Press conference, features and procedure

In the system of working with journalists press conference. yavl. a central event that allows you to solve many problems. It is necessary to determine in advance the approximate frequency of the press conference.

1. Required. identify a reason for meeting with journalists (results of work for the year, a significant event in the life of the org.)

2. Compose a capacious wording, the cat will become the topic of the press conference.

3. Select the day of the press conference.

4. Determine the composition of the invited journalists. Journalists should be invited in writing, 10 days before the press conference. The day before the press conference. call and specify which of the journalists will be.

Room for conducting press conference it is better to choose taking into account the accommodation of at least 20 people.

It is necessary to provide tables for registration. They should stand in front of the entrance to the hall.

Plates with the names of the main invited media, TV channels, placed on the tables, create a sense of hospitality. press conference should last from 40 minutes. up to 1h. 20 minutes.

Briefing - differences from a press conference

In relation to working with the media, the word briefing means - a message to the press. The briefing is organized on operational occasions, when there is a need to urgently inform journalists on a socially significant issue. The briefing rules are such that the organizers can confine themselves to a message and not enter into a dialogue with journalists. This is the main difference between a briefing and a press conference.

Effectiveness of press conferences and distribution of roles

The severity of the genre presupposes a clear distribution of roles at the press conference. It is optimal to separate 2 roles: presenter and newsmaker (answering questions from journalists, giving information)

F-tion ved. next: he opens a press conference, reports on the number of journalists present, thanks them for their attention, announces the topic, introduces the conference givers, announces the rules.

The central figures of the press conference. - these are leaders, for the sake of dialogue with the cat. the journalists gathered. They give a press conference.

The effectiveness of the press conference. depends on the number of journalists who came to it. 2nd factor is effective. - this is the number of publications and stories.

Well prepared and conducted press conference. accompanied by expressive and vivid materials.

The highest score can be given for organiz. press conference, if after holding it. not only will there be bright materials, but in the future, journalists will show interest in the organization and its leaders, will call on their own initiative and ask for a meeting.

The main genres of PR activities and journalism

On initial stage, PR in Russia did not attach due importance to the difference between journalism and PR

Let's compare the functions of a journalist and a PR specialist in order to understand the basics of the genre originality of texts.

1. The journalist aims at adequate coverage of events. A PR specialist creates a text that is specially oriented, unconditionally loyal to the basic PR-subject.

2. A journalist in his work strives for maximum self-expression. He distinguishes himself as a person among other authors, looking for expressive means for this.

A PR specialist seeks to contribute to the image of a basic PR-subject with his text.

3. Journalism is personalized, information products in journalism are always identified with the name of the author. PR information products are part of the whole, carriers of the org-s image.

To the rank media events relate briefings, press conferences, presentations, "round tables", seminars and conferences, as well as press tours.

Briefings and press conferences- these working events for the press are at the same time technologies used by the PR-services of public authorities. It is difficult to disagree with such an opinion expressed by some theorists and practitioners of public relations in government structures. The set of technologies that press services turn to in their work is well known (it's another matter how effectively they are used). This is the preparation of press releases, press conferences, briefings, as well as informal meetings with journalists, preparation of comments from experts, authoritative people - leaders public opinion.

Most often and most willingly they resort to organizing press conferences and briefings, which are based on the communication of the information source with invited journalists. So what is it - press conference and how does it differ from briefing ?

Briefing– a meeting of officials or a press secretary with representatives of the media, which summarizes the position of the government or the relevant organization on a particular issue or provides information on the course of international negotiations, the positions of the parties, etc.

In other words, a briefing is a short (up to half an hour) working event for media representatives, during which officials, representatives of state or commercial structures report the news, state their attitude and indicate their position on a particular issue. Briefings can also include a workshop with the participation of invited press representatives from government agencies, companies or public organizations.

This form of informing journalists is actively used by the press services of the authorities and various departments. Briefings are usually promptly organized in cases of emergencies - terrorist attacks, accidents, mass poisoning, disruptions in the operation of transport, communications, etc., in order to explain, as far as possible, what happened, its causes, to prevent panic, possible mistakes, distortion of facts and exaggeration in the media. As PR practitioners note, "a briefing is also the most convenient format for communicating sensational information designed to get the effect of surprise, since in this way the necessary information message or ideological thesis, veiled by sensational news, will be uncritically perceived by an audience influenced by strong emotions." (See: the site of the "Press Service" magazine.)

A feature of the briefing is that the messages of the speakers at it are one-sided, informative, illustrated with specific facts. Most often, the organizers of the briefing are limited only to the message, without entering into a dialogue with the press. Especially if the briefing is arranged, when it is necessary to urgently inform the media about a significant issue of the activities of the power structure. If questions are raised at such meetings, then this happens on the initiative of the organizers themselves and only within the framework of the designated topic. Nevertheless, depending on the goals and topics, sometimes the briefing "can be entirely devoted to the answers to the blitz questions of journalists, since there is no presentation part in it. Before talking to the press, a short - no more than 10-15 minutes - presentation of one or two speakers is possible. At the briefing, journalists are offered material prepared in advance by the press service (theses on the topic of the briefing, statistics, etc.) During the briefing, usually no drinks and sandwiches are served, and sometimes the press representatives participating in the briefing do not even sit down at the tables - the whole event carried out while standing. " (See: the site of the "Press Service" magazine.)

Often, in the practice of the press services of the authorities, a working event for journalists is used, the so-called back briefing – a meeting of top officials: statesmen, heads of departments - with representatives of the media in the "not for print" format on certain news stories. In terms of duration, the back briefing also takes no more than half an hour, sometimes much less, and is dedicated to a specific news event or issue.

Practical example. The back briefing got its name in the 19th century. from the english word back - backyard, back, backyards - thanks to the custom in England to hold meetings not in reception rooms, but in the backyard with a cup of tea in a semi-formal setting. The back briefing implies that during the meeting, the first person can express his point of view on any issue of interest to the public, express his attitude to certain events, somehow indicate his position, and then more or less sincerely answer some questions from the media representatives ... The back-briefing format does not require the first person to answer all the journalists' questions - some questions may remain unanswered or journalists will be asked to ask them during the next meeting of the same or more formal format. Journalists invited to the back briefing, but by default are obliged not to keep any records, not to record the speech of the first person on audio media, not to shoot video materials, not to refer in any form to what they heard at the back briefing. All information that becomes known to journalists during the back briefing can be used by them when writing analytical articles, creating analytical stories for television broadcasts or for prints accompanied by commentaries submitted as the fruit of their own reflections.

Press conference – a meeting of representatives of government agencies, socio-political organizations, commercial structures with journalists in order to inform the public on topical issues

certain topics, as well as drawing attention to the solution of any problem .

As with any working event for journalists, organizing and holding a press conference includes three stages: preparatory, holding a press conference and a final stage during which the results are summed up. At each of these stages, employees of the PR department or press service have to take a number of steps, which determine how fully the goals of the event will be achieved.

After deciding to hold a press conference and determining its goals, there comes preparatory stage, during which the PR service takes the following steps:

• the place and time of the event and the composition of its participants are determined, and a moderator is appointed to conduct the press conference;
• questions that can be asked by journalists are thought over and the corresponding factual and statistical material is prepared, a kind of "homework" of possible answers;
• an estimate for the organization and holding of a press conference is developed and approved, including (if necessary) the costs of a buffet table;
• a press kit is formed for distribution during or after the press conference;
• a list of journalists is compiled on the basis of the media map, taking into account the topic and purpose of the press conference, the specialization of the invited journalists, as well as the specifics of specific publications;
• a press release announcing the event is prepared and sent out (as a rule, two weeks in advance, followed by calls to journalists a week and two days before the press conference);
• badges for participants are made; plates with the names of newsmakers to be placed on the table; signs with the name of the topic of the press conference and the number of the hall where it is held (in case there are several halls);
• from among the employees of the press service, those responsible for the meeting and accreditation of journalists are appointed;
• if necessary, preliminary work is carried out with individual media representatives from the circle of trusted journalists so that with their questions they can correct the discussion of problems (if there is a deviation from the topic during the event), remove unexpected tension, level "provocative" questions, etc. .NS.;
• other technical and organizational problems are being worked out.

When determining the time and date of the press conference (as well as the briefing), a number of factors must be taken into account. In particular, as noted by PR practitioners, it is necessary to provide that the press conference or briefing does not coincide in time with some other events that may also arouse the interest of the journalists whom you hope to see at the press conference. You should take into account the work schedule, the frequency of publication of printed publications, as well as television and radio programs, news agencies, on the interest of which you expect. If a press conference or briefing is held, for example, in the evening, shortly before the signing of newspaper issues, one can hardly expect that information about them will appear in these newspapers tomorrow. And, it may happen that in a day or two this information will be irrelevant. Therefore, an unsuccessfully chosen time for holding a press conference (briefing) can minimize the effectiveness of the efforts of its organizers.

Stage of the press conferences are characterized by hard work of both newsmakers and the presenter, their ability to clearly convey the main idea to those present, to give the maximum of necessary information, without disclosing information related to the internal secrets of the department or undesirable for wide dissemination.

The technologies for holding a press conference are described in sufficient detail in the relevant textbooks and numerous articles in professional magazines ("Counselor", "Press Service", "PR-Dialogue", "Laboratory of PR, Marketing and Advertising", etc.), therefore, in in this case, we will pay attention only to some essential points. In particular, at the work of the presenter or moderator.

Its algorithm can be described as follows:

Before the start of the press conference, the presenter once again clarifies the time and direction of his speech with the newsmaker, conducts a short "briefing" with him with a reminder

about the specifics of the perception of this or that information by journalists, conveys his opinion about the general "atmosphere" of the hall;

• in his opening remarks at the opening of the press conference, introduces its participants - newsmakers and experts - and stipulates the rules for raising questions by journalists. (As a rule, a journalist can ask no more than one question at a time, avoiding lengthy discussions about the topic and not giving an extensive "background." The question should be formulated briefly, specifically and unambiguously. the direction of the discussion.);
• during a press conference, the presenter observes the situation in the hall and alternately grants the right to journalists to ask their question;
• the moderator must be able to politely but persistently interrupt the journalist if his question turns into a speech from the floor (in other words, he must master the appropriate technologies of interpersonal and social communication);
• in extreme cases (an increase in the number of "provocative" questions, an attempt on the part of journalists to divert the discussion from the topic of a press conference, etc.) the moderator resorts to the help of "trusted journalists" present at the event, giving them the floor;
• the moderator monitors compliance with the rules of the event and warns journalists about its end, providing an opportunity to ask "the last two questions";
• concluding the press conference, the moderator thanks those present and invites them to continue discussions during informal communication at a buffet table (if any). At the same time, during the buffet table, he must constantly be next to the main newsmaker during the latter's communication with journalists.

On final stage media publications are monitored, analyzed, and conclusions are drawn. A necessary component of the final stage is the preparation of a report on the press conference. In addition to the fact that the report testifies to the management of the organization about the effectiveness of the PR department or press service, with an informal approach, a report on the work, an analysis of the pros and cons of each press conference will replenish the data bank about the technologies used by the press service, and will allow them to be improved ...

The final report, according to PR practitioners, should include the following important components:

• main steps;
• the progress of the project as a whole;
• the most successful actions and shortcomings, as well as the difficulties that had to be faced during the implementation of the project;
• the most effective measures that ensured the solution of the assigned tasks;
• the overall effectiveness of the PR campaign;
• responses in the media to the events held;
• conclusions, lessons and recommendations that need to be taken into account when drawing up subsequent programs or developing PR-events.

The work of PR services in relation to the press is not limited to the activities listed above. Other actions, for example, holding presentations, "round tables", thematic seminars, club evenings etc. At the same time, the thoughtfulness of the topic of the event, the composition of the invited participants, the novelty of the information offered to journalists, the level of possible business contacts that will ensure the participation of journalists in such events will be of decisive importance.

Presentation- in a broad sense, as the above-named "Educational vocabulary of the language of public relations" interprets this term, it is a public relations technology that includes not only the demonstration of a product, company or service for a specific target audience, but often a theatrical or concert performance , dinner or buffet, various performances, auctions, sales, etc. Undoubtedly, in the activities of PR-subdivisions of government bodies, when using this technology, we are talking about a specific "product" or "company": most often this is a draft of a government program or a new structure that has appeared in government bodies. But in any case, the specifics of the presentation as a media event of the state PR service is distinguished by a more business-like, strict and serious approach: unlike commercial organizations, any steps taken by state departments or branches of government are always closely watched by the media and society as a whole. Therefore, there is no need for the "entertainment" part of the event, as well as for auctions or quizzes. At the same time, a buffet table or dinner is not excluded, since they serve as an informal addition to the main event, allowing the planned information to be conveyed nuanced and detailed to its participants.

Some researchers in the field public relations note a certain similarity between the presentation and the press conference, since in both cases there is such an integral part as gathering journalists and familiarizing them with some information. However, unlike a press conference, the information content of a presentation is “the presented 'product' that can be seen, touched, tasted or read.”

Moreover, the presentation is organized not only for journalists. Representatives of other target audiences, one way or another connected with this organization or department, are invited to it, so that they can get first-hand information about the "product" and use information not mediated through the media.

The presentation scheme is quite simple: the informational (press conference) part, the actual presentation (poster display, explanations and comments of experts) and informal communication.

"Round table" as a media event, it is a meeting of officials, specialists, experts, political, scientific and public figures and journalists for a detailed discussion of an urgent problem facing society and the development of some recommendations for its solution. This is a kind of polylogue, during which all participants express their opinion about the problem and the ways of its solution, then fixing the main results of the discussion in the form of an official document (decision, appeal, memorandum, etc.).

To increase the effectiveness of the event, public relations practices recommend taking a number of steps when preparing the round table:

• to include one or more mass media involved in the problem in the organizers of the "round table";
• to make the "round table" multi-subject, i.e. to involve representatives of different target groups related to this problem to participate in it;
• to create conditions under which journalists would be included participants of the "round table", and not just observers;
• to present an intellectual product at the round table.

Based on the experience of public relations specialists, some advice can be given to the organizers of the round table.

• The topic and the issues discussed at the "round table" are planned and announced in advance (one month, at least a week), and the participants are introduced to them before the meeting. This allows participants to prepare arguments, demonstration materials, figures and facts, which makes the meeting more productive.
• It is better if the "round table" is held on television, in which case the public not only hears, but also sees the participants of the event, can ask questions by contact numbers, which makes the meeting more lively and interesting.
• The number of participants can be from 5 to 15 people (no longer productive). Nameplates and identification plates make communication easier. The work of the "table" is organized by the presenter, who has a script and a plan for its implementation. Before starting the discussion and speaking, all participants should introduce themselves briefly to those present. The moderator offers the participants the order of the discussion and the rules of work, announces the questions for discussion and corrects the course of the discussion. At the end of the meeting, he briefly summarizes the results, highlighting the most significant ideas.

As for such a form of media events as seminars and conferences, then this topic is quite deeply and in detail disclosed in the corresponding tutorials.

Since this technology practically does not find application in the activities of PR-structures of authorities, we will limit ourselves only to the definition of the mentioned terms for a general understanding of their meaning in PR-activities.

Seminar – group lessons, a circle for any special training, for advanced training... In the practice of public relations, the concept of "seminar" is most often used in combination "school-seminar" (for example, the All-Russian School-Seminar "Information and Communication Relations of Business and Non-Profit Organizations with Government Bodies" of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of State management, January 14, 2011). During the implementation of this event, representatives of the PR-community - practitioners working in the field of public relations, exchange views with colleagues engaged in the preparation of PR specialists and develop joint approaches to various kinds of problems.

The conference – meeting, meeting of any representatives of organizations, groups, states, as well as individuals to discuss and resolve certain issues... Of course, this definition does not cover the whole concept of "conference", since it is given only in the "PR" sense of this term. There is a broader interpretation of the concept of "conference": scientific, scientific and practical, etc., which actually have nothing to do with public relatins, but are sometimes used to achieve the goals of public relations activities. Nevertheless, but in the opinion of the authors, this "special event" is practically not used in the arsenal of means and methods of work of the press services of power structures.

Press tour- this working event of the press services is defined by the "Training Vocabulary for Public Relations" as "a trip organized for a group of journalists to draw attention to the region, project, enterprise". Agreeing, in general, with this approach, one cannot but try to interpret it broadly. For example, in the part concerning the goals of the press tour. Based on many years of experience work as a journalist and a representative of the press service, I would like to note that one of the important goals of organizing a trip for journalists to a particular facility or to a particular region is also to consolidate the image and reputation of the agency organizing the press tour, as well as the possibility of expanding the media map press service of the named organization with the help of establishing and strengthening contacts with media representatives - participants of the trip, forming in their person "friends" of the organization or department, loyal to its activities. Subsequently, this allows the press service of the authorities or a separate department to more effectively implement the tasks it faces. Often, correspondents participating in a press tour become active members of a pool of journalists accredited by a department or organization. This significantly expands the capabilities of the press service in terms of the effectiveness of its work. From this point of view, a press tour is the most preferable form of communicating to the public (with the help of the media) the goals, objectives, content and meaning of specific steps of an organization, department or power structure as a whole in one direction or another.

Unfortunately, this topic has not yet found its detailed reflection in the special literature. Therefore, we will try to dwell on it in more detail, telling as concretely as possible about the organization of press tours, not only as one of the well-known PR technologies in the arsenal of press services, but also as one of the most effective methods of work of the press service with media representatives.

In practical terms, press tours can be classified by the time they are held and by their type, due to the main tasks being solved.

By time, press tours are multi-day, one-day and short term(several hours). A little more broadly, they can be classified according to content and main topics. Here, one of the main varieties are:

• Press tour to promote and consolidate the image of the company, region, etc. ("image").
• "Information" press tour.
• "Tourist" press tour.
• Press tour to the crisis region.
• "Economic" or "industrial" press tour.
• Press tour as part of a special event (e.g. multi-day conference, symposium, exhibition, etc.)

Of course, this list can be continued, since a press tour as a news event constantly requires a creative approach to its organization. It should be noted that the names in this classification are rather arbitrary and do not refer to the established PR terminology. However, they reflect the main content and main purpose of this media event. Moreover, along with the main goal, any trip of journalists, organized by the press service of a department or company, solves both informational and image problems.

In pure form image can be considered a press tour, the main purpose of which is to attract the attention of the media (and with their help the general public) to a particular region.

Practical example. While working as a correspondent for the newspaper "Business World" in France, the author had the opportunity to participate with his French colleagues on a trip to the cities of Aubagne and Aix-en-Provence (southern France). The three-day press tour aimed to draw attention on the eve of Christmas to the region famous for the production of Christmas toys - Santons, and all kinds of sweets for the traditional festive table. The journalists were able to take part in the production of santons, got acquainted in detail with the production of "Christmas fruits", attended the rehearsal of the Christmas performance in the village club. All this made it possible not only to form the best impression of the region, but also to reflect more fully its peculiarities, basing his publications on the "effect of personal presence". It is indicative that following the publication of the report on this trip in the "Business World", some Russian business structures and travel agencies have shown interest in this region.

Whichever category we place this or that press tour, they are all organized according to certain rules and peculiar "canons". Like any event, the press tour has three stages of implementation: preparatory, the trip itself and summing up. A feature of the first stage is the study by the organizers of a number of issues, including:

• the topic and program of the press tour;
• number of participating journalists / journalist groups;
• selection of a meeting place for journalists before leaving;
• transport and route;
• place and conditions of placement;
• the program of the stay (with the organization of meals and evening rest for journalists);
• dates and time of arrival and departure;
• security guarantees.

Practical example. As an example press tour to the crisis region Consider a one-day press tour of French and foreign journalists, accredited in Paris, to the southwestern Dordogne region, which was hit by a severe hurricane and thus lost its tourist attraction. I must say that before the hurricane, this region was one of the most visited in France due to the fact that it preserved prehistoric rock carvings in Cro-Magnon caves, and also the famous mushrooms - truffles, familiar to gourmets all over the world, grew in the forests.

The press tour was organized by the PR services of the authorities of the Dordogne department, financed by the local authorities and representatives of the business community. More than 100 journalists took part in the press tour. During the trip, they were shown restoration work in natural and tourist sites, meetings, interviews and press conferences with representatives of local authorities, business and "opinion leaders" were given the opportunity to taste traditional regional cuisine and plant a tree, of which every journalist has become a "godfather" (as evidenced by a certificate issued there). The result of such a trip was a "wave" of publications, which contributed to the fact that the region acquired a new image, while at the same time consolidating the best features of the previous one; serious private business investments have been made in its restoration and development and the number of tourists, both French and foreign, has increased.

The latter condition comes to the fore, especially if a press tour is organized in a zone of armed conflict or an emergency.

Practical example. These included, for example, the aforementioned trips of foreign and Russian journalists to the North Caucasus during the anti-terrorist operation, or the trip of a group of European journalists to Kosovo, where an acute stage of the conflict between units of the Serbian army and Albanian gangs flared up (which subsequently led to intervention in NATO conflict in Kosovo and the beginning of the bombing of Serbia). All participants in the trip to Kosovo remembered how the Serbian authorities organized the physical protection of a group of journalists at all stages of their trip with the help of a unit of the Serbian army and several armored personnel carriers, how carefully the routes to visit the sites were worked out in order to avoid the risk of being fired upon by the enemy.

When organizing any press tour, it is assumed that a thorough study of several necessary "blocks of events" is carried out during its implementation, in particular:

• meeting, accommodation, instructive conversation outlining the details of the stay;
• escorting journalists along the entire route;
• food, evening entertainment, cultural program;
• meeting with government officials, company managers;
• visiting the object / objects;
• closing meeting / press conference, summing up;
• seeing off journalists.

Without solving at least one of the above issues, the press tour risks being a failure and simply not achieving its goals.

The final stage of a press tour practically does not differ from a similar stage in any PR event: summing up, monitoring and analyzing publications, preparing a report.

At the end of the topic, here are some tips from PR professionals that may be useful for employees of press services:

• there are no unattractive regions, there are poorly organized press tours;
• a media map is the main tool for organizing a press tour;
• participation in a press tour is a kind of encouragement for journalists;
• choosing the right PR partner is the key to a successful press tour.

• Educational dictionary of the language of public relations / ed. L. V. Minaeva. M .: Rus. lang. - Media; Bustard, 2010.
In the same place.
• In the same place.

The question often arises - what is the difference between a press conference and a briefing? Let's make a reservation right away that the word "briefing" does not always mean communication with journalists. Sometimes a briefing is called a meeting with company staff when there is a need to communicate new information.

In relation to work with the media, the word "briefing" means - "message to the press." The briefing is usually arranged for operational reasons, when there is a need to urgently inform journalists on a socially significant issue. The briefing rules are such that the organizers can confine themselves to a message and not enter into a dialogue with journalists. This is the main difference between a briefing and a press conference. But the organizers of the briefing can go for a dialogue, suggest asking questions in connection with the message made. In this case, the briefing takes place in the mode of a press conference, but lasts much shorter, the content of the dialogue turns out to be limited to one news item. Briefings are mainly organized by official bodies, especially those close to law enforcement and security structures.

The main genres of journalism and PR.

The materials published in the press and appearing on television and radio play a huge role in the management of public relations. At the initial stage of PR development in Russia, the differences between journalism and PR were not given due importance. Indeed, they are closely interconnected, both information products are widely represented in the information space. Gradually, the understanding came that despite all the external similarity, for example, journalistic texts and PR-texts have different methodological basis, genre originality and formal signs of difference. The same can be said for television and radio broadcasts.

Let us compare the functions of a journalist and a PR specialist in order to understand the basics of the genre originality of texts.

1. Journalist aims at adequate reflection of events. (Often in the literature they write - “a journalist assesses reality objectively.” However, the author of this manual thinks the use of the term “objective” is imprecise, since there are no general criteria of objectivity, they have always been controversial in relation to journalistic practice.)

PR specialist creates text, specially oriented, unconditionally loyal in relation to the basic PR-subject.

2. The journalist strives to create maximum self-expression... He distinguishes himself as a person among other authors, looking for expressive means for this.

The PR-specialist seeks to contribute to the image of the basic PR-subject with his text. His name, his personality are secondary in comparison with the PR-plan.

3. Journalism personalized, information products in journalism are always identified with the name of the author (in some cases, with the name of the publication).

Spindoctor and its functions. As you can see, the difference between journalistic and PR-text is largely based on a different attitude to the covered event. It would be appropriate here to say about a new qualification that appeared in the last century at the junction of journalism and PR - spindoctor. The word "spindoctor" consists of two parts ("spin" - "spinning", "spinning", "doctor" - "treatment"), means operational management versions of coverage of the event, giving it the desired color and accents. This is a kind of news management, as noted by GG Pocheptsov in the book "Public Relations for Professionals" (p. 139).

The "philosophy" of spindoctorship is based on the fact that an event and its illumination are not the same thing, they are, as it were, two "objects" that may not coincide. Event lighting in modern conditions when the media world is so diverse, it really does seem to be a special challenge. Does spontaneous lighting that is not subject to control always guarantee the adequacy, maximum correspondence to the reality of what happened? The question, apparently, is by whom and for what purposes spindoctorship is carried out. Be that as it may, the phenomenon of "spin" has become firmly established in the practice of control mass media... You can read more about this in the above book by G.G. Pocheptsov.

Genres of PR-texts.

The St. Petersburg school of PR made an important contribution to the development of the typology of PR-texts. The monograph by A.D. Krivonosov "PR-text in the system of public communications" (see the list of references at the end of the chapter) gives a complete and scientifically substantiated idea of ​​the diversity and specificity of the genres of written communications used in PR.

In a large variety of PR-texts, they are directly related to journalism. media texts. As noted by A.D. Krivonosov, “We call media texts PR-texts originating at the initiative of the basic subject of PR, prepared by PR-structures employees or journalists themselves and distributed exclusively through the print media” (op. Source, p. 213) ... Their main difference from journalistic ones is that social information about a social subject - the basic PR-subject - is initiated by him. That is, the material appears in the press. at the initiative of the basic PR-subject. Whether it was written by a representative of the editorial office or a PR-specialist, this circumstance is no longer fundamental. The journalistic text appears in the media on the initiative of the editorial board or the author himself. The second important feature of a media text is that the reader's attention in it is focused on the organization, the firm or its first person (which is quite natural, since we are talking about the PR-text).

A.D. Krivonosov identifies the following genre types of PR-texts intended for the media (media texts): image article, image interview, case story.

Image article.

External signs of an image article are: the absence of an author's signature (sometimes it is present, but rarely belongs to popular authors), photographic illustrations of an image character, the design of the material with elements of the corporate identity of the basic PR-subject. “We will define an image article as a genre of PR-text, representing an urgent socially significant problem, where the facts, the problem itself, the underlying materials about the basic subject of PR (a company, organization or person), as well as the point of view on this problem contribute to the formation or increase his publicity capital "(AD Kivonosov" PR-text in the system of public communications ", p. 220). Publicity capital in the St. Petersburg School of the PR is understood as …… ..

The image article contains positive assessments of the basic PR-subject, arguments that optimize them. It is built approximately according to the following scheme: thesis - system of argumentation - conclusions.

Image interview.

The focus of an interview is always on a socially significant person. Traditionally, journalistic interviews are of the following types: event, portrait, problematic. You can also highlight interview interview, interview story, interview sketch. An image interview has the same characteristics. There are two prerequisites for it: the interviewee represents the basic PR-subject, the nature of the dialogue is sustained in an atmosphere of loyalty to the basic PR-subject.

An image interview has the following goals:

Informing the public about the positive experience and merits of the organization;

Announcement of an upcoming event (opening of a new facility or an upcoming anniversary);

Informing about the details of the past event;

Explaining the person's position or point of view to the public.

Case story.

This genre was born of the needs of advertising in the sale of goods and services. It tells about some "case from life" when the advertised product rendered a miraculous service to the owner. The more believable a story is, the more valuable it is. Real stories that happened to real people are especially appreciated. The broader interpretation of "case from life" began to be applied in other areas, for example, in the political OL. So the case stories entered the PR.

A.D. Krivonosov also distinguishes related PR texts: these are publications that have weakly expressed signs of PR-texts, as well as slogans (mottos).

Interesting article.

This type of publication is close to a case story. Written in a light manner, the engaging article aims to entertain the reader. The PR-effect is based on the fact that the basic PR-subject (or person) is played up unobtrusively in a positive context.

Maya Dushkina Chapter from the book "PR and Promotion in Marketing: Communication and Impact, Technology and Psychology"
Publishing House "Peter"

Press tour

It is customary to call a press tour an event prepared by the organization's promotion service specifically for journalists, designed for a sufficiently long time (several hours, a day, several days) in order to result in the publication of objective journalistic materials about your company in the mass media. The purpose of organizing a press tour does not have to be an acquaintance with the activities of the entire company or, for example, the life of the population of a small provincial town (if the administration of the latter wants to establish good relations with local journalists), for this, a rather convincing news occasion is sufficient.

Direct work with journalists on the day of the press tour is preceded by a rather laborious preparation period, including lengthy negotiations both within the organization and with the media. The public relations department clarifies the purpose of the press tour with the management. This means that a press tour should be devoted either to something significant, already achieved, or to the promising development of an organization (region, scientific direction). In the latter case (a long-term press tour), it is important to familiarize the public through the mass media with these plans, as well as, possibly, to search for partners and investors. For a public relations specialist, it is important, immediately after making a decision to hold a press tour, to receive from the management documents (orders) that define the goals and date of the press tour, and also indicate the names of the persons responsible for its preparation and conduct. Further (also in agreement with the management), objects of inspection for journalists are determined and specialists are appointed who will give explanations at each of the objects. The route of the press tour is selected, and the persons responsible for holding the event at each of the planned stops of the tour are appointed. All responsibilities for ensuring effective work and maintaining contacts with employees of the administrative and economic sector of the company are carried out by specialists of the public relations department. The same department is engaged in establishing and maintaining regular communication with the media on the basis of the organization's database of media and regular contacts with them, makes an initial list of names of journalists whose presence on the specified day would be desirable and useful. It should be noted that, as practice shows, approximately 50% of the journalists initially included in the list, for various reasons, will not be able to visit the organization on that day. Some of them, thanking for the invitation and expressing regret at the inability to accept it, nevertheless show interest and ask to send all materials related to this event. Of course, such a request should always be granted. Now is the time to dwell on those printed materials that the PR department prepares when planning a press tour. All decisions and contracts that are concluded thanks to the event are drawn up on paper. Only the main types of materials prepared by the PR department for the press tour will be named here. The whole complex of materials is easy enough to divide on the basis of purpose for a particular target audience. And starting with the most general definition of public groups with which PR specialists will have to contact during the preparation and conduct of a press tour, we highlight the internal and external audiences. The work on creating plans or, if you like, scenarios for connecting to participation in the press tour of individual departments of the organization itself begins immediately after the management issues an order to conduct a press tour indicating the purpose, time and name of the performer responsible for all stages of both preparation and and holding a press tour. They usually start with drawing up a press tour program in accordance with general recommendations, and then establish who will do what and when, and these responsibilities are assigned not only to PR specialists, but also to specific persons of the departments where the journalists will be invited. as well as for representatives of administrative services. All this is drawn up in the form of orders indicating the deadlines. Of course, all preparation work takes place in regular contacts at the level of business meetings to resolve practical issues. Work with an external audience is much more formalized and clear in terms of written documents. If the event for which the press tour is planned is really very serious and the city administration may be interested in it, then invitations should be sent to the city leaders. Later, a day before the scheduled press tour, you need to receive confirmation by phone and find out the names and positions of persons who intend to take part in the event. Regular contacts are maintained directly with media representatives:

• they are sent a press release - an announcement with a short message about the upcoming press tour and an invitation to take part in it;
• some time later, a news press release is sent to the editorial office with detailed information about the goals of the press tour and some of its details;
• a few days before the press tour, the organization by phone clarifies the list of representatives of the media, including radio and television, and their requirements to ensure the technical side of their work;
• during the period of preparation for the press tour, the PR department prepares a special press kit, which is handed to journalists either upon their arrival or upon departure; additional reference materials about the organization and its production and technological specifics are also being prepared for distribution to journalists in case they intend to do great stuff on the topic of the press tour.

So, when organizing a full-scale press tour to the region, it is necessary to think over such blocks of events as:

• meeting at the station or at the airport, accommodation, briefing meeting outlining the details of your stay in the city;
• escorting journalists along the entire route of the press tour;
• food, evening entertainment, cultural program, shopping;
• meeting with the executive and legislative branches of government;
• visiting specialized events and objects for the subject;
• visiting the most interesting objects of the city, acquaintance with their socio-economic development;
• final meeting, summing up the results of the trip, seeing off to the station or to the airport.

In general, the resource intensity of organizing a press tour is fully compensated for by its PR-efficiency, since it is during trips, in the process of joint labor activity(here this type of influence on journalists is used, such as involvement in joint activities), informal, confidential communication arises, close contacts are established, strong interpersonal ties are formed with the journalistic pool and its individual members, which in the future can bring real dividends for a PR specialist and companies.

Reception

Business issues in PR and promotion are resolved not only at the negotiating table, but also during receptions. At receptions, business partners are given the opportunity to receive additional information, deepen and expand contacts. For businessmen, a reception is, first of all, a logical continuation of official activity in a different format and setting. At receptions, an active exchange of views and information takes place, friendly relations are established, which is very important in business contacts. It is necessary to distinguish between current and representative techniques aimed at solving different problems.

1. Ongoing admission is carried out on a regular basis as part of the day-to-day activities of the company. Work with visitors and clients during the reception is carried out both by the management of the company and by specialists from internal departments. Reception takes place in a special office room or in a separate reception area, isolated from strangers, equipped with furniture and tables for negotiations; coffee can be served while browsing advertising materials. The management and staff participating in the current reception must clearly understand with whom, when, during what time the guests will be met. During the current reception, it is necessary to ensure a calm atmosphere of negotiations in compliance with corporate traditions and corporate identity.

2. Representative reception is an organizational form of PR-communication between company employees and guests, which is of an episodic nature, on the occasion of significant events, anniversaries, anniversaries of the company's foundation or its creation. Representative receptions are accompanied by a meeting of distinguished guests, delegations of partner companies. Guests attending the reception must be introduced to each other by the host of the banquet (the method of presentation depends on the form of reception, the level and number of guests). Guests can be introduced in different ways: by personally announcing those arriving during the reception, or by presenting each guest with a card with his name, position, rank. You can use a special "book of records" in which everyone can leave short wishes, comments or just an autograph.

Typically, PR specialists practice the following forms of receptions: daytime, evening, formal, informal, reception with and without seating at the table. Afternoon Receptions: "Glass of Champagne" / "Glass of Wine" and "Breakfast".

• The “Glass of Champagne” or “Glass of Wine” reception usually starts at 12:00 and lasts until 13:00. At the reception, as a rule, only champagne, wine and juices are served, possibly nuts, small sandwiches and cakes, during the reception they do not sit down. Dress code - casual suit or dress. This technique is distinguished by simple preparation and a small amount of time, the occasion can be the anniversary of the company, seeing off the representative of the partner company, opening an exhibition, showing models, samples.
• Breakfast can be held between 12:00 and 15:00. The average duration is 1-1.5 hours, of which 45 to 60 minutes are spent at the table, and from 15 minutes to half an hour - over coffee. "Breakfast" differs from lunch in a smaller number of dishes, one or two cold dishes are served, one hot dish. The dress code is usually casual. It is arranged on the occasion of the visit of interesting and necessary people, the signing of important contracts or the maintenance of useful contacts with partners and representatives of the press. The reception is led by a facilitator or a group of facilitators who are knowledgeable about the subject of discussion or signing and are interested in the results of the exchange of views.

Evening receptions are considered more ceremonial. These include: "Cocktail", "A la buffet", "Lunch", "Lunch-buffet", "Dinner", "Tea", "Coffee".

• Reception "Cocktail" begins at about 17:00 and lasts about 2 hours (it is customary to indicate the start and end times of the reception on the invitation). If employees of a company do not arrive at the reception together, then according to etiquette, junior employees should be on site earlier than their management. Leaving the reception should be in the reverse order: first the management leaves, and then, in accordance with the ranks, the rest of the employees. During the reception, the waiters serve glasses of cocktails to the standing guests. Dress code - casual suit or dress.
• Reception "A la buffet", like "Cocktail", is held between 17:00 and 20:00 and lasts 2 hours. "Cocktail" and "A la buffet" are held standing, which allows you to receive a large number of guests and provides freedom of movement in order to establish business contacts as much as possible. After admission, it is possible to show a feature or advertising film, depending on the goals pursued. Dress code - a casual suit or dress (the solemnity of the evening reception can be emphasized by indicating the dress code in the invitation). Promotional films are a powerful PR tool that allows you to distribute information needed for a company free of charge. When preparing them, you need to carefully consider the script of the film; the purpose of the demonstration of the film; duration; material support (convenient when traveling to an exhibition, participating in international symposia, for showing at receptions, presentations).
• Reception "Lunch" is the most honorable and solemn type of reception. It usually starts between 17:00 and 19:00. Lasts 2-3 hours or more. Guests stay at the dining table for an hour, then move to another, less formal, room where fruits, tea, and coffee are served. Lunch is served with seated guests. Dress code is ceremonial.
• Reception of the "Lunch-buffet" type (or buffet) assumes free seating of participants at small tables for four or six people, on sofas, in armchairs. This appointment starts between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm. Guests collect snacks from one large table and sit down at a free table. Such a reception is usually organized in the pauses between conferences. Lunch Buffet is less formal than Lunch. Dress code is ceremonial.
• Dinner Reception starts at 21:00 and later. A seated “dinner” differs from a late lunch and in that soup is usually not served for dinner. Can be given by a person who has invited their partners to the theater or any other evening event. The dress code is indicated in the invitation.
• The "Tea" reception is organized between 17:00 and 20:00 and lasts 1-1.5 hours. One or more tables are served, confectionery, fruits, dessert and dry wines, juices and a small amount of sandwiches with caviar, fish and cheese are served ... Dress code - casual suit or dress.
• Reception of "Coffee" is similar to the reception of "Tea". It does not start later than 19:00. Sometimes hot snacks or salad, juices, mineral water are served at this reception.

The conference is the most formal reception. Conferences are usually held to promote your ideas or new products... A conference is actually a form of a meeting (meeting) dedicated to the consideration of a specific problem or topic. Conferences can be internal, that is, for labor collective companies, as well as external - focused on an external audience. The main event of the conference is the prepared reports and speeches on the topic by authoritative representatives of business, science, and government bodies. Reports and speeches are limited to 10-20 minutes. The regulations are determined by the availability and quality of simultaneous interpretation, the level of awareness and intelligence of the listeners, and the complexity of the topic under consideration. Based on the materials of the conference, which aroused the greatest interest, as a rule, collections of abstracts with an advertising attachment with information about the participants, promising areas and leading companies are published. It should be remembered that a conference is a means of maintaining connections, discussing and solving problems in professional, corporate, business communities and government authorities. In large commercial companies, conferences are complemented by conferences on the Internet.

The organization and implementation of any kind of techniques require careful development of the scenario and preliminary preparation to ensure the achievement of the final goals. Preparation of the reception includes such steps as:

1) setting the purpose of admission;

2) the choice of the type of reception;

3) drawing up a list of invited persons;

5) drawing up a seating plan for those invited at the table;

6) drawing up the menu;

7) preparation of toasts and speeches;

8) drawing up the procedure for the admission;

9) cultural program.

At each of these stages, there are many pitfalls that must be skillfully circumvented, eliminating any possibility of a deterioration in the microclimate among the participants and the possibility of an increase in psycho-emotional tension. Neglecting careful planning of any of the stages of admission is fraught with the emergence of conflict-generating situations on it, which, if they escalate, can reduce its PR effect to a minimum.

Open door day, round table and discussion

Open days are a common form of self-presentation of a company in the context of PR and promotion. They allow everyone to get acquainted with the activities of the company, its plans, ask the management questions of interest. It is supposed to invite employees for a close acquaintance, excursions around the company are held for everyone; the accompanying person tells about the history of creation and the main directions of the company's activities, about its social significance for the public. In order for the target audience to receive positive PR marketing messages, both planned and unplanned, received by the target audience at the open house, careful professional training similar PR events.

It is at these events that participants can get acquainted with the mission, corporate values ​​of the company, the corporate code of its personnel. Open house days are essentially a kind of internal presentation company, which involves the preparation of visual stands, signs, visits to new buildings and territories with the presentation of comprehensive and emotionally colored positive information about the company, its activities, achievements, management, employees, ongoing projects and long-term plans. At the same time, the visual range offered by the organizers of the event should not be underestimated - if it is not carefully built, but if it develops spontaneously, a negative effect can be obtained. In any case, the impression made on the visitors should be complex, holistic and internally consistent, only then the PR-impact will be productive and long-term. Preliminary detailed briefing and communication trainings of the personnel responsible for the event are also highly desirable. The time allotted for PR-communication is 1-8 hours, including lunch and cultural program.

It is important to note once again that during the open day, the target audience may receive unplanned PR messages, for example, as part of the communication of untrained staff with visitors, which is why a detailed study of the procedure for these events, careful selection of participants, in which it is simple there can be no trifles and insignificant details. It is at the open day, in a situation of the most informal interpersonal communication and conducting unstructured conversations, the communicative and conflictological competence of PR specialists and all participants in the event is of decisive importance.

Round table and discussion - one of the forms of discussion of an idea, a problem that is important for a wide range of the public; the round table participants are authoritative representatives of science, business, business circles, public and government organizations. Participation in round tables of top executives of commercial companies, sponsorship of their holding contribute to the enhancement of the company's image and popularity. The topic and the discussed issues of the round table are planned and announced in advance. Roundtable participants are introduced to them approximately 10-14 days before the start of the meeting. This enables the participants to prepare arguments, demonstration materials, figures and facts, which makes the discussion more constructive and substantive. The number of participants usually does not exceed 14-15 people. Participant ID cards facilitate communication with each other, making it more relaxed and lively and removing some of the technical barriers to group communication.

The work of the round table is organized and directed by a moderator or moderator who has a high level of communicative competence, experience and skills in conducting such events and is well prepared for the topic of discussion. Before the start of the discussion and speeches, the participants introduce themselves briefly to everyone present. As a rule, this happens in the order of the participants in the seats at the table (clockwise). The moderator proposes the order of discussion and announces the rules for each speaker in accordance with the importance of his speech. During the discussion, the moderator / moderator monitors compliance with the rules, tactfully suggesting an interruption or, conversely, allocating additional time. Particularly important for the success of the event is the adequate and correct use of the appropriate communicative techniques of active listening by the moderator, such as reproduction, paraphrasing, development, summarizing, etc. In some situations, it is also possible to use techniques and techniques of non-reflective listening known to psychologists, which makes it possible to avoid exacerbation of the contradictions that have arisen, to soften the position any participant in the discussion, to prevent the emergence of a conflict situation. It is absolutely necessary to master the leading effective techniques for relieving psychoemotional stress, which he can preliminarily work out on social and psychological communication trainings under the guidance of an experienced psychologist.

Finishing the discussion, the moderator briefly, within 2-3 minutes, makes a summary, summarizing what has been said, emphasizing the necessary points of discussion and conclusions of the participants, as well as interpreting all the voiced information in the desired manner, based on the ultimate goals of the company's PR activities.

Exhibition

Exhibition activities play an important role in the formation and maintenance of a positive image of the company, its products and services. The exhibitions stand somewhat apart from the PR-events described in this chapter, since they are addressed not only to media representatives, although they are an excellent informational occasion for them. It is believed that it is exhibitions and fairs that provide the best opportunity for effective personal contact with a potential consumer. The exhibition activity of a company begins with a decision on which exhibition to participate in and how widely. Decisions are made by the management of the organization based on knowledge of the market situation and the strategy of the company in the market. The purpose of participation is determined: to declare oneself in a new market, increase the number of buyers or partners, build a dealer network in the desired region, study demand, conclude deals, etc. When deciding to participate in a particular exhibition, you should carefully analyze the financial capabilities of the company. Since the management of the company is interested in the most rational and competent investment of money in exhibition activities, it must be provided in advance with the necessary information about all exhibitions planned during the year. The annual plan of exhibitions usually contains the most general information (name, topic and dates of the exhibition), therefore, the PR department responsible for preparing for the exhibition prepares an additional review based on the following data (D.E.Baranov, E.V. Demko, M A. Lukashenko):

• Catalogs of previous exhibitions, from which it becomes clear which companies have participated in a particular exhibition in previous years. One of the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of participation in the exhibition is stable, constant participation in it. famous companies with a good reputation.
• The composition of the visitors. Exhibition organizers are always ready to present some kind of oral classification of "their" visitors. The “visitor portrait” is extremely necessary when deciding whether to participate in an exhibition, since it may or may not constitute the target audience of the company.
• Newspaper materials. It is advisable for the PR department to analyze publications about previous exhibitions in the general and specialized press.
• Eyewitness accounts. Of course opinions are very important independent experts who have visited previous exhibitions.

When deciding on participation in the exhibition, the manager must take into account the following factors:

• where the exhibition is held (location determines the scale, representativeness and number of potential visitors);
• when (according to the terms, the peak of the exhibition season falls on November and the end of January);
• by whom (how long have the organizers been in this business, are they well known);
• for whom (what is the target audience of this exhibition);
• how much it will require money and how (with the help of what events at the exhibition) to ensure the return of the budget.

A common mistake is that many firms consider the work at the exhibition completed at the same time as its closing, which is not true. After the exhibition, there comes a no less intense period of work on processing incoming requests.

The preparation process for an exhibition can consist of the following stages.

• An action plan is drawn up.
• Responsible persons are appointed.
• The order of organizational measures and programs is determined.
• Possible needs for additional forces and materials are taken into account.
• A stand plan is being developed at the exhibition.
• An estimate of the costs is drawn up.

After the end of the exhibition, accounting and analysis of past events are carried out and the necessary conclusions are drawn.

The action plan is the most important document for preparing for the exhibition. It contains the goals of participation, the place and time of the event, the persons responsible for the design of the stand, the delivery of materials; brief information about other participating firms (partners, competitors); the specifics of the exhibition and the nature of its holding; documents requiring approval and preparation (invitations, press releases, brochures, leaflets, Business Cards etc.). The exposition director (responsible for the exhibition), in agreement with the management of the company, recruits a staff of employees who carry out training in specific areas:

• interaction with the media, development and distribution of press releases;
• preparation of exhibits for the stand;
• preparation and implementation of an advertising campaign before, during and after the exhibition;
• preparation of handouts (leaflets, catalogs, booklets, souvenirs, etc.);
• training of stand attendants.

Exhibition construction is carried out by a contractor, preparation of an exhibition center project necessary for the company and supervision of its construction - by a designer. A plan is drawn up not only for the stand itself, but for the entire exhibition. Thanks to it, it becomes possible to assess the position of the stand relative to the entrance / exit, main aisles, competitors and provide for the tactics of attracting visitors to the stand. The placement of exposition materials at the stand is thought out in advance and a letter of application is drawn up for obtaining passes for cars and a permit for transportation / removal of goods. As one of the appendices to the action plan, a detailed list of items that will be taken to the exhibition is drawn up. The presence of such a document streamlines their storage and accounting, as well as facilitates the search and guarantees the replenishment of handouts. Another important document is a questionnaire for registering (polling) stand visitors. To accumulate reliable statistical information, the company's management determines a list of questions of interest and the order in which they follow.

For the period of the exhibition, the schedule of each day is signed. The stand must function smoothly, otherwise there is a high probability of missing a potential customer / partner in the flow of visitors due to the absence, inattention or overload of the stand attendant. At this time, it is highly advisable to record all possible contacts in a special questionnaire. For each exhibition, a final review is drawn up, which specifies in detail the number of visitors in general, the number of visitors at the stand, the number of brochures handed out, and completed questionnaires. For half a year or a year, a general overview of exhibitions is compiled, taking into account all costs (it is shown separately how much was spent on rent, transport, advertising, etc.). At the end of each exhibition, a note is drawn up, reflecting a list of problems that have arisen during the preparation and holding of the exhibition, decisions taken and conclusions.

Rules for effective participation in the exhibition

The advantage of the exhibition is the concentrated combination of exposure, personal contacts, sales promotion, as well as a fairly wide primary (visitors) and secondary (through the media) coverage of the public (Table 1). Exhibitions differ by subject - multidisciplinary, industry, specialized. The exhibition can be held on the scale of one company or an entire industry, lasting from several days to several months or more. Both goods and services intended for sale and objects of art and historical monuments can be exhibited. Non-commercial exhibitions work for the image of organizers, authors and exhibitors (according to N.V. Aleshina, www.elitarium.ru).

Table 1. Benefits of participation in the exhibition

Advantage	Description
Maintaining the company's image	Improves the location of existing customers and makes it possible to attract the interest of new customers
Dissemination of information about the company	Information about the exhibitors appears in the media: on television, radio, on the Internet or in the economic press
Saving money for promotion	The cost per visitor of a traditional exhibition is three times lower than with a personal sale
Expanding and personalizing communications	Ensures that a broad marketing message is received by a large number of people at the same time, combined with the capabilities of personal communications
Personal sales	The ability to identify prospective buyers, service existing accounts, present a product, improve the corporate image, collect information about competitors, sell
Demonstration of goods	The product at the exhibition can be shown in action, tell about it in detail
Search for buyers and investors	Displaying a product just created by a company at an exhibition is an easy and cheap way to find buyers for the idea or investors.
Study of demand and potential market	Occurs in the process of demonstrating a sample and discussing its commercial potential with visitors to the stand
Search for new markets	Helps to enter a new market for the company, including foreign
Increasing the number of contacts	Opportunities for various meetings of company specialists with people important to them during the period of its work
Conduct of negotiations	A chance to conduct detailed negotiations with any visitor at your stand
Market expansion	Allows to expand the potential market, because many of the visitors will see the exhibitor's products for the first time
Attraction of potential partners	Major exhibitions, especially international ones, attract almost all major manufacturers and trade agents in the field, which gives the participant the opportunity to meet with them
Meeting potential clients	Opportunity to meet potential clients and work with interested visitors - target audience - face to face, including those with the authority to purchase products
Establishing contacts with disloyal consumers	The opportunity for a real buyer to have a relaxed conversation on neutral territory with the exhibitor's commercial agents, including those who are unable to talk to the exhibitor's specialists on his territory due to contacts with competitors
Assessment of development prospects	The ability to identify prospects: your own, industry, product, competitors. These are technological, economic, socio-psychological (image, reputation), production prospects.
Promotion of a new product	A new product is demonstrated, tested, tested and can be sold at the exhibition
Increased employee loyalty	Joint work of employees to improve the image of the company unites employees and, accordingly, improves the internal image of the company, creates an atmosphere of active optimism

The negative aspects of participating in the exhibition are as follows.

