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Public Relations Glossary

 

ad rate – the cost of advertising a certain size or length within a particular medium during a particular time

 

Ad Value Equivalency (AVE) – a measure that has been used in the PR industry to “measure” the benefit to a client from media coverage of a PR campaign; uses size or length of a placement, as opposed to copy points, which are used in PVA

 

advertising –a paid, mediated, form of communication from an identifiable source, designed to persuade the receiver to take some action, now or in the future

 

backgrounder – an official briefing outlining the history of a company or product or providing a summary of pertinent information and facts about the subject at hand

 

branding and rebranding – also called “brand building” – a collection of functions making or keeping a business successful through its reputation, including increasing the public’s awareness surrounding a business’s name and logo and building a strong company “essence” that inspires loyalty and trust in current customers and provides a level of familiarity and comfort to draw in new customers

 

bylined article – a feature that is written by an expert in a particular space and published in an appropriate venue, such as a trade magazine, a consumer-focused publication, or on a web site; oftentimes, these are written by a PR team and edited or approved by the listed author

 

copy points – informative uses of a company’s name within an article, presenting a communicative and persuasive technique and purpose to a reader

 

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – also called “corporate citizenship,” “responsible business,” “sustainable responsible business” and “corporate social performance” – a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model focusing on consideration for the good of the wider communities, local and global, within which an organization exists,  in terms of the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic impact of their way of conducting business and the activities they undertake

 

credibility – the competence, trustworthiness and integrity of an author and medium

 

email distribution list – also called an “e-list” – combines email and a traditional mailing list to create subscription group that can be sent emails keeping them in the loop regarding company news

 

endorsement – a written or spoken statement or longer term agreement for many of these statements extolling the virtue of a product, sometimes from a celebrity, from an industry expert or from a private citizen

 

event management – a group focused on studying the intricacies of a brand and how it relates to an event, identifying the target audience, devising the event concept, planning the logistics and coordinating the technical aspects before actually executing the modalities of the proposed event

 

external communications – all communications surrounding raising public awareness of the powers and work of an organization, often conducted through both traditional and social media

 

FAQ sheet – a one- or two-page document that addresses “Frequently Asked Questions” regarding the initiatives, goals and other facets of an organization or program

 

Fifth Amendment – related: “no comment” – the right of a person to remain silent without such silence being taken as evidence of guilt (common parlance, originally from the US Constitution)

 

Household Income (HHI) – most media surveys and reports on the total income of all members of a household and finds an average amongst their readership group

 

impression – the count of a delivered basic editorial unit from a distribution point; upon garnering a media placement, PR agencies try to measure how many people were learned of the company” through circulation and viewership figures

 

integration – mostly coordinated through broadcast media, this is the act of a company’s product, name or initiative being incorporated into a program organically; these are sometimes “pay for play” opportunities and sometimes can be negotiated in other ways

 

internal communications – all communications within an organization from oral to written to face-to-face to virtual, both one-on-one and in groups; a vital means of addressing organizational concerns

 

marketing – an integrated communications-based process through which individuals and communities discover that existing and newly-identified needs and wants may be satisfied by the products and services of others

 

media alert – more brief and to-the-point than a press release, these address direct factual question, often in regards to an event: who, what, when, where and why; usually, alerts are sent the week of an event to remind and to encourage attendance and coverage

 

media list – a listing of media contacts and their contact information; can be compiled by location, beat and a variety of other ways

 

media partnerships – these are sometimes “pay for play” opportunities; sometimes, if the media partner sees another benefit, such as presence at an event or appropriate brand alignment, they will sign on without pay.  Oftentimes though, these are collaborated with large scale media partners mostly with a national or large market presence and are highly sought after by companies, organizations and individuals

 

message points – prior to a media opportunity or interview or an event, the PR team and any spokespeople, including executive management should develop the statements that address themes that they are looking to convey to the media, influencers and event attendees

