PR, Propaganda and Persuasion

Wednesday 30th January, 2008

Propaganda has been described as ‘the deliberate and systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions and direct behaviour to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist’ (Jowett and O’Donnell 1992: 4)

In this lecture we had learned about PR and propaganda and our first exercise was that we were paired in groups and our topic was ‘PR for Ministry of Defence of USA, advice them on strategies to deal with USA going to war with a country, baramundi (fictitious). The director should provide strategies and tactics as to how to handle the media during the war.We thought that we should create public support by bogeyman tactic. The exercise was quite helpful and useful as you get to think about the strategies what would you being doing in such situation.

After the break we were shown a film on war spin by BBC (www.bbc.co.uk/correspondant). The film was about events that took place during a war on Iraq and media spin. In the film there was a lot of tactics used to control media like use of embedded journalist was a good tactic as the objectivity was only to a point as military was clothing, feeding and protecting them, it’s a big change. Also it showed a truthful image and weapons of mass destruction.

Source: Exploring Public Relations by Ralph Tench and Liz Yeomans

Crisis Management

Wednesday 23rd January, 2008

This lecture was on crisis management and it was very interesting as we looked upon some of good examples in an organization. We started the lecture with what is crisis management and in mandarin language the symbols comprises of two words Danger and Opportunity.

What is crisis and we said that it a turning point, an events that affects the bottom line or reputation of an organization, and we also said that crisis attracts media attention.

We also said that it’s about the organizations ability to cope with the crisis. Some organizations major crisis maybe another’s everyday dealings. We also learnt about different types of crisis and how to tackle them, i.e. by increasing certainty, taking control, Resist attack and reduce isolation.

Later after a break we did a crisis management exercise which was very interesting and enjoyable. We were divided into teams and was given a situation that there are some children from a particular school in harrow who are falling ill due to a mysterious illness and we are the local education authority and what is our role during the crisis. We said that we would first and foremost empathize with the parents whose children are in the hospital and the best thing to do in such a situation would be to shut down the school for sometime till there is no proper investigation to how the children are falling ill.

I leant that it depends on the nature of the crisis and then the organization reacts accordingly. During the times of crisis the organizations sometimes have to issue a press release or call for a press conference if the crisis is too critical or the crisis demands for it. The organization should not panic, it should take the responsibility immediately for what has happened and this shows that the organization as being caring and wants to maintain its trust of its stakeholders.

There is an example of crisis that happened in India with the Cola companies, the pesticide controversy that Cola majors faced in 2003. It describes the New Delhi-based environmental group, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report that put the entire soft drink industry in a bad light. The report claimed that its laboratory tests had discovered that most soft drinks sold in India were contaminated with large doses of pesticides like Lindane, DDT, Chlorpyrifos, and Malathion. But the Cola majors overcame this crisis through the use of various marketing communication tools.

Source:http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/marketing%20management/CLMM003.htm

Public Communication and PR Issues

Wednesday 16th January, 2008

This was our first class after the christmas break, it was nice to see everyone back with a lot of excitement about the second semester which seems more interesting as we have to take up 2 optional modules of our own choice.

We were given all the handbooks of all our course subjects and was given an introduction about our core module which is Public Communication and PR Issues and we were also given an introduction to dissertation. During class we looked at last semester's assignments on our critical reports and PR pitch documents. There were some suggestions given about the critical report which I found very helpful. The whole assignment of a critical report helped me to learn my mistakes what I had made in my PR pitch document. Reading someone's pitch document and critically analyzing it made me feel that where I had gone wrong in my individual document and this I feel was very useful for me as I can improve on my mistakes.

The lecture on how to improve on the critical report and also on the PR pitch document was very useful and helpful.

Consequences of Celebrity PR propaganda

I was reading Rethinking Public Relations by Kevin Moloney and I just came across the consequences of celebrity PR propaganda it said

“This view of a future, reformed PR both includes and excludes the modern phenomenon of celebrity. The inclusion flows from public relations theorised as a communicative consequences of business, interest and cause group activity. Celebrities are often supporting role players for organizations and groups, offering testimonials of support by associations. In this way they can be seen as human resources available to the PR production of businesses and cause groups, and as being effective because of the links to popular culture and the phenomenon of fame. Sports, people, actors, entertainers and authors are often sponsors of mass-marketing businesses and cause groups, and there is then a transference effect of ‘being famous’ to their corporate brands. Such celebrities can be viewed as the human components of corporate brands. Others, however, are the human components of product brands, and so can be seen as mass-mediated, personal sales agents for goods and services, such as clothes and fashion accessories. This is the distinction between a member of the British royal family being a patron of charitable ‘good causes’, and a comedian promoting a credit card. The latter association is better understood through the social psychology of personality traits, and marketing theories of product endorsement and customer relationship, and is thus a non-PR activity.”

Source: Rethinking Public Relations by Kevin Moloney

Using Celebrities in P.R. Raises Level of Media Interest and Subsequent Coverage

This is an article By David Brimm(PCC Co-President). I got this article from the internet and it really attracted me as its about using celebrities in PR

Scott Farrell, executive vice president of Golin/Harris, building on his experience using celebrities for a number of public relations clients, expertly guided a discussion on celebrities.

The session, entitled “Personality PR: Leveraging Celebrities to Boost Your Event,” featured long-time Chicago meteorologist Harry Volkman, now at WFLD-FOX 32; and Darcy Bouzeos, president of DLB, Ltd, a sports and entertainment marketing firm which specializes in obtaining sports figures, media personalities, prominent business executives and entertainers for public relations and other marketing activities.

Darcy Bouzeos says that celebrities and media are a match made in exposure heaven. “Society loves celebrities, and that opens it up for public relations and advertising. Celebrities draw people to an event or venue and garner interest from media.” She notes that it’s not an accident that when celebrities appear on interview shows they are often there at the behest of a corporate sponsor or cause.

Bouzeos strongly suggests that PR professionals integrate a celebrity into strategic planning with a long look whether the celebrity is really appropriate for the product or cause, and its budget. “People like me are willing to brainstorm with you to identify the best celebrity choices, built around your goals and budget. You might be surprised about the relatively small level of fees required to have a local celebrity represent your organization or client.”

In essence, using celebrities requires a carefully thought out plan, but if used properly, celebrities can greatly enhance an event, or media coverage of a product or cause.

Source: http://www.publicity.org/monthlydec01.htm

Gary Farrow claims celebrities need "grown up" PR advice

This is an article where Gary Farrow claims celebrities need "grown up" PR advice.