Abstract: Representing XYZ Company as its Public Relations Director requires research into the organization itself, its environment and stakeholders, careful planning of goals and objectives that support the organization’s mission, and strategic communication to build lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with its stakeholders. This planning will allow for the evaluation of the public relations plan so to measure its worth against the bottom line.
I have been hired as the Public Relations Director for XYZ Company. “Many organizations…are making a move away from the term ‘public relations’ towards ‘corporate communications management’ in the naming of their restructured public relations and public affairs departments” (Oliver 1). I firmly agree with that move because the focus of my job as the Public Relations Director is to manage communication activities on behalf of the company in order to build and maintain relationships between XYZ Company and its publics. The following describes nine contributions that are made by a public relations department: Awareness and information, organizational motivation, issue anticipation, opportunity identification, crisis management, overcoming executive isolation, change agentry, social responsibility, and influencing public policy (3). These nine contributions all rely on communication, although they are meaningless without direction. My job will be to lead the strategy and action of the public relations team to ensure its goals have meaning. “Public relations should have a purpose within the organization. And this purpose should provide value for an organization” (2). In order to establish a new public relations program that will have purpose and provide value for XYZ Company, I will need to get acquainted with the company, set public relations goals and objectives that support the organization’s mission, and build relationships through strategic communication with its stakeholders. This method follows the basic steps of public relations which are easily remembered with the models RACE (research, action planning, communication, and evaluation) or ROPE (research, objectives, programming, and evaluation) (6). As the new Public Relations Director for XYZ Company, I will begin the public relations planning process by doing research, starting from within the company for which I have been hired.
To get acquainted with XYZ Company I need to research its background, current goals and objectives, and get to know its environment. I will accomplish this by reading about its history, reading its mission statement if there is one currently in existence, I will look at its annual reports, brochures, training manuals if any exist, policies that are currently in place, and talk to its employees at all organizational levels. This is why it is necessary to know one’s organization and its publics so that you may develop a plan that facilitates understanding and generates support from the organization’s publics. My next source of information on XYZ Company also comes from within the organization itself.
It is too often forgotten who a company’s greatest ambassadors are. They are the employees, the legs on which a company stands. “Engaged and loyal employees make a good company great. They improve your company’s reputation with the general public and help bring in top talent” (Ruder Finn Inc). Getting to know the organizational culture for which you represent is a valuable tool in determining the direction of your public relations plan. The employees of XYZ Company offer great insight into the organization’s strengths, and weaknesses leading my PR team to potential opportunities for improvement or advancement. Another resource in developing a public relations plan for XYZ Company is its communities.
Hearing stories and obtaining feedback from the community in which XYZ Company is located, as well as the communities it serves with its products, is another step in getting acquainted with the company. The community’s attitude toward, and interest in XYZ Company can be a determining factor in whether or not the organization continues to operate in that particular community, making it an essential part of public relations research. Because “Very small forces, sometimes individuals, can stop very big ideas and projects” and because “People without credentials [can] have enormous credibility” it is essential to know where the community stands with regard to XYZ Company (Cohn). Having thorough knowledge of XYZ as a business, its employees, and its community leaves me with one final area of research necessary before determining who the company’s stakeholders are and doing a SWOT analysis.
I will also collect information on XYZ’s competitors. Lain Maitland, author of the book Perfect PR, offers the following advice: “Do consider your rivals-this information can prove invaluable to you during your PR activities…Try to recognize their strengths and weaknesses so far as customers are concerned; and how you can use these to your advantage” (Maitland 9). Much can be learned with regard to one’s organization when they observe other organizations within the related industry. It is not only valuable to learn from their mistakes, but to know their weaknesses and your own so that you may emphasize your assets in your public relations efforts. Competitors may be evaluated with regard to their goods, services, location, facility they operate out of, marketing activities, advertising activities, and public relations tactics (Maitland). Researching competitors does not stop at the particular industry that XYZ Company is in; research must extend outside of its market as well. External influences must be determined, such as the current market, future markets, and regulatory organizations in order to foresee potential barriers, problems, and/or opportunities for the XYZ Company. Now that I have familiarized myself with the company I represent and its environment, as the Public Relations Director of XYZ Company, I can move onto determining who the stakeholders of my organization are.
