2010-11 academic year

Public Relations Techniques (20365)

Degree/study: Bachelor's Degree in Advertising and Public Relations
Year: second
Term: First
Number of ECTS credits: 4 credits
Hours of studi dedication: 100 hours
Teaching language or languages: Catalan / Spanish
Teaching Staff: Manuel Palencia-Lefler

1. Presentation of the subject

"Technique goes before strategy". Accordingly, this course takes the responsibility to approach the student to the Public Relations techniques by drawing the proper professional profiles to carry them out. These profiles are connected to the social sciences and have little to do with occupations such as seller, sales representative, commercial manager, direction secretary, nightclub businessman and so. Precisely, in order to avoid professional encroachment and amateur actions, the Public Relations techniques must show their most expert side and multiply their efficiency within the communication plan. Besides, it is important to take into consideration that many of these techniques not only aim at "communicating", but also at "acting", in other words: they create the necessity to carry out, to change, to meet, to give, to celebrate, to share and etc. Therefore, Public Relations shape attitudes and behaviours and become the expert way to pass on those changes to the public opinion.

2. Competences to be attained

2.1. General skills

· Capacity for putting knowledge into practice

· Critical assessment and self-assessment skills

· Communication skills

2.2. Specific skills

1. Understanding the concept and the discipline of the Public Relations within the context of social sciences. Contextualizing the concept of Public Relations within the framework of present-day public and private organizations.

2. Targeting the means and the techniques for strategic communication from within Public Relations.

3. Knowing about programming tools and the process of a Public Relations campaign development.

4. Creative and lively use of the concepts and theories from the course, aimed at analyzing the communication process and the more representative Public Relations techniques. The goal is to offer the student an overview of this profession in the present world.

3. Contents

Unit 0. Public Relations techniques. General overview. Nomenclature: technique, tactic, strategy, tool, procedure, program, campaign, plan. Techniques typology.

Unit 1. Techniques aimed at the organization as an individual.

Unit 2. Media techniques.

Unit 3. Research and assessment techniques.

Unit 4. Managing techniques for the organization's conflicts with its audiences.

Unit 5. Contents promoting techniques for the organization.

Unit 6. Communicative spaces promoting techniques in favour of the organization.

Unit 7. Publications and materials promoting techniques in favour of the organization.

Unit 8. Performance techniques through advertising.

Unit 9. Events organization techniques for the organization's external publics.

Unit 10. Events organization techniques for the organization's internal publics.

Unit 11. Organizing techniques for specific performances.

Unit 12. Techniques to dynamize the organization's SCR.

Unit 13. Techniques to dynamize cultivation and recognition processes in NPOs.

Unit 14. Techniques to generate prescription in favour of the organization.

4. Assessment

This course's goal is that students satisfactorily reach the established skills. The weight every assessment method has on the course's final mark is: 65% for the final exam and 35% for the practical tasks. Regarding the practical tasks, students must do five exercises during some of the sessions, as marked in the calendar, and they must present one of the practical tasks in front of the class at the end of the course.

5. Bibliography and teaching resources

5.1. Basic bibliography

· ARCEO VACAS, J.L. (2003): Organización, Medios y Técnicas de Relaciones Públicas. Madrid: ICIE Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

· FERNANDEZ, J. - HUERTAS, A. (2009): Redacción en Relaciones Públicas. Madrid: Pearson Educación.

· PALENCIA-LEFLER ORS, Manuel (2008): 90 Técnicas de Relaciones Públicas. Barcelona: Ed. Bresca.

· XIFRA, J. (2007): Técnicas de las Relacions Públicas. Barcelona: Ed. UOC

5.2. Complementary bibliography

· CUTLIP,S.C.-CENTER,A.H.(2001):Relaciones Públicas Efectivas. Barcelona:Gestión 2000

· GRUNIG, J.-HUNT, T. (1994): Public Relations Techniques. Harcourt & Brace Inc. NY

· GRUNIG, J.-HUNT, T. (2003): Dirección de Relaciones Públicas. Barcelona: Gestión 2000.

· SEITEL, F. (2002): Teoría y Práctica de las Relaciones Públicas, Madrid: Prentice Hall.

· WILCOX, D.L.-NOLTE, L.W. (1990): Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques. Harper Collins Publishers. NY.

· WILCOX, D.L..- CAMERON, G.T. - XIFRA, J. (2006): Relaciones Públicas. Estrategias y Tácticas. 6a ed. Madrid: Addison-Wesley Longman Inc.

6. Metodology

The course consists of one master class a week (one hour), complemented with group sessions (3 hours). These sessions alternate cases analysis, discussions, partial presentations of the tasks' results and information research, as well as applying (orally, in writing and graphically) the Public Relations techniques. They take place in seminar classrooms and/ or IT classrooms.

7. Planning of activities

Weeks	Sessions / Groups	Contents
Week 0	G1 G2	Presentation. Methodology. Logistics. Unit 0.
Week 1	Master class	Unit 1.
Week 1	G1 G2	Unit 1.
Week 2	Master class	Unit 2.
	G1 G2	Unit 2.
	G1 G2	Task A: The press note.
Week 3	Master class	Unit 3.
	G1 G2	Unit 3.
	G1 G2	Task B: The clipping.
Week 4	Master class	Unit 4.
	G1 G2	Unit 4. Unit 5.
	G1 G2	Work tutoring sessions: Orientation and approach.
Week 5	Master class	Unit 6.
	G1 G2	Unit 6. Unit 7.
	G1 G2	Task C: The corporative web
Week 6	Master class	(Festive day) No class.
	G1 G2	Unit 7.
	G1 G2	Task D: F.A.Q.s
Week 7	Master class	Unit 8. Unit 9.
	G1 G2	Unit 9.
	G1 G2	Task E: The brochure.
Week 8	Master class	Unit 10.
	G1 G2	Unit 11.
	G1 G2	Work tutoring sessions: Project revision.
Week 9	Master class	Unit 12.
	G1 G2	Unit 12. Unit 13.
	G1 G2	Presentations of the group projects.
Week 10	Master class	Unit 14.
	G1 G2	Unit 14.
	G1 G2	Presentations of the group projects.