BASICS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

UNIT 2
BA(JMC) SEMESTER IV
204
MS. SALONI SAINI
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
JMC DEPARTMENT
MERI COLLEGE
PR AGENCY- TOOLS & TECHNIQUES
1. PR AGENCY: CONCEPT, STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS
• Public relations describes the relationship that a business has with its
audience and with its publics at large. This means the company’s
visibility - do people know about it, is it a household name – but also the
reputation, goodwill and perception.

• For small businesses, the challenge is getting media to cover them and to
spread the word about their offerings. While, big companies will often
find that their reputation takes on a life of their own, as the media
discusses every aspect of their business, they can struggle to keep control
of the way they’re being presented. In both scenarios, this is where a
public relations agency comes in.
CONCEPT

• These companies are tasked with helping the company to both get
word out and also make sure that the message has been
meticulously crafted.

• PR agencies, as opposed to advertising agencies, promote

companies or individuals via editorial coverage. This is known as
"earned" or "free" media -- stories appearing on websites,
newspapers, magazines and TV programs -- as compared to "paid
media" or advertisements.
• A good agency is a strategic partner which helps clients conversate
successfully with their audiences.

• PR agencies will first try to understand what a client wants to get

out of the collaboration.

• PR can be about changing negative perceptions, telling potential

customers about a new product or service and demonstrating that the
client company is trustworthy and one to do business with. The goal of
successful PR is to build long-standing positive rapport with the people
who matter, including customers, employees, investors and the public
at-large.
• The PR agency works with clients to create a communication plan.
The plan may consider competitive advantage, position in the
market, challenges faced by the client, a PR strategy, timings,
measurement and tactics/methods and tools.

• There are a number of tactics that a PR agency uses. The most

common is media relations. The PR agency will work with a client to
create content, from press releases, articles, research, case studies,
blogs, SEO and social media posts. With this content, PR agencies
will target media/ bloggers by pitching them and offering
information for a story. The content can of course be used by sales
teams and on the client’s website too.
• A public relations firm is independent from the client and provides a
third-party perspective on the client’s business, goods or services.

• PR agencies and advertising agencies share the same goals:

promoting clients and making them seem as successful, honest,
important, exciting or relevant as possible. But the paths to creating
awareness are vastly different. Most people understand advertising
is paid for by the client and should be viewed with skepticism.
Articles or TV appearances in respected publications have the
advantage of third-party validation and are generally viewed more
favorably.
STRUCTURE

• The PR team is responsible for turning company actions into positive

press. For example, imagine a company has plans to expand into a
new facility. When releasing a press statement about it, the PR team
would be sure to include facts such as how many jobs will be created
by the project, how environmentally friendly the facility might be and
the exciting new opportunities that this will add to the business.

• Most PR teams consist of a collection of executive-level leaders who

set policy and a hierarchy beneath to create and distribute content.
• Executives: The executive level is led by a President, Vice- President,
Director, Chief Officer or Manager of Public Relations. In larger
companies, there may be general or branch executive managers
below this level. The executive level is responsible for the reputation
of the brand, the overall public statements and/or targets and the
strategic policies that will be executed within the department.

• Middle Management: There’s often a layer of middle management,

whose responsibilities include individual areas of communication.
They head departments like Internal Communications, Public Affairs
or Public Information. This level is responsible for ensuring the
output of their departments supports the strategies set in place by
executives.
• Individual Contributors: These are the people who work to create
content and programs that will communicate positive messages
about the company to the general public. These roles include PR
Analysts, Technical Writers, Social Media Specialists and other public
relations goals. They craft the material that is used in conferences
and releases.

• It’s important that the entire department stays on the same page,
because conflicting messages can do damage to public opinion. A
unified effort is the best way to go about a public relations approach;
there are different kinds of PR, but they all need to be able to
represent the same executive message.
FUNCTIONS

• Public Relations is related to setting up the relationship among the

two groups.

• It is the art or science of developing mutual understanding and

organization's goodwill.