An essential element of the public relations plan is determining who effects XYZ Company and who XYZ Company effects, these are its publics. My job requires me to “develop a consistent corporate message (and tone) that appropriately reflects the organization in the way that organization wishes to be reflected” (Oliver 15). This is not possible without a clear understanding of the organization itself, and its stakeholders. Consistent communication does not mean communicating the same message to all audiences, which is why it is not only necessary, but crucial to identify and classify XYZ Company’s stakeholders. “Public relations practitioners segment the general public into key publics with messages created to address their interests and concerns in communications styles appropriate to each particular public. The key is to make sure that each message, no matter the target audience, is both easily understood and engaging” (17). The stakeholders are among those people a public relations practitioner is responsible for building relationships with, making the gathering of information on them a crucial aspect of getting acquainted with XYZ Company as its new Public Relations Director. Examples of the type of information gathered on those publics are as follows: age, gender, income, consumer group, education level, and social typology. There are many variables a Public Relations director must consider with regard to whom a company will target on the long list of those qualifying as stakeholders.
Not all publics will hold an equal stake in the company. “A successful organization must continuously establish understanding and support for its products, services and positions among those publics important to its welfare. And you only get this by applying good public relations principles over time” (Cohn). It is important to consider not only who has a stake in the company, but why they hold a stake in the company and how strong of one they hold. “Knowledge of an organization’s publics as well as their stage of development can aid the public relation practitioner in developing the right strategies to build strong relationships…” (24-25). As the Public Relations Director of XYZ Company it is vital that I know who the organization’s publics are and whether they are latent, aware, active, and/or apathetic. Patricia Swann, in Cases in Public Relations Management, describes five types of publics in the following way; 1.) non publics, having no interest in an organization, 2.) latent publics, sharing a common interest with the organization, but unaware of what it is doing, 3.) aware publics, meaning the public shares a common interest and pays attention pays attention to the organization’s message, 4.) active, are publics who are interested and actively seeking information on their own, and lastly, 5.) an apathetic public, which is one that is aware, who knows what the organization does, but does nothing (24-25). These five ways of classifying XYZ’s publics will help me determine what strategies will be formulated for communicating with XYZ’s stakeholders. Target audiences can include anyone from the following: the media (print and/or broadcast), government, local community, customers, employees, suppliers, financial groups, owners, creative/artistic community, families, college students, sports enthusiasts, medical professionals, critics and pressure groups. As the Public Relations Director for XYZ Company I have to know who I need to target so that I may communicate a consistent message to them that is framed uniquely and will cater to each different audiences’ need and perceived level of understanding of XYZ Company.
The final step in getting acquainted with XYZ Company is to do a SWOT analysis on the organization. “By examining an organization, its environment, and publics based on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, a public relations practitioner will be able to develop goals and objectives that really matter” (22). It is important to analyze any existing trends that can be seen with regard to the company. This is accomplished by analyzing the products, and/or services offered by the organization as well as by analyzing future markets (22). Analyzing the organization’s environment allows a public relations practitioner to develop focus for the efforts of its departments. “Proactive public relations practitioners are constantly scanning their environment, listening to their publics, identifying issues of public concern, analyzing their organization’s actions, and seeking mutually beneficial solutions to problems” (27). This aspect of the job of a Public Relations Director is continuous and ongoing. Organizations are always changing and so is the environment that surrounds them, therefore, analyzing these areas of the organization must be performed frequently so that the aim of the public relations plan can be revisited when necessary and adjusted accordingly. Now that we have determined who we are, who our stakeholders are, and what we as an organization want to accomplish we are ready to set the goals and objectives of our public relations plan.
Setting the goals and objectives of a public relations plan is a complex task crucial to measuring its success. “The situation analysis, the directives of management (through corporate, business and marketing objective setting) and the needs of various departments within the organization combine to provide the basis for the PR department’s objectives” (Baines 107). Goals may include any of the following: increase attendance or awareness, reputation management, relationship management, increase acceptance or favorability, become a household name, obtain local community involvement in an activity, clarify information on a matter, achieving national or international acknowledgement, or broaden the appeal of a product or service. Regardless of what XYZ Company strives to achieve, its public relations program must not only include goals and objectives, but the tactics by which they will be completed, a budget, and a schedule for completing them. Specifying the “who” or target audience, the what, when, where, why, how and how much in a public relations plan helps ensure that the plan remains focused, purposeful, executable, and measurable. Without pre-determining these factors a plan’s effectiveness may waver.
