Examining the critical relationship between strategy and PR planning.

1. STRATEGY
&
PLANNING
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2. Strategy & Planning in Public Relations
Dr Danny Moss
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3. “To be strategic , public relations must pass one
basic test: at a minimum everything that is done
must be aligned with the corporate vision or
mission
-the company‟s reason for being-and must
substantially contribute to achieving the
organisation‟s objectives.
Ideally public relations should be part of the team
helping to create the corporate mission and set
objectives”
3
P.J.Webster ,1990

4. Business / Organisational strategy
Business
planning
Comms/P R Marketing HRM Strategy
Strategy & Plans Strategy & & Plans
plans
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5. How does Business Strategy & Planning Differ?
Strategy
Strategy determines the direction and scope of an
organisation over the long term:
Strategy achieves advantage for the organisation
through configuring its resources within a changing
environment to meet the needs of markets & fulfil
stakeholder expectations
(Johnson & Scholes,1999)
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6. Three Dimensional Perspective of Strategy
Organisation’s Strategy Content
Purpose- Strategy Process Outcome of
Impetus for Flow of strategic activity Strategic activity
Strategic
activities
Strategy Context- Conditions surrounding strategic activity
Adapted from De Witt & Meter (2004)
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7. Planning
While Strategy addresses questions about overall
direction, scope and focus of organisation‟s operations,
- the vision, policy direction, broad corporate
„architecture‟
Planning provides (1) the analysis, insights and
forecasts needed to facilitate strategy formation and
(2) the detailed implementation plans to help realize
top managements‟ strategic vision
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8. SOSTAC Model of Planning ( A Pulford & P Smith ,
1990)
S -Situation Analysis - where are we now?
O -Objectives -where do we want to go?
S - Strategy -summarises how we are going to get
there.
T -Tactics -the details of strategy
A -Action or implementation - putting the plan to
work- who is going to do what and when.
C –How can we control, measure and develop the
process 8

9. Henry Mintzberg, leading management scholar (1994)
argued:
Strategic “planning” is not the same of “strategic
thinking” -the former is about analysis , the latter
synthesis
Planners do not create strategies, but they can supply
the data, help managers to think strategically, and
programme their vision
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10. Strategy Pyramid: Top Down Approach
Recognition of the
VISION possibility of bottom-up
approaches to planning
MISSION and strategy making
GOALS
STRATEGIES
TACTICS/
ACTION PLANS
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Traditional view of the structure of Strategy and tactics 10

11. Public Relations Strategy & Planning
Practitioners and academics often fail to distinguish clearly
between the terms strategy and planning using the terms
interchangeably
Indeed where strategy is discussed in the public relations context
it is often conceived largely in terms of formulating a PR plan.
Moreover , to understand the underlying role of public relations
strategy it needs to be located within the overall hierarchy of
corporate and business strategy –making and planning.
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12. Corporate, Business and Communications strategy & Plans
Corporate Strategy & Plans
Corporate
Determining the Org‟s position
Objectives
and future direction- what business
and plans
Should we be in
Business /Competitive strategy
Determining how best to
compete in existing/ chosen Business Objectives and
markets –how to sustain a plans
competitive position
Communications strategy and
plans Communication objectives
Determining what needs to be Target stakeholders and
communicated to whom in order to publics, Key messages and
support corporate and competitive tactical programmes
strategies and goals 12

13. What is P R strategy?
Grunig and Repper (1992) defines the strategic role of public
relations as:
“to manage conflict and build relationships with those
strategic constituencies that can limit the autonomy of the
organisation”
From this perspective , the P R strategy focuses on defining the
key stakeholder relationships and determining how best to either
develop and enhance, assuage or combat their affects
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14. Strategic Management Model for Public Relations
Organisational decisions at
corporate, business functional
Organisational levels Consequences
reputation
Consequences
Symmetrical Stakeholders
Communication + P1 P2 P3
+Relationship maintenance P4
Relationship Publics
+ Conflict management
outcome
Crisis Management
Issues
Achievement
Behaviour of Publics Creates
of Business Failure to to anticipate and
Goals resolve conflict leads to 14
14

15. According to Gregory (2000), Strategy represents the overall
approach taken – the coordinating theme or factor, the guiding
principles or „big idea‟ behind the tactical campaign
Moss and Warnaby (1997) acknowledge that public relations
strategy will take on differing emphases at different levels of
strategy:
At the corporate level , public relations strategy may be about (i)
building key relationships (ii) positioning the organisation or (iii)
shaping perceptions with respect to key issues
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16. At the business/ competitive level, public relations strategy is
about supporting brand positions, underpinning and elaborating
marketing messages and building customer relationships
At the functional level the strategy is about determining and
directing the specific set of communications activities towards the
realization of specific functional goals and objectives
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17. Public Relations Planning
While strategy can be and often is expressed in the form of a
plan, planning is more generally treated as the means through
which the strategic vision and goals are made real and
implemented
And generally plans set out the operational/ tactical measures/
actions to be carried out to realize specific objectives
The key elements in the planning cycle are shown the the next
figure
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18. Corporate and Business
Strategy
Communications Strategy
Research & Evaluation What role is Communications
Measuring results to play- Desired outcomes
Against targets/Objectives & effects
Programme(s) Communications
Execution Tactical Programme(s)
Implementing the What messages
programmes What audiences/publics
What channels / media
Communications strategy and Planning Cycle 18

