The document discusses the growing importance of public relations (PR) in integrated marketing communications (IMC). It discusses how PR helps shape positive public perception of brands and companies to build credibility and trust. It also examines how PR practitioners can influence media coverage and public opinion through strategic PR campaigns, using the National Basketball Association as a case study. The document also covers trends in PR, including the rise of social media and emphasis on evaluating PR outcomes.

1. PR and its growing importance in IMC

2. Just to reiterate The ultimate goal of an PR campaign is to create a positive reputation and image in the mind of consumers vis a vis a brand, service or product, thus influencing public opinion PR thus helps corporations in shaping a favorable perception about their company as a whole as well as the products and services they offer. Through PR, corporations can build and establish their brands based credibility, as well as confidence and trust PR thus forms an important aspect in the IMC framework today

3. A deeper look into the strengths and weaknesses of the elements in IMC

4. But then… In the relationship among public relations, mass media, and the audience, it is often the mass media who are deemed the power brokers in their ability to potentially influence an audience The agenda-setting theoretical framework operates from the perspective of the mass media having the power to transfer the salience of an issue to the public But then perhaps, too much power is granted to the mass media without the consideration of the processes by which mass media content is selected and framed This raises the question: who sets the public agenda? Public relations practitioners have the ability to assist the production of mass media content through various proactive public relations strategies that are designed to promote and present the organization they represent in the most positive manner

5. The Power of PR A case study of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) public relations strategies was used to reveal that the mass media are not the sole power broker in selecting and framing messages The NBA itself has implemented several public relations strategies designed to shape mass media content and subsequently public opinion and behavior The public relations strategies of the NBA are extensive in attempting to continuously promote the league, its teams, and players and to frame the coverage the league receives in the most favorable fashion The NBA was chosen because of the nature of the organization, with several NBA games being played simultaneously throughout the nation, the mass media become necessary for a fan to follow the league. The NBA’s Public Relations strategy played a prominent role in selecting and framing mass media content that could influence public opinion and behavior

6. Public relations and publicity are not synonymous, but many PR campaigns include provisions for publicity

7. The full cycle

8. Public Relations is a 20 th -century phenomenon Major 20 th century trends: Growth of big institutions Heightened public awareness and media sophistication Societal change, conflict, and confrontation Growth of global media, public opinion, and democracy Dominance of the Internet

9. PR is now expanding communication tools to account for the fact that no single mass media, or combination of them, will be a good vehicle for reaching key publics Early 20th Century—PR began to reinvent itself along journalistic lines, mainly because former newspaper reporters such as Ivy Lee started to do PR work and counseling—extension of the journalistic function focusing on the “dissemination of information or one-way communication models in which the quality of information was important but audience feedback had yet to be fully considered.” The PR evolution 1800 Press Agentry – 1800s were the “Golden Age” of the press agent 1920 Advance in social Science & research, the focus of PR shifted to the psychological and sociological effects of persuasive Comm. 1960 Issues management was added to the job description of PR with War, Civil Rights, Environment -al concern growth 1990 Reputation or perception management were the Buzz (PR agencies Multiplying in large numbers Globally) 2000 the concept grows of PR as the practice of “ Relationship Management ” . B uilding & fostering Relationship With various publics 1980 The concept of PR as a management function is in full bloom. “ Strategic” became a PR buzzword 1970 Era of reforms in the stock market and investor relations Pseudo-event Counseling Publicity

10. Current trends in PR The advent of “Transparency”— companies committed to being more open—the public is demanding more accountability from all of society’s institutions The Internet/Websites allow companies to share more “insider”- type information they may not have shared in the past Rise of Social Media — a new category of “mass” communications that PR must tap into with RSS feeds, podcasts, blogs, vlogs, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, webcasts, etc. New opp. to communicate! Increased Emphasis on Evaluation — PR pros will continue to improve measurement techniques for showing management how their activities actually contribute to the bottom line. Managing the 24/7 News Cycle — the need for PR people to constantly update information, answer journalists’ inquiries at all hours of the days, and be aware that any and all information is readily available to a worldwide audience New Direction in Mass Media — Traditional media aren’t what they used to be.

