Depending on what the goals of PR are and to whom it is directed, there are several varieties of it.

The main types of PR are commercial and political PR.

Initially, PR activities were aimed exclusively at consumers. Public relations programs aimed at creating a positive reputation for firms producing goods, and now remain the most important area of ​​PR. This is especially important when introducing new types of goods to the market, when it is necessary to assure wary consumers of the high reputation of the manufacturer. Nowadays, potential investors (financial PR), government agencies, employees of the company itself are also the object of PR companies. In addition to the usual PR activities, crisis PR is used when it is necessary to eliminate the negative consequences of the crisis that hit the company.

Political PR began to develop in the era of representative democracy, when it became necessary for political leaders to convince the widest circles of voters to vote for them. Modern political PR is no longer limited to creating a favorable image for individual politicians or political parties. In the era of globalization, international PR is developing, aimed at achieving mutual understanding between citizens different countries despite cultural differences. Its reputation depends on the image of the country, to which foreign investors and public opinion of other countries react. Therefore, the activities of modern diplomats necessarily include the organization of public events that glorify the achievements and culture of their country.

There are five main areas of public relations activity:

Relations with the media (publicity) - creating news about a person, product or service that appears in the media (newspapers, TV shows, etc.);

Relationships with staff internal communications companies with their employees. They are based on programs to motivate employees to perform their work in the best possible way;

Relations with the financial community -- interaction with state financial authorities, with private and corporate investors, with stock brokers and the financial press;

Relations with authorities -- close cooperation (including lobbying) with federal, regional, district and local authorities authorities;

Community Relations -- Maintaining positive relationships with the local community includes sponsorship, such as helping to resolve environmental issues region.

An important feature of properly organized PR is that this work is aimed not so much at a momentary result as at achieving long-term benefits. For example, commercial PR brings results in the form of signed contracts, government benefits, new investments, and so on. later long time after holding companies that form a "good" image of the company.

Often the customer requires quick results from PR specialists. This is especially typical for politicians who urgently need to increase their popularity on the eve of elections. If you spend large amounts of money and use manipulative technologies, you can dramatically increase the rating of even extremely unpopular figures. In this case, “black PR” is of great importance - “pouring mud” on opponents so that the voter votes for the “lesser evil”. However, such methods give only a short-term result and ultimately ruin the reputation of the customer.

Problems of PR development in Russia. In post-Soviet Russia, PR initially began to develop in relations not between business and the public, but between government structures and the public. In the 1990s, almost everyone federal agency management created its own public relations service in the form of a press service, a press center, a press agency, a press secretary, etc. In the administration of the President of the Russian Federation in 1996, the Directorate for Public Relations was created. The Department of Public and Interregional Relations operates in the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. Public relations departments also function in the administrative districts of the capital and in the Moscow Mayor's Office.

Commercial PR in Russia has so far received the greatest development in the banking and computer business. Representative offices of foreign PR companies have appeared in Russia. Many of the largest Western companies, having already settled in Russia, they teach PR lessons in practice, actively winning new market. Their experience is shared Russian companies, in which specialists in this field appeared, and sometimes entire departments.

In the sphere of average and even partly big business in Russia at the beginning of the 21st century. many still do not attach due importance to PR. Many entrepreneurs, in pursuit of momentary profit, believe that the use of PR technologies is a waste of money and time. According to numerous surveys, few people in modern Russia generally understands what PR is. Many tend to identify it with dirty pre-election technologies (“black PR”), when competitors are accused of all sins, silent about the shortcomings of the advertised candidate. Therefore, neither PR measures themselves are respected yet as a technology for managing a company's reputation.

“Reputation is a valuable intangible asset of a company that accumulates over the years and can be destroyed overnight” - this phrase in various variations, like a mantra, sounds at conferences, flashes on the pages of business publications, appears in corporate business plans.

Experts agree that a good reputation makes a company more attractive to investors, increases its capitalization, allows you to increase revenue, provides a stronger position when entering new markets and support of the general population. Scientists publish the results of studies proving the positive impact of reputation on other parameters of the business model. There is no doubt that reputation needs to be managed. However, in staffing tables companies still do not have the position of "director of corporate reputation". This type of activity has not yet been singled out as an independent discipline, universities do not train appropriate specialists, there is no understanding of what and how to manage - how to organize the process, how to evaluate the result.

