Public
Relations is all the communication between a business organization or
individual and the public or more explicitly, between a business and its customers
and potential customers.
What is Public Relations?
Public
Relation (PR) is the deliberate, planned and sustained efforts to establish and
maintain beneficial relationships between an organization and public.
It
comes from recognition that without the active support from the public,
the organization will have difficulty to carry on and grow.
Shareholders, suppliers, customers, agents, employees all have stakes in
an organization.
In
the case of tourism, the trade and commerce within the vicinity of the
destination and the local people also have a stake. The local residents at the
destination probably have the biggest stake. Their life styles and the
environment are affected by the influx of tourists.
Tourists
being visitors from a different culture and society (even if within
Nigeria) may be accustomed to behaviors different from the locals. There could
be a fear that the younger generation may be 'spoil' by mixing with the
tourists. The increased activity accompanying tourists’ growth may bring in
undesirable persons, thus affecting the sense of security. If the local people
start reacting to these 'encroachments' into their ways, their behaviors may
significantly affect the pleasure of the tourists.
Public
relation is essential to ensure that the relationships are conducive to the
growth of tourism. Better understanding between tourists and the
hosts/residents at and around the destination can make them feel favorably
inclined to each other. This can be possible through contacts and interaction.
It is part of PR activity to make such contacts contribution towards a better
understanding. The contract becomes more useful if expectation of both is known
and each is aware of the do's and don'ts.
Public relations efforts are aimed at key personnel and seek to shift the people toward:
1) Sympathy
from Hostility
2) Acceptance
from prejudice
3) Interest
from apathy.
4) Knowledge
from ignorance.
Public Relations effort has to be credible but they are difficult to evaluate for effectiveness. Public Relations is the business of everybody in the organization. The top management may lay
down the policy. But what others in the organization do also conveys message to
the public. This affects their relationship with the organization. The training
and education of staff at all levels on how to deal with customers/people with
courtesy and consideration has to be a part of the PR effort. As tourists
professional you have to be extremely caution of this aspect. Leading
organization have PR department and many others have at least a Public Relations Officer. But
many tend to ignore this. This may have adverse effects in the long term or may
be in the short term itself.
Personal Selling
Personal
selling is a part of promotion. Advertisements and other non-personal
communications are not adequate to persuade customers to make choices. The information
required to make choices are more than those available at awareness levels. The
gap can be reduced via personal interaction. Even then the quality of service
and integrity producers is difficult to know.
Salesperson's Duties
Salespersons (boy or
girl) have to call on people to sell. Ideally salesperson has to:
1. Find prospects, that is, get names
of people who are likely to buy.
2. Qualify the prospects, finding
enough data on the prospect to decide whether there is need and capacity to buy.
3. Approach the qualified prospect by
fixing up appointments for presentation.
4. Make the presentation during which
the salesman will explain what the product can do to the prospect and get him
sufficiently interested to try the product.
5. Close the sale, that is, make the
customer buy.
6. Provide after sale service that is
to ensure that the experience with the product is the same or better than what
was promised during sale and the customer has no complaints.
A
service, being intangible, presents a lot of uncertainties to the prospect. The
salesman / girl of a service, if perceived as non-professional, or not
credible, increases those uncertainties. They should be seen as reliable,
friendly and meaning well. They should emphasis conveniences but not ignore to
mentions pre-cautions necessary in usage.
Effective
salespersons understand and emphasis with the customers and are more acceptable
to the customers. They also demand services from the organization on behalf of
their customers.
Purposes of Salesperson
In
practice, all sale calls are not for affecting sales. The other purposes served
through such call are:
1) Data
collection and updating prospects list.
2) As a
PR effort, to tell about new products and achievements of the organization.
3) As a
service to check on customer's experience and satisfaction level with what they
have bought, leading to feedback for product development.
4) Intensive
sale campaigns in specific areas from time to time.
A
salesperson must be sensitive to the reality of the situation they are in at
any particular time and adjust their normal styles and presentations
accordingly. Or else, they might be embarrassed.
For
example, if the salesman of a vacuum cleaner, who, to demonstrate the
effectiveness of his product, scattered a lot of rubbish on the costly carpet
in the prospect's living room, later found that there would be no electricity
for the next four hours.
Generally
(subject to exceptions always) people like to: Think for themselves and
understand the product at their pace. They do not like to be hustled.
1.
Have second opinions and look at options before buying, particularly if the
commitment is heavy. In services the commitment is usually irreversible.
2. Be
respected for their views. Experienced sales person do not contradict or deny
directly the prospect's statements. They avoid an argument. They agree with a
'Yes' and then express an alternative view with a 'but'.
