Week 10

I think the important points to remember from this week's readings were:

*Strategy is the underlying rationale that guides the selection of tactics and stages in a PR campaign. It is important as it determines action plans that align with an organisations mission and assist in achieving goals and objectives that have been set. Regarding PR strategy, the most important moves are generally internal as educating management on the importance of PR strategies will assist the practitioner in becoming involved in the decision making coalition of the organisation, which will ultimately lead to better communication between the organisation and publics.

*The first step to a PR strategy is to define what the organistation wants for its future (vision statement) and steps to reach this objective (mission statement). This will provide a framework on which to build a successful strategy upon. Both the vision and mission statements should be associated with a set of corporate values that are expected to be upheld by employees. To measure the progress towards the vision of the organisation, it is important to develop a set of key performance indicators (KPI's) as a way of measuring an organisation's progress. KPI's however are often not suitable for practitioners as their results are often intangible.

*PR strategic plans need structure. Johnson and Zawawi provide the following 6 step plan:

1. Executive summary: a summary of what led to the need for the plan as well as an overview of what goals and objectives need to be met.
2. Vision and mission statements.
3. Background and situation analysis: details the problems and opportunities that led to the plan and do a SWOT analysis of the plan.
4. Define strategy: what is the relationship between the organisations situation and their mission.
5. Define publics: who does the organisation need to communicate with to be successful in achieving its objectives.
6. Define main message.

*Like with all public relations campaigns, effective budgeting and scheduling of a companies resources is essential in carrying out an organisation's objectives. Visual aids such as flow charts, calenders and Gantt charts are helpful in achieving this.

*Within PR strategies, tactics are the underlying means of achieving the strategic outcomes. These tactics can be broken up into two groups:

1. Controlled tactics: the practitioner maintains control over every aspect of the process from message creation to distribution. E.g. advertising, posters and brochures.
2. Uncontrolled tactics: tactics that can be altered or blocked completely. E.g. media relations and public meetings.

*The range of tactics is virtually unlimited however it is important to use tactics that will suit the direction of the campaign. For example, if an organisation is dealing with a sensitive issue, holding a public meeting may not be a suitable tactic as a positive outcome is not guaranteed because the organisation has no control over it. In this instance, providing something like a newsletter may be effective as the information can be communicated in a controlled manner. Other tactics include annual reports, printed materials (such as brochures and leaflets), direct mail, videos, speeches, using celebrity spokespeople and many more.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that:

*It reinforced that thorough planning of a strategy is important for its success. This planning does not simply focus on publics, but rather starts internally by creating a vision for the company. It also made me aware that a mission statement is an effective means of increasing the chances of success of an organisations objectives as it clearly outlines a course of action.

*The readings made me aware that a PR practitioner is not always in control of a given situation, particularly in the field of uncontrolled tactics. When dealing with the media who thrive on controversial issues, the practitioner must be very selective in the type of communication chosen to convey the organisation's message.