Public Relations and Integrated Marcom

General Public Relations (PR)

Is an organizational activity involved with fostering
goodwill between a firm and all of its various publics
Employees, suppliers, stockholders, governments, the
public, labor groups, citizen action groups, and consumers
Marketing Public Relations (MPR)
Involves an organizations interactions with actual or
prospective customers
Performs an increasingly important marcom function
for both B2C and B2B firms
Are more credible and less expensive in comparison
with advertisements
MPR versus Advertising
PR (or MPR) in Integrated Marcom
Has been the subject of much debate
Has traditionally been specialized and limited
Has credibility that can be used to introduce new
products using little advertising
Works best for capturing the attention of the media
when introducing new and innovative products
Drawbacks to MPR
Not all products can rely on publicity
Free publicity lasts only as long as the product is
newsworthy
Marketing-Oriented Public Relations (MPR)
Proactive MPR
Is a tool for communicating a brands merits
Is used in conjunction with other marcom tools such
as advertising and sales promotions
Is dictated by a firms marketing objectives
Is offensively oriented and opportunity seeking
Reactive MPR
Is the conduct of public relations in response to
outside influences
Provides a quick response to repair firms reputation,
prevent market erosion, and regain lost sales
Forms of Proactive MPR
Product Announce new products
Releases Provide relevant information, features and benefit
Audiovisual product releases (video news releases,
or VNRs) gained wide usage

Executive- Quoting CEOs and other corporate executives

Statement May address a wide variety of issues
(News) Published in the news section
Releases Carry a significant degree of credibility

Feature Detailed descriptions of products or other

Articles newsworthy programs
Written for immediate publications or airing
Inexpensive to prepare
Reactive MPR and Crisis Management
Reactive MPR
Addresses factors in a
products defects and failures
Provides responses to
unanticipated market events
Crisis Management
Provides quick and positive
responses to negative publicity
to reassure consumers and
lessen the damage following
negative publicity
 The Special Case of Rumors
and Urban Legends

Types of Rumors

Commercial Conspiracy Contamination

Rumors Rumors Rumors
What Is the Best Way to Handle a Rumor?
Antirumor Campaign Activities:
1. Deciding on the specific points in the rumor that
need to be refuted
2. Emphasizing that the conspiracy or contamination
rumor is untrue and unfair
3. Picking appropriate media and vehicles for
delivering the antirumor message
4. Selecting a credible spokesperson
Word-of-Mouth Influence
Word-of-Mouth (WOM)
Is both complex and difficult for brand managers to
attempt to control
Factors Affecting WOMs Influence
Tie strength of interpersonal relationships of persons
in B2C and/or B2B social networks
How well marketing communicators use advertising
and buzz efforts to stimulate positive WOM
The amount of prestige accorded by others to opinion
leaders and markets mavens who act as informers,
persuaders, and confirmers
Preventing Negative WOM
Manufacturers
Providing detailed warranty and complaint-procedure
information on labels or in package inserts
Retailers
Employees with positive attitudes
Store signs and inserts in monthly billings
Offer toll-free numbers and e-mail addresses
Creating Buzz
Buzz Creation
Is the systematic and organized effort to encourage
people to talk favorably about a particular brand
either over the fence or over the Internetand to
recommend its usage to others who are part of their
social network
Proactive Efforts
Guerrilla marketing
Viral marketing
Diffusion marketing
Street marketing
 Generating Buzz Is Akin
to Creating an Epidemic

Rules for Reaching

the Buzz
Tipping Point

Law of the Few Stickiness Factor Power of Context

Sponsorship Marketing
Sponsorship
Is an exchange between a sponsor [such as a brand]
and a sponsee [such as a sporting event] whereby
the latter receives a fee and the former obtains the
right to associate itself with the activity sponsored
Is the marketing of the association by the sponsor
Both activities are necessary if the sponsorship fee is
to be a meaningful investment
Why the Growth in Sponsorships
Sponsorships
Help firms to avoid the clutter in advertising media
Help firms respond to consumers changing media
habits
Help firms gain the approval of various constituencies
Can enhance brand equity by increasing consumer
awareness and by enhancing the brands image
Enable marketers to target their marcom efforts to
specific geographic regions and lifestyle groups
Event Sponsorship
Event Sponsorship
Is a form of brand promotion that ties a brand to a
meaningful athletic, entertainment, cultural, social, or
other type of high-interest public activity
Factors in Selecting Sponsorship Events
Image matchup
Target audience fit
Sponsor misidentification
Clutter
Complement other marcom efforts
Economic viability
Event Sponsorship (contd)
Creating Customized Events
Choosing to develop events rather than sponsoring
existing events
Provides a brand total control over the event
Can be more effective but less costly
Ambushing Events
Occurs when companies that are not official
sponsors undertake marketing efforts to convey the
impression that they are
Event Sponsorship (contd)
Measuring Success
The brand marketer must specify objective(s) that the
sponsorship is intended to accomplish.
In measuring the results, there has to be a baseline
against which to compare some outcome measure.
This baseline is typically a premeasure of brand awareness,
brand associations, or attitudes prior to sponsoring an event.
Measure the same variable (awareness, associations,
etc.) after the event to determine whether there has
been a positive change from the baseline level.
Cause Sponsorships
Cause-Related Marketing (CRM)
Entails alliances that companies form with nonprofit
organizations to promote their mutual interests.
Based on the idea that a firm will contribute to a
cause every time the customer undertakes some
action that supports the firm and its brands
Requirements for Successful CRM
FitDoes the brand naturally related to the cause?
AccountabilityWill the CRM yield sufficient returns
on investment or achieve non-financial objectives
Cause Sponsorships (contd)
Benefits of Cause-Related Marketing (CRM)
Enhances corporate or brand image
Thwarts negative publicity
Generates incremental sales
Increases brand awareness
Broadens customer base
Reachs new market segments
Increases sales at retail level