T HE PUBLIC REL ATIONS H A NDBOOK A L I S ON T HE A K E R FINANCIAL C O M M U N I C AT I O N BUSINESS TO BUSINESS identity R F O U R T H E DI T IO N The Public Relations Handbook The Public Relations Handbook is a comprehensive and detailed introduction to the theories and practices of the public relations industry. It traces the history and development of public relations, explores ethical issues that affect the industry, examines its relationship with politics, lobbying organisations and journalism, assesses its professionalism and regulation and advises on training and entry into the profession. The Public Relations Handbook combines theoretical and organisational frameworks for studying public relations with examples of how the industry works in practice. It draws on a range of promotional strategies and campaigns from businesses, public and non-profit organisations including the AA, Airbus, BT, Northamptonshire County Council, Cuprinol and Action for Children.
The Public Relations Handbook, 4th Edition includes: • case studies, examples and illustrations from a range of campaigns from small and multinational corporations, local government and charities • specialist chapters on financial public relations, internal communications and marketing public relations • strategic overviews of corporate identity, globalisation and evaluation • a thorough examination of ethics and professionalism • more than 50 illustrations from recent PR campaigns • a completely revised chapter on corporate social responsibility • a new chapter on risk, issues and crisis management. Alison Theaker has over 25 years’ experience in public relations and management as a practitioner and academic. She was the first Head of Education and Training at the then Institute of Public Relations, as well as Principal Lecturer and Course Leader in Public Relations at Leeds Business School, UK, and Scholar in Residence in the School of Marketing Communication at Emerson College, Boston, US. She is an elected Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and co-authored Effective Media Relations.
She has delivered research papers at conferences in the UK, USA and Australia on team working in public relations, improving students’ writing skills and the future of PR as a profession. She is now a PR coach for small businesses, running her own consultancy, The Spark, in Devon, www. This textbook is supported by a companion website at www.com/cw/theaker where a range of additional international case studies can be found, along with useful links. Media Practice Edited by James Curran, Goldsmiths College, University of London The Media Practice handbooks are comprehensive resource books for students of media and journalism, and for anyone planning a career as a media professional.
Each handbook combines a clear introduction to understanding how the media work with practical information about the structure, processes and skills involved in working in today’s media industries, providing not only a guide on ‘how to do it’ but also a critical reflection on contemporary media practice. The Advertising Handbook The Music Industry Handbook 3rd edition Paul Rutter Helen Powell, Jonathan Hardy, Sarah Hawkin and Iain MacRury The New Media Handbook Andrew Dewdney and Peter Ride The Alternative Media Handbook Kate Coyer, Tony Dowmunt and The Newspapers Handbook Alan Fountain 4th edition Richard Keeble The Cyberspace Handbook Jason Whittaker The Photography Handbook 2nd edition The Documentary Handbook Terence Wright Peter Lee-Wright The Public Relations Handbook The Graphic Communication 4th edition Handbook Alison Theaker Simon Downs The Radio Handbook The Fashion Handbook 3rd edition Tim Jackson and David Shaw Carole Fleming The Magazines Handbook The Television Handbook 2nd edition 4th edition Jenny McKay Jeremy Orlebar The Public Relations Handbook 4th edition Alison Theaker Fourth edition published 2012 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012 Alison Theaker The right of Alison Theaker to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. First published 2001 by Routledge Second edition published 2004 Third edition published 2008 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data The public relations handbook/edited by Alison Theaker. of: The public relations handbook/Alison Theaker. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Corporations – Public relations. Public relations handbook.2 – dc22 2011008644 ISBN: 978–0-415–59813–2 (hbk) ISBN: 978–0-415–59814–9 (pbk) ISBN: 978–0-203–80482–7 (ebk) Typeset in Helvetica and Avant Garde by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon Contents List of figures vii List of tables ix Notes on contributors x Preface xv Part I The context of public relations 1 1 What is public relations? 3 Johanna Fawkes 2 Public relations and communications 21 Johanna Fawkes 3 Public relations and politics 38 Ian Somerville and Phil Ramsey 4 Public relations and management 60 Anne Gregory 5 Ethics, professionalism and regulation 82 Alison Theaker Part II Strategic public relations 105 6 Public relations and corporate communication 107 Emma Wood 7 Corporate identity 126 Emma Wood and Ian Somerville vi CONTENTS 8 Risk, issues and crisis management 154 Heather Yaxley 9 Public relations and corporate social responsibility 175 Ian Somerville and Emma Wood 10 Measurement and evaluation 195 Mairead McCoy and Owen Hargie 11 Public relations and globalisation 219 Peter Walker Part III Stakeholder public relations 249 12 Media relations in the social media age 251 Philip Young 13 Internal communications 273 Liam FitzPatrick 14 Financial communications 311 Mark Phillimore 15 Public sector public relations 331 Simon Wakeman 16 Consumer public relations 354 Susan Hutchinson 17 Business-to-business public relations 370 Loretta Smith 18 Not-for-profit public relations 387 Peter Brill and Cinzia Marrocco 19 Digital public relations – revolution or evolution? 