Custom essays on Public Relations

PR is an important segment of the modern society. It makes consultations, taking into account the behavioral characteristics of the person; identify possible trends and predicting their impact on specific companies, individuals and the whole society. Thanks to PR, the companies can study public opinion, its relations and expectations in order to make recommendations, as well as the necessary measures to form some opinions and meet certain expectations. PR helps to establish and maintain two-way communication, based on the accuracy of the information and bigger awareness. It prevents conflicts, eliminates misunderstandings. PR is the regulator of problem or crisis situations; it assists the atmosphere of mutual respect and social responsibility. It contributes to the harmonization of private and public interests; assists the formation of friendly relations with staff, suppliers and consumers. Thanks to PR, a company can improve industrial relations and involve skilled workers, creating a comfortable environment conducive to reducing staff turnover. PR assists in promotion and advertising of goods and services. It also participates in the work of improving the profitability of a company, creates its “personal image”. PR is important because it changes stereotypes (Guth 481).
There are a lot of examples of successful and failed PR companies.
Here are some examples of bad, unsuccessful PR companies.
1. The company Procter & Gamble, which is famous all over the world, is sued by the family a couple from Florida. The parents of two charming little children were shocked to see their kids on the picture of the diapers packaging. The father and mother say that their kids were really involved in casting, but received a “nominal fee”, because their photos were just added to the collection. Parents were not informed that their children were chosen for the advertising.
2. The Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung published the advertising of Male Eau de Toilette Gucci Eau de Parfum, on which the half-naked man stared into the frame. And then the newspaper found out that it was a prankster of local antics, starring naked near the jars with toilet water. That joker became famous throughout the Europe (Johnston 46).
3. The American automaker Chrysler posted on the Internet the advertising with such a story: the dog urinating on a new Dodge Nitro, receives an electric shock and ignited. All this is followed by the label: “Dodge is a car, charged with adrenaline.” Animal-welfare advocates were horrified, and some children, got a real hysterical after watching this advertisement. This is a vivid example of unsuccessful PR.
4. The famous American blonde Jessica Simpson took part in the promotion of new varieties of cheese pizza from the restaurant chain Pizza Hut. I must say that she has made it really brilliant. But in the moment, when nearly half of the U.S. population prepared to try the pizza, Jessica told the magazine Elle, that she had an allergy to cheese, wheat and tomatoes. Yes, PR Company chose the wrong person for the advertisement (Johnston 49).
And here are some examples of successful PR companies.
1. “Procter & Gamble”, one of the largest U.S. industrial companies with annual volume of sales exceeding $ 11 billion, faced with unexpected problem associated with the symbol, which the company used as a its trademark since 1851. This brand depicts a man who is sitting on the moon, and there are 13 stars around him. Those 13 stars represent the original 13 colonies, of the United States. At a time when the brand was established, sitting on a moon man was a very popular symbol.
But suddenly, in the western areas of the United States the rumors appeared. They told that the symbol of the company, which had been already served it for 131 years, means love to the devil. The company suddenly started to receive hundreds of calls and letters from people who said they either saw one of the leaders of the company in a nationwide television program, arguing that this symbol means the relation of the company with a cult of Satan. Some of them were told this in the church.
Responding to these requests, the company had begun a huge campaign, which included sending letters to all newspapers, on television and radio in all areas where these rumors were spread. In addition, it contacted the leaders of different churches and asked for their assistance in combating rumors. The in letters on behalf of the company “Procter & Gamble”, the origin of the symbol with the man on the moon was explained. In the explanation letter it was written that none of the leaders of the company has ever discussed the cult of Satan (L’Etang 120).
2. And here is another very good example of successful PR campaign of PepsiCo.
In the summer of 1993, the company PepsiCo has gone through nine unpleasant days. It began with reports of supposedly found syringe in a bank with a Diet Pepsi. Local journalists gladly picked up the story, and soon received a second complaint. This attracted the attention of FDA (Food and Drugs Administration), which recommended the buyers to pour a drink into a glass before using it.
The warning of such an organization as the FDA, has not gone unnoticed. National television spread the information, and soon the new reports about syringes found in Pepsi cans were received from 24 states. The process began to feed itself, and even the recommendations of FDA to ignore these messages could change nothing.
