So, what IS a public relations bullseye? The public relations professional must modify somebody’s behavior if he or she is to hit that bullseye and earn a paycheck – everything else is a means to that end.Here’s why. In public relations, a bullseye can mean survival when it successfully changes
perceptions and, hence, behaviors of certain groups of people important to success of organization. In other words, when those changes clearly meet original behavior modification goal set at beginning of program, public relations effort is successful and scores bullseye.
But, is public relations really equipped to do that? Yes, because its roots are planted deeply in principle that people act on their own perceptions of facts. When public relations successfully creates, changes or reinforces public opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-action those people whose behaviors affect organization, it accomplishes its mission – a bullseye!
How it works.
1) The public relations effort should be focused on three realities alluded to above: 0 People act on their perception of facts; 0 Perceptions lead to behaviors; 0 Something can be done about those perceptions and behaviors that leads to achieving organization’s operating objectives.
2) Identify key operating problem to be addressed.
One example could be a national marketer of furniture imported from Far East. News reports and other input, amplified by competitive trouble-making out in trade, suggest there are quality problems in company’s factories in Southeast Asia.
3) Verify truth or falsity of allegations.
Because company’s sales have leveled off and are starting to decline, public relations counsel and staff, working closely with company’s manufacturing people here and abroad, establish conclusively that reports and rumors of declining quality are without foundation, and simply untrue.
4) Verify status of both consumer and trade perceptions of company’s product quality.
Probing consumer opinion through personal contact and informal polling out in market place, counsel and staff determine that, in fact, there IS a disturbing perception that company’s furniture line is “of low quality and not worth prices asked.”
It is useful to recall here that public relations problems are often defined by what people think about a set of facts, as opposed to actual truth of matter. Here, it is clear that negative trade and consumer perceptions about company’s products, however inaccurate they may be, account for decline in showroom traffic and sales, and must be confronted.
5) Establish public relations goal.
The goal is to begin process of changing public perception of company’s furniture quality from negative to positive, leading to consumer behavioral changes, in turn attracting furniture buyers to company showrooms once again.
6) Determine public relations strategy
Will it be to CREATE opinion where none exists, CHANGE existing opinion, or REINFORCE that existing opinion? In this case, it is clear that considerable existing opinion has turned negative on quality of company’s furniture, so public relations strategy will be to CHANGE that opinion from negative to positive.
7) Establish perception and modification goals.
Goals here will be measured in terms of customers returning to showrooms, along with increasing sales, in first three to six months following program’s kickoff, which obviously will require considerable communications firepower to achieve. Once negative perceptions are truly understood, such a marker can be set down, and agreed upon, establishing degree of behavioral change that realistically can be expected.
8) Identify key audiences
Public relations counsel and staff start with a priority- ranking of those audiences with a clear interest in organization, often referred to as “stakeholders” or “publics.” In this case, at top of list is furniture-buying public – prospects and customers – as well as trade and business communities, employees, local thought-leaders and media in company’s retail outlet locations, and a number of other possible stakeholder groups.
