Functions of Public Relations - Case Study Example

RUNNING HEAD PR FUNCTIONS PR Functions Public relations (PR) is one of the tools used by marketing organizations to popularize their products and inform potential audience about the company and its opportunities, current financial performance and innovations. PR is an effective vehicle in stimulating the growth of many parity products. Although different brands of peanut butter, detergent, bottled water, analgesics, and cough remedies do not have unique benefits, they often have quite different market shares. Apple Computer Company is a leading consumer electronics company. Apple uses PR relations to maintain strong relations with potential customers and inform about coming innovations and growth opportunities. PR performs both organizational and societal functions influencing internal workers and wife target audience. Organizational detention involves workers and investors, management policies and the Board of Directors, etc. At this level, PR bridges information gaps in distribution channels, help coordinate the total marketing system, and adjust products and services to customer needs. Press releases and investors information are integral components of the communications mix (Apple Home Page 2008). Self-image is a function of societal norms. Group membership and group belonging relate directly to self-esteem and favorable self-image; acceptance and the grant of status by various organizations embellish the phenomenal self. The ability of groups to foster the development of more favorable self-images encourages belonging; the ability of products, symbols, services, communications, and other aspects of the marketing program to enhance the self-image encourages consumption behavior. One of the bases for understanding consumer behavior in its psychological and sociological dimensions, the self-image concept adds an important perspective to economic theories of consumption and is directly related to motivation (Gillin, 2007). At the societal level, Apple addresses all stakeholders including society and potential customers, IT professionals and economists, etc. At this level, the value of information about product characteristics varies directly with buyers' costs of search. When transactions and search costs are sufficiently small, buyers search more intensively and the additional advantage of intensive specialized search diminishes. The opposite is true for those with high search costs. Indeed, if search costs are sufficiently high it may not even pay to enter the differentiated products market at all (Gillin, 2007). The value of attribute information also depends on the difference between each consumer's preferences and market availabilities. If individual consumers exhibit little dispersion in their preferences and search costs, the gross value of advertising product characteristics is small and its net social value may be even negative, for the same reason it was in some of the examples in the section above on advertising and perceptions. Since advance knowledge of attributes allows customers to specialize search activities in the most preferred varieties, the value of catering to particular groups is correspondingly greater when there is greater dispersion in tastes among buyers (Apple Home Page 2008). The aim of PR is to maintain relations with stakeholders and create a unique image of the company. The value and importance of PR is that a buyer cannot afford to investigate all of the alternative qualities of the products in the market. If Apple can increase profit and sales by offering a genuinely superior design and price in comparison with the existing configuration, there remains a possibility of accomplishing a similar result by changing buyers' perceptions of an existing good. So far as individual firms are concerned, these activities have the same initial effects on sales and profit as were examined in the preceding section. But the nature of market equilibrium and the social consequences of such actions are markedly different (Apple Home Page 2008). The main issue in Apple that has both organizational and societal implications is new product development. Recent years, Apple pays a special attention to iPod and its new versions. at the organizational level, press releases and financial information has a crucial impact on investors relations and image of the company. For instance, at 14 July, Apple "announced it sold its one millionth iPhone 3G on Sunday, just three days after its launch on Friday, July 11. iPhone 3G is now available in 21 countries" (Apple Home page 2008). This event shows sales volumes and popularity of the product, motivate workers and persuade investors to do business with Apple (Scott, 2007). At the societal level, this issue shows global consumers that iPod is one of the mot popular products in the world with good product regulation and selling history. When there is substantial information that needs to be conveyed to an audience, a lecture format is superior to a drama or other story grammar format. A lecture involves having some spokesperson talk to the audience. The spokesperson may be visible or unseen, and may use audio and visual props to reinforce the information being conveyed. The lecture format is particularly appropriate when the advertiser has significant information to convey. Elaboration of a brand's benefit is effective only if it is linked to the brand name (Gillin, 2007). This observation suggests that the brand name be made prominent to consumers. This can be achieved by presenting the brand name early in advertising and prior to the information about the benefit. In addition, it is useful to introduce information about a brand that is consistent with what people already know about it. When this is not possible, it is important to enhance its recall by creating associations to it in the message (Apple Home Page 2008). In order to address both organizational and societal audiences, I would suggest to publish press releases and company's information in economic journals and popular magazines. Actually, Apple follows this approach and makes its best of all PR strategies. While the importance of developing PR that links a brand to its benefit seems obvious, there have been a notable number of advertising. One reason is that a persuasive advertising message typically has a greater number of connections to people's lives than does the brand name. As time passes, the numerous associations to the message facilitate its recall, while the small number of associations that people have to many brand names make them difficult to recall. The implication is that brands with a rich set of associations in people's minds are less likely to have failures to link the brand name to the message than are brands that are less integral to consumers' lives (Apple Home Page 2008). However, failures to link the brand and its message occur even when a brand is well known. This outcome results because the message is not related to the brand's equity. One motivation factor is the discrepancy between the position advocated in a message and people's current beliefs. Precision is needed in using this motivational device. At most, this approach will reinforce individuals' current beliefs. If a communication is highly discrepant, it is likely to evoke counterarguments and thus have limited influence. The implication is that messages of moderate discrepancy are maximally persuasive (Scott, 2007). At both organizational and societal levels, PR operates by prompting consumers to relate the information presented in an ad to their knowledge about a brand or a category. Even when nothing is known about a brand or a category, the impact of advertising depends on the extent to which it resonates with consumers' goals. Thus, much of the persuasive impact of advertising is self-persuasion. This implies that the likelihood of developing effective advertising is enhanced by having insight about consumers' beliefs (Apple Home Page 2008). The most efficient application of this knowledge is to develop a brand position and advertising that conforms to consumers' beliefs. When this is not possible, PR is used to change consumers' beliefs, though this is a more demanding task than communicating information that resonates with what consumers believe (Cutlip et al 1999; Apple Home Page 2008). This network facilitates thinking about advertised information at the time of purchase. The big idea is most effective when the benefit is one that can be readily associated with many attributes (Cutlip et al 1999). In sum, Apple uses PR to sustain its strong brand image and create a core of loyal consumers informing them about current activities and innovations. In a given industry, buyers will be diverse in their rankings of attributes and their utility cost of gathering information from different sources. Apple buyer heterogeneities increase the diversity of efficient information sources and may lead to different portfolios of information outlays by firms serving different segments of this buyer group. References 1. Apple Home Page. (2008). Available at: 2. Cutlip, S. Center, A. H., Brrom, G. M. (1999). Effective Public Relations. Prentice Hall; 8 edition. 3. Gillin, P. (2007). The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media. Quill Driver Books. 4. Scott, D. M. (2007). The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly. Wiley. Read More