results. Organizations need

to see a clear ROI (Return On Investment) for dollars spent on public
relations. At the lowest level of measuring results is “awareness.”
Practitioners can measure awareness through a variety of means. For
example, to measure whether the public relations for an event was
successful, the practitioner simply needs to count the number of attendees
(and possibly the media coverage in the aftermath).

The next level up is attitude change, which can be measured only if the
practitioner knows the current attitudes prior to the PR campaign. Depending
on the size of the target audience, that may require scientific survey
research, which can be expensive and beyond the skill set of most
practitioners.

The most valuable public relations efforts are those that change behaviors.
Most practitioners consider “behavior change” the gold standard of public
relations objectives. Ultimately, public relations objectives need to support
organization objectives. That means, public relations should motivate people

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to buy a product, use a service, adopt an idea, or vote for a candidate. These
are the kinds of results that make public relations essential for organizations.

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AJEEP 2012
Public Relations
Dr. Mathew Cabot
Lecture Four – Persuasion

At the heart of public relations is persuasion – the ability to gain public

support for a decision or course of action. It is critical for public relations
practitioners to understand how persuasion works, from theoretical and
practical perspectives.

Let’s begin with the practical, and then move on to the theoretical. When
public relations practitioners are trying to get a target audience to do or
believe something, not do something, or keep on doing something, they are
engaged in persuasion.

There are three components of persuasion: (1) the recipients of a message,

(2) the message itself, and (3) the source of that message.

When considering the recipients of the message, we need to answer three

questions (read the slide).

The answers to those questions will help us craft a message that resonates
with the target audience and accomplishes our communication objectives.

We then need to be clear, as we begin to craft the message, what is it

exactly we want our intended recipients to do with our message? Lack of
clarity at this point will prevent our message from being effective. At this
point, we should also consider how our message might be received by
unintended recipients. Why? Because proactive public relations is better
than reactive public relations.

Finally, after our message is crafted, we need to select the right source
(channel) to deliver the message. We need to choose a source that is most
credible with that particular audience. This is critically important. We may
have done our research well and crafted an effective message. But if it’s not
delivered by a credible source, the entire persuasive effort is likely to fail.

There are other reasons why persuasive campaigns fail – and succeed.
Persuasive rhetoric has been studied for thousands of years. The Greeks
made an art of it, and contemporary scholars have proposed scientific
theories of why people are motivated to do what they do.

One such scholar is Otto Lerbinger, who says there are five different
approaches to persuasion.

The first is called stimulus-response.

(Read the slide)

Next, is the cognitive approach.

(Read the slide)

Next, is the motivational approach.

(Read the slide)

Next, is the social approach.

(Read the slide)

Finally, there is the personality approach.

(Read the slide)

Regardless of what approach is used – and usually a combination of

approaches is most effective – there are some important things to remember
about the persuasive process.

(Read Key Points slide)

Public relations practitioners must also remember to keep ethics
prominently in mind when crafting a persuasive campaign. As practitioners
become more effective as persuaders, they need to be even more sensitive to
the ethical implications of their persuasive efforts. The tools of public
relations are value-neutral. In other words, there is nothing inherently good
or bad about the various communication tools practitioners use. It is the
purpose behind the tools that can be good or bad, noble or ignoble.

Therefore, we can talk about public relations campaigns being either

legitimate or illegitimate. A legitimate campaign uses the tools of persuasion
ethically; an illegitimate campaign does not. There are two fundamental
characteristics of a legitimate campaign.

The first characteristic of a legitimate campaign is free choice. Free choice

means that audiences are able to choose freely among several options.

(Read free choice slide)

The second characteristic of a legitimate public relations campaign is mutual

benefit. Both the communicator and the audience must emerge from the
transaction with some benefit. If the communicator benefits only, that’s not
persuasion; it’s manipulation.

Finally, there is a great deal of concern in some circles (primarily academic)

about the power of the “persuasion industry” to exert control over the
public. People who believe this have never worked with a public relations or
advertising firm to help them accomplish their objectives. In fact, the adage
in the public relations industry is that you don’t want to be your client’s first
public relations agency. That’s because their expectations are too high. They
believe you can waive your PR wand and magically get their stakeholders to
do anything they want.

Not so. Research and practical experience show there are many limitations
to persuasive communication efforts.
The first is selective attention. We simply cannot pay attention to all the
messages that we are exposed to every day. And with the social media and
smart phones, and other electronic devices, our attention is more divided
than ever. One PR agency has called this: “continuous partial attention.” So,
which messages do we pay attention to? Those that offer a clear answer to
the question: “What’s in it for me?”

The second limitation to persuasive communication is selection perception.

People interpret messages. We essentially see what we want to see. The
same message delivered to different people will be perceived differently.
The problem comes when you are trying to communicate a message that is
contrary to what people already believe. They will tend to interpret
differently than you intended.

