PR Strategy and Application

PR Strategy and Application is a comprehensive and accessible text that situates Public Relations in a 21^st century context; as a set of tools not just for corporations but for the activist, the diplomat, the crisis manager, the homeland security officer, as well as the advertising executive and the reputation manager.

• Winner of the 2010 PRIDE award given by the PR Division of the National Communication Association

• Gives detailed treatment of how activists have used public relations including a consideration of how activists have been important to the historical develop of PR

• Argues for a move away from a corporate-centric view of public relations and for public relations to be seen as the management of mutually-influential relationships

• Emphasizes the importance of stakeholder expectations in shaping organizational actions and being a foundation for discussions between organizations and stakeholders

• Emphasizes the perspective that stakeholders and organizations are linked together in a complex networks rather that a series of separate relationships

• Accompanying website includes chapter outlines, a test bank, PowerPoint slides, and useful links for students and teachers

Visit the further resources website for student and instructor materials at www.wiley.com/go/coombs

Preface

1. Introduction and Overview

2. Public Relations Contested and Ethically Challenged

3. Public Relations and Transparency

4. Public Relations as Strategic Communication

5. Public Relations as Activism

6. Media Relations: Shaping the News

7. Technological Development and Online Public Relations

8. Social Marketing

9. Reputation Management

10. Issues Management

11. Risk Communication

12. Crisis Communication

13. Corporate Social Responsibility: A New Driver for Public Relations

14. Public Relations Goes International

15. Conclusion: Does Society Need Public Relations?

Appendix 1: US Food & Drug Administration News Release

Appendix 2: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention News Release

Appendix 3: American Veterinary Medical Association Media Alert

Appendix 4: US Food & Drug Administration Pitch Letter Guidance

References

Index

W. Timothy Coombs is Professor of Corporate Communication at Eastern Illinois University. He is the author of Code Red in the Boardroom (2006), Today’s Public Relations (2006), and It's Not Just PR (with Sherry Holladay, 2007), and co-editor (with Sherry Holladay) of the Handbook of Crisis Communication (Wiley-Blackwell 2010).

Sherry J. Holladay is Professor of Corporate Communication at Eastern Illinois University. She is the author of numerous articles related to corporate communication.

This textbook is unique in its focus on how public relations impacts society. This is a minor or assumed topic in other textbooks. In addition to having effects of PR as it main focus, the book will include cases and ethical challenges in each chapter and cover in-depth a number of topics that are seldom considered elsewhere (e.g. the internet, International, public policy). The focus of such a text is on discussion, not answers, making it ideal for fostering classroom discussion.

Classroom Features:

1. Discussion Questions

2. Suggested Readings

3. Case Studies to be used for Class Analysis and Discussion

4. Recommended Viewing: DVDs that can be used to illustrate key ideas covered in the chapter. Not all chapters will have this feature

5. Sample Exercises

“Forward thinking, innovative, comprehensive, concise and relevant cases--and clearly written. A top choice for a Principles or Campaign Strategy class.”
Robert L. Heath, Professor Emeritus, University of Houston

“Coombs and Holladay provide an excellent interpretation of public relations’ functional areas from a strategic public relations point of view.”
Don W. Stacks, University of Miami