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Public relations plays an integral role in the entertainment industry. The theatre, motion pictures, sports, restaurants, and individuals all use public relations services to increase their business or enhance their image. Other public relations clients are educational, social service, and charitable institutions, trade unions, religious groups, and professional societies. The successful public relations practitioner is a specialist in communication arts and persuasion.
The work involves various functions including the following:
1. Programming—that is, analyzing problems and opportunities, defining goals, determining the public to be reached, and recommending and planning activities.
2. Writing and editing materials such as press releases, speeches, stockholder reports, product information, and employee publications.
3. Placing information in the most advantageous way.
4. Organizing special events such as press functions, award programs, exhibits, and displays.
5. Setting up face-to-face communication, including the preparation and delivery of speeches.
6. Providing research and evaluation using interviews, reference materials, and various survey techniques and managing resources by planning, budgeting, and recruiting and training staff to attain these objectives.
7. Specialized skills are required to handle public opinion research, media relations, direct mail activities, institutional advertising, publications, film and video production, and special events.
The ten effective public relations activities that follow are common public relations activities. The ones that will benefit you will depend on your objectives, the size, type and location of your business, the characteristics of your customers or audience, and your budget.
1. Media Relations include a variety of methods to contact and give information to the media: news releases, press kits, media advisories, news conferences, press tours, and personal letters or phone calls to editors and reporters.
2. Special Events: events draw attention to your organization or bring people to your place of business. Open houses, fund-raisers, trade shows, awards ceremonies, contests, stunts, receptions, speeches by VIP’s are examples of special events.
3. Newsletters Publications, typically four to twelve pages in length with short articles intended to keep your customers, members, investors, or donors up-to-date on what your organization and its people are doing. It may also contain advice or other information of particular interest to your audience. Tip Sheets One or two-sided sheets containing advice, instructions, or other information of particular use to your customers. The objective is to show off your expertise. These sheets are usually formatted as bulleted or numbered lists.
4. Promotional letters our expertise by responding to items in the news by writing a letter to the editor.
5. Speakers arrange to have individuals in your organization speak at meetings of professional and trade associations, service clubs, civic organizations, and community groups.
6. Sponsorships: It is not always necessary to organize a special event, sponsor what somebody else is organizing, or sponsor a local sports team, musical group, or community theatre. Ensuring sponsorship will be acknowledged on advertising, programs, uniforms, posters, and other promotional materials.
7. Charitable Contributions: Even though a donation has to be very large to make the news, a consistent commitment to giving back to your community by supporting local charities will do much to enhance your image. By donating to charities, they acknowledge donations in their newsletter, annual report, wall plaques, and other promotional materials.
8. Thank you notes and letters directly thanking customers for their business, and donors for their contribution, will encourage repeat business.
9. The real tasks of public relations in the business world may focus on corporate interests or those of marketing products or services; on image creation or defense against attack; on broad public relations or straight publicity. In general, the strategic goal of public relations is to project a favorable public image, one of corporate good citizenship. This cannot be accomplished with lights and mirrors in an age of investigative journalism, and the first responsibility of public relations is to persuade management that the reality must correspond with the desired image.
10. Public relations is concerned with creating a favorable climate for marketing the client's products or services, including maintaining good relations with merchants and distributors as well as placing product publicity and disseminating information to trade and industrial groups. It further includes publicizing praiseworthy activities by company personnel. Financial public relations involve relations with a company's own stockholders (stockholder relations) as well as with the investment community.
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-SB- Shobuz Bhai
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