Week ten's readings

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were how research is an integral part of PR. It is used to identify the requirements for a communication program, to assist in establishing that program, to monitor progress and to evaluate the effectiveness.

Information gathered during the initial stages of research provides the input into the planning of a communication program. On the other hand, research during the development and implementation stages of a strategy contributes to effective outputs. Research at the end of a PR plan provides insight into the outcomes of the entire plan.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that while a properly researched program can be more cost-effective in the long run, organisations usually see it in terms of the short-term expense, and hence, choosing not to undertake the research which is often detrimental to the entire PR plan.

Time, money and the availability of human resources are 3 of the main reasons why organisations choose not to invest in research in their PR plans. Research can be a costly part of any program and to make matters worse, those allocating the budget do not always understand its value.

Week nine's readings

As discussed in week four’s readings, a well-plan and executed strategic PR plan can help an organisation achieve its various goals.

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were the key differences between strategy and tactics and what is it that links the two together. Strategy is the overall plan that allows the PR practitioner to ensure that organisational goals and objectives are achieved. It determines the type of PR campaign that will be eventually employed. Once the practitioner has decided on the strategy and direction of the PR campaign, the tactics can then be made. Every tactic must be in sync with the overall strategic objectives. The strategy is the masterplan that is to achieve an organisation’s goals, while the tactics are the technical aspects of the masterplan.

Tactics can be broken up into 2 major groups: controlled and uncontrolled. Controlled tactics are those which the PR practitioner maintains control of every aspect of the process. Examples would be annual reports, advertising and brochures. On the other hand, uncontrolled tactics are those that can be altered or even blocked completely. An example would be media relations.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that while many PR campaigns today employ a wide range of different tactics, a successful PR campaign need not necessarily have to use multiple tactics.

Week eight's readings

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were that sponsorship is popular with many organizations because it generates goodwill and provides opportunities to enhance the image and reputation of the organisation by association.
Also, sponsorship provides a focal point for sales and marketing efforts, offers product brands high visibility to potential customers and generate media coverage for the sponsoring organisation.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that both corporate sponsorship and marketing sponsorship are very relevant in today’s society.

We see them everywhere. Big sporting brands like Nike and Adidas are sponsoring some of the world’s biggest athletes today. Such marketing sponsorships help boost the brand’s image and appeal and this in turn leads to increased revenue.

Large events like the Olympics draw a large number of sponsors. This is not surprising as the viewership of such sporting events can easily run into the billions. The Oakland Tribune reported that Coca-Cola was one of the 11 companies that paid a whopping $55 million each to be sponsors of the US Olympic teams.

Corporate sponsorships are also very popular amongst the big companies. Examples would include the recent HSBC Women’s Champions and the Aviva Open Singapore. Such corporate sponsorships help link the sponsoring organisation to a popular or high-profile event, and this in turn would help boost the profile of the organisation.

Week seven's readings

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were that the relationship between PR practitioners and journalists is a mutually beneficial one. Journalists need PR practitioners to help set, build and frame new agendas while PR practitioners rely on journalists’ new coverage to get their organisation’s message out to the masses.

Having read the readings, I have to say I am indeed surprised that there are certain journalists out there who view PR practitioners with such disdain and mistrust. The readings talk about how some journalists complain of practitioners’ lack of news sense and values, accuracy, timeliness, and style of presentation. Others complain about the poor quality of writing.

Granted, PR practitioners who lack ethics or provide inaccurate information don’t deserve to be defended, but other than that, I feel that journalists ought to give PR practitioners a break, as after all, both are professionals, and the only difference is that they are working for different causes.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that although the relationship between PR practitioners and journalists may be a two-way one, in reality, this might not be the case all the time.

Week six's readings

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were how the relationship between the media and public relations is two-way, that just as PR provides information to the media, the media too provides information to PR. This is done through media monitoring, that is reading, watching and listening to the media every day.

Media monitoring, as simple as it is, has turned out to be good business for some companies. Professional media monitoring companies such as Media Monitors and Rehame are hired to clip print stories and monitor broadcast stories for their clients.

The PR practitioner uses a variety of tools to communicate with the media, usually through a media release or media conference. A media release, also called a news or press release, is a statement released from an organisation. A media conference, is a news or press conference to give all media access to the news at once, and to allow journalists to ask follow-up questions. A recent example is the Edison Chen media conference where he made his public apology.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that media relations will always remain an integral part of public relations, and how its impact and power should never be underestimated.

Week five's readings

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were how public relations decisions are to be made in the context of the ‘legal environment’. It is important to note that tension exists between the legal and PR’s response to crises. Hoger and Swen (2000:3) categorise these differences into four areas: understanding of time and timing; traditions and strategies; audience relationships; and approaches to message construction.

