PR Campaign

PR Campaign: An organized effort to accomplish a purpose e.g. build / change the opinion of a group or groups on a subject.

PR campaigns are of two types:

Pro-active
Reactive

Pro-active: Devising a program, implementing it, and achieving certain results or benefits to the organization in normal conditions.

Reactive: Devising a program, implementing it, and achieving certain results or benefits to the organization in unfavorable situations.

Different steps in a PR campaign:

Analysis of the situation
Need assessment and setting objectives
Identification of public
PR message design
Media selection
Budgeting in the PR
Implementation of the PR program
Evaluation
Monitoring and Midcourse correction

Analysis of the situation:

A good understanding of the company itself and of its related public is a must and most useful to determine how the target publics view the organization.

This could be done either formally through a proper market survey, or informally by questioning key people associated with the various target public of the organisaion. Techniques like "SWOT" analysis can be pressed for action to analyse a situation.

Need assessment and setting objectives:

In all PR planning, whether for government or private organization, a firm, a company or an association, determining the organizational needs, and setting objectives becomes a primary function. But how to do it?

Look at the competition, dig the material available in your files or at the library--in magazines, government reports, trade association material. Talk to people inside and outside the organization.

PR objectives represent the specific knowledge, opinion, and behavioral outcomes to be achieved for each well-defined target public, what some call "key results". In practice, the objectives do the following:

Give focus and direction for developing program strategies and tactics.
Provide guidance and motivation to those implementing the program.
Spell out the criteria for monitoring progress and for assessing impact.

If possible, the objectives should be written down in a statement, simply and clearly, so that these are easily understood by all, and could be the yardsticks to measure the achievements short-term and long-term.

Example:

The PR objectives of an NGO working to spread awareness on the negative effects of plastic use might be:

To begin to provide the public with regularly scheduled advertisements about the danger of burning plastic in open air and its associated diseases like cancer, disabled child etc.
To personally contact once in 3 months all media representatives (press meet) in order to inform the health hazards and to seek their cooperation for highlighting the issues.

Identification of public:

In a PR campaign it is important that we define our target publics carefully and then choose the strategy and media to reach them effectively. There are certain basic publics for any broad PR programme:

The community:
Opinion leaders: People who command influence.
The media-- The press, TV, radio, etc.
The employees.
The potential employees: people who work for rival organizations.
The suppliers.
The customers.
The traders: distributors, wholesalers, agents, etc.
The financial contacts--bankers, shareholders, investors, insurers etc.

This list is a basic list, but, for any one organization, there will always be a special list of all the groups of people with whom the organization does or should communicate.


PR message design:

For achieving the desired result, the message should be developed properly and clearly. The appropriate message will have the following three attributes:

1) Clear
2) Correct and
3) Concise

Clear:

The message is free from ambiguity and it is necessary to ensure that slang phrases / usage are avoided and also the message should be free from perceptional distortion problems. As far as possible, one should use simple language, simple style, appropriate words and right tone.

Correct:

The credibility of the message is based on the credibility of the source and also the correctness of the content. It is essential to ensure that the information provided (message) is true, to unbiased and there is a source to verify it. It is essential to avoid content based on rumors, hearsay as well as source of no origin.

Concise:

Since message dissemination involves time and effort for transmitting as well as receiving or absorbing. Hence message should be crisp enough to give information and at the same time not occupying more time of the receivers valuable time. The content should revolve around the core element of the message; frills and verbose / ornamental language need to be avoided.

The effectiveness of the message depends upon the above three attributes and if even component is missing or negative, the result will also be negative or not as per the expectations.

Some Specific Guidelines:

Practitioners and executives alike can profit by closely studying these guidelines developed by an experienced counselor, Chester Burger:

1. Talk from the viewpoint of the public's interest, not the organization's.
Example: The soft drink bottler who launches a campaign to collect and recycle bottles can frankly admit that it does not want to irritate the public by having its product litter the landscape.

2. Speak in personal terms whenever possible.

However when many people have worked in developing a new product or adopting a new policy, it becomes difficult for the executive to say "I."

3. If you do not want some statement quoted, do not make it. Spokespersons should avoid talking "off the record," because such statements may well wind up published without the source.
4. State the most important fact at the beginning. The executive's format may first list the facts that led to the final conclusion, but such organization will fail when talking with the news media.

5. Do not argue with the reporter or lose your cool. Understand that the journalist seeks an interesting story and will use whatever techniques necessary to obtain it.

6. If a question contains offensive language or simply words you do not like, do not repeat them even to deny them. Reporters often use the gambit of putting words into the subject's mouth.

7. If the reporter asks a direct question, give an equally direct answer. Not giving one is a common error executives are prone to make.

8. If a spokesperson does not know the answer to a question, one should simply say, "I don't know, but I'll find out for you." With this, the spokesperson assumes the responsibility of following through.

9. Tell the truth, even if it hurts. In this era of skepticism and hostility, the most difficult task is often simply telling the truth.

10. Do not exaggerate the facts. Crying wolf makes it harder to be heard next time out.

These guidelines simply add up to the rule that profitable press relations require adherence to the "Five Fs": dealing with journalists that is fast, factual, frank, fair and friendly.

Media selection:

The media selection means using the media according to the objectives needed to support the campaign. The question is whether one should use the existing media such as the Press, TV, or media such as the non-conventional ones.

The correct media selection saves time, money and effort, and helps in designing messages for special groups or audiences. Each medium has its own strengths and weaknesses. The media could also be selected so that they complement and reinforce one another. In any campaign not all the media are used at the same stage. The media selection and decisions regarding the media mix are crucial components in the planning of PR strategy, and must be carefully selected to maximize its reach to the target publics to communicate the message.

