Some public relations solutions for FPT University in 2011-2012= Một số giải pháp PR cho đại học FPT trong giai đoạn 2011-2012

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS PHAN DINH HOANG SOME PUBLIC RELATIONS SOLUTIONS FOR FPT UNIVERSITY IN 2011 - 2012 Major: Business Administration Code: 60 34 05 MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

PHAN DINH HOANG

SOME PUBLIC RELATIONS SOLUTIONS FOR

FPT UNIVERSITY IN 2011 - 2012

Major: Business Administration

Code: 60 34 05

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS

SUPERVISORS: Dr TRAN DOAN KIM

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

PHAN DINH HOANG

SOME PUBLIC RELATIONS SOLUTIONS FOR

FPT UNIVERSITY IN 2011 - 2012

Major: Business Administration

Code: 60 34 05

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS

Supervisors: Dr Tran Doan Kim

Hanoi - 2011

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i

ABSTRACT ii

LIST OF FIGURES viii

LIST OF ABBREVIATONS ix

INTRODUCTION 1

1 The problems 1

2 Objectives and aims 3

3 The scope 3

4 Data sources 3

5 Study method 3

6 Contributions to the essay 3

7 Main structure of the essay 4

Chapter 1: PR theoretical bases 4

CHAPTER 1: PR THEORETICAL BASES 5

1.1 PR theory 5

1.1.1 PR concept 5

1.1.2 PR’s principles 8

1.2 Importance of PR 20

1.2.1 Role of PR in enterprise 20

1.2.2 Roles of PR in marketing 20

1.3 Development and implementation procedure of a PR program 22

1.4 – Procedures of a PR program 31

1.5 – Implementation methods 34

1.5.1 –Publications 34

1.5.2 - Events 35

1.5.3 - News 37

1.6 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and PR’s responsibility 39

CONCLUSTION OF CHAPTER 1 41

CHAPTER 2: ANALYSIS OF CURRENT PR SITUATION IN FPT UNIVERSITY ( FU ) 42

2.1 Brief of FPT University 42

2.2 Operation principles of FPT University 43

2.3 Assessment on messages sent to customers 44

2.3.1 Interview the public about FU objectives 44

2.4 Target community group of FPT 47

2.5 Analysis of current PR situation in FU 50

2.5.1 Current PR situation in FU 50

2.5.2 “Go Mass” strategy of FU 60

2.5.3 CSR development and application in FU 61

2.6 - PR situation assessment in FU 62

2.6.1 Advantages 62

2.6.2 Shortcomings 63

CONCLUSTION OF CHAPTER 2 65

CHAPTER 3: SOLUTION PROPOSAL OF NEW PR PROGRAM FOR FPT UNIVERSITY IN 2011-2012 66

3.1 Proposal of solution 66

3.2 Building program for FPT by PENCILS 67

3.2.4 Budget planning 69

3.2.5 Result evaluation 70

3.3 Implementation method 70

3.3.1 Publications 70

3.3.2 Events 72

3.3.3 News 72

3.3.4 Community relations 73

3.3.5 Identity tools 75

3.3.6 Lobbying 77

3.3.7 Social investments 78

3.4 CSR in FU 79

CONCLUSTION OF CHAPTER 3 79

CONCLUSION 80

REFERENCE 81

Figure 1: Model of an event organization 36

Figure 2: 6C model 38

Figure 3: Pie chart 59

Figure 4: Pencils model 67

PR: Public relations

CSR: Corporate social responsibility

FU: FPT University

HSB: Hanoi School of Business

SEO: Search Engine Optimization

RSS: Really Simple Syndication

IT: Information technology

BBA: Bachelor of Business Administration

INTRODUCTION

1 The problems

PR has been established and developed for a very long time, it always develop in parallel with sales and trade of human beings under different forms and names It plays an important role in enterprise To survive and develop, the enterprise shall have a strong PR which works on the base on operational principles and will be changed from time to time due to the actual circumstances

In globalization progress, PR plays more and more important role in broadcasting brand and building prestige for the business Nowadays with information technology boom, invention and development of internet are the major factor altering PR activities, making it changed and create new trends

in operations In order to be able to exploit effectively PR’s benefits, the enterprise shall be aware of new trends to have absolute exploitation method

