Page 505 - Foundations of Marketing

472 Part 6 | Promotion Decisions

Table 16.4 Possible Issues for Publicity Releases

Support of a social cause New products

Improved warranties New slogan

Reports on industry conditions Research developments
New uses for established products Company’s milestones and anniversaries

Product endorsements Employment, production, and sales changes

Quality awards Award of contracts
Company name changes Opening of new markets

Interviews with company officials Improvements in fi nancial position

Improved distribution policies Opening of an exhibit
International business efforts History of a brand

Athletic event sponsorship Winners of company contests

Visits by celebrities Logo changes
Reports on new discoveries Speeches of top management

Innovative business practices Merit awards

Economic forecasts Acquisitions and partnerships
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are handled as news items and are likely to receive notice. Finally, the cost of publicity is low
compared with the cost of advertising.
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Publicity-based public relations tools have some limitations. Media personnel must judge
company messages to be newsworthy if the messages are to be published or broadcast at all.
Consequently, messages must be timely, interesting, accurate, and in the public interest. It may
take a great deal of time and effort to convince media personnel of the news value of publicity
releases, and many communications fail to qualify. Although public relations personnel usually
encourage the media to air publicity releases at certain times, they control neither the content nor
the timing of the communication. Media personnel alter length and content of publicity releases
to fit publishers’ or broadcasters’ requirements and may even delete the parts of messages that
company personnel view as most important. Furthermore, media personnel use publicity releases
in time slots or positions most convenient for them. Other outside public relations messages can
be picked up during slow news times. Thus, messages sometimes appear in locations or at times
that may not reach the firm’s target audiences. Although these limitations can be frustrating, prop-
erly managed publicity-based public relations tools offer an organization substantial benefits.

Evaluating Public Relations Effectiveness
Because of the potential benefits of good public relations, it is essential that organizations
evaluate the effectiveness of their public relations campaigns. Research can be conducted to
determine how well a firm is communicating its messages or image to its target audiences.
Environmental monitoring identifies changes in public opinion affecting an organization. A
public relations audit is used to assess an organization’s image among the public or to evalu-
ate the effect of a specific public relations program. A communications audit may include a

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