Public relation refers to a distinctive management function that assists in establishing and maintaining mutual lines of communication, acceptance, cooperation and understanding between a firm and the public (Theaker. 2001). In the modern business real, firms utilize PR campaigns that utilize both media and non-media connectors.
Media connectors in a PR campaign include the use of newspapers, TV, Radio, Blogs and even magazines (Giannini, 2009). A good example of a current PR campaign that uses media connectors is the Healthy Choice’s use of pairing social coupons combined with blogger outreach (Bedell, n.d.). Healthy Choice intended to grow its client base, and identified the use of bloggers. Since most of its clients relied on social media, Healthy Choice carried out a far-reaching outreach to coupon bloggers to reach its clients (Mashable, n.d.). The campaign was a success. The main media connector used was the blogs. The target market included the social media users who had an interest in their coupon.
Non-media connectors in a PR campaign include the use of expert and opinion leaders, reference groups and citizen marketers (Giannini, 2009). There has been extensive use of citizen marketers by most PR companies. A Citizen Marketer refers to hyper-engaged client not employed by any media outlet. Such a person freely gives his or her personal expression of the passion he or she has for a product or an industry. For instance, a firm called the Breeders’ Cup used an anonymous personality named Zenyatta to provide news and exclusive updates through a twitter account. Within a month, the Twitter handle had already attracted quite a number of followers. The target market again was the twitter users.
References
Bedell, D. (n.d.). Five Social PR Campaigns to Learn From | Flack Me. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.talentzoo.com/flack-me/blog_news.php?articleID=9566
Giannini, G. T. (2009). Marketing public relations: A marketer's approach to public relations and social media. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Mashable. (n.d.). 5 Smart Social PR Campaigns to Learn From. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://mashable.com/2011/03/08/social-pr-campaigns/
Theaker, A. (2001). The public relations handbook. London: Routledge.
