MACO 440

Public Relations Campaigns

Spring 2005

 

Dr. Rick Duet

Office:   101-A Talbot

Phone:   448-4228

EMAIL: rick.duet@nicholls.edu

 

1. Public Relations Campaigns -3-3-0 Planning, researching, developing, executing, analyzing, and evaluating public relations campaigns. This course requires students to develop two complete, original, objective-driven communication campaigns, one individual campaign and a second campaign which is the product of team work.

 

2. Prerequisites - MACO 430

 

3. Course Objectives/Content

Campaigns

á      to demonstrate ability to develop a public relations campaign

á      to collect information and develop accurate picture of environment

á      to develop and write goals and objectives

á      to develop plan for communication activities designed to reach goals and objectives

á      to write a formal public relations campaign proposal

Developing communication materials

á      to develop actual communication materials that would be used in a campaign examples: news releases, PSA scripts, online media scripts and visuals, etc.

Presentation Skills

á      to execute a professional presentation of campaign proposal

Team Work

á      to understand benefits of collaboration among individuals

á      to effectively work in groups

General objectives

á      to understand the role of public relations in organizational settings

á      to demonstrate knowledge and compliance to professional ethical standards

á      to demonstrate ability to develop and apply strategically developed and executed communication-based activities to solve organizational problems and/or reach organizational goals.

 


4. Material and Textbooks

 

Text: Developing the Public Relations Campaign: A Team-Based Approach by Randy Bobbitt and Ruth Sullivan.

 

5.  Class Meetings, Attendance, Class Policies

 

1.  You are allowed 3 absences by the University. Any absence beyond that will affect your grade.

2.  Class participation in discussions and is mandatory and graded.

3.  You are encouraged to take notes, and to get notes from a fellow student when absent.

4.  Makeups for exams are given at the next class period the student is present. Late projects are due at the next class meeting the student attends.

5.  Smoking, Eating, Drinking, and Chewing of anything are not allowed in class AT ANY TIME.

6.  Students must complete all the work (i.e., tests, projects, presentations, papers, productions, writing assignments, etc.) required to receive a passing grade for this course. Completion of all the work required does not guarantee a passing grade. Failure to complete any required work will result in a grade of "F" for the course.

7.  A portfolio is required of every Mass Communication student. The student's portfolio will be presented and graded in the capstone course of the student's emphasis. Further details on the portfolio requirements may be found in the MACO Student Handbook or from any MACO professor. All work in all MACO courses should be corrected and archived on disk and in hard copy for possible inclusion in the student's portfolio.

 

6.  Procedure for Conducting Class

 

1.  Lecture/demonstration

2.  Assignment

3.  Evaluation

***Discussion and taking of notes suggested

 

7.  Grading Policy

 

All Grades carry equal weight( except exercises which are 10 points each and total into a full grade

Grading scale is:

A=100-90

B=89-80

C=79-70

D=69-60

F=59 or below

*Any assignment late for deadline will be docked 1 point per minute

up to 10 points.

 

7.  Tests and Evaluations

 

1.  There will be a Mid-Term Project and Final Project.

2.  Students will also present case studies and make presentations.

3.  Students will receive individual grades for assignments.

4.  Students should use these corrected publications to finish building a portfolio of their work.

5.  There will be an oral critique in class following each assignment.

***Plagiarism and other forms of dishonesty will be dealt with severely, the minimum penalty being an F in the course.

 

8.    Course Outline

 

            Week 1                      PowerPoint

            Week 2                      PowerPoint                                                                                            

            Week 3                      Introduction

                                                PR Process                                                                                             

            Week 4                      Research                                                                               Chapter 7

                                                Planning/Proposal Formats                                             Chapter 8

            Week 5                      Planning/Goals and Objectives                                     Chapter 8

            Week 6                      Strategy/Tactics & Achieving Objectives                                     

                                                Writing

            Week 7                      Individual Projects                                                                             

            Week 8                      Individual Projects Due

            Week 9                      Group Exercise/Group Assignments                                             

            Week 10                   Application

                                                Status Report 1 Due

            Week 11                   Application

                                                Status Report 2 Due

            Week 12                   Application

                                                Status Report 3 Due

            Week 13                   Application

                                                Status Report 4 Due

            Week 14                   Application Final Rehearsal/Presentation

            Week 15                   Presentation                                                                                          

            Week 16                   Final Evaluations and Critiques

 


9.    Bibliography

 

Periodicals available in 102 Talbot

á      Public Relations Tactics

á      PR News

á      Dwyer's PR Services Report

 

Selected Resources available at Ellender

Beals, M. (1990). Expose yourself: using the power of public relations to promote your business and yourself. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

Bernays, Edward L., (1952). Public relations. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press .

Black, S (1983). Practical public relations: common-sense guidelines for business & professional people. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

Cutlip, Scott M. (1985). Effective public relations. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Dilenschneider, R. L. (1987). The Dartnell public relations handbook. Chicago: Dartnell Corporation.

Grunig, J. E. (1984). Managing public relations .New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Kahan, N. (1990). Entertaining for business: a complete guide to creating special events with style and a personal touch . New York, N.Y.: C.N. Potter.

Londgren, R. E. (1983). Communication by objectives: a guide to productive and cost effective public relations and marketing. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Newsom, D. & Carrell, B. (1986). Public relations writing: form & style (2nd. ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Pub. Co.

Parkhurst, W.(1985). How to get publicity(and make the most of it once you've got it).1st ed. New York: Times Books.

Pinsdorf, M. K. (1987). Communicating when your company is under siege: surviving public crisis.