The bond of reason

To keep the line of thought clear, it may be stated once more that a function of public relations is the conveying of ideas which will enlighten areas of public ignorance, and will dispel ill-will. It is also pertinent here to observe again that what is regarded as "the public" really consists of a number of publics.

With these restatements as a starting point, consideration may now be given to some fundamental characteristics of these various publics. Of primary importance is the fact that each of these publics consists of persons whose interest in a given business enterprise is colored by their relationship with that enterprise –by what they expect from it. For example, the employee expects to collect the highest possible wage for his labor, the consumer expects the highest possible value for the price he pays, while the stockholder expects the highest possible return from his investment in the enterprise.

Although these various interests tend to conflict with each other, they can still be made to work together through a bond of reason. Each of the interests can be brought to realize that if it demands too much, the requirements of the other interests cannot be met and the enterprise will collapse. Upon that bond of reason rests economic peace. The bond may be strained at times by strikes, lock-outs and consumer boycotts, but in their calmer moments, these conflicting interests can always be made to recognize the fact that, if they are to live and prosper, they must work together. It is this bond of reason, together with a sense of understanding and of innate decency among men, which provides the basis for the development of public-relations policies and methods.

Immediate interests may conflict not only among the employees, customers, and stockholders of a company but also among all the publics with which the company comes into contact. It is the job of the public-relations worker to try to reconcile all these conflicts and, through good and bad business weather, to keep peace among the various groups.

Wide effects of public-relations activities

It is often the case that public-relations activities affect a much wider circle than that composed of the particular public for which these activities are carried on. For example, research may disclose that consumers of a company's product need to be enlightened about the relationship between product-costs and product-prices. Consequently, the public-relations worker prepares a story telling consumers in some detail why the company's prices are as high as they are. It is a story of the costs of raw materials, a story of the costs of maintaining high standards of quality, and perhaps a story of the relationship between product-prices and the wages which the company pays its employees.

This story is sent out through the media of general publicity. In other words, it goes out through newspapers, the trade press, general magazines, and possibly through news reels and over the radio.

The objective of this story is to interest and influence the consumer public. Nevertheless, because all manner of people read the newspapers and magazines and also listen to the radio and watch news-reel movies, the story interests and influences other publics as well. Among these publics, the following may be found:

1. The company's own personnel
2. The "plant neighbors"
3. The wholesale and retail channels through which the company sells
4. The company's suppliers
5. Its security-holders
6. Those professional groups whose good-will and confidence the company must win and hold
7. The press, as represented by the reporters, editors, columnists, and commentators across whose desks the story has moved
8. Federal, state and local governments.

As another illustration of how public-relations activities affect a larger group than the one directly concerned, take such activities as those designed to improve a plant's relations with its employees. Since these employees are members of the plant community, the public-relations program will also improve the relations between the plant and the "plant neighbors."

Finally, consider the effects of public-relations activities in connection with the stockholders of a company. If a company is managed capably and profitably, the management can employ certain public-relations techniques directed at the stockholders, which will make them think more often about the company and regard it more favorably. Persons who are stockholders also are people, and usually they are people of substance in their respective communities. Therefore, as people as well as stockholders, they convey their impressions and opinions to others. As a result, a public-relations project intended to affect the stockholders primarily extends its beneficial effects far beyond the stockholder public.

Reaction of a man's many personalities to a public-relations program

On a different page, the fact was brought out that an individual, as exemplified by William Smith, has many different personalities. In other words, he presents a much more complicated problem to the public-relations worker than if he were composed of only the consumer-employee-stockholder personalities cited in the illustrations given above. In practicing public relations, the public-relations worker must consider not only these three personalities of William Smith but also his twenty-three or more other personalities. In the case of a specific public-relations program, the public-relations worker needs to consider the reaction of each of William Smith's personalities as in the following illustration:

The Pedestrian Company, makers of rubber soles and heels for shoes, decides to introduce a synthetic sole and heel to the public. This will be sold through the shoe repair shops and through the manufacturers of shoes, and it will be priced the same as the leather and rubber articles for which it substitutes. It will have a greater tensile and wear-resistant factor than either leather or rubber, and will be given the name of "The Indestructible Heel and Sole."
How are William Smith's personalities likely to react to this new product? Before the public-relations worker can develop a successful public-relations program in connection with this undertaking, he must check off the list of William Smith's personalities in respect to the probable reaction in each case as follows:

Reaction of William Smith's Personalities to the Introduction of "The Indestructible Heel and Sole"