Our country currently has transferred to market economy competition requirements has made the branding be considered as the top priority of the enterprise, to the capture of new trends of PR therefore is imperative issue that businesses in our country need to perform Integration into large trade organizations such as WTO, AFTA makes commercial activities more freedom, businesses must compete fairly, so building a position for business name plays more and more important role in their survival and development

in all sectors

Education business is a sector with new and special characteristics emerged in recent years in our country During subsidy period, brand promotion, prestige building in the education institutions was not paid attention to because at that time all of them were under the control of the

state With the development of the country, however a series of semi-public and public institutions have been established The brand promotion and prestige building for training institutions are gradually concerned and play an important role in any institution from public to semi-public institutions PR however has been recognized in training facilities for a relatively short time, the awareness of PR is not sufficient The growth speed of the existing training institutions has been gradually results in “the competition of institutions”, thus requirements for brand promotion and prestige building of these institutions shall be paid special attention

FPT University is a private training institution which was newly formed for short time but base on documents I found that FPT University has recognized the importance of building brand, build credibility and given the right assessment on PR roles, thence it sets up programs to bring high efficiency However as a newly formed institution, FPT University is still facing many challenges, PR problems need effective implementation methods

in order to help it develop more strongly in future, becoming the best training university in Vietnam

From the above requirements, through the time of study and learn at

FPT University, I choose the topic of my graduation thesis: “Some PR solutions for FPT University in 2011 – 2012.” I hope that the topic will

contribute a solution to help FPT University develop strongly and sustain ably

Due to limited understanding and a personally subjective perception there are still inevitable shortcomings in this essay I am very happy to perceive contribution of teachers and friends to complete and put it into practice

2 Objectives and aims

The essay aims at:

Assessing current situation of PR at FPT University and giving solutions to PR program for FPT University in 2011 – 2012

Methods: analysis, synthesis, statistical data and actual survey data processing, interview is considered the most basic methods

6 Contributions to the essay

The essay is contributed theoretically and practically by:

Applying general PR ideas, principles and theories to analyze theoretic issues in business administration

Pointing out and analyzing the most critical and imperative PR issues needed to be solve in FPT University

Analyzing, forecasting and proposing to select the most important viewpoints, objectives of FPT University

Proposing PR program as well as a breakthrough solution to develop

PR programs at FPT University

7 Main structure of the essay

The essay is made of 85 pages, including: Introduction, conclusion and reference documents The essay is composed as follows:

Chapter 1: PR theoretical bases

Chapter 2: Analysis of the current PR situation in FPT University (FU)

Chapter 3: Solution proposal of new PR program for FPT University in 2011-2012

CHAPTER 1: PR THEORETICAL BASES 1.1 PR theory

1.1.1 PR concept

We can see the presence of PR in many different aspects from Dong Ky Firecracker Festival, Lim Festival of Love Duet village which are traditional cultural activities but still perform PR for local industries, “Movement of singing dominates bombs”, “Youth with three readiness” - Women with three charges” .which are very effective PR activities to propagate optimistic, patriotic spirit as well as policy orientation of the state in wartime Tree Planting Tet initiated by Uncle Ho is also a community activity to advocate environmental protection in a very attractive, alluring and successful way So what is PR? There are many different concepts of PR, the reason for this is:

PR is quite large, present in many living areas, all commercial or commercial organizations It exists whether we want it or not, otherwise it is out of our decisions PR includes all communications with people who contact organizations All individuals in the society is using PR, unless they are completely isolated and without contact with humans

non-So far, there are many definitions of PR, according to the book of

Frank Jefkins [3] stated 3 definitions which are accepted internationally and

familiar with PR professionals

The definition of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR - Institute of British Public Relations) as follows:

“PR is a deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain understanding between an organization and its public."

This definition emphasizes PR activities which are organized as a campaign or program therefore continuous effort; it is unable to exist without

a plan

The second definition is Frank Jefkins [3]:

“PR includes all forms of planned communications, both inside and outside the organization, between an organization and its public in order to achieve specific goals related to mutual understanding.”

Frank Jefkins wanted to highlight aspect in which PR activity is operated with specific objectives (not just the mutual understanding in general) and so we can evaluate success or failure of a PR campaign based on goals already set

In a meeting between PR press correspondent academics from many countries took place in Mexico City in August 1978, everyone agreed the following statement:

“PR is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organizational leaders, and implementing planned programs of action, which will serve both the organization and the public interest”

This definition focuses on application of study methods prior to plan

PR and social aspects of an organization An organization will be assessed by its interest and responsibility for public interests PR related to the credibility and reputation of the organization

However there are some PR viewpoints of some other researchers as follows:

