50160 Public Relations Strategies

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences: Public Communication
Credit points: 8 cp
Result Type: Grade, no marks

Requisite(s): 50159 Public Relations Principles

Handbook description

This subject is the second in the sequence of public relations subjects and further positions public relations within the context of broader strategic management. It develops an understanding and appreciation of strategy through issues identification, stakeholder analysis and strategy writing. Students apply the concepts and practices of professional public relations to develop, design and produce innovative resources to address client problems or opportunities. They build on expertise in translating complex public relations campaign strategies to communication products within the constraints of planning, budgetary and evaluative processes.

Subject objectives/outcomes

At the completion of this subject students will be expected to be able to:

apply the principles of research for public relations and the application of research methods for strategic planning;
identify and develop planning strategies to address a client's needs within budget constraints and social, environmental and political contexts;
identify issues for public relations practices;
develop campaign goals and objectives and plan public relations strategies and tactics;
demonstrate proficiency in the production of appropriate material for a media relations strategy;
develop written communication skills to a high professional level.

Contribution to graduate profile

Gain an interdisciplinary and coherent knowledge of public communication to inform ethical, creative and socially responsible practice, with specialised expertise in public relations.
Be responsive to new developments in the public relations industry and international contexts in an increasingly globalised environment and be able to engage productively with new challenges.
Gain by class work and group work the specific skills associated with successful professional work in public communication including research and writing skills necessary for professional practice.
Have demonstrated capabilities in interpersonal and organisational communication processes, audience identification and research, relationship building, campaign development, promotional activities, issues management, and media writing and liaison.
Be competent in researching, diagnosing and addressing communication problems and possess highly developed oral and written communication skills.
Be able to facilitate and provide professional advice on effective interaction with colleagues, clients and the public as public communication professionals, recognising the needs of all salient publics and working to establish genuine consultation and dialogue.

Teaching and learning strategies

This subject relies on experiential learning techniques in combination with lectures. Video, film and audio resources are used when appropriate. Professional public relations materials are made available to students for their workshop activities. Guest speakers are employed to provide a practitioner's perspective and allow the students to meet industry representatives in a learning environment.

Content

Public relations and organisational communication: Public relations as a management function; the tasks and responsibilities of public relations management; boundary role of the public relations professional.
The planning process for public relations: Developing budgets and timelines; planning techniques such as Gantt and PERT charts; evaluation methods.
Public relations strategies and techniques: Campaign design for client briefs; special events and conferences; developing media kits.

Assessment

Assessment Item 1: Client strategy and campaign plan

Objectives	Meets objectives a, b, c, d and f
Value	60%
Due	Week 9 submit a copy through 'Turn it in' software on UTSonline as a minimum requirement before handing in a hard copy in class
Task	The purpose of this assignment is for you to identify a client's public relations needs and objectives and devise a campaign proposal to meet these objectives, based on some rationale supported by research and a creative approach. Your strategy and campaign choice should be addressing an external rather than internal public. It should not focus on a product.
Assessment criteria	identify organisation's key public relations issues based on imaginary or real research findings, and clearly define the one issue you have chosen to develop a PR campaign for; identify client's needs through measurable and achievable objectives; develop a plan to best meet those needs within budget and time constraints; produce creative strategies to generate publicity effectively; provide rationale for choice of strategies, products, etc.; demonstrate an ability to think strategically about PR campaigns; prepare a report to a professional standard including structure (e.g. use 1.5 spacing), referencing, spelling and punctuation, grammar and clarity of expression, absence of typographical errors.

Assessment Item 2: Media Kit and communication product

Objectives	Meets objectives d, e and f
Value	40%
Due	Week 14 in class
Task	Design and develop products to effectively demonstrate your understanding and competence in communicating through media and other stakeholders. Demonstrate your ability to think strategically when devising your product/s to contribute towards the public relations goal/s.
Assessment criteria	Demonstrated ability to: design and strategically use creative mediums/tools to communicate information for an identified public as part of a public relations campaign; write a media release with a newsworthy angle, appropriate for your client; select appropriate media and salient publics within the timeline indicated; write well in a style suitable for your selected salient publics, and individual products; adhere to layout guidelines principles as explained in previous public relations lectures and studies; use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and omit typographical errors to produce products meeting professional standards of presentation. Minimum three references required, using Harvard reference style.

