This chapter talks about the initial stages of planning a campaign; and that is to first come up with a timeline and a budget.
A timeline is usually easier to come up with. This is because PR practitioners, in fact every other working person, are accustomed to planning their own time, scheduling meetings and events, and meeting deadlines in their daily lives. However, experience working as a PR practitioner may indeed be beneficial in placing activities of the campaign at the right time. For example, to carry out an event targeting children, it would be wise to plan the event around school holidays. Or today! (Happy Childrens' Day! :D ) A timeline must also keep in mind the priorities of all stakeholders. Hence, a PR practitioner must be able to multitask and take into consideration multiple factors when doing up a timeline.
The most common representation of a timeline is the Gantt charting technique. It gives a very visual illustration of the tasks at hand and exactly when to complete it.
Besides the timeline, coming up with a budget is also very important. However, it can be a little tricky for the inexperienced. Usually, the total budget includes the following items:
1) research
2) venue and equipment hire
3) transport
4) design and printing
5) mailing
6) stationery
Any additional items would of course have to depend on what activities would be carried out during the campaign. It is absolutely imperative to check the client's expected budget before planning any activities and its costs. This will ensure that the client is not alarmed by high costs nor put off by low costs which may be equated to low quality. Here is an example of a PR budget planner worksheet (which can be downloaded here).
Besides the costs of tangible items that would be passed on to the client, Stanton (2006) also included some tips for the cost of writing, designing and printing. It is in my opinion that intangible services, like writing and research, of PR practitioners vary according to the quality of work produced, their reputation and the consultancy they work for. Hence, it is important for inexperienced PR practitioners to consult their seniors, especially when it comes to the sensitive topic of money.
Personally, I have no idea how much a campaign usually costs. Is S$50,000 too little or too much? Thankfully, coming up with timelines and budgets is a skill that can be practised and perfected with the help of a mentor.
I agree with you about the necessity for planning and drawing up a timeline to keep activities and events in check. Just like any occupation, scheduling and timing is always important to ensure efficiency and the most obvious reason is to be on time before a project deadline.
ReplyDeleteBudget has to be done to make sure activities are transparent to both the PR firm and its client. Every penny in business terms, have to be well-spent and accountable. A clear budget list can also contribute to planning in cutting cost in a campaign. Take the recent Burger King's Wallet Drop campaign to promote its brand for example. Burger King promised to drop no less than 1000 'BK Wallets' in public which are worth at least $37,000 (in total) in 8 different locations.
However, these wallets do not necessarily contain money for the public to spend but vouchers and discounts from BK affiliates and sponsorships. When a budget is formed, there is a clear direction in monetary planning and overview. Hence, some costs can be easily cut - what's needed and what's not as well as utilising sponsorship to minimise as little cost as possible (most companies offer sponsorship in the form of goods and services rather than money).
Budget is a tricky issue for both clients and PR agency. All businesses aim to increase their profits, and some do so by demanding a high-profile campaign with minimal budget. The clients may go to the extent of asking the PR agency to search for sponsors to support their events/campaigns. Thus it is best to communicate the budget clearly to avoid any possible disputes.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the list of items to be included in a budget list, these items can be categorised into 3 groups. Firstly, professional fee. It includes the number of hours spent on a campaign, the qualification and status of the PR personnel handling the campaign, and the number of people assigned to the PR team. Secondly, out of pocket expenses (OOP) includes courier services, phone bills etc. The last category is third-party costs. It includes rent to book a venue for a campaign or roadshow.
I agree that budgeting is very important and an essential factor in spelling the success or failure of a PR campaign. Besides, budgets are never big enough. I've read that due to their lack of information or knowledge on the topic, many businesses typically overestimate or overbudget the cost of a prospective public relations campaign hence, leading it to a huge failure.
ReplyDeletePR strategies vary greatly depending on the resources available. Being on a small scale budget has its' limitations while on a larger budget, PR techniques have the opportunity to become incredibly inventive and seemingly unrelated to the product itself.
I echo Josephine's comment about budgeting.
ReplyDeleteTimelines and Budgets are the basic essentials of any task or assignment, let alone PR campaigns.
The failure to set out a budget, let alone stick to it, is akin to going to the shopping mall and grabbing every thing off your wishlist with no regards to your paycheck or savings account.
That said, we need to listen to our clients attentively. Whatever constraints they will face, both in terms of deadlines and money, have to be observed by the PR practitioner as well. Failure to do so will effectively lead to the failure of the campaign and when a PR campaign fails, the PR agency gets a bad rep and when word gets out, no one will want to take chance on that agency and it might potentially lead to their demise as no business = no revenue = no agency.