With this in mind, it is important that PR practitioners take an active role in assessing and responding to legal risks. They must negotiate with lawyers on the strategies employed to minimise harm so that public relations outcomes will not be compromised.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that ethical dilemmas for the PR practitioner can come in different forms namely, interpersonal, organisational, or stakeholder. An ethical dilemma exists when a practitioner is faced with having to make choices which may be equally justified.

An interpersonal ethical dilemma is one that occurs between a practitioner and peers or superior in the workplace. An organisation ethical dilemma is one that occurs between a practitioner and an organisation’s internal policies and protocols. Lastly, a stakeholder ethical dilemma is one that arise between an organisation and its publics.

Week four's readings

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were how a good strategic PR plan can help an organisation achieve its goals and the reasons why almost every organisation has vision and mission statements.

After reading this week’s readings, I’ve come to realise that strategic public relations is highly valued by many of the top bosses today. They are beginning to see how it can help to add value to their organisation. It is also interesting to note that PR tends to be more highly valued than the typical department in an organisation.

Strategy and planning very much go hand-in-hand. To come up with a good strategic PR plan, careful and thoughtful planning is needed. Also, it will help very much if the PR practitioner spearing the PR campaign is in a strategic management role. This is so that he/she has the influence to shape and develop the PR plan.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that although KPIs are useful indicators to gauge an organisation’s operational performance, they are not so useful when it comes to strategic PR plans as most PR work is qualitative, and not quantitative.

Week three's readings

This week’s readings were rather interesting as it made me see PR in a different light, that not only are external public relations important, internal public relations and community relations are just as important as well, from a organisation’s point of view.

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were how good internal and community relations can help contribute to an organisation’s success. All organizations depend on its people, its employees, to work as a team to help the company grow/make money/progress. Its been said that people are an organisation’s most valuable resource. This is very true. It is the people in the organisation that makes or breaks it.

Disgruntled and unhappy employees can hurt a company in the long run, and one way to keep employees happy besides paying and treating them well is to show them that they are valued. The way to do this is to ensure that they are in the know with regards to all the latest developments and issues that are surrounding the company by keeping them in the loop. If employees understand the big picture and the role that they play, they are more likely to support their organisation’s goals. Organisations too, need to maintain good relations with their communities. Good community relations can help an organisation avoid unnecessary conflicts that may arise.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that sometimes community relations are forged not because a company is concerned about the well being of that community, but purely for compliance reasons.

Week two's readings

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were Grunig and Hunt’s ‘four models’ approach, namely the press agentry, public information, two-way asymmetric and two-way symmetric models.

Press agentry model is concerned with generating publicity for the organisation. This model is associated with explicit publicity-seeking stunts, and practitioners would do almost anything to get attention for their organisation. An example of the press agentry model would be part-timers hired by Telecommunications giant StarHub to walk up and down Orchard Road in Singapore, wearing a banner that displays information of a new promotional mobile plan for students.

The public information model’s purpose is to accurately disseminate information, and this is done in a one-way direction on behalf of the organisation. Information from the organisation is objectively reported to the public. An example would be the news release from a ticket promoter having to cancel a show at the last minute due to certain unforeseen circumstances.

The two-way asymmetric model is two-way PR work that is very much concerned with getting the organisation’s message out to the public, rather than responding to replies from the public. The two-way symmetric model on the other hand, is one where the targetted publics benefit as much as the organisation itself.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that most organizations in the world today operate using the two-way asymmetric model, as well as the reasons behind as to why the two-way symmetric model is unrealistic for organisations to adopt.

Week one's readings

This week’s readings taught me new things about PR that I would never have known had I not gone through the readings. Well, first and foremost, I’ve learnt that PR is about the “management of communication between an organization and publics”, according to Grunig and Hunt (1984). Prior to taking up this course, I’ve always thought that PR was just about corporate communications, and nothing more.

And publics, that’s an interesting word that I’ve never come across, until now. I’ve learnt that publics are the groups of people who share the same interests or concerns as an organisation, and they can be either active or latent/passive. The readings also talk about the two primary roles of the PR practitioner, namely the technician and the problem solver/manager.

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were the different functions of a PR practitioner, and why PR is absolutely essential in today’s corporate world.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that PR and marketing are different disciplines that actually overlap each other. I studied marketing previously and it was only having read the readings did I realise how closely related the two disciplines are.

Yet to have a text

I have yet to buy the text and thus, not done any readings yet. Will buy the text asap and get to the readings soon.