19. There are a number of planning models /frameworks that
have been applied to public relations .
Although perhaps differing in the terminology used the
planning process depicted by most of these models comprises
broadly similar elements
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20. CORPORATE MISSION, MARKET ANALYSIS
SITUATION ANALYSIS
OBJECTIVES &STRATEGY MARKET POSITION
IDENTIFY COMMUNICATION ISSUES
DEFINE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
DEFINE THE COMMUNICATION
OBJECTIVES
If cost unacceptable revise plan
IDENTIFY AND PRIORITISE KEY
TARGET AUDIENCES
DEVELOP THE MESSAGE STRATEGY & TACTICS
DEVELOP MEDIA STRATEGY & TACTICS
PREPARE THE BUDGET
IMPLEMENT PLAN AND & EVALUATION 20

21. Situation Analysis
PESTLE
SWOT
Comms. Audit
Define the Role of P R
What can public relations can do to help resolve
the situation
Define Measurable Objectives
SMART
Rationale & Justification of the
proposed Strategy
The who , what , where, when and how to achieve
the objectives
Identify the Target publics
(CIPR Guides Di Burton) 21

22. Identify the Core Messages
An over-aching core message that resonates with
Key audiences with sub messages tailored to each target
audience
The tactical Programme
Identify the tactical activities to deliver the core messages
to each audience
Develop the detailed timetable
Specify what is to happen when and who is responsible
Budget Considerations
All plans must be within budget Costing must account
for people, resources and any other costs
Evaluation
Analysis of „impact‟ not just process- have the objectives 22
been met

23. Elements of Planning
Situation Analysis
The first step in assembling any P R strategy and Plan is analysis
of the context/ specific situation faced. This requires an
examination of both internal and external factors:
The key stakeholder relationships that the PR programme will
need influence
The factors affecting current stakeholder perceptions of the
organisation- its reputation
The key elements of the organisation‟s reputation
The nature/ effectiveness of past communications activity
The likely scenarios that may result and how they may affect
the realisation of intended goals
Other external/internal variables that may affect the
organisation‟s plans- e.g.impending new legislation
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24. Analysis tools include
For Broad internal and external Context Analysis
 PESTLE analysis [ political, economic, social, technological, legal
and environmental factors] for broad context analysis
SWOT [ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats]
Stakeholder Analysis- who is affected by and can affect the
organisation/ situation
For Specific Communication Problem Analysis
Communication Audit – review of previous/ exiting communication
activity
 Issues Analysis – analysis of key challenges/ issues affecting the
organisation- stakeholder relationships
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25. Analysis should avoid simply generating „lists „ of general context
factors – in all cases the unit of analysis should be on how each
factor might affect the key organisation- stakeholder relationships
This context analysis should lead to identification of the key issues
that the P R strategy should address arise-issues can be defined as the
result of the consequences that an organisations‟ actions have for
particular people/ groups or vice versa.
For the purposes of PR planning, it is important to identify the
communication implications of the key corporate/ business issues
and hence define the communications issues - e.g Concerns over
product safety, Poor quality reputation of a company, Perceived
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dishonesty of MPs, etc

26. Communication / P R Objectives
Objectives should be as precise as possible – SMART
Specific
Measureable
Achievable/Agreed
Realistic
Timely
These objectives should identify the intended outcomes
with respect to the key stakeholder relationships -i.e the values the
organisation wishes to communicate & the attitudes, opinions and
behaviours it wishes to promote towards the organisation.
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27. In addition to defining overall objectives for the campaign
as a whole, where there are multiple target publics, specific
objectives should be identified for each of the key target
public/audience strands
Thus while the overall objective might be:
To achieve at least 60% awareness and understanding of an
organisations new identity and name change amongst Key
stakeholder groups by year end
The specific objectives for internal/ employee audiences might be:
To communicate the rationale for the new identity and name
change and to build support for the new identity amongst
employees 27

