Public Relations Strategy - Essay Example

Introduction Public Relation is one of the key strategic practices which organizations have to manage in order to achieve their strategic objectives.Public relations, in effect, is a set of practices which or the mean through which an organization manages the direction and flow of information between itself and the public at large. This therefore also requires that the organizations have to manage practices which allow them to effectively communicate as well as create and maintain their relationships with the external world. The successful execution of the chosen strategy in terms of public relations therefore defines the overall productivity of the organizational actions taken in this regard. However, in order to formulate a successful strategy, it is critical that a proper strategic management process is followed. This process is a step by step process which involves different stages through which organizational strategy has to pass through in order to be effective. Such process involves a detailed situational analysis i.e. the process of taking into account the external as well as internal factors before framing and formulating an strategy. The situational analysis also allows an organization to set its strategic objectives and bases on such objectives; strategies are designed to achieve such strategic objectives. Further, organizations also need to choose the tactics and then subsequently communicating the same to the stakeholders so that the same can easily disseminated to all the relevant stakeholders. This document will present a strategic plan for public relations strategy for British Petroleum-one of the highly successful companies in the world. Definition of Public Relations "Public Relations is the profitable integration of organization's new and continuing relationships with the stakeholders including customers by managing all communications contacts with the organization that create and protect the brand and reputation of the organization"(Cawood,1997) A Brief Introduction of the Company British Petroleum or BP is one of the oldest companies in this line of business having more than 100 years of experience. Listed on London Stock Exchange, BP was formed during 1909 as Anglo-Persian Oil Company and has successfully transformed itself into one of the highly successful firms in the world. BP claims to be one of the largest energy companies in the world providing efficient fuel for transportation, energy for heating as well as light and offering other retail petrochemical products for use in everyday life. BP has the presence in over 100 countries with more than 90,000 employees working for it in different countries drilling more than 3 million barrels of oil per day. Such huge level of operations is only possible due to the successful management of the firm in strategic manner through diversification of its brands which cater to the needs of the different segments of the market. It is also critical to note that British Government has remained one of the shareholders of the firm during 1950s however; the stakes of UK government were subsequently sold during 1970s in order to give the firm more freedom and creativity to flourish as the third largest energy company in the world. BP is technically engaged into the exploration and production of petroleum and petroleum related products, refining them and subsequently marketing them. Apart from this, the firm is also involved into the production of different chemicals such as engine oils etc. Some Statistics about BP1 As of December 2007, 1. BP had the market capitalization of over GBP 230 Billion. 2. Sales and operating revenue of approximately GBP 284 Billion. 3. Number of total shareholders is in excess of 1 million. 4. Its proven reserves of the gas and oil were approximately over 17 billion barrels out of which 57% of the reserves are oil whereas rest comprises of the natural gas. 5. It produces 2.4 million barrels of oil and 8.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas from its various sites operated at multiple locations across the world. 6. It operates more than 24000 service stations across the world where it sales around 5.6 million barrels of oil per day. Industry Analysis The global oil industry is facing one of its toughest periods in the history as from enjoying the highest rise in prices of oil related products in history to one of its lowest. However, what is critical for the industry as a whole is the increasing energy insecurity and the concerns shown for the safety of the planet (Paul & Paul, 2007). This growing concern suggests that the industry is increasingly facing a challenge in terms of maintain it's towards its public relations specially in wake of the potential threats which the consumption of oil poses to the environment at large. The development of green technologies and fuel suggest that the firms engaged into traditional oil business not only have to grow and evolve but also improve upon their public relations in order to remain socially responsible. Situational Analysis Macro level environment analysis Political environment Oil firms are typically at a threat from the various quarters and most of them are viewed as negative influence and provide a very key issue to be exploited politically. The recent Iraq war is largely viewed in the perspective of the war for the oil as most of the political discussions are directed towards the assumption that this war is being fought to capture the essential oil resources of the region. In the backdrop of such situation, BP has to face increasing political risk as BP has been fined in the past for environmental crimes and other related issues. Environmental factors Oil consumption creates serious environmental issues which are increasingly threatening the natural environment of the planet. The emission of CO2 is increasing too which not only causes the acid rains but also damage the other natural resources. Apart from the emission in the environment, the waste products of oil industry are damaging the marine environment also as not only regular spillage of oil in open sea is damaging it but also the potential off-loading of waste into sea is causing serious damage to the environment. Though the industry is responding to this challenge by developing green fuel, but it is still believed that the oil will be dominating energy resource in the foreseeable future. For a firm like BP, in order to effectively form to manage such negative influence, it is critical that the public relations strategy shall be well directed and must specifically address such issues of importance. Social Issues The increasing price of oil is one of the key issues faced by modern oil corporations in the world. The unprecedented hike in prices not only increases the overall cost of living but subsequent create further social issues, especially for poor countries which put most of their resources in paying their oil bills. Since oil is currently the most important vital source of energy which is somewhat within the purchasing power of individual countries therefore the increasing oil prices not only create social unrest and political turmoil in such countries but on the other hand, increasing oil prices are reducing the disposable income of the individuals who then have to cut down on other expenses to accommodate the increase. It is due to this reason that most of the buyers term their gasoline purchases as distress purchase. Such negative influence not only creates a strong word of mouth in consumers but also provide an incentive to consumers to look for alternatives. Technological Environment Technological environment of the industry is rapidly changing due to different modifications and emergence of technologies. The exploration and drilling processes have become much more sophisticated and advanced as most of the oil firms are now considering safety as one of the keys essential for implementing any technology. Further, the improvements in the material used in pipelines to transmit oil from one point to another have made the transmission faster and safe besides being safer. Economic issues The current trends in oil industry are volatile as oil prices are making free falls from one extreme to another. Such volatile situation not only creates an economic uncertainty for consumers but also for the organizations working in this industry. Many small firms have not been able to keep pace with such volatile changes and attempted to pass on the costs to the consumers which inadvertently creating issues of strained public relations. Stakeholders 1. Shareholders 2. Employees 3. Consumers 4. Government 5. General Public 6. Distributors 7. Transporters 8. Retailers Goals and Objectives The above analysis suggests that there are serious issues related with the public relations of the BP and in order to overcome such challenges, it is critical that following strategic objectives may be set for formulating an effective plan for Public Relations Strategy: 1. Educating our stakeholders regarding the nature of the oil and its importance to the overall survival of the humanity. 