According to Fraser P Seite [9], an American expert on PR, the PR is

a process which establishes influence on thinking, awareness of the community through positive qualities presented in an appropriate style, based

on the communication of two-way satisfaction

Point view of Vi.wikipedia.org [16] encyclopedias page as follow:

Public relations or communication or public (Public Relations, PR for short)

is the fact that an agency or business organizations actively manage public communication relationships to build and maintain its positive image The public relations activities include promotion of success, mitigation of failure impacts, announcement of changes, and many other activities

From the point of views stated we can summarize general concept of

PR as follows: PR is a system of principles and activities linked organically

and consistently to build:

- An image: such as Kentucky Fried Chicken's image of Colonel

Senders - a an old man with white hair who is honorable, gentle, easygoing with all family members from small to the elderly like Kentucky Fried Chicken products

- One viewpoint: I.e ”drugs are bad”, PR campaign which is to

popularize this concept can use images of suffering addicts, families of addicts as well as assessment of professionals (doctors, police ) to highlight bad effect of drug addiction It is possible to use one or more famous people who are adored as a young singers, musician, and successful businessmen to raise their voice of against drug addiction

- An impression: I.e Heineken is the beer brand of successful people

To achieve this impression Heineken is consistent in all its activities: sponsor

“King” sport as golf and tennis, classical music

- A trust: “Please select Hillary Clinton to be the New York senator

because she cares about women rights.”

But to be succeed, then the above activities must be towards a specific target group and focused on a specific subject which can make a product (milk), or a brand (Vinamilk) a company (Unilever), a policy (regulation on wearing helmet while driving a motorbike), a country (Vietnam - Destination

of the new millennium), even a personal (Singer - Lam Truong) The professional PR is not a demagogic activity because one of the first PR standards is the moral standard A good PR activity is an activity which make objects understand and evaluate exactly and positively nature of the subject of such activities The basic principle of PR is to inform the right object, in right place, right time, right manner by using suitable means

PR is a two-way communication process The PR consultants not only provide information to their audience but also listen and understand psychology, ideas and trends of the community to be able to predict possible reaction, then continue building their PR strategy appropriately

1.1.2 PR’s principles

PR is activities aimed at:

* Contact (meeting, customer meeting)

* Listen (Customers tell about products)

* Exchange, impart (impacts of products to consumers…)

* Build impressive image (sponsor scholarship to students, organize

TV Cup …)

* Activities toward to the public planned due to time: small or large scale to objects

1.1.2.1 The traditional PR principles

Before website was built, PR officers worked through a public media only Hereafter are traditional rules of PR:

 The first reader of press release were editors or newspaper reporter

 The PR officers must have important information before approaching media to send out PR tool

 PR tools such as articles, press releases must include quotes from third parties, such as customers, analysts or expert

* The only way for people to know about the company through

PR by PR officers is whether the media is accepted to post these information, articles or not

* The only way to evaluate the effectiveness of PR tool is based

on archives, article collection whenever the media “condescends” information of the company that advertised by PR officers

Nowadays, PR experts well-experienced in use of press releases to approach directly and quickly to different customers Most of marketing and

PR professionals understand PR impacts expressed over internet are instant Newspapers and television are no longer the only intermediate media Buyer’s directly access to information about the company

It does not mean that media relations are no longer important The press and commercial release through mass media to become part of an overall public relation strategy For some companies, traditional PR still plays a rather important role

But the first reader of PR are no longer journalists, editors PR readers are millions of people who have internet connections and know how to use online search tools

Write press releases with many keywords to search online

Build links to your website in PR tools to send potential customers Optimize press releases, PR articles so as to be the most suitable with online search and browsing

Direct people to sales process of the company through PR campaigns Directly access to buyers

To take maximum efficiency of online PR method, PR officers write press releases, PR articles about anything that the company is implementing:

CEO presents in a conference

Obtain award

Give solution for an old issue

Supplement features for products

Have new customers

Publicize a white book

Think as a publisher

To execute a successful PR campaign, PR officers need to think like a publisher The marketing experts of the enterprises all realize that they now are the providers of information and manage their information content as a valuable asset like publishers

One of the most important activities of publishers is to start from the content and then focuses on design and construction plan on disseminating the content Publishers determine audience, targets, while building appropriate contents to meet their needs

Like a publisher, PR officers need to ask themselves questions such as:

Who is your audience? How to approach them? What are issues you can help them solve? How to make readers willing to read your information? Which content will be so attractive that they are willing to spend money to buy what you offer?