• It examines the attitude, public perception and identifies the

organization policy with public interest. It then executes the
activities for communicating with public.

• It is a planned effort or management function.

• Builds relationship between the organization and its publics.

• Assess public attitudes and their opinions.

• An organization's policies, procedures and actions as they corelate to

organization's publics.

• Steps taken to ensure that said procedures, policies and actions are
socially responsible and in the public interest.

• Building rapport and goodwill along with mutual understanding and

acceptance as the end result by public relations activities.
The following are the functions of PR:

• 1. Creating goodwill: goodwill of an organization is essential to

perform well, expansion of the market and to create positive attitude
towards the services and products.

• 2. Project better image: better image generates positive attitude.

Corporate ads, logos, emblems or signs are means through which we
identify an organization.

• 3. Creating mutual understanding: this includes understanding the

needs and necessities of the public and sorting out areas of mutual
understanding to establish trust, credibility and positive image.
• Relations with various publics: it includes wide spectrum of internal
and external public. It involves understanding the attitudes of the
public, finding out their expectations and fulfilling it because all the
segments of the publics are important for the organization.

• 5. Creating PR messages: these messages are created to reach the

publics effectively and to bring about changes in their attitudes and
opinions which is positive for the organization.

• 6. Relation and use of media and other tools: in order to generate

goodwill and create positive image various mediums are used to
reach the public. The messages are designed keeping the key public
in mind.
A Public Relations Departments perform the following functions:
• 1. Press relations: A PR department performs the function of
Creation and dissemination of information to Press. This is known as
publicity.

• 2. Product Publicity: The product information presented in the ‘Paid

space‘ of media is read or heard by a company’s customers or
prospects. The department publicizes the product through
sponsoring efforts.

• 3. Corporate communication: PR Departments promote the

understanding of the company and its products and services. For
this purpose, they undertake external and internal communication.
4. Lobbying: Lobbying means dealing with legislators and government
officials to promote or defeat unfavorable legislation and regulation.
Professional lobbyists are employed in order to influence the key
decisions of the government affecting company’s prospects.

5. Counseling: Public Relations departments advise the top management

on matters related to public issues. This also includes advising the
company in the event of product mishap.

6. In-house journals: Service organizations such as health care, holistic

healing, corporate, education etc., publicize their own magazines which
are circulated among customers. Apart from in-house journals,
companies publish annual reports, brochures, articles, newsletters etc.
7. Special events: PR Departments help organizations attract media
attention by arranging newsworthy organizations. These special
events are the backbone of service marketers.

8. Public service activities: PR Departments help companies build

goodwill by contributing money and time to good causes. Large
corporate ask executives to support community affairs.

9. Anticipating, scrutinizing and interpreting attitudes, public opinion

and issues which may affect for good or bad operations and plans of
the company.
2. MEDIA RELATIONS: MULTI-MEDIA RELEASE (PRESS,
AUDIO, VIDEO AND SOCIAL MEDIA), PRESS CONFERENCE,
PRESS KIT, PRESS BRIEFINGS AND FAMILIARIZING TOURS
• Media relations is all about being responsive, honest, helpful, organized
and articulate or communicative with media both in good and bad times.

• Whenever you sit down to develop news story for press be it developing
story idea or responding to any media inquiry make sure you have
clarity of the message you want to convey to media.

• When dealing with the negative story PRO must ensure that he has
enough information to explain and defend the organization in first go.
MULTI-MEDIA RELEASE

PRESS
• A news release is often also called a press release. It is a very
important component to PR and to obtaining publicity. A news
release can announce information about your organization or
project such as reaching milestones, successes, new partnerships,
events or provide other pieces of news to the media.

• The word Press should not be limited to press. It covers variety of

news media such as radio, TV & cinema.
• The goal of press relations is to ‘build understanding & knowledge’.

• All press material that is printed or given to the journalist should

be of value & interest of the readers, listeners or viewers. The
material is likely to be utilized and the resultant publicity will
eventually satisfy the client or employer.

