Public Relations Abroad in the UK Summary
I gained the most valuable opportunity to study Public Relations abroad in the UK for 3 weeks over winter break January 2013, during which I learned how small businesses, corporations, and PR companies operate successfully in the UK. I also gained tremendous experience working with another culture, gaining an expanded global perspective in the public relations world, in addition to journalism, marketing, and business practices in the UK. It was my dream to study PR abroad for several years prior to this trip, and I am supremely grateful for all the connections I was able to make, as well as build a solid & highly beneficial relationship with the Professor who coordinated the trip. This short paper summarizes some of the the many things we learned while studying abroad; in bold are the Professor’s questions.
International Public Relations in the UK
COMM 450
January 2013
Professor Dickerson
1. In addressing the news, we learned from Bell Pottinger and Fleishman Hilliard that our world could be viewed somewhat like a transparent “fishbowl”.
Please explain this concept and how it applies to the practice of public relations in today’ environment.
The concept of practicing public relations like living in a fishbowl means incorporating transparency into every action and decision made. Practicing honest, clear public relations is the key to building successful relationships with your clients, community, and employees. In today’s environment, with the emerging popularity of the internet, where anybody can say anything and lie, being able to stay true to your PR values and owning up (in some cases, publicly) to mistakes made is a true indicator of whether your PR career will make it or break it. Consistency and sincerity are two concepts that are closely related to transparency.
2. Through out our visits in the UK a common theme or requirement mentioned by many of the presenters included the importance of public relations practitioners to be skilled “story tellers”. Please explain what this means and give a specific example.
Being a skilled story teller in public relations is knowing who your audience is, who you are trying to reach, and how to make a story relevant to them. You have to be able to make information interesting, relatable and easy to understand, otherwise your story will be ignored and dismissed.
For example, at Fleishman Hillard, Laura Perry spoke on corporate communications, and on the tricky tactics of “generating compelling conversations with a clear target corporate audience.” Doing so will build trust, recognition, loyalty, advocacy and leadership among your publics, and since the people are central to any company, the ability to get them to listen to your story is highly beneficial.
In other words, when pitching a presentation on a new product your company has marketed, as a PR person you want to be able to tell a compelling and interesting story that is relevant to your audience, otherwise you will not gain anyone’s attention if what you are saying is dry and boring.
3. One key public relations requirement or challenge is establishing and maintaining a professional network. Using information from the eleven visits, identify four additional key additional public relations practices/requirements that you will remember and use five years from now.
1. Make a lot of journalist friends because they receive 300-600 press releases daily, so the more connections and better credibility you have, the better for your PR career
2. Listen, listen, LISTEN! Don’t just talk. Listen to the people, what they want, what they might want in the future, what they are talking about. The ability to listen and then be able to learn will be a high beneficial aid to your business.
3. Managing a company is like hosting a dinner party-you want to talk on the same level as your client to make yourself relevant and relatable. You also want close relationships with your guests, making sure everyone is happy and getting what they are looking for from you and most importantly, have fun!
4. Read books on how to write like a journalist to get inside their head and stand out, always brush up on your skills and be constantly learning and getting ahead of the game. Staying humble is hugely important in PR.
4. The year is 2014. You have recently started a public relations position with the Series Four International Software Company headquartered in London & Liverpool, England. The company’s Managing Director has summoned you to an emergency staff meeting. At the meeting, you learn that last night a Guardian news story reported that your company’s treasurer, Sir Philip Witherspoon, has allegedly embezzled most of the operating and reserve funds. The government’s commerce oversight office is demanding an immediate, full, and thorough investigation. The Guardian, the BBC, Sky News, and a host of other media are camped outside the headquarters demanding answers.
As a part of the company’s public relations quick response team, you are asked to draft a list of key questions you will need answers to in order to initiate a basic media plan. Include objectives and recommended media tactics. Further, provide some rational for the specifics of your recommendations.
The practice of effective crisis management in public relations is crucial to a company’s reputation and future growth. If I were on Series Four International Software Company’s damage control team in London, and this occurred, I would first, stay calm, not jump to accusations or conclusions; and I would get the facts straight to the best of my ability. I would then brief our updated crisis plan and find out how to handle this crisis efficiently. Questions to consider:
Are we absolutely positive that Sir Philip Witherspoon is indeed the perpetrator? If so, how did we find this out? Can this be proven? About how much did he embezzle, and how did he attempt to get away with this? How bad is the situation (ie: how much attention has the media already spotlighted?)
Who will be our main media spokesperson? (me)
How are we going to make our message to the public consistent and accurate? By getting the correct information and verifying it, and staying true to our statements, no matter what may happen.
How will we monitor the media in the midst of this crisis? By staying informed-watching the news for what is being said about us, going online to find out what people are talking about, and utilizing social media tools to inform people of accurate news.
How can we limit negative public perceptions of our company and what is the best way to protect our reputation? By trying to represent ourselves the best we can in a positive light by focusing on what we have accomplished and how we will learn from this situation.
What actions will we take in the future to limit the chances of this happening again in the future? Tighten security with our treasury department, requiring more accountability.
How can this be prevented in the future with our employees/next treasurer? (same as above)
To initiate a basic media plan, I want to consider all of these questions so that under the public scrutiny, we send an accurate and truthful report to the best of our knowledge, since staying consistent and honest is vitally important in crises. From all the confirmed information and research, we have to act and respond immediately, so that people don’t start to spread false information. In front of the media, I as my company’s spokesperson, I would apologize publicly for not implementing tighter security and not being able to prevent this situation, and acknowledge any other mistakes.
Then I would enlist bloggers to represent my company and invite other media to our news briefings. I would also set up a live stream video coverage to continually update the public and try to represent ourselves in a more positive light (for example, focus on the crises that we have been able to prevent in the past), and consistently update our twitter page to update the public as well. The key will be to stay connected to the media, listen to what is being said, and try to eliminate and address any issues that may “feed the fire.”