Finally, PR officers never wait for help of the media If PR officers write and send press releases, PR articles through website, i.e PR officers have directly approached to many customers

1.1.2.3 New tendency of PR

In this era, internet with premium features has a large effect on roles and implementation mode of PR Hereafter is some new techniques which can quickly become powerful tools to support PR activities in the near future

In recent years, online marketing professionals recognize the importance of position of products/businesses in rank over the internet which

is the most searched In fact, a new industry called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was formed when technology professionals find that the control of some certain aspects of website is able to build high ranking

PR is an activity through which, the mass media will cover issues related to product name, company name or name of a certain individual The goal of PR is to promote names of companies and individuals through media without direct payment for such media In general, many scripts are created

on newspapers, magazines or on television which often starts from suggestion

of PR officers (it is may be a book, a song, a movie, a consumable product )

If the script is successful, reporter or editor will “followed” it to write articles about the company, or at least can mention names in the field the company operates in In this way, the use of media can also affect reader's perception of that company Why? Because the mass media are often seen as

a “referee” with no bias in posting news, because opinions about and mention

to the company to the do not based on financial purpose (different from advertising) rather than based on evaluation of the media

When mentioning to SEO, the majority of marketers say that this is an advertising way through search engines In fact, there is a significant difference The major search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo, or social networks as Facebook, Twitter does not allow ranking sales The ranking is based on standards set by search engines

However, like the person in charge of PR who influences on launching news on traditional media, SEO experts can also affect results of search program by using techniques so that website is suitable with changeable standards of search engines (webpage optimization) From this view, SEO does right things that a public relations specialist should do, that are to become “arbitrator” - for search websites to set high rank

RSS - A new method to deliver advertising messages - Another important trend which is more prevalent today - is that PR professionals disseminate information about their company or products through a technology named RSS (Really Simple Syndication) This is a technology which can help people easily to identify new content posted on website With the use of information generalization program (can be downloaded from Internet or searching through search engine to track RSS feeds, such as Feedster), those who care about content in a certain number of websites will

be notified immediately whenever a new content is posted, so there will not

be on those sites to search for new information

Although, there are different versions of RSS, but the basic program includes content providers such as news sites, corporate websites thereby creating RSS documents that provide details of new content such as content name, author information, descriptions and links to the full content The

nature of this technology is to allow anyone linked to RSS can immediately receive information about new content

Many journalists and members of other mass media as the technology consider it as a convenient method to access to information, especially when they are keeping track of a certain branch and can monitor information website With suitable RSS subscribers, they get necessary information faster than that they spend their own time to find information Although this technology offers significant benefits PR officers need to realize that the media still tries to subscribe RSS sources To let them do this, PR officers need to use the classic skills of PR activities

Monitor forum and control rumors

Lastly, PR officers should closely monitor forum on website, where information and paper flows are posted freely by anonymous authors, which can cause risks for businesses The immediate feedback of an incorrect comment on these forums will help the company discard rumors before they spread to the community There are thousands of forums like this, so it is the best option to select and supervise some forums under your industry through the search engine This tool can be: Board Reader or Lycos Discussion

Besides, you also have another choice which is Google groups – a tool allows customers to search selected information which is pushed up to Usenet group - a long life online community on the Internet Unlike other forums on websites, readers can access Usenet group via Google, Bing or email In addition, with the emergence of information extraction services on Internet,

PR professionals can also monitor forums and send reports via email

With these functional tools used for PR, there is currently a product of internet which is social network of Facebook, Twitter to bring and transfer information to customers

1.1.2.4 Specific characteristics of PR in training

It is 8 years since Express news, American announced the famous remark of Mr Lee Elliot, the head of PR in Alberta University; it seem that the media and PR have become one of the leading concerns of modern universities

According to his view on the role of PR in Education "PR - not only helps us attract more funds but also help us attract more students, talented staff to study and work"

On the websites of universities around the world from prestigious universities such as Harvard University to “average” universities as Loughborough or even small universities in developing countries such as Birzeit, Palestine, University all of them also have one or more department specialized in advertising on their brand and images, hidden under different names but with a common purpose: the public relationships center, Office of Communications, Public Affairs Department

PHYLOSOPHY: UNIVERSITY – ENTERPRISE

Communications & PR is essential products of market mechanisms and today almost modern universities have one or more departments in charge of public relations Thus, the hidden robe binding communications & PR with universities is the philosophy: American universities - businesses The leaders

of U.S universities right from the beginning have claimed that knowledge cannot be stored in “ivory tower” forever; it shall be transferred to life as much as possible To do, it is necessary to take advantage of more and more

support and attention of the social community Communications & PR become more and more important when governments invest less and less in science and university education

