Customer Reviews

Strategic Public Relations - 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR

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There are many, many books out there about PR. This one is different. Why? Because it successfully bridges the gap between "textbook" and "real-life" book. Gehrt and Moffit have drawn from their years of experience on both the corporate and agency sides of the PR business and breathed life into what could have otherwise been a dry overview of the PR profession.

Strategic Public Relations opens with an analogy. What if you built a windmill, but didn't connect it to a generator, never capturing the energy you were trying to harness and amplify in the first place? An effective way to waste your efforts, right? Similarly, this book convincingly asserts that if you don't address the root business needs before you implement PR strategies, you're really not doing you or the company you're working for/with any service. In other words, when you scatter-shoot PR for the sake of doing PR ("hey, we just want people to know about our products"), you aren't tied into the real needs of the business.

Ultimately, this book would make a fantastic textbook for any undergraduate or graduate level course in public relations or communications. But it's SO MUCH MORE. That's because Gehrt and Moffit did 3 things really well. First, they wrote with economy of words. The book is short at a mere 160 pages -- never easy when you're addressing a subject as meaty as PR. Second, all the fundamentals of PR are there, codified in 10 simple but nuanced, rich "principles." Third, you get to hear from dozens of PR pros, journalists, academics, broadcast media experts and others. In other words, what would otherwise have been a "dry read" is exactly the opposite. It's engaging and insightful. It's fun and quick.

One reason I like this book so much is that it gets into the tough issues that often can prevent PR from being successful (and strategic). Just look at what the book calls "Principle #1" (of 10 key principles). Principle #1 is all about "selling pr to stakeholders within your company." I would venture to bet that anyone who's been involved in PR at an agency or on the corporate side has realized that most business people have a very passing and cursory, often stilted and misinformed, view of PR. There are those who think of PR as "all those press releases we send out there." Then there are those who think of PR as a "nice way to get attention...any pr is good pr, right?" The bottom line in my own 15 year career is that you need to find ways to educate people internally about what GOOD PR can do, while really uncovering the true needs of the business you're trying to serve. It takes a lot of gumption and abilty to "push back" (nicely!) when things don't seem like they're going to be strategic. Gehrt and Moffit "get it," but they don't just tell you -- they SHOW you by bringing in voices and experiences from such a wide array of experts.

This is a must-read for anyone involved in the PR and Communication professions.

In this brief and useful book, two successful public relations professionals set forth the lessons they have learned in leading the PR charge for major clients such as Microsoft, AOL, and Seattle Children's Hospital. Their advice is clear and well-stated, and it's backed up with dozens of examples of PR campaigns that worked and those that failed.

The chapter on building and nurturing relationships with reporters, for example, contains a great many useful nuggets and goes well beyond the cliché. The authors suggest that PR people read what reporters have written on various topics unrelated to their own clients' work and might occasionally drop the reporter a line to show they are interested in his or her work. They give very good advice on when and how to seek a correction of an inaccurate story. They correctly point out that while some corporate leaders do extraordinarily well in a media interview, others are not good spokespeople, and they give advice for dealing with both types.

Gehrt and Moffitt's chapter on measuring the return on investment from PR is the clearest such discussion that I have ever read. They don't just enumerate the various ways of measuring ROI; they also provide candid discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of each one. That's important because in my experience, each of the well-known methods has significant drawbacks, and the authors don't hesitate to explain what they are.

The authors also give a cool-headed assessment of the old question of when to bring PR in-house and when to rely on outside consultants. Again, this is one of the best and most straightforward discussions of this issue that I have read. They note that in-house PR people are far less expensive - a point that I think has not been emphasized enough by other writers - and that they can forge close working relationships with company executives. On the other hand, an outside agency can deploy a team with varied experience, as well as having available "tens or even hundreds of colleagues at the agency ...for advice when a difficult issue arises."

The chapters on blogging and social networking sites seem a bit perfunctory and lack the pizzazz of many of the other discussions. But that may simply reflect the fact that we are all suffering media overload when it comes to talk about Twitter, Facebook, and the like.

Gehrt and Moffitt have written a book that I would place on the recommended reading list for anyone who wants to understand PR in a sophisticated manner.

If a professional trade book can provide the reader with four or five good nuggets of insight, then the book has delivered on its promise. If the book can be consumed during the average business flight, well, that's even better. By these measures, Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR is a success.

Overview: Writing from their personal experiences and citing PR leaders who represent some of the world's most recognizable companies and brands, Jennifer Gehrt and Colleen Moffitt offer the essentials for successful public relations. Collectively, the ten truths cited (one chapter each) provide a case and a framework for strategic public relations. Each of the ten principles are load-bearing pillars of PR ("Selling PR to Key Stakeholders," "Know Your Target Audience" and "Craft a Compelling Story") and they are made fresh through the authors' liberal use of supporting case studies and case-study citations. Among the organizations documented are such prestige brands as Starbucks, Deloitte Services, Nike, Sony Online Entertainment and Linden Labs (Second Life), a "who's who" in the Pacific Northwest region where the authors' agency, Communique PR, is based.