411 Heather Yaxley Part IV Shaping the future 433 20 Future challenges for PR 435 Alison Theaker Bibliography 445 Index 479 Figures 2.1 Harrison’s adaptation of Shannon and Weaver’s model 25 2.2 The Osgood–Schramm model of communication 26 2.3 The Westley–McLean model of communication 27 2.4 The one-step and two-step flow models 32 4.1 An example of PEST analysis 66 4.1 IPRA wheel of education 91 6.1 Various forces in the external environment combine to influence a company’s licence to operate 113 6.2 The strategic management of public relations 116 7.1 Mapping the relationship between relevant concepts 130 7.2 The cultural web 135 7.3 Adapted version of van Riel’s model of corporate identity management 138 7.4 Adapted version of Melewar and Karaosmanoglu’s revised categorisation of corporate identity dimensions and their sub-items 140 7.5a Queen Margaret University College, old logo 149 7.5b Queen Margaret University, new logo 149 7.6 Queen Margaret University new campus 149 7.7 Queen Margaret University library, new campus 150 8.1 Newly qualified drivers are considered to be at greatest risk of accidents 158 8.2 Circular decision making process 159 9.1 CSR issues, definitions and indicator sources 189 viii FIGURES 9.2 Presence of CSR issues on the corporate websites (including online CSR reports/corporate annual reports) of Rabobank and Bank of Ireland 190 9.3 Expositive and interactive resources 191 10.1 Key recommendations for writing measurable objectives 197 10.2 Pyramid model of PR research 200 10.3 The Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles 207 10.4 BTYSTE exhibition main hall 214 11.1 Stakeholder areas for the Pakistan Pink Ribbon campaign 243 12.1a Press release announcing the Which? court case against JJB for overpricing replica football shirts 265 12.1b Press release announcing the Which? court case against JJB for overpricing replica football shirts 266 12.2 Press coverage of Which? case 267 12.3 First Direct’s online newsroom 269 13.1 Reasons for internal communications 276 13.2 The demographics log book 282 13.3 Example of how objectives can be broken into different components covering knowledge, attitude and behaviour 290 13.6 Dewhurst and FitzPatrick’s communication competencies 305 14.1 Flow of information 315 15.1 Northampton County Council You Choose – Diagram summarising campaign feedback 348 15.2 Residents speaking to council representative at Brackley roadshow, March 2010 349 16.1 Talisker Bounty boat landing 365 16.2 Talisker Bounty boat crew 365 16.3 Winning Cuprinol shed entry 368 16.4 Cuprinol Shed Week logo 368 17.1 The Airbus Concept plane 377 17.1 Getting the message 390 18.2 Chart based on 1000 adults 16+, Britain 392 18.3 Tug-of-war 394 18.4 The best of all worlds? 396 18.5 The opportunity-opportunism model 399 18.7 Social media icons 405 18.1 A new media adaptation of the models of public relations 425 19.2 Twitter chart 427 Tables 1.1 A rough guide to the main activities in public relations 10 1.2 Summary of DTI/CIPR recommended key skills and competences 11 1.4 Ranking of discipline topics by employers 12 1.5 Approaches to public relations theory 16 2.1 Characteristics of four models of public relations 35 Contributors Peter Brill is Managing Director of communication specialists Net. His post- grad Diploma in Radio Journalism from City University led to a career in financial and sports broadcasting before turning to PR. After working in-house at Toyota (GB) and at specialist agency Avenue Communications, Peter moved to RAC Motoring Services where he became Head of Public Relations.
He established Net. Peter lectures for the CIPR’s Advanced Certificate and CIM’s Public Relations courses. In parallel with his corporate career he has also been active in the Third Sector, particularly as a Trustee for Sense (Deafblind and Rubella Association), which included strategic links with the communication team, and as Chairman of Salaam Shalom, the UK’s first Muslim/Jewish radio station that launched in February 2007. Johanna Fawkes Ph.
was Principal Lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) until 2004, since when she has been an independent writer and researcher. She led the BA in Public Relations at LMU and similar courses at the University of Central Lancashire and the London College of Printing, after 15 years in public sector PR. She has written award-winning papers for a variety of journals, national and international conferences and has contributed chapters to leading PR textbooks. Johanna is a member of the Institute of Communication Ethics (ICE) Advisory Board, the Journal of Public Relations Inquiry editorial board, and was Chief Examiner for the CIPR Diploma, 2005–2007.
She completed her doctorate in Jung, ethics and PR in 2011. Liam FitzPatrick is Head of Practice at Bell Pottinger Change and Internal Communication in London. His career includes time in-house running IC teams in the UK and internationally as well as extended periods as a consultant working CONTRIBUTORS xi around the world. He also teaches with the CIPR in London and has created training programmes for a number of clients.
He has written on the subject of competencies for communicators. He is a Fellow of the CIPR. Dr Anne Gregory Ph. is Professor Public Relations and Director of the Centre for Public Relations Studies at LMU, one of the UK’s leading think-tanks on public relations.
Originally a broadcast journalist with the BBC, Anne spent 10 years in public relations practice, operating at senior levels in both consultancy and in-house. She was President of the UK Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) in 2004, leading it to Chartered status, and is now Chair of the Global Alliance of Public Relations and Communication Management. Anne initiated and edits the CIPR series of 17 books, is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Communication Management and publishes regularly in books, academic and popular journals. She is a frequent speaker at international conferences.