“In the past, universities did not need to concern much about

expressing themselves Currently the government does not steadily spending money for colleges and universities as in 1960 - 1970 Times have been changed and we cannot sit on the banks of river to see its flow forever”- Dr Ken Norrie, the Head of Faculty of Arts, Alberta University stated Even, even when the Government continues allocating fund for universities every year, the university leaders cannot ignore the numerous benefits of association with private enterprises Communications & PR play a very important role in achieving the successful cohesion

Whether companies brave to invest money in university projects if universities do not have an active plan on promoting such projects? Parents will certainly like to send their children to a college which has a good relationship with businesses and external companies “What We Do?” is the slogan of PR Department, Loughborough University (UK)? Leadership of this university believes that “reputation: all staff and students say and do, all what society thinks - is an essential part of our success” Also in India, the Association of Universities has established a Council of PR which always helps and train PR staff at universities here “Each university is doing PR by their own way, but to exploit the full potential of higher education in India, it

is necessary to have a long-term strategy to uphold its full PR impact in

education”- Dr Vishwanath Pandey, the Head of PR Department, Banaras

Hindu University, one of the founding members of the Council of PR affirmed

… Currently in Vietnam

In the early 1990s, along with development of market economy, like many businesses and other organizations at that time, Vietnam universities began paying attention to their brands: Universities began to organize contest

of logo or printing calendar to send to students in Tet holiday with this logo,

or celebrations, ceremonies, tournaments not only are organized in universities, they begin being widely announced in newspapers and on television But it is clear that it is still not enough to create a brand for universities where their logos are too sketchy, same, only a page, torch or some symbols on the field they train, while events are still mainly reported uncreative on means of communication In fact, universities still do not have a brand positioning set including their logo, predominant color, standard forms

of envelopes, letterhead or slogan businesses have done (such as Viettel or Coca Cola for example)

In this context, private or international universities which do not have regular budgets of state are a pioneer in actively building communication &

PR strategy Even though FPT University was newly formed, it has inherited

a lot from the parent company - FPT Corporation which is very active in building its image and suitable PR strategies

are mainly from journalism, socialism factories (i.e Department of Media & External Affairs Culture of Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam established 2008)

Universities basically still carries typical characteristics of a non-profit organization with numerous, diversified and complex customers A student in amphitheatre is a customer of the university, but when in life, contacting with society, he (she) plays a role as “ambassador” advertising for the university –

a typical example of the complexity of the university that very few enterprises encounter However, one undeniable thing is in order to develop, minimize negative impacts and, above all expects to bring knowledge from “ivory tower” as fast as possible; these universities cannot care about the role of media & PR In order to do well, it is not only able to rely on efforts of university leadership, PR department, but also involve in any member of these universities

7 groups of organizations/customers/main clients of universities nowadays

1) Government: Although investment in education is an indispensable

task of any government in the world But clearly, maintenance and establishment of good relationships with members working in government, Ministries or Industries will certainly cause more positive impacts for current universities not only in term of finance but also in spirit

2) Student: the free and best “ambassador” and a “PR officer” for

universities Whole society will look at students to assess how universities are

3) Lecturers, administrative professionals: both worker and “internal

customers” of that university They can be divided “the special customer” into

3 types:

i) Type 1: Those who always concern protect and build images of universities They should be encouraged and supported in order to enlist their enthusiasm to help build images of universities with society;

ii) Type 2: Those who ignore all things outside their job These people often have high commitment and always do their good job they are assigned, but you should not put too much hope in them;

iii) Type 3: Those who are pessimistic on their future as well as the future of the university Leaders need to be careful with people like this

4) Alumni: A great resource that many universities in the world have

forgotten or not fully exploited None of any alumni does not want to come back his old school to develop and become prosperous American universities have done well this job And it is easy to understand why the off-budget financial resources of American universities usually are plentiful and diverse

It is a very large contribution from their alumni

5) Enterprise and Community: The inevitable relationship between

universities - business has been and will demonstrate its superiority This is one of the most positive elements which may help knowledge soon escape from “ivory tower”

6) Public media: Taking advantage of the support of these “customers”

will bring many benefits to universities, especially in case of crisis

7) Student families: When parents make application to prepare for

enrollment of their children into a university Surely they will refer experience

of their members before making a final decision

1.2 Importance of PR

1.2.1 Role of PR in enterprise

It is possible to say that PR is the best solution for businesses because it has good effects, visible with a very low cost, resounding when transferring images of enterprise to the public

