Continued from page 1
You must do something about such negativity before it morphs into injurious behavior, so you now select
specific perception to be altered, and that becomes your public relations goal.
Sorry to say, a PR goal without a strategy to show you how to get there, is like Huevos Rancheros without hot sauce. That’s why you must select one of three strategies especially designed to create perception or opinion where there may be none, or change existing perception, or reinforce it. The challenge here is to insure that goal and its strategy match each other. You wouldn’t want to select “change existing perception” when current perception is just right, suggesting a “reinforce” strategy.
Here is where your writers earn their money. Someone on your PR team must put those writing skills to work and prepare a compelling message carefully designed to alter your key target audience’s perception, as called for by your public relations goal.
A word of caution: combine your corrective message with another newsworthy announcement of a new product, service or employee, which may lend credibility by not overemphasizing correction.
Your corrective message also must be multifaceted, including several values. Clarity for example. It must be clear about what perception needs clarification or correction, and why. Your facts must be truthful and your position must be persuasive, logically explained and believable if it is to hold attention of members of that target audience, and actually move perception your way.
Here is a less rigorous part of your campaign, selecting actual tactics you will use to carry your persuasive new thoughts to attention of that external audience.
There is no shortage of communications tactics available to you including letters-to-the-editor, brochures, press releases and speeches. Or, you might settle on tactics such as radio and newspaper interviews, personal contacts, newsletters, or group briefings, always making sure those you select have a record of reaching same audiences as those that make up your target stakeholders.
Inevitably, you will be asked about progress and will have to once again monitor perceptions among your target audience members. Using questions similar to those used during your earlier monitoring session, difference here is that you will now watch carefully for indications that audience perceptions are beginning to move in your direction.
Luckily, one option remains ours to exercise -- we can always expedite matters and put pedal to metal by employing additional communications tactics, AND by increasing their frequencies.
When you target behavior change that lets you achieve your operating objectives, you are doing what is necessary to move those important outside audiences towards actions that will lead to success of your department, division or subsidiary.
end
Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to 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 communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com
