Today the business world has been surrounded by various changes which continue to occur and affect many businesses in different ways. The reputation of any enterprise or industry is regarded as one of the crucial elements in operating at the optimum limit. The main cause of changes in the organization relations has been attributed to the increase in competition and continuous adaptation of technology application in the global market. Through the use of current technology and the internet, customers have the advantages of reviewing their respective business brands and products which in line has a very huge impact on the outcome performance of the organization (Tzeng and Huang, 2011). With this in mind, it’s essential for organizations to be able to understand approaches of attaining healthy public and media relations. In order to achieve this, there must effective relation evaluation in measuring the organization quality in decision making and how realistic the management has been able to reach the set goals.
The PR evaluation criteria can be perceived as either as a tactical tool in the promotional mix or as a strategic form in the organization management. This has been caused by the continuous development in PR practice and adding excess content than what should be pertained in the PR area (Burton, 2009). Therefore, the objectives and role of PR in an organization are significantly wide in terms of positions the company or business what may choose to focus its agenda. PR major role is the integration of management discipline and communication in the major process of the company (Hutter and Hoffmann, 2011). The management discipline integration is achieved in various ways which include identifying, analyzing, creating, and maintaining mutual benefit relationship between the organization and other public institution. In the aspect of communication, it’s the role of organization PR to act as a safer bridge in passing vital information to the public with an aim of promoting its reputation and image.
As stated earlier, the PR and Media relations effectiveness majorly focuses on various aspects which include relationship value of decisions making in the company. The main effective PR features follow the hierarchical composition of results, multiplicity, and the integration of PR effectiveness in different levels of an organization (Tench & Yeomans, 2009). According to the report of various scholars, the PR effectiveness can also be directly correlated to the changed evaluation paradigm which means that the only application of complex PR evaluation is only achieved by taking into consideration the chain reaction of different levels of the organization. However, the view of PR effectiveness evaluation is also an important aspect to be considered as “complex in nature” in order to be able to identify various elements. The elements of PR evaluation are majorly obtained through the explanation and examples of individual elements such as PR Objectives, Quality of Communication Messages, PR Outputs, and Outtakes and Outcomes (Macnamara, 2011).
According to Stacks (2016), PR objectives are majorly applied to identify the best path for the company and the required strategies and goals that are to be accomplished. Generally, the approach of including evaluation in the PR objectives is to be able to also implement effectiveness evaluation principles which are to be applied in accordance to the intended purpose. The quality of communication in a company can be characterized in accordance with the type of message or information to be passed and the target audience for the message (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2009). In spite of various approaches to the development of communication in the organization through the application of different method such as linguistic evaluation method, there have insignificant achievements in understanding communication presentation in companies. The measurability of quality of communication should be to enhance objectives implementation and, at the same time, improve the evaluation process during the PR implementation. Despite this may seem an obvious process there is a lot of concerns in the quality of evaluation where many scholars tend to report a lot of work errors during the naming of dimensions and indicators (Newsom, Turk, & Kruckeberg, 2012).
The evaluation of communication message is also one the important task in PR evaluation since it creates more means of enhancing the message to be more understandable and also improve style which its conveyed. Through the use of Flesh’s and Gunning formula, communication message is basically evaluated by distinguishing the simplicity and complexity of the message (Einwiller, Carroll, & Korn, 2010). The results of this findings are able to showcase the objective quantitative indicators which define whether the message is more relevant and also in relation to audience understanding. In order to achieve effective communication message development, every organization or company must improve on the management and technical skills which will be implementing the evaluation of quantitative and qualitative criteria (Edwards, Edwards, Spence, & Shelton, 2014). According to the findings of major media analysts, effectively communicated information should be able to increase the attention and interest of the audience. To achieve this, the evaluation criteria must account human relation as a basic intrusion to the conflict which is caused by the idea of having different opinions. To raise the attention, the message must portray the approach of non-conventionality, non-stereotypical, and most important event timing (Mula?ová & Mula?, 2011).
The understanding of the audience is another important aspect that should be considered in order to have a successful PR outcome. The analysis of the target audience can be characterized into various segments which include age, gender, psychographic, geographic patterns, and others. Example, through the utilization of demographic patterns in PR, the evaluation and implementation process is able to achieve the application of contra-intuitive plans which can be used to enhance the public awareness measures (Daymon & Holloway, 2010). This approach is considered as one of the major effective methods in improving PR evaluation through the use of demographic data which apply to all major details of the target audience i.e. gender, age, lifestyle, culture, and others. On the other hand, there various approaches which can be used to attain the required information for PR evaluation which includes geographic data (i.e. population density, region, and country). During the process of establishing the right audience information, the key element that should be considered is the relationship between the company and the target audience (Burton, 2009).