• Releases should be composed in the style which will be acceptable

by journalists.

• The simplest way to write a news release is to study newspaper

reports and observe how they are written.
AUDIO

• Audio News Release/ Radio News Release (RNR), is by definition a

30 or 60 seconds produced audio news or feature segment about
your product, service, company or brand, that is distributed to
radio stations and networks. The most effective ANRs are concise,
focused messages with compelling news.

• Usually, the recorded news releases feature voices of the

organization’s spokesperson or representative.
• By sending out PR-focused, broadcast-quality video and audio
news releases with your written press releases, you can provide
journalists ready-to-use content and significantly increase the
chances of getting your message heard.

• Leading organizations often include audio messages in their PR

toolbox that can also include social media promotions, blog posts
and videos
VIDEO

• A VNR is a Video News Release which is basically a press release in

the form of video and audio (AV), that is given to television
newsrooms/ shows/ movies for them to use and edit as they see fit.

• A video news release can give your organization a distinct

advantage over a written formal press release. It will give a visual
and audio guide to your story rather than a written description.

• Producing a good video news release is based on releasing to the

media what they will want to know, which is the facts.
• A video news release should include the following:

1. Interviews/ bytes with/of the principal people involved

2. Plenty of video sequences showing your story.
3. What are the benefits.
4. Remember : who, where, what, why and when.
5. Interviews with the workforce
6. Vox pops ( what does the public think )
7. Radio / audio interviews
8. Show the product in use / reveal the benefits
SOCIAL MEDIA

• A press release written for the online media with active hyperlinks,
keywords, social media attachments is online press/news release.

• Writing SEO-friendly press release always starts from the

fundamental of SEO – choosing your keywords.

• You need to aim for the keywords that people will search for
regularly. Then, you can rank your content for that particular
keyword.
• Social media press releases online, rather than inside a pitch email.
This means that journalists and other influencers can:
1. Find your press releases via a simple Google search
2. Link to them
3. Share them on social media

• The resulting bump in views is far from trivial. In fact, two-thirds

of traffic to social media press releases comes from social media
and search.

• Press releases with multimedia get up to 9.7 times as many views

as text alone.
PRESS CONFERENCE

• A news conference or press conference is a media event in which

newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and, most often,
ask questions.

• It is generally used to disseminate news simultaneously to all

media, provided the subject is newsworthy.

• It is usually reserved for crisis situation, product launch or

significant event to attract the reporters from far and wide.
• Consider the following carefully before holding a press conference:

1. The PR person himself should never address a press conference. It

should ideally be the head of the organization or a department.
2. Prepare a press kit or media kit which must contain a press
backgrounder, a news release or releases, pictures, literature about
the organization, a writing pad and a pen or pencil.
3. Make a list of invitees from media carefully. The list should
comprise those who cover your organization.
4. Decide a venue which is suitable for media persons to reach.
5. Make arrangements for the transport of media persons
6. Decide on timing. It should neither be too early nor too late in the day.
The conference should end at such a time that media persons are able to
get back to their place of work to file the story on time.
7. Arrange hospitality. In fact, as PR person, one should control the press
conference from start to finish. After the chief spokesperson and
the media persons have taken their seats, give your self-introduction and
introduce the spokesperson who will be addressing the conference.
8. After a brief address by the spokesperson on the subject matter, it
is thrown open to media persons to ask questions. Set a time frame for
the press conference to continue.
9. Establish a personal rapport with media persons. Press conference
shouldn’t be the only chance or occasion when you
meet the press.
PRESS KIT

• A press kit, often referred to as a media kit, is a pre-packaged set of

promotional materials that provide information about a person,
company, organization or cause and which is distributed to
members of the media for promotional use.

• There's no rule book on creating press kits that say what

components you must include. Your press kits will vary based on
what you're using PR to promote, and the type of venue where
you'll be distributing your press kit.
• Ideally it must contain a press backgrounder, a news release or
releases, pictures, literature about the organization, a writing pad and
a pen or pencil.

