English for Students of Public Relations and Advertising. Rendering. Учебное пособие

faction. The consumer who first walks through the door can be turned into a loyal customer only through well-selected, well-trained, and highly motivated employees. Thus, in reality, it is impossible to separate marketing from operations/line management. They are two sides of the same coin. Every employee is both a salesperson and a goodwill ambassador for your business. In fact, to your customer, he or she is your business. Therefore, you have to view marketing as a process with three major functions:

1.Identifying opportunities to increase revenues and/or customer counts;

2.Influencing customer choices through brand building and promotion;

3.Servicing customers to develop loyalty, gain repeat business, and generate word-of-mouth advertising.

Sometimes these functions are known as identifying, influencing, and servicing demand, where demand is defined as consumers who are ready, willing, and able to buy. Whatever the label, each of these three marketing responsibilities involves a variety of marketing tasks: research, positioning, packaging, differentiating, pricing, promotion, calendars, budgeting, and analysis—all of which serve the purpose of increasing customer count, that is, making and keeping customers.

Knutson B.J. Marketing // Encyclopedia of public relations / Ed. Robert L. Heath. Volume 2. Sage Publications, 2005. – Р. 506–507.

D. READING FOR THE MAIN IDEAS

Answer the following questions.

1.Explain the difference between “the Selling Concept” and “the Marketing Concept”.

2.What is the true purpose of business and why?

3.What notions came to life after setting of “the Marketing Concept?”

4.What is the author’s idea about transforming a customer into a loyal customer?

5.Why is marketing considered to be a PR specialist’s action?

E. RENDERING

1.Turn to PREDICTION section. Were you predictions correct? Write a short paragraph comparing your predictions with what you have learnt from the article.

2.Write a paragraph illustrating the notion of marketing based on the article.

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F. LINKING SECTION READING

From your understanding of all the articles from the section, write a paragraph about one of the topics below.

1.Any publicity is good publicity (Proverb).

2.The propagandist’s purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human. (A. Huxley)

3.Activities that PR cover.

4.Can we imagine our life without PR? Give your arguments.

5.What makes the greater part of PR – art or science?

PRONUNCIATION

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Qualitative methods are descriptive and interpretive. Researchers collect data that provides descriptions of behaviors or events in a naturalistic setting – the data are collected in the “real world” rather than a laboratory. Researchers then interpret what the data mean. Different researchers can derive different interpretations from the same data. That is why qualitative methods are considered subjective; the data are open to multiple interpretations and all can be correct. Qualitative researchers are not trying to generalize their results beyond the sample they have studied. Their results only apply to the sample they studied.

Quantitative research is objective and reduces data to numbers. These numbers are then analyzed by using accepted statistical principles and statistical tests. The agreement on the statistical measures and principles makes the results objective. Multiple researchers looking at the same data analysis should reach the same basic conclusions. For example, a basic statistical test is the correlation. A correlation looks for relationships between two variables. It indicates if two things vary in a similar fashion. For instance, the value of one variable increases each time the value of a second variable increases. Each statistical test has an accepted level of significance, a point at which the finding is considered important. The level of significance in public relations research tends to be 0.05. That means the results have only a 5 in 100 chance of being an accident. This means that if 10 researchers ran the same set of data and the correlation had a significance of only 0.10, all 10 would say there is no relationship. The reliance on numbers and statistics provides the agreement that makes quantitative research objective. Moreover, quantitative researchers are trying to generalize. They want to claim that the results should hold true for the general population and not just their sample. Researchers have a variety of methods for collecting data. Qualitative research might use surveys or experiments. Quantitative researchers might use case study or focus groups. The way you collect data reflects your general orientation to research and whether it is qualitative or quantitative.

Coombs W. T. Public relations research // Encyclopedia of public relations / Ed. Robert L. Heath. Volume 2. Sage Publications, 2005. – Р. 692–693.

D. READING FOR THE MAIN IDEAS

Explain in few sentences how you understand the statement:”The level of significance in public relations tends to be 0.005”?

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E. READING FOR DETAILS

Use the exact words from the article to explain the methods:

1.What exactly does ‘data’ mean in PR?

2.What three characteristics are used to describe qualitative research?

3.What does the “real world” mean?

4.Does qualitative research hold true for the general population?

5.What tools are used for quantitative research?

6.What conclusions should multiple researchers reach if they look for the same data analysis?

7.What makes quantitative research objective?

8.What are surveys and experiments, case study or focus groups are used for?

F. READING BETWEEN THE LINES

1. Which type of research would you like to try? Why?

2. What do you think each type of research is appropriate for?

G. RENDERING

1.Write a short paragraph conveying the main information concerning the topic “Types of research in PR’.

2.Remember that rendering should cover 10-15 % of the original text.

Reading 3.2

PUBLIC RELATIONS PROCESS

A. PREDICTION

List several components of the public relations process that you would expect to read in this text. After you finish the reading, check to see if your predictions were correct.

B. VOCABULARY AND COMPREHENSION

Match the words from the reading that are listed on the left with a synonym from the column on the right.

