ou like journalism, but you’re not sure you want to be a
reporter. You like desktop publishing, but you’re not sure you
want to spend every day in front of a computer.
You like working with people, and you want a career that will allow
you to continue to use your communications and journalism skills.
You like living on the edge, moving in the fast lane, never knowing
when you wake up in the morning exactly what you will be doing that
day.
You like organizing things, coordinating events and taking care of
details.
You’ll like practicing public relations!THE PRACTICE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
Microsoft Corporation paid more than $300 million in advertising,
public relations and sales promotion to launch its Windows 95 operat-
ing system. The company paid $12 million for rights to use the Rolling
Stones’ hit “Start Me Up” in its broadcast campaign. It paid $537,000 to
sponsor the rollout day edition of the London Times so that 1.5 million
readers could receive the day’s paper at no cost. It paid late-night televi-
sion host Jay Leno to be co-host with Microsoft CEO Bill Gates at the
unveiling ceremony in Redmond, Washington. It paid the managers of
the CN Tower in Toronto and the Empire State Building in New York
City to decorate the towering buildings in red, white and blue bunting
and lights for the occasion.
Microsoft’s advertising campaign was supplemented by a massive
public relations campaign. Promotions directed to the media got
Windows 95 mentioned in every major television news and talk show
and joked about in late-night monologues. The promotional campaign
was such a success that by the time stores opened—many of them at
12:01 a.m.—on rollout day, Windows 95 was a household word, and
computer owners around the world were waiting in line to buy it.
The advertising campaign worked, but it was the special promotions
and communications with the media that made Windows 95 news and480 MIXED MEDIA
In this chapter, you will learn
the meaning of these terms:
public relations
public
media blitz
teleconference
video news conference
photo opportunity
news release
fact sheet
video news release (VNR)
B-roll
media alert
public service
announcement (PSA)After completing this chapter, you will be able to:- define public relations,
- understand what is involved in a public relations career,
- recognize the technical skills needed for a public relations career,
- apply public relations concepts to individual situations,
- write in public relations formats.