11. The Growth and Demand of Public Relation in India The economic bloom that India experienced last decade saw the birth of numerous business which were introduced for the first time in the Indian Sub-continent Many companies which were highly successful in the west opened up their markets in India, but needed to spread their name to the common folks But they all needed one thing, consumers. How were they going to spread awareness of their businesses ? How would they reach out to the mass and class alike? It was here that PUBLIC RELATIONS played an important role PR has been growing in importance

12. Changing face of the PR industry in India India also has a legacy of varied public relations approach evident in the many phases of building an all India empire in the passage of history From the precision of Chanakya’s social messaging to consolidate the vast realms of emperor Ashoka to the subtle public campaigns of the formidable foreign rulers, the Mughals and Akbar’s visionary attempts to reconcile the majority Post independence public relations in India essentially became an appendage to the humungous government run PSUs The professional and strong face of Public Relations started emerging post economic liberalization of the nineties It was not just about ‘spin’ but started to become a part of an integrated marketing campaign geared towards persuasion and influence The last decade saw the global corporate world trying to find a place in the Indian market Burson-Marsteller, Porter Novelli, Fleishman Hillard, Ketchum, Apco, MS&L and Weber Shandwick, set up shop in India Defining social interaction in civilized societies begins with public relations; a natural, recurrent theme running through timeless human engagements in the context of social groups

13. Emergence of New Media The growth of Cable and Satellite television “redefined” the horizons of PR professionals The emergence of the internet on your TV, PC and mobile phone is “re-inventing” the public relations landscape. The internet has created an ‘inflection point’ for the industry. Convergence & emergence of new media in PR in India Rise of next generation communicators Public relations is also seeing the emergence of the next generation of corporate communicators and agency leaders Keen to be seen as playing a critical role in the fast changing Indian socio- economic firmament to raise awareness, provide credibility, reach far flung influencers and engage stakeholders in an open and honest manner; and maintain transparency and truth at all times

14. The Power of Digital Media Obama beat two established political brands, Clinton & McCain. He also beat global brands like Nike and Apple to be chosen Ad Age Marketer of the Year. The results: A game changer $ 640 million in funds, 3.1 million contributors Over 100 million page views of official and unofficial YouTube videos 5 million volunteers 2.2 million `fans’ on his Facebook page Over 1 million on his MySpacepage and 3 million profiles on myBarackObama.org

15. Coming closer to the audience VS

16. Integrated Hub & Spokes Model Online Search & Display Ads New Media & Widgets Social Media E-mail Marketing

17. Email : The glue of Obama’s Digital Marketing 1 billion emails 13 million email ids Granular segmentation One-to-One Personalized Incentive Relevance

18. Bringing the best minds together

19. Leveraging Customer Passion Obama Girl series of videos got over 60million views Obama supporters put up a site during Halloween just a few week before the election. Here visitors were asked to express their support through photos of Obama theme pumpkins Yes We Can by Will A 2008 video featuring 60 celebrities had 11 million views

20. Customer Centric – Walking the talk Chris Hughes, 24-year old co-founder of Facebookwas the “online organizing guru” managing MyBO.com

21. Segment and connect

22. Run many small campaigns Tactics matter as much as strategy

23. “ Kennedy was the first telegenic brand. Obama is the first cybergenic brand”

24. The Objective was to “ To project India as an unique opportunity for physical invigoration, mental rejuvenation, cultural enrichment and spiritual elevation along with other developments that make India a modern state with state of the art infrastructure”

25. The Internet strategy and approach Revamped the then existing website (www.tourismofindia.com) in March 2002 to make it attractive, functional and resourceful to help a user plan his/her trip to India Launched First Online campaign during March 2002 – April 2002 to reach out to discerning travelers by focusing on specific destinations and themes Adopted eCRM initiatives to reinforce the brand image by sending Newsletters and mailers to the subscriber database International Travel Market Focus on popular and country specific online properties - travel sites, portals and search engines Horizontal properties important for reach, whereas travel properties form the most relevant genre Synchronize the media spends and creative routes as per the seasonality of arrival from these countries Domestic Market Media spends segregated based on Relevant innovations A mix of high performing ad units and reach maximizing ad units Focus on Innovations Interactive units, concepts, content plugins, emailers and contests to form an integral part of the promotion scheme for Domestic and International

26. Online campaign and impact First ever Online campaign for Ministry of tourism during the period of March 2002 – April 2002 Online campaign resulted in a Click through rate of 1.2% on Indian sites and 0.45% on International sites. More than 75 banners used for campaign. Tactical creative were used to attract maximum click-thru to the relaunched website Approx. 55% Bonus impressions delivered . Total impressions delivered were 31Million as against a committed figure of 20million. Cost per unique visitor Rs9 (average of International + Indian) The campaign resulted in more than 13 million hits to the website per month. Page views increased from 1,409 to 2,286,805 in less than 2 months. Visits increased from 245 to 10,131 Over 100 different creative created for campaign across 12 themes. Innovations were planned in terms of Contests on portals to increased user interaction. Resulted in more 13 Million hits, close to 2 lac user sessions and 2.70 page views per month.

27. Page views User sessions Website hits

28. Some Creatives

29. Impact of the campaign on the website

30. Website Relaunched - www.incredibleindia.org The “New and Fresh” Incredible India website was designed to be a showcase of all good things in India- Colours, technology, vastness, diversity and depth. The site is a representative of modern India- The India with its roots firmly in place, yet forward looking and contemporary. Navigation & Design The Masthead changes with every section and actually turns out to be a particularly interactive facet, because it scrolls on mouse over! This makes every section have a fresh appeal, with perhaps the first 3-D masthead on an Indian travel site The site has the most varied content on India with respect to travel Content has been segregated according to Themes, Facts and Interactivity. Neatly arranged themes cover such diverse aspects about a region as History, Geography, Religion, Best Places to visit, People and Lifestyle, among other aspects. The site retains links to vernacular content for Spanish, French and German language versions. A few extremely valuable features have been added on the site A virtual helpdesk with information on Embassies, Baggage, currencies and Customs rules, Visa and Permit info for all States along. Tool Kit section with currency, Festival calendar, maps, phone codes- make the site both interactive and informative. Section on Travel agents and tour operators Multimedia showcase

31. Online campaign launched from (18th August 2004 – 15th March 2005) A complete 360-degree approach. Innovative site captures, Road blocks and bigger size creatives. Mobile marketing DVD ad insert and digital brochure insert in ZDNet India’s Technology magazine. Direct marketing Incredible India post cards inserts along with tickets to all those who purchased railways ticket from Indian railways website. e-CRM Sending newsletters and specific direct mailers to the database and registered database of esteemed travel portals. Contest s and polls have been an indispensable part of the campaign. Goa contest was a big success with approx. 15,000 entries across Internet and sms. In addition to this, Content integration , Image/photo gallery and Destination specials were taken across portals to enhance the “Colours of India”!

32. Pop-Under on Home Destination of the month Interactive Unit Roadblock on MSN

33. Innovative DHTML creative Bigger size units 1.61% 89,479 5,564,314 CTR Clicks Impressions 0.72% 31,530 4,390,043 CTR Clicks Impressions 3.51% 225,030 6,415,402 CTR Clicks Impressions

