Handbook of Corporate Communication and Public ... - Blogs Unpad

cation investor relations; corporate identity
and reputation; sponsorship and event
management and diversity.
Such practices can span a wide range of
industries and organizations but, increasingly,
individuals and agencies conduct their practice
in a single industry or a small number of
related industries.
Specialization by function
The final form of public relations specialization
is found in the various functional skills
called for in PR departments or agencies. They
are the communication techniques and tools
used by the international PR practitioner to
implement his strategies and concepts.
Because they have the capability of delivering
messages and information in very targeted
forms, the specialties can reach specifically
identified audiences as well as the general
public. Companies have organized to create
and deliver these tools, directly for corporate
communication departments or as subcontractors
to PR agencies.
Functional specialties in constant use by PR
practitioners are:
• publications, print production, graphic
design;
• computer graphics;
• interactive communication, website development;
• video and film production and distribution;
• research;
• media tour planning and booking;
• advertisement creation, copywriting, layout,
media planning;
• advertorial production;
• conference and event planning and
management;
• media training.
Convergence
A phenomenon of the late 1990s is the recognition
that the techniques of several specialties
can be combined for more powerful
marketing PR results that better meet the
demands of a more sophisticated consumer.
The following description is excerpted from an
article by my colleague, Nancy Turett, managing
director of Edelman Healthcare Worldwide
on how ‘convergence’ is being applied
in the health sector. It can be applied equally
in other industry sectors such as technology,
consumer or business to business.
Now, consumers are, themselves, the influentials.
In many cases, it is the consumer
who alerts the clinician to a novel treatment
or new use for a medication that he
or she has learned about from the media,
the internet, or direct marketing. Through
advocacy groups, it is often consumers who
are deciding where research dollars are
spent, and increasingly, how the research
should be conducted.
Healthcare marketing today is increasingly
calling for a melding of the creativity
and mass appeal of traditional consumer
marketing with the credibility and professional
targeting associated with ethical
pharmaceutical marketing. In Convergence
Marketing, for example, target publications
for a new osteoporosis diagnostic device
might include Redbook, for a new fertility
drug they might include GQ, and for a
cholesterol drug they might include Bon
Appetit. A programme venue could be a
hotel or hospital health fair, but marketers
should also open their eyes to other sites,
including sports events, day care and senior
centers, shopping malls and airports. The
‘professional’ audiences that influence
consumers now reach far beyond doctors,
© 2004 Sandra Oliver for editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters, the contributors