CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Focus On Asian Public Relations Management

Asia, like many regions all over the world, has its own set of systems, beliefs and cultures which is unique to it. What does this have to do with public relations practice? The answer is: application. In all of my previous blog entries, I have covered a whole spectrum of public relations theories, practices, case studies and examples.

Several times, I have listed out what should and what should not be done when doing PR.

However, one must remember that none of this is set in stone. A campaign that has worked for someone else may not necessary work for you. A campaign that has worked for you before may not necessarily work again. Everything is dependent on many factors such as time and situational aspects. In this case, we are discussing regional/geographical and most importantly, cultural factors.

Let's use the case study of a campaign mascot for example. A cute, round pig dressed in a brightly-coloured outfit may be suitable for promoting a related product in the USA or Australia. But doing that in countries such as Malaysia or Indonesia where Islam is the dominant religion is highly unacceptable as the pig is seen as a "dirty" creature and has many negative connotations.

In the end, it all comes down to research and professionalism.

Before venturing and conducting any form of PR in a region or country that the agency has not previously accessed, background research and analysis is of utmost importance. The better your understanding of the local culture, customs and practices, the easier it will be to reach out to whichever target audience your company or client may be targeting.

To end of, here is a video of the popular Russel Peters who takes a lighthearted look at different cultures and behaviors.

CHAPTER TWELVE: New Media And Public Relations

With the advent of the internet and other new media platforms like podcasts, many new and creative avenues are opened up for PR agencies to run their campaigns. Many advertising and PR agencies now consider the internet as one of the main media channels to conduct campaigns. In fact, through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, entire campaigns may be run online without the need for physical events.

While some might argue that an "online experience" will not be able to rival "real" experiences, there are several advantages that an online PR or advertising campaign may have when compared to running an actual, physical campaign or event.

COST

As significantly less physical resources and manpower are needed, costs can be cut from these areas. Approaches such as VIRAL MARKETING can even be done for free. Although this technique has been used even before the advent of the internet, the viral process which helps to build brand awareness is multiplied through the network capabilities of the internet. Videos on Youtube, for example, cost very little to manufacture. Yet, they have the potential to generate large amounts of publicity.

This is a funny viral video discussing viral marketing.

REACH

As mentioned previously, the internet is a global platform. A physical event held on a single day at a single location can only reach a certain number of people. However, a single website has the potential to reach billions of viewers all over the globe. The video below is an advertisement by a company that believes in the power of marketing/advertising through the internet.

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter also offer many opportunities for companies to conduct PR campaigns. However, with all the advantages these sites offer, one has to be aware of the disadvantages as well. The video below takes a candid look at what plus and minus points an individual may have when using Facebook. Although the video addresses more of personal issues that users may experience, some of these issues will be similar to challenges faced by PR companies who are trying to utilise these online platforms.

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Engaging WIth The Media

Media relations is one of the most important - if not THE most important aspect of public relations. The connections and relationships that a PR practitioner has with contacts from the media plays an extremely crucial role in an organisation's public relations. This is heavily due to the role of the media.

PR practitioners can develop campaigns and spin beautiful stories about their company or their client, but in the end, the media is the one that will publish those stories and articles. Journalists and writers will write these stories in any way they or their company want. Simply put, if a journalist hates you, all the hard work you've put into your PR plan and campaign will go down the drain as far as the papers, magazines, TV and radio are concerned.

"JOURNALISTS ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS."

This would be a good code to live by as a PR practitioner. Journalists and editors have needs and requirements that they have to fulfill as well. By having good relationships with these people and knowing their needs, it would be much easier for a PR practitioner to get a release or campaign covered. When trust is established between the two parties, it creates an ideal win-win situation where both - PR practitioner and journalist - get what they want.

Updating your contact list is also important in maintaining these relationships. Calling up a journalist only to find out that he is currently a ballet dancer shows that the PR practitioner lacks professionalism. Another important aspect that practitioners MUST know is how a newsroom operates. This will allow the practitioner to know the exact person he or she needs to contact. Knowing the reporting structure also allows for the bypassing of unnecessary communication channels.

The bottom line is, a PR practitioner must have good relations with media people in order to do their job well. It's not just a matter of making his or her job easier. It is what a professional PR agent should do.

CHAPTER TEN: An Issues-Crisis Perspective

Crisis management is an important aspect of public relations. One of the jobs of a PR practitioner would be to manage and address crises.