Basically the main role of PR is a bridge between enterprises and community groups inside and outside of enterprises In other words, PR helps businesses to convey messages to customers and their community groups

With internal affairs community groups, these message are guidelines and ideas, visions of leaders to convey to immediate staffs so as to achieve successfully set objectives as well as softening disagreements in enterprises (if any)

With the external affairs community group, these messages are to help customers easily imagine each time seeing a brand

PR can easily sympathize with the public, so it goes deep into the customer's mind and brands and made it increasingly expanding PR is less commercial because of using intermediaries such as sponsorship, newspaper articles (news, reportage)

1.2.2 Roles of PR in marketing

PR is a part of P4 (Promotion) in Marketing Mix (4P including product, Price, Place, Promotion) P4 is understood as integral Marketing

communication and PR is one of them (in addition, there are advertisement, promotion, direct marketing, personal selling)

So, how is PR different from advertisement?

First, PR is more objective than such activities which often use objective intermediaries to bring messages to consumers:

- Press release and articles on radio

- Sponsorship program

- Charity

The message of PR activities is often informative rather than not commercial, so it is more acceptable

Secondly, PR activities bring more specific information to consumers

PR activities are often lower costs by not spending the big money on leasing time on media and no cost for creative design and high production Budget for PR activities of companies is often dozen times less than cost of advertising However, the effectiveness of information usually not lowers due

to object concentration and extensive effect of word of mouth

PR activities are often consistent over a long time A slogan, a product’s nature or even a business strategy can be change frequently to catch the market's taste, but the image and brand values must often be built and maintained in a long process to enlist the public's trust

Another feature of PR is usually to bring specific benefits to subjects

PR activities of many companies often target to take emotion of the public in general without relating to any specific product It is clear that PR activities bring more or less positive effects to society

1.3 Development and implementation procedure of a PR program

Planning of PR program is necessary because: It is necessary to have targets to assess; able to calculate time and cost, allow to select priorities and schedule to implement activities; allow to determine feasibility of carrying out set goals

Without specific plans, PR professionals will have to work due to daily program PR will always embark on new jobs and maybe never finish other job

Thus, it is difficult to summarize what has been implemented and its effectiveness at the end of the year This is like steering a ship without a destination, do not collect ticket and finally ship could not run because of no more fuel (consumed all fuels)

4 reasons for planning PR program:

- To establish targets for PR activities, creating a basis for evaluating the future results

- To estimate the number of working hours and other related

costs

- To select priorities of number and implementation

schedule of different activities in the program

- Decide feasibility of carrying out objectives set out in sufficient personnel condition with appropriate capacity, available equipments such as office equipments, cameras or transportation

means and full funding

Words to remember are a number of hours worked, priorities, schedules, resources, equipments and funds We are applying economics - the study of product/service scarcity on market because everything is limited After studying the following planning models, we will see that it is necessary

to make maximum effort for a minimum number of plans

Without specific plans, PR professionals will have to work due to daily program He/she will always embark on new jobs and will probably never finish other jobs

Thus, it is difficult summarize what has been implemented and its effectiveness at the end of the year This is like steering a ship without a destination, do not collect ticket and finally it could not continue running because the ship used up all fuel A PR lacking of profession just like that: no purpose and no benefit

Hereafter is steps for a basic PR plan mostly accepted by PR experts in

accordance with the following document [32]

Step 1- Evaluation of situation

- Evaluation content: Where we're in the public mind? Which

problem that the public do not exactly understand?

- Assessment methods: survey on opinions, attitudes, review of

reports; internal environmental assessment external factor assessment

This is the plan based on goals, but its degree of success depends on applicable ability and performance It is important to grasp the situation, such

as by asking questions: Where are we? Which problem that the public does not understand exactly?

Before a PR program is set out, it is necessary to clarify its starting point How the public recognize our program? It is similar to principle of studying terrain before military battle It needs "intelligence" or information

If we only forecast or assume or act by feeling or instinct then we can make mistakes and PR programs will become useless

Procedure to transfer basic circumstances by PR activities

Negative circumstance - Active circumstance

Opposite - Sympathy

Prejudice - Acceptance

Ignorance - Concern

Lack of knowledge - Knowledge

These are the basic situations that PR professionals often face with And so the final goal of PR is to provide knowledge to help people understand Sometimes this is applied even when object does not like or disagree

For example, a good PR program can help a Christian to understand the faith of Muslims or vice versa, or help a drug addict understand people who are trying to help him, or help members of different political parties understand each other better PR is not necessarily to try to make others think about company in a right way rather than wonderful way One ideal goal

of PR is the public acceptance, because it is difficult to accept something if not understood properly

There are four negative situations in step “evaluation of this situation”

Opposite: We need to make questions: How about level of opposition?

