Public Relations: this is the organizational philosophy that is translated into a series of communication actions, generally of an informative nature, whose general objective is to create or modify attitudes, beliefs or behaviors of the target audience. A target audience that can be physical (a person) or legal (a company).
Historical Model in Public Relations
Corporate communication is the set of activities (including advertising) that are combined with each other with the sole purpose of projecting the company's image in and out, so there will be internal and external communication. The institution itself will be in charge of transmitting the messages.
Corporatism arose in the Middle Ages and its form of communication was the "heraldic brand", whose objective was to protect the productive and mercantile territories in order to prevent other groups from invading it.
It was a way of avoiding competition and defending oneself. The heraldic mark would be assimilated by the artisan group and would be the first guarantee of origin that the products would have, since the consumer, from the moment he could identify the product with the manufacturer, could claim.
State control would also be added to the heraldic brand. Although it is not yet possible to speak of a brand as such, because it is not registered.
In the 17th century, freedom of trade was proclaimed and industry was at the dawn of the First Revolution. Corporations and guilds disappear causing the distinctive and obligatory marks to disappear.
Freedom of trade brings with it the individual brand, which, while not yet registered, produces abuse and imitation and makes merchants demand industrial property and exploitation patents.
The purpose of these demands was to protect the employer and his product. The brand becomes a strategic element that will become increasingly important as competition increases. This brand will bring with it a new concept: the brand image.
In the 19th century, the commercial and industrial brand will be made up of images and texts, illustrations and rhetorical elements or also representative scenes of a certain action. This will be the identifying element or brand.
At the end of the century, American street traders will make their fortune on patent medicine. As their formula was not registered, sellers would register the brand of the remedy, making them the first corporate announcements that would become the most important source of income for the press shortly thereafter.
During the last two decades of the century, the sums invested in advertising are extraordinary thanks to the money that the manufacturer begins to receive. The first American companies are formed, which will also be the first to recognize the power of the persuasive message and the logo as identifying elements of their product.
For the first time in history, and thanks to advertising, its products become a social attraction and the sale of its image exceeds the sale of the product, which continues today. The brand identifies the product and the consumer identifies with the attributes that are given to the product.
Graphic elements are added to the traditional labels that accompany the product, which will assume the new concept of identity and information (persuasive). To this will be added the emotionality of the image.
The moment that label or poster is successful, that brand becomes the company's identifier. It is the antecedent of the current brand.
It will be in the middle of the 20th century when the brand achieves graphic autonomy and remains as the current brand. In this, the Second Industrial Revolution and the development of serial production followed by mass production also take part.
Thanks to the transport revolution, distribution is increasing rapidly in Europe and America.
All these factors together will lead to what we know today as a brand. The current brand has sold and sells products in the buy / sell market, but also praises and praises them in the communication market.
In the product market, the company was characterized by turnover, market share and the variety of products it offered. In contrast, in the communication market, the company appears as a name and the product or brand will be the intermediary to reach the target audience. For this reason, in the communication market, in addition to competition between products, there will be competition between companies.
From the first half of the 20th century, the brand became the identity sign and from that moment on, relationships will revolve around the company (not the product). And more than around the company, around the brand.
The corporate identity is made up of the visual identity (the brand), the verbal identity (the logo) and the company philosophy.
Logo.
It is a particular spelling that takes the name of the brand. The important thing about the logo is not the spelling, but the identifying and distinctive function it conveys. Beliefs, the behavior of the institution and the values of the company come into play in the logo, so that the individual creates affective, emotional and rational associations.
The company must put all its effort into making its business identity equal to its business image, because if public opinion does not see it as it wants to be seen, it will have worked poorly. There will have been an error in the communication process.
To achieve this coincidence, Advertising, Marketing and Strategic Plan must coincide.
- Advertising: communication actions aimed at persuading people to buy a service or product. Marketing: set of activities to direct products and services to their respective markets in order to ensure their sale. Strategic plan: set of communication and action policies that the company / institution will follow to achieve certain objectives.
The brand.
The brand is an iconic representation consisting of image and logo, which can be of various types:
- Analogical: perceptual similarity between the image and what it represents. Allegorical: the image is unusual, but it represents elements that are recognizable in reality. Logic: its intellectual process of perception requires a certain determinism operated by the information that the brand transmits. Emblematic: the image transfers elements that are already institutionalized to the brand.
Brand functions.
- Identifier: it is what structures the offer and simplifies it. It is a guarantee of quality. It reduces the cost of the search. Personalized: it makes it easier for the consumer to establish a relationship with their environment. It brings satisfaction to the buyer.
