Planning in Public Relations

TIMESCALE

Managing your time is important

• Deadlines:

external- i.e. major dates in the year;

Internal- by the organisation (launches, results) (Tench & Yeomans 2014).

• Break down key elements of a project into individual tasks and timeline (Tench & Yeomans 2014 p. 160)
• Gantt charts list each elements, assign times to them, show overlaps (Gregory 2010).
• Critical Path Analysis looks at entire project and all elements and their timing to keep to completition date (Tench & Yeomans 2014 p. 161).
• annual activity plans (Tench & Yeomans 2014 p. 161).

Resources

3 areas:

1. Human resources: right staff & skills and at an adequate budget (Tench & Yeomans 2014 p. 161).

2. Implementation costs: costs in delivering the program (Gregory 2010).

3. Equipment costs: need to have the right technology and not be excessive (Tench & Yeomans 2014 p. 161).

• Evaluation requires ongoing monitoring
• Review is regular management practice, yearly

When you have trouble evaluating, measure:

Impact of campaign: behavioral or attitudinal changes (Miyamoto, n.d).

Output (or implementation): steps produced in campaign and exposure (Miyamoto, n.d).

Ensure: objectives are set at start, smart objectives, agree on measurement criteria, objective and scientific approach, evaluate processes, open and transparent monitoring processes. (Tench & Yeomans 2014)

8 March 2014: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 goes missing over the Southern Indian Ocean carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew (Brummit, 2014: 1).

17 July 2014: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is shot down, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew (Brummit, 2014: 2).

September 2014: Malaysia Airlines experience a 75% increase in economic losses, a 20% decline in company stock, a decline in average weekly bookings of 33% and the resignation of 500 cabin crew (Said, 2014: 1-2; Patterson, 2014: 1).

LNP International Women's Day Celebration

Malaysia Airlines

LNP International Women's Day Celebration

X Factor NZ: Natalia

Kills & Willy Moon

LNP International Women's Day Celebration

"This is just how wonderful this broad church that I lead is … obviously they've just broken down the last barrier and they've made the men-only club admit women. Admit women! Isn't that fantastic? At last, this bastion of chauvinism has admitted women and they've done it on International Women's Day because of the Liberal National Party. Good on the Liberal National Party, smashing the glass ceiling yet again. I say congratulations and thank God that bastion of old-fashioned chauvinism has finally collapsed like the walls of Jericho at the trumpet cry of the Liberal National Party" (Atfield, 2015: 1).

Queensland Minister for Women Shannon Fentiman replied by stating that the use of the venue “shows how out-of-touch the LNP are and their excuse of organising the event at short notice just doesn't stack up, because International Women's Day is held on the eighth of March every year” (Atfield, 2015: 2).

March 2015:

The media revealed that the Liberal National Party would host a celebration of International Women’s Day at Brisbane club, Tattersall’s.

Tattersall's exclusively allows men to be members and requires attending women be in the presence of a male member.

LNP then released a statement that “the venue was chosen simply on the basis of availability, price and flexibility in a CBD location” (Atfield, 2015: 1).

15 March 2015: During a live episode of X Factor: NZ, married judges Natalia Kills and Willy Moon verbally attacked contestant Joe Irvine following his performance of Michael Buble’s ‘Cry Me A River’.

X Factor NZ: Natalia

Kills & Willy Moon

X Factor NZ: Natalia Kills & Willy Moon

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am just going to state the obvious, we have a doppelganger in our midst. As an artist who respects creative integrity and intellectual property I am disgusted at how much you have copied my husband, from the hair to the suit, do you not have any value or respect for originality? You’re a laughing stock. It’s cheesy, it’s disgusting, I personally found it absolutely artistically atrocious. I am embarrassed to be sitting here in your presence having to even dignify you with an answer of my opinion” (Westbrook, 2015: 1).

“Last night on X Factor both Kills and Moon made comments that were completely unacceptable. While the judges on X Factor are expected to provide critiques of the performances, we will not tolerate such destructive tirades from any of the judges. Contestants put their all into this competition and they should expect to receive feedback and criticism that is professional and constructive. We no longer have confidence that Kills and Moon are the right people to perform the role of X Factor judges and they will leave the show, effective immediately” (Westbrook, 2015: 2).

X Factor NZ: Natalia Kills & Willy Moon

X Factor NZ: Willy

Moon & Natalia Kills

“I feel like you’re going to stitch someone’s skin to your face and then kill everybody in the audience” (Westbrook, 2015: 2).

