Public relations

Public relations (PR) is a term that is widely misunderstood and misused to describe anything from selling to hosting, when in fact it is a very specific communications process. Every company, organization, association, and government body deals with groups of people affected by what that organization does or says. They might be employees, customers, stockholders, competitors, suppliers, or just the general population of consumers. Each of these groups may be referred to as one of the organization's publics. The process of public relations manages the organization's relationships with these publics.

Companies and organizations know they must consider the public impact of their actions and decisions because of the powerful effect of public opinion. This is especially true in times of crisis, emergency, or disaster. But it is just as true for major policy decisions concerning changes in business management, pricing policies, labor negotiations, introduction of new products, or changes in distribution methods. Each of these decisions affects different groups in different ways. Conversely, effective administrators can use the power of these groups' opinions to bring about positive changes.

In short, the purpose of everything labeled public relations is to influence public opinion toward building goodwill and a positive reputation for the organization. In one instance, the PR effort might be to rally public support; in another, to obtain public understanding or neutrality; or in still another, simply to respond to inquiries. Well-executed public relations is a long-term activity that molds good relationships between an organization and its publics.

Many firms use public relations activities such as publicity (news releases, media advertisements, feature stories) and special events (open houses, factory tours, VIP parties, grand openings) as supplements to advertising to inform various audiences about the company and its products and to help build corporate credibility and image.

Advertising is generally described as openly sponsored and paid for media communications between sellers and buyers. Certainly, like public relations, the purpose of advertising is to affect public opinion. However, this is normally accomplished through the open attempt to sell the company's products or services.

Public relations activities, like product advertising, may involve media communications, but these communications are not normally openly sponsored or paid for. Usually they take the form of news articles, editorial interviews, or feature stories. One means of relaying a public relations message, though, is through corporate advertising.

Public relations is less precise than advertising. Advertising can be strictly controlled so that its reach and impact can be charted in advance, but public relations communications are not so easily quantifiable: "PR's results depend more on the experience, ingenuity, and tenacity of the people engaged in its day-to-day execution. " Although PR communications may be less controlled than advertising, such communications often have greater credibility.

Questions:

1. Differentiate between PR and advertising. Give your own examples of both.

Exercises:

Ex. 1. Study the following synonyms to the word advertise. What are their Ukrainian equivalents?

Promote – to make sure that people know about a new product or service by arranging special events.

Hype up – an informal word meaning to try to make people think that something is much better than it really is.

Plug (give smth a plug) – informal word meaning to try to make people interested in your product or service, for example by mentioning it in a TV or radio conversation when you are supposed to be talking about something else.

Push – an informal word meaning to advertise a new product very heavily, with a lot of advertisements.

Translate the following sentences. Pay attention to the words in italics.

1.You must have seen those computer games – they have been heavily advertised on TV and all the Sunday papers.

2. To promote their new brand of shampoo, they are selling it at half price for a month.

3. In order to market a product well you need to be aware of public demand.

4. Like most Hollywood movies it was so hyped up that when I saw it I felt rather disappointed.

5.The author used the opportunity of appearing on TV to give his latest book a plug.

6. Revlon is really pushing its new range of beauty creams.

7.At this time of year, the papers are full of advertisement for skiing holidays.

8.BMW is running an aggressive campaign to publicize its 2001 models.

Ex. 2. Like any other sphere of business, advertising means tough competition first of all. The following words will help you in the situation when you are to describe this toughness.

Compete, vie, be in competition with, fight, contest, pit oneself against, competitor, rival, battle, straight fight, rivalry, competition, competitive, cut-throat, dog-eat-dog, rat race.

Now try to define the right sentence for the words above. Change their forms if necessary. Some words can be used twice.

1. This computer firm is strong enough … on equal terms at home and abroad.

2. Advanced technology and low wage costs are helping the Taiwanese firms … internationally.

3. His restaurant is now so good that it … … … some of the best in London.

4. If you want the job, you’ll have … for it.

5. The two major tabloid newspapers … with each other for the best stories.

6. In a desperate bid to dominate the market, they had … … … the giants of the computer industry.

7. The leadership election will be … by four candidates.

8. …for these jobs is very tough – we have over 200 applicants for just six posts.

