History of public relations

History of Public Relations

SEMANTIKOS To signify, to mean. SEMANTICSHow to get people to believe things and do things.

• Julius Caesar wrote the50 B.C. first campaign biography, Caesar’s Gallic Wars. • He publicized his military exploits to convince the Roman people that he would make the best head of state. • Candidates for political office continue to publicize themselves with campaign biographies and accounts of military exploits to this day.

• St. Augustine delivered394 A.D. the regular eulogies to the emperor and was the closest thing to a minister of propaganda for the imperial court. • Thus, St. Augustine was one of the first people in charge of public relations. • The modern equivalent would be the President’s press secretary or communication director.

• Thomas Paine wrote “The1776 Crisis,” a pamphlet which convinced the soldiers of Washington’s army to stay and fight at a time when so many were prepared to desert so they could escape the cold and the hardships of a winter campaign. • Paine was a master of political propaganda whose writing could get people to do things and believe things.

• William Seward, Lincolns1861 secretary of state in 1861, gained a large American audience through his understanding of how to use the press. • He told his friend Jefferson Davis : "I speak to the newspapers – they have a large audience and can repeat a thousand times what I want to impress on the public.”

• P. T. Barnum Barnum was19th Century a master of promotion who could fill his enterprises with customers by using what we today would call sleazy methods of publicity. • For example, he announced that his museum would exhibit a 161-year-old woman who had been Washingtons nurse. He produced an elderly woman and a forged birth certificate to make his case.

• Edward Bernays advised the President of the new country of1923 Czechoslovakia to announce independence on a Monday, rather than on a Sunday to get maximum press coverage. • Bernays published “Crystallizing Public Opinion,” in which he established several public relations principles. He said that public relations had these functions: – To interpret the client to the public, which means promoting the client – To interpret the public to the client, which means operating the company in such a way as to gain the approval of the public.

Other Bernays concepts include:a. Public relations is a public There are many service publics and each public needs to be appealed to.b. Public relations shouldpromote new ideas andprogressc. Public relations should build apublic conscience EDWARD BARNAYS

Proctor and Gamble had produced aradio commercial, which wasoffensive to African-Americans.Bernays took these steps:a. He changed the commercialb. He got the company to offerAfrican-Americans significant Jobsc. He invited them to tour the plantd. He featured African-Americans inthe company newsletter EDWARD BARNAYS

The Columbian Rope Company hadan anti-union image.a. He produced a radio programfeaturing union and managementpanelistsb. He induced the company tobargain with the unionc. He offered tours of the plantd. He convinced the company tosponsor a vocational program EDWARD BARNAYS

• Ivy Lee undertook to advise John D. Rockefeller on how to conduct his1903 public relations. • Rockefeller owned coal mines and the Pennsylvania Railroad. Miners were on strike and the railroad hushed up the facts when its trains were involved with accidents. • Lee advised Rockefeller to visit the coal mines and talk to the miners. Rockefeller spent time listening to the complaints of the miners, improved their conditions, danced with their wives, and became a hero to the miners. • After a railroad accident, Lee invited reporters to inspect the wreck and get the facts. • The Pennsylvania Railroad then obtained its first favorable press coverage.

Ivy Lee professionalized public Public relations meansrelations by following these the actual relationshipprinciples: of the company to the people and that relationship involves1. Tell the truth more than talk. The company must act by performing good2. Provide accurate facts deeds.3. The public relations director musthave access to top management andmust be able to influence decisions IVY LEE

The Father of Public Relations. EDWARD BARNAYS The 1st PublicRelations Counselor. IVY LEE

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History of public relations

by aathens on Jan 18, 2012

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History of public relations — Presentation Transcript