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awollenberg Apple: "all alarms will work properly beginning January 3." Didn't here. 2
minutes ago · reply
kevinwardWN Lots of people tweeting about taking Xmas decorations down. Does no-
one wait till 12th night any more? 3 minutes ago · reply
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heavier over Xmas :-) 13 minutes ago · reply
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http://www.last.fm/user/... 15 minutes ago · reply
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Campaigns are a significant part of the public relations profession and should be carried
out with meticulous planning and thorough management. Specific step-by-step measures
should be taken when planning any PR campaign to ensure it meets the objectives set or,
in other words, achieves what needs to be achieved.
RESEARCH
No matter what kind of PR activity you’re involved in, research will be at the core of it.
Depending on what you’re doing, different research methods can be used at various
times. For example, if you’re working on a campaign to influence teachers that a school
drug testing programme will help eradicate drug abuse among pupils, you might want to
find out their current opinion by carrying out a nationwide questionnaire among teachers.
Or maybe you’re embarking on an internal communications audit and want to speak more
in depth with employees. Initiating a focus group might be a good means to do this.
Primary
This is finding out the information you want first hand: Questionnaires, one-to-one
interviews, telephone interviews, focus groups, blogs etc.
Secondary
Often called desk research and involves gathering information from already published
sources: Books, journals, papers, libraries, Internet etc.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
The research you’ve carried out should clearly define the current situation with regard to
the campaign. Depending on what’s involved, this might include an organisation’s
current situation in the market, how it’s perceived by customers or staff or how it’s
fairing financially. Going back to the drug testing in schools example, it might include
the current situation with regard to public opinion on the issue or how it’s been portrayed
in the media. Whatever your campaign involves, you must be absolutely aware of
everything both internally and externally.
From this you can carry out a situation SWOT analysis to examine Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the current situation, and a PEST analysis to
examine the external environment Politically, Economically, Socially and
Technologically.
OBJECTIVES
Once you’re aware of the problem(s) your organisation is facing, you can then define the
objectives of the campaign. The objectives are what is hoped to be the end result of the
PR activity. Each objective must be SMART.
Depending on the situation, sometimes the objectives set can initially be before the
research has been undertaken.
IDENTIFYING PUBLICS
Who do you want to talk to? The research carried out in the initial stages of the planning
process should have identified each public relevant to the campaign. This is crucial to
ensure your key messages are communicated efficiently as possible. The research also
should have identified each public’s current attitude to the situation allowing you to tailor
your key messages appropriately. Using the drug testing in schools example, publics can
also be sub-categorised into:
Latent publics: Groups that face a problem but fail to recognise it – pupils
Aware publics: Groups that recognise a problem exists – teachers, media, parents
Active publics: Groups that are doing something about the problem – Drug organisations,
the Government.
IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS
Once the publics of this campaign have been categorised, it is then important to identify
who the stakeholders are. A stakeholder analysis is not as specific as identifying publics
as it looks at everyone that is involved in the campaign as opposed to only those who
need to be communicated to. Publics can also be categorised as stakeholders also. A
stakeholder analysis may involve:
* Employees
* Identified publics
* Suppliers
* Senior executives
* Investors
* Etc
KEY MESSAGES
Once you know the issue you’re facing, the current situation of the organisation (both
internally and externally) and who you want to talk to, you then have to plan what you
want to say. Every PR campaign needs to have a set of messages that forms the main
thrust of the communication. These messages need to be clear, concise and readily
understood. Key messages are important for two reasons. First of all, they are an essential
part of the attitude forming process and second, they demonstrate the effectiveness of the
communication. Key messages must not cross over or conflict.
STRATEGY
The strategy in a PR campaign is often confused with the tactics. However, the strategy is
the foundation on which a tactical programme is built. It is the theory that will move you
where the current situation is now to where you want it to be. The strategy is usually the
overlying mechanism of a campaign from which the tactics are deployed to meet the
objectives. A good example, albeit a rather gruesome one, of strategy and tactics is noted
in Gregory’s Planning and Managing Public Relations Campaigns where she describes
the US’s plans to move against Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait:
TACTICS
The PR profession has a number of tactics (or tools) in its armoury. The challenge is
choosing the right tactics to meet the objectives. Again, depending on what type of
campaign you’re involved you might use media relations, lobbying, events, interviews,
blogger relations, presentations, consultations, newsletters, competitions, podcasts, stunts,
websites, conferences, photography, video news releases, etc etc.
