9. How does public relations fit into the promotional mix?

Like sales promotion, public relations can be a vital part of the promotional mix. Public relations is any communication or activity designed to win goodwill or prestige for a company or person. This could include publicity, information about a company or product that appears in the news media and is not directly paid for by the company. Publicity can be good or bad. Reports of children overeating fast food, which can lead to obesity, is an example of negative publicity. Public relations includes many other activities, such as lobbying, event planning, acting as a press agent, managing internal communication, and coordinating crisis management for communications.

Naturally, firms’ public relations departments try to create as much good publicity as possible. They furnish company speakers for business and civic clubs, write speeches for corporate officers, and encourage employees to take active roles in such civic groups as the United Way and the Chamber of Commerce. One of the tools of the public relations department is the press release, a formal announcement of some newsworthy event connected with the company, such as the start of a new program, the introduction of a new product, or the opening of a new plant. Public relations departments may perform any or all of the functions described in Table 12.3.

Much of sales promotion and publicity is about creating buzz. Buzz marketing (or viral marketing) is intense word-of-mouth marketing. Word-of-mouth is essentially a linear process with information passing from one individual to another, then to another. A marketer has successfully created a buzz when the interactions are so intense that the information moves in a matrix pattern rather than a linear one and everyone is talking about the topic. Leading-edge firms now feel that they get more bang for their buck using buzz marketing than other forms of promotion.