According to Lambin, the brand has 7 communicative functions:
- Reference: combines a series of elements that are what the consumer will take into account when choosing. Practicality: the consumer memorizes the characteristics that he himself has attributed to the product. Guarantee: through the brand, companies have the responsibility to offer quality. They are a guarantee of responsibility and customer service. Personalization: it allows the consumer to establish differences with the competition and to interact with people with similar lifestyles. Positioning: offers the company the possibility of positioning its products with respect to the competition. Playful: shopping is an entertainment activity.Capitalization: everything related to brand communication builds and configures the brand image (the one we create in our heads).
All brands need to suggest or form a partnership with the product or with the company. Or we identify the company by its products / services, or by means of the brand.
The brand communicates more quickly and constantly the determined characteristics of the product. And while the product evolves, the brand does not.
Thus, the brand is the historical model and the primary form of expression of corporate identity. Today the identity is not limited to the brand, but also administration, public opinion and marketing interfere with it.
At first, the brand acted as a visual or orientation element when locating a product; but later, when advertising communication is incorporated, it acquires cultural value and becomes one of the most important elements of persuasion in the company.
From technological development, the brand concept is transformed. Companies no longer only produce goods, but also issue communications. Therefore they need an organized system of identity signs. The visual identity must go beyond the product and conquer the communication market. The brand concept is surpassed by another major: that of corporate identity. At that time, the brand becomes part of the institutional and commercial strategy.
Corporate identity will differentiate one company from another, as the brand differentiated one product from another.
Corporate identity.
Corporate identity transmits identity symbols that differentiate the company from the competition. It is expressed through any form of communication: graphic, verbal, cultural, environmental… the company, in addition to products sold under the brand concept, sells itself. When the brand is successful, the company absorbs it.
If the brand does not match the company name, the image of one will not match that of another.
The corporate identity of a company is the result of the synthesis of all communication actions at different levels (in advertising and public relations).
Image.
The image is the set of mental representations that arise in the target audience when receiving any message from an institution / company. The image of a company in a relative value that will differ according to the public.
The image is created by the public in your mind and is therefore a relative value, not an absolute one. It is not only what we perceive as a target audience, but the image that direct competition perceives, so the brand image is the set of perceptions, associations, memories and prejudices that the public is going to process.
The brand image and the company image coincide to the extent that both participate in the general concept of image and differ in the scope of projection, which is greater in that of the company than in that of the brand or product..
The image of the company is a strategic element that is at the service of the product and the brand. The company projects personality or identity with the aim of achieving a controlled image without deviations.
It has to be a structured identity with clearly defined characteristics. Corporate identity reaches the public through communication, so it will be a logo, brand, actions…
If the brand image and the company image act together, it will gain popularity, since the image is the same and is more profitable than separately, but flexibility will be lost because there will only be one image for the public.
On the contrary, when the company has several brands, each communication should reinforce the image of the company, but cohesion will be more difficult and flexibility will be gained, since the products will be aimed at a greater number of different audiences.
Advertising and public relations.
The objective of PR is social with economic consequences, and that of Advertising is commercial. There are authors who affirm that Advertising is a PR technique and that PR can be used as an Advertising technique.
If the activity is communication of a product, advertising will prevail and PR will support it. However, a strategic communication is proposed, advertising will be a PR technique.
In public relations, the target audience is broader, since it involves the media, employees, society as a whole… and in advertising it is only the consumer.
Advertising is direct and PR is indirect when it comes to pursuing an action and the approach it is given. Advertising (commercial approach) is directed to the consumer and PR (humanistic approach) to the whole man.
Public Relations is a management philosophy that translates into a series of communication actions, usually of an informative nature. For PR to emerge, democracy and capitalism are needed. Advertising must be understood as an instrument of PR, since it is used to disseminate certain products or services from the total planning of a company.
It is worth remembering that Advertising is a persuasive communication fundamentally of the masses and of a commercial nature, driven by an advertiser (the company) to spread their goods or services, achieving their subsequent sale or contracting.
PR is persuasion. If it were not, it would enter journalism. Like all strategic objective planning, it is persuasion.
Today, advertising itself (commercial) has the support of the corporate, that is, the PR.
Corporate advertising and commercial advertising.
In corporate advertising, actions are planned at the institutional level and very rarely at the product or brand level. This type of advertising is going to refer more to the image than to the notoriety and the purchase intention.
The objective of corporate advertising is generic and broad, while that of commercial advertising is more specific.
In relation to the target audience, the recipients are the same in both cases, but the cost and poor control of the media make corporate advertising more versatile and effective in small and elite groups.
As for the media and supports, there are differences, since in commercial advertising there are more specific, defined and priced spaces, but in corporate this does not always happen because communication actions are not structured, there is no cost and space nor is it concrete.
Regarding the message, in commercial advertising it is an explicit and evident message, while in corporate advertising (which relies on PR) it is a subtle and disguised message (a fundamental characteristic of PR effectiveness).