In Russia, in response to the trends of the times, they were the first to include a buzzword in their lexicons PR-specialists who often consider this concept as a synonym for the word "image", not particularly caring about a deep understanding of the differences. In the West, to whose experience we are accustomed to appeal, concern for corporate reputation is recognized as one of the most important tasks of the top management of companies.

Domestic business is still far from the first lines of world reputation ratings - we have something to work on, especially since in the light of all-consuming globalization there is every reason to talk about a further increase in the relevance of this task.

Russia is one of the four most promising countries for investment - almost a third of foreign top managers out of a little less than 1,500 respondents are going to develop their business in our country in the next three years.

Foreign firms plan to attract new customers, intensify work with existing ones, launch new products on the market, form partnership alliances, create local offices, and carry out mergers and acquisitions (Fig. 1, 2). For Russian market this may mean the following scenarios: a) increased competition; b) creation of new strategic partnerships; c) change of business owners.

In each of the three cases, a good reputation becomes a source of additional benefits for local players. First of all, combined with the advantage of knowing the specifics of the "home" market, it makes it possible to maintain customer loyalty as in the conditions of increased activity of those already working in Russia foreign companies as well as the emergence of new competitors.

Secondly, a good reputation increases the chances of entering into profitable and promising partnerships and allows domestic companies that are involved in the process of mergers and acquisitions to sell their assets at a higher price.

Obviously, to achieve a noticeable effect, any management actions taken by the organization business reputation must wear long-term and systemic character, be integrated into key business processes.

Rice. one. Purpose of investing in Russia.

Fig.2.

One of the obstacles to building a reputation management system is the lack of unambiguous terminology. Many difficulties arise from the erroneous confusion of the concepts of "reputation" and "image".

Over the past 20 years, the number of publications devoted to the topic of corporate reputation has increased exponentially. Theorists and practitioners have proposed many different definitions. Researchers at the University of South Florida College of Business Administration (USA) identified 49 original corporate reputation statements in books and articles published between 2000 and 2003. The analysis showed that, despite the apparent diversity of interpretations, all available interpretations can be divided into three groups that define reputation as:

General awareness of the company's activities, which does not require in-depth analysis and evaluation;

Some knowledge obtained by directly involving target groups in assessing the state of the company - based on own experience or the opinions of outside experts;

An intangible object that has a value expression, i.e., in fact, is a financial or economic asset.

This classification makes it possible to formulate three basic definitions, allowing to clearly separate the concepts and identify the managed object.

Corporate image is a stable emotionally colored image that is formed in the minds of the target groups as a result of the perception of information about the organization.

Corporate reputation-- this is a collective opinion about the company, formed over time in the minds of target groups based on an expert assessment of the economic, social and environmental aspects of its activities.

Reputational Capital is the monetary value of reputation as an intangible asset of the company.

Reputation is a purely rational category, formed on the basis of the actual experience of interaction between the target groups and the organization, on evidence-based arguments, conscious comparison, or on the assessments of authoritative experts. Image is a superficial emotional category based on impressions and does not require balanced assessments and conclusions.

Figuratively speaking, image is a mask, reputation is what is hidden behind it. When it comes to business, "mask" and "face" are designed to complement and reinforce, but not contradict each other. These are two sides of the same coin, each of which performs its own function and plays a special role.

Due to the indicated specificity, these objects require different approaches to management and, in particular, different use of communications as one of the basic levers of influence on target groups. Leaving the image "side of the coin" outside the scope of this article, let's focus on reputation and consider its constituent elements.

Table 2. Corporate reputation parameters

Table 3

Reputation parameters classification

Reputation is value. The most obvious example of such an assessment is the existing global reputation ratings, in particular, such as:

Global Most Admired Companies, compiled and published annually by Fortune magazine;

World "s Most Respected Companies, compiled by PriceWaterhouseCoopers until 2006 and published in newspaper Financial Times; - World "s Best Corporate Reputations, prepared by the Reputation Institute and "debuted" in November 2006 on the pages of Forbes magazine.

