Public relations planning.This checklist is designed to help those with little or no background in public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most to begin to manage this area effectively within their organisation. It provides a model for developing a public relations plan that supports the organisation's overall aims and objectives and gives guidance on press and public relations activities. It is designed for use by managers in all types of organisations in the private, public and charitable sectors. Definition The Institute of Public Relations defines public relations practice as 'the discipline which looks after reputation with the aim of earning understanding and support, and influencing opinion and behaviour.' While media relations, to secure the right profile in the press, on radio and TV, is an integral part of public relations, it does not represent the whole picture. Public relations involves communicating the right messages about your organisation to all those audiences that might affect your business in positive or negative ways; media relations is just one way of communicating with many of those audiences. By using public relations, you can 'manage' your reputation rather than leaving it to chance. Advantages of public relations planning Effectively managing public relations can: influence opinion of the organisation and enhance corporate image create awareness of a product/service or brand leading to sales generate support for the organisation's work develop long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. business relationships improve staff recruitment and retention. Disadvantages of public relations planning There are no real disadvantages to public relations planning, but failure to manage public relations effectively can result in: misrepresentation misrepresentation In law, any false or misleading expression of fact, usually with the intent to deceive or defraud. It most commonly occurs in insurance and real-estate contracts. False advertising may also constitute misrepresentation. of an organisation's activities or products damage to corporate image boycotting of an organisation's operations lack of understanding of the organisation leading to missed opportunities loss of advantage to competitors Action checklist In order to develop a public relations plan, you need to look at the overall business aims and objectives of your organisation. The public relations objectives should support these and link to the overall business plan. 1. Define target audiences These will depend on the nature of your business, but are broadly defined as: * customers/clients--those who buy or use your products or services * the media--press, radio, TV (terrestrial Dealing with the earth. See terrestrial link. and satellite), Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the * internal groups--current and future employees, suppliers, distributors * community groups and pressure groups * government--central and local * investors, shareholders, potential sponsors. 2. Conduct research It can be valuable at this stage to undertake research among your customers or the groups you wish to influence to establish their current awareness and opinion of your organisation, product or service. This will reveal areas that you need to concentrate on, and can then act as a benchmark against which to measure your success in meeting your objectives. 3. Set public relations objectives Objectives show what you plan to do, while strategies and programmes describe how you plan to do it. Objectives should be realistic, measurable and with a time limit. For example, if your organisation has a marketing objective: to increase purchases of Product X by consumer group Y by 10% over the next 12 months, you could set a public relations objective: to improve awareness of the benefits of Product X among consumer group Y within the next 12 months. 4. Decide key messages Decide on the messages that you wish to get across to the different groups with which your organisation needs to communicate. Outline the concepts you wish to convey--precise wording and presentation can only be determined later when you have chosen your media. 5. Clarify resources It is important to establish the financial and human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. which are available to commit to public relations activity. Make a list covering budget, staff, time, equipment, IT, design and print facilities. Indicate which are in-house In-house In the context of general equities, keeping an activity within the firm. For example, rather than go to the marketplace and sell a security for a client to anyone, an attempt is made to find a buyer to complete the transaction with the firm. resources and which may need to be bought in, so that you are in a position to make choices about where to spend your budget. 6. Select a programme of activity The programme describes which activities will be used to achieve your objectives. It should include a timetable which could indicate, for example, phase I, II and III, or activity on a monthly, quarterly and yearly basis. The programme should clearly prioritise Verb 1. prioritise - assign a priority to; "we have too many things to do and must prioritize" prioritize grade, rate, rank, place, range, order - assign a rank or rating to; "how would you rank these students?"; "The restaurant is rated highly in the food the communication channels you have chosen. Below are examples of types of activity you might pursue. They are outlined under broad headings for ease of access, but some of these activities can often be used in your communications with different audiences, although they might emphasise different messages. For example, a briefing could be used for public affairs Those public information, command information, and community relations activities directed toward both the external and internal publics with interest in the Department of Defense. Also called PA. See also command information; community relations; public information. and lobbying, but it could also be used to communicate with potential sponsors, staff and community leaders. Media relations * Press releases/statements, articles, radio and TV interviews and discussions, press conferences and briefings, photocalls and photographs, press visits and press interviews (telephone, video link or face to face). Internal communications  This article's grammar usage needs improvement. Please edit this article in accordance with Wikipedia's .