9. These acting awards are … in an atmosphere of intense rivalry.

10. In such a fiercely … environment, it’s inevitable that some companies will go out of business.

11. Their company was our main … for that share of the market.

12. There is … competition between drug companies these days.

13. There was a long … for control of the publishing company.

14. Advertising is a … business.

15. The stress of the … … is a major cause of health problems.

16. With only two candidates left, it will be a … … between them for the post.

17. This information is secret, which could be of great value to our ….

Ex. 3. Read the text. One and the same word has been omitted. What is this word?

… has been called mass or nonpersonal selling. … is used to inform, persuade, and remind customers about particular products and services. And in some cases—like mail order— … even closes the sale.

Some products lend themselves to … more than others. Typically, certain factors are particularly important for … success, such as:

- High primary demand trend for the product.

- Chance for significant product differentiation.

- High relative importance to the consumer of a product's hidden qualities (as opposed to external qualities).

- The opportunity to use strong emotional appeals.

Where these conditions exist, as in the cosmetics industry, large … expenditures are favored, and the ratio of … to sales dollars is often quite high. For completely undifferentiated products, such as sugar, salt and other raw materials or commodities, the importance of … is usually minimal, and price is usually the primary influence.

The answer is.……….! Look through the text once again and answer one more question: “Why are these very factors particularly important for success?”

Ex. 4. Open the brackets.

It's difficult (to sell) anything when the whole world (to seem) your potential market. That is where segmentation (to come) into the picture.

The marketing concept (to hold) that any organization (to exist) (to gratify) the needs and desires of those consumers it (to be) best in the position (to serve). Segmentation (to involve) selecting those groups of consumers who would probably (to be) most receptive to the market item in question. Market segmentation (to) the key to all advertising decisions. Advertisers (to use) market segmentation (to determine) positioning strategy, media strategy, and creative strategy.

How the elusive consumer scientifically (to pinpoint)? Methods of consumer targeting (to include) an exploration of sociocultural influences on consumer behavior. Advertisers may (to examine) the influence of groups, social class, and familial ties on consumers. Advertisers (to be concerned) also with individual influences on consumer behavior. They (to be interested in) the psychological concepts of learning, perception, motivation, personality, and attitudes and attitude change.

Still another way (to study) a target market (to be) through an examination of the decision process. This process (to begin) with need recognition and (to go) on to search, brand comprehension and evaluation. Choice (to be) the outcome.

Of course, not all advertisers (to have) the financial resources (to conduct) their own detailed research programs. They can (to carry out) small-scale surveys by mail, over the phone, or by direct interview. The library, too, can (to be) a valuable source of consumer behavior data, as can professional research outfits equipped (to cope with) problems that (to be) beyond the abilities of the low-budget advertiser.

Read the text once again and explain the meanings of the words and phrases which have been highlighted.

Ex.5. Study the following word-combinations. What are their Ukrainian equivalents?

all or nothing, back against the wall, to cope with, to cut one’s losses, in the last resort, a long shot, make or break, on the blink, to save the situation, a snap decision, to save the day, to save (or lose) face, the tip of the iceberg, without fail.

Translate the sentences into Ukrainian.

1. This company has an all-or nothing policy with its smaller suppliers.

2. The new product was so successful that production was barely able to cope with demand.

3. This product has almost outlived its lifespan – we should cut losses and take it off the market at once.

4. We have failed, but our back’s not against the wall yet. We have to think over our plan again.

5. If the advertising manager’s poor performance continues, then in the last resort the company will have to remove him and replace him with someone else.

6. The research and development department have come up with a new idea. They say it’s a long shot, but worth trying. We have to decide whether it’s worth risking the money.

7. Be very careful how you treat the chairman’s wife, she has a great influence over her husband. In effect, she can make or break a young executive like you.

8. No, I didn’t get the message; our lines of communication must be on the blink.

9. So, you want us to help your company out of its difficulties by lending you money, but you’re not prepared to give us a stake. Putting it differently, you expect us to save the day for you and get nothing in return.

10. Declining product quality and poor after-sale service, have resulted in the company losing a good deal of face with its customers.

11. The risks involved in this project have been clear from the outset – we simply cannot make snap decisions, everything has to be calculated.

12. The recent financial scandal on the stock market stands to be just the tip of the iceberg.

13. We can accept your offer, on condition that you can guarantee even-day delivery without fail.

Ex. 6. Translate into Ukrainian in written form.