Which way is opposition expressed? Why does it exist? Can it be solved? How to resolve it?

Prejudice: The causes of prejudice may be affected from family,

education, religion, society or environment, or simply a misunderstanding In the past British people had prejudice with Japanese goods, but now they like it

- prejudice has been eliminated We can apply Leon Festinger's theory to explain this problem At first, it is conservative attitude to new ideas and resists change, but when moving to accept a new mindset, they will become enthusiastic advocates for that thought and reject the old ideologies

Ignorance: This is the worst “enemy” of the understanding It may be a

“product” of selfishness, laziness, lack of imagination, or result of a presentation uninteresting and less persuasive on a topic Such as a campaign

of encouraging use of unleaded gasoline, although price is low, at first it was not interested because it is not convincible to people about environment preservation The secret of successful PR information - according to Ivy Ledbetter Lee journalist - it should attract interest and value to recipients

Lack of knowledge: This is a common failure - public is lack of

understanding of your organization In the busy world today no one can know and understand everything So we have to accept competition to win a place

in everyone's mind

It is not so difficult to make someone familiar with one issue like us, but such assumptions are dangerous and have wrong results When lack of knowledge is spread more and more widely, it will deeply affect image of the organization before the public

To identify difficulties in implementing such attitude conversion process, PR professionals must be realistic, not overly optimistic because he/she cannot succeed absolutely He/she can set “step” of target, such as a percentage of the public who change in understanding the first campaign, and the remaining percentage will have more optimistic result in the next campaigns Furthermore, PR professionals must also recognize that new generation group will always appear in community groups Thus, it is an ongoing process

Step 2 - Learning situations

In order to evaluate situation accurately and effectively, it is necessary

to learn situation carefully Learning can be done by a study of available information or statistics, or executing an entirely new study One method often used for PR purposes as opinion polls

Solution

After evaluating the situation, we can identify problems and give solutions PR is “the business of solving problems” How can we understand the problem better? Hiring staff can be prevented by negative attitudes of owners or works; they cannot contribute to a charity organization because they do not understand its purpose, farmers do not use one fertilizer or pesticide because they do not know how to use it safely, economically and effectively; customer has not bought a product because they do not believe in introduction of such products This is bad PR situations; they are only being improved if understanding reasons

Situation assessment methods

- Explore opinions, attitudes

- Review articles on organizations or reportage on television

- Report sales and forecast trends of future sales

- The competition situation and import efficiency

- Share price, the evaluation of the stock market, dividend and balance sheet

- Labor relations - strikes and wage agreements

- Current weather and its effects

- Customer complaints, products situation or reports on the testing

- Discussion with sales and distribution staff

- Prices and impact of price changes

- The factors influencing the market: Economy, society and politics

- Attitudes of those opinions affecting public opinion

Step 3 - Target definition

After discussions with leadership, a list of targets can be made, such as

Change image;

Attract human resource well;

The public knows well and clearly about the company;

Announce achievements;

Announce scope of new market;

Improve contraries, misunderstanding;

Increase strength of the organization;

Direct consumption;

Establish a new feature in organization culture;

Let the public know about social activities of the company;

Sponsor a scholarship award program …;

Let the public know about research of the organization;

Let politicians, government officials know about the organization's activities which may be affected because of new laws, regulations …

Step 4 - Determination of the community group

At this step, it is important to consider hindering factors to determine precisely the community group we can target to and target effectively in budget limit and choice of appropriate communication means If the community group is too diverse, ignore some groups

- Necessity:

Define the relevant community group;

Establish priority of budge expense;

Select suitable communication means;

Select suitable methods;

Select appropriate message

- 10 basic community groups:

Community;

Current staffs;

Potential staffs;

Capital contribution investors;

Suppliers;

Communications organizations;

Organizations affecting public opinion

Association of Trade, organizations;

Customers

Step 5 - Selection of means of communications

It is possible to use the following media for PR:

- Press: Newspaper which is released on the country or only

in the region, free newspapers, professional publications, press released each year