Remember, don’t use no new fangled tactic because it’s perceived to be cool, cutting
edge or the in thing. Only use the tools that will best help you meet your objectives.
Although, creativity is always paramount.
TIMESCALE
Now you know the overall strategy and which tactics you’re going to use, you’ve then
got to allocate a time to do it. A timescale allows you co-ordinate your tactics
appropriately and helps you be aware of certain deadlines. Not only that, if there are
certain future events that relate to your campaign, you can tailor a tactic in your timescale
to coincide.
Take the drug testing in schools example I mentioned earlier. If you know that 10 July is
National Drugs Awareness Week then you might want to mount a media relations
campaign throughout that week. Or on the flip side, if there are more prodominant
happenings in the news agenda you could hold off until things have died down. An
example of an annual planner might look like this:
This campaign tends to drip in the beginning stages, burst through the middle and then
drip toward the end
BUDGET
Allocating the budget is an essential part of a campaign so all costs should be taken into
consideration. The primary reason for a budget lets you know what you can or can’t do,
but it also allows you to allocate money to the specific areas of the campaign:
Operating costs
Distribution, administration, travel, production, seminars
Human
Overheads, expenses, salaries
Equipment
Telephones, furniture, computers
EVALUATION
The evaluation is an ongoing process particularly in a long-term PR campaign so it is
critical to constantly review all specific elements. Evaluating a campaign should be done
in two ways:
Ongoing
The ongoing review is what will be carried out throughout the campaign. It is not
calculated at the end of all the campaign activity, but constantly throughout. If certain
elements of the campaign are not working as effectively as thought in the planning
stages, it can be re-focused or re-jigged to fit.
End
The end review will take place after all PR activity has finished and where the final
results will be compared against the campaign objectives. To do this, the tactics for each
objective will be analysed individually and critically.
The evaluation is vital to discover which parts of the campaign were successful and
which were not. Not only that, it helps determine what the current situation is after the PR
activity has ended.
The evaluation process is the ‘added value’ of PR and is something that should not be
neglected.
Happy campaigning.
Technorati tags:
pr+campaign, pr+campaigns, planning, public+relations, pr, stephen+davies
Stephen is a communications consultant based out of the UK. You can connect
with him on Twitter or check out his LinkedIn profile. | Email Stephen
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Comments are closed.
1. 1
{ Jun 14 }9:38 pm
2. 2
Stephen
Thanks Drew!
{ Jun 14 }9:42 pm
3. 3
david jones
I’ve been in this biz for 15 years and this one of the clesrest articulations of what
a real PR campaign is built on.
Unfortunately, we don’t always get the luxury of time, budget or patience to plan,
execute and evaluate in this way.
The old saying “you can have it good, fast and cheap…pick two” applies in far
too many cases. Guess which two get picked the most?
{ Jun 15 }12:47 am
4. 4
{ Jun 15 }7:42 am
5. 5
Stephen
Thanks guys,
I must credit the University of Sunderland though. They brainwash it into us from
day one!
{ Jun 15 }8:13 am
6. 6
Richard Millington
{ Jun 15 }10:10 am
7. 7
Stephen
Thanks Richard
{ Jun 15 }10:17 am
8. 8
Dario
Hey stephen. I’ve been coming to your blog for over five months now. The more I
become aware of what PR is, the more I get “slapped in the face” with questions
such is PR for me? This is the first time I’ve actually come a mock plan of a pr
campaign. Thanks for that!! This is why Iove your blog!
Dario
{ Jun 15 }11:13 am
9. 9
Stephen
But the great thing about PR is that you can really find your niche. Be it tech PR,
fashion PR, consumer, charity, events etc. etc.
