Course Outline

Introduction to PR

• Outline of the course: key areas to be covered and their interrelationship
• Overview of the changes in the PR industry and the roles within it
• The relationship between PR and reputation management
• The importance of taking a holistic view of organisations
• Overview of terminology and interrelationship between corporate communications, corporate identity/image, brand communications and corporate reputation
• The importance of risk, issue analysis and proactive management
• The emerging trends that are shaping online communications
• The shift towards value communication and corporate responsibility
• The unifying brand concept and importance of brand equity

Reputation Management

• Introducing the importance of Reputation management
• Fundamentals of reputation management
• Importance of a "good reputation"
• Link with shareholder return
• Why reputation management is complex and requires strong teams and effective leadership
• Overview of a reputation management framework
• Effective methods of expressing corporate values and messages
• Online reputation management, visibility and SEO
• Monitoring and handling negative online comments
• Reputation audits and evaluation

Structure and Techniques, Stakeholder Engagement and Message Development

• The basics of strategic thinking: strategic analysis, choice and implementation and evaluation
• Basic communication plans
• Is strategic planning still relevant?
• Strategic intent: role of vision and mission statements
• Internal and external analysis
• Tactics and actions: examples of effective communication techniques
• Evaluation of strategic plans
• Business intelligence and PR research
• Tools used in online reputation management
• Strategic development in reputation management (looking at issues and risk)
• Stakeholders and target audiences
• Stakeholder management and analysis: identification, mapping, and analysis
• Engaging with stakeholders
• Developing credible messages
• Message framing and delivery
• Reframing messages and keeping news away from outlets
• Online reputation management strategies: listening and engaging
• Handling activists
• NGOs and engagement

Corporate Social Responsibility

• CSR, business, society and reputation
• Overview of key terminology and concepts
• Arguments for and against
• Key concepts and terminology: CSR; sustainability; corporate social responsiveness; corporate citizenship
• The importance of green marketing
• CSR: market place, environment and society
• Role of NGOs and micro-constituents: bloggers and opinion formers
• Stakeholder management and corporate sustainability
• Business support for CSR
• Metrics and non-financial reporting

Corporate Identity, Positioning and Image

• The components of corporate identity (tangibles and intangibles)
• The link between identity, positioning and image
• Brand image development and reputation to form corporate identity
• Logos, slogans and names in brand identity
• The critical importance of positioning and perceptions
• The importance of strong identity in brand success
• Importance of colour and design thinking
• Brand architecture: corporate; endorsed, product – line
• Brand image development and reputation management

Sponsorship and Event Management

• Importance of sponsorship as a corporate communication tool
• Sponsorship and objectives
• Sponsorship - a powerful business tool
• Building blocks of sponsorship: contractual aspects and objectives and proposals
• Developing a sponsorship strategy in line with the overall corporate strategy
• How to structure and protect a relationship
• How to implement a sponsorship strategy – the success factors
• Benefits and good practice in sponsorship
• Impact of social media on sponsorship
• Evaluation of sponsorship and events
• Success factors in event management
• Managing successful events – the do’s and do nots

Corporate Risk and Issue Analysis

• The importance of risk analysis and management for corporate reputation
• The key concepts involved in risk management
• Risk assessment: hazard, control and opportunity risks
• Risk control: planning, mitigation and monitoring
• Risk architecture, strategy and protocols
• Strategic issue management: scanning identification; monitoring; analysis; options; implementation and evaluation
• Issues analysis and stakeholders
• Strategic responses and engagement
• Corporate governance and regulatory issues

Crisis Management

• Different types of crises and their characteristics
• Key stages of a crisis
• Pre-crisis planning: link with risk and issue analysis
• Acute phase: strategic response, stakeholders and message delivery
• Role and impact of social media during a crisis
• Resolution and recovery phase
• Dealing with ill-structured situations and ambiguity during a crisis
• Common mistakes when handling a crisis
• Resilience and vulnerability determination

Brand Management

• The fundamental importance of the brand concept
• How to develop a brand from a product
• What makes a brand successful?
• Brand management and brand strategies
• The importance and nature of brand equity
• Brand experience and narratives
• Brand e-strategies and social media platforms
• Brand IP protection and online reputation management
• Role of archetypes and narratives
• Brand metrics

Media Relations and Brand Advocacy

• Structure of the traditional and new/social media
• What makes a good news or PR story?
• What makes a good press release?
• How to engage with media
• Importance of media strategies for reputation control
• Techniques of media: traditional vs. social media
• Corporate communications and media: are firms becoming their own news agencies?
• Social media as news: role of bloggers and other critical influencers
• Why material gets rejected or simply ignored
• Identifying audiences and key stakeholders
• How journalists research their stories: role of blogs, wikis, Twitter etc Overview of the portfolio of technology platforms available and their interdependence: apps, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook etc
• Importance of corporate architecture: corporate, endorsed, product or line brands
• Difficult issues: advertising, attention, open source innovation; social media
• The declining influence of traditional media
• The problem of free!
• Issues relating to channel proliferation and complexity
• Evaluation of key models: Skype; Apple; Amazon; Dell; P&G; Google