In the field of results evaluation, it is technically possible in both. When it is not possible is when applied techniques are applied to PR.
Commercial advertising affects the image, but does not express the identity of the company. It only talks about the product or in that case, the brand.
Corporate advertising is one of the best and cheapest ways to convey the image of the company.
Communication.
- Commercial communication: message system aimed at facilitating and promoting the activities of buying and selling a company's products. Currently, purely commercial communication is dwarfed by corporate communication. Corporate communication: it is the message system aimed at regulating the internal activity of an entity, a company, and promoting its public image. It is a consequence of the new conditions that social communication is going to impose on the company.
We can distinguish three levels of communication.
- Corporate communication, whose goal is to benefit every company and pave the way to enable the implementation of the strategy through achieving adequate public awareness of the company (image objective). Brand communication, which aims to establish it in the commercial network and in the market. The communication of the product, in which the product itself intervenes through its design, its packaging…
If the brand and company image are the same, the different levels of communication will have to make much less effort. On the other hand, if the company has several brands, the communication levels should strive to reinforce the image of the company, although cohesion is more difficult.
Being different products and different brands, it is more difficult to transmit a message that is consistent with the company image and that is common between each brand. All the communications of each brand must reinforce the image of the company and also cover more target audiences.
Public Relations and Propaganda.
The first thing will be to define both terms.
PR is a management philosophy that is translated into a series of communication actions, generally of an informative nature, whose main objective is to create or modify the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors of the target audience. In public relations, most of the actions are persuasive communication of a collective and non-massive interpersonal type, and presented, in general, predominantly informative.
Propaganda, on the other hand, is all that persuasive information of an ideological nature carried out or promoted directly or indirectly by an individual, and whose real or apparent purpose is to spread such ideology and attract followers of it.
For the most part, the concept of Propaganda always appears associated with politics, but in reality, it will be the PR that is most related to that political world. Propaganda is a communication process that spreads ideas that will not only have to do with politics, since they can also be religious, etc. The characteristics of Propaganda are that it always occurs in a unidirectional sense and in undemocratic countries. In Democratic countries there are no political ideas. Candidates no longer represent ideas and the one that best responds to specific needs will be voted on
Propaganda and publicity.
Propaganda was born during the Council of Trent to spread the Catholic religion against Luther and Calvin. It is a communication process that adopts different advertising and non-advertising techniques (advertising and PR).
Propaganda is the action or effect of making people known in order to attract followers or buyers: information plus persuasion.
Thus, while propaganda disseminates ideas and doctrines with advertising and non-advertising forms of communication, advertising is responsible for spreading products, brands and companies through spots, claims, advertisements… we could say that while propaganda is directed at the political field, advertising it does it to the business world.
Birth of public relations.
In 1837 the Age of the Entrepreneur begins, a key moment for PR.
The first New York-San Francisco railway line was inaugurated in 1870. With this inauguration, the company will take a step forward by replacing the advertising of a product and brand with a new form of communication: they invite 150 North American personalities (leaders of opinion) to the trip and in one of the train cars a newspaper will be published addressed to those other opinion leaders who are not present. With this, one of the first known PR actions is proposed, although it is done intuitively and not empirically.
Later, in 1889, the Westingh House will start a campaign that has nothing to do with the product and the brand, with the aim of imposing the alternating current system against Edison's direct current system. Westing's communication plan conveys its own identity as a company.
The crises of the years 1883, 1884 and 1907 provoke strong social tensions from which journalists take advantage by taking another step in public relations: journalists begin the 20th century publishing information about the terrible conditions in which workers work. As a result of them a controversy would break out between Pulitzer, who defended that the worker should be informed of what was happening in his company, and the businessman Vaderbilt, who says that they should not know anything.
In 1906, amid all this fuss, a mining company hires what will be one of the pioneers of the PR: Ivy Lee. The reason for his hiring is a strike by miners who express strong criticism of the company. At this moment, the business area opens the door for the first time to freedom of expression. Ivy Lee would be responsible for answering all questions from the media, which are the publics of the PR.
In 1914, it would be Rockefeller who would request Lee's services. Two of his companies resumed strikes. Lee, again puts communicative transparency (real data) before advertising and publishes the economy of each of the companies so that they justify the wages of their workers. After giving these data, he would create the Rockefeller Foundation, a business economic investment which is translated before the public as a positive image.
Another example of the growing trend of information transparency is in Asa Candler, co-owner of the Coca-Cola brand. An Atlanta newspaper claims that drinking creates a habit for cocaine and that this is one of its components. Candler, through an advertisement (publicity service to the PR) invites them to demonstrate it and gives the data on the amount of coca leaf they need to make 4 liters of syrup, thus demonstrating that a liter of the drink has no more than a hundredth of a gram of coca.
From this moment, communication becomes part of the organization chart of a company.