A crisis can be defined as an extremely uncertain event to which the causes and effects are unknown. However, it is usually a major occurrence and may lead to negative outcomes for the organisation, its reputation, the industry, the public and even society as a whole. In a nutshell, it is something which poses a great threat to the company or organisation. Crises can be divided into several broad categories placed along an X and Y axis: External economic attacks: - Extortion - Bribery - Boycotts - Hostile takeovers Megadamage: - Environmental accidents Psycho: - Terrorism - Copycats - On-site/off-site sabotage - Kidnappings - Sexual harassment - Rumors External information attacks: - Copyright infringement - Loss of information - Counterfeiting - Rumors Breaks: - Recalls - Defects - Breakdowns - Operational errors - Poor security Crises also have a life cycle of sorts which can be divided into four main stages. At each stage, the form and level of management required to handle the crisis differs. Phase One: DETECTION If a crisis can be detected at an early stage or at best, identified before it even develops, it can easily be prevented. If a potential major crisis is stopped at this phase of its development, chances are that it won't even grow big enough to be classified as a "crisis" per say. Phase Two: PREVENTION Once a crisis has been identified in Phase One, measures can be implemented to prevent the crisis altogether. If the crisis is imminent, steps can be taken to minimize any damage that the crisis might bring. Phase Three: CONTAINMENT This is the most intense stage of the crisis where management is the most important. The crisis is already happening. Prevention is already impossible. The task of the PR team is not to handle the crisis as best as they can while minimizing damage caused by the issue. Phase Four: DAMAGE CONTAINMENT The aftermath. Damage has already been done. The only thing left to do is to prevent the damage from spreading even further. This is where all the legal procedures take place, after the actual crisis itself. The PR team will need to tread carefully when handing the media, government inquiry and such. Phase Five: RESOLUTION This is when the media concludes and publishes the entire story. The who, what,when, where and how are released to the public. If the PR team has screwed up the first four phases, there is nothing much that can be done here.

CHAPTER NINE: Strategies To Proactively Manage Activity

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

Without a properly thought-out strategy for any PR campaign, it would most likely lead to failure. This chapter is closely linked to the previous chapter on public relations research. In fact, PR research is crucial in coming up with a suitable strategy for a PR campaign. Research (RECAP) As previously discussed, proper research allows the PR team to come up with a good campaign strategy. Both internal and external research comes into play here. Internal research includes the evaluation of past campaigns to see what worked and what did not, taking into account factors that led to the success or failure of those campaigns. External research involves things like surveys and other forms of market research. The aim is to find out more about your target audience, their needs, the best ways to gain their attention and so on. Analysis and Identifying Publics and Audiences There would be no point in conducting huge amounts of research if the results of those studies are not analysed. The findings of your research - the numbers, data, facts and figures need to be tabulated and interpreted. Questions like "What do these numbers mean?" and "What does this finding suggest?" need to be answered. Also, this would be where SWOT (Strengths, Opportunities, Weaknesses and Threats) analysis comes in. SWOT analysis is important in the strategy-making process and it highlights areas which will need to be looked into when formulating the strategy. This would also be the time to clearly identify the target audience of the campaign. This will allow the PR practitioner to consider the different ways of informing or communicating with the target demographic. This knowledge is crucial when deciding strategies and tactics for the campaign. Goal-setting Based on the results of the analysis, the PR practitioner/team can then begin setting realistic goals for the upcoming campaign. The setting of goals and objectives allows the PR practitioner to develop a series of possible methods and strategies to reach that goal. Throughout the entire process, external parties like other departments in the company may be called in to provide inputs. Goals may continuously be modified and refined. By the end of the entire goal-setting process, the campaign should have a clear goal as to what it intends to achieve. Setting the Strategies The aim of a PR campaign is to create a meaning and to let your audiences understand and receive that meaning the way it was intended to be received. Therefore, when constructing a strategy for a PR campaign, it is important to keep these meanings in mind. There probably will never be a single straight-forward route to take when developing a strategy. There will always be options. Here is a case study of the strategy adopted by Porter Novelli (a PR company) when launching the DVD of Pixar's Finding Nemo. Firstly, they have established that the target audience for their campaigns would be children between 3 to 11 years of age. The have also realised that although their targets are the children, the actual consumers doing the spending would be their parents. The strategy that Porter Novelli decided to adopt in the end was to use education as a platform for publicising the DVD. Also, the "underwater" theme was also an important aspect of the strategy as Finding Nemo was a film about the adventures of a fish, which takes place almost entirely underwater. Tactics - Implementation of Strategies After coming up with the strategy, steps have to be taken on how to put those plans into actions. These steps are known as tactics, which is basically the implementation of the strategies that have been developed. Going back to the case study of the Finding Nemo DVD launch, some tactics adopted by Porter Novelli was to implement a "Back To School With Nemo" programme which was targeted at school teachers. A kit was provided which included:

• Finding Nemo name badges for kids to wear on their first day of school


• Ocean ideas for the classroom (activities and decoration ideas)


• Great Barrier Reef information and activity sheets


• Flash cards with ocean animals


• Certificate template


• Finding Nemo book & poster


• A feedback form

This move was in line with the strategy of using education to promote the DVD.

