The significance of PR as a body of recognized practices suited to teaching as higher education is that it originated in universities and its graduates in public relations found their ways to the paid establishment. That is a reversal of the industry pattern by which schools are initiated by industry endowments. The craft concurrently was in its own formalizing first moves; its association was conducting member tests that exposed its aggregate notions of what a practitioner should know and be for the first time.
Those historic sidelights bring us to 1971 when the Public Relations Society of America has campus chapters and otherwise is fulfilling the classic American business association role of being a PR channel. Practitioners whose every advance has been linked to the use of, or the pioneering" of, PR channels to reach their clients' publics have formed and are utilizing their own PR channel to reach a PR public, and a good one.
All Associations Are Good PR Channels
To an outsider a business association may be seen and described as its membership's propagandist, lobbyist or cover up. An insider may see and describe it as its research, ethics and standard setting arm. In the shifting opinion and influence tides of the 1970's, the modern industry and trade associations are increasingly identified as channels, similar to media and the speaker's dais. The members who value association services for technical and other inherent services are becoming aware that their respective marketable advances are extremely fragile when happenstance creates a new public issue capable of annihilating their industry.
Business PR tends to view its clients' associations for their stop gap value. PR committees load the association with chores and errands as if they wanted to deter them from devoting themselves to functions rivaling their sponsor's forte. Business associations, related to their own industries, those of other but related fields and the broad associations representing business and industry as a system, have their unique value as PR channels. Partly as a result of the proliferation of concerns identified as "national issues," business PR has not only changed its attitude toward associations, but is putting them into its channel programming, allotting them specific communications roles. These relations start with each year's original budget, programming and calendar planning.
Key Value of Associations
Considered as channels, as distinguished from publics or targets of company PR, the association's greatest values result from scheduling its materials to it in the planning technique used for media decisions. As we have seen, the professional practitioner in business familiarizes himself with the editorial sphere of each trade, technical or other business publication. Now he adds the associations to his channeling process.
Example: An appliance manufacturer, Superba, Inc., based in an industrial suburb of a big city divides his PR into three areas of operation: community, marketing and management. In December the PR director is engaged in framing his annual budget program outline for the financial department's forecast. Equally important to PR is the January calendar involving a heavy trade show and exhibit schedule. In December his emphasis is on community events: the employee's Christmas party for children, year end factory awards, a speech by the president for a business group forecasting the new year's outlook, and the practitioner's personal schedule of year end holiday events. But a new issue already looming is the damage potential of home washer detergent waste as a water pollutant. It is a threat to what has been an upswing in home washer sales.
PR and the Touchy Issue
The Superb a PR director, Bill Jones, has attended a meeting of industry PR with the home laundry association and agreed with his colleagues and the association executive . PR on a statement saying "the projected modifications in detergents will not affect their suitability for current models of automatic washers." That statement was released along with supporting data. This example reflects a PR issue that is not the problem, inherently, of Superb a or its industry. But Bill's report from marketing shows that dealers' orders for washers have declined 25 per cent since the issue arose. A nearby big store that had been selling 200 washers annually reported that their customers were holding off ordering new washers until they have been tried out with the impending new detergents.
In such situations the association is without question the channel to deliver the industry's response. Trade papers, in sincere efforts to clarify matters and establish that the content of detergents is not relevant to washer design, were already printing statements of manufacturers in support of that view.
Now, to return to Bill Jones making up his budget forecast for the year: lie goes to three offices for one hour conferences. These are: 1) the washer product general manager; 2) the washer design and processing engineer; and 3) his counterpart in advertising. From these he verifies the situation's import and hears that each will continue with no plan to become specifically involved.
Because timing elements are at best ambiguous in an issue outside company/product orbit he places it at the head of marketing PR plans under the year's continuing projects.
Developing a Monthly Program
However temporary a negative PR outside situation may appear, or however improbable it appears as a major factor in the industry's future, PR must evaluate it as a worsening situation. The Superba marketing PR program shows the pollution issue as an annual issue that will appear each month on the product PR plan calendar.
In January the association meeting scheduled to discuss the situation develops as follows: The director reported on four test location spot surveys on home laundry effects of issue. In summary, 12 had suspended home washing and sent clothes to laundries as "protest," or because they were told that would reduce waste pollution in various lakes or rivers. The survey reached 250 homes and found seven who had, or said they would hold off buying new equipment until the pollution issue was settled.
