Chapter 14 Reading Notes from “PR Strategies and Tactics”

• News releases are also known as a press release.
• Use a planning worksheet before writing the actual press release.
• A news release is written like a news story.
• The lead paragraph is an integral and important part of the text.
• A variation of the traditional news release is what is called the mat feature release.
• A media kit is sometimes referred to as a press kit.
• The basic elements of a media kit include: 1) the main news release 2) a news feature about the development 3) fact sheets on the product, organization, or event 4) background info 5) photos and drawings with captions 6) bio material on the spokesperson 7) some basic brochures.

 

Chapter 11 Notes from “PR Strategies and Tactics”

• Diversity is the most significant aspect of the mass audience in the US.
• The international audience for PR has expanded swiftly.
• Technology can be used to segment the mass audience and compile related valuable information.
• The public is increasingly visually oriented and seems to have a shorter attention span.
• Audiences are increasingly taking control of information streams.
• There are 3 major age groups in the US demographic: young adults, baby boomers, and seniors.
• Americans in 2007 spent an average of 3,518 hours using the media. 1,555 of those hours are spent watching television.

 

Chpt 9 “PR Strategies and Tactics”

-Public Opinion as quoted on pg 214 is the “collective expression of opinion of many individuals bound into a group by common aims, aspirations, needs and ideals.”

-There are several different  types of leaders: formal opinion leaders and informal opinion leaders. Formal includes elected officials, presidents of companies etc. Informal includes role models who are admired.

-There is a dominant view of what peers think of PR. This view is to create “a favorable and positive climate of opinion toward the individual, product, institution or idea which is represented.” -Edward Bernays

-Persuasion is used to 1) change or neutralize hostile opinions 2)crystallize latent opinions and positive attitudes and 3) conserve favorable opinions.

-The most common types of propaganda are plain folks, testimonial, bandwagon, card stacking, transfer, transfer and glittering generalites.

 

Chpt 8 “PR Strategies and Tactics”

-Evaluation is the fourth step of the PR process.

-As described by Professor James Bissland, evaluation is “the systematic assessment of a programand its results. It is a means for practitionersto offer accountability to clients and themselves.”

-There are 4 methods used to evaluate Public Relations: These are 1) measurement of production 2)message exposure 3) audience awareness 4) audience attitudes and 5) audience action

 

Chpt 7 “PR Strategies and Tactics”

-There are 5 communication elements when it comes to PR planning: sender/source, a message , a channel, a receiver, feedback.

-2 way communication is one of the most important forms of feedback.

-The most effective way of having 2 way communication is face to face conversation between 2 people.

-There are 2 different types of audiences PR firms cater to, passive and active.

-For an audience to understand a message, there must be an effective use of language and clear writing.

-The 5 stage adoption process of acting on a message is: 1)awareness 2)interest 3)evaluation 4)trial and 5)adoption

 

Chpt 6 “PR Strategies and Tactics”

-A popular approach to planning is a process called management by objective. Which provides focus and direction for formulating strategy to achieve specific objectives.

-When PR firms must come up with a certain plan, this plan identifies what is to be done, why and how to get it accomplished.

-PR plans include 8 objectives: situation, objectives, audience, strategy, tactics, calendar, budget, evaluation.

-There are 2 different types of objectives: informational and motivational.

-PR plans cant be completed without a budget. Both the client and employer must figure out how much it will cost.

 

Chpt 5 “PR Strategies and Tactics”

-Research is a tool that is involved in almost every phase of a communications program.

-There are many different types of ways to research, the most popular for PR firms secondary research which is getting information from existing sources.

-There are 3 different approaches to research in the PR world: secondary, qualitative and quantitative.

-Focus groups, interviews, content analysis and copy testing are all forms of qualitative research.

-Random sampling and sample size are both forms of quantitative research.

 

Chpt 4 “PR Strategies and Tactics”

-George Westinghouse created the first corporate PR department in 1889 when he hired 2 men to publicize his pet project, alternating current electricty.

-Some of the most well known Fortune 500 companies look at PR as more of a strategic management tool.

-Sometimes PR departments are referred to as “Corporate Communications” or  just “Communications”

-The 4 areas of possible friction against PR are: legal, human resources, advertising and marketing.

-The USA has the most PR firms of any country an estimated 7000 companies.

-PR firms are usually found in metropolitan areas.

 

Chpt 3 “PR Strategies and Tactics”

-3 Basic value orientations: Absolute, Existential and Situational

-Largest PR organization in the world is PRSSA ( Public Relations Society of America)

-Almost every national PR organization has a code of ethics.

-Although PR doesnt qualify as the same profession as law or medicine, it is still in every sense of the word a profession.

-PR organzations work with universities, implement research projects and recognize outstanding practitioners in order to advance the profession of PR.

-In the PR world, giving gifts in order to move up is considered unethical.

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Chpt 2 “PR Strategies and Tactics”

-first publicity agency that opened in Boston in 1900. Publicity Bureau was its name and Harvard college was its most royal client.

 -Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company was “Americas First Major Indutrialist”. He was also one of the first people to  use the two basic public relations concepts, which was being easily accessible to the press and the idea that credit and publicity always go to those who do something first.

-The name “Teddy” for Theodore Roosevelt became an iconic name that helped endear him to the public.

-The “father of public relations” Edward Bernays came to the PR scene during the “pioneering age” also, he had a career in public relations that was almost three quarters of a century long. Some clients of Bernays were Ivory soap, Ballet Russe and Lights Golden Jubilee.