The third limitation to persuasive communication is lack of message

penetration. Despite the practitioner’s best efforts, there is little to zero
chance that the message will reach all the intended recipients. In other
words, your persuasive communication efforts will be limited by the fact
that some people simply won’t get the message.

The final limitation is that even if your message reaches your intended
recipients, it won’t have their exclusive attention. As mentioned earlier,
your message will be competing with other messages, some of which may
directly contradict yours.

Combined, these factors present a formidable challenge to public relations

practitioners who – for the sake their clients and the audiences they’re trying
to reach – are engaged in persuasive communication.
 1  

AJEEP 2012
Public Relations
Dr. Mathew Cabot
Lecture Five – Finding & Generating News

One of the main tasks public relations professionals are hired to do is finding
and generating news. It is the heart of publicity. Most organizations are
interested in receiving positive media coverage. While the media is not
considered a primary public, they are considered a secondary public. In fact,
they are often called an intermediary public because they are the link
between the organization and the primary public (or stakeholder).

To find and generate news, public relations practitioners must first know
what news is. There are generally six characteristics of news (read the What
is News slide).

Consequence involves the idea of scope (how many people are affected) and
significance (to what degree). A story of major consequence may affect a
large number of people in a significant way (either positively or negatively).

Human interest simply means that: people are interested in other people. We
want to know how other people live – especially if they are celebrities.
Hence the popularity of magazines such as People.

Timeliness is one of the most important characteristics of news. News is

happening now. It’s been said that “nothing is older than yesterday’s news.”
But today, with the 24/7 news cycle, sometimes news feels old in print the
next day, when the previous day it was announced online.

Proximity means closeness. Stories are more impactful when there is a

“local angle.” The close the event/situation/issue is to where someone lives,
the move valuable the news is. In general, we want to know how the news is
going to affect us personally. So, even with international stories, local angles
are usually included.

Prominence means importance. When prominent people (celebrities,

politicians, etc.) and prominent companies (Apple, Google, etc.) do
something significant, it is news.
 2  

Newness means new. Novel products, ideas, services, and situations create
news. It’s what makes news…news.

In addition to understanding what makes news, public relations practitioners

need to understand the job of a journalist. Here are some questions to ask
yourself. (Read the Understanding Their Jobs slide).

Armed with this knowledge, our job is to make their job easier. How do you
do that? (Read Make Their Job Easier slide).

Good media relations begins with finding and generating real news. With an
understanding of what makes news, the practitioner can now begin to find it
and generate it. Where to look first?

The first place to look is inside the organization. The PR practitioner needs
to know everything they can about the organization. (Read Internal News
slide).

All of these areas have potential news stories. Begin with the organization’s
mission, goals and objectives. Why? Because every story you generate
should in some way support the organization’s mission, goals, and
objectives. If your job includes media relations, you must be constantly on
the look out for story ideas from inside your organization.

But you also need to look outside the organization for external sources of
news. That means paying attention to the news, being plugged in to your
online communities, and identifying trends and issues that may serve as
story ideas.

One general principle is “Action Generates News.” So, you can do

something that creates news. (Read Generating News slide).

Once you have found and/or generated news, you must let the media know.
One way is to send out a news release announcing your news. These are sent
out broadly to numerous media outlets simultaneously. The hope is that it
will be “picked up” by as many media outlets as possible. NOTE: It is
generally considered “bad form” to call journalists to find out if they
received the news release. That’s because they received hundreds of releases
every day.
 3  

Another way to get the word out to the media is to “pitch” the media. That
involves writing a targeted letter (or, more likely, an email) to a specific
reporter, editor, or producer. The purpose of your email pitch is to convince
the journalist to do a story on your product, service, issue, or event.

A good pitch has three phases (Read the first Pitch Letter slide).

The first phase is researching the publication or broadcast outlet. (Read

Researching the Publication slide).

Next, you prepare the pitch letter (or email). (Read the Preparing the Pitch
Letter slides).

Stephen Miller of the New York Times offers good advice to public relations
professionals on how to create the “perfect pitch.” (Read Perfect Pitch
slide).

Effective media relations is the function of being open and honest with the
media and building a reputation for supplying real news, not fluff.
 1  

AJEEP 2012
Public Relations
Dr. Mathew Cabot
Lecture Six – PR Trends

In this sixth and final lecture, we discuss the major trends in the public
relations field and look ahead to its future.

Unlike many other academic disciplines, public relations is changing

rapidly. That’s because the profession is affected by changes in technology,
media, and culture. Public relations is a people-focused profession.
Therefore, major changes in people’s lives – technological, socio-
economical, and political – bring changes in the ways public relations
professionals identify, build, and sustain relationships between organizations
and their stakeholders.

Here are some of the major changes and trends affecting the public relations
profession (read PR Trends slide).

(Internet slide) Let’s begin, then, with the Internet – one of the most
profound developments in the history of mass communication. The World
Wide Web has changed everything from the way we personally interact, to
the way commerce is conducted, to how nations govern.

