17

Public Relations,
Publicity, and Corporate
Advertising

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Guerilla Marketing

Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Guerilla Marketing

• The body of
unconventional
ways of pursuing
conventional
goals.
• A proven
method of
achieving profits
with minimum
money.
Guerilla Marketing Gone Apes
• To promote the new Aqua Teen Hunger
Force Movie, Turner Broadcasting Network
teamed up with Guerilla Interference Inc.
• The Goal: Deploy 400 LED “LiteBright”
displays within 10 major cities.
• Part of the marketing plan was to promote
The Cartoon Network’s eccentric, nighttime,
college-crowd brand of programming Adult
Swim.
Guerilla Marketing Gone Apes
• Some of Boston’s residents mistook the
devices for explosives and contacted
authorities.
• The city quickly reacted and shut down
all major public transportation and
spent $500,000 deploying police and
bomb sniffing dogs.
• Turner Broadcasting was fined
$1,000,000 from the city of Boston and
also paid $1,000,000 to “goodwill”
funds to homeland security.
Results
• In the days since the event:
– Made national televised news
– The average number of American
households who viewed Aqua Teen Hunger
Force rose 5%, to 1,082,500, from the
previous week of 1,030,500 viewers.
– T-shirts were instantly available for sale
portraying the controversial characters.
– Web site spiked 105.2%, to 790,000 from
385,000 one week before.
– Total US Gross: $5,520,368
– US DVD Sales: $11,084,232
– Movie Budget: $750,000
Ethical Breach?
• Turner Broadcasting failed to notify
the major cities about what was
going on. The lack of
communication cost them
unnecessary fines.
• The Ethics Code published by the
Word of Mouth Marketing
Association stresses honesty of
relationship, honesty of opinion,
and honesty of identity.
Sources:

• http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/cont
ent/feb2007/id20070209_934852_page_2.htm
• http://youtube.com/watch?v=9yigQGKaf2A
• www.Google.com
Public Relations Defined

A management function

which evaluates public attitudes

and identifies the policies and procedures

of an organization with the public interest

and executes a program of action (and communication)

to earn public understanding and acceptance

Public Relations Management Process

Determination and
evaluation of public
attitudes

Identification of policies
PR and procedures

Development and
execution of the
program
Traditional PR Perspective

Customers

Community Investors

Public
Relations
Department

Suppliers Government

Employees
Integration of PR into the Promotional Mix

Separate Functions
Marketing Public
Department Relations

Coordinated and Equal

Marketing Public
Department Relations

Integrated
Marketing Public
Department Relations
Marketing Public Relations Functions

Building market excitement before media ads break

Improving ROI

Creating news where there is no news

Introducing a product with little or no advertising

Providing a value-added customer service

Building brand-to-customer bonds

Influencing influentials, giving info to opinion leaders

Defending products at risk, giving consumers reasons to buy

MPR in Practice
Benefits of MPR

Advantages
A cost-effective way to
Breaks though the clutter
reach the market
Highly targeted way to Circumvents resistance to
conduct public relations sales efforts
Endorsements by Improved media
independent third parties involvement w/customers
Creates influence among
Achievement of credibility
opinion leaders
Makes advertising
Improved ROI
messages more credible
Benefits of MPR

Disadvantages
Lack of control over media

Difficult to tie in slogans or

other advertising devices

Media time and space aren’t

guaranteed

No standards for effective

measurement
The Process of Public Relations

Determining and Evaluating Public Attitudes

Establishing a PR Plan

Developing and Executing a PR Program

Measuring Program Effectiveness

Test Your Knowledge

In public relations targeting, external audiences

include:
A) Customers
B) The public at large
C) Suppliers
D) Stockholders
E) All of the above
Research on Public Attitudes

Provides input for Serves as an “early

the planning process warning system”

Increases
Secures internal
communications
cooperation, support
effectiveness
10 Evaluation Questions

1. Does the plan reflect a thorough

understanding of the company’s business
situation?
2. Has the PR program made good use of
research and background sources?
3. Does the plan include full analysis of
recent editorial coverage?
4. Do the PR people fully understand the
product’s strengths and weaknesses?
5. Does the PR program describe several
cogent, relevant conclusions from the
research?
10 Evaluation Questions

6. Are the program objectives specific and

measurable?
7. Does the program clearly describe what
the PR activity will be and how it will
benefit the company?
8. Does the program describe how its results
will be measured?
9. Do the research, objectives, activities, and
evaluations tie together?
10. Has the PR department communicated
with marketing throughout the
development of the program?
Determining Public Relations Audiences