Other factors that will influence the goals of XYZ Company are its mission statement, vision statement, and/or positioning statement, as they determine the direction of its goals. Developing a mission statement that includes the organization’s purpose and philosophy will help the goals remain on point. They are the foundation of an organization. As the managing Director of Public Relations for XYZ Company I will use the mission statement as my guide in representing the company. “Managers who manage strategically do so by balancing the mission of the organization-what it is, what it wants to be, and what it wants to do-with what the environment will allow or encourage it to do” (Grunig 119). Strategy is the name of the game; a public relations plan cannot be executed without direction, and a plan of attack. It is also necessary to evaluate the public relations plan, not only to ensure its effectiveness in reaching the goals and objectives that have been set in relation to the organization’s mission and current standing, but also to provide management with quantifiable results. To maintain the support of XYZ’s management, it is crucial to remember the need to be able to show where the results of the public relations effort fits into the bottom line. A PR program within an organization will find itself as strong as the relationships it builds for its company with the company’s stakeholders which is where strategic communication comes into play.
Now that we have determined who XYZ Company is, who its stakeholders are and how we will go about setting its goals and objectives we are ready to build relationships through strategic communication activities. Building and maintaining relationships and communicating on behalf of XYZ Company is the essence of representing XYZ Company as the Public Relations Director. These relationships can be categorized into five areas of communication in which strategies are implemented: Community Relations, Employee Relations, Consumer Relations, Media Relations, and Crisis Communications.
Community relations is essential for the success of XYZ Company. “There are some powerful relationship realities between various community groups and organizations…The citizens and groups that populate its geographic operating area are essential to its operation. The employees live in the community; they very likely grew up there. The company banks in the community. Municipal, county and state governments set the parameters by which the company can operate” and therefore the community deserves the attention and respect of the XYZ Company and it demands a great amount of care in communicating with it (Cohn). I want XYZ Company to be considered a socially responsible member of the community, a “good neighbor,” whether that means sponsoring events, doing pro-bono work or cause-related marketing. My plan will include research into and the monitoring of working conditions, compensation, hiring practices, as well as the economic and environmental impact XYZ Company has on the community. These efforts will be made purposefully, acting alongside the goals and objectives of XYZ Company and the determined need of the community.
A public relations practitioner is also responsible for employee relations. Developing organizational communication policies based on the organization’s goals, such as a code of ethics is an essential part of a quality and productive work environment. Policy documents and training materials are necessary for sending a consistent message and building organizational support around public relations goals. Helping to design and implement organizational change programs are also a necessary aspect of the job so that employees within the organization understand changes made and support those changes. Employees are the heart and soul of the organization that a public relations director represents and, therefore, need careful consideration and attention. This message, the importance of communications across the chain of command in an organization, is the job of the public relations team to send to management since management plays a significant role in influencing the organizational culture of XYZ Company. Public Relations is not limited to employees, the job of employee relations within an organization extends to top management as well. Now, to discuss a more obvious target for the communication activities of XYZ’s public relations team, we will examine consumer relations.
Consumer relations is not only necessary when an organization needs to obtain feedback, resolve a conflict, or to target different types of consumers (since not all buyers buy for the same reason), but to build mutually beneficial, lasting relationships between the organization and the consumer. “By paying attention to consumers’ needs and concerns, organizations can develop a long-term relationship resulting in repeat patronage and valuable word-of-mouth endorsements from the consumer sphere of influence” (152). Consumer relations does not stop after the service or purchase . Obtaining feedback from the consumer on the level of satisfaction created by a service or product is invaluable to a company’s success as well. This knowledge would prompt me as the Director of Public Relations at XYZ Company to utilize the web, online reviews, satisfaction surveys, toll free numbers, or customer service representatives in order to seek out responses from consumers after their purchase. Knowing their wants, needs, and concerns can also help you make adjustments to a product or service, or alter how a product or service is marketed to the public. This is a good reminder that as the Public Relations Director of XYZ Company I am not only working with my public relations department, but also with the marketing department and human resources to ensure a consistent message is delivered to XYZ’s publics, and to ensure the organization’s departments compliment each other in their efforts on behalf of XYZ.