X Factor NZ: Natalia Kills & Willy Moon

Thank you!

Planning in Public Relations

Malaysia Airlines

September 2014:

Malaysia Airlines launch a competition in Australia and New Zealand called 'My Bucket List' in an attempt to revive the company's image and win back customers.

The contest gave customers chance to win 1 of 12 economy class return tickets to Malaysia or an iPad by submitting an entry in 500 characters of less that answered: "What and where would you like to tick off on your bucket list, and explain why?" (Kitching, 2014: 1).

After widespread backlashes against the wording in the competition Malaysia Airlines released the following statement:

“Malaysia Airlines has withdrawn the title of a recent competition running in Australia and New Zealand, as it is found to be inappropriate at this point in time. The competition had been earlier approves as it was themes around a common phrase that is used in both countries. The airlines appreciates and respects the sentiments of the public and in no way did it intend to offend any parties. The initiative of the competition is designed to inspire and encourage travelers to dream, plan and book their next holiday with Malaysia Airlines” (Kitching, 2014: 2-3).

STEP 7: EVALUATION AND REVIEW:

Bill Clinton & Monica Lewinsky

“I did not

have sexual

relations with

that woman,

Miss Lewinsky”

(Clinton, 1998).

Bill Clinton & Monica Lewinsky

Clinton stated in his court deposition, “there is not a sexual relationship, an improper sexual relationship or any other kind of improper relationship” (Starr, 1998: 1).

After Lewinsky presented a semen-stained dress to the court, Clinton defended his sworn testimony by stating, “I thought the definition included any activity by [me], where [I] was the actor and came in contact with those parts of the bodies” (Tiersma, 2004: 3).

Clinton further argued that the agreed-upon definition of “sexual relations” included giving but not receiving oral sex (Starr, 1998: 2-3).

STEP 6: TIMESCALE AND RESOURCES

Class Activity: Case Studies

TACTICS

CLASS EXAMPLE 2

Can be separated into Action events- non written/non verbal, like special events, demonstrations, exhibits etc. and Communication tactics: oral and written like newsletters, flyers, brochures, direct mail etc. (Miyamoto n.d).

Employ tactics which are

1. Appropriate- target publics and stakeholders, influential medium, credible?

2. Deliverability- success, right people and resources? (Gregory 2010)

The message process

1. Sender develops the idea

In the following, which step is the objective, the strategy and the tactics?

1. Establish Subway as a health leader __________?

2. Position Subway as the leading health restaurant in the industry _______?

3. Media campaigns, research reports, website school health programs _____?

2. Idea is encoded through appropriate methods

CLASS EXAMPLE 1

3. Channel/Media selected

4. Message is decoding by receiver

5. Idea is developed in the mind of the receiver

(Wells & Spinks 1999)

Clarity of the message and selecting appropriate media channels is key to ensuring the target market can decode the message(s) easily and the campaigns communication objectives are fulfilled.

(Kohdorami 2009)

In the following, which step is the objective, the strategy and the tactics?

1.Mount a media relations campaign in a niche press __________?

2. Publicize a new product or service __________ ?

3. Press conference Press releases, Quality literature Interviews Competition Advertising etc. ___________?

(Gregory 2010)

Limitations of Messages

Messages indicate one-way communication

Class Activity

Changing expectations

In what ways could you segment these stakeholders or publics...

Ways of segmenting publics

Step 5: Strategy and Tactics

• Organisations are now seen as communities of stakeholders
• Collaboration and dialogue with stakeholders and publics

1. A government wants to introduce a new benefit targeted at lower-income families

income

geographics (where they live)

(Argerwal & Helfat 2009)

2. A charity wanting to start up a counselling service for refugees

• geographics
• demographics
• psychographics
• group membership
• media consumption
• overt/covert power
• role in decision process

Coproduction of Solutions

ethnicity

political affiliation

STEP 4: Messages or content

3. A leisure company wanting to set up Saturday morning clubs for children

Coproduction of solutions to problems and consensus-building is increasingly common.

Conflict is avoided and the public 'own' the solutions because they have contributed to them directly throough various dialogue-based activites

Power/Interest Matrix

locality

age

[INSERT IMAGE]

Messages

Segmenting Stakeholders and Publics

- STRATEGY is the overarching aim of a campaign, (NAS & Pearson 2013) how the program will run and general plan (Tench & Yeomans 2014 p. 159)

- TACTICS are the specific ways and methods to achieve your strategy (NAS & Pearson 2013).

