of prizes through a roulette game relating to music, and the per-
sonalized work of the calligrapher drew huge crowds to the mall,
which translated into additional listeners for, and awareness of,
the station. Internal and external public relations is often a blend
of seemingly unrelated disciplines and interests to create a com-
mon bond. In this case, the marketing directors of both the station
and the mall were integral to coordinating the success of the event.
This example also illustrates the value of cross-promotion, in
this case the radio station, the shopping mall, the stores in the
mall (which placed announcements in their windows, calling at-
tention to the feature event), and the calligrapher herself. Addi-
tional traffic—additional sales.
Summary
The foundation for communications is built upon the five Ws.
“Why, Who, When, Where, and What” must form the apex (and
the lead paragraph or cover) of every press release, brochure, news
story, request for coverage, e-mail promotion, and all other forms
of marketing messages. The reader will be lost early on when those
essential and compelling details are buried in the message. You
have also been presented with a list of 15 promotional tools rou-
tinely used in marketing campaigns. Your challenge should be to
come up with another 15, because the tools available are limited
only by the imagination. Discretion must be practiced, however, to
ensure that the tools selected are consistent with the values of
your target markets.
Still another important point covered is that of the value of
public relations as a marketing vehicle. An effective public rela-
tions campaign will impact what others say about your organiza-
tion or client, rather than what you say about yourself. Credibil-
ity, or the lack of it, will be defined by the effectiveness of
continuous attention to public relations as a long-term image
builder for your organization. Sporadic public relations efforts,
employed only when a company needs it to “pitch” a cause, could
be seen as transparent and may well be damaging to the organiza-
tion’s image.
Summary 51