{ Jun 15 }12:19 pm
10. 10
Chris Clarke
A great review of this past year at college for me. It wasn’t particularly interesting
as a series of lectures, but it is fascinating stuff in blog form…well, at least not
nearly as boring.
Good to hear that some of the things I learned were useful to real PR pros and my
year was not a complete waste of time. Thanks, Stephen!
{ Jun 15 }6:11 pm
11. 11
{ Jun 15 }10:25 pm
12. 12
Stephen
Drew, you did. I seem to remember you being a particular favourite of a certain
bunny.
{ Jun 15 }10:37 pm
13. 13
Kami Huyse
Are you studying for your APR Really, I will use this article for the APR class I
am teaching right now, thanks for laying it out.
{ Jun 16 }3:09 pm
14. 14
Stephen
{ Jun 16 }4:59 pm
15. 16
Claire
Thanks for this, I’m studying for my MAPR at the mo and I just lost my book
with all this info in, you’ve helped me out of a tight spot!
{ Jun 17 }9:03 pm
16. 17
{ Jun 18 }8:56 pm
17. 19
Dario
I found this just now. I thjought you might find it quite interesting. It has to do
with blogging and depression.
{ Jun 19 }11:44 am
18. 20
Stephen
Cheers,
{ Jun 19 }1:19 pm
19. 21
Monica
For me personally, I don’t think your post could have come at a better time. I am
a senior at Auburn University (Alabama) and am in a PR Campaigns class right
now. If there was to be a capstone for our PR program, this class would be it.
Right now our class is researching our clients and using such tools as ROSIE
(research, objectives, strategy, implement and evaluation) and RACE (research,
action, communication and evaluation). Thanks to your post, our class now has
another tool to help us in our campaign strategy. I appreciate your clear and
accurate way of depicting what a real campaign should be based off of.
{ Jun 21 }12:51 am
20. 22
Stephen
Thanks Monica. It’s the first time I’ve heard of ROSIE and RACE. I think I may
steal those accronyms from you.
{ Jun 21 }11:03 am
21. 23
Paull Young
Stephen, I’ve taken a few days to get to this but I’ll add a back-slap.
I think it’s great you’ve put a clear and concise summary of this up on the web
though – it will surely be a great resource.
{ Jun 23 }12:01 pm
22. 24
Stephen
Cheers mate,
{ Jun 23 }7:33 pm
23. 26
Bjoern Hasse
{ Jun 27 }8:08 am
24. 27
Hillary
I agree with what you’ve posted so far, but I feel you’ve missed something very
important. I am a PR student in the US and my school emphasizes the relationship
maintenance that comes after the evaluation. Like Monica we are taught the
RACE model, but we are also taught the ROPES model, which is research,
objectives, planning, evaluation and stewardship. Afterall, what good was all of
the work you did to create the relationship if you do not work to maintain it on
some level, even after the campaign is finished?
{ Jul 01 }2:55 am
25. 28
Mary
This is so complete and very useful for beginners. I totally believe that PR
campaigns should be well-planned and researched. And this post brings exactly
that.
{ Jul 10 }8:19 am
26. 29
Sasank
Hi,
Its quite good Stephen, I m working on a PR plan for a radio station launching, It
will help me definitely. Can you suggest me anything for the same.
Thanx
{ Jul 25 }7:25 am
27. 30
Jonathan Goh
28. 31
Latoya
This was very useful informaion. I am preparing a plan for work and trust me, this
sure did hit the nail right on the head.
I am very grateful
{ Oct 18 }9:57 am
29. 32
spymistress
Hi Stephen, I just stumbled on your blog a few minutes ago, I have been looking
for such a blog for a while but I guess I wasnt looking in the right place.
I am a student of PR in University and these seems like good timing for me for I
have just entered these years PRSK Young Achievers Award which will be in
November. I entered last year and came out on top.
Now I want to maintain this spot, but these means I need to perfect my “skill’.
This time we are designing a campaign on how to educate the public about Public
Relation, a major issue in my country. Am still working on the target audience,
the comunication strategy and all the rest time will tell.
