Lecture Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective (10/e): Chapter 17 - George E. Belch, Michael A. Belch

Chapter 17
Public 
Relations, 
Publicity, and 
Corporate 
Advertising

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Public Relations (PR)
 Evaluates public attitudes
 Identifies the policies and procedures of an 
organization with the public interest
 Executes a program of action to earn public 
understanding and acceptance

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Role of PR
Traditional role
• Maintain mutually
beneficial
relationships
between the
organization and its

publics
• Act as a
management
communications
function

New role
• Work together with
the marketing
department
• Contribute to the
IMC process in a
way that is
consistent with
marketing goals

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Marketing Public Relations (MPR)
 Public relations activities designed to support 
marketing objectives
 Functions
 Building marketplace excitement Improving ROI
 Creating advertising news where there is no product news
 Introducing a product with little or no advertising
 Providing a value­added customer service

 Building brand­to­customer bonds
 Influencing the influentials
 Defending products at risk & giving consumers reason to buy
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Figure 17.2 ­ Advantages and 
Disadvantages of MPRs

Sources: Thomas L. Harris, “Marketing PR—The Second Century,” Reputation Management, www.prcentral.com , January/February 1999, pp. 1–6

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Determining and Evaluating Public 
Attitudes
 Reasons
 Provides input into the planning process
 Serves as an early warning system
 Secures support internally
 Increases the effectiveness of the communication

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Steps to Develop a PR Plan
Define public relations problems
Plan and program
Take action and communicate
Evaluate the program
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Figure 17.3 ­ Ten Questions for 
Evaluating Public Relations Plans

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Types of Target Audiences
Internal audiences

External audiences

• People who are connected

to a firm with whom the firm
communicates on a routine
basis
• Employees
• Stockholders
• Investors
• Members of the local
community
• Suppliers
• Current customers

• People who are not closely
connected with the
organization
• Media
• Educators
• Civic and business
organizations
• Governments
• Financial groups

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Tools for Implementing the PR 
Program

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Advantages and Disadvantages of PR
Advantages
 Credibility
 Cost
 Avoidance of clutter
 Lead generation
 Ability to reach specific 
groups
 Image building

Disadvantages
 Potential for incomplete 
communication process
 Lack of connection between 
receiver and sender 
 Lack of coordination with 
marketing unit
 Erratic, redundant 
communications

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Measuring the Effectiveness of PR
 Should consider whether the target audience:
 Received the messages
 Paid attention to the messages
 Understood the messages
 Retained the messages

 Methods 
 Media content analysis
 Survey research
 Marketing­mix modeling
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Publicity 
 Generation of news about a person, product, or 
service that appears in broadcast or print media
 Differs from public relations by:
 Being a short­term strategy
 Not always being positive
 Not always being controlled or paid by the 
organization

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Video News Release (VNR)
 Publicity piece produced by publicists so that 
stations can air it as a news story
 Used by marketers to have control over the time 
and place where information is released

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Pros and Cons of Publicity
Pros

Cons

 Substantial credibility

 Lack of control

 News value

 Timing

 Significant word­of­mouth

 Accuracy

 Perception of media 
endorsement

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Corporate Advertising
 Designed to promote the firm overall by: 
 Enhancing its image 
 Assuming a position on a social cause 
 Seeking direct involvement in something

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Reasons for Corporate Advertising 
Being Controversial
Consumers are not interested
Costly form of self-indulgence
Belief that the firm must be in
trouble

Perceived as a waste of money
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Types of Corporate Advertising

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 Methods for Measuring the 
Effectiveness of Corporate Advertising
Attitude surveys

Studies relating corporate advertising and stock
prices

Focus group research

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