Generally, the main source of monitoring PR outputs is through the use of newspapers, journals, and letters. The main advantages of the use of PR outputs evaluation are to be able to identify; major errors in the PR outline, resources, and methods to be used, the potential of the audience, suitable communication method, and majorly effectiveness of the PR work. At this stage, the evaluation criterion is considered to be more effective due to the availability of tangible data (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe, & Jackson, 2012). Example, most of the recommended approaches in gathering raw data is through analyzing and monitoring audience response and calculating the number of willing participants in various organization events, exhibitions, and the comments made in the website. Just the analysis of the number of activities can relevel whether the company or business communication message has met the planned objective or not. Therefore, unwilling participation or low audience activities clearly indicates unsuitable popularization and weakness in the PR work (Avraham & Ketter, 2012).
The evaluation of PR outtakes and outcomes can mainly be achieved by differentiating the two variables. The PR outtakes can be defined as an element of “complex PR effectiveness evaluation” in comparison to the PR outcomes. The evaluation of outtakes is significantly important because it helps to analyze the communication message to the audience by getting their feedback on how the information was effectively demonstrated (Bryson, Quick, Slotterback, & Crosby, 2013). This can also be utilized to identify how conveniently the message reached the targeted audience, the assimilation of the information, and target reaction. Therefore, the evaluation of PR outtake can be characterized as one of the initial stages of PR evaluation process by linking PR objectives with the target market. The main benefit of this part is to identify future challenges and undesired outcome which may inhibit the target audience awareness and understanding. The application of PR outtake evaluation is also a very vital phase to be considered especially in the management of objectives hierarchy in line with the changing customer behavior (Macnamara, 2011).
The PR outcome evaluation criteria can be well outlined through the analysis of how PR was able to cope with the challenging situations, its competence, and efficiency. Apart from improving the performance of an organization, the evaluation criteria help to identify and create strategic methods which will initiate a mutual benefit relationship with a public group or just the community (Grunig, 2013). Through the application of relationship aspect in the PR effectiveness evaluation process, an organization will be able to also improve on its integration approaches in quality measures and continuous growth. Today in the context of PR quality measure, it can be identified and/or characterized in various ways which include the criterion of mutual trust, the criterion of mutual satisfaction, the criterion of mutual commitment, the criterion of mutual control, and the criterion of relationship maturity between the company and the respective audience (Edwards et al., 2014). The above collective relationships should be considered as very important during the evaluation of PR role and value. From the above information in the analysis of PR effectiveness evaluation, one of the important factors that should be considered is the consideration of PR objectives in comparison to the planned outcomes and most importantly integrating target audience features.
The case study has been on analyzing Australia NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) PR strategies and its impact in encouraging people to take part in saving and improving other people lives. Some of the major issues which the organization encourages people to do include donating blood and organs, tissues and stem cells (Meyer, 2015). Currently, there are over 1,400 Australians who still are hoping donors will eventually turn up which brings us to the analysis of the percentage of Australia population with a consent to donate. According to the 2017 health report, the percentage of donors per million people (dpmp) in Australia stands at 20.7% with about 510 donors (Evans-Lacko & Knapp, 2017). Compared to other countries such as England and the US, the health PR implementation and impact can be considered to have challenges. The poor PR presentation has led to the case of dependence on deceased organs which stands at 90% chance for the family involved to consent. The campaign title for this case study is referred to as the ‘gift of life’ Campaign.
The main objective of the Health Genre Campaign was to increase the number of donors in 2017. The target of the campaign was to be able to reach the number of pending donations 2016/2017 health year. Another important focus was to boost the percentage of blood donation in Australia by targeting mostly young and middle age population in the country (Evans-Lacko & Knapp, 2017). To achieve this, the campaign majorly comprised of agency and hospital groups. Other departments such as the Road Transport Authorities (RTA) and Therapeutic Goods Administration also participated in the event where they commenced the PR program by putting up campaign signs in the Square and billboards. The involvement of organizations also seemed to increase with time where more involvement was perceived in the removal of signs at the end of the campaign week. During the campaign implementation, the main strategies that were used included the use of social media, a series of press releases, and social events (Bryson et al., 2013). The purpose of all campaign strategies was to increase the awareness of the audience on the importance of organ and blood donation in improving the entire Australia health.
The implementation stage was conducted through analyzing Media outcome and audience outcome and on the same time comparing with the planned results outcome. In general, the analysis of the PR implementation evaluation criteria majorly focused on analyzing the failures and achievements of the campaign parts. In the context of evaluation implementation, NHSBT organized a partnership with a different regional journalist who helped in identifying major parts of the campaign which required improvement. To understand the targeted audience, market integration research was used where a survey of more than 2,000 young people was conducted. This was achieved by conducting interviews and handing out questionnaires to different people in various parts of Australia on their knowledge of health donation and life support (Leavy, Bull, Rosenberg, & Bauman, 2011). The approach to the utilization of social media as the main platform was considerably successful than other PR strategies that were used during the implementation. Through the increase of media attractiveness, the PR impact also substantially raised due to the ability to implement the evaluation criteria of attractiveness and understanding message presentation.