• Voter: If he is a cattle raiser or tanner, he may be concerned as to whether the government can be persuaded to take measures to protect his industry.
• Taxpayer: No reaction.
• Employee: If he is employed in the hide and leather industry, he may be apprehensive that he will be discharged.
• Employer: If he is in the leather or shoe business, he may fear a drop in sales or an increase in costs because of the need of new machines.
• Consumer: Likely to be favorably interested because greater durability will reduce expenditures for shoes.
• Tenant: No reaction.
• Son: Favorably interested if he supports his parents.
• Husband: Favorably interested because of a saving in personal expenditures.
• Father: Same as for husband, but more so. Veteran: May be interested because of recollection of discomfort of wornout shoes during his service days.
• Churchgoer: No reaction.
• Member of a labor union: If he is a member of a union in the shoe or leather industry or, in fact, a member of any union, he may fear a lessened demand for labor because of the inroads of new products and new methods.
• Member of a Parent-Teacher Association: Favorably interested because of the greater durability of children's shoes.
• Landlord: No reaction.
• Country-dweller: Favorably interested because of the out-door wear and tear on shoes.
• Sportsman: Same as for country-dweller.
• Alumnus, college, high school: No reaction.
• Member of fraternal order: May be concerned because of possible effects on fellow members in the shoe or leather business.
• Regional patriot: May be concerned because of possible effects on local industry.
• Member or descendent of a particular racial or national group: May be concerned if it affects the business of a large number of his group.
• Member of a religious body: Same as in case of group members cited above.
• Stockholder or bondholder: Favorably interested or apprehensive, depending on his financial interests.
• Insured: No reaction.
• Automobile owner: No reaction.
• Reader of newspapers, periodicals and books: No reaction unless the publication discusses the advantages or disadvantages the new product.
• Indulger in entertainment: No reaction.

The foregoing analysis shows how complicated a person's reactions are to some innovation, because of his many personalities. What a person is like cannot be judged to any great extent from his outward appearance. To do so is like judging the size of an iceberg from the portion that is seen above the water. The sub-water mass is much greater, and it is this mass that provides the iceberg with its support and impact.

For this reason, The Pedestrian Company must devise its public-relations program introducing its new sole and heel so that as many as possible of a person's different personalities will react favorably to the new product. This presents a complicated problem, but it must be solved as far as it can be if the public-relations program is to prove effective.

Summary of public-relations media

There are various media available which a public-relations worker can use in putting into effect a public-relations program. The more important media need to be considered in some detail. Before this is done, however, all the various media may be briefly summarized under the following headings: newspapers and magazines; motion-picture theaters; radios and television; house organs and plant posters; annual financial reports; "industrial" motion pictures; demonstration programs; fairs and expositions; company meetings and company literature.

Newspapers and magazines

Newspapers and magazines are widely used as media in the practice of public-relations since such publications are read by a large proportion of the people in the United States and Canada. The number of different newspapers and magazines which are published vary from time to time, but some idea may be had from approximate figures. There are close to 2,000 daily newspapers and about 10,000 semi-weekly, weekly, semi-monthly and monthly local newspapers.

National consumer magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post, Life and Colliers, number about 1,400. The approximate number of other types of publications are as follows: agricultural publications, about 450; college publications, over 1,000; foreign-language papers, over 700; fraternal publications, about 100; over 200; religious publications, over 600; trade, technical and class publications, close to 2,000.

Motion-picture theatres, radio stations and television

There are about 20,000 motion-picture theaters which provide a public-relations medium through the presentation of news reels, while the number of radio stations through which public-relations programs can be broadcast exceeds 2,000. With the extension of coaxial television networks and with other technical developments, television as a public-relations medium is expanding so rapidly that today's statistics are out of date tomorrow. It is not necessary here, however, to do more than note that this new and highly potent medium exists and that, both in its physical scope and in its influence upon people's thinking, it is now undergoing a tremendous expansion that is bound to continue until all parts of the world are affected by it.

House organs and plant posters

A house organ is a publication designed to improve public relations within a business in some cases and outside of it in other cases.. The "internal" house organ usually is a magazine for and about employees. The "external" house organ is designed to be read by a company's customers and prospective customers, including wholesalers, retailers and consumers. In both its "internal" and its "external" forms, the house organ seeks to convey the idea that the enterprise is an institution worthy of public respect and support. The "internal" form of house organ also undertakes to upbuild the morale of employees, to strengthen their "family spirit," and to foster pride in their jobs. In addition, it usually serves as the medium through which the management addresses the company's personnel on matters of mutual interest.

As a means of supplementing the "internal" house organ and, in some instances, of replacing it, plant posters are used. These are posted on the plant bulletin boards and carry various messages designed to improve the relations between the management and the employees.