Best Bet: Among the ten principles, one stood out as being particularly salient: "Sell PR To Key Stakeholders Within Your Company" provides a methodical approach for aligning the public relations mission within the organization. "Tips for obtaining buy-in" is a section within the chapter which shows how to develop consensus for your public relations program within your organization, whether your organization is large or small. This checklist alone is worth the price of the book.

The authors: Colleen Moffitt and Jennifer Gehrt are experienced public relations professionals and partners in Communique PR, a Seattle-based boutique agency.

Who should read this book: The book will appeal to different audiences in different ways: experienced PR pros will find affirmation of fundamental PR practices while people who are new to the profession may look to uncover new perspectives and fresh approaches to blocking-and-tackling the PR process for increased recognition and improved reputation.

I purchased my copy of "Strategic Public Relations" after I heard one of the authors (Ms. Gehrt) speak at a communications conference earlier this year. I was impressed by the topic lectured and was interested to see how the book approached their topic of strategic public relations. As the marketing manager for a small but growing medical products manufacturer, I have been wanting to add a PR element to our marketing plan. The books that I had come across at bookstores mostly focused on what PR is, why it works, and how to do it (through various tactics). But they all read like "Dummies" books and were not what I wanted as I didn't need another book to tell me how to write a press release.

This is why the "strategic" title especially drew me in and I was completely satisfied in my decision. "Strategic Public Relations" takes the approach that most corporate executives would appreciate. This is not so much a book about the basics of PR, but instead, and for the better, a book about the proper implementation of a PR plan and how it will complement the specific strategies and goals that you are looking to achieve.

The book's length is just right. Brief but thorough in its ten principles, it is not too long where you wouldn't finish it. The very first chapter, "The Case for Strategic PR" should be required reading by any PR, marketing, or MBA student. The chapter outlines what it is, why it's important, how why your PR plan must match your top business objectives. Seems obvious but ignored by other PR books that I have read. The ten principles the book focuses on are well thought out and relevant.

On a side note, I really appreciated that the book did not waste my time rehashing the same PR stories found over and over in other books (I am glad I did not have to read about Extra Strength Tylenol from the 1980's yet again).

I needed a book to teach me more than just PR tactics, I needed one to help me focus on what I was trying to achieve from adding PR efforts and then how to accomplish these objectives. It's all here. This book is worth reading.

For my purposes, a good business book should stop you dead in the middle of it and make you write something down. It might be something from the book itself, which is useful, but ultimately forgotten in most cases. Better yet, a business book that relates directly back to something you are doing and that forces you to make yourself a to-do list on the spot is fantastic. I found myself doing this more than once while reading Strategic Public Relations.

Jennifer and Colleen have succeeded with their book by making it relevant for both PR novices and those who do it every day. It is to the point, yet incorporates enough detail to keep you interested along the way. In doing this, Colleen and Jennifer deftly toe the line between reader and reference book; while they say early on that you can pick and choose pieces of this book and read only the chapters you find relevant, I found myself going cover to cover because I think their guidance can enhance the facets of PR I already feel comfortable doing, making me a better professional.

Overall, an enjoyable read, a good book to check back in with, and one that gave me some "a-ha" moments that resulted in getting good things done at work. Exactly what I was looking for.

A practical and entertaining book, Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR shows readers how PR can impact business outcomes and help them achieve their most important business objectives. It's a concise, fast and fun read. The main idea of the book is that taking a tactical approach to public relations is a waste of time and money. Effective PR is much more than just the development and distribution of a press release. This book focuses on how you can take your PR programs from the tactical to the strategic to achieve maximum success. It also explains why a strategic approach to PR is critical and provides 10 guiding principles to help you take your PR program to the next level. My favorite principle - Craft A Compelling Story.

The principles are designed to be straightforward and simple so they can easily be applied to any business. I especially enjoyed the stories and examples from today's leading PR experts with companies such as Nike, Starbucks, Linden Lab (developer of Second Life) Alaska Airlines, Clearwire, Seattle Children's Hospital, Cranium and Big Fish Games. These really enhance the book. As a Facebook game developer, I found the tips on how to get the PR pipeline rolling most helpful.

This book is a must read for anyone working in PR, managing an agency or even overseeing the PR function in their organization.

MY GRANDAUGHTER LAURA IS GOING TO GRADUATE IN PR. THAT'S WHY I CHOSED THIS BOOK TO GIVE HER AS A XSTMAS GIFT. SHE IS VERY BRIGHT AND SHE ENJOYED VERY MUCH WHEN RECEIVED IT.

Good book with very practical advice and strategies. If you are in public relations, this is a good book to help you figure out your plan and strategy before starting.

This is a fabulous book for those already in the Public Relations business as well as students and others thinking about entering the profession. It's smart, sensible and well-written. Highly recommended.

The best thing that I like about Strategic Public Relations is the passion of the authors for their job and this passion comes out in every page of the book: they really know what they are talking about and they love it.

Strategic Public Relations is structured in 10 steps or principles that lead the reader through the creation of a PR strategy in a very practical way with a lot of best practices from several interesting companies.
Another great point are the interviews with PR experts that share their precious insights on the subject.

It's definitely a good reading for everyone who's working on PR and communication and also for students like me that are just interested in these themes.