According to the PR impact evaluation criteria, the audience reports showcased a very effective response in social media and mainstream. The message delivery process improved very well where the respondents reported a very efficient exchange relationship. One of the main weakness of the PR impact was because it was less evaluated as compared to the implementation stage (Meyer, 2015). The registration process was one of the major elements which portrayed the significant impact in the ‘gift of life’ campaign. This was marked by a high increase in registration and where currently its considered that one out three Australians is registered to the donation program. The major challenge which was experienced mostly in the PR campaign was the poor flexibility of the pre-planned media tactics which also constituted very poor timing in various parts of message presentation (Avraham & Ketter, 2012). According to the above case study, it’s therefore important to consider the evaluation criteria in the PR input stage by the consideration of PR output.
In today current continuous changes business world, the evaluation of organization communication message criteria is significantly important. The aspect of this approach is not always based on crisis management but also a source of improving organizational communication strategies. Therefore, in relation to the above findings, the case study will analyze the Tesco company which has a chain of supermarkets and retail stores in the Czech Republic. In the wake of 2016, the management of Tesco identified a major weakness in the company communication strategy which compared to its competitors, Tesco was slowly diminishing its value in the market (Wood, Wrigley, & Coe, 2016). The poor performance in the company was mainly confirmed by the media impact made by Tesco which was considerably low as compared to other companies in the retail business in the Czech Republic. The company main focus on ‘Revitalizing Media Relations’ campaign was to re-energize media presence by creating more sustainable opportunities and effective engagement with the shareholders i.e. customers, employees, suppliers, regulators, and investors.
The formulation and evaluation criteria in the Tesco campaign were majorly carried out by Newton media group which also worked with Tesco management in every stage process. The first strategy approach was the research on the Tesco environment and market. The aim of this research was to determine what the company was doing wrong and the measures of changes required to create a new media relations strategy (Morris & Goldsworthy, 2016). The main focus areas during the research included the analysis of Tesco reputation or image, its media profile, and the existing quality and quantity of media outputs in the company. The integration of the strategic framework on Tesco was majorly based on the Kellogg model. The purpose of this model was to improve the communications effectiveness by the evaluation of the PR input, implementation, output, outcome, and its impact (Smith, 2013). One of the major success of the Tesco PR implementation stage evaluation criteria was the effective use of the timeline in the project structure. This allowed an effective evaluation of the existing media relations in the company and effective ways of incorporating new media strategies.
The implementation of PR work was mainly subdivided into two major parts which included Media Analysis wave #1 and Media Analysis wave #1. The aim of the first wave was to boost media interest and all major platforms which could be used for effective engagement i.e. social media, company website, and press releases. For effective evaluation in the first wave, Tesco output analysis was conducted by a team of a journalist who was involved in face to face interviews. According to the journalist feedback, the major concerns in Tesco media relation was lack of effective Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and poor disclosures where press lacked clarity in various company matters (Wood et al., 2016). The results also showed that Tesco CR’s website and social media was under-used in media relations. The application of wave 2 was done after the introduction of new media method. The purpose of the second wave was to allow easy analysis of the PR process and also to foster the required changes in the company media relations.
Six months after the implementation of the new media relation strategies, Tesco reported a growth of about 44% in the company media activities. This was also followed by an increase in activities in the company local business activities which comprised a percentage increase of about 34% reporting positive growth in company areas such as the management, CSR, and the performance of the store’s network (Morris & Goldsworthy, 2016). Over the years, Tesco has been able to improve its mechanism in protecting and promoting its media reputation and relations Morris, T., &. Through the use of Newton Media’s integrated research framework, it has allowed effective evaluation of the PR work and the needs that Tesco had to fulfill in order to attain the market control. The main failure that can be perceived in Tesco ‘Revitalizing Media Relations’ campaign, is the lack of enough emphasis in the PR objective evaluation criteria. Despite the major weakness in company CSR, few strategies were reported to be taken in the approach of improving the predicament (Moreno & Capriotti, 2009).
Conclusion
PR effectiveness evaluation has been majorly characterized as a “multi-plane” entity in major research studies. The main evaluation focus is analyzing normally begin from the start of the PR evaluation until the end of the process i.e. from the PR input, implementation process, and impact. The PR effectiveness evaluation process is normally named through the consideration of PR element and stage/phase being evaluated. All the stages in the PR work are to be considered with significant importance in order to be able to attain the objective of the PR and positive outcomes. Example, during the PR implementation stage, the evaluation of communication message is significantly important (Macnamara, 2011).
Through the application of communication message evaluation criteria, the respective organization can be able to achieve attractiveness in communication message presentation, purpose centeredness of provided information, ethical consideration on the message, simplicity, and other important factors. To achieve this, there must effective understanding of the target market which majorly includes demographic and geographic analysis (Phillips & Young, 2009). Lastly, PR impact phase is mainly analyzed through the application of two major criteria which include a sequence of priority and relationship quality and change of target audience’s knowledge and/or preference. Through the analysis of the two case studies, the report shows that there is a great relationship between PR effectiveness evaluation process and how companies or organizations are able to achieve competitive advantages.
References
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