The Public Relations Campaign planning model for AT 2

Each of the assignment required sections explained

Executive Summary

The Exec Summary is what the busy manager (your potential client) reads if he/she doesn’t have time to read through the full document just now. This is where you grab attention and impress with your professional language and quiet confidence that you can achieve.

Serves to{" "} overview the campaign proposal (an introduction).

Should briefly overview each section and include:

The history or background of the client
Its environment
The issue area covered by the proposal and a brief discussion of the proposed approach/timeline/budget
And… who you are

Rarely do we see this section go over one page in length.

Situation Analysis

Overview the specific purpose of your campaign including Problem and/or Opportunity statements (generally at the end).

Your Situation Analysis should be a comprehensive section (may be more detailed than you may have been required to present in previous units). You need to satisfy your potential client that you fully understand the organisation and the environment (this will also ensure your assessor has all the information needed to fully understand the context of your campaign).

Research

What research have you undertaken in preparing this campaign proposal?

And, what further research in needed/recommended if applicable?

Remember to use the correct terminology in order to describe and define the research you have undertaken (see notes from Research lecture). You must demonstrate the factual or statistical foundation for the approach and tactics you are proposing in your campaign.

Note: the actual results of your research are the basis of what you have written in your Situation Analysis. Research results don’t belong in this section.

Target Publics

Who are the target publics? What do you know about them?
Prioritise/segment?
Primary and secondary publics?

Present this information in a way that is logical, plausible, readable for your potential client.

Goal/s and Objectives

Articulate campaign goal/s (less is more)
Establish SMART objectives

Strategy

The ‘game plan’, the persuasive approach

The ‘mix’ of communications and other elements

Keep your strategy statement very brief. A couple of lines will do it.

Also include the key messages here – clear, simple, concise

Tactics

This is the heart of the assignment

List and describe so that you paint a picture of your ideas.

You may choose to set out tactics either by public or by problem.

Bullet points, bold headings. Lay out clearly.

Timeline

Gantt Chart
What happens when? Consider how each activity fits with other activities.
Include lots of detail. Break down each activity and include each step.

Budget

A skeleton budget (eg. include all activities but use a $00)
Cover all items you have proposed throughout the document
Important: Other campaign costs – eg. your time?? You should have a good idea of how many hours it will take to undertake each activity you’ve outlined in the Gantt chart.

Evaluation

Prove your worth by explaining how you plan to measure the campaign
Set directly against the objectives you identified – should be the easiest section if you’ve done your objectives correctly.
Inspire confidence in your team’s ability to achieve.
Your opportunity in the document to leave a last word with your potential client?

Example: Problem Statement (fictitious!)

That IT Help Desk staff are lacking motivation at work because of the number of non-emergency calls to the Help Desk from staff and students who are unaware of the purpose of the service.

Example: goal and objectives

Goal:

To reduce the load of calls to the IT Help Desk and thereby improve staff morale.

Objectives:

To inform 70% of staff and students{" "} (Note: specific, realistic and achievable){" "} of the purpose of the IT Help Desk, measured by call logs kept by IT staff (Note: measurable), by the end of December 2019{" "} (Note: time related).
To improve morale in 60% of IT Help Desk staff, measured by absenteeism rates and random sample anonymous surveys, by the end of December 2019.