• They will spend as much time interacting with friends online as in person.

• They will spend 10 times more time online than in interaction with parents.

• Initial interaction online will precede most dating and marriages.

• They will not tolerate slow application processes and archaic systems.

Public relations practitioners should be aware of changing dynamics and different minority groups. Let’s take religion as an example. According to Hallmark Cards, the Christian retail market (religion) was estimated at $3.75 billion in 2006, up from $2.6 billion in 1991. From a marketing public relations point of view, it is clear that products and services structured around religious themes sell.

At the opposite end of the sociopolitical spectrum, the gay community shows similar growth as an emerging demographic. There are between 22 and 30 million gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people live in the United States alone. MarketResearch.com estimates that GLBT individuals spend between $450 and $513 billion per year. Subaru, Absolut Vodka, Ford have concentrated on attracting gay audiences. Although the emerging Christian and GLBT audiences have a great deal of potential, public relations practitioners should be careful about the messages they release. Just as religious groups are not easily reconciled with content that conflicts with their religious faith, the GLBT community may be offended by conventional or normative principles that conflict with their values and lifestyles.

5. What is the psychographic profile of the public?

Psychographic information is data about what members of a public think, believe, and feel. For example, are they politically liberal, moderate, or conservative? Are they religious? Agnostic? Atheistic? Do they like sophisticated technology or fear it – or, perhaps, are they indifferent to it? Psychographic information can be harder to collect and measure than demographic information, but it’s no less important.

Any television film about high school students eventually has a scene in which one student wants to date another and is desperately trying to find out that person’s opinion of him or her. It’s the same in public relations, though perhaps a little less stressful. A public’s opinion of the organization is one of the foundations of the relationship. That opinion tells the company whether the company should approach this relationship as friends, unknowns, or even enemies.

Sometimes a particular issue creates a relationship between an organization and a public. The organization needs to learn what the public thinks about the issue; in particular, the organization needs to know which of the public’s values are supported or threatened by the issue.

Coorientation is a public relations research process that can help the organization discover where the organization agrees and disagrees with an important public on a particular issue. Coorientation can eliminate damaging misperceptions about what each side believes. In part, coorientation involves asking these four questions:

1. What is the organization’s view of this issue?

2. What is the particular public’s view of this issue?

3. What does the organization think the public’s view is? (Does this agree with reality?)

4. What does the particular public think the organization’s view is? (Does this agree with reality?)

Organizations that use coorientation in public relations are occasionally surprised to discover that they actually agree with a public that they had mistakenly identified as hostile (or, unfortunately, vice versa). Coorientation helps public relations practitioners avoid misconceptions that could damage their relationship-management efforts.

6. What is the public’s opinion of the organization?

7. What is the public’s opinion (if any) of the issue in question?

Despite the difficulties, public relations practitioners seek to identify and to build relationships with decision makers and opinion leaders because they often have influence over publics that may be essential to an organization’s success.

The company communicates with its publics through messages – clear and distinct thoughts that the organization wants its publics to remember about the organization and its products or services. Suppose you’re driving down a highway in central Wisconsin and see a billboard that reads:

Aunt Fanny’s Home-Made Apple Pie…Next exit east.

Simple headline, but it makes the point. Now, how about:

Got a taste for the best home-made apple pie in central Wisconsin? Exit here for Aunt Fanny’s Café. OR: Aunt Fanny’s Café makes the best home-made apple pie in central Wisconsin. Next exit east.

On a billboard or in an ad, it’s a descriptive marketing headline; however, it’s also an effective PR message. It targets a specific consumer in a clear way: If you’re in the neighborhood and enjoy home-made apple pie (and, as is implied, other home-made cooking), then Aunt Fanny’s Café is what you’re looking for. The message makes a memorable and relevant point.

Aunt Fanny’s could also develop a message targeted to local residents:

Let Aunt Fanny’s Café cater your next party – home cooking as you like it, without the fuss.

Or, another message reminds residents of one of its community contributions:

Aunt Fanny’s Café serves home-made Meals-on-Wheels to local residents.

Before you develop your messages, consider your marketing and public relations objectives. Who are your publics in addition to consumer markets? What do you want to say to them, and why do you want to say it? What should they know about you? How can you establish common ground with your publics/markets through your messages?

Messages should initially be stated as full sentences, although some will evolve into short headlines for marketing and advertising purposes. This approach helps the organization clarify its position and the benefits the organization offers different publics. The organization can start with the subject (the company, product or service); continue with an active verb (not passive, such as “has” or “is”); and, conclude with benefit/s to the targeted public.

Let's consider, as an example, a mid-sized company seeking to build a division in the Northwest as an example of the publics they may need to address in addition to their customers: