PR 3310 Principles of Public Relations Wednesday 6309

PR 3310 Principles of Public Relations Wednesday, 6/3/09

Class Objectives n Lecture n A little bit a marketing terminology n Ch. 5, Qualitative research n Homework assignment n Ex. 2 due tomorrow n Read chapter 5, page 139 -149 in book n NOTE: my Tech e-mail is s. kubik@ttu. edu (send all notes to this e-mail from now on)

What’s in the news today? n WHO is considering raising the level of the H 1 N 1 flu (swine flu) to 6 or a global pandemic n http: //www. cnn. com/2009/HEALTH/06/02/swine. flu. who/inde x. html n The WHO’s Assistant Director General says that raising the level does not indicate the severity of the disease, only the spread of it n Fear is that raising the level to the highest will cause economic diaster n Fact is that more people die of the “regular” flu each year than have died of the swine flu n n From the CDC: 36, 000 Americans die on average per year from the complications of flu. Deaths from swine flu so far= 117 from 64 countries n Take a look at the definitions http: //www. who. int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase/en/index. html, phase 5 is only for 2 countries, phase 6 is for 3?

Some terminology n Target audience n A specified audience for which an advertising message is designed n Targeting a specific market does not mean that you have to exclude people that do not fit your criteria from buying from you. n Rather, you focus your marketing dollars and brand message on a specific market that is more likely to buy from you than other markets.

Demographics n Many, if not most, marketers define their target audiences in demographic terms n Information describing and segmenting a population in terms of age, gender, income, educational level, marital status, occupation, ethnic background n e. g. Single Caucasian males, 18 -34 years of age, high school graduates, working part-time n Although not PC, stereotyping does occur here

Psychographics n Another way to define your target audience; are more personal characteristics of a person including: n Personality n Attitudes n Values n Interests/hobbies n Lifestyles n Behavior n Determine how your product or service will fit into your target’s lifestyle. n How and when will they use the product? n What features are most appealing to them? n What media do they turn to for information? n Do they read the newspaper, search online or attend particular events?

How do I find out who my target audience is? n Research! n Try searching online for research others have done on your target audience. n Search for magazine articles and blogs that talk about or to your target audience. n Search for blogs and forums where people in your target market communicate their opinions. n Look for survey results, or consider conducting a survey of your own. n Ask your current customers for feedback. n Free demographics data and studies at Pew Internet, Scarborough, Arbitron, U. S. Census Bureau n Called secondary data analysis

Again, why should I define who my target market is? n Once you know who you are targeting, it is much easier to figure out… …Which media you can use to reach them n …What marketing messages will work with them. n Save $$ and get a better return on investment n n E. g. Instead of sending direct mail to everyone in your zipcode, you can send only to those who fit your criteria.

Clients of PR messages n End consumers = Individuals who buy and use a product or service n Reporters, journalists to pass on your story n Other corporations n The majority of businesses do not make consumer products (called b 2 b) n Other buyers of a product/service n Distributors (who will resell the product) n NPO’s (e. g. Tech buys a lot of toner cartridges)

Branding n A function that differentiates products and their source from all other products. n Branding sets your company, product or service apart from the competition n Could include n n n The symbol or logo associated with a product The name associated with a product Customer service (Saturn)

Competitive Advantage n An advantage (real or perceived) that puts a company ahead of its competitors. n When a firm sustains profits above the average for its industry, it is said to have a competitive advantage over its competitors n Branding could be a competitive advantage… n But not all cases (don’t need to brand some commodities… copper is copper) n … Key is to get customer to repeatedly buy the product

Competitive Advantage n Image of Product n Cool (Nike, Target, Cadillac) n Green (Prius) n Reputation of firm n Apple n Loyal customer base n Benefit n Product works better (John Deere) n n Proprietary knowledge (better engineered gear box) Patents or Trademarks (KFC) Better design (i. Pods) Cost/Product is cheaper (Taco Bell) n Being a new product or having new features (push to talk)

The dreaded “R” word n Most people get shivers when they hear the word “Research”. Why is it? n Perceptions are that n It’s no fun: a slow process that takes a lot of work n It’s not creative: number crunching = yuck! n My idea is unique; I don’t have to waste time looking to see what others have done. n Given this reputation, who would want to do research? n n n You should… it’s a unique notch on your belt that most people don’t have. It’s high-paying when done well. It’s becoming more important as marketing budgets are shrinking.

What is purpose of doing research? n From book: In PR, research techniques are as simple as gathering data and information n We assume you want to also interpret and communicate your findings n Allows for a greater fragmentation of the audience (niche) n Management is isolated, probably do not represent the end user n Research is meant to save time and $$$

Initial research questions n What is the problem? n What information is needed? n How will the results be used? n Who is the target audience? n What technique will we use in our research? (literature review, mailing a survey, face-toface interviews)

Additional questions to ask n Is data being collected from internal users or external? n Are questions open ended or closed? n How will data be analyzed, reported/communicated to clients, applied? n What is the deadline? When do you need deliverables by? n What is the cost/research budget?

Ways to use research n Define target audiences n Formulate strategy n Test messages n Help mgt keep in touch and establish credibility with management

Research can… n …help prevent a crisis n … help monitor the competition n … sway public opinion n … generate publicity n … be a measurement of success

Research by using the Internet n Lowest level of “research” (and I hate to use that word here) is to “Google” something Positives: fast, OK at retrieving relevant information n Negatives: not very trustworthy n n n Links may be outdated or inactive Who posted the content? (are they an expert? has it been reviewed by experts? how current is the information? )

Research by using the Internet n A more trusted way to use the Internet is to use on- line databases such as psychinfo, Ebsco. Host, (see http: //library. ttu. edu/). n n n 1, 500 plus used for research, staying on top of the news Positives: fast to retrieve, content is more credible in that it has been peer reviewed or reviewed by industry experts if it is in a journal or conference proceedings Negatives: some types of information is already dated once it gets published (reviewing takes time), may need to subscribe/pay to get access to databases and journals

Qualitative Research n An in-depth understanding of human behavior n Smaller, more focused sample sizes of participants n Convenience sampling, purposeful sampling n Historically was perceived to be less credible than quantitative (statistics-based) research n Ways of interpreting the data are less objective (e. g. the researcher must interpret data rather than use #s) n In reality, it would be super if you could do both n Qualitative allows for deep exploration n Quantitative allows for data to be tested, especially with a larger number of participants n If only have time/budget for 1, see what others have done in your discipline

Qualitative Research: Case study n The gathering of detailed information on a specific individual. n Perhaps this one person is special in some way n Former president, star athlete n Positives: get rich data n Negatives: can’t generalize past the person you are studying. n Generalize: a made-up academic word that means to draw from specific cases for more general cases

Qualitative Research: Interviews n 1 on 1 n Incept interviews: People are intercepted in public places n Pros: quality information n Cons: expensive, people are resistant n Cons: hard to get participants (esp. if you have to wear a vest to identify you as a Tech researcher while standing outside of a football stadium) n Cons: for intercept interviews, considered highly unscientific because of convenience sampling

Qualitative Research: focus groups n Focus groups are 8 to 12 people matching characteristics of target audience n Focus groups are a form of group interview that capitalizes on communication between research participants in order to generate data. n Focus groups explicitly use group interaction. n Can be in person and, increasingly, on-line n Positives: one person can prompt an idea in another n Negative: one person may monopolize the interview

Qualitative Research: Naturalistic observations n This is the simplest way we study behavior. You simply observe the behavior in its natural environment. n This is frequently informal is usually the first step to allow you to get a better understanding of the behavior which allows further, more in-depth investigation. n When might we use this in PR? n Children playing with toys