While
buying goods, the buyer takes home what he has bought and uses it there. A post
sales call is necessary to know the experience. In the services business, the
production and consumption occur simultaneously as an interaction between the
consumer and the representative of the producer. This representative is usually
not the salesperson. In the case of many service, the feedback can be heard
during the service transaction itself, example being, cinema, entertainment,
beauty clinic, laundry etc. in many other services the feedback is delayed.
Example of this is medical treatment or repair services. In the case of
insurance the service is delivered (at the time of claims) long after the
purchase is made. During the intervening period, nothing should happen to
nullify the arrangement made. Ensuring all this is post sales service.
Tourists
destinations are sold personally to intending travelers by travel agents,
hoteliers cruise operators and other intermediaries. Post sales calls help to
check whether experience was consistent with expectations and promises. Such
feedback obtained during post sales calls helps improve the tourism product and
eliminate dissatisfying elements.
Merchandising
Activities
that take place within the unit are called Merchandising. The objectives of
merchandising are to make customers within the premises:
1) Aware
of facilities or offers available,
2) Want
to avail of those facilities or offer on impulse, and
3) Have
a memorable experience.
Merchandising
relies on displays of materials and skills. Utilization of facilities within
hotels by resident guests can be improved through merchandising.
A
provider of tourism services has considerable opportunity for merchandising
i.e. to make the customer who is in contact, buy additional services which he
may not have original planned to buy. May be he did not know of the
availability of the services or did not know enough to evaluate its true worth.
If the additional service on offer is unique and exclusive to that location,
the additional costs would seem to be negligible compared to the opportunity he
may not visit the place, at least for quite some time. "If Merchandising
is done before the tour commences, the tourists will be ready for it.
Otherwise, depending on the availability of money and time resources, there
could be disappointment."
Functions of Public Relations
1. Community Relations: A business
should be seen as a responsible citizen of the community it operates in. A
comprehensive community relation programme should focus on building a
respectable image for the company in the community in the long run. Many
organizations implement educational and health related programmes for improving
quality of life of the community members. Such activities help to build their
reputation along with benefiting the society.
2. Employee Relations: Employees are
the most valuable assets of the company and the organization had to create
employee goodwill for maintaining a loyal workforce. Loyal employees are more
productive and interested in the well-being of the company.
3. Customer Relations: The most
important component of external public is the customer. The customer is the
reason behind the existence of the organization. Public relations inform the
customer about introduction of new products or changes in existing ones. Public
relations play a crucial role in attracting the attention of the buyer towards
the company’s offerings and help to differentiate the product from those of its
competitors.
4. Financial Relations:
A segment of the company’s public consists of those individuals and
institutions the company has financial dealings with. These include the
shareholders, creditors, potential investors, banks, financial analysts, etc.
These parties have to be
informed about the company’s finances, plans for expansions, plans to raise
share capital, etc. A well planned financial relations programme is necessary
to improve the organization’s image and increase the value of its stock.
5. Political and Government
Relations: The Company has to function under the control of government
rules and regulations. It has to forge proper relations with various government
officials and political parties to ensure smooth functioning of the enterprise.
6. Crisis Communication:
The role of public relations takes on vital significance during crisis
situations like an accident, financial scams, bankruptcies, etc. It is the
responsibility of the public relations to give the honest and accurate
information to the concerned publics and assure them of remedial measures taken
to control the crisis.
Objectives
of Public Relations
1. It facilitates smooth functioning of business and
achievement of organizational objectives.
2. It
builds corporate image and creates a favorable impression and creditability of
company’s products.
3. It
helps in launch of new products and maintains interest and confidence in the
existing products.
4. It acts as a supplement to advertising in promoting existing and new products.
Thus, it helps business and its associates to sell products easily.
5. It
lowers the promotional cost as it has to simply maintain staff to develop and
circulate information with media or manage events.
Characteristics of Public Relations
1. Target: To
small specialized audience public relations activities can be targeted assuming
if the right media vehicle is used.
2. Saturation of effort: Organizations competing for a finite amount of media attention puts pressure on the public relations effort to be better than that of competitors. There can be no guarantee that PR activity will have any impact on the targets at whom it is aimed.
3.
Relatively low cost: It is much cheaper, in terms of cost
per person reached, than any other type of promotion. Apart from nominal
production costs, much PR activity can be carried out at almost no cost, in
marked contrast to the high cost of buying space or time in the main media.
4. Relatively Uncontrollable: A
company has only a little direct control over the proceedings of public
relations activity. If successful, a press release may be printed in full,
although there can be no control over where or when it is printed. A press
release can be misinterpreted and result may be unfavorable news coverage. This
is in contrast to advertising, where an advertiser can exercise considerable
control over the content placing, and timing of an advert.
