TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MOMBASA

BACHELOR OF COMMERCE
GROUP 8
PUBLIC RELATIONS
GROUP MEMBERS

1. RONALD OMONDI BCOM/202J/2016

2. MACHERA CLARE BCOM/187J/2016
3. JUSTUS ODHIAMBO BCOM/181J/2016
4. CYNTHIA NOELLA BCOM/189J/2016
5. LAVENDER MUSETHI BCOM/203J/2016
6. MERVIN NORBERT BCOM/148J/2016
7. NERVILLE WASHIKA BCOM/161J/2016
8. GEORGE ONYANGO BCOM/172J/2016
9. GEOFFREY KIPSANG BCOM/038J/2013
10. PERROT JUMA BCOM/054J/2015
Question:1

EXPLAIN EIGHT BENEFITS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO PUBLIC FELATIONS TO ORGANIZATIONS

TODAY

1. Faster, widespread coverage:

Social networking enables instant sharing of information and, as the number of people
using the Internet continues to rise, with many bloggings themselves, releases you post can
be easily picked up and posted by other bloggers and online journalists. This offers you
wider coverage of your news and ensures it reaches a larger target audience.
2. Visibility:
Social media can be used to help you improve the public’s awareness of your company and
your overall business image as blogging and online mentions help to spread the word about
your company. When your company establishes its presence online, it will become more
visible which can be used to promote your business
3. Increased communication:
With social media’s ease of use, everyday people can post their thoughts on a variety of
topics. Social networking sites allow you to ask questions and get answers quickly from
any number of readers, with varying enthusiasms and experience. By using these
communications channels, you can develop relationships with readers, which you can then
use in PR activity and stakeholder targeting to ensure your posts are relevant and of interest
so more likely to be read.
4. Easy integration:
Most people know how to use one or more social media tools so your company should
aim to maximise its reader base by using your staff’s online connections to promote your
business, giving you a bigger reader base. The more people who know about your
company, and what it does, the more likely your business will succeed and attract loyal
customers.
5. Technology gave us easy international communication and it’s amazing.
We now have the ability to talk to people across the country and across the globe. We can
talk to customers and clients who are thousands of miles away. But with this comes
customization: because of cultural differences and translation, we have to do more research
and change the way we say things to account for any cultural differences.
6. Research
Research has come a long way to put together a media list, for example Now, PR Officers
have many ways to do this research at their fingertips. Of course, Google is a great tool,
but there is no end to media databases you can pay for to get access to information on
journalists and publications and easily build media lists.
7. Crisis control
Gone are the days when brands had hours to plan a response to a crisis. Now, it has to be
done swiftly There is no time of day when a crisis goes unnoticed. With our always-on
news cycle, brands need to be monitoring and responding in real-time to issues that arise.
Fortunately, social media monitoring/listening tools can help them do this.
8. More direct contact with people.
Social media means that interaction with people customers is a much more direct path.
And with the various marketing tools available through platforms like Facebook, both
public relations and advertising can be specifically targeted for your unique customer base.
Even further, the more you interact with your target audience, the more your social media
posts will be seen by your audience. Social media provides the means to save money when
trying to reach your people because you won’t be paying for people who aren’t interested
to see your stories.

Question:2

EXPLAIN EIGHT CHALLENGES/DEMERITS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS TODAY

1. It’s not easy developing Newsworthy Stories

One of the main goals of a public relations campaign is to provide potential customers with timely,
newsworthy information. Businesses often issue press releases for grand openings, product
launches, employee recruitment or participation in an event promoting a cause. While public
relations efforts can create results, coming up with an interesting press release is not always easy.

2.Difficult to Measure Success

Companies often find it difficult to measure a campaign's success. measuring and evaluating the
impact of public relations efforts is often subjective. It's hard to compare and contrast impact
across publications
3.Appropriate Media

Selecting the appropriate media to pitch your stories to may prove to be problematic, as you try
to review their readership to see if they match your target market. This takes time, which may
pull you away from other tasks, unless you hire a consultant to assist you. Pitching to relevant
media increases your chances of getting coverage.

4.Lack of Control Over Message Release

While public relations often uses the same print, digital and broadcast media outlets as
advertising, it differs significantly from advertising in that marketers do not have direct control
over whether a message is delivered.

5.May Be Higher Cost Than Other Methods

While a PR campaign has the potential to yield a high return on promotional expense, it also can
have the opposite effect (e.g., few attend a presentation by a company-paid spokesperson).

6.Message May Not Appear at All

When dealing with the media, there is always a chance a PR content item (e.g., TV interview with
the company president) will get “bumped” from planned media coverage because of a more
critical breaking news story (e.g., earthquake).

7.Special Skills May be Needed to Do PR Effectively

Marketers, accustomed to handling many of their own promotional tasks, may find that public
relations require a different skill set than other types of promotion (e.g., skills in dealing with the
media), thus requiring the marketer to spend on a PR professional.

8.Inaccurate Message or Storytelling

When you distribute a press release, it falls into the hands of many journalists, who may use it to
create a newsworthy story. While it can be advantageous to have a story written about your
business, you can be at a disadvantage if the story is inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. A
writer may see a negative angle that can damage your company's reputation. Additionally, you
may have to give interviews to multiple writers, which can eat into your time.