Home
>
Public Relations
>
PR: Your 500 Pound Gorilla

PR: Your 500 Pound Gorilla

What else, for goodness sake, could you as a business, non-profit or association manager, call a heavy-duty helper who does something REALLY positive about the behaviors of those outside audiences of yours that most affect your organization?

And that uses the fundamental premise of public relations to deliver the kind of external stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives?

And does it all by persuading those important outside folks to your way of thinking, moving them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed?

Man, that's one heavy workload for a very large monkey!

And here's the core message he brings to you. Your public relations effort must involve more than news releases, special events and brochures if you really want to get your money's worth. And, the right PR really CAN alter individual perception and lead to changed behaviors that help you succeed.

Both points well-supported by a public relations blueprint that reads like this: people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect your organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

What kind of payoff can you expect from such an approach to public relations? How about capital givers or specifying sources making inquiries; stronger relationships with the educational, labor, financial and healthcare communities; prospects starting to work with you as well as customers making repeat purchases; and improved relations with government agencies and legislative bodies.

Keep your pedal to the metal and you could see results like new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; new thoughtleader and special event contacts; membership applications on the rise; enhanced activist group relations, and expanded feedback channels; rebounds in showroom visits; and almost certainly, community service and sponsorship opportunities;

Like most managers, you want your most important outside audiences to have positive perceptions of your services and operations or products. Which is why every member of your PR support team must believe in what you are doing. It will also be very helpful if they accept the reality that perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can help or hurt your unit.

Review the PR plan with them, especially how you will go about monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Certainly, the perception monitoring part of the effort can be handled by professional survey people IF you have the budget. Fortunately, however, you can always use your PR people who are also in the perception and behavior business and can pursue the same objective: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

With preparations complete, you need to set your public relations goal, one that deals with perception problems that developed during your key audience perception monitoring. The new goal will require that you straighten out that dangerous misconception, or correct that gross inaccuracy, or do something about that damaging rumor.

To show you how to reach the goal, you need a strategy. And there are three choices when it comes to doing something about a perception or opinion challenge: create perception where there may be none, change the perception, or reinforce it. By the way, if you select the wrong strategy, it will taste like fish sauce on your rhubarb. So be certain the new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. For example, you don't want to select "change" when reality dictates a "reinforce" strategy.

Some heavy writing needed here. In brief, some carefully targeted, corrective language. Language that is compelling, persuasive and believable AND clear and factual. There is little choice here. You must correct a damaging perception by shifting opinion towards your point of view, leading to the desired behaviors.

It's pick-your-own time when you and your PR group select the communications tactics most likely to carry your words to the attention of your target audience. You can pick from dozens that are available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be sure that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

By the way, experience shows that the credibility of a message can depend on how it's delivered. So you might want to introduce it to smaller gatherings rather than using higher-profile tactics such as news releases or talk show appearances.

Experience shows that, by this time, all concerned will be chomping at the bit for a progress report. Which will signal you and your PR staff to return to the field for a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Using many of the same questions used in the first benchmark session, you'll now be alert for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

Occasionally, momentum will slow in which event you can always accelerate matters by using more communications tactics supported by increased frequencies.

Your 500 pound gorilla will be one happy simian when your data show that you have achieved the kind of key stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving your department, division or subsidiary objectives.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net.

Robert A. Kelly ? 2004.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi- cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations.

Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com; http://www.prcommentary.com

tidy up service Glenview ..

In The News:

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

PR: Your 500 Pound Gorilla

Public Relations