* In-house newsletters, staff briefings and seminars, noticeboards, memos, briefing papers, training manuals, internal videos, open days, conferences, intranets and e-mails. Public affairs and lobbying * Briefing documents for MPs, submissions to Government, briefings/presentations to MPs, parliamentary committees and government ministers, parliamentary questions and tabling Early Day Motions. Events management * Exhibitions, conferences, talks, presentations, roadshows, staffing a stand or leading workshops at trade shows, competitions and awards. Community relations 1. The relationship between military and civilian communities. 2. Those public affairs programs that address issues of interest to the general public, business, academia, veterans, Service organizations, military-related associations, and other non-news media entities. * Familiarisation Noun 1. familiarisation - the experience of becoming familiar with something familiarization experience - the accumulation of knowledge or skill that results from direct participation in events or activities; "a man of experience"; "experience is the best visits, community projects, sponsorship of local charities, open days for community leaders and neighbours This article is about an Australian soap opera. For other articles with similar names, see Neighbours (disambiguation). Neighbours is a long-running Australian soap opera, which began its run in March 1985. , information videos, consultation and discussion groups. Investor relations Investor relations The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors. * Reports, accounts, AGMs, briefings and presentations, shareholder newspaper/magazine, corporate video. 7. Evaluate successes and failures By making your public relations objectives measurable you will be able to evaluate which activities have worked. Success can be measured in terms of 'output objectives'--for example, did you meet your original aim to release a given number of stories to the business media each quarter? However, measuring success by 'impact objectives' will be more valuable in the long-term--for example, did you succeed with your original aim of raising awareness Raising awareness is a common phrase advocacy groups use to justify a particular event, brochure or even the entire organization. Raising awareness refers to alerting the general public that a certain issue exists and should be approached the way the group desires. within a specific group and affecting its members' behaviour? This can be harder to measure, but results will provide more accurate performance indicators. Systems can also be put in place to measure, for example, the number of leads and sales generated by media coverage, or follow-up follow-up, n the process of monitoring the progress of a patient after a period of active treatment. follow-up subsequent. follow-up plan research can be used to establish changes in awareness and attitudes following a campaign. Useful reading Evaluating public relations: a best practice guide to public relations planning research and evaluation, Tom Watson and Paul Noble London: Kogan Page, 2005 How to measure and manage your corporate reputation, Terry Hannington Aldershot: Gower, 2004 Public relations in practice, 2nd ed, Anne Gregory London: Kogan Page, 2003 Winning reputations : how to be your own spin doctor, Chris Genasi Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002 Useful addresses Chartered Institute of Public Relations The Chartered Institute of Public Relations is the professional body for PR practitioners in the UK. Founded in February 1948 as the Institute of Public Relations, it today has over 9000 members involved in all aspects of the public relations industry, and is the largest body of . The Old Trading House, 15 Northburgh Street, London EC1V OPR OPR Operator OPR Office of Primary Responsibility OPR Operations OPR Operate OPR Office of Population Research (Princeton University) OPR Office of Professional Responsibility OPR Office of Planning and Research . Tel: 0207 253 5151 www.ipr.org.uk Public Relations Consultants Association. Willow willow, common name for some members of the Salicaceae, a family of deciduous trees and shrubs of worldwide distribution, especially abundant from north temperate to arctic areas. House, Willow Place, Victoria, London Victoria is an informal area of inner city London, lying wholly within the City of Westminster. The area is vaguely defined as the streets around, and named after Victoria Station, including Victoria Street (see below), the northern section of Buckingham Palace Road, Wilton SW1P 1JH. Tel: 0207 233 6026 www.prca.org.uk Chartered Institute of Marketing. Moor Hall, Cookham, Maidenhead Maidenhead, city (1991 pop. 59,809), Windsor and Maidenhead, S central England, on the Thames River. It is a residential town with brewing and milling industries as well as a resort. The 13th-century stone bridge was rebuilt in the 1770s. , Berkshire SL6 9QH. Tel: 01628 427500 www.cim.co.uk Thought starters * To whom are you talking? * What message do you want to communicate? * Why do you want to communicate it--what are the aims and objectives? * Which channels are you going to use? * When are you going to carry them out? * How much will it cost in resources? * How will you evaluate your success? |
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