Public relations and advertising

Journalism and Mass Communication · Media and society. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

Public relations is the planned and sustained effort to build and keep mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics. Publics are internal (employees, shareholders) and external (customers, media, government, community). PR earns coverage through tools such as press releases, press conferences, events and house journals.

Advertising is paid, non-personal communication by an identified sponsor. Because the sponsor buys the space or time, the sponsor controls the message. PR cannot control what the media finally publish.

Propaganda is deliberate, one-sided persuasion that serves the interest of its source. It uses selected facts and emotional appeals and does not present the other side.

Rules to remember

Grunig and Hunt's four models of PR (1984): press agentry or publicity (one-way, truth not essential); public information (one-way, accurate); two-way asymmetric (research used to persuade); two-way symmetric (dialogue, both sides may change).
Pioneers: Ivy Lee, Declaration of Principles (1906), open and accurate information for the press; Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud.
AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.
USP (unique selling proposition): one benefit that only this product offers; the concept of Rosser Reeves.
Types of advertising: classified and display; product and institutional (builds the image of a company); public service (promotes a social cause).
Propaganda devices: name calling, glittering generalities, transfer, testimonial, plain folks, card stacking, bandwagon.
PR functions: media relations, employee relations, community relations, publicity, crisis communication.

Common mistake

The two two-way models are often confused. Both use research and feedback; in the asymmetric model the organisation uses them only to persuade, while in the symmetric model it is ready to change its own behaviour.

Worked example

A toothpaste advertisement shows a famous cricketer saying he uses the brand every day. Which propaganda device is this?

The advertisement gives no evidence about the product itself.
It relies on a well-known and admired person to recommend the product.
Using the statement of a respected or famous person to win acceptance is the testimonial device. Bandwagon would say 'everyone is using it'.

Answer: Testimonial.

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