Process of PR

Process of PR

Public Relations practice is the continuing effort to effect a harmonious adjustment between an organization and the various interests it serves. This can be achieved through two-way communication resulting in mutual understanding at each other’s interests. In this process, the public relations practitioners play the role of communicator and counselor.

John Maston, professor of communication defined Public relations in terms of its specific functions: RACE or research, action, communication, and evaluation. According to this definition, PR involves researching attitudes about a particular issue, identifying action Programme, communicating that programme to the related people to gain understanding and acceptance and evaluating the effect of the communication efforts on the public. Public relations today involve complete analysis and understanding of all the factors that influence people’s attitude towards an organization. This is achieved through what has been popularly called “public relation’s four stages process” the stages are:-

1)     Fact-finding – Research analysis of opinion, environment

2)     Planning – policy formulation, programming, goal setting

3)     Taking action and Communicating- implementing planned communication activities

4)     Evaluation  - feedback and adjustment/ course modification

1) Fact-finding (Situation Analysis “What’s happening now?”)

a)ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION - Analysis of the situation calls for broad study of all aspects of the business that affect the publics. The starting point will be the people in the business or industry (particularly those who are active in the company, such as board members, appropriate committee chairman and members, and so on) who appear to have awareness of the public relations situation. The public relations person will begin by interviewing such people; from them he or she will go to people outside the business but in a position to observe it more closely than the average layman (these may include editors of trade publications, officials of chambers of commerce and better business bureaus, government officials concerned with the regulations of the business or profession – if there are any – and others). Finally, this basic study may approach the general public for additional views. This may be done through an opinion or attitude research study, of market research, conducted by a recognized research firm. Sometimes, this may be done on a more informal basis where the budget will not permit formal research. Such an approach to the general public will be designed to provide a profile of the business as it appears in the public mind.

b) DEFINITION OF PROBLEM AREAS - This will follow naturally from the interviews and research activities. Comparisons among the views of the public, of people in the business, and of those who are close observers of the business may reveal some interesting parallels as well as differences and may indicate some cause and effect relationships. It should be noted, also, that ignorance and misconception will not always or necessarily be found in the public mind. Industry people more often then not will be found to have some misconceptions about the public’s viewpoint, too. In such an event, correction of industry thinking will be called for. Sound public relations may require changing the attitudes of the client (diplomatically, of course) as much as it involves endeavoring to change the attitudes of certain publics. As a matter of fact, although the public relations person is usually hired to change public attitudes, he or she sometimes performs the most important task in changing the attitude of his client or employer. In today’s climate, the role of public relations practitioner is enlarging. He or she should be capable of observing and analyzing the social, economic, and political trends and helping his or her management or clients become aware of their significance to the institution they represent. Through such expanded awareness, the manager or clients come to view their business or institution in a new and different perspective.

c)IDENTIFICATION OF PUBLICS- A public is a group of people bound together by a specialized interest with reference to a focal point. Employees in the steel mill may constitute one of the publics of a steel industry associations public relations effort; dairy farmers may be a special public of the association representing the milk processing industry; automobile dealers a special public of the association representing automobile manufacturers, and so on Customers of a particular business always are a primary public; for a professional society, the individual members will also be one. Indeed, the association’s members should not be overlooked in any public relations effort; their understanding and support are necessary.

D) ESTABLISHING OBJECTIVES- Once the problem areas are defined, long range objectives should be established. Usually, these will be outlines in terms of the respective publics involved. General objectives should be drawn with perspective in order to serve as guides over the long range. If they are drawn only in respect to immediate, short term problems, they will not serve to provide continuity of direction and they will need constant revision. It would be unwise to draw an overall objective in reference to a specific piece of current legislation that is to be opposed or supported, for once the legislature has adjourned, the objective is meaningless. Instead, a long range objective might describe in general terms the nature of legislation that an industry favours, viz: To support, in the respective states, legislative efforts that will enable our business to serve the public on a competitive basis in accord with the traditions of a free market economy, and to oppose legislation that would deny this opportunity. Any association public relations program must be flexible; obviously it should be modified as time and circumstances require. But if it is drawn with sufficient perspective, changing day-to-day and month-to- month problems will be found to fit within the framework of its general objectives. And, of course, short-range objectives will be developed from time to time. In addition, if sound communications networks have been developed to obtain long-range objectives, these networks will facilitate the solution of passing and temporary problems. But common sense demands a long-range plan with specific objectives against which results may be measured.

2) Planning (Strategy, “What should we do and say, and why?”)

It involves laying out in detail the various activities and communications that will be employed with reference to the key publics that have been pinpointed in the objectives. Let us assume, for example, a situation in which an association of home appliance manufacturers finds that the industry has lost standing in the public mind because a substantial number of consumers are dissatisfied with the repair and maintenance services. The industry association identifies, as one of its publics, the retail appliance dealers who are responsible for servicing. The objective with respect to this public is to indoctrinate the dealers in the necessity for providing quality repair services and to provide information to them on the methods by which high quality servicing may be established. The program plan will outline the activities to be directed toward gaining the support of the dealers for this mutually benefit purpose. It may, for example, call for the preparation of a “code of good service” and of a manual describing the service functions the dealer is expected to perform. Further, this part of the plan may call specifically for a series of dealer meetings in various communities; for special articles to be prepared for trade publications that are circulated among the dealers; for a special periodical to be published by the association especially for the dealer-audience; for paid advertisements in industry publications, addressed to dealers; for the conduct of special training schools for the service people employed by the dealers; or for any combination of these and other techniques, some of which may lie outside the field of public relations must, inevitably, be based on good performance, and it should be noted that all of these measures would be designed to improve performance in repair and maintenance.

3) Taking action and communicating (Implementation, “How and when do we do and say it?”)

Involves carrying out these steps. It calls primarily for hard work by the association’s public relations staff or the external counsel. In association work, however, the implementation of a public relations program frequently requires active participation of people in the profession or industry. Indeed, in respect to many objectives, the only path to success is to enroll the people in the business or profession who are located at many points across the country. No association staff, however large, has sufficient people to perform the grass roots indoctrination task all by itself. Frequently, therefore, means will be devised for recruiting people who are working in the business, but who are not themselves public relations people, to assist in the public relations efforts of the association. For any grass-roots efforts by a national, regional, or even a state association, reliance on local representatives of the business, industry, or profession is essential. This Carrying out the program can involve a wide range of functions, always guided by the long-range plan and association’s policies.

4) EVALUATION (Assessment, “How we do?”)

Periodic evaluations of progress are necessary. Such evaluations should be made on a continuing basis, of course, by the professional public relations staff or public relations counsel or by the association. Progress reports should be made regularly also to the membership and to interested committees and boards of the association. Though the contribution of the campaign would be difficult to measure we should try to evaluate it with the help of the following most commonly used measures of PR effectiveness. An activity which fails to add value stands to be eliminated in today’s professional world. For several decades PR practitioners did not see any need to demonstrate that the PR adds value. “Any publicity is good publicity” was the questionable catch cry of the PR model practiced. The main method of demonstrating results of PR was collecting and presenting the management with piles of press clippings.