- Visual media, video tape, discs

- Radio: Nationwide, local, international

- TV: Nationwide, local, international

- Displays: The PR special exhibition, trade exhibitions or

presentations to the public

- Document printing: Education, information and education

- Funding policies: The topic may be related to organization, as manuals of companies producing electrical equipments, cookbooks of food manufacturers, map or guidebook history of the oil companies or the suppliers of materials for automobiles

- Direct letter: Individual letter attached PR message

- Sayings: Direct communication sessions which can be effective even over a meal, coffee, in the office, by phone or at the factory, at the company

- Sponsor: In the field of arts, sports, festival activities, scholarships and charitable programs PR almost always involve in all grant programs because it expresses sincere of the organization

- Journal of the company for employees or distributors of products, users

- Form and culture of the company

- In addition, there are many other forms, such as hot air balloon of Goodyear company which is decorated with the PR messages, and then flew across skies of Europe and North

America, or stamps with the safety traffic instructions

Step 6 – Budget planning

PR officers need to make budget planning to implement PR campaign

- Advantages:

Know cost of a program implementation;

Know which program will be carried out first;

Make specific plan of costs;

Set quota of expenses and control;

Evaluate budge usage;

Labor;

Management costs;

Materials;

Business expenses;

Cost factors:

Step 7 – Evaluation of results

PR is a specific activity which can be measured results of defined targets

Promote understanding of the public;

Compared to expected results

1.4 – Procedures of a PR program

Step 1: Program Planning

Based on analysis of challenges and opportunities, identify specific objectives, PR staff propose and plan activities, then evaluates their effectiveness

To achieve desired effect of PR activities, and be able to solve possible problems, program planning is an essential stage in the work schedule

Due to purposes, strategies, specific strategies, a PR plan usually includes the following steps:

 Study, evaluate situation

 Define objectives of the program

 Define community group needed to target in the program

 Decide to select which media

 Budget planning

 Evaluate effectiveness of the program

Step 2: Writing and Editing

With PR, the text is often the tool to convey messages to customers and the public Types of text prepared by PR officers are diverse, including shareholder report, annual reports, press releases, articles, speeches and pamphlets, newsletters, internal news, articles on website

Therefore, it is necessary to have good oral and written skills, proficient

in drafting and editing, handling of related documents

Step 3: Design and Production

The job of PR officer for the internal company or works for customers also relates to design, yearbook manufacture, reports, documentary films, multimedia programs So, PR officers should have basic knowledge, updating program design and production, know to build relationships, understanding with designers inside and outside the organization

Step 4: Media Relations

Media Relations are important part of PR activities

PR establishes and develops a good cooperation relationship with the media They provide the latest updates on their activities or customers to the press This work includes editor and press releases, press conferences, meeting organization

PR officer shall always maintain and develop the company's image through advertising and appeared frequently in the mass media

Step 5: Communication (speaking)

Speaking is integral part of PR activities

Through meetings, presentations, product launches , PR try to launch messages effectively to each customer group and separate community to achieve certain goals

This task requires PR officers to have presentation skills while understanding thoroughly psychology and needs of customer groups, different communities in the society

Step 6: Planning and performance of Special Events

PR always has to plan and organize and run activities called the event

Events are plentiful from conferences, exhibitions, anniversaries, contests, prizes to launch of new products, press conference

These activities are carried out for different purposes such as attracting the attention of any special community groups, advertising some activities, new and special products of the enterprise, organizations, guests every This

is one of main PR activities

Step 7: Research and Evaluation

This is an indispensable activity, it is necessary to become principles and practice A professional PR program must be constantly evaluated for lessons, to be prerequisite for developing the future plan

1.5 – Implementation methods

Implementation method can be summed up in PENCILS principle according to the summary of Kotler [29], [30]

1.5.1 –Publications

The first pencil in PR activities is Publications This pencil has received

a deep interest of Vietnam's enterprises Currently there have been many enterprises deploying very impressively their Publications The pencil has contributed to make a diverse media document for the enterprise, creating conditions for the media, customers, suppliers, investors to fully grasp the information This also means transferring information to employees effectively and professionally

Effect of Publications to Parties

Effect of Publications to each object is very different

For customers, especially companies with extensive customer network, Publications are a bridge providing regular information to customers about prices, products, promotion policies

Investors can learn about business situation, new projects which are going to be executed by the enterprise

Providers learn more material needs of customers in each time

Through Publications Employees can understand better the company, strategies that the company is implementing In addition, to overcome the current financial crisis Publications is an efficient communication tool which encourages and reassures staff

The media agencies are important objects of Publications In particular, some companies are often reluctant to contact the press, as a result, many