The executive said the survey would be repeated in January and results reported in February. A member of the committee representing" PR for his company brought a statement prepared by his design engineer saying that automatic washers tended to reduce harmful effects of phosphates in detergents. Suggesting that the association release the story, the committee voted that all publicity be held up until the February association report.
The February association survey report showed only two saying they were delaying washer purchase for any reason. Meanwhile, marketing reports showed that from a low of 25 per cent washer sales drop, the current rate was off only 5 per cent, a normal industry variance.
In March the members each reported in the association PR meeting those washer sales were about normal. The director said that the April "home laundry week" promotion was on schedule. Also, he asked for a permanent staff member to devote full time to member publicity and product information releases for digest into an industry report to a newly formed sample group of representative publics such as homemakers, school people in home economics, detergent home economists and PR and other relevant groups where added communications would sensitize response.
After reporting to the marketing committee in Superba the results of the association reports, Bill Jones outlined PR's continued interest in the association's communications potentials. He showed an entry each month to submit special advance engineering and use data for the association's project.
Mr. Jones concluded by passing out copies of PR tentative program for an early summer announcement of a new model washer line not related to the "issue."
In planning community programs such associations as area development sponsors are utilized to tell good production climate stories to business and consumer groups interested in local progress. Associations have characteristics similar to business publications in that each identifies its audience in its title and type designation. In plans using a dozen or more associations on a regular basis for communications, the viewpoint shifts parallel the pattern of business publications.
In shifting business PR uses of associations to put more emphasis on continuing industry public stance situations the PR activity within the company improves its own working formula on what its management expects by eliminating unplanned areas as company concerns. In periods when widespread new advances in products, services and technologies are met with eager public appetites for information and explanations, PR in companies tends to press product advantages (differences) that divide the central use benefit story aimed at broadening the market.
Example: in early years of automatic washers competitive stories on volume of heated water required caused some homemakers to withhold purchase until industry sources established a norm. Likewise, prior to the general introduction of color TV sets, manufacturers planning to produce color sets permitted their advance publicity to slow sales of their black and white sets in dealers' stores. Associations in both of the above instances were instrumental in channeling data on progress in converting industries. For washers the industry story pointed out that conventional washer used subsiding detergents; automatic washers subside less. Both types would be used for a long time. For TV the industry source pointed out the long term broadcasting change over to color, and other facts reassuring the public that black and white set would not be obsolete.
Of the essence of programming association into company PR is their wide and diversified fields of activities. For programming company PR that may show one hundred or more levels of product, service or corporation interests, an association can be the key channel for each area of communications potentials. In corporate reporting among the best known associations are the analysts' and bond clubs in key cities whose own communications function is their reason for being. That type of planning" channel is increasingly valuable as an offset for the fantastic rise in almost every type of company news that literally overwhelms daily papers and is putting pressure on the business press not justified by the degree of use business advertising is according this medium.
Long Term Association Value
In outlining procedures by which PR creates a greater long term value of its companies and clients by using business associations as channels, the value of this technique to PR itself is our best example.
Over the years PR has been described frequently as a "profession." Cold scrutiny reveals that in the ordinary usage the term profession is reserved for crafts whose knowledge and skill factors are publicly designed and subject to legally prescribed examinations. In effect, crafts that operate under license, with entrance depending upon having completed the studies required, and been awarded a diploma of institutions likewise licensed to teach those subjects.
PR has come a long way toward that situation in the relatively short time that its acceptance has made it an operation of every American institution oriented to communications and studies relations.
The pioneers who first practiced PR as a human science for almost every type of institution, or for individuals whose aims are more easily achieved when better understood, have all lived within the present century. It is hardly too much to see PR achieve maturity in being recognized as a profession in the years before A.D. 2,000.
SUMMARY
Business associations can be ideal PR channels, especially in areas of national concern. Statements on negative issues affecting entire industry should come from association. Some product use stories involving competitive advantages e.g., water needs of home washers are best told by associations to help broaden market. Always program association PR into regular company PR.
QUESTIONS
What types of subject are best suited to association PR? Give specific examples.
Has PR itself effectively used the association channel of communications?
