Proactive planning in public relations means not waiting for a crisis to occur before engaging in strategic public relations. Companies and organizations can and should have processes in place to handle crises; this can be particularly important in vulnerable fields such as energy. By developing a public relations strategy that includes crisis planning but that focuses on strategic public relations, companies and organizations are able to use public relations to generate goodwill and communicate the positive aspects of their operations to various stakeholders.
In this situation, feedback is important from the various publics involved. Government regulators, consumers and suppliers are all affected by Greenergy's operations, so feedback should focus on these groups. Informal polls can be used to assess the effectiveness of public relations as can a feedback section on organization's Web site. The Web site should be an integral part of the marketing and public relations strategy.
Although the marketing manager is confident that his marketing plan is comprehensive and precludes involvement with the public relations campaign, not integrating the two would be a mistake. The public relations strategy and the marketing strategy should be developed in conjunction with one another and in keeping with the organization's mission to ensure that the company's long-term objectives are being met and that a consistent message is deployed throughout the organization.
Companies that recognize the need for a proactive crisis management plan are not caught unaware when a crisis occurs. By having a framework in place for handling various types of crises, companies can respond in an organized and coordinated manner which can provide a unified and comprehensive message. If companies have no plan in place, their response will appear fragmented and confused, with the result that contradictory information may be released by various members of t...