Public Relations Specialists

What DO they doWhat DO they do!?!?

Sports & Entertainment MarketingMrs. Wilson

Firms vs. Departments

Some companies hire PR firms Some companies have PR departments

Public vs. Private Sector

You may work in the public sector Schools Hospitals Universities Government agencies

You may work in the private sector Businesses

What is your primary task?

Your principal task as a PR specialist is to publicize the good news about your company and its products.

Control the damage done by any bad news.

Actual Case

In 1990, traces of dangerous benzene were found in Perrier, a French water.

This prompted a nationwide recall of over 72 million bottles of Perrier.

While no one got hurt, the company suffered a tremendous image problem.

By acting quickly, and monitoring consumer responses, Perrier overcame the bad press.

Writing News Releases

News Release Prewritten story about a company that is

sent to the various media Contains information about the company’s

employees, stores, operations, products, corporate philosophy, or participation in an event or program.

Contains a certain amount of newsworthy information.

Guidelines

Gather info that is good for multiple uses

Send only important news to media

Send to all media at the same time

Should have a continuity of theme Community minded such as job training

Remember media is interested in NEWS not publicity

Avoid using the word publicity

Proper Format

Answer 5 basic questions:

1. Who said or did something?

2. What was said or what happened?

3. When was it said?

4. Where was it said?

5. Why was it said or why did it happen?

Other PR Duties

Prepare annual reports, brochures, and responses to customer inquiries

Write short feature articles for trade magazines

Develop Press Kits

Press Kits

A folder containing articles, news, press releases, feature stories, and photographs about a company

These are given to the media to assist them in reporting on the intended news item

Press Kit Examples http://ncppp.org/presskit/2003presskit.pdf http://www.digitalgrit.com/pdf/online_press_kit.p

df

Press Conference

Meeting in which media members are invited by a business or organization to hear an announcement about a newsworthy event

Include corporate changes or reorgs or product development and closings