In summary, at the end of the XIX and beginning of the XX, the entrepreneurs will understand, thanks to the social conflicts of the time, the fundamental of having a positive image, and for this reason they will incorporate techniques and new forms of communication in crisis situations and within their strategies.
It is necessary that the public perceives the objectives and culture of the institution since if it does not, there will be no exchange.
The new motto will be "Do it right and make it known."
Between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, American companies and institutions open the door to the public and give information about them that interests society.
The information distributed must be direct and reflect an image of the company that is honest, sincere, accessible and frank. With this information, answers will be given to the needs of the recipients, but not individually, but as a group, which will make communication a company tool.
From all this the awareness of a corporate identity arises and with it the corporate advertising, in charge of transmitting the identity of the company with the intention of having an impact on the corporate image that the public forms.
Before, what companies wanted was to emphasize production tasks, but today it is about getting more sales, since it has gone from a supply market to a demand market where it is more difficult to sell. For this, the price of the product is essential, but also its quality and the image that the public makes of the company and its organization.
In the supply market, the company image was not an objective, but in the demand market, the fundamental thing is to boost sales and for this a good image is necessary, essential.
Thus, in the first half of the 20th century, actions aimed at acting on public opinion and the media became increasingly important.
From the second half of the century a new way of life was imposed and the civilization of the image emerged. Society goes from being a consumer of goods and services to being a consumer of images and information.
PR in the classic models of social communication.
Most of the data that we have today about ancient civilizations is due to the role of kings, priests and public figures.
With the arrival of the world of work, the need to present themselves in society as groups is established. Corporate communication and commercial communication are interrelated with a double interest: their own and that of consumers.
Louis XV will be one of the first monarchs to create in his favor a type of PR in the form of medals, emblems, ambassadors…
In the 18th century, in the French Propaganda Ministries, leaders emerged who understood what the advantages of the PR field were and one of those who understood it best was Napoleon himself, who would take care of promoting the loyalty of his soldiers.
During the French Revolution oral and written methods were used with the aim of gaining public favor (very effectively). The supporters of the Revolution would dispense with wigs and shorts because that reminded of the Old Regime.
With the triumph of the Revolution, nationalism spread and there will also be an exaltation of the freedom of the individual and of democratic expression. The nation, the source of all power, is going to be governed by a minority to which the other citizens confer legitimacy.
PR is born with a triple foundation:
- Inform the people Persuade Integrate some people with others
To achieve them, various methods and means are given throughout history, but a methodology is lacking that justifies the starting idea and its implementation. There are no political, social and economic conditions for public relations (there was hardly any industrial development and there was no political system).
Therefore, it is essential to know that public relations are closely linked to the political and moral principles of democracy.
Basic needs for the exercise of public relations.
- Political freedom understood as the absence of obstacles or impediments that limit the freedom of expression of the will of the citizens. Party plurality: freedom regime and the real possibility of exercising the right to propose alternatives in accordance with democratic rules. Economic-social situation: it must be adequate (capitalism and democracy).
Without all these requirements, it is not possible to speak of PR = as a management philosophy.
If the current concept of democracy resides in the coincidence between freedom and justice by the maximum number of accessions, the key concept of PR resides in that the public interest (citizen-consumer) finds the optimal satisfaction in a certain type of behavior on the part of the organisms that make up society.
The political model is linked to the concept of mass, and then it is necessary to look for the sources of public relations in the phenomena of massification, which at the beginning of the century were very weak.
It was not until the 1940s that the characteristics that determine today's society did not emerge and the process of massification was identified with the increasingly rapid transition from the artisanal agricultural society to a distributive industrial society. In those systems where dialogue is neither allowed nor tolerated, PR does not exist, and that is one reason why the PR model is a model in the field of communication.
U.S.
Public relations began to develop there out of historical necessity as of 1900. Some historians consider the American Revolution to be the origin of public relations.
In this war, the leaders of each side expressed the capacity of the PR as a primary agent in public opinion. They would be the first to demonstrate the importance of PR (opinion leaders).
However, no one better than Samuel Adams was able to see more clearly the need to stimulate the creation of public relations. The people had to be mobilized in a structured way, and together with Franklin, Jefferson, Dickson and Paine, he was going to use the organization, the oratory, the written word and the events that took place. Together they distribute thousands of brochures, anonymous articles, rallies, and one of the most effective means: informal communication through rumor.
Another forerunner of public relations is Almos Kendall, who will write the president's speeches and organize and give life to the North American administration. It would also create the administration magazine "The Globe" and establish new methods of press conferences that broke with the current schemes.
He perceived the power of the press to influence public opinion. Kendall would take care of finding out what the people wanted and gave it to them through communication instruments, thus obtaining the enthusiasm of American society in favor of its president.
From 1880 to 1900, the methods of strategic planning will be almost the same as they are today: brochures, billboards, opinion pieces… The only changes are due to the birth and development of the media.
Due to the increase in population in America, the concentration of people in the cities occurs, which launches mass production and the use of machines. There is already a dense network of terrestrial communications, the magazines multiply and are perfected and the agricultural magnate is replaced by the industrial one, which makes the United States the most powerful country in the 19th century. At the end of the century, commerce and industry become the dominant forces in the country, but people have an unfavorable image of the company. The intervention of the PR is necessary.
In 1882 sensationalism became fashionable, corruption prevailed and three key men appeared in journalism: Baker, Pulitzer and Hearst, who investigated the illegal relations between companies and government. The media do not change attitudes and PR is integrated into the political and business world for the first time.
Public relations emerge within a historical situation that responds to the needs of our time: democratic political system and industrial development.
The century of Public Relations (1900-1980).
From 1900, commercial advertising generated a certain distrust among society. The problem is that one-way techniques are used. At that time, the impact of the press as an active medium began to be felt, and it would be that constant circulation of newspapers and magazines that would act as a vehicle for reform and, from the outset, social responsibility.
Until now, businessmen have moved freely, without regulation, but from now on, thanks to protests by American society and public reforms, they will be controlled, so their response will be a defensive one.
The company loses contact with its publics and remains motionless while waiting for publications against it. And it will be the railway companies that receive the main attacks, but also the first to react. Taking the persuasive procedures used by political parties as a model, they organized a press office or communication office to have two-way communication with the public, and for this they hired journalists who were knowledgeable about information techniques, which became the link between the company and its audiences. The broadcast channel between the two.
However, the secrecy these press officers maintain with the newspapers is evident. They maintain a defensive attitude and act without method, intuitively, prioritizing cronyism and seniority.
Therefore, it is not yet possible to speak of PR because there are a lack of principles and an ethical code to support them. The communication process that is established is of a unidirectional nature consisting of a message emitted by a company to its publics with no possibility of response from them.
So far they are actions based on informal observation. The theory and technique of PR was born in the early twentieth century with Ivy Lee.
What this man does is personalize the company by establishing communication channels whose objective is to inform the lower levels of the company (internal communication) and the community (external communication), establishing company / environment relationships.
Second, Lee promotes the participation of staff and their support, creates a press office in which senior management has to participate personally, and against the policy of secrecy and the silence of press agents, reaches the Conclusion that it is necessary to address the businessmen must expose their problems to the public through the press conference and the press conference.
We have an example of all this in 1906, years when a terrible accident occurs on the route of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The immediate decision was to suppress all the information, but Lee arranged for a main carriage to transport journalists with all kinds of facilities to the scene of the catastrophe. The result was optimal, because a transport company had never had such favorable comments. In these crisis situations are some of the fundamental principles of current public relations: informative transparency, agility in issuing a response and truthfulness.
In this way, Lee inaugurates free information as a technical basis for PR and promotes its autonomous conception, separating it from Marketing and Advertising. Also as a result of this, it would give way to an offensive conception of communication against the defensive of press agents. And finally, it creates a technique that continues to this day regarding the connection of the entrepreneur with the client through philanthropic concepts, trying to show the human side of business.
Difference between the model of Ivy Lee and that of her predecessors (I model and II model).
- That of its predecessors was a one-way communication model that manifested itself in propagandistic concepts (without feedback).Lee establishes a system for the dissemination of information without the forced need to persuade the public, which implies telling the truth and informing about the reality of The events that occur. During this period, no prior investigation is carried out and this model is known as Public Information.
Public relations are increased in different social sectors and consultants are created, which will increase after the First GM, for companies, political parties, governments…
During World War I, the United States would join the conflict, causing the business world the need to communicate even more with public opinion.
In 1920, after the war, the third PR model appeared, known as the Asymmetric Bidirectional PR Model.
Before I GM, George Creell, with the consent of President Wilson, created the PR consultancy that includes the most brilliant journalists, researchers, advertisers, newspaper directors, and other experts in communication and public opinion. The most important advertising agency to date is born, without rival
Until totalitarian models emerge.
Creell's team becomes the first Public Relations advisor to the American government, transferring its corporate identity to all Americans and encountering the problem of the typically traditional isolationist mentality that refuses to let the country enter the war.
With the help of his team, Creell will move public opinion against isolationism and will finally support participation in the conflict, thus demonstrating that, with an unexpected qualified human infrastructure, a budget in accordance with the objectives and sufficient time, the PR they can influence the creation of favorable public opinion.
The main feature of this new model is that Crell incorporates advertising techniques into the preparation and presentation of messages. Ivy Lee lacked persuasion, and Crell does it with advertising.
As we approach the 1940s, research on public opinion advances, with the idea that the mass media possess great persuasiveness, and two historical circumstances will reiterate this:
- The birth of totalitarianism in Russia, Germany and Italy The simultaneous and immediate advancement to massive audiences that technological and commercial advances allow newspapers.
In this interwar period, the names of Bernays, Watson and Mayo stand out, who investigate how to influence public opinion and the use of scientific and psychological studies to do so.
Companies are increasingly interested in the massive capacity of the media, an interest in the possibilities of psychological warfare is born. In the field of politics, a mixture of fascination and terror towards the new medium predominates: radio.
Roosevelt will be one of the first politicians to use the media and, thanks to the pages of the newspapers and the radio, he achieves his goals and comes to power around 1929. From there he will use a communication policy.
Subsequently, like Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt uses the means to achieve his ends, defining himself as the best source of information in the face of the demand for information by journalists. It would also incorporate the possibility that citizens could send him letters, some of which could be answered personally, and would launch the White House's internal magazine and establish interpersonal communication channels.
Roosevelt decides that his administration's policy should be communicated to the public, not in the form of a speech, but of news in order to increase the government's advertising apparatus.
At the end of 33, as Europe falls into totalitarian regimes, the American administration uses the results of social research and creates a new trend on the part of institutions and industry.
In summary, it is now when the maximum effectiveness of PR is going to be recognized. In the early 1920s, persuasion was one of its main objectives and only intuition was used, but from now on, persuasion will be done scientifically based on other social sciences such as Sociology, Psychology…
The scientific spirit of persuading and the support of other social sciences favored the development of a new model radically opposed to the previous two: the Bidirectional Asymmetric (III model).
So we have so far three models:
- Publicity Model Public Information Model Two way Asymethrical Model
This third model is a bidirectional model (due to the scientific support of the social sciences) because it takes the public into account and is unbalanced, because while companies and political parties try to influence public attitudes, institutions are not affected, since that companies and parties maintain an immovable position, without any type of change. It is asymmetric because the company does not change, pretending that only the public does.
The characteristics of this model are used by commercial companies dedicated to consumer products and with strong competition.
In the 1930s, the initial factual nature of public relations was overcome and became a practical technique of a social nature designed to probe public opinion and influence public behavior by promoting mutual understanding through the application of administrative or psychological processes., sociological and social.
During and after World War II.
In 1940, World War II broke out, speeding up the transformations in communication and public relations that had been seen in the interwar period. The North American government takes the initiative demonstrating the force that an organized information campaign can exert and the informative-persuasive channel between the institution and society is called the "War Information Office" and is directed by Elmer Davis, a man of great communicative ability who incorporates new techniques and forms of communication, leaving Crell in a mere attempt.
Elmer Davis acts in all directions:
- In the industry, PR is given top priority to speed up production and thus combat absenteeism. Actions are established to sustain the morale and enthusiasm of the combatants and those who work in the rear.
The shortage of merchandise, coupled with the need to keep the company's good name in front of the public, causes an increase in the use of the advertisement, which will become Davis' instrument to communicate the increase in taxes and food restrictions. While the allied countries maintained the cult of objectivity and credibility, in the totalitarian countries an informative strategy called mechanistic was established with which they tried to change the attitudes and convictions of society, but starting from the irrational.
After the war, the companies, faced with the impossibility of offering products, will establish another type of communication in which the product is replaced by the communication of the manufacturing company. Thus, instead of presenting the product, the company is presented to society through advertising techniques. The product is not presented because there is not.
Also after the war, Europe assumes its democratic political model and in it a new relationship is born between the media and politics. The United States becomes an example to follow in the political sphere, in terms of strategic planning and ways of doing.
Decade of the 50s.
With the development of the television medium, there is a revolution in the world of PR. Characters such as the mayor of Philadelphia make use of it through programs such as “Digaseló al Alcalde”.. and in 1952, during the presidential campaign, TV would end up relegating other media to the background. It would be the first time that advertising techniques and styles were used in electoral propaganda.
The introduction of the commercials marked the beginning of a new stage by breaking with the old ways of doing propaganda. Republicans Nixon and Eisenhower commission their election campaign from the BBDO advertising agency. The strategy, the approach to the problems, the financing and the development of the campaign would reveal the arrival of communication professionals in the political field.
Democrats, by contrast, show less willingness to apply these new methods and would be less successful in elections.
In the elections of 1956, given the success obtained by advertising in the previous elections, the role of advisers and budgets are increasing. In these elections, TV is used and the content of the persuasive message is sought in denigrating aspects of the contrary.
Roser Reeves, one of the great forerunners of television political advertising, created the program "Eisenhower Responds" which is broadcast in 40 states of which the candidate would win in 39..
In the late 1950s, companies began to take steps to prepare managers who knew how to relate to their audiences in an increasingly complex society and created new specialization courses in American universities such as the one in Pennsylvania.
The 60s.
Following the crisis of May '68, a significant change took place in companies, which led them to take into account the demands of employees and the internal communication function was born.
We must remember that during the first half of the century two public relations schools could be distinguished: the North American one, which was mainly concerned with the image of organizations, and the European one, which was destined to establish relationships of solidarity and trust between companies and the society.
Now the Latin American School emerges, which defends the interest of the community. This determined that public relations came out of that reductionist vision that they had in the US and in Europe of the company / public relationship and began to respond to the main problems that plague their communities.
Starting in the 1960s, various foundations of business planning and communication began to adapt to the competitive struggle. It is a set of techniques to influence the attitudes of citizens and their behavior in favor of organizations or people who hold power.
These new techniques break into the political field and are fundamental in business, going from being called propaganda to political advertising.
In 1960 Nixon vies with Kennedy for the US presidency. Propaganda will adapt to advertising forms of communication and will also incorporate the forms and techniques of objective information that journalism uses. These choices coincide with the great turnaround that comes with the entry into play of TV, which transmits information objectively. The statements of the candidates to the newspapers, the oratory at rallies or on the radio… are no longer enough for the recipient. It is the first time that an electoral campaign enters the house of the Americans and the candidate must seduce the screen. It is necessary to do well in it, transmit the identity of the party and achieve positioning.
Of the two candidates, Kennedy will be the one who knows best how to do it. His messages are simple and have a brilliant oratory and a hard and elegant image capable of controlling any setback. Nixon, on the contrary, would demonstrate that TV could lose the elections, since in the most important moments he forgot about the media.
Also in 1960, the computer was incorporated into electoral campaigns thanks to IBM, with a program capable of predicting votes. In the middle of the decade, computing will be essential in the Republican Glodwater campaign, a campaign marked by the Deisy spot.
In 1968, Nixon tries again the assault on the White House and for this, chastened, he will resort to TV throughout the campaign, but setting the style that it should follow.
Decade of 70's.
In the late 1960s, Nixon created the Creep Committee with the goal of contacting all possible categories of voters.
In '72, the Watergate scandal was uncovered, but thanks to a magnificent PR strategy and politics in Vietnam, the president managed to put the blame on the Creep Committee and obtained 61% of the votes.
In 1976, under Jimmy Carter's rule, he introduced a new element by developing personal relationships with opinion leaders.
The 80's.
In the 1980s, public relations began to evolve into much broader fields, breaking into the social space. From now on, PR practice is no longer reduced to that organization-public relationship to establish programs with the aim of reaching public understanding.
Until the 1980s, no political or business organization will talk about PR techniques. Before, since 1950, terms such as advertising, public information, communication management… would be spoken of to refer to PR.
Regarding the three models of action, understanding and execution of PR that we have already mentioned, they will coexist for more than half a century in both the political and commercial spheres. All three have the same characteristics, since they are asymmetric: asymmetrical ones produce conflicts between companies and the public, and between companies and the media, that is, between companies and their environment. In all three cases, their messages are based on immovable techniques.
- Although the first model (Publicity) was developed in the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in Europe it would not be formalized until the end of the Second World War, since until then there would be no one necessary for the PR democratic system. (Public Information) was born in the early twentieth century with Ivy Lee, developing in Europe from that date, although in governmental and public institutions it continued with the previous one, later, by the hand of George Creel and the incorporation of techniques of persuasion, the third model (Bidirectional Asymmetric) would be developed. And finally, and by means of Grunnig, one more model of PR will be described with which the Bidirectional Asymmetric will be replaced by a Bidirectional Symmetric. This will happen now,
During the electoral campaigns of 1952 and 1956, the audiovisual medium was used as a persuasive technique because of the growth of the US population. In Europe, all that would come later around the 80s.
This fourth model does not renounce persuasion, but it will make it subject to mutual understanding, negotiation. Persuasion, in this case, achieves changes in attitude, intention and behavior, but not only for the public, but also for the organization.
This fourth model is bidirectional and symmetrical: the company moves. There is double persuasion (the company to the public and the public to the company). This model uses PR activities, but based on research. It will use all intellectual communication processes to improve understanding with its audiences.
The fundamental distinction with the first two models is that the press agency and the press model are one-way. The first model is not obliged to present a complete portrait of the organization or the product that it presents and instead, the specialists of the second model do present a complete portrait of the organization and the product.
According to Grunnig, none of the four models is exclusive, since all of them can be implemented in the same PR model.
Communication cabinets.
From 1980 and at the time when democracy is installed in Spain, the strategies proposed by companies and political parties will change. Fear or threat do not serve to win the support. You have to try to win over consumers and voters to get benefits
Throughout the 80s (especially the second half), companies, banks and government institutions in Spain will create the first PR departments or Communication offices with a very specific purpose: to promote the corporate image in the criteria Spanish generalizer.
