by
Mitchell
Friedman, APR
While
judging a public relations
campaign competition, I was struck
by the blandness of objectives:
"Establishing company X as an
industry leader";
"Positioning company X's
president as an industry
spokesperson";
"Increasing awareness";
or "Generating coverage in
top-tier media outlets."
If
television-show host Anne Robinson
had judged these award entries,
she would have labeled their
objectives "the weakest
link" and banished them with
a dismissive "goodbye."
While it's certainly appealing to
"establish company X as an
industry leader," it's
superficial and impractical at
best. Is it necessarily
reasonable for a particular
company to be an industry leader?
No! How can more than one
company in a particular industry
legitimately claim to be the
leader? They can't!
Such lofty objectives like
"establishing company X as an
industry leader" risks
exposing public relations
professionals as wordsmiths
without a true understanding for
business, which executives want if
they're going to invite us in,
much less listen.
It's also difficult to evaluate
success if an objective is posed
in general terms. There are
many criteria for determining
leadership status, as there are
for "increasing
awareness." "Generating
coverage in top-tier media
outlets" is a more specific,
but sorely lacking. What
kinds of media coverage are we
talking about? What about
quality and quantity of coverage?
What results must be achieved?
To shore up our "weakest
link," let's begin with a
definition. An objective is
a milestone measuring progress
toward a goal. A milestone
must be absolutely clear in its
intent and easy to measure.
Clear objectives mean the same
thing no matter where you are in
an organization, and often are
easier to rally support among all
concerned. There's also
little doubt as to whether a
well-written objective has been
attained -- that is, whether the
public relations effort has
succeeded or failed.
A well-crafted public relations
program objective also:
-
States
a specific change in opinion
or behavior that's supposed to
result from public relations
activities outlined in the
campaign;
-
Pinpoints
a level of accomplishment,
typically in the form of a
percentage decrease or
increase;
-
Identifies
the specific public (or
audience) targeted by the
public relations effort; and
-
Establishes
a time frame for realization
of the objective.
The
unmistakable beauty of an
objective so defined rests in how
it shows that public relations
professionals understand what they
do and how to demonstrate impact.
Fluffy, feel-good programs
designed to accomplish the
indefinable and immeasurable
simply won't suffice.
Mitchell
Friedman, APR provides consulting,
training, and coaching in writing,
media interview preparation,
presentation skills, Internet
public relations, and other
communication skills. For
more information, see http://www.mitchellfriedman.com.
Copyright
2001 Mitchell Friedman, APR
(Reprinted
with permission)
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