Planning a Public Relations Campaign
Congratulations! You’ve just formed a new public relations firm. Your job is to handle public relations for a worthwhile non-profit organization. You must decide what kind of event your company will represent and publicize. (Note: This does not involve paying for any advertising—you must achieve all of your goals only through publicity practices.) Now you must plan the PR campaign—including which media you’ll target, what audience you want to reach, how much money you want to raise, and your campaign theme. You must have answers to the following questions.
• The concept: On no more than one typed page, describe the concept of your campaign—how it differs from others in the area, what audience you hope to reach, which media you hope to reach and specific goals for the campaign.
• Key staffers: Also on the single typed page (see the concept, above), provide the job titles in your company, as well as the name of your firm.
• The need: Clearly state why your campaign is necessary. (Hint: Be specific and concrete. Avoid generic statements such as, “People will flock to this event,” or “People will donate to this cause.”)
• User potential: Describe with as much detail as possible the kind of person who will donate to your cause or attend your event—including age, income level, single/married/family people, possible professions, typical interests, and other charities to which they contribute. How many people, realistically, do you expect will attend your event/give to your charity?
• Campaign slogan: What will be the theme or slogan of your campaign, the jingle or phrase that will accompany all of your publicity? Develop a strong theme.
• Campaign potential: What would be the best medium/media for your PR pitch: newspaper, TV, radio, magazine, Internet? Investigate the procedure for submitting media kits or news releases to the media. Be sure to check if the medium accepts photos or illustrations and the criteria for each. Propose what you think are good ways to approach different, specific media (newspaper, magazine, radio station, broadcast and cable TV). Don’t forget to consider alternative media (smaller, less well-known newspapers, radio stations or magazines that may specifically target part of your intended audience—parents’ magazines, for example, for a Children’s Day event). Can you use the Internet to gain some PR? What kind?
