Report on Setting Up a Public Relations Function for Bonjour Motels

This report evaluates the potential benefits of establishing a dedicated public relations (PR) function for Bonjour Motels, a French-owned motel chain seeking to expand its global presence. It highlights how PR can enhance brand credibility through third-party endorsements and improve online visibility ...Read More

Running head: PUBLIC RELATIONS
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Answer to Question 1.................................................................................................................3
Introduction............................................................................................................................3
Benefits of setting up a PR function for Bonjour Motels.......................................................3
Conclusion..............................................................................................................................4
Answer to Question 2.................................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Answer to Question 1
Introduction
Public relations (PR) can be described as the management of the information that is
spread between an organization and an individual. The organization may vary from non-
profit organization, government agency and a business. Public relations is different from
advertising in the sense that Public relations include a business gaining insight and exposure
to their target audience by using the topics which give rise to public interest and other items
not requiring any payment (Grunig 2013). The main aim of public relations is to persuade the
public to maintain a positive view about the organization. The main aim of the report is to
highlight the advantages of investing in a PR unit.
Benefits of setting up a PR function for Bonjour Motels
Business owners often neglect to invest in public relations, which is one of the most
cost effective methods for businesses to raise awareness.
Given below are some of the reasons why Bonjour Motel should invest in a separate PR Unit.
 The consumer view about the company changes when a third party tends to cover a
service. This is because when a third party endorses a brand consumers are more
likely to visit the place as the hotel gains creditability.
 Public relations tend to broadcast news, clips about the company online, and provide
the viewers with a direct link to the website. This will help increasing the ranking in
Google and help in publishing the link to more than 5500 websites (Guth and Marsh
2016).

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 For Bonjour Motels, Public relations will be a relatively less expensive option than
advertising and its effects are more sustainable. A single good media placement can
lead to huge increase in sales.
 Various potential challenges that the company might have had to face can be faced
with the help of toolkits offered by Public Relations Company (Newsom, Turk and
Kruckeberg, 2012).
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be said that investing in a separate Public Relations will be good for
the Bonjour Motels.
Answer to Question 2
The changing nature of the media as it relates to public relations. What opportunities
and threat from a PR perspective.
The rapid change in the technology today with reference to space, increased
pluralism, globalization and increase in values has brought about tremendous changes in the
field of media. With the advent of virtual reality and the concept of live streaming, media
today can bring about a revolution in any part of the world (Dozier, Grunig and Grunig
2013). With the change in media, there are increased opportunities as well as threats for
Public relations.
Opportunities and threats for the Public relations
 The social media allows the public relations activity to reach the audience unfiltered
unlike the earlier times where editors were important.
 Social media is interactive in the sense that the customers can respond to the PR event
and let their views be known. It is real-time with no gaps.

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 Social media is not restricted to a particular channel.
 The social media websites do not sleep therefore the PR teams should make sure they
portray the image of the company after considering all relevant facts.
Crisis is common in the domain of business however; these given key errors in a crisis
management to be avoided are as follows:
 Absence of a plan or a notification based internal system
 Giving the lawyers an authority to manage the crisis.
 Avoiding the media during crisis.
 Avoiding accepting any outside perspective
 Employing an untrained spokesperson (Culbertson and Chen 2013).
The crisis can be managed in the following manner:
 By building up a strong internal communications system. The key spokesperson needs
to be identified and given an opportunity to establish the concern.
 Understanding the potential impact of the crisis. Only then will one be able to manage
them effectively.
 After having an understanding of the particular crises, the company should position its
activities and stance.
 Establishment of a monitoring system plays a key role in managing the task
 In the last step, the company should learn from its mistakes and avoid them in future.
In the domain of public relations, publics can be defined as the particular group of
individuals having some common interest factor. This concept has been discussed in various
fields such as political science, psychology, advertising and marketing. In the field of public
relations, public can be said to be the most ambiguous concept (Boin, Stern and Sundelius
2016).

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There are internal publics as well as external publics. Internal publics are involved in
the direct functioning of a business whereas the external public is the clients with whom the
firm is engaging in a business deal with.
Examples of Public are as follows:
Internal publics:
 Employers
 Suppliers
 Dealers
 Distributors
 Investors
 Retailers
External publics are:
 Customers
 Mass Media
 Government
 Financial Institutions
 General Publics
 Action Group
 Community

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References
Boin, A., Stern, E. and Sundelius, B., 2016. The politics of crisis management: Public
leadership under pressure. Cambridge University Press.
Culbertson, H.M. and Chen, N., 2013. International public relations: A comparative analysis.
Routledge.
Dozier, D.M., Grunig, L.A. and Grunig, J.E., 2013. Manager's guide to excellence in public
relations and communication management. Routledge.
Grunig, J.E. ed., 2013. Excellence in public relations and communication management.
Routledge.
Guth, D.W. and Marsh, C., 2016. Public relations: A values-driven approach. Pearson.
Newsom, D., Turk, J. and Kruckeberg, D., 2012. Cengage Advantage Books: This is PR: The
Realities of Public Relations. Cengage Learning.