CHAPTER THREE: Public Relations Theory

This week I will cover Chapter 3 of the course text, which delves into the history and development of public relations theory. To be honest, the sheer "dryness" of this chapter is making me not looking forward to typing this entry. However, as with any field, understanding the theory behind a practice is crucial in order for a practitioner to perform to the best of his/her ability.

Although it is easy to see the importance of practical applications of public relations and having real life or "hand-on" experience when it comes to managing PR, many tend to overlook the importance of having a solid theoretical foundation on the subject. When it comes to public relations practice, knowing the theory behind the practice can be helpful for a practitioner in the sense that it enables him/her to better apply his/her skills in predicting, handling and ultimately solving a situation or crisis.

SYSTEMS THEORY

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The first step to understanding PR theory is to comprehend the concept of systems. A system is a set of items that affect one another and are connected in an environment to form a single unique, working body - much like our solar system. The Sun influences the orbits of Earth and other planets. The Earth influences the Moon's orbit around it. The Moon causes high and low tides on Earth's oceans and so on.

In organizations, concepts like cybernetics (regulation and control within systems), requisite variety (when individuals in an organizations have different points of view) and boundary spanning (relating the system/organization to the outside world) are all integrated into the system of the company.

COMMUNICATION THEORY

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The next concept that we need to understand would be the communication theories. We covered this concept in one of our communication modules last semester. The communication theories that apply to public relations comprise of models like Shannon and Weaver's transmission model, media effect models and persuasion theories.

PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY

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Next comes the understanding of various theories of public relations which have been developed over the centuries. Two examples of such theories would be the Excellence Theory and Grunig and Hunt's four models.

Excellence Theory

This theory claims that companies with successful public relations posses the following qualities:

- participative organizational cultures

- symmetrical system of internal communications

- organic organizational structures

- equalizing minority voices

- high employee job satisfaction

Grunig and Hunt's Four Models

Press agentry

- one-way communication

- much like the publicity model of communication

- the truth is often stretched

Public information

- one-way communication

- purpose is to inform, not advertise

Two-way asymmetric

- use of scientific information to influence

- information on audience expectation is used to develop material

Two-way symmetric

- ideal form of public relations

- aims to establish mutual understanding between organization and public

RHETORICAL AND INTERPRETIVE PERSPECTIVES

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Rhetorical studies focus on meaning, the creation of meaning, examining individual and organizational discourse as well as corporate rhetoric. Cultural Theory comes into play here. Culture, according to Schein (1992), has three aspects - basic assumptions, values and artefacts. A public relations practitioner who is able to understand and appreciate the meanings of these cultural aspects would be able to better manage the public relations of an organization.

In conclusion, the integration of all the major elements above gives a more complete picture of what public relations theory is all about. Of course, each element is a vast and detailed field of study on its own. What I have listed above is merely a summary of the factors that constitute the theoretical context of public relations as a whole.

CHAPTER TWO: Trends & Developments

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I've managed to cover the first chapter of the textbook readings for the week. In a nutshell, my readings have helped me to better understand the concept of public relations and the history and reasons behind it. A brief history of PR was also made known to me.

One of the more interesting aspects of this chapter that caught my attention was the different views and perspectives on public relations from different parts of the globe. Three of the main schools of thought that were presented in the text were the US perspective, the UK perspective and the Asian perspective.

From what I understand, one of the main reasons for the existence of these varying interpretations of PR stems from the fact that public relations is based on existing social values and ethics. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that different countries from different parts of the world have varying perspectives with regards to PR due to the vastly different cultures and customs that exist within these countries.

One lesson that can be derived from this fact is that having an appropriate PR strategy is of utmost importance. This strategy must be conducted based on the research and understanding of the culture in which an organization operates. A strategy that is formulated based on theory and definitions alone is unlikely to succeed. It is therefore the PR practitioner's duty to understand these customs and values that govern the thoughts and actions of the organization's target market and society in general.

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The topic discussed in this week's lecture and tutorial, however, drew more attention from me than the textbook readings did.

EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

What an interesting concept.

This form of marketing is definitely something that I have been personally exposed to and yet, I was not ever really aware of its existence until now. This marketing concept revolves around creating positive and memorable consumer experiences. The "magic" happens when consumers consciously or even subconsciously relate these positive experiences to products or services offered by companies.

My personal opinion - this works much better than hard-selling, if one claims that hard-selling even works at all. Personally, I get turned off when a product keeps getting blatantly shoved in my face. As opposed to the product-focused methods of traditional marketing, experiential marketing focuses on the customer's emotions and I feel that this is a much more personal and soft approach to marketing a product - marketing with a "human touch", if you will.

The following website offers several case studies of a few brands that have made use of this marketing approach to reach their customers.

http://www.traffik.com.au/case-studies.html

CHAPTER ONE: Introduction To PR

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Even without us realising it, every one of us would have used some form of PR or public relations during the course of our daily lives. It can come in the form of telling someone she's pretty even when you feel otherwise - perhaps because you do not wish to hurt her feelings or for the fear of getting a punch in the nose. It may be in the form of crafting a valid reason for why you're late for school when in actual fact, you overslept. Or it could be that time when you sincerely apologised to someone after making a mistake and meaning every single word of it.

As you might have noticed, two out of the three everyday examples that I gave above are not exactly what some would call ethical.

Which brings me to one of the issues that was brought up during today's lesson - the question of public relations and ethics. I feel that ethics play an extremely important part of public relations. While it is true that one of the purposes of PR is to maintain and portray a positive image of an organisation, I feel that this objective should not overrule what is right and wrong. Of course, "right" and "wrong" in this case are defined by laws and the expectations of society itself.

This reminded me of something I studied in one of my previous courses, IRHR1001 - Managing the Organisation.

A certain viewpoint regarding ethics is that the only corporate-social responsibility of an organisation is to make profits. I believe that corporate-social responsibilities (CSR) is closely linked to PR when it comes to managing companies. Well, questions and debates like this are making me look forward to whatever we will be studying in the next few weeks. Public relations is indeed less dull than I had initially perceived.

In all honesty, getting my head off my beloved pillow on this cold and rainy morning was one of the hardest challenges I have ever faced in my entire life (okaaay, not really). Well, after today's rather interesting introduction, having to drag myself out of bed this morning suddenly didn't seem like such a bad thing anymore.