Also, going in line with the underwater theme that was proposed as a strategy, the PR company had a media launch at the Melbourne Aquarium.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The final phase of the PR campaign would be to monitor public responses to the campaign and to measure and evaluate the level of success of the campaign. This material can then be used as research for future PR campaigns.

CHAPTER EIGHT: Reputation Management - A Driving Force For Action

When we discuss the issue of reputation management and corporate image, it ultimately boils down to this element known as corporate brand and identity. According to Olins (1978), corporate identity can be described as a physical manifestation of an organisation's corporate personality. This includes - but are not limited to - symbols, crests and logos. Corporate identity can be divided into three components.

COMMUNICATION

This is what companies say about themselves and market themselves through the various communications channels like television, radio, the internet and even outdoor events. PR and marketing can fall under this category.

BEHAVIOUR

In order to build a strong corporate identity, a company has to walk the talk. The actions and measures taken by an organisation to live up to the image it has communicated to the public determines the strength of that organisation's corporate image. This is arguably the most important component of the "corporate identity mix".

SYMBOLISM

This is where all the logos and symbols come in. Nike's trademark "swoosh", Adidas' three stripes, the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Panda are some examples of solid logos that have been successfully etched into the minds of the public through effective marketing and PR.

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Different companies have different ways to branding themselves. Some, like Nike and Adidas, use symbolism more than anything else. Others, like The Body Shop, actively invest time and resources into their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and aim to build their brand name through actions. One interesting example of how an organisation has branded itself would be the case study of the Virgin Group.

CHAPTER SEVEN: PR Management in Organizations

Wow. Another long and detailed chapter loaded with information. It goes to show the sheer volume of variables and factors that go into how public relations work in an organization. So far, in most of the previous chapters, we can observe how public relations work with regards to the relationships between a company and its publics or consumers and even the relationships between two companies.

So for this chapter, I would like to zoom in and focus on one aspect of PR known as internal relations.

Public relations not only needs to deal with a company's consumers and shareholder, but to it's employees as well. A Ferrari is only able to produce so much power and torque if all the internal components of the car's engine work perfectly with one another. Using this analogy, we can clearly see how important the relationship between a company and its employees is.

The whole concept of internal communications can be summed up into three main categories.

Organisational Culture

"Culture is made up of shared values, symbols, meanings, beliefs, assumptions and expectations that organise and integrate a group of people who work together"

Grunig & Dozier, 2002

The culture of an organization is usually developed by its founders or leaders and is internalised by its staff and management. It affects how things are done in the organization, how people work and how the company itself operates in general. For example, Google has an extremely participative and innovative company culture which gives a lot of autonomy to its employees.

However, due to the fact that any organisation is made up of so many unique individuals, conflicts are inevitable. This is where the PR department can come in and resolve these conflicts. The role of PR practitioners here can be to solve conflicts, reinforce organisational mission and vision and internally promoting the company culture of an organisation.

Understanding Employees' Needs

As I have mentioned earlier, employees are what make up the compnay, so it would be in the best interest of any organisation to keep its employees happy. In order to do this, the company must understand the needs and feelings of its employees.

Each individual employee is different. As such, employees should not be lumped together as a whole demographic. There are, however, several categories that can be used to group employees if necessary - for example, their reason for being in the company, be it good pay f,or the experience, good organisational culture, etc.

When situations arise and there is a need to communicate with employees, a PR practitioner can adhere to the following guidelines:

• Tell employees FIRST
• Tell bad and good news together
• Be timely
• Inform employees in all matters that are important to them
• Use media that is trusted by employees

Employee Communication Channels

In any organisation, there are many existing channels of communication. Some of these channels are more formal than others - for example, the chain of command leading up from the lowest-ranked employee right to the company's CEO. As a PR practitioner, it is important to know when to use which channels for what purposes. Certain information would be better-received by employees if delivered through a more formal medium. Others work better when delivered in a more casual fashion.

And to end off, here's a little cartoon depicting a manager who doesn't give a flying fish about hi's company's internal communications.