Types of Public Relation
Public relations cover a
broad range of activities. The major areas are discussed below:
1. Counseling: Public relations
managers in the most successful communication programs serve a very important
advisory role to senior management. They make recommendations on policy issues
as well as decisions related specifically to communication.
2.
Research: Companies practicing either
of the two-way models of public relations make extensive use of research to
better understand and influence public.
3.
Media Relations: Press coverage is a
critically important public relations output. Public relations specialists use
publicity efforts to try to get coverage in the print and broadcast media. They
also respond to requests for information or comment from, journalists working on
stories that concern their company or the company’s products and services.
Media relations activities might also include arranging press tours of
manufacturing facilities, press conferences to announce new product
introductions, and coverage of the corporation’s annual stockholders meeting.
4. Publicity:
Publicity is defined by David Yale as “supplying information that is factual,
interesting, and newsworthy to media not controlled by you”. A critical aspect
of marketing public relations, publicity is described as - the process of
planning, executing and evaluating programs that encourage purchase and
consumer satisfaction through credible communication of information and
impressions that identify companies and their products with the needs, wants,
concerns and interests of consumers.
Marketing public relations involves activities
related to persuading customer and prospects to buy (or continue to buy) the
firm’s products and services.
Below are the important tools
of publicity:
a) Press Releases: The press release is the basic building block of a publicity
program concerned with story placement. This is where the important information
about the product or service is summarized in a way that will catch the media’s
attention. Just as the marketer would customize the advertising message for
each target, he needs to customize press releases for the various media he
contacts.
b) Fact Sheets:
A
press release should be written so it can be used without any editing. That
means all the relevant information must be included. In addition, there may be
additional important information that doesn’t really fit into the press
release. That’s where the fact sheet comes in. Fact sheets include more
detailed information on the product; its origins, and its particular features.
By providing fact sheets, it is easier for the media to write a story about the
product because the fact sheet can help to clear up misperceptions and answer
reporters’ questions, saving them a phone call or e-mail query.
c) Press Kits: The
press kit pulls together all the press releases, fact sheets, and accompanying
photographs about the product into one neat package. A comprehensive folder can
serve as an attention-getter and keep the provided materials organized.
d) Video News Releases:
The
video news release (VNR) is the video equivalent of a press release. Prepared
for use by television stations, the typical VNR runs about ninety seconds and
can be used to highlight some important features of the product.
e) Employee/Member Relation: An organization’s employees are
an extremely important internal public. Corporate public relations people often
spend a great deal of time developing employee communication programs, including
regular newsletters, informational bulletin boards, and internet postings. In
service organizations in particular, these kinds of activities can be used to
help support brand communication efforts, for example, using the company
newsletter to remind employees about the importance of prompt and polite
customer service.
f) Community Relations:
It
is critical that companies maintain the role of good community citizen within
the markets where they have offices and manufacturing facilities. Many
companies actively encourage their employees to take part in community
organizations, and local corporations are often major sponsors of community
events and activities such as arts presentations, blood donation drives, and
educational activities.
g)Financial Relations:
Because
so many major brand marketing organizations are publicly held companies,
financial relations has become a key aspect of public relations activity
Downturns in company earnings quickly lead to declines in stock prices, and,
frequently, to top executives losing their jobs. Financial relations people are
responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with the investment
community, including industry analysts, stockbrokers, and journalists
specializing in financial reporting.
The financial relations specialist has the job
of getting maximum press coverage for a company’s financial successes and
putting the best face possible on any financial losses. Financial relations
personnel write the company’s annual report as well as any other communications
directed to stockholders.
h) Industry Relations:
The
primary public that industry relations specialists deal with its other
businesses operating within the same industry, as well as trade associations.
The recent travails of the tobacco companies of the U.S. help to underscore the
importance of industry relations – while the various companies are not in
agreement on all issues, they have banded together in many instances to try to
influence policy and legislation, with the thinking that there should be
strength in numbers.
i) Development/Fund-Raising: This is particularly important
area for not-for-profit organizations such as arts organizations, educational
institutions, and community service programs. These types of companies often
rely on donations from the public, government, and other organizations to make
up all or part of their operating budgets. Development specialists identify
likely prospects for giving; prepare proposals to present to those prospects,
and work to nurture ongoing relationships.
j) Special Events:
Event
marketing is rapidly gaining popularity. The International Events Group
estimates that more than 5,200 companies spent $6-8 billion on event
sponsorships in 1998. Of that, about 65 percent goes to sporting event sponsorships,
followed by 11 percent to entertainment tours (such as concerts and theater
performances), and 9 percent to fairs and festivals. Besides linking their
brands to existing events, marketers are also creating events of their own
designed to reach specialized targets.