Under the threat it was not only the traditional peak of sales on July 4, but the reputation and business of the company with nearly a century of history. Through the skillful actions of the anti-crisis team “injecting panic” was finished in a few days; corporate reputation was saved, and consumers became confident in the safety and quality of products PepsiCo. That summer of 1993, Pepsi had beaten five-year record sales.
How did they do it? The company was opened to the media and answered all questions of journalists. The company responded to all questions of any audience immediately and the required volume.
The company worked closely with the regulatory agency to determine the true cause of reports of syringes and delete the version of the sabotage at the plant.
The journalists were provided with all necessary information, got the opportunity to visit the enterprises and film the high-speed packaging lines. They were also explained the principles of these lines and why getting any objects in Pepsi cans was impossible.
The company has worked on several levels: with consumers, the press, with officials and regulatory organizations, shareholders, partners, customers and employees. For each group, there were prepared special arguments, their information materials have been used in the appropriate channels of distribution.
PepsiCo seize the initiative from fraud and hungry for sensational journalists. The company itself has become the main source of news about what was happening.
The reports were broadcasted all over the country and which people were able to see the security of the process. Hotlines have been organized for the media and for consumers, professionals responded to thousands of phone calls. Common sense won, and the people understood that such a number of claims from many different places was just a provocation. People had been calling to support the company! (Theaker34).
3. One more vivid example of successful PR campaign was seen in the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Barbie.
So, when in 1999, fashion doll, which had the greatest success in the world, turned 40, its producer the company Mattel saw an opportunity to highlight the role Barbie which it played as an object of imitation and inspiration for all girls in the world. The anniversary also provided a unique opportunity to update and improve the image and reputation of Barbie as a leader in the feminist movement and journalists. Mattel invited the PR-agency Ketchum to develop a PR-campaign, which could demonstrate the advantages of Barbie and its attraction to girls and in the 21st century.
They planed using a 40-year celebration of the anniversary, to demonstrate the universal value of Barbie to the ideals of education for girls. The company reached success, and here is what it has done for it:
The company chose a partner Girls Inc., whose mission is to raise the girls, as “strong, smart and bold.” Together with the Girls Inc. there were selected 10 outstanding women, who were to become the official “Ambassadors of Barbie Dreams”. In the group were women who were successful in various fields of human activity, including the leading Internet shows Rosie O’Donnell (Rosie O’Donnell), athlete Jackcove Joyner-Kersee (Jackie Joyner-Kersee), specialist in Marine Biology Sylvia Earle (Sylvia Earl), publisher Ann Moore (Ann Moore) and programmer Katherine Garnett (Katrine Garnett).
There was a great party evening at the toy fair, the celebration at the New York Stock and the celebration in the FAO Schwarz store. The company achieved two goals:
Goal 1 – Increase awareness of the positive role that the Barbie doll plays in the lives of girls.
Girls Inc. gave an assessment of its strategic alliance with Barbie, and stressed that positive responses were received from its board, patrons and leaders of public opinion, such as The Ms. Foundation and Girl Power Campaign.
70% of media coverage focused on the following key ideas of the campaign: “The Ambassadors of Barbie Dream”, a 40-year anniversary, the constant appeal of Barbie dolls, its relevance in the lives of girls and 50% of them are named Barbie a doll model.
Goal 2 – To organize a positive highlighting of the anniversary in the media.
The qualitative analysis of media coverage in print and electronic media and outreach, implemented by Ketchum, demonstrates the success of the campaign. The publications and programs about the 40-year anniversary appeared in over 25 countries, including in the U.S. and international publications as Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today and The Hollywood Reporter. Seventeen minutes of reports were shown on CNN. Approximately one quarter of more than 1700 publications about the program, told about the global success of the brand (Smith 256).
From everything that was written above, it is understandable that PR is the technology of development and implementation for the socio-economic and political systems of competition image of the object (product, service, company, brand identity) in the value-range of social groups in order to reinforce this image as an ideal and necessary in life. Public Relations Strategies are very important for business and the whole society.

Work Cited

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Guth, David., Marsh, Charles. Public relations: a values-driven approach. 2006. pp. 478-481. Print.
Johnston, Jane., Zawawi, Clara. Public Relations: Theory and Practice. 2009. pp. 46-49.Print.
L’Etang, Jacquie., Pieczka, Magda. Public relations: critical debates and contemporary practice. 2006. pp. 99-101.
Miller, Claire Cain. Spinning the Web: P.R. in Silicon Valley. The New York Times. July 4, 2009. p. 9. Print.
Smith, Ronald D. Strategic planning for public relations. 2004. p. 256. Print.
Theaker, Alison. The public relations handbook. 2004. p. 34. Print.