Annual financial reports

A company's annual financial report provides the management with a means of keeping in contact with its stockholders and the "financial community." Legally, the report serves as an accounting of the management's financial stewardship. It also serves, however, as a means of developing good public relations for the company, and the use of the annual report for this purpose has been steadily increasing, particularly in recent years.

Industrial" motion pictures

"Industrial" motion pictures provide a valuable public-relations medium in various instances. These are films which usually tell the story of a company's business, illustrating such phases as its research activities, its methods of production, its means of distribution, and the uses and applications of its products. Sometimes, these films are in color and accompanied by a sound-track commentary. Well-planned and well-produced "industrial" motion pictures are particularly effective in presenting a company's story to such groups as Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions clubs, and to classes in public schools. Such films may also be used to good advantage before meetings of a company's sales personnel, and at trade meetings and in booths at industrial expositions.

Demonstration programs

The practice of public relations may be carried on with limited groups, such as meetings of professional societies, through the use of demonstration programs designed to acquaint the public with a company's products. Such a demonstration may include the exhibition of an "industrial" film. Such demonstrations may also be given in retail stores at special booths, or at counters, or in the store windows. In many instances, these demonstration programs are regarded as falling within the scope of a company's sales-promotion department, but even so, this department usually plans and stages these demonstrations in collaboration with public-relations experts.

Fairs and expositions

The public-relations worker considers that it is a part of his job to watch for opportunities where his company can advantageously step into public view for the purpose of promoting good public relations. As one means of doing this, the public-relations department of a company often maintains a schedule of impending fairs and expositions. It can thus complete its arrangements far ahead of time so that it is in a position to present most effectively the company and its products to prospective and potential buyers, and to other persons whose good-will is of value to the company. Take, for example, an exhibit by the International Harvester Company at a state fair in an agricultural state. It is obvious that considerable planning must be done beforehand to put on display at a specific time and place this exhibit of streamlined machinery, with its color scheme worked out by an expert industrial designer.

Company meetings

A sales-department meeting is often an occasion for the first showing of a company's new "industrial" motion picture, designed to publicize pertinent facts about the organization. But whether or not use is made of films, company meetings can serve as media for conveying information that is to be reconvened to others on the outside. At such a gathering, some representative of the management may open the subject by saying: "From various sources, we've heard unfavorable comments about our company–your company and mine. As you know, gossip about a person or about a business can do much harm. It is for the purpose of remedying this situation that we have called you together today. We want you to help by passing along the true facts." The representative of the management can then proceed to furnish the information which he wants the public to have.

Company "literature"

The annual, or semi-annual, or interim report to stockholders is on only one form of "company literature." Such "literature" may appear in various other forms as well. For example, it may take the form of the modest "envelope stuffer" which a bank encloses with a depositor's monthly statement, such as a notice regarding the facilities of the bank for making personal loans. "Company literature" may also appear in the form of a special booklet issued to employees to explain the benefits of group insurance, or of a retirement-pension plan.

Again, it may appear in the form of an elaborate brochure or of a full-length book, issued on the occasion of a company's twenty-fifth or fiftieth or one-hundredth anniversary. In addition to these examples, there are numerous other forms of company "literature" which may be used to develop better public relations.

Good technique

Since there are many channels of communication whereby facts and opinions can be transmitted, and since there are many different publics which must be taken into consideration in conveying these facts and opinions, the job of the public-relations worker is a complicated one. Not only must he know the many and varied ways of doing the job, and understand the many different kinds of people he has to reach, but he must develop good technique in applying this knowledge and understanding.

The essence of good publicity technique is to tell the story in as many different ways, through all available means of communication, to as many different individuals, as study, ingenuity, and good plain hard work can make possible.

Framing the message

For a company which has an important message to give to the public, the first question that a public-relations worker has to face is how to frame this message so that it will be the most effective. Some idea of the procedure in meeting this problem may be had from the following illustration. A public-relations worker has as a client a drug and cosmetic preparation company, known as The Adam Company. This firm has a good reputation, but it is not as widely known to the public as the management feels that it should be if the company is to attain the greatest success.

As a means of obtaining the desired publicity for The Adam Company, the public-relations worker conceives the idea of having the company present annual awards for the best work done along the line of informing the public about public health and hygiene matters. His idea is to call these awards, The Harold Brown Public Health and Hygiene Information Awards, after the name of the president of The Adam Company. He works out the details of the plan and presents it in the following way to the management of the company for its approval.