• The main press kit components you'll want to consider are:

1. The Press Release

2. A Brief Letter/Table of Contents
3. A Brochure
4. Product Sample
5. Past Press Coverage
6. A Fact Sheet
7. Company Background
8. Executive Bios
9. A Quote Sheet and FAQ
10. Hi-Resolution Images
11. CDs, DVDs, Flash Drives, Software, and Video

• The best press kits make it really easy for reporters to quickly learn
about the product and brand, and access photos and marketing
materials they can use.

• A press kit isn’t strictly for reporters or major publications, either.

Anyone who wants to talk about or promote your business has the
tools they need to do it effectively.
PRESS BRIEFINGS

• Press briefings are different from press conference as they do not

require elaborate arrangements. It is both proactive and reactive.
Proactive because certain clarification or point of view is required
to be given after crisis situation and few media persons are invited.
A written statement is also handed over to avoid misquotation.

• In case of reactive press briefings, the press seeks an audience with

the chief spokesperson for seeking certain clarifications or to have
their point of view before filing the story.
FAMILIARIZING TOURS

• In a press tour or facility visit, much of the exercise is similar to

organizing a press conference. More elaborate arrangements are,
however, required to be made as it may involve transporting the
press party to long distances.

• The occasion could be a landmark achieved the commissioning of a

project, or a crisis situation like an accident.

• While inviting a reporter to join your press tour, it is always

advisable to write to the editors or bureau chiefs of different media
organizations.
• As PRO one should give detailed consideration to following before
organizing press tours:

1. List of media persons

2. Make suitable travel arrangements
3. Appropriate accommodation at site
4. Organize brief press party at site
5. Give background information
6. Arrange appropriate hospitality
3. TOOLS & TECHNIQUES FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS: HOUSE
JOURNALS, BULLETIN BOARDS, VISIT BY MANAGEMENT,
OPEN HOUSE AND ANNUAL REPORTS, EXHIBITIONS
HOUSE JOURNALS

• Many organizations such as hospitals, health care, education etc.,

publicize their own magazines which are circulated among various
publics. The role of PR Departments in developing house journals is
significant.

• Through the medium of house journals, we can reach both internal and
external publics.
• Known by various nomenclatures as news bulletin, news magazine,
employee newsletter, house journal or magazine is a means of
reaching a particular set of publics, with certain written material, at a
particular periodicity.

• A house journal mirrors the entire philosophy of the organization.

House journal is a publication of the organization for internal
circulation and is made a platform for its employees to:
1. Ventilate the views of the employees
2. Highlight their suggestions
3. Publish about the talents among the employees
4. Facilitate two way communication among the authority and the
employees
BULLETIN BOARDS

• Public relations staff often use Bulletin Boards to announce new

equipment, meetings, promotions, new products, construction
plants, and recreation news to employees.

• Several times many organizations, publish important Notices,

orders, for the employees of organizations on a significant board,
this is called Bulletin Board.
VISIT BY MANAGEMENT

• Companies which have their projects at many locations must

ensure that their managements from the headquarters visit the
various units and speak to employees so that they do not have the
feeling of remoteness.

• Such visits inculcate a feeling of oneness amongst various setups

of the parent firm, motivates and encourages the employees, and
acts as a positive reinforcement.

• It eliminates hierarchical communication barriers.

OPEN HOUSE/DAY

• An ‘Open House/Day’ is an important tool to build rapport with

the community/neighborhood where the factory/ plant is located.

• It is also a traditional way of building up pride and morale among

the employees and their families.

• The PR Department organizes visits of employees’ families and of

the community at large to the plant to see the product
manufacturing and other facets of a plant on a few days in a year
which are described as ‘open days’. Such visits are accompanied
by hospitality of the plant owners.
• Open houses and tours of the plant should be geared to a wide
range of audiences, from plant neighbors to elected
representatives to parliament, legislative assemblies share holders
and special interest groups.

