PR THEORIES IN CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

PR THEORIES IN THE CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS PRACTICES

There has been a directive of “staying on-message,” ensuring that the company or organization has complete control of the message at all times, virtually telling the consumer or stakeholder what to think or feel about the message being communicated.

Public relations theorists James Grunig and Todd Hunt have outlined four models of public relations that are traditionally practiced by organizations: press agentry, public information, two-way asymmetrical and two-way symmetrical. The press agentry model describes public relations programs with the sole purpose of attracting favorable publicity for an organization using mass media. One of the earliest examples of press agentry public relations is P.T. Barnum’s circus (Hunt & Grunig, 1994). The man who famously coined the phrase, “There’s a sucker born every minute,” was famous for his manipulation of the media to get publicity (Stauber & Rampton, 1995). The public information model, like the press agentry model, is a one-way communication model that uses “journalists-in-residence” to disseminate information to the media. The two-way asymmetrical model uses research to develop messages that are likely to persuade target audiences to behave as the organization wants (Hunt & Grunig, 1994). The fourth model of public relations recognized by Hunt and Grunig is the two-way symmetrical model. This model is based on research and uses communication to manage conflict and improve understanding with strategic publics. The two-way symmetrical model is one that is mutually beneficial, based on negation and compromise, and is practiced by organizations that understand the importance of listening and responding to their publics (Hunt & Grunig, 1994). This is the ideal model for successful corporate communications, as it indicates an organization that is committed to honest and ethical practices and is willing to adapt its practices to improve public perception.

Public relations campaigns and programs have used the same strategies for much of the industry’s history and are generally based on some variation of the RACE formula developed by communications professor John Marston. RACE, an acronym for research, action, communication and evaluation, is a communications planning tool that practitioners use to develop public relations campaigns or programs. When using RACE or a variation of similar steps to develop a public relations campaign, the research phase generally involves surveying or focus group testing of the target audience; action entails the planning of the message and its delivery; communication involves the actual distribution of the message, generally via traditional media including TV, radio and print news; and evaluation of the communication is measured by quantifying media mentions (Hunt & Grunig, 1994).   Analysis of Public Relations Utilizing Social Media Social media marketing is a revolutionary communications tool that has quickly changed the ways in which public relations is practiced, becoming an integral part of corporate communications for many companies. Social media offers public relations practitioners new options for every aspect of the corporate communications process.

In conclusion, social media tools can be utilized to create and distribute meaningful content to wider audiences than traditional media allows.

By:  ULAYA SIJALI A. (BAPRM 42681)