Internal or External or
Associated Independent

Stockholders and Educators

Investors

Customers and Governments

Clients

Employees Financial Groups

Community Civic and Business

Members Organizations
Vendors and
Suppliers The Media
Communicating With Target Audiences

Internal or External or
Associated Independent

Newsletters Public relations ads

Press releases
Bulletin boards

Direct mail Conferences

Annual reports Research reports

The Media Also Engages in Public Relations
Implementing the PR Program

Press
Releases

Press
Interviews
Conferences

PR Tools

The
Exclusives
Internet
Community
Involvement
Special Olympics Torch Run

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The Internet as a PR Tool

The Internet…

Allows information to be presented quickly

Provides the media with instant access

to additional sources of information

Allows much more substantial information

to be presented
Advantages of Public Relations

Credibility

Image Cost
Building Savings

PR
Provides
Avoidance
Selectivity
of Clutter
Lead
Generation
Potential Problems of Public Relations

Potential for incomplete

communication process

Potential Receiver not making

Problems connection to the source

Lack of coordination with

marketing dept.

Inconsistent, redundant
communications
Test Your Knowledge

Which of the following communications is most likely

to have more credibility among its receivers?
A) Vogue's layout introducing its latest models
B) Volvo's television ad promoting new
standard safety features
C) Motor Trend's announcement of the "Car
of the Year"
D) The CEO of Ford Motor Company
appearing in its ads
E) The appearance of the participants in
American Idol in Old Navy ads
General Mills Capitalizes on Publicity
Measuring PR Effectiveness

Contributions made?

What was achieved?

Quantitative measures?

Quality?
Criteria for Measuring PR Effectiveness

Ratio of positive to negative articles Percentage of

positive and
negative articles
Number of impressions . . . by . . .

Over time Subject

On the target audience
Publication
On specific target audiences
Reporter
Percentage of . . Target
audience
Positive articles over time

Negative articles over time

Additional Measures of PR Effectiveness

Personal observation and reaction

Matching objectives and results

The team approach

Management by objectives

Public opinions and surveys

Audits
Publicity versus Public Relations

Publicity:
The generation of news about a person,
product, or service that appears in the media

A short-term strategy

A subset of public relations

Not always positive

Often originates outside the firm

A Response to Negative Publicity
Pros and Cons of Publicity

Advantages Disadvantages

Timing difficult or
Substantial credibility impossible to control

Inaccuracy, omission,
News value or distortion may
result

Significant word-of-
mouth

Perception of
endorsement by
media
Corporate Advertising

An extension of the PR
function

Does not promote a specific

product or service

Promotes the organization

Assuming a
Image Seeks
position on an
enhancement involvement
issue or cause
Why is Corporate Advertising Controversial?

Consumers aren’t
interested in this form of
advertising
Claims of
Opponents to Corporate advertising is
a waste of money
Corporate
Advertising
The firm’s finances or
image must be in trouble

This is a costly form of

corporate self-indulgence
Objectives of Corporate Advertising

Create a positive
image for the
firm
Establish Communicate
diversified the
company organization’s
identity viewpoint

Objectives

Help newly Boost

deregulated employee
industries morale
Smooth labor
relations
Types of Corporate Advertising

Image
General Image Ads
Advertising
Positioning Ads
Event
Sponsorship
Sponsorship
Recruitment
Advocacy
Financial Support
Advertising

Cause-related
Advertising
Boeing Advertises to Enhance Its Image

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Employee Recruitment by Grant Thornton
Event Sponsorship

Corporate Sponsor

Sporting Music,
Events Entertainment

Causes Festivals

Cultural Events Arts

Test Your Knowledge

Why would World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

sponsor a car on the NASCAR racing circuit?
A) To build equity and gain affinity with its
target market
B) To show its position on sports marketing
C) To create a generic positioning strategy
D) To further segment its target market
E) To reduce its overall promotional expenses
Advocacy Advertising

Advocacy advertising:
The propagation of ideas and
elucidation of controversial social
issues of public importance in a
manner that supports the interests
of the sponsor.
American Gas Association Advocacy Ad
Cause Related Marketing

Cause related marketing:

A form of marketing whereby
companies link with charities or
nonprofit organizations as
contributing sponsors.
Pros and Cons of Corporate Advertising

Advantages Disadvantages

May have
Excellent vehicle for
questionable
positioning the firm
effectiveness

Takes advantage of Raises questions of

benefits derived from constitutionality and
public relations ethics

Reaches a selected
target market
Measuring Corporate Ad Effectiveness

Attitude Surveys

Relating to Stock Prices

Effective?

Focus Group Research