-Need a clear link between the objective, strategy and tactics (Tench & Yeomans 2014 p. 159)

powerful institutional investors

Publics and stakeholders are not always homogenous

powerful institutional investors

Heath (2001, p.2) argues it is important to focus on 'message design and dissemination to achieve awareness, to inform, to persuade - even manipulate'

It is incorrect to assume that all-embracing categorisations comprise of individuals who are all similar and act in similar ways.

Who should we talk to?

consume organisations products

shareholders

"Local Community"

local environmental activists

STEP 3: Identifying Publics

Content

Content is the point of contact that provides the meaning between an organisation and its publics

It is 'given' by the organisation and 'received' by its publics (and vice versa)

• Assist awareness and attitude-forming process
• Demonstrate that the communication channels have been appropriate
• Are essential in the evaluation process
• Help focus management minds by summarising an argument down to its essentials

Once mutually understood and internalised, the meaning is mutually 'owned'.

In the first step 'analysis', research should have already been conducted to identify stakeholders and publics.

If content is poorly conceived and executed, it can be the end of the communication process.

"What should be said?"

Stakeholders are those who have a stake or interest in an organisation.

Publics are stakeholders that have an issue with an organisation

STEP 2: Aims and Objectives

The Planning Model

Once PR planners have scoped the size and nature of the issue through analysis, they can set aims and objectives.

Aims

Objectives

Objectives are specific, measurable steps that break the aims into milestones for the campaign.

The aim or aims will 'state what the programme seeks to achieve in overall terms' (Tench & Yeomans 2014, p. 155)

Three levels of objectives

Objectives should be SMART

1. Awareness objectives

pecific

• Must be agreed upon before implementation
• Must be linked to overall organisational or corporate aims
• Can be evaluated at the end of the campaign by turning it into a question

• Deal with information and knowledge
• Focus on the cognitive or thinking element of the content
• Encourages target public to think about something or to create awareness

easurable

Example:

To ensure that every employee is aware of a new corporate plan by 10 November and three weeks later can list three priorities for the following year.

S

M

A

R

T

2. Acceptable objectives

chievable

esourced

• Deal with how people react to information
• Focus on affective or feeling element of content
• Encourage target public to form a particular attitude, opinion or feeling about a subject

ime-bound

EXAMPLE

3. Action objectives

Aim: To improve community relations

Evaluation: Were community relations improved?

• Deal with hoped-for responses
• Focus on conative or behavioural outcome generated after exposure to content
• Encourage target public to act/behave in a certain way

(Smith 2009)

[INESRT IMAGE OF Gregory's Planning Model]

Setting good aims and objectives is fundamental to public relations planning.

• Define the outcomes of the campaign
• Provide a rationale for the strategy
• Set the agenda for tactical action
• Are the benchmark against which the campaign will be evaluated

"What does the plan seek to achieve?"

STEP 1: Analysis

Source: Gregory 2010

Analysis identifies the issues or specific problems on which to base a PR campaign or program.

trengths

eaknesses

Analysis involves an investigation of:

S

W

O

T

pportunities

hreats

olitical

• External and internal environment
• PESTLE and SWOT analysis

conomic

ocio-cultural

P

E

S

T

L

E

echnological

egal

nvironmental

• Publics and stakeholders attitudes towards
• The organisation itself
• Wider issues in external environment
• Specific issue that management have been asked to address

"What is the problem?"

Class Activity

Split up into your facilitation groups.

Why Is Planning Important?

The Moral of the Story...

PR practitioners are often presented with difficult and complex cases.

When this occurs, it is critical that the practitioner carefully plans the message so that he/she is able to effectively communicate the required PR message.

This planning process can take considerable time that isn't always available so it is important that the practitioner understands the steps involved in planning and executing a successful PR campaign.

"Two thirds of crises never need to reach crisis stage and could be prevented by effective risk-management programs that involve an appropriate communication plan."

Planning...

Smith, 2002: 33

• Focuses efforts
• Eliminates unnecessary work
• Effectively uses resources
• Encourages forward thinking
• Helps to identify potential difficulties
• Minimises error
• Achieves objectives within a budget
• Prepares an organisation for all/most eventualities

The Planning Process

1. What is the problem?

2. What does the plan seek to achieve?

3. Who should be communicated with?

4. What should be said?

5. How should the content by communicated?

6. How can success be measured?

Strategy

is the means by which an organisation achieves its objectives

Strategic management

is the process by which an organisation establishes its objectives, formulates strategies, implements tactics and evaluates the results

Tench & Yeomans, 2014