34. North-east photogalery Cricinfo Digit DVD content insertion Yahoo Floating East

35. Google Prime Visibility Search Engine Advertising The contest microsite Live Chats with incredible Indian

36. Impact on the website & Stickiness Impact on the website Page views increased to more than 25 million page views per month in April 05 Page views have increased by almost 4.5 times in past 5 months (Dec 04 to April 05). A 429% increase in page views Increase in stickiness of the site could be seen Number of page views generated per visit. An increase in this signifies a positive image and stickiness. Time spent per page view 38.00 April 05 34.00 Mar-05 30.56 Feb-05 20.20 Jan-05 33.03 December 04 28.69 November 04 Page views per visit Months

37. Sudden increase in Sept-Oct 04 was due to Online campaign and “Trip Planner” on the website to support the leads. Feb-March05 also saw the increase due to campaign. However, due to constant updating, there has been an increase in traffic on website even in April 05, despite no active online campaign Geographic locations

38. Thus…. Ensuring 24 X 7 X 365 availability. National access to pool of service providers in remote locations and International Accommodation booking. Access to a wide pool of resources for varied options, not just limited to 10, 20, 50 / 100 service providers. One stop shop for all travel requirements Reliable and Secured transactions over a reliable payment gateway. Easy Search and booking just at the click of a button

39. Defining Buzz Marketing Although buzz marketing is not new, Internet technology has changed the way it's being used Buzz campaigns are now being initiated in chat rooms, where marketing representatives assume an identity appropriate to their target audience and pitch their product Personal Web logs blogs are another popular media for electronic buzz marketing campaigns Instant messaging (IM) applications are also being looked at as a vehicle for carrying out buzz marketing campaigns with either humans or IM Bots doing the pitching Buzz marketing is a viral marketing technique that attempts to make each encounter with a consumer appear to be a unique, spontaneous personal exchange of information instead of a calculated marketing pitch choreographed by a professional advertiser As technology continues to facilitate the delivery of a electronic buzz marketing message easier, and software applications make message deliveries easier to quantify, some advertising experts predict that electronic buzz marketing techniques will become a standard component in all cross-media advertising campaigns.

41. Components of a successful Buzz Marketing Campaign UBISOFT – Red Steel Dojo of Pain WINNER - Summit International Awards "Emerging Media" Award!

43. The Challenge and its Solution Challenge Red Steel received tremendous buzz and excitement from its initial industry coverage and Ubisoft aimed to rekindle and leverage that enthusiasm by developing an online program that would serve as a creative outlet for the game's enthusiasts Solution The Dojo of Pain program served to promote Ubisoft's Red Steel, a launch title for the new Nintendo Wii video game platform, to a range of consumers including casual gamers, Nintendo "fanboys," and more traditional First-Person Shooter (FPS) gamers. The program strategy involved three core elements

44. The strategy An offline component was the New York City launch party for the Nintendo Wii platform at the Toys "R" Us in Times Square Affinitive gave the Dojo of Pain program a presence at the event, with games, interviews, and prizes, which provided a high level of excitement for consumers Exclusive video footage created by Affinitive increased brand awareness and word of mouth for Red Steel and was picked up and shown by the popular website 1up.com The engaging consumer experience of the program was driven primarily by the 30 "lessons" (activities) that were created These activities were similar to mini-contests in that consumers were prompted to create and submit user-generated content over a two-week period with the best entry earning a prize and all other entries earning points for completion (redeemable for prizes) The Dojo of Pain program leveraged elements that were employed for Red Steel's other marketing channels (program URL included print ads, television, and a mobile marketing campaign), leading to an integrated marketing effort that magnified brand messages both online and offline. The program finale was the "Tournament of Doom", in which members competed in a single elimination video creation contest. Each round, members would vote on which members would pass to the next round with the ultimate winner taking home a brand new Nintendo Wii console

45. The Result 3,000 viral links shared by members generating 41,000 views of Ubisoft content 150+ user-generated videos were created, with over 500,000 YouTube views 30 "lessons" generated 4,100 submissions, including photos, videos, graphic designs, flyers, movie posters, and costumes 42% of registrations via consumer-to-consumer referrals 3,000+ Google results for "Dojo of Pain"