Chapter Seven

This chapter is mainly about the news media, mass media, and communications media and how we as PR practitioners should develop a positive relationship with them in order to have them be able to make the public aware of the organizations information and to give us a fair chance, or at least a balanced reportage, when we're on the "hot seat."

We should be aware of the guidelines that have "survived" such as having a spokesperson to answer inquires or a constant education given to the employees and spokespeople on how to handle and speak with news media.

EX:

A classmates presentation in the past regarding the head coach of the NFL football team the Dallas Cowboys. The spokesperson, the owner, had to be very clear on what he said about his head coach to the media because anything can be misconstrued by saying one wrong word. The media likes to show an organizations faults at times and thats why constant education about handling the media with their football players and anyone involved would be beneficial to the teams reputation.

Chapter Five

Investor Relations

The major measurments are dollar sales volume, profit, the increase or decrease in interest or dividends paid, and whether the price of the stock or bond has increased or decreased from the original purchase price. Other factors include the rank of the company among competitors in its field and what percentage of dividends is paid in comparison with the purchase price.

All practitioners need to to be familiar with the economic climate and its impact on the organizations they represent - corporate, governmental, or non-profit.

Companies take on the personalities by those who manage them (i.e. greedy, self-serving, competitive)

In order to get started, there must be capital or credit or a product or service that a market is perceived or waiting to be created. Survival comes first and then its growth, diversification, and expansion make up goals that fuel ambitions and drive all participants on the payroll. Profit makes everything else possible. (that is what ever is left once all bills are paid)

Laws were enacted allowing for the formation of corporations, business entities in which stakeholders risk only the amount of their investment, because the situation discouraged the formation of new business. Before this, the business owner had no "corporate shield" and if failed at the business had to pay all debt back, including personal bankruptcy.

The role of the corporate financial relations specialist or consultant tends to be that of interpreter and mediator between the prime audiences. He or she usually comes on as a moderate or neutral in economic and political philosophy. The position requires skill and objectivity in representing the average investor, the middle-class unsophisticated citizen, while representing private enterprise and conservative views publicly.

The financial public relations role can be summarized as:

• Communications strategy appropriate to management goals in investor relations
• Preparation of public literature, including reports required by law and establishing press contacts
• Managing relationships with the financial community, including analyst meetings, tours or visits, and so on

Example

Enron Scandel - They hid that they were in debt due to a lot of failed deals and managed to keep it under wraps until the end where they laid off thousands of employees and filed for bankruptcy and shut down. Investors lost a sum of money that was in the billions when the stock plumeted to under a dollar.

Chapter Six

The following notes reconstruct what I have found useful in this chapter.

Marketing and public relations share some fundamental concepts. These concepts include analyzing market opportunities (research), selecting target markets (publics), developing a marketing mix (communication/action plan), and managing the marketing effort (evaluation).

However, public relations as a strategy does four things marketing cannot do. (1) It is concerned about internal relations and publics, (2) It cares about non-customer external publics and the environment in which the organization operates, (3) It operates on the policies of human nature (what makes the individual tick), whereas marketing focuses on consumer behavior (purchasing and economics, often expressed in number-crunching research, and (4) It may work to stabilize or change public opinion in areas other than products.

Satisfying the needs of the customers is what needs to be achieved. Public relations must both help motivate purchases and create a hospitable environment for the organization to sell product and services.

Consumers make buying decisions based on how companies run their businesses, according to a 1995 survey by the PR firm Porter/Novelli. These influences on buying habits were:

1. Product quality
2. The company's method of handling consumer complaints
3. The way a company handles a crisis in which it is at fault
4. Challenges by a government agency about product safety
5. Accusation of illegal or unethical trading practices

The reputation of a company and its brands will play an even greater role in the word-of-mouth communication around products and services.

The role of public relations has originally been to make people:

1. Aware of the product or service in the first place
2. Knowledgeable about the benefits and advantages of the particular product or service
3. Constantly reminded and reinforced in favorable feelings toward the product or service

The changing conditions of the marketplace has also brought forth sevel new activities, such as:

1. Build customer loyalty by forming user groups or customer service departments
2. Adopting customer satisfaction programs where the entire organization is focused on delivering not just a product/service but the quality and personal interactions consumers expect when making a purchase
3. Concentrating the publicity and promotion activities on taking customers away from competitors
4. Protecting the rep of the product/service, and of the organization, in a period of consumer activism, government regulation, competitive predation, global marketing, and similar conditions that bring a continual bevy of public issues to bear on every organization/industry.

Elements in designing a customer delight program include the promise, customer expectations, delivery, and the aftermath/maintenance.

Example:

Toyota with their recalls have had a hard time dealing with the media; however, they have also launched new commercials with the main focus of "moving forward" and showing their appreciation towards their customers. Their responses to these recall and brake problems have been dealt with and although it has been a tough crisis, the Toyota company is doing what is possible to fix the problem.