28. Articulating the Strategy
Devising alternative communications strategies involves identifying
what different roles communication might play on behalf of the
organisation- expressed in term of how communication might help
the organisation achieve its goals/ resolve its problems
Often communications /P R strategy may be expressed in terms of
some form of intended positioning for the organisation in relation
to its reputation with its key stakeholders as well in relation to the
identified issues
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29. Examples of communication strategy statements:
The Comms Strategy will seek to reposition the org as a leader in the
move toward „Greener‟ or environmentally friendly manufacturing,
focusing on the organisation‟s environmental record through an
international PR and paid corporate advertising campaign
The strategy will aim to position the company at the forefront of
mobile technology capabilities, through an integrated comms program
of advertorial and editorial placement to demonstrate the company‟s
advanced technological capabilities
The strategy will seek to challenge the necessity of the proposed
legislation, highlighting the flaws in the new legislation and
suggesting amendments to the new Act through a sustained 29
programme of editorial placement and face to face advocacy

30. Identify The Stakeholders &Target Publics
The success of any PR programme hinges on identifying the
key stakeholder relationships that are crucial to resolving the
situation/ problem- here a stakeholder map may be useful
starting point in the case of very complex sets of stakeholders.
Here it is important to identify the active publics in the specific
context being handled [ those who are directly affected by the
organisation or who can frustrate or facilitate the realisation of the
organisation‟s goals
It may also be important to determine the priorities
amongst the publics - those whose support/ opposition is
most critical to the success of the programme
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31. A detailed profile of each target public should be drawn up
in terms of geo-demographics, attitudes, opinions and
behaviour with respect to the organisation and the
issues involved in the situation.
Such profiles are essential in identifying the most effective
media channels to reach the target publics
For P R planning purposes the media are treated as both a a target
public and a channel to communicate with other targets
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32. Developing the Tactical Program/Plan
Once the objectives and target publics have been identified,
the next step is to formulate the main elements of the
communication programme itself.
Here, all programmes comprise two main elements:
• The core message strategy to be communicated
• The media strategy/ activities to be used to deliver the
messages to the target publics.
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33. The Message Strategy
The message strategy should indicate the broad theme(s) of
the communication strategy-i.e. what has the campaign to
convince people to believe, support, or do. The message
strategy should not be confused with a summary of
“the copy” to be used in any press release, brochures , etc.
Thus when ICI sought to reposition itself after
its demerger from Zeneca the message strategy focused on
positioning ICI as:
“A Global leader in the industrial chemicals and
paint market”
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34. The execution of this message strategy took the
form of the use of the strapline:
“ICI World-class”
This strapline appeared on all stationary, brochures,
packaging etc
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35. The Commission for Racial Equality [CRE]‟s campaign
to challenge individual attitudes towards racism in the UK
The overall aim and focus of message strategy was to
challenge personal responsibility towards racism
The core message /strapline used throughout the campaign
was
Racism- Condemn it or condone it – there‟s no in between
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36. Media Channels/ Activity Plan
The media strategy/plan should identify the media channels/PR
activities to be used, indicating which publics each will be
used to reach, how the activities relate to one another, and the
relative importance assigned to each.
Here it is important to distinguish between the specific role and
activities that PR will perform and those activities that other
functions may need to perform to enable the overall objectives of
the campaign to be achieved
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37. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
DEFINE OVERALL KEY OBJECTIVES
& MESSAGE STRATEGY
AUDIENCE 1 AUDIENCE 2 AUDIENCE 3 AUDIENCE 4
STRAND STRAND STRAND STRAND
SPECIFIC
OBJECTIVES
MESSAGES
SPECIFIC
PR/ COMMS.
PROGRAMME
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38. P R Activity Plan Gnatt chart
Venue
Plan Press
Timing
conference
Stage Press Book Press
reception
conference venue
Prepare Press Writing
packs photos
Trade Consumer
Issue Press releases press
Press
Plan exhibition Book Prepare
stand literature
Manage exhibition Man Exhibition
Collect
Evaluation Data analysis
data
survey J F M M J J A S O N D J
Programme Time Scale
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39. Budgeting
Any PR programme must take account of the budget / resources
available and where necessary elements of the plan may
need to be trimmed to stick within budget
Here a project based approach should enable the essential
elements of any plan to be retained while cost saving can be
achieved by trimming „non-essential‟ elements of the programme
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40. Monitoring & Evaluation
Monitoring the success of the programme during its
implementation and then evaluating the outcome against the
objectives is critically important and is often one of the
weaknesses in programme management.
Here it is important to adopt measures that focus on the
‘impact’ achieved ( i.e changes in attitudes/ behaviour)
rather than simply the success of the process of
communication ( i.e measuring media coverage)
Measures such as AVEs are spurious measures of impact
often used to placate an essentially uninformed client /
superior
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41. Monitoring & Evaluation
Evaluation of „impact‟ often requires pre and post- campaign
measurement of attitudes , opinions and ultimately
behaviours . This itself can be difficult to conduct effectively
and expensive .
It is it generally the cost , potential complexity and time
considerations that are cited as the reasons for the reliance on
media content-type evaluation methods. Such considerations
cannot be ignored but should not be used to justify complete
reliance on process-based measures for evaluation
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