Resource Materials - (Public Relations - General)

Theory: A statement of the relationship among variables

Theories of relationships

• Why do things (entities, issues) work together the way they do?

• Why do people learn about (& understand) things the way they do?
• How does people’s learning (& understanding) affect behavior?

• How do communications media work? And why?

Strategy: A course of action taken in PR, to reach a defined goal, based on...

• The theory that ‘frames’ the situation, generally and specifically
• The research that provides info on past actions & suggests new ones

Tactics: Specific action steps to being about the course of action.

• A campaign, for example, is a series of tactics to being about an overall course of action.

Tool: A specific element of an action step - a mechanism, or process.

• A news release, for example, is a tool.

Example: A community health clinic establishes a goal of getting more parents of young children to consistently use auto safety seats for their children. The strategy represents the overall course of action to be taken to bring about this goal. The tactics represent specific action steps. These might include public events, corporate sponsored activities, a campaign, or a variety of other elements. Finally, the tools are the specific task-oriented items that are carried out within each action step. A news release announcing the launch of a campaign, for example, is a tool used to bring about a tactic that supports the overall strategy.

EVENT PLANNING

Douglas J. Swanson, Ed.D APR