Behind each of the ratings is the serious work of analysts from well-known consulting groups, backed up by the authority of leading business publications. Despite the difference in approaches, the methods for compiling the three listed lists are based on an almost identical set of parameters, by combining and systematizing which we will get Table. 1. The eight parameters listed in it form the foundation of corporate reputation. The level of detail may vary depending on the type of business and its scale.

The presence in a detailed list of both quantitative and qualitative indicators makes it difficult to assess an already difficult to understand multidimensional intangible object. Unlike global ratings, where each participant is assigned one number, according to which the final ranking takes place, there is no need to apply a similar “point” model to assess the work for reputation within the company.

If the corporate reputation management system works effectively, by the end of the year the company will inevitably have a set of assessments expressed in positions or points. We are talking not only about global reputation ratings, which only largest corporations around the world, but also about various local industry lists related to our eight criteria. As a rule, public companies do not lack external evaluations of their activities, so it makes sense to focus on building internal reporting on the results of the work done.

When developing a system of indicators, it is necessary to be guided by the principle of their long-term relevance, since corporate reputation is closely related to such a factor as time, and the dynamics of the development of the process in each of the areas is of great value for assessing the functioning of the reputation management system.

Such a differentiated evaluation of work requires an understanding of the degree of importance of each of the eight parameters. To prioritize, we classify them according to the three aspects mentioned in the above definition of reputation.

In general, the process of creating and maintaining a corporate reputation at a high level can be described by the following formula:

Reputation = Actions + Communications

Here it is appropriate to recall the words of Henry Ford: "You can't build a reputation on intentions to do something." The current work, its achievements and results will determine what assessment will be given to the company by representatives of target audiences. Before developing a program of action, it is necessary to analyze best experience global companies and domestic players regardless of industries.

This does not mean that this term loses its meaning for monopoly companies. In this case, the main role is played by the argument from the contrary: a bad reputation is an incentive for the destruction of the monopoly under the influence of external forces. In addition, if competing players appear on the market, a high reputational status will keep the ex-monopolist's customers.

Another important component of the reputation formula is communications. Informing target groups about the results of the company's actions is an integral part of the process of forming a positive assessment of its activities.

Without belittling the importance of communications through the media, it is worth saying that in this case, the direct interaction of company employees with representatives of target groups is of great importance, since this is how audiences gain experience. Reputational communications should be built in accordance with the principles of transparency, openness and readiness for direct dialogue.

Today, much is said about the need for maximum information openness of business. From the point of view of the interests of the company, this trend may conflict with the requirements information security. It is enough to go back to the list of reputation parameters to see that some of them, such as innovation, are associated with data that is strategically important for the company, the disclosure of which can cause a decrease in the competitiveness of the business. Therefore, at the stage of organizing the reputation management process, it is important to create an information filter and, in particular, to separate reporting formats for internal use and for external audiences.

PR like professional look activities, interacts with other areas. The use of methodology from related areas allows you to effectively solve all the goals and objectives facing PR specialists. PR can partially perform the functions of advertising and vice versa. PR is closely related to marketing and uses its tools in its activities.

In PR activities, various methods and techniques are used. Let's consider them below.

Using methods of influence from the media

Remark 1

PR, like other means of communication, affects the human psyche with information. The influence of information is very great. With the help of certain techniques, techniques and technologies, information is transferred to the end user. Media: television, radio and press are the main tools for disseminating any information.

Public relations activities use the following methods from the mass media:

• "Affirmative statements" - a description of facts that do not require any evidence.
• "Application of slogans" - widely used in PR, allows you to create a positive image of the product and the company in the eyes of consumers.
• "Focus on a few features" - concentration on some features of the product image, for example, the image of the product that creates good mood, promoting health improvement, having high reliability and safety, etc.
• "Use of groups of influence" - the use of references in PR materials to authoritative and influential individuals or groups of the target audience.
• "Creating Contrast" - Demonstrating a product with an emotional focus as something radically different from others, with exceptional properties and benefiting consumers.
• "Comparison". A clear demonstration of the advantages of the product in comparison with others.
• "Promotion" of a favorable image of one product on the basis of the image of another. This allows you to increase the recognition of the product and psychologically simplifies the perception of it by the consumer.

Sociological methods of PR activity

Companies use methods from sociology in various functional areas of their activities, including PR.

