Introduction
Tobacco is one of the plants relied upon by a majority of farmers in making their livelihoods. Its proceeds are channeled into other investments that aim at improving the standards of living. Banning its usage in public means that the product will be less consumed, leading to losses for producers and reduced income for both manufacturers and the government. Prohibiting the utilization of the product in public is not safe for the economy.
Any form of control is suicidal to free market economy. Government revenues rely partly on taxation of tobacco and at the same time, the sector accommodates a number of individuals who would otherwise be jobless. Because of huge incomes generated from the product and the role it plays in national economic development, the bill prohibiting its use in public should never be allowed to see the day.
Strategies
Strategies are broad statements of action to be employed to attain the aims. Strategies for this plan will describe how, in concept, the goals are to be realized. The set strategies will provide guidelines and themes for general endeavors to persuade various stakeholders to reject the bill.
The strategies will be aiming at short and long term goals. The basis at which the strategies are set is determined by the nature of the campaign and the audience. Long-term strategies for this plan will be to come up with a national publicity campaign that will try to contain the influence of the bill seeking to cut down the use of tobacco.
For this case, the public relations officer develops key themes that will be driving the plan. Short term strategies for this campaign pertains to matching various element suggestions to magazines, coming up with a sequence of media discharges, kick starting the plan with a national media conference and finally launch a new website. The persuasive strategy, which is a long-term strategy, for this plan will be to alter the present outlooks, develop the accessible ones, or crystallize the hidden viewpoints.
Public Relations and Communications theory
People do not robotically concentrate on every communication that is being broadcast to them, especially nowadays when there are numerous messages as illustrated by Harrison.[1] The valuable style that will enable this plan have specific aim is the exploitation of medium and application of gratification theory of communication. The foundation of the theory is that the messaging procedure is interactive.
The addressees are dynamic and choose messages that are expected to be constructive and/or pleasing in various means. In manipulating this plan and selecting communication medium, Grunig and Hunt’s theory of active and passive audiences is taken into consideration.[2] Usually, billboards reach submissive addressees, radio broadcasting and TV broadcast, placards, attractive catchphrases, spectacular cinemas, bumper markers, and exceptional entertainment proceedings.
These techniques do not need much of participation or attentiveness on the part of the addressees. Flyers, exhaustive journal articles, PowerPoint staging, DVDs, symposiums and, progressively, the Internet, are to be employed for lively information searching publics. Unreceptive addressees are at the understanding juncture of the espousal progression, while lively addressees are at the curiosity, assessment or audition phase.
Relationships with Theories of Public Relations
The plan will employ the four public relations models as postulated by Grunig and Hunt. The press agentry model has a sole purpose of passing out propaganda. The nature of communication will be one way hence truth is not an issue. This theory does not rely much on research though it is required to pass out the intended message.
The plan will as well utilize public information model where by the aim will be to disseminate information, the nature of communication being one way also, implying that truth would not be essential.[3] The type of research conducted before the model is applied is little. It would rely on readability tests and some other times surveys may be carried out. Communication will be two way but aiming at establishing trust through mutual understanding.
Research Needs
Marston, Hendrix suggested that any plan should start with investigation, but then should shift to purposes, which are segregated into productivity needs and consequential objective. Productivity needs are messages the public relations attempt seeks to generate over the objective epoch.
For this plan, it would be to modify people’s attitudes towards tobacco usage. Impact objectives have various partitions: informational intentions that is, message disclosure, conception and maintenance. For this need, this plan targets to collect enough data that would convince the audience then they would be released constantly through viable medium. The attitudinal objectives are formation, fortification and adjustments of beliefs. The plan ought to find out how the public perceives the bill in relation to cigarette smoking.
Ethical and Legal Considerations
To be viewed as publicly accountable, this organization will have a say in societal, political and financial wellbeing of the society. It will participate in public relations to hoist management’s consciousness on the organization’s task to the entire publics, both interior and exterior. Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg identified that most qualified PR practitioners are aware that they have moral liability to several diverse publics.[4] Other organizations have freedom of reasonable contest.
Bibliography
Grunig, J & T Hunt, Managing public relations, New Jersey, NJ: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. 1984.
Harrison, K, Strategic public relations: a practical guide to success, 5 Ed. Perth, WA: Century Consulting Group. 2008.
Newsom, D, J Turk, & D Kruckeberg, This PR: The Realities of Public Relations, 10 Ed. California: Thomson/Wadsworth. 2007.
Footnotes
- K Harrison, Strategic public relations: a practical guide to success, 5 Ed. Perth, WA: Century Consulting Group. 2008. p. 3.
- J Grunig & T Hunt, Managing public relations, New Jersey, NJ: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. 1984.
- J Grunig & T Hunt, Managing public relations, New Jersey, NJ: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. 1984.
- D Newsom, J Turk & D Kruckeberg, This PR: The Realities of Public Relations, 10 Ed. California: Thomson/Wadsworth. 2007. p. 154-155