• EXAMPLE- The Delhi Milk scheme, when it was set up, organized
open houses for school children. The children were treated to
flavored milk on their visits. Similarly, Coca Cola organized such
visits. The visitors were also given mementoes of bottle openers or
trays with “Coca Cola” logo imprinted on them.
EXHIBITIONS

• Through exhibitions and related special events and open houses,

we can attract people to appreciate our activities.

• Multimedia content can be used for communicating with a variety

of publics like employees, shareholders, specially invited
audiences or the general public during exhibitions, etc.

• Exhibitions are not just a public relations medium, but a tool if

used to create awareness, enhance reputation as well as to sell
products/services.
• Exhibitions, although expensive, are among the most effective
ways of communicating with the public.

• People visit exhibitions for three basic reasons. First, to be

entertained, second, to find out how a new product or service
actually works and last, attendance could mean that a business
transaction might be agreed upon between the two parties.

• The public relations practitioner plays a vital role in all of this. He

needs to convey his company's image positively to the visitors, and
promote any product or service the organisation offers, without
forcing anyone to buy the product or service.
• The effort of the public relations practitioner should be three-
fold:

1. Inform prospective clients of the exhibition before and during

the show
2. Obtain positive media coverage for the organization, and
3. Achieve follow-up coverage and feedback after the exhibition
has taken place.
4. USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA AND EMERGING TRENDS IN PR

• Public Relations has trespassed the traditional boundaries of interacting

with the press through news releases and media interactions. These
aspects still form a major part of creating visibility and a solid
reputation for the brand.

• But in the age of digital media, PR goes beyond this and encompasses
digital marketing services as well. SEO services, marketing tactics and
refine online campaigns aggressively for the most widespread reach and
engagement.
• Digital media is defined as digitized content that can be
transferred through the internet, computer networks and various
electronic devices. This includes websites, digital images, video
and audio, as well as video games and social media.

• Instead of turning on cable TV, the younger generation prefers to

watch Netflix and Youtube. Instead of reading a newspaper, youth
prefer to use their phones and read online articles and share
Facebook posts.

• It is now becoming increasingly important for traditional media

companies to become digitally relevant on social media in order to
reach out to a younger demographic.
• Building relationships and securing placements are at the forefront
of this digital arm, however, digital PR has the added benefit of
impacting SEO and link building across the web. These measurable,
digital tactics provide tangible results and insight.

• SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the process of

getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural”
search results on search engines.

• A Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialist analyzes, reviews and

implements changes to websites so they are optimized for search
engines. This means maximizing the traffic to a site by improving
page rank within search engines.
• Another key differentiator of digital PR is the able to build connections
with bloggers and influencers, who are key players in the digital space.

• Digital public relations is measurable, immediate and produces easily

sharable content. The realm of digital PR may be more specified than
that of traditional, but it will help grow your brand online and make
waves in a constantly evolving digital world.

• The importance of social media for web traffic & the emerging trends-

1. Social media posts can be used to drive targeted traffic

2. Using social media for business boosts your site’s SEO
3. If you’re doing it right, social media will lead to real relationship
building.
4. Users are receptive to your messages.
5. Social media ads allow targeting and retargeting.
6. Social media can help you get noticed at events, and even generate
earned media coverage.
7. You can respond to problems immediately.
8. A strong social media presence builds brand loyalty.
9. Your competition is getting social, so you should too
CASE STUDY

• The movement ‘Like A Girl’ was originally launched by ‘Always – the

global brand name for Whisper, outside India’ in the USA and select
global markets in 2014 with an aim to turn the phrase ‘like a girl’
from an insult into a term of empowerment.

• RESULT- The #LikeAGirl campaign generated a total of 1240 million

Impressions and total PR Media Worth of $ 4.8 Million USD. Whisper
India #LikeAGirl movement, designed to drive popularity, relevance,
brand consideration and purchase intent among younger audience.
The video campaign was recognized as the Most Engaging Campaign
on Instagram across Asia Pacific.