The plan for improving The Adam Company's public relations

As a means of improving The Adam Company's relations with the public, it is proposed that the company establish awards, known as The Harold Brown Public Health and Hygiene Information Awards for the purpose of stimulating the dissemination of information about the problems of public health and hygiene, and of thus developing a greater understanding of these problems. There is a good possibility that this plan can be carried out with the cooperation and under the administration of the American Public Health Association or some similar organization, thus assuring the success of the plan.

Public health and hygiene problems are of constantly increasing importance with the growth in the populations of towns and cities, and with public health becoming more and more a matter in which everyone must be concerned, and from which no one person or class of people can remain isolated.

The water situations in New York and California provide pertinent examples of a broad public health problem. Other health problems are the treatment, containment and eradication of contagious diseases; protection of food supplies; administration of sewage and refuse collecting systems; waste-product disposal; and prevention of air and water contamination by harmful by-products of manufacturing and processing. With the growth of civilization, the public aspect of health requires increasing attention, since it affects more and more people, whether they are aware of this or not. It is essential, therefore, to make the public aware of the importance of public health, because, without such awareness, it is difficult to put into effect proper measures for public health, and to obtain sufficient appropriations to carry out such measures.

The Harold Brown Public Health and Hygiene Information Awards will be given for informative and educational presentations of public health questions in the fields of newspaper and magazine journalism, book publishing, radio broadcasting, the stage, television and the screen. These awards will not only encourage work of a high standard, but will place emphasis on the public health information presented by the award winners, thus attracting greater attention and stimulating greater interest in public health problems.

Preliminary "off the record" conversations were carried on with leading medical and science newspaper, press association and magazine editors and writers when they were recently assembled in New York for various scientific conventions, notably that of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. These conversations indicated that there would be a warm response to the establishment of the proposed awards.

While the American Public Health Association's sponsorship is far from a certainty, since it has not yet been possible to reach all the necessary executives, unofficial and confidential conversations with some of the officials have demonstrated that there is a friendly feeling to the idea. The Association's definite approval in the near future seems to be a good possibility.
If the American Public Health Association cooperates, the proposed plan of awards will be backed by a long-established national organization composed of many thousands of professional public health workers, such as heads of city health departments, sanitary commissioners, hospital executives, food experts, and water technicians. While medical men are important in the American Public Health Association, which considers itself the American Medical Association of the public health field, 'non-medical men have been presidents in the past, and are prominent in the Association. If it should happen that the Association does not see its way clear to cooperate in the proposed plan, it should not be difficult to secure the help of some other appropriate group.

The Harold Brown Public Health and Hygiene Information Awards will present as prizes gold medals and cash awards of $1,000 each to those making the outstanding contribution to the understanding of public health problems through each of the following media: books, magazine articles or series of articles, newspaper articles or series of articles, radio program or series of programs, television program or series of programs, motion pictures, and stage plays. The authors who are awarded prizes will each receive a $1,000 check and a gold medal, while their publishers, producers or directors will each receive a gold medal.
The awards will be made at an annual dinner either in Washington or New York, under the auspices of a committee of prominent, public-spirited citizens. Such people as the following are to be invited to serve on this committee:

• The Surgeon General of the U.S.A., Dr. Leonard A. Scheele.
• The head of the American Medical Association.
• The General and Admiral in charge of medical service in the Army and Navy.
• Public figures in education as, for example, such prominent college presidents as Robert M. Hutchins, University of Chicago; Harold Stassen, University of Pennsylvania; James Conant, Harvard University; Dwight Eisenhower, Columbia University.
• Leading civic planners, such as Commissioner Robert Moses, City Construction Coordinator.
• Eric Johnston, head of the Motion Picture Producers Association.
• Prominent publishers and editors, such as Walter Fuller of The Saturday Evening Post, and De Witt Wallace of the Reader's Digest.
• A motion picture figure of importance, such as Dore Schary.
• A few prominent physicians, dentists, and heads of leading medical colleges and research institutes.

In determining the winners of the prizes, The Adam Company is to do the work of weeding out all the contributions but the best, so that the committee-judges' task will consist merely of making the final selections from a few remaining possibilities. The most appropriate time for awarding the prizes is during "National Health Week," which is the period in October or November when the American Public Health Association holds its annual meeting. The awards are to be given for contributions made during the year preceding the date of their presentation.

The total cost of financing The Harold Brown Public Health and Hygiene Awards, including the cost of the cash prizes, the gold medals, and incidental expenses, will not amount to more than $15,000 and will possibly be less. More important, however, is the fact that these awards will greatly increase the prestige of The Adam Company and of its president, Harold Brown, in the eyes of the public. These awards will thus make for better public relations and will create greater opportunities for the company to expand its field of endeavor.

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