Public Relation Strategy - Essay Example

Topic:  Concept of Strategy in Public Relations Introduction Public relation is a key aspect in any medium or large organization and gives way to the success of an organization. Public relation is the management of the communication process inside an organization and between the organization and its outside audience. The main focus of public relation is to develop the reputation of the organization by its performance. So in order to have an effective public relation, any organization needs to plan or develop policy to implement it. Public relation is about the reputation of the company and to receive maximum benefit from public relation activities a complete planning is necessary. According to ( Rembrandt 2011) “A sustainable public relations strategy is a long-term endeavor. It can take months to capture the attention of targeted media venues”. Public relation strategy is an active part of the marketing strategy of an organization. A strategy is a process or means by which an organization achieves its goals or objectives. Public relation strategy is directly connected to the concept of integrated communication. A public relation strategy has to integrate the communication throughout the organization by keeping in base the audience and stake holders of an organization. A good strategy must balance internal and external factors of an organization to achieve the corporate mission. As per (Caywood 1997 ,87)“When a strategy has been developed and the public relation plan is implemented, research plays an important role in monitoring its effectiveness and making adjustments”. Strategy formulating is an important aspect of public relation and its rest with the corporate heads of a firm. The Concept of Strategy in Public Relation Public relation strategy is about the action that an organization can take to accomplish its goals and objectives. On the strategic side, four public relation dimensions reflect organizational approaches to problem solving or organizational world views about the management of relationships with stakeholders. These dimensions may be considered strategic in the sense that they lay foundation for the manners in which an organization might try to achieve a public relation objective. The strategy in public relation enables the corporate heads to judge the effectiveness of their media relation ahead of the implementation of marketing strategy. Strategy is essentially a longer term planning while bottom line sales tactics demand short term results. In her book(Olive 2010, 14) writes that “Strategic public relation is concerned with managing the relationships between an organization and much wider variety of stakeholders or audience and range of priorities given at any given time”. The basic element in public relation is the preparation and distribution of press releases that features stories about the company, its products and employees. Every organization should give utmost importance to public relation as it is connected with the reputation of a firm. A good public relation strategy will influence the regarding the image of the organization. A proper strategy helps an organization to build a good rapport with customers, stake holders and employees. A well made public relation strategy can be a part of marketing plan and can help the organization at the time of emergencies or contingencies. According to (TSB 2010)“A good PR strategy can help build relationships with customers, investors, donors, employees and the general public”. The Significance of Strategy in Public Relation Most corporate heads now believe that a comprehensive public relation strategy can lead to a long term success of an organization. A good strategy is necessary for the development of a good corporate image. A good public relation strategy can influence the view of external internal stake holders of the company.It is extremely important that the public relation strategy of a company should be up to date and in parallel with the corporate goals. A good strategy should make sure that company hold a positive relationship with media and public. A public relation strategy should be flexible and adaptable to future changes occurring in the organization. In the website(Meranus)mentions that “Planning your PR strategy now will not only help generate new ideas and opportunities for you and your business to shine, itll give you peace of mind in your day-to-day operations”. The public relation strategy is all about selecting the appropriate tactics to meets its objectives and goals. The public relation is inspired by strategy and is comprised of what, who, when, where, why, how of engagement and communication in an organization. Strategy is a planned activity which integrates the communication occurring internally and externally in an organization. A well defined public relation strategy helps in allocating the resources of an organization and utilizes them to achieve organizational goal. In a public relation strategy , leaders of an organization manages the communication process in a way that they are transparent, open and focuses on market plan and its customers. As per (Allert 1999) “The strategy orchestrates multiple messages to assure a harmonious flow of communication to produce optimum stakeholder’s response”. Rhetoric Perspective of Public Relation Rhetoric scholars give strategically choices to corporate heads to take more practical decisions related to public relation activities. The study of rhetoric concentrates on how groups, individuals and organization make meaning, through argument, counter argument to create issues, resolve uncertainity, and compete to achieve a preferable position or to build coalition to solve problems. According to this perspective, communication is the central force by which organizations and public reach interpretations or meaning of their relation to one another. The unit of analysis most often mentioned by rhetorical scholars is the “public record” which are published document