Public relations and managing reputation

PR for marketing communication president!

Public relations should own marketing communication because: the traditional one-way communication characteristic of marcomms tools is more effective if applied in a two-way manner; communication is conversation and PR knows these ropes best; direct marcomms can be enhanced by the thought leadership and narrative powers that are embedded in great PR programs.

Market research …for PR: 3 top reasons

The excellent reasons for undertaking market research, and including it in any public relations strategic process, include that it generates information to create the best possible comms strategy, it helps determine appropriate benchmarks against which communication activity can be measured and it uncovers a range of issues that can be leveraged in PR programs.

Behaviour wins in PR strategy objective setting

For Angela Sinickas, measuring business communication is all about creating a “chain of evidence”, linking the tactical activities we do on a daily basis to the financial bottom line of the organisation. This is chain is created by looking at: communication activities, audience perceptions, audience actions and the financial impact on organisational goals. Paul Cheal analyses a 'Measuring ROI on Communications’ workshop.

Lack of measurement holding PR back

“Relationships are a means to getting more of the behaviors companies want. I think most PR people don’t realize this and therefore don’t build the right relationships or build them in ways that will directly benefit the organization tangibly, not just intangibly,” said renowned public relations exponent, and a passionate advocate for the setting of objectives, Angela Sinickas, in a this interview. She also purported that behavioral change is the ultimate form of impact for PR programs.

PR and marketing: integrate or divide and conquer?

It’s interesting to observe that the traditional divide between the marketing (paid messages) and public relations (third party endorsement) professions still seems to be alive and well judging by their positioning in most organisations. Each profession is usually either placed in an independent organisational silo, or PR is positioned as a subset ‘add-on’ of marketing, which as we know inevitably leads to turf wars. However this need not be so in practice and it is worth the effort to step across the silos, as the following case study demonstrates...explains Sue Corlette, an experienced professional communicator and educator, in this guest post.

Setting meaningful public relations objectives: authority interviewed

Setting public relations objectives that are directly related to an organisation’s mission and operating or business plan is, so it seems, one of PR’s great challenges. It simply does not occur with any consistently applied methodology. But there are ways to create objectives – or KPIs – that are inherently and profoundly relevant to what an organisation is actually trying to achieve - let's learn some 'secrets'...with internationally renowned public relations exponent and a passionate advocate for the setting of objectives, Angela Sinickas.

Social media communication generating trust

It should come as no surprise to hear that Google, one of the most potent organisations in the world, has trust as one of its positioning lynchpins…yet in a (business) world still coming to terms with the fact that those defining a brand are more often its stakeholders than the brand itself, this is still close to being revolutionary, especially if it is being effectively put into action, rather than simply being pontificated on.

Free report: PR at war – opinion explosion at social media summit

Free report on PR and social media...Trust, crowds (utilisation of, communicating to, segmenting of…), integration (or not) of social media and corporate websites, the death of ‘networked’ communication, content generation issues and the challenges of change within social media were some of the primary themes that were either explicitly stated at the 2010 Frocomm New Media Summit, bubbled under its surface or were notable not for their articulation, but by their surprising absence…

Issues management is inherent to all intelligent PR

Contrary to its positioning amongst the professional communication and broader business environments, issues management is not always inextricably integrated into crisis communication. In fact, its strongest characteristic is strengthening an organisation’s reputation so it is less likely to be negatively impacted on by a crisis. Issues management is, therefore, both an inherent component of all effective [...]

Is ‘An abundance of caution’ undermining business communication?

As organisations take a new approach to deciding when to launch a product recall, public relations professionals need to reassess how they are communicated. And how to avoid meaningless phrases like ‘abundance of caution which hinder organisations from communicating clearly, and effectively positioning themselves, with their stakeholders. Two recent American recalls suggest companies are raising the bar (or perhaps that should be lowering the bar) when brand protection seems to outweigh the possibility of harm to the public.