 

new media – the emergence of digital, computerized or networked information and communications technologies including those that are manipulatable, networkable, dense, compressible and impartial

 

online communities – a group of people that primarily interact via communication media such as email, internet social networking services or instant messages, rather than face-to-face, for social, professional, educational or other purposes.  Many times, these communicators build their own online groups, either via blog communities or social networking sites

 

“pass on” factor – the idea that a media placement can be physically distributed or talked about amongst groups of people, thereby growing the impressions and impact

 

pitching – an assertive attempt to generate news coverage via email, phone, live or through a social networking site.  Often pitching is done through a “pitch letter” that is designed to sell a story to a specific media member and to give them story ideas

 

press conference – often held to address a newsworthy happening or to speak with a significant newsmaker within a company, these events offer media the chance to ask direct questions and the chance for a spokesperson or executive to address many media members simultaneously

 

press kit – also called “media kit” – a pre-packaged set of educational materials about a person, company, organization, event or initiative distributed to media members; usually include press releases, management bios, media alerts, FAQ sheets, bylined articles and backgrounders; can be printed and sent out via mail or distributed electronically

 

press release – a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value

 

public relations - the business of inducing the public to have understanding for and goodwill toward a person, firm, or institution; the degree of understanding and goodwill achieved

 

Publicity Value Analysis (PVA) – a measure that has been used in the PR industry to “measure” the benefit to a client form media coverage of a PR campaign; uses copy points, as opposed to the size or length of a placement , which is used in AVE

 

Return on Investment (ROI) – the “bottom line” on how successful a campaign or strategy was in terms of what the returns (sometimes sales revenue, awareness or potential customer base expansion) were for the money expended or invested

 

RSS feed – “Really Simple Syndication” – a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works – such as blog entries, news headlines, audio and video – in a standardized format

 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – the use of various techniques to improve a web site’s ranking in the search engines, thus attracting more visitors

 

social media – information content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies; a transformation of monologue into dialogue and people from content readers into publishers

 

social networking sites – focus on building online communities of people who share interests, activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.  Most are web-based and provide various ways for users to interact and share information, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.  Millions of people throughout the world utilize sites including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Bebo and Friendster

 

spokesperson – an advocate engaged to speak on behalf of others or of an organization; often, the person serving in this role is a press officer or executive within the company, is well-known within the appropriate industry or is a brand-appropriate celebrity

 

sponsorship – to support an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products and services; often coordinated within sports, arts, entertainment or causes to gain brand recognition

 

strategic partnerships – an alliance made between organizations meant to be mutually beneficial; these could be long term or short term and link a company with another company, a charity, a spokesperson, an event or other associations

 

target relevance – matching the audience of a medium with a company’s campaign objectives and requirements

 

tip sheet – 1.) a simple list of six to a dozen helpful hints on how to do something or solve a problem (for example, 7 Tips for Surviving the Recession in Style); 2.) similar to a media alert, a tip sheet gives the media a hint of something big that is going to happen – these are used mostly for photo opportunities in entertainment media and announcements in business media (examples: Gossip Girl’s Chace Crawford to Appear at Toys ‘R’ Us to Make Donation to Toys for Tots with Maggie Moo; Google to Announce Q1 Earnings)

 

trackback click-throughs – often company web sites are linked within editorial coverage; click-throughs to a company’s site can be tracked back to online articles in many cases

 

traditional media – also called “old media” – includes media introduced before the advent of the internet, such as newspapers, magazines, books, newsletters and radio and television broadcast

 

unique monthly visitors – often dictating online impressions, someone with a unique address who is entering a web site for the first time that month; this figure shows how many different people there are in an audience as visitors are not counted twice

 

wire – used to disseminate press releases and other pointed announcements to multiple media outlets’ main assignment desks

 

word-of-mouth – process of promoting or marketing through human interaction; usually involving consumers sharing their opinions to generate buzz both live and online