Week 10 (Chapter 6) - Research & Evaluation

This week's readings investigates on the needs and various techniques used for research, the ethical issues involved and the appropriate time for research.

Why research? Research is a human activity based on intellectual investigation and aimed at discovering, interpreting, and revising human knowledge on different aspects of the world. With no exception in the PR field, research is important at all stages of any PR process. It is used to identify the requirements for a communication program, to assist in establishing,checking of progress and evaluating the effectiveness.

I think the key points to remember from this week's readings would be the considerations and ethical considerations during the research process.

During the research process, PR practitioners will be faced with obstacles that might disrupt their decision. Time, money and availability of HR are the main obstacles that will be standing in the way of a thorough research program. As the research process gets long-term, it will be costly to continue. The budget set aside for the research program should be enough throughout the period of the research process. Tight deadlines drive PR practitioners attempting to "skive" and used short-cuts. Deciding on what to research is also another consideration, as there must be a balance between enough useful research instead of conducting irrelevant overflowing research. This will create the depletion of the budget and time set aside for the research process.


As PR practitioners, they should always practise no signs of dishonesty or hurtful manner, be conscious of coercion, no manipulation of data just to achieve their aims.

PRIA's Code of Ethics provide good guidelines for the practitioner:
- Full disclousre of the research procedure
- Make sure results are accurately reported and distributed freely and widely.
- Keep respondent information confidential as promised.
- Do not promise clients and sponsors what cannot be delivered.
- Do no harm.

Week 9 (Chapter 8) - Tactics

This week's readings investigates about the various types of tactics used in the PR industry.

Oh, it seems that the terms 'strategy' and 'tactics' have differences and yet interlinked to fit together.

By referring to the definitions on these 2 terms from this week's readings, strategy refers to an overarching plan that allows a PR practitioner to help ensure that organisational goals and objectives are achieved. On the other hand, tactics must relate directly back to its defined purpose: achieving the strategic outcome.

I think the key points to remember from this week's readings would be the grouping of tactics and the selection of tactics.

Tactics are being broken into two major groups: controlled and uncontrolled.

Controlled : No manipulation of any aspect of the process by anyone except the PR practitioner.
E.g. Advertising.

Uncontrolled: Can be altered or even be blocked completely.
E.g. Media Relations

When it comes to the selection of tactics, it is important to consider all the possible outcomes or consequences of using it. However, some PR practitioners seem to limit the tactics' effectiveness by applying them indiscriminately.

I agree with the concluding paragraph in the readings that there is no guaranteed correct set of tactics that will ensure successful implementation of a PR campaigns. Instead, it is important for the PR practitioner to be analytical and display creativity in considering tactics in the light of a complex range of impacting factors in order to achieve success.

Week 8 (Chapter 13) - Sponsorship and Event Managements

When people talk about sponsorship, it's natural that they will have an image of the sponsoring organisation trying to boost their image and reputation in their mindset.

This week's readings investigates about how organisations go about using specific tactics of sponsorship and special events in order to achieve their goals.

As mentioned in the readings, Sponsorship refers to the purchase of specific rights and benefits associated with an event, organisation or individual. It is one of the most expensive and popular tactics chose around in any industry. It usually requires a return, creates goodwill and provides opportunities to enhance the image and reputation of an organisation. Being simplistically regarded in the past, sponsorship has become a visible manifestation of community partnering.

I think the key points to remember from this week's readings would be the types of sponsorship and the management of events.

Basically, there are three types of sponsorship - Philanthropic, Corporate and Marketing. From my own point of view, I felt that philanthropic sponsorship is the most beneficial to any organisation. It not only generates community goodwill, it also generates goodwill in employees. On the other hand, marketing sponsorship are often seen as "spin-off" as it only aims to boost the sales by offering cash and goods in return for tangible revenue-oriented results.

It is important how the PR practitioner chooses the right event that will most suit the purpose of creating "fresh & juicy" news that will get the attention of the media. In addition, carefully managed events help to create platform for product demonstration, corporate/client entertainment and revenue generation.

When planning and carrying out of events get expensive, it is inevitable to look for good sponsorship support and achieve credibility in the eyes of the sponsor. However, sponsorship is not an one-way lane! It requires responsibility for positive benefits from the event organiser and the sponsor.