Advertising is defined as the nonpersonal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature, about products, services, or ideas by identified sponsors through various media.

Advertising may be classified by target audience (consumer, industrial), by geography (local, international), by medium (radio, newspaper, television), or by its function or purpose (product advertising, noncommercial advertising, action advertising).

Advertising began in ancient times when most people could not read or write. As manufacturing and communication technologies developed, so did advertising. Printing was the first major technology to affect it, and cable television and computers are the most recent. Since World War II, advertisers have attempted to differentiate products through positioning strategies and other techniques.

As a marketing tool, advertising serves several functions:

- To identify and differentiate products.

- To communicate information about the product.

- To induce the trial of new products by new users and to suggest repurchasing by existing users.

- To stimulate a product's distribution.

- To increase product use.

- To build brand preference and loyalty.

- To lower the overall cost of sales.

Ex. 7. Read the following passage attentively. Fill in the gaps with the words publicity, advertising or public relations.

The terms … and … are often thought of as being synonymous. Or even worse, … is often called “free ….” The simplest explanation for the difference between the two is this: with …, you’re saying good things about yourself in media space you’ve paid for, whereas with …, someone else is saying those good things about you in space that can’t be bought at any price.

You might have hard time finding … pros who cal themselves marketers. Most will firmly declare, “We are communicators and … people, not marketers.” If they’d only think about it for a minute, they would realize that communications and … together (with … being the most visible part of …) make up one of the biggest components of marketing. …and … practitioners need to recognize that they are part – a very large part – of the marketing process. And they are capable of substantially increasing marketing returns by increasing the value of the … attained. But they can only do this if their client’s message is as fully integrated throughout … efforts as it is throughout all of the client’s …, direct marketing, and promotion operations.

Also confusing is when … professionals give … the alias of ‘…’ and vice versa. … is the information activity of …. But … plays a part in …, promotion, and all forms of communication. … is a great deal more than …. It is employee relations, community relations, sponsorships, the tone of an ad or a direct-mail letter, the attitude portrayed by a business, and the way a company’s people greet the public in person and on the phone.

Ex. 8. The key-words of the following text are the derivatives to the word advertise. Use them to fill in the gaps.

Usually we speak only about the … of commercial organizations. But nonprofit organizations also …. The government, charities, trade associations, and religious groups, for example, use the same kinds of creative and media strategies as their counterparts in the for-profit sector to convey messages to the public. But unlike commercial …, whose goal is to create awareness, image, or brand loyalty on the part of consumers, noncommercial organizations use … to affect consumer opinions, perceptions, or behavior—with no profit motive. While commercial … is used to stimulate sales, noncommercial … is used to stimulate donations, to persuade people to vote one way or another, or to bring attention to social causes.

If a specific commercial objective for a new shampoo is to change people's buying habits, the analogous noncommercial objective for an energy conservation program might be to change people's activity habits, such as turning off the lights. The latter is an example of demarketing, which means the … is actually trying to get consumers to buy less of a product or service.

Ex. 9. Make up the sentences. Put them down into your note-books. The first word of each sentence is given to you.

1. N.W. Ayer, in1877, to offer, the nation’s, ad, agency, oldest, established, clients, ‘full service’, was. 2. ‘Full service’, using, artists, and, to create, preparing, an advertising, writers, plan, the ads, means, producing, them, and, staff, writers, placing. 3. So the “agent”, the way, had, from, the publication, of, as, space, shifted, all, the interests, salesman, the needs, to serving, the advertiser, of, serving. 4. And publications, more, just, now, included, than, newspapers. 5. A young, named, had, the foresight, that, should, advertising, man, advertising, to realize, J.Walter Thompson, literary, sell, magazines, space. 6. By the turn, Ladies Home Journal, general, he, of, compilation, the century, Harper’s, women’s, and, magazines, had, Cosmopolitan, an exclusive, “List of Thirty”, developed, including, and. 7. This move, brought, industry, media, truly, Thompson’s part, national, into, the advertising, on.

Ex. 10. Insert the appropriate words.

Action, static, value, top, preceding, aware, percentage, creating, product, advertising, pyramid, unawareness, objective, coupon, comprehension, desire, conviction, information, company, additional.