Anyway. hopefully your model will help me horn these prize which is very
important to me. Thanks again.
{ Oct 28 }9:47 am
30. 33
theresa
{ Nov 27 }11:25 am
31. 34
Nikki
Hey, i just want to say that this really helped me. I had an assignment from uni
which was “Planning is crucial to the success of PR, do you agree?”. I obviousley
knew the straigh away that i agreed with the statement but this helped me to
expand and portray in my essay how much thought is meant to go into PR
campaign so i would just like to say THANK YOU
{ Jan 07 }10:13 pm
32. 35
Veronica
Hi,
Do you know where I can find case studies about pr campaigns for educational
programs?
Thanks
{ Jan 29 }3:17 pm
33. 36
Robert
Thanks for having such a compehensive PR plan here. I was studing PR and
Media, and i started a second course, Advertising Management.
I started to work at a company, but the boss doesn’t know what a PR campaign
looks like, but he has supposedly done some. (liar) Its a marketing, graphic
design, and advertising agency. so far i’v only seen the graphic side. this is the
last time i set foot here. I’m going to look for another job, with a better boss.
{ Feb 20 }10:27 am
34. 37
Emina
Hi Stephen,
Could I possibly have your full name as I want to reference some of the info in
your blog please?
Thanks for putting everything in plain english, very helpful
Cheers
Emina
{ Mar 11 }1:14 pm
35. 38
Stephen
Hi Emina, glad it has helped. My full name is Stephen Davies. Here’s more info
about me on my About page in case you need it.
{ Mar 12 }8:55 am
36. 39
Emina
Cheers Stephen! I’d put you down as Jones for the time being!!
Emina
{ Mar 12 }10:33 am
37. 40
naima
This quite good like what I learnt in class but what boggs me though is that the
differencce between your objectives and strategy is thin. I am working on pr
campaign for an alternative media and advertising in the main media wont be
logical because this altrnate media is non commercialised and isnt directly
underanyones control. The main aim of this media is to recruit journalists world
wide and increase internet hits. Any craetive ideas thanks
{ Apr 23 }2:47 pm
38. 42
agirl
39. 43
agirl
{ Jun 21 }5:34 am
40. 44
Dare
Hi Stephen,
I’m writing from Lagos in Nigeria. Just stumbled on your article and am much
grateful for it. right now I’m engaged in a job not outrightly unrelated to corporate
communication which is the sole reason I read mass communication a part of
which is PR.
Right now I work in customer services and do hope to get back to corporate
communication sometime soon. Ur article has helped in no small measure to
remind me of some of the things I’ve forgotten as essential to PR planning.
{ Jun 30 }10:39 am
41. 45
Joy Kennelly
I just utilized your information with a new client. Thanks! I’m going to have to
check your site out more often or get the feed. Thanks for sharing!
JOY
{ Jul 16 }7:33 am
42. 46
Stephen
43. 48
sanchari
ur notes aren’t only simple but really informative…… this has been the best
reference for my term paper….
thanks a lot for this help… tc
{ Dec 27 }1:24 pm
44. 50
manju wakhley
{ Apr 09 }1:53 pm
45. 51
Buhle Mbonambi
{ Apr 12 }12:01 pm
46. 56
prisca peters
{ Jul 17 }10:01 am
47. 57
Desmond Johnson
{ Aug 28 }4:59 pm
48. 58
Grace
{ Oct 23 }11:17 pm
49. 59
unsworth sugden pr
{ Oct 25 }9:56 am
50. 60
katie
Hi Stephen,
I have been doing some freelance PR lately for a two companies and have seen
great rewards from my campaigns. However I recently have been thinking that I
should start up on my own, what advice could you give me? Is this a wise idea at
the present time?
Katie
{ Nov 13 }5:06 pm
51. 61
VinitVishal
Thanks for your discrete representation of facts, theoretically.Now I will
defenitely pass my paper wth flying colours. Ha..Ha..
{ Dec 20 }4:48 pm
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