The event itself can serve as a compelling
news angle for related publicity efforts, can be promoted through advertising,
and can serve as a distribution point for sales promotion incentives. With a
little creativity, events can serve as an important point of differentiation
from competitors.
Role of Public Relations
The
public relations department performs following functions:
1. Press
Relations: The public relations department works with the media to present true
facts about the company to ensure that information about the company is
presented in a positive manner.
2. Product
Publicity: The public relations department sponsors events and programmes to publicize
new or existing products. For example, many companies adopt a park, a school,
an orphanage or sponsor sports and cultural events likes seminars, exhibitions,
news conferences etc.
3. Corporate
communication: The Company issues newsletters, annual reports,
brochures, audio-visual materials to influence the public and the employees.
For example, company’s top leaders may give a speech or message or give an
interview to media.
4. Lobbying: The Company
has to maintain healthy relations with government officials, ministry in charge
of corporate affairs, industry, finance association of commerce and industry
etc. The company also has to take the opinion of shareholders while formulating
industrial, taxation policies etc. to keep them satisfied.
5. Counseling: The
public relations department also advises the management on issues that affect
the image of the company and guide them to involve in various social welfare
activities to increase presence in the public domain and gain confidence of
society at large.
Tools Adopted to Aids public relations
These
tools are:
1. News: News
is the main tool of public relations. Public Relations Department spreads the
news about the products of the company. Consumers are in a better position to
form an opinion about the company with the help of the news they listen to or
read in any publication.
2. Speech: Speech
is also an important tool to propagate about the product and the company. The
vital views concerning the company and its products being expressed by top
authorities and the personnel of the company are published in important newspapers.
The copies of their speeches are distributed
among people. All these steps are necessary to project a better image of the
company.
3. Printed Materials:
Printed
materials also form important tools of public relations. Usually, all the
eminent companies have their own newsletters, annual reports and regularly
published magazines which are distributed on regular basis among the members of
the public.
Companies make available all the vital
information pertaining to the functioning of their business, their turnovers,
profits and future plans of development. These publications are usually sent by
post or couriered to clients.
4. Special Events:
Public
Relations Department makes publicity about the company. If anything relating to
company transpires, the same is made public to consumers. For example, if a
company is being awarded by the government for its best performance in the
field of production or export-earnings, Public Relations Department takes
special pains to publicize this event among people. Such information creates a
better image of the company among people and its goodwill gets a big boost.
5. Audio-Visual Materials:
Public
relations work is also undertaken through the medium of audio-visual materials.
Audio- video cassettes help in this connection. These cassettes are shown to
public in cinema-houses or at public places where a larger audience is reached.
No doubt, these audio-video cassettes have become an important tool of
advertising in modern times.
6. Public Services:
Companies
resort to public welfare activities so as to have better public relations.
These public welfare activities also boost the image of companies. Some of the
examples of such activities are organizing health-camps, free coolie service
for aged people, women passengers at railway stations, etc.
7. Institution Identity:
Some
companies get their “Logos” printed to have their clear “Identity” among the
masses of the country. One immediately identifies a company after seeing “Logo”
of the company. This is also an important tool of public relations.
8. Website: This
is the most modern tool of public relations. Companies use their websites to
advertise their products. General public can seek all the vital information
about the company after looking at the particular website of the company.
Merits of Public Relations
The most important
advantages to be gained are:
1. Credibility: If
the public are made aware of the benefits to be gained from a company’s
products from an independent source, and that source is not being paid by the
company in question, then the credibility factor is that much greater.
2. Greater
readership: When glancing through a newspaper it is seldom that a great
deal of attention is primarily paid to advertisements. Much more attention is
given to editorial or news sections. Similarly, people are more likely to
divert attention from the television to do other things while the
advertisements are being shown.
3. Contain
more information: Public relation is able to impart more information to
the public than advertisements can. A glance is all that is usually given to an
advertisement, whereas public relation, when presented as news, is given more
attention and is therefore able to contain much more detailed information.
4. Cost
benefits: No direct payments are made to the media for public relation.
There are obviously costs involved, but PR budgets are far less than those for
advertising.
5. Speed: Public
relation has an advantage of speed. Information on a major development can
often be issued and reported in a short space of time. Public relation can also
be flexible and reactive.
Demerits of Public Relations
1. Message
distortion: A company has no control over what the media report about them. A
press release, which a company hopes is reported in full, may in fact not be
used at all, or may have only a small portion of it reported.
2. Repetition:
With advertisements a company can ensure that there is frequency of the
message. Public Relation does not have this advantage and the message may only
be given once, if at all.
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