The Most Necessary Phase of Public Relations Campaigns: Research

Why is Research Necessary?

When organizing a public relations campaign, one must prepare and conduct their research properly. By conducting research, you will learn about the situation and what other researchers know about that situation, as well. As a public relations campaign manager, you will learn from other researchers by following two steps, identified by Ronald D. Smith:

1. Reviewing professional literature and analyzing previous studies.

2. Reviewing organizations that have been in your shoes in the past and successfully achieved their goals (Smith).

By conducting research, you will be able to identify your campaign’s objectives, navigate crises, avoid risks and learn the best practices to put into place while working on your campaign. These are necessary steps when conducting your campaign.

How Research Helps with Crisis Management

Perhaps the most significant reason one should conduct research prior to their public relations campaign, is to learn about possible risks and crises that could happen to your organization. Crisis management is the process of dealing with issues that are out of an organization’s control.

An example of a company that dealt with crisis management is SeaWorld in 2018. As the public began to boycott the amusement park company, due to possible animal endangerment, the company did not address the accusations and criticism that was being presented to them. SeaWorld was attempting to avoid conflict all together. Through inappropriate efforts to reclaim their brand, the reputation of SeaWorld continued its downfall.

Although SeaWorld has been found guilty of the mistreatment of animals, we can see how the company did not have a crisis plan in place. The company needed a plan of action for when accusations began, in order to save their brand, protect their stakeholders and regain trust from the public. Without this plan, SeaWorld’s popularity declined due to their silence.

Other companies, like Malaysia Airlines, Tylenol and Chevron, have dealt with crises within their companies. All of these situations go to show the significance of research when you are analyzing your situation during your public relations campaign.

Ronald D. Smith states that crises “may be sudden and unpredictable, but they are seldom unpredictable” (Smith). Although companies may not know when a crisis will arise, they can be prepared for it by having a crisis plan of action in place. These crisis plans are constructed piece by piece, as research is conducted in order to keep the consumers safe, stakeholders at ease and the reputation of the brand upheld.

Sources

Constable, S. (2022, November 29). U.S. unleashes Chevron. oil major to the rescue in the energy crisis. Forbes. Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonconstable/2022/11/28/us-unleashes-chevron-oil-major-to-the-rescue-in-the-energy-crisis/?sh=1af93d786b12

Firmbee.com. (2015, May 29). Photo by firmbee.com on unsplash. Beautiful Free Images & Pictures. Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://unsplash.com/photos/gcsNOsPEXfs

ITL #96 Malaysia Airlines' Annus Horribilis: Crisis management lessons learnt. IPRA. (n.d.). Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://www.ipra.org/news/itle/malaysia-airlines-annus-horribilis-crisis-management-lessons-learnt/

Smith, R. D. (2021). Step 1: Analyzing the Situation. In Strategic planning for public relations (pp. 33–57). essay, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Unsplash. (n.d.). Seaworld Pictures: Download free images on unsplash. Pictures | Download Free Images on Unsplash. Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://unsplash.com/s/photos/seaworld

Untitled document. (n.d.). Retrieved January 24, 2023, from https://www.ou.edu/deptcomm/dodjcc/groups/02C2/Johnson%20&%20Johnson.htm