Media relations is another method I would utilize to send messages to XYZ Company’s publics. “Media relations efforts involve product mentions in the news media to raise awareness. Public relations practitioners pitch the product to reporters or editors with a news release/media kit or through personal contact…” (153 ). I will be careful to remember that communicating with the media is not limited to submitting suggestions for stories to journalists and editors. It is a working relationship that requires care, where trust and mutual respect must be established to maximize one’s media relations potential. It is not as important how many stories are published or broadcasted. It matters who they are published by or broadcasted to and how they will be received by their audiences. A media must be chosen specifically for who they reach with their messages and how they will send them. If a story is not read by the target audience of XYZ or it is not put across in the desired light then it may in fact do more harm then good.
Crisis communication encompasses all communication with all stakeholders in the event of a crisis. As the Public Relations Director for XYZ Company I am responsible for identifying, prioritizing, coordinating, and managing communication activities during a crisis, putting the public first. This includes preventative measures such as setting safety guidelines for products, asking what-if questions, conducting risk assessments, environmental scanning, the crafting of potential crisis scenarios, analyzing the nature of potential crisis, planning a response strategy, being accessible during a crisis, as well as assigning roles and responsibilities to those who would be involved in crisis management, and preparing assigned speakers or spokespersons to be the voice of the organization during the crisis. “Careful thought must be put into the selection of the words and actions taken to address the crisis…an improper response will only compound the damage created by a crisis” (Ledingham 85). To avoid further damage during a crisis situation, I, as the Public Relations Director for XYZ, would not only plan for potential crisis, but rehearse the execution of crisis response to ensure its efficiency, as well as make sure the plan is revised over time to ensure the longevity of its effectiveness.
Public relations for XYZ Company begins with a philosophy, a purpose and/or mission. That mission is then translated into goals and objectives. The goals and objectives are set to not only provide direction but to make the results of the public relations plan measurable. To assist in measuring the effectiveness of goals and objectives as well as to stay on track in accomplishing them, they are detailed by the tactics that will be used to accomplish them, a budget, and timeframe with which to complete them. The tactics are geared toward targeting the specific audiences or publics that were predetermined to be significant to the company’s objective. XYZ’s publics are targeted through strategic communication tactics so that the image of XYZ, reputation, and relationships are built on trust, are strong, consistent, and will have longevity. All of this is done with careful consideration to the environment and community with which the business of XYZ is taking place. As the Public Relations Director of XYZ Company I will revisit plans in order to ensure their effectiveness and validity over time. Proactive public relations calls for constant monitoring of the environment, the active pursuit of feedback from stakeholders, active listening, and opinion soliciting to anticipate problems and opportunities for XYZ Company.
References
Baines, Paul, Egan, John, & Jefkins, Frank. (2004). Public relations. Butterworth- Heinemann.
Cohn, M. (n.d.). The Importance of community relations. Retrieved from http://www.evancarmichael.com/Public-Relations/216/The-Importance-of- Community- Relations.html
Grunig, James. (1992). Excellence in public relations and communication management. Lawrence Erlbaum.
Grunig, James. (1992). Excellence in public relations and communication management. Lawrence Erlbaum.
Ledingham, John, & Bruning, Stephen. (2001). Public relations as relationship management. Lawrence Erlbaum.
Oliver, Sandra, Thomson, Stuart, & John, Steve. (2007). Public affairs in practice. Kogan Page Ltd.
Maitland, Iain. (1998). Perfect PR. The Book review. Thomson Learning Emea.
Ruder Finn Inc. (2009). Employee relations. Retrieved from http://www.ruderfinn.com/corporate-public-trust/employee-relations.html
Swann, Patricia. (2008). Cases in Public Relations Management. New York: McGrawHill.
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