2. Disseminating information regarding the development of environment friendly fuel technologies. 3. Educating our consumers regarding the safety aspects of the use of oil and oil related products. 4. Providing objective evaluation of the facts which are considered as the reason for political as well as social unrest. 5. Creating an overall environment of trust and confidence. Response Strategies Based on the above goals and objective, BP shall set following response strategies in order to achieve the desired goals and objectives of the firm: 1. We will attempt to cut down our costs so that the increasing cost of oil is not passed on fully to the consumers. Our strategy will be based on creating such an environment of organizational performance where our core as well as non-core costs shall remain under tight control in order to provide us the flexibility to respond positively towards the public sentiment in terms of increasing oil prices. 2. We will arrange events where our targeted audience will participate to discuss the issues of relative social importance linked with the oil industry as a whole. We aim to achieve a positive and somewhat soothing response of our stakeholders so that by imparting the rational evaluation of information through audience participation, we can generate a positive and favorable word of a mouth for the organization. 3. We will formulate special alliances as well as coalitions with different non-profit organizations in order to raise awareness regarding the alternative fuel technologies which can help our planet to sustain the increasing technological outbursts. Through this strategy, we also aim to undertake long term alliances with different stakeholders in order to create an image of socially responsible organization. 4. We also aim to provide sponsorships to different events of social significance and relevance to the industry. This will help us to disseminate information regarding our future actions and their impact on our stakeholders. Effective Communication Effectively communicating the desired message to the audience is one of the key elements of the implementing the public relations strategies. In presence of the enormous gluttony of public relations messages to the general public, it sometimes becomes too difficult to get the attention of the audience and in order to achieve the strategic objective, it is critical that the message shall reach to the proposed audience with maximum impact.(Smith,2002). In order to achieve the desired objectives and execute our proposed strategies, effective communication may be achieved in following manner: 1. Information dissemination will be done in a manner which attracts the attention of our stakeholders. This will be achieved through effective design of words and images which capture the attention of our targeted audience in the most receptive way. It is also critical to note that information dissemination will be done through independent resources i.e. media etc. 2. Persuasion shall be used as an effective communication tool to improve upon the flow of information from BP to its targeted audience i.e. stakeholders. It is also important to note that persuasion will be undertaken in the most ethical way which basically resembles to the democratic societal values and provides an opportunity for an impartial and transparent evaluation of the facts. Third mean of effective communication which BP shall undertake is to engage into dialogue. As discussed above that BP's strategy would be to engage all its stakeholders therefore dialogue will provide an opportunity to be in person with our targeted audience. Communication Tactics Communication tactics are considered as eyes and ears i.e. physical form, of the public relations strategy because despite having fabulous strategies and objectives, a public relation strategy cannot be implemented until suitable communication tactics are not adopted. Based on this idea, BP shall attempt to employ following communication tactics: 1. BP's first line of defense will be the exploitation of controlled media i.e. the media the contents of which can easily be controlled before disseminating the same. In order to achieve such objective, we will develop brochures, newsletters, viral marketing as well as use of Internet. Such controlled media will allow BP to provide a very targeted and precise public relations message to all its stakeholders. 2. Apart from using controlled media, uncontrolled media shall also be used as an alternative. Use of uncontrolled media creates a voluntary message for the targeted audience of the organization however its impact can be either positive or negative. In order to manage the down side of this process, BP aim to develop strategic participation with the media in order to create a favorable image of itself to the external uncontrolled media specially. BP shall also engage itself into interpersonal communication with most of its stakeholders according to their degree of influence. Interpersonal communication would provide BP an opportunity to involve at a personal level to interact with the stakeholders to gain their first hand response to different issues of public relations. Implementation and Evaluation After the implementation of the above plan of action, the evaluation of the same shall be done on following basis: 1. Does the plan achieve the desired objectives of the organization If no, than what are the critical factors which resulted into the failure of the plan 2. Was the plan realistic and achievable within the given time and cost 3. Does the plan was ethically correct and depicted the social responsibility on the part of the organization or not 4. Was the plan credible with complete backing from all the stakeholders of the firm Does the plan was implemented within given/reasonable timelines Conclusion British Petroleum, being one of the largest firms in the world, is considered to be working as an ethically and socially responsible organization in an industry which is marred by controversies and disinformation. In order to succeed in such environment, it is critical that BP must have an effective public relations plan to successfully tackle the external as well as internal threat. The above plan presented a line of action as to what strategies and objectives shall be set in order to achieve the positive public relations image by employing tactics and strategies which are acceptable to all the stakeholders of the firm. References 1. Bill Paul, William Henry Paul (2007). Future Energy: How the New Oil Industry Will Change People, Politics and Portfolios. New York: Wiley-Interscience. 4. 2. Clarke L. Caywood (1997). The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations & Integrated Communications. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. 9. 3. Ronald D. Smith (2002). Strategic Planning for Public Relations. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 113. Read More