As a second purpose, there will be satisfying the internal and external communication needs of companies, banks and public and private institutions.
In the 90s we can distinguish 5 large communication groups of the administration:
- Institutional Communication Office Communication Office of political parties and unions Communication Office linked to the business movement Communication Office of social movements and NGOs External Offices: communication consultancies and consultancies.
The communication offices of the political parties are developed in parallel with the new institutional structure.
In June 1977 the first democratic elections are held in Spain. Most of the parties did not yet have cabinets, but the information sources would be increasing and developing at that time.
According to Moreno and Vilar, the communication office fulfills two basic functions: internal and external communication. Within the latter, it distinguishes multiple communicational facets:
1. Take care before and during the electoral campaign of good relations with the social media.
2. Contract and control the investigations or polls of the electoral vote.
3. Provide information to the media about the development of the campaign.
4. Issue daily press releases with evaluations and opinions of the candidates.
5. Serve as moderators to streamline interviews and direct contacts with politicians.
6. Create a daily newsletter and periodical magazines.
Maintain a dignified and sufficient presence with daily highs and punctual statements.
8. Convene press conferences, electoral acts and public debates on radio and TV.
9. Create and select electoral advertising that includes slogans, supports, messages, etc.
10. Design and organize electoral campaigns and logistics planning.
There are two levels of messages:
The general message, which must be disseminated from the top, and the sectoral ones, which will be made from the departments. The result must be global and for this, the sectoral content will have to fit. The discourse has to be centralized and to achieve this there must be a communication office, which will create the common thread.
Functions of the Communication Cabinet according to Joan Costa:
- Reflect the authentic importance of the company. Highlight the true identity of the company. Convey notoriety and prestige. Reduce the number of involuntary messages. Attract the predisposition of the capital market (the stock market). Improve the attitude and performance of advertising. Get a favorable public opinion. Reflect the evolution of companies.
According to Costa himself, the best times for the company to communicate with the media are:
1. When it is convenient to group different products under a common image.
2. When the public image of a company does not coincide with reality.
3. When the existing image is not consistent with the evolutions that the company has undergone.
4. When product leadership overshadows the company's image.
5. When an image is too limited, it limits the expansion of the company.
When you have a negative image.
7. When external negative factors threaten the integrity of the image.
When there is a change in leadership style.
9. When there is a deterioration in the image for legal reasons.
10. When a new company is formed.
11. When there are technological renovations.
12. When it is necessary to neutralize negative rumors.
13. When a company projects its listing.
14. When there are mergers between companies.
However, one of the biggest mistakes that image consultants make today is to reduce their work to external communication, to communication with the media. The communication of an organism, party or company is not based on the individual message, but on the different systems, supports and times. In the different strategies. They must be coordinated actions for a set time.
Therefore, the communication policy followed by democratic countries must be internal and external.
Main functions of internal communication:
- Encourage the participation of the organization. Internal training of its spokespersons. Preparation of specialized bulletins. Achieve maximum efficiency in the documentation, analysis and research department.
It is essential that the Communication Cabinet is part of the highest executive body of the organization because this ensures coordination, the use of human resources and the profitability of the time invested.
The person in charge of communication must participate in the decision-making of the company, since it is in charge of managing the joint image that emanates from the entity.
Functions of the Communication Director:
- Regulations: coordinate everything that contributes to creating a unified positive image of the entity. He is a spokesman: because he is the interlocutor with the different audiences. Service: is an assistant to the other departments with the aim of coordinating functional strategies and policies. Observatory: it is in charge of detecting the image of the entity in the public and using the necessary instruments to achieve the established objectives. Cultural: introduces and reviews corporate values guiding internal and external activities to integrate them into the image of the organization.
As specific functions derived from these, the Dir Com must maintain direct communication with the top management of the organization as a link between the CEO of the company, staff and the environment; It must also advise senior management personnel on image and communication, and finally, it must direct the department and coordinate the organization to which it belongs.
Business objectives of the Image Committee:
- Define and develop a public image or own corporate identity. Achieve quality. Renew corporate culture. Motivation, integration and participation of human resources. Improve productivity and ensure profitability. Increase competitiveness. Achieve and control market fidelity..
Communication objectives.
- Coordinate and channel the communication plan and strategy of the company. Ensure that the public image and communication are clear, transparent, fast and truthful. Inform the general management. on general transcendent issues and on others that fit within the institution's sphere of action. Establish and maintain a close relationship, collaboration and motivation of the internal public, informing and promoting activities.
Mercedes Martín García.
Domingo de Soto University College, Segovia.
1998/99 academic year.
Teacher: Carmen.
Title: public relations
Contributed by: Mercedes M. García
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