Minimum requirements

Students are expected to read the subject outline to ensure they are familiar with the subject requirements. Since class discussion and participation in activities form an integral part of this subject, you are expected to attend, arrive punctually and actively participate in classes. If you experience difficulties meeting this requirement, please contact your lecturer. Students who have a reason for extended absence (e.g., illness) may be required to complete additional work to ensure they achieve the subject objectives.

Attendance is particularly important in this subject because it is based on a collaborative approach which involves essential workshopping and interchange of ideas. Students who attend fewer than ten classes are advised that their final work will not be assessed and that they are likely to fail the subject.

Recommended text(s)

Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C. (eds.) 2004, Public relations: theory and practice, 2nd edn., Allen & Unwin, New South Wales.

Supplemental texts (in Library Reserve):

Toth, E. L. 2007, The future of excellence in public relations and communication management – challenges for the next generation. Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc., Mahwah NJ.

Tymson & Lazar 2002, The new Australian and New Zealand public relations manual, E.J. Dwyer (Australia) Pty. Ltd..

Harrison, K. 2003, Strategic public relations: a practical guide to success, Century Ventures, Australia.

Indicative references

Bivins, T. 2005, Public relations writing- the essentials of style and format. 5th edn., McGraw-Hill New York.

Cranny-Francis, A. 2005. Multimedia. Sage Publications, London UK.

Dozier, D., Grunig, J. & Grunig, L. 1995, Manager's guide to excellence in public relations and communication management, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ.

Ewart, J., Sedorkin, G. & Schirato, T. 1998, Get your message across. The professional communication skills everyone needs, Allen and Unwin, NSW.

Grunig, J.E. (Ed.) 1992, Excellence in public relations and communication management. Lawrence Erlbaumn Associates, Hillsdale, NJ.

Heath, R.L. & Vasquez, G.M. (eds.) 2001, Handbook of public relations, Sage, London.

Hendrix, J.A. 2004, Public relations cases, 6th edn, Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Compnay, CA.

Levinson, J.C., Frishman, R. & Lublin, J. 2002, Guerrilla publicity: hundreds of sure-fire tactics to get maximum sales for minimum dollars, Adams Media Corp., USA.

Lindenmann, W.K. 1997, 'Setting minimum standards for measuring public relations effectiveness', Public Relations Review, vol. 23, no. 4, Winter, pp.391-408.

Macnamara, J. 2000, Jim Macnamara's public relations handbook, Information Australia, Melbourne Australia.

McElreath, M.P. 1997, Managing systematic & ethical public relations campaigns, Brown & Benchmark, Iowa.

Meeske, M. 2003, Copywriting for the electronic media- a practical guide. 4th edn. Wadsworth, Canada.

Nemec, R. 2001, 'The perfect couple', Communication World, April-May, pp. 20-23.

O'Keefe, S. 1999, Publicity on the Internet, John Wiley, USA.

Richter, L. & Drake, S. 1993, 'Apply measurement mindset to programs', Public Relations Journal, November, p.32.

Treadwell, D. & Treadwell, J. 2005, Public relations writing- principles in practice, Sage, London UK.

Truss, Lynne 2003 Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Allen & Unwin, Australia.

Walker, G. 1997, 'Public relations practitioners' use of research, measurement, and evaluation', Australian Journal of Communication, vol. 24, no 2, pp.97-113.

Wilcox, D., Ault, P. & Agee, W. 2000, Public relations: strategies and tactics, 6th edn., Longman, New York.

Wilcox, D.L. 2001, Public relations writing and media techniques, 4th edn, Longman, New York.