Public Relations apply:

• Desk research. They are the simplest and least costly; they are aimed at collecting and analyzing secondary information on issues of interest.
• Field research involves direct contact with the target audience in order to study their opinions and requests, attitudes towards certain problems.
• The main method of conducting is a survey. Distinguish the following types surveys:
• Questionnaires. The respondent fills in the form with questions.
• Expert interviews. It is aimed at finding out more specific specialized information.
• An in-depth interview is a direct survey of the respondent using additional clarifying questions.
• Focus group - a group conversation aimed at clarifying the opinions and attitudes of consumers to a particular issue. It is carried out in the form of a discussion.

Methods from psychology

Remark 2

In PR activities, the following methods of psychology are used:

• manipulation method. It consists in the socio-psychological impact on a person in order to change his behavior, even if he does not want it.
• propaganda method. This is the impact on a person through the media. It is based on the influence on the mind of the consumer, using the mechanisms of comparison and evaluation.

PR methods- these are the main tools of PR as an applied discipline, which are used by PR specialists to achieve their goals during PR campaigns.

The main PR methods, and there are five of them, can be defined as follows:

Publicity. It's a relationship with everyone available species media, so that as many positive information as possible about the subject of PR appears in these sources.

Internal PR. A very important area of ​​PR, which, by strengthening the internal culture and corporate relations of employees, seriously affects the efficiency of their work, and, as a result, the external well-being of the organization.

Establishing positive relationships with financial and investment structures. A rather little-known PR method, but, nevertheless, it is one of the key sources of investment.

PR in the political sphere.

work directly with public opinion, where citizens become the object of PR.

13. Financing of PR campaigns. Fundraising

Fundraising) - the process of attracting Money and other resources (human, material, information, etc.) that the organization cannot provide on its own and which are necessary for the implementation of a particular project or its activities in general.

The main objectives of fundraising will be:

1. fundraising;
2. acquisition of new partners and friends of the organization;
3. the opportunity to openly declare yourself and inform about your goals.

Fundraising can be "internal" and "external" according to the method of implementation.

Internal fundraising is when the development and implementation of the search for funding is carried out by the employees of the organization on their own.

External fundraising is a search for funding carried out through the involvement of professional fundraising consultants. In this case, this role can be played by both independent experts and specialized fundraising firms.

Telefundraising is an appeal to potential donors and philanthropists by phone and fax.

Postal fundraising is an appeal to potential donors and philanthropists by mail.

Individual fundraising is a personal appeal to donors and philanthropists in a personal conversation.

Event fundraising - holding various events (auctions, exhibitions, lotteries, presentations, lunches, etc.)

14. Black PR techniques

"Black PR" is an activity to eliminate opponents (except for physical elimination), using forms and methods that go beyond the norms of morality and balance on the verge of prosecution.

Unethical methods and technologies (that is, not corresponding to the ethical and moral standards of society),

Methods and technologies that are directly contrary to the law

Specific methods:

Compromising evidence

Bribery of journalists and placement of information beneficial for the client/customer in the press on a paid basis.

Technologies aimed at deliberately denigrating a competitor, undermining his reputation

Bad praise method, Administrative resource method, Public outrage method

PR is a shortened form of Public Relations. Involves building public relations. The activity is aimed at working with the opinions of the target audience of the product.

How is public relations managed on the Internet? The main whales: interactivity, emphasis on content, feedback management. Marketers have come up with a lot of points of contact with customers. Consider everything online PR methods.

SMM andSMO

Virtually every company leads communities in social networks. Publish content, post company news, and speak to subscribers in their language. It is important to ensure the relationship between the company's website and representative offices in social networks. SMM and SMO are classic methodspr in the Internet.

The main thing to do:

1. Post informative, high-quality content on each site that illustrates the activities of your company.

Blogging

They say customers don't read blogs. But this is not true - not only active users need a corporate blog. Today, it is the quality of the blog that shows what level your company has. Some advanced business leaders specifically go to the site and look at the level of content, according to which they judge the company.

When your blog becomes popular, you can post interviews and expert articles, which will be free and will always attract the attention of the audience. We offer to evaluate the quality of published materials by likes, comments and sharing. If you appoint a responsible person for the blog, you will always be aware of the preferences of the audience.

Cases are always a separate line in blogs. They are always in high demand. The purpose of the cases is to show how you solved the client's problem and tell potential clients ways to solve their problems.

