- The new global economy effects organizations and companies in a very important way-communication with international corporations is inevitable, and can at times be difficult. However, successful public relations realizes and caters to the various differences that exist between cultures.
- To interact with another culture appropriately one must first understand the culture. Marlene Rossman established a system for distinguishing and learning about different cultures. The system takes a look at eight attitudes toward cultural characteristics: Attitudes about time, attitudes about formality, attitudes about individualism, attitudes about rand and hierarchy, attitudes about religion, attitudes about taste and diet, attitudes about colors, numbers, and symbols, and attitudes about assimilation and acculturation.
- “In successful cross-cultural communication, senders must understand how a message will be decoded before they can effectively encode it” (p. 467).
- Nine-step process for achieving effective cross-cultural communication: 1. Awareness 2. Commitment 3. Research 4. Local Partnership (Bring in a member of the culture to work on organization’s own communications team) 5. Diversity (On the communication team) 6. Testing (On a trusted member of the culture beforehand) 7. Evaluation 8. Advocacy 9. Continuing Education
Archive for Reading Notes
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
- It is imperative that all PR practitioners know/ are at least familiar with the laws and regulations that affect their jobs.
- PR practitioners should be familiar with the regulations of: The Federal Trade Commission, The Securities and Exchange Commission, The Federal Communications Commission, and/or The Food and Drug Administration depending on the client(s) they are working with.
- PR practitioners must be careful about what they say. Libel and privacy laws give a lot of freedom for expression of opinions but practitioners must be sure not to violate the legal limitations.
- Copyright laws prevent people from using others’ work in an unauthorized way. But, under the fair use concept PR practitioners can use published quotations in their PR efforts as long as its attributed (p. 512).
- PR as a legal strategy is extremely controversial: “On the one hand, people and companies should have every right to defend their reputations in the court of public opinion. However, many are otheres by attempts to use extrajudicial statements… to influence proceedings inside the court” (p. 516).
Chapter Twelve
- Crises can always be avoided. There are usually warning signs that people either don’t see or choose to ignore. As the book states, “The best crises are those that are averted” (p.403).
- It is extremely important to have a plan for crisis communication ahead of time. This plan will help to minimize the harmful ramifications of the situation by allowing the organization to deal with what is going on effectively.
- Crises are not all the same. Crisis communication plans should be falexible and crisis managers should be open to change if it is necessary.
- One should always evaluate how the organization dealt with the crisis. It it essential that organizations learn from the strenghts and weaknesses of the plan and make changes to be better prepared next time.
Cluetrain Manifesto
- Communication on the Internet is inherently different- People are having genuine and uninhibited conversations worth listening to and participating in.
- The Internet connects people and therefore has given them power.
- It is necessary now for companies to bring their workforce and market together. Companies must tear down the firewalls between the Internet and intranet and let their employees and markets communicate however and about whatever they want. By allowing this they can find out what the market really wants, what the next big thing may be.
Side note: The whole thing sounded a little Fight Club-esque… just maybe a touch more tame.
Chapter Nine
- Controlled and uncontrolled media channels are equally beneficial and potentially harmful. “Controlled media ensure precise messages, whereas uncontrolled media are less expensive and offer stronger credibility” (pg. 275).
- Generally, different situations and publics require different tactics. However, some traditional tactics can be applied to different types of publics. A few of these tactics include, face-to-face meetings, websites, special events and news releases.
- Implementing the tactics in one’s PR plan is the most important part of the planning process. They should be executed with extreme care.
Chapter Eight
- Although there are different kinds of PR plans for different situations, it is essential that they all be based on the values- based mission statement of the company.
- Plans should be very specific and thorough. If the planning process is followed correctly, the resulting plan will naturally acquire both of these characteristics.
- Different publics’ behavior won’t change over night. It is important to recognize that fact and plan accordingly (i.e. “Plan for an acheivable reality” as it says on pg. 258 of the text.)
Chapter Seven
- Research and evaluation, two very important steps in the public relations process, are interconnected. Research eventually leads to evaluation, but evaluation requires research for a meaningful understanding of the results. It is important to use research and evaluation to understand what different publics feel/need/want etc. before any planning or communication of PR plans can occur.
- In designing a research strategy, one must identify answers to the questions “What do I want to know?” and ”How will I gather that information?” (pg. 206 Public Relations A Values- Driven Approach).
- How well research is done and therefore how accurate its results are is contingent on the resources (i.e. money, personnel and time) available to the PR practitioner.
- Surveys are a very in-depth research method. They are often time consuming because they are heavily concerned with appropraite and representative sample selections. But, this concern allows for better accuracy of results in the end.
Chapter Four
- As a PR practitioner, it is important to know the type of public you are dealing with. There are many different categories that publics can fall into and the way you work with and manage the relationship between and organization and a specific public depends on what type of public it is. Building the appropriate relationship is key for an organization’s success.
- A PR practitioner must gather information and really know what makes a certain public tick before s/he can manage a productive relationship with them.
- Successful PR practitioners will gear their messages toward the way their publics communicate themselves, especially when dealing with “traditional publics” because it is important to not take these publics for granted.
- Publics are constantly changing. There is new technology, more diversity, a fluctuating economy and countless other aspects of society that are changing the methods PR practitioners must use to handle these publics.
Chapter Two
- PR jobs are found in five settings: Corporations, nonprofit organizations/ trade associations, the government, public relations agencies, and independent public relations consulting.
- What a person does as a PR practitioner in each of the five settings is different depending on the setting and position one is in. It all depends on what the particular organization and their publics need at that time.
- Be committed! If PR is really for you then you won’t mind putting in the hours and the effort.
Chapter Thirteen
- Integrated Marketing Communications: (IMC) Revolutionizing the world of mass-marketing. Today, more specific messages are being sent to smaller groups of people. Organizations seek information about consumers so there is a constant flow of information between the two.
- It is important to send one clear message in an IMC campaign as to not confuse consumers. However, PR can at times send a slightly different message in order to bring up an issue that would make buying the product necessary.
- Public relations, advertising ans marketing work together. However, where advertising and marketing focuses only on the consumer public, public relations focuses on all publics.
- The four P’s of marketing are: Product, price, place, promotion where PR comes into play at promotion.
