PR: Focus on What Matters!
 
Sure, as a manager, you have a talented member of the
PR team assigned to your department, division or 
subsidiary, or housed at your agency, and s/he is darn 
good at placing product and service plugs on radio and 
in the newspaper. Which may be all you want. And 
that’s fine.
 
Unfortunately, when your PR folks concentrate primarily
on tactical fixes like publicity placements, at least be
aware of what you are NOT getting.
 
You don’t get a comprehensive effort that persuades
those important outside folks to your way of thinking, 
then moves them to take actions that help your department, 
division or subsidiary succeed.
 
You don’t get the use of the high-impact, fundamental premise 
of public relations to deliver external stakeholder behavior 
change – the kind that leads directly to achieving your 
managerial objectives.
 
And you don’t get the creative potential of your assigned 
PR team needed to positively impact the behaviors of the 
very outside audiences that MOST affect your business, 
non-profit or association.
 
That’s a fair amount NOT to be getting!
 
It certainly doesn’t sound like the best use of your public 
relations resources, but it’s fixable. In which case, you might 
begin to see results such as prospects starting to do business 
with you; fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint 
ventures; membership applications on the rise; customers 
starting to make repeat purchases; capital givers or specifying 
sources starting to look your way, community leaders 
beginning to seek you out; welcome bounces in show 
room visits; politicians and legislators starting to view you 
as a key member of the business, non-profit or association 
communities, and even higher employee retention rates.
 
From Day 1, you have to get the public relations people 
assigned to your unit on board. Make certain they all accept 
the realities that it’s vitally important to know how your 
outside audiences perceive your operations, products 
or services. And that perceptions almost always lead to 
behaviors that can hurt your unit.
 
Start with the fundamental premise of public relations and 
make sure your PR effort sticks closely to this blueprint: 
people act on their own perception of the facts before them, 
which leads to predictable behaviors about which something 
can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that 
opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-
action the very people whose behaviors affect the 
organization the most, the public relations mission is 
accomplished.
 
Then involve your PR team in plans for monitoring and gathering
perceptions by questioning members of your most important 
outside audiences. Questions like these: how much do you 
know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with 
us and were you pleased with the interchange? How much 
do you know about our services or products and employees? 
Have you experienced problems with our people or 
procedures?
 
After all, your PR people are in the perception and behavior 
business to begin with, so they can be of real use for this 
opinion monitoring project. Professional survey firms are 
always available, but that can be very expensive. But
whether it’s your people or a survey firm who asks the 
questions, your objective is to identify untruths, false 
assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, and 
misconceptions .
 
Then you must decide which of the above troubles rate
designation as your corrective public relations goal – for 
example, clarify the misconception, spike that rumor, 
correct the false assumption or fix a certain inaccuracy.
 
In the same way soy sauce goes with stir fry, the right PR 
strategy tells you how to reach your goal. But just three 
strategies are available in matters of perception and 
opinion -- change existing perception, create perception 
where there may be none, or reinforce it. But be sure your 
new strategy is a natural fit with your new public 
relations goal.
 
When you finally have the chance to address your key 
stakeholder audience to help persuade them to your way 
of thinking, what will you say?  
 
Here’s where a talented writer earns his or her keep 
because s/he must put together some very special, 
corrective language. Words that are not only compelling, 
persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they 
are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view 
and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.
 
Now the job gets easier – select communications tactics 
to carry your message to the attention of your target 
audience. Making certain that the tactics you select have a 
record of reaching folks like your audience members, 
you can pick from dozens that are available. From 
speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer 
briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings 
and many others.
 
As the method of communication can affect the credibility of 
the message, you may wish to deliver it in small meetings 
or presentations rather than through high-visibility media 
announcements.
 
Questions will soon surface as to progress. And that will require 
a second perception monitoring session with members of your 
external audience. Employing many of the same questions used 
in the first benchmark session, you will now be watching 
carefully for signs that the offending perception is being altered 
in your direction.
 
In this business, we’re fortunate that efforts such as this can 
be accelerated by adding more communications tactics as well 
as increasing their frequencies, if deemed necessary.
 
We’re also fortunate that the people we deal with behave like 
everyone else – they act upon their perceptions of the facts 
they hear about us and our operations. Which leaves us little 
choice but to deal promptly and effectively with those 
perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach and move 
our key external audiences to action.
 
So, in the proverbial nutshell, here you have a workable public 
relations blueprint that can help you persuade your most 
important outside stakeholders to your way of thinking, then 
move them to behave in a way that leads to the success of 
your department, division or subsidiary.
 
 
Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and 
association managers about using the fundamental premise of public 
relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, 
Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, 
Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi-
cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press 
secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree 
from Columbia University, major in public relations. 
mailto: bobkelly@TNI.net      Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com