MEDIA RELEASE 03 December 2007
Unlocking the Mystery of Public Relations
'Unlocking the mystery of public relations' was the title of the presentation
delivered by Dennis Rutzou to the Institute of Independent Business (IIB)
National Workshop on Tuesday, 13 November 2007.
The IIB, which was formed in 1984, is the largest international organisation of
its type with over 4,500 highly skilled Executive Associates accredited to work
with many thousands of businesses mostly in the small to medium enterprises (SME)
sector.
Early in his address, Mr Rutzou, who has been a public relations consultant for
more than 40 years, touched on the definition of public relations and the
confusion that is caused by having several definitions.
"The one that I prefer and which is printed on the back of our business cards
is: 'Public relations is the management discipline of communication'," Mr Rutzou
said.
"This definition says it all because it squarely places public relations within
the management area. For most organisations, much of their communication happens
by accident, whereas it should be subjected to a disciplined approach developed
in accordance with other management planning of the organisation," he explained.
Mr Rutzou then talked the audience through the steps of developing a PR plan.
"Building on the 'discipline' aspect of our definition of public relations,
there are some basic building blocks that must be used to develop a PR plan such
as the objectives, target audiences or in PR terms 'publics', the PR activities,
measurement and the budget," he said.
"Developing the company's credible core messages is extremely important because
effective communication is achieved by the repetition of credible core messages.
The extent of the repetition that is required is always underestimated - you
have to tell them, tell them you told them and then tell them again," Mr Rutzou
added.
According to Mr Rutzou, the benefits of a public relations program are numerous
for an organisation that has recognised the necessity of it.
"The benefits produced by a well planned and executed public relations program
can be many and varied. It can achieve a higher public profile for the
organisation or the cause it represents, increased sales, increased value of the
organisation, new funding options, improved employee relations and so on," he
said.
"It can also sometimes produce unexpected benefits, such as other organisations
wanting to deal with you as a result of the increased public profile," he added.
Mr Rutzou then addressed the potential obstacles that can be encountered with a
public relations strategy that hadn't been well organised in the first place.
"There is often a danger of a public relations campaign becoming bogged down
with technique, rather than content. Therefore, I believe that a great deal of
initial thought should be put into developing the content of the messages,
rather than, for example, seeking media coverage for the sake of it," he said.
"In my experience, the main two reasons for the failure of a PR program is
either a lack of resources or a lack of commitment. PR is not a soft option. It
demands effort and determination for success," Mr Rutzou added.
With more than 40 years in the public relations field, Dennis Rutzou has had
wide experience in Asia, the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States and
Australia, in addition to being a former President of the Public Relations
Institute of Australia. Dennis Rutzou Public Relations will be celebrating its
40th anniversary in 2008.
To read the speech in full, please follow this link:
Public Relations
|
|
|