One of the major public relations advantages of the Internet is that it allows
organizations to communicate directly with their stakeholders without media
gatekeepers. Before the Internet, organizations relied exclusively on
traditional media outlets to reach those stakeholders who were too large or
too difficult to reach through organizational media (e.g., brochures, flyers,
etc.). That meant the media was ultimately in control of the message – unless
it was purchased through advertising. Organizations can reach stakeholders
directly through their websites with unfiltered messages.

One of the other advantages of the Internet is the speed at which messages
may be disseminated. Organizations can spread their messages worldwide
within days – if not hours. For example, the KONY 2012 video, sponsored
by Invisible Children, has been viewed more than 100 million times –
making it the most watched “viral” video of all time.
 2  

The speed of message dissemination can also be a problem if the message is

negative or false. A lie can travel around the world faster than ever before. A
public relations practitioner can go to bed at night with everything fine, and
then wake the next morning to a public relations crisis.

In 2001, MIT student Jonah Peretti forwarded a customer service email

exchange with Nike to 10 of his friends, and soon it went “viral” (i.e., it
spread extraordinarily fast and was viewed worldwide). Suddenly, Nike had
a public relations issue.

All of this means that with the Internet, organizations have to manage their
reputations 24/7. A big part of this new ongoing reputation management is
being transparent (show Transparency slide). Stakeholders are expecting –
even demanding – that organizations show greater honesty and openness.
Stakeholders want to know about organizational policies, procedures,
standards and ethics.

If organizations want to develop mutually beneficial relationships with their

stakeholders, they will need to be more transparent. Also, while “spin” has
never been advocated by PR professionals, it has become increasing
counterproductive to long-term public relations goals.

Another trend in public relations is the need to demonstrate “performance

with purpose” (show Performance with Purpose slide). Stakeholders are
increasingly expecting businesses to be using their profits to “do good.” The
public has always – to some degree – believed that businesses should not
make a profit at the expense of the communities in which they operate. Also,
because of societal expectations, most big companies have traditionally
given to charities – either monetarily or by “lending” employees as
volunteers. But “performance with purpose” is different.

While the main goal of a business is to increase shareholder value, that’s no

longer enough. There’s a “new bottom line” that is pushing businesses
toward using their wealth, expertise, logistical expertise, etc., to help solve
societal problems. Even traditional concepts of capitalism are being
challenged by business people and academics who believe that “creating a
bigger pie” (as opposed to a “fairer” distribution of existing slices) is the
way to increase prosperity for everyone.
 3  

Michael Porter of Harvard Business School coined the term “shared value”
to describe this new form of capitalism that seeks to create wealth for the
entire “supply chain” (i.e., any entity involved in the creation and
distribution of a particular product or service). With this reinvented form of
capitalism, there is also much more cooperation between the private and
public sectors.

For public relations, “performance with purpose” has meant helping

organizations demonstrate their commitment to the communities in which
they operate through “evidence-based” strategies. These strategies highlight
the specific actions taken by the organization to support organizational
rhetoric. Businesses can no longer just say they’re doing good; they must
back it up with evidence.

One of the most important changes in public relations in the past five years
has been the rise of social media (show Social Media slide). Today, no
public relations program can afford to be without a social media strategy. It
has become the main way to interact with many key stakeholders. And it
changed the way public relations is performed. Now, instead of creating
periodic campaigns, organizations must engage in on-going conversations
with their stakeholders through social media.

The first step in a social media strategy is to listen. Organizations must listen
to what is being said about the company, the product, the service, the
industry – before talking. A good analogy is a party. If you go to a party
where you don’t know anyone, the best strategy is to join a conversation by
listening first. Once you get a feel for the conversation, and have a clear
understanding of the nature of the situation and the people involved, you can
begin to contribute.

Once an organization begins a social media strategy, it can’t stop. It needs to

continue to engage its publics through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter,
Pinterest, etc. That takes a lot of work and often requires one dedicated
social media professional. That person is sometimes called the “community
manager.” It’s his or her job to help the organization stay engaged online
with its stakeholders and help create compelling content that is designed to
“pull” stakeholders in (show Push vs. Pull slide). Contrast this with
traditional “push” strategies that “push” content to their stakeholders through
news releases, billboards, flyers, brochures, among other tactics.
 4  

The fact is, we are all in the content creation business now (show Content
Creation slide). We need to create compelling content that keeps our
stakeholders interested, engaged, and interacting with us. Compelling
content also has the opportunity to “go viral” significantly extending the
organization’s reach.

The last major trend in public relations is its global expansion (show Global
Expansion slide). While public relations began as a profession in the United
States, it is now truly a global phenomenon. In fact, the fastest growing
markets are in the BRIC countries.

Also, in the last 30 years, the world’s largest public relations and advertising
agencies have been purchased by one of five global communication
conglomerates (read the list from slide). These conglomerates have
subsidiary companies in every major business center in the world ensuring
total coverage of communication needs clients worldwide.