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C. READING

Read the article.

The importance of research to public relations can be traced through its basic use in public relations – the importance practitioners place on research, and research’s growing importance in training public relations practitioners. We can see how research fits into the practice of public relations by quickly reviewing four steps in the public relations process. Several similar four-step plans have been presented to describe the public relations process. Scott Cutlip, Allen Center, and Glen Broom’s model is a commonly used one.

Step one is situation analysis; the practitioner needs to understand what is happening in the situation. The practitioner must understand what is happening before planning a response.

Step two is strategy; the practitioner decides what should be said and done. This involves creating objectives, identifying target audiences, and creating messages.

Step three is implementation; the practitioner decides how and when to deliver the messages. This concerns the selection of communication channels or media and the timing of the message.

Step four is assessment; practitioners determine whether or not the objectives were achieved. The focus is on finding evidence of success or failure.

The situational analysis is formative research. Formative research provides the information needed to identify the problem or opportunity, identify target audiences, and develop objectives. The public relations process begins with research. Without this information or data, it is impossible to develop the strategy step. Implementation involves the use of process research. Process research tracks what the practitioner has done. Moreover, practitioners would research the various media options available before selecting the media to be used in a public relations action.

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Assessment is evaluative research. Evaluative research provides evidence of the practitioner’s ability to meet the objectives.

Research is used throughout the entire public relations process and is essential to the process. Research is essential to building the body of knowledge for public relations. The body of knowledge is what we know about the practice. It includes theories and concepts that can be used to explain how public relations works. A growing body of knowledge should improve the practice of public relations by providing new insights into the profession and providing new ways of executing various aspects of public relations. Every profession needs a developed body of knowledge. Medicine, for example, draws upon a large body of medical research to fuel its development and growth.

Coombs W.T. Public relations research // Encyclopedia of public relations / Ed. Robert L. Heath. Volume 2. Sage Publications, 2005. – Р. 693–694.

D. REDING FOR MAIN IDEAS

Read the following statements. Based on the reading, would you say they are true or false? Choose a T or F for each statement.

1As a rule Scott Cutlip, Allen Center, and Glen Broom’s model is used.

2Research is used to start the public relations process.

3There are no any theories in PR, it is all about practice.

4To fuel every profession knowledge is needed.

E. READING FOR DETAILS

Write out keywords and key expressions from the article to describe the following:

1Step 1:

2Step 2:

3Step 3:

4Step 4:

5Formative research:

6Evaluative research:

F. RENDERING

Render the part of the text about four-step plan in 20 to 30 words.

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Reading 3.3

MODERN VALUE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

A. PREDICTION

What is the modern value of PR, you think?

B. VOCABULARY AND COMPREHENSION

Choose a synonym for the underlined words. Use your dictionaries if necessary.

1. PR research tries to solve problems encountered by practitioners.

2. Public relations researchers were the ones exclaiming the value of public relations research.

3. Society of America’s Silver Anvil Awards stand as testimony to the respect research has gained among practitioners.

4. Research emerged as one of the key skills needed by future practitioners.

5. The Commission sought to understand the current and future demands of the field.

6. Practitioners are reminded of research’s value and the practice reaffirms its importance through the Silver Anvil Awards.

C. READING

Read the article.

Public relations research is applied. It tries to solve problems encountered by practitioners. In turn, this applied research generates new

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knowledge about public relations and theories of public relations. As research solves practitioner problems, the practice of public relations should become more effective. An illustration is the Jones and Chase model of issues management. The model improved the practice of issues management by making it more systematized and effective. New knowledge and theories about public relations improve the practice of public relations.

For years, public relations researchers were the ones exclaiming the value of public relations research. Practitioners nodded in agreement, but little was done to make research an essential part of the public relations practice. That trend has changed as practitioners now value and try to utilize research.

The 1999 Commission on Public Relations Education and the Public Relations Society of America’s Silver Anvil Awards stand as testimony to the respect research has gained among practitioners. The Commission on Public Relations Education was composed of practitioners and educators. Their task was to decide the shape of public relations education for the next century. As a field evolves and changes, the training required to enter the field will change. The Commission sought to understand the current and future demands of the field. Those demands would provide the foundation for the curriculum used to train future public relations practitioners. Research emerged as one of the key skills needed by future practitioners. A significant change in the curriculum from the previous Commission report was the addition of a class dedicated to public relations research. Research was now recognized as a central job skill in public relations and a critical component of the public relations curriculum/training. Research had moved from the periphery to the core of the public relations practice and education. The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is the largest professional organization of public relations practitioners in the United States. Each year PRSA sponsors the Silver Anvil competition. This competition recognizes the best work in the field and is one of the highest honors a public relations department or agency can achieve. Following the four-step process of public relations, each entry is judged on (1) research–collect information/data used to create objectives, target audiences, and key strategies; (2) planning–identify objectives, target audiences, and key strategies;

(3)execution–explains the tactics used in the public relations effort; and

(4)evaluation–assessment of outcomes to show whether or not an objective was achieved. Research is essential to earning one of public relations’ high-

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