Research as strategy & the role of PR

We didn’t have time for a lot of discussion of the role of research as a strategy and tactic with Dr Martinez, so we can explore that a little this week. In the last 24 hours, the PR newswires have led me to the two links in the next paragraph that use “research” as a newsworthy item. In the Center for Media Research’s statement “Most Americans Say Green Advertising is ‘Just A Marketing Tactic,’” they refer to an Ipsos Reid study conducted this spring on behalf of Icynene which found that seven in ten Americans either 'strongly' or 'somewhat' agree that when companies call a product "green" (meaning better for the environment), it is usually just a "marketing tactic." In an academic example, the USC Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center is asking for PR professionals to participate in the fifth Public Relations Generally Accepted Practices (GAP) Study.

Research is a tactic that I think sometimes can have real value as a way of building your credibility as a resource (not just a source) for the media, but it also has the potential to be superficial and abused. Given our brief discussion of ethics and research as strategy, what is your view of these two uses of research?

Your colleague, Yeonsoo, raised this question that I have paraphrased here for discussion: Actually do public relations companies at a high rate make their plan based on the results of research? Even though there are several creative ways to conduct low-cost pre/post tests, most public relations companies seem to rely on intuition based on experiences rather than empirical scientific methods. Last semester, a guest speaker's answer was they never conducted research for planning and most stakeholders regarded it as a time and money consuming process. Is this phenomenon just explained by a huge gap between practice and ideals?

Finally, to begin our discussion of the role of public relations in any organization, let’s start by discussing the function of public relations in general. Jonah Bloom in his AdAge column “Want to Restore Marketers' Faith? Embrace Agnosticism: Agencies Need to Stop Talking 'Integration' and Really Give Clients a Silo-Busting Solution” states that while we talk about integrating advertising and public relations, what we often get is a lop-sided plan that favors our training. This may not be the clearest column, but it does raise a critical question about PR in a world that increasingly favors integration, viral marketing and new media. David Strom in “Strategies to Succeed Online: The old ways of hiring a public relations firm and putting out press releases just don't cut it anymore”, also reflects on the changing world of the PR function. Thoughts?

Remember: you don’t have to address all of these discussion starters. You do have to refer to the readings, a current issue and your peer’s comments.