TheNinth

I think the key points to remember from this week's readings were that public relations practitioners should be analytical, creative and dexterous when it comes to strategic planning and determining the choice of tactics. Tactics and strategy are interrelated and it is vital to execute and deliver them to the right target audiences otherwise all efforts and time will come to waste.

As illustrated in the text, there is no guaranteed correct set of tactics that will ensure successful implementation of a public relations campaign. When deciding upon which tactics to adopt, the target audience, appropriateness of the medium, budget and pros and cons should always be considered.

As discussed in week 4’s readings, the right planning, budgeting and scheduling can ensure the effectiveness of a strategy which will in turn secure organizational goals and objectives.

A set of multiple tactics can be employed as long as it reaches out to the target audiences, achieves the strategic outcome and are within the organisation’s budget.

Public relations practitioners should be aware of the ever-changing target audiences as the society becomes increasingly complex. When the wrong target audience is identified, the practitioners will risk employing the wrong choice of tactics.

This can be seen in a recent event where Cecelia Cheung, who’s plagued by the recent Edison Chen scandal appeared in a television commercial for Lux shampoo’s ad campaign. The ad was subsequently withdrawn after multiple complaints from Chinese viewers in Shanghai. In this case, the wrong celebrity is hired and wrong tactic applied.

The readings have made me think more about public relations theory and practice in that a successful public relations campaign is the marriage between a brilliant strategy and the use of effective tactics.