PR When Managers Take Control by:Robert A. Kelly
Things can change fast!
Tactics will probably no longer dominate the public
relations plan. Instead, when needed, they'll hopefully
assume their properly limited role as the primary means
for moving a publicity message from one point to another.
But in their place, at the top of an organization's public
relations effort, professional business, non-profit,
government agency and association managers will
instead marshall the resources and action planning needed
to alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors
among their most important outside audiences. And then
follow up by persuading those key folks to his or her
way of thinking, moving them to take actions that allow
their department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.
What a difference that's going to make as managerial
public relations is at last applied. The reason why is really
the underlying premise of public relations: People act on
their own perception of the facts before them, which leads
to predictable behaviors about which something can be
done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion
by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action
the very people whose behaviors affect the organization
the most, the public relations mission is usually accomplished.
Implicit in that premise is yet another reality: public relations
planning really CAN alter individual perception and lead
to changed behaviors among key outside audiences. But
you'll only get there when your PR demands more than
special events, news releases, brochures and talk show
tactics. Only then will you receive the quality public
relations results you deserve.
What kind of results? Community leaders begin to seek
you out; welcome bounces in show room visits occur;
capital givers or specifying sources begin to look your
way; membership applications start to rise; new proposals
for strategic alliances and joint ventures start showing up;
customers begin to make repeat purchases; new prospects
actually start to do business with you, and politicians and
legislators begin looking at you as a key member of the
business, non-profit or association communities.
Look first to your public relations professionals for
your new opinion monitoring project because they're
already in the perception and behavior business. But be
certain that the PR staff really accepts why it's SO
important to know how your most important outside
audiences perceive your operations, products or services.
Above all, be sure they believe that perceptions almost
always result in behaviors that can help or hurt your
operation.
Take the time to review with them your plans for
monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning
members of your most important outside audiences.
Ask questions like these: how much do you know
about our organization? Have you had prior contact
with us and were you pleased with the interchange?
Are you familiar with our services or products and
employees? Have you experienced problems with our
people or procedures?
Of course using professional survey firms to do the
opinion gathering work will cost considerably more than
using those PR folks of yours in that monitoring
capacity. But whether it's your people or a survey firm
asking the questions, the objective remains the same:
identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors,
inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative
perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.
With that work under your belt, you must establish
a goal calling for action on the most serious problem
areas you uncovered during your key audience
perception monitoring. You might decide to
straighten out that dangerous misconception? Or
correct that gross inaccuracy? Or, stop that
potentially painful rumor cold.
No one sets their PR goal and forgets to link it with
an equally specific strategy that tells you how to
get there. You have just three strategic options
available to you when it comes to doing something
about perception and opinion. Change existing
perception, create perception where there may be
none, or reinforce it. The wrong strategy pick will
taste like sauteed mushrooms on your pumpkin
pie. So be sure your new strategy fits well with
your new public relations goal. You certainly don't
want to select "change" when the facts dictate a
strategy of reinforcement.
In public relations, a central talent is good writing.
And sure enough, here, the best writer on your team
will have to prepare a persuasive message that will
help move your key audience to your way of thinking.
It must be a carefully-written message targeted
directly at your key external audience. Select that
best writer because s/he must come up with really
corrective language that is not merely compelling,
persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if
they are to shift perception/opinion towards your
point of view and lead to the behaviors you have
in mind.
Now we move to what some practitioners feel are
the "fun" part of PR action programming - the
communications tactics most likely to carry your
message to the attention of your target audience.
There are many available. From speeches, facility
tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings,
media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings
and many others. But be certain that the tactics
you pick are known to reach folks just like your
audience members.
As you probably know, the "believability" of any
message is fragile and always suspect. The means
by which you communicate should always be a
concern. Which is why you may wish to unveil your
corrective message before smaller meetings through
presentations rather than using higher-profile news
releases.
When chatter about a progress report surfaces, you
might take it as a cue to begin a second perception
monitoring session with members of your external
audience. You'll want to use many of the same
questions used in the benchmark session. But now,
you will be on strict alert for signs that the bad news
perception is being altered in your direction.
Program momentum has been known to flag. In this
event, you can always speed things up by adding more
communications tactics as well as increasing their
frequencies.
Once again, when managers take control of the public
relations being performed on their behalf, the more
perceptive tend to move away from dependence on
communications tactics and on to a plan for doing
something about the behaviors of those important
external audiences of theirs that MOST affect their
operation. That's when they take steps to persuade
those key outside folks to their way of thinking, then
help move them to take actions that allow their
department, division, group or subsidiary to succeed.
end
Please feel free to publish this article and resource box
in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website.
A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net.
Word count is 1200 including guidelines and resource box.
Robert A. Kelly 2006.
About the author
Robert A. Kelly
Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit and
association managers about using the fundamental premise of public
relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has published over
200 articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click
Expert Author, click Robert A. Kelly. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola
Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport
News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S.
Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The
White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia
University, major in public relations.
mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net
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