Word of mouth, viral marketing

Word of mouth marketing is one of the foundations of modern PR. To infect an audience with a “virus” means to promote an idea that will quickly take root in the minds of consumers. This is the content that people remember, repeat and want to share.

Distinctive features of viral content:

1. Content is shown in a positive light, focusing on positive aspects question.
2. Information provokes a vivid and immediate emotional response. Even if it is discontent and fear, then subsequently negative feelings are smoothed out.
3. The message contains useful meaning for the target audience, it can be put into practice.

A great example of a viral video is the Ice Bucket Challenge flash mob. It was attended by stars from Benedict Cumberbatch to Bill Gates. The purpose of the action is to tell about the disease nervous system called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. If a person wants to support the campaign, he must pour a bucket of cold water on himself and put the record on the Internet. Then the baton is passed to friends. If they do not complete the task within 24 hours, they must donate $ 100 to the sick fund. Pill Frates could not have imagined that the action would bring millions of dollars to the fund to fight the disease and reach a wide variety of people around the planet.

Emailmailing lists

A good mailing list is not only an opportunity to tell about company news. You can also run all sorts of promotions through mailing lists. An interesting example is the president of Evans Industries, Salvador Aliotta. The company did not have the funds to carry out a large-scale advertising campaign, but I wanted to raise the position. At that time, the jackpot in the famous lottery was $20 million. The owners of the company bought and sent to each client lottery ticket. Along with the ticket, they included a letter saying they could become millionaires by either winning the lottery or selling Evans Industries products. The campaign was very successful and cost the management only $300.

Participation in sponsorship events

Becoming a sponsor in one of the lotteries, contests, marathons is a great opportunity to increase brand awareness. An example of such participation could be sponsorship in one of the Instagram marathons. If people feel loyalty to the organizer of the marathon, then, for sure, the first assessment of your brand will be positive.

SERM, work with reviews

The task of SERM is to form a positive image of the company online. In the context of this direction, work with reviews is most often understood. Marketers monitor the appearance of new reviews on the Internet, track the reason if the review is negative, and try to change the minds of consumers. The correct reaction to reviews is an important attribute of the company's assessment by the consumer.

Embed a block with social proof, real customer reviews in a landing page or mailing list. At the same time leave not very satisfied reviews too. So the consumer will understand that honest people work in your company, who can make mistakes, but always admit their mistake.

outrageouspron the Internet

The agency "Bedush & Marennikova" used a popular song to draw attention to the exhibition of Vincent van Gogh in Artplay. A great idea that could have been 100% justified, but Christian Louboutin's PR manager didn't like it. When referring to someone, make sure you don't infringe copyright. Any fan must be carefully calculated. This is the foundation of any marketing strategy.

The provocative PR campaign of the new smartphone brand Wileyfox from Meredian Group, on the contrary, was a success. Target audience active youth were selected. The main slogans were chosen unusual phrases "let's fox", "what a fox", "fox me". Successful broadcasting of messages, a non-standard approach and the lack of a product on the shelves guaranteed the attention of advanced users first, and then other consumers.

Online conferences and interviews

Pr online campaign very often involves direct interaction of the company with its consumers and this is fully justified. AT modern world the consumer wants to be aware of what is happening with her favorite brand right here and right now. To do this, came up with all sorts of online conferences. At that, informal live videos have replaced official events, where business owners easily and naturally lift the veil over the business.

Free consultations and samples

Consult clients if you are in the training business. Give trial goods, tell us in detail about the benefits. The presence of a test period for the service significantly increases the likelihood of its registration. By providing a free service, you seem to be giving an advance to your customers. You seem to be telling them: “Try our product. We believe that you will right choice." Be sure to keep in touch with the consumer and find out how much they enjoyed the trial.

Black PR

You can treat black PR in different ways, but it exists. The owners of some companies spare no expense to sink a competitor.

2. Do not be afraid to take risks, but remember that the risk must always be calculated.

3. Watch your competitors. What do they use and what works for them?

4. Stand out, but do it within your brand.

5.Contact pr agency on the internet to get well-designed services. Then you won’t have to blush at the clumsy reaction to reviews, it’s pointless to drain budgets and generally regret that you have taken up such a difficult task as marketing.