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Sustained public relations campaigns can help drive strategic organizational change, build public perceptions and drive reputation with key stakeholders. Well planned and executed campaigns are a cost-effective means of changing perceptions and increasing stakeholder value for an organization.

This powerful program takes a problem solving approach to the design of PR campaigns. By closely fitting the campaign to core business priorities as well as project objectives campaign design reinforces key messages and organizational strategy. The candidates will develop the skills to design, plan, cost, deliver and evaluate campaigns using the full range of PR media and channels. Case study examples will be used throughout. Action planning for the workplace to put ideas into action is a strong feature of the program. Highlights of the program include:

• Powerful planning tools
• A wealth of practical examples and frameworks
• Personal coaching and advice
• Incorporation of your own content into the program giving real, useable outputs
• A practical and theoretical toolkit for use beyond the course

By the end of this course delegates will be able to:

· Examine the range of PR campaigns and the purposes that they can achieve

· Develop a problem-solving approach to match PR campaign strategy to business objectives

· Plan PR campaigns to meet need setting clear objectives with behavioral outcomes and measurable results

· Examine a wide range of successful campaigns to judge the differing strategies and use of channels and media

· Measure risk presented during a campaign by increased public and media scrutiny and to plan to mitigate these risks

· Learn how to evaluate PR campaigns to demonstrate success to the business and to develop campaign methodology

· Develop a more effective approach to communication in the workplace

· Select and use the best tools to add value to the organization at a strategic level

· Develop personal action planning and understand how to sell ideas to top management

· Plan evaluation of the campaign so that results are recognized within the organization

· Build confidence and mastery through personal coaching and advice

Customer Service Professionals, Managers, Public Relations Officers, Practitioners & Personnel, Quality Management Personnel, Customer Analysts, HR Professionals who have communications roles, Customer Service Representatives & Professionals, Team Leaders & Supervisors, Administrators, HR & Training Professionals, Accounts Personnel, Sales & Marketing Professionals, Marketing Managers or Directors, Sales Managers or Directors, Sales Trainers, Salespeople, Communication Specialists, Brand Managers, Frontline & Reception Staff, Customer Service Representatives (CSR), Personnel responsible for building and sustaining their company’s reputation for customer service excellence, anyone who provides services, products or information to internal, or external customers

Public Relations in Business

· An overview of the scope and role of Public Relations in an organization

· The importance of reputation management

· The role of the brand

· The PR Transfer Process and communications theory

· Definitions of campaigns

· The Six Point PR Plan framework for campaigns

· Assessing your PR situation

Effective PR Campaigns

· Perceptions of PR among senior managers

· The global information village

· Putting a cash value on reputation and the PR that builds it

· PR campaigns – their use and their risks

· Case study examples – what works and what does not

· An introduction to evaluation

Setting Campaign Objectives & Identifying Stakeholders

· Setting objectives to meet your business needs

· Translating objectives into a practical campaign outcomes

· Identifying your publics

· Assessing what your stakeholders think of you

· Learning their language

· Applying creativity to messaging

· The importance of third party endorsement

A Problem-Solving Approach to Campaigns

· Brand, identity and image, the basis of reputation

· Assessing your reputation and the use of gap analysis

· The origins of PR and its foundations in the social sciences

· Business strategy and problem identification

· Problem solving methods – choosing the right one

· Problem analysis – desk research, stakeholder analysis, PEST and SWOT

· Setting measurable objectives

· Force field analysis and risk identification

Choosing the Right Media: Mass Media

· Features and facets of newspapers, magazines, TV and radio

· Keeping your objectives in mind

· Choosing the right titles for the right audience

· Mass media news generation and management

· Is it a media story – what’s in it for them?

· Invitations and press releases

· Conducting interviews and briefing interviewees

· Managing filming

· Photography

Choosing the Right Media: Other Campaign Media

· Involving your in-house media

· The role of corporate web sites

· Social media in campaigns

· Events as part of campaigns

· Using VIPs or celebrities

· Direct face to face communication

· Lobbying

Planning & Costing Campaigns

· Identifying the stages of the campaign and decision points

· Preparing an effective schedule – critical path analysis

· Critical path analysis

· Costing the plan and preparing a budget

· Anticipating risk and planning to meet it

· Identifying stakeholders and their role in relation to the campaign

· Coordinating campaign elements across stakeholder groups

Budgets & Evaluation

· Costing a campaign

· Evaluating campaigns

· Crisis management and contingencies

· The in house PR Team – Staffing, setting up and running it

· Buying in help – what to look for in a consultancy and how to get the best from them

· Personal action planning

Channels, Delivery & Evaluation

· From strategy to tactics

· Environmental scanning

· Developing a media relations plan

· Crisis media relations

· Principles of evaluation

· Research tools and methods

· Channel effectiveness and use of media

· Social media and tools

· Using influencer strategies to multiply effectiveness

Putting It All Together: Effective Delivery in Your Organization

· A risk-management approach

· Dealing with contingencies

· Winning support - selling ideas to others in the business

· Presenting your case to senior management

· Reading body language and other signals

· Integrating your campaign into your own media and company reporting

· Ensuring that results are seen and credited