Tactics and business: What does PR have in common with the military?

Among students there is often the assumption that the terms ‘strategy’ and ‘tactics’ are interchangeable. This week’s readings point out that this is not the case. A strategy is the “over-arching approach or ‘game-plan’” (p. 207, Ch. 8). Where as tactics are smaller campaigns that relate directly back to achieving the strategic outcome. Tactics should be chosen carefully while keeping in mind that society is becoming more complex and multicultural. This complexity has led to the fact that target groups in Western society are now blurred and people suffer, what the reading terms, ‘information overload’, meaning that due to an excess amount of advertising people tend to ‘switch off’. When choosing tactics PR professional have the choice of controlled tactics (advertising, annual reports, brochures, etc.) and uncontrolled tactics (media relations).

The second half of the readings this week focused on PR and business. As the reading notes, this topic is key for recent graduates and a “sound knowledge and understanding of business is…a valuable asset” (p.408, ch. 14). This means that there is a need for the PR professional to have a working knowledge of management, promotions, media and finance. The PR role is crucial to business as the practice of ethical PR helps businesses to “remain socially responsible… [and] maintain public confidence” (p. 408, ch. 14).



Readings: Chapter 8 ‘ Tactics’ and Chapter 14 'Public relations in business' in J. Johnston & C. Zawawi (Eds.), Public Relations: Theory and Practice (pp. 206-237 and 389-413). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.