which convey message to public like newspapers ,magazines and also films, videos websites etc. In the article (Toth) explains that “Rhetoric can be thought as a one way flow of information, argument, and influence whereby one entity persuades and dominates another”. Rhetoric theory turn its attention on public’s discourse or messages, recognizes public as active participant in constructing the meaning of their relationship with the organization. Rhetoric theory views public relation as a symbolic nature of communication. This theory helps an organization to achieve its goals with legitimacy. Rhetoric refers to the strategic options of communication influence within ethical standards. Rhetoric instead of signaling informed and reasoned discourse came to be associated with sham and hollowness. Rhetoric theory features the role information and fact play in shaping knowledge and opinions as well as motivating actions. It addresses the way s that evaluations are debated and confirmed or challenged through discourse. It explains how people co –create meaning through dialogue that can build mutually beneficial relationships. Critical Perspective of Public Relation The critical perspective has a provocative and confrontational view. Critical theorist views against the idea of “the unit of analysis” and call it an artifact of social science research thinking. Critical theorist is humanistic in their measurements and conceptualization, that is, they present their judgment because of their wide understanding of human behavior. In this theory human beings are considered as ethical and moral beings and it focuses on changing the oppressing of one class in favor of another. It advocates peace, happiness and social order in a society It believes that the entry of women into the public relation field is an event of gender crisis and lead to a long lasting conflict of masculine and feminine ideology. Women entering public relation give it a touch of symmetry and cooperation unlike men who demands rationality, efficiency, individualism and competition to this field. Critical theory focuses on power of rationality rather than the power of power. There has been a limited amount of that broader critical theory within public relations. Critical theory has yet to satisfy its detractors within public relations that it can reconstruct as well as deconstruct. Critical theory can be defined in two main ways: broadly as a range of philosophical approaches that take a critical view of existing power arrangement in society and narrowly as the object of attention of certain tradition of thoughts. (Mintzberg) “ Strategy in this respect is to the organization what personality is to the individual” Conclusion A company must attempt to build a more positive and comprehensive model of strategic management in public relation in order to achieve its goal or objectives. Proper analyzing of stakeholder and public with the company has to be studied well in order to formulate a proper public relation strategy. According to (Moss & Warnaby)” Despite the emergence over past thirty years of a growing volume of literature devoted to the subject of strategy, a comprehensive consensus definition of strategy has remained elusive”. However some have argued that the role of a strategy is to cope up with the changing environment of an organization regarding its internal and external factors. While planning a comprehensive public relation strategy a company should take in to consideration its various characteristics like size, political make up, cultural value and structure. Public relation practice involves management of an organization reputation by identifying perceptions that are held of the organization and working to inform all relevant audience and working to inform all relevant audience about organizational performance. In the journal (Xavier 2006,1-10) writes that “In public relations planning strategy plays a critical role in determining how organizations respond to and manage environmental relationships and demands”. Strategic public relation is concerned with managing the relationships between an organization and a much variety of stakeholders or audiences and range of priority at a given time. The theories of public relation like rhetoric and critical ones have its own perspective on communication and public relation approach. When formulating a strategy an organization should consider the cultural norms, technology, political agenda and national policy concerning it. Bibliography Allert, John. "Public Relations Strategy and Planning - Case Study Analysis." Curtin University of Technology. Accessed September 2, 2011. http://www.slideshare.net/Nostrad/pr-strategy-and-planningcase-study-analyses Caywood, Clarke L. The Handbook Of Strategic Public Relations & Integrated Communications. New York: Tata Mc graw Hill, 1997 Meranus, Rachel. "Developing a PR Plan." Accessed September 2, 2011. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/173460. Mintzberg, Henry. "The Strategy Concept I :Five Ps of Strategy." California Management Review 30, no. 1 (1987): 11-19. Moss, Danny, and Gary Warnaby. "Strategy and public relations." Accessed September 4, 2011 Olive, Sandra. Public Relations Strategy. 3rd ed. London: Kogan Page Limited, 2010. Rembrandt, Melanie. "Public Relations Strategy on a Tight Budget." start up nation. Accessed September 2, 2011. 1.http://www.startupnation.com/business-articles/1241/public-relations-strategy.asp/ TSB. "Public Relations Strategy: Why Your Organization Needs One." Accessed September 2, 2011. http://thethrivingsmallbusiness.com/articles/public-relations-strategy-why-your-organization-needs-one/. Toth, Elizabeth L. "The Case for Pluralistic Studies of Public Relation: Rhetorical,Critical, and systematical perspectives." Syracuse University. Accessed September 2, 2011. Xavier,Robina J. "Exploring strategy : What public relations strategy means in practice." Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal, 6.2 (2006): 1-10. Print. Read More