Media used in the PR are generally the same as in other communications, like advertising. Most common among these is the Press. In view of this, the objective of the PR programme or campaign should be to determine the exact media mix.

Budgeting in the PR:

Budgeting is an essential part of planning in the PR. Budgeting requires setting of priorties, and places tremendous importance on being cost-effective. Ineffective activities are quickly weeded out with well planned budgeting. Budgeting requires advanced planning, which immediately involves detailing of all steps, phases, and timing of activities.

The main division or parts of a PR department are:

Salaries of the PR staff, preferably broken down into man-hours, so you know how much work is involved.
Overheads, office expenses and costs.
Transport, car and travel expenses.
Stationery and postage expenses.
Printing, photography and other production costs.
The media costs.
Other costs: equipments hiring, conference rooms, hospitality etc.

It goes without saying that for these expenses proper accounting procedures have to be followed. Records should be kept of all expenditure and payments. Charges should be fair and reasonable, made known or estimated in advance, so that there would be no reason for over expenditure or cost over runs.

Two basic and vital factors in budgeting, besides the departmental expenses, are the objectives of the programme campaign and the target group to be reached. This then determines the task for the organization in achieving objectives and the media to be employed. Clarity on both these areas helps the PR person t budget the programme clearly within the required time frame. Time frame is important in the budget evolution activity. The longer the period, the larger the budget required.

Hence, the departmental expenses (organizational structure), the objectives to be achieved, the task involved, the media to be used, and the period (duration) of the programme, all go to make up the PR budget. These are interlinked, and require to be given necessary attention.

Implementation of the PR program:

The best conceived plans could be fouled up by the lack of involvement and effort of the personnel, like poor handling of funds, insufficient attention to details, etc. Efforts should be made to ensure that there are no lapses at any stage.

Continuous monitoring of how the plan is being executed has several benefits. Feedback provided could be used to make necessary changes and to enhance the chances of the plan being successful. This will also avoid unnecessary wastage. If the feedback shows certain aspects of the plan are going very well and the success needs to be exploited, then even more money could be assigned to this part of the campaign.

Three qualities have the functional value in the implementation of a good PR plan:

Flexibility
Timing
Appropriateness

Flexibility in the implementation of the plan is important as adjustments could be made for the unexpected events.

Timing is important so that the plan could avoid competing with other high-publicity programmes and also fit in the mood of the situation.

Plans should also be appropriate in as many ways as possible from the point of view of the funds provided, the prevailing image, and goals of the organization.

Evaluation:

Evaluation is an integral part of the PR planning process and is necessary to analyse all campaigns so that, the short comings as well as the successes of each campaign could be identified and studied. Evaluation must be built into the campaigns from the initial stage to draw upon whatever lessons that could be learnt from actual experience. Final results should be compared with that of the anticipated levels.

Evaluation could be undertaken at different levels. At the simplest level, evaluation process could take the form of finding answers to basic questions, like:

How did the campaign go?
Did we put in sufficient effort?
If we had to do the same campaign again, what would we do differently?

Evaluation seeks systematic answers to these and similar questions through research in terms of the impact, effect, and outcome as a result of the PR activity or programme.

A decision has to be made as to which type of the evaluation should be used for a particular campaign i.e. summative or formative research etc.

The summative research evaluates events that are past or that have been completed.

Formative research assesses the events while it is in progress, and feeds back its results into the on-going campaign.

Summative research should be undertaken when there is a need for more accuracy rather than timely results, or when results needed should be more universally applicable. Formative research is useful as a way to reducing uncertainty in new communication situations in which previous experiences generally is not available as a guide.

In broad terms, the evaluation criteria for the PR fall in the following terms:

Publicity--- column centimeters of write-up received in the Press/time in the electronic media.
Reader interest/recall--through formal research of interviews and questionnaire type.
Readability--Used to assess message preparation objectively. It takes into account the approximate ease with which printed materials can be read and comprehended.
Unobtrusive indicators-- ranging from replies, coupons to feedback provided by internal staff who have contact with the public.

Since evaluation is almost always (and must be) research-based, an evaluation exercise would seldom rely on any one single method. Each method has its own strengths and weaknesses. Some methods are more suitable for certain purposes and data might also be more or less assessable to different methods. Another important criterion is cost effectiveness. The common research methods used in the PR are:

Observation: Example-press coverage.
Interviews: With people on how they feel, what they think, and what they perceive and why?
Questionnaire: Administered in person, or by mail, or coupons in advertisements and literature.
Experimental tests: testing different campaign variations or activities in different market areas, something like test marketing.
Measuring event behaviour or action: Visible differences or shift after the PR event or activity (bench mark studies).

Monitoring and Midcourse correction:

Monitoring of the programme or campaign during the course of its implementation is as important as pre-and post programme or campaign. One might not use specific research techniques, though one could do so. It is crucial that a watch is maintainied on how the elements of the programme being implemented are making the desired impact.

If the impact is weak or undesirable or excessive, the PR person needs to take corrective action. This could be in the form of a change in the media, the message, the frequency, or even the timing. One could slow down or hasten the PR programme, or stop it altogether, if the situation do demands. It all depends on what and how the objectives were to be achieved and with what impact. Things might sometimes go wrong, but we must be prepared and ready to change the course or our action, even mid-way, if required. Post-programme evaluation is always possible, but the effect would have already been felt, and the money spent. Being constantly involved and watchful even as the PR campaign is underway is an important requirement at the corporate PR department level.