1. High cost of exhibition space.

2. We have to move sales personnel from their former territories.

3. Large trade shows are often crowded and messy.

4. Problems of labor relations make it difficult to participate in the exhibition.

5. There are many casual spectators at the exhibition.

6. Leakage of information about the product / technologies to competitors is possible. Organization of participation in the exhibition. The participation of a company in an exhibition requires serious work - analytical, planning, organizational; control and regulation long before the start and for a long time after the end of the exhibition. The responsible manager must be empowered and empowered to make decisions regarding all exhibiting matters. These issues include the following.

1. Space required by an exhibitor to present goods and services. To do this, you need to decide what to exhibit, how exhibits can be placed in space, and know how much a square meter of area costs.

2. Development of the project budget. In order to avoid unnecessary expenses and increase the return on exposition investments, it is better to divide budget costs into two areas: direct costs - payment for stand space, assembly and disassembly of the stand, special literature and indirect costs - staff time to prepare for the exhibition, costs and labor costs at the exhibition and its provision.

3. Selection / design of the stand. A stand is a structure that allows you to showcase your product. The stand can be brought by the exhibitor, or its production can be ordered by the organizer of the exhibition. The exposition should be focused on volumetric perception, well illuminated, using acting models, films - everything that attracts with unusualness. The exposition should be a place for the outerwear of employees, a place for a reception - a living room for visitors. It is advisable to have a book of reviews.

4. Preparation of materials for the exhibition catalog (as a rule, a few months before the start of the exhibition).

5. Planning of transportation of exhibits and stands, accommodation of employees.

6. Preparation and printing of invitations to visitors, in the appearance of which the participant is interested.

7. Training of personnel to work at the exhibition. The staff must be able to show the new product in action, explain its functions and benefits. On the opening day of the exhibition or on the eve, the organizers receive representatives of the press. You need to be ready to accept them at your exposition, help to make pictures or video. Most exhibitions have a press center where exhibitors can distribute press releases.

Quantification of exposure positioning. A quantitative assessment is necessary to concretize the goals of exposure, the choice of tools to achieve them, coordinate work and assess the effectiveness of exposition activities. All assessment indicators are divided into three groups (Table 2).

Table 2. Indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of the exhibition

Indicators	Components
Public quality indicators	Share of audience with high interest to see the company's products / services,%. Percentage of visitors with last word competence or recommendation for the purchase of one or more products / services exhibited at the trade show,%. The share of visitors planning to buy one or more of the exhibited products / services,%. The share of pavilion visitors who reported that they are interested in seeing the types of products / services of your company,%
Audience activity indicators	Average time spent by a visitor at an exhibition. Density of movement. The indicator is calculated as a quotient of dividing the total number of visitors during the period of the trade show by the area of ​​the exhibition space. Density of movement helps to compare individual exhibitions
Exposure efficiency indicators	Cost per visitor. It is calculated as the quotient of dividing the total cost of participation in the exhibition by the number of visitors who visited your pavilion. The share of the audience that received a personal contact at the company's exposition. The number of established prospective contacts (lead). One promising contact is information left by a visitor - name, business, address, and phone number. The number of sales generated from the number of proactive contacts acquired during the trade show. In this case, both the sales made at the show itself and those made months later are taken into account. The cost of a prospect contact. Calculated by dividing the exposure cost by the number of prospective contacts established. Shows the utility of the costs invested in a specific impression

The effectiveness of a firm's participation in a particular exhibition is determined taking into account the objectives of the participation. For example, if the goal is to widely disseminate information about a new product, the indicator might include the number of brochures distributed to visitors.

Special events

Also, a special place among PR events addressed to both the media and the general public and target audiences is occupied by the so-called special events. During its existence, the PR system has accumulated vast experience in using a variety of actions and events to create a benevolent attitude towards an organization or individuals. PR specialists widely use the method of creating special events, especially in cases where the daily activities of the organization do not create enough new information. D. Burstin calls them “pseudo-events”. If such events are in the public interest, they can enhance the organization's reputation.

Widely used in practice PR-actions or special events include:

• exhibitions, fairs, festivals;
• meetings, seminars, round tables, conferences, congresses, symposia, congresses;
• anniversaries, anniversaries, significant dates;
• special prizes, competitions;
• open days, company tours;
• rallies, public debates, theme nights;
• banquets, buffets;
• competitions, quizzes;
• parades, beauty contests;
• sponsorship awards, charity evenings, creation of charitable and educational funds;
• receptions, balls, presentations, film festivals;
• field trips;
• opening ceremonies of new construction sites, laying the first stone in the foundation;
• visits of distinguished and distinguished people, ceremonies of meeting and seeing off;
• reports on the resolution of problems, the announcement of the results of public opinion polls, socio-psychological research;
• opening ceremonies of festivals, sports days and other large-scale events;
• announcement of new appointments to positions of responsibility;
• proclamation of a new political course, programs, changes in the political course, programs of activity;
• amateur competitions;
• meetings with famous athletes, collective visits to museums, exhibitions, concerts, theater performances;
• meetings with prominent people, autograph signing ceremonies;
• participation in social events, improvement of parks, streets, playgrounds, etc .;
• celebrating state, national, religious holidays;
• events to honor the dates of history and culture of other countries and peoples.

All of the above special events, which involve embedding a PR campaign in an already planned scenario of a socially significant event, are actively used when promoting their products by most companies, but in recent times new forms of special events have also become widespread, based solely on the original creative ideas of marketers.

Creative special events in promotion. Today, when in a crisis situation the role of Internet promotion is growing, the importance of advertising on radio and TV, sales promotion and sales is decreasing, there are still many places where a potential consumer is as open as possible for direct, direct contact. The most creative brands are gradually exploring new territories, where it is easier for them to conduct an interactive dialogue, which arouses the interest and trust of potential buyers. The main conditions for success in this case are the maximum creativity of communication, the unusual idea and the non-trivial approach. So, in the spring of 2009, Wrigley's PR specialists launched the Five chewing gum promotion program, while there was practically no informational support from the media, they launched it exclusively through a special event. For this, the following special event was developed and held: an interactive gallery was built in the Mars gallery, in which materials about the “experience of communication” of consumers with this gum through the five senses were placed. In accordance with the developed concept of the special event, progressive young artists, in collaboration with famous persons from the world of fashion and art, built objects, and visitors could not only watch, but also touch them - for example, move the magnetic fluid with their hands. Thus, all five senses of the participants were involved, which increased the effectiveness of the impact, as a result of which the PR coverage of the event worked better than a large-scale media campaign. Marketers received a larger number of contacts, and they were of better quality, because the participants - potential consumers were interested in the special event due to its unusualness and creativity (//slon.ru/articles/184479/).

Sponsoring special events and events

As you can see, in a crisis, manufacturers are forced to resort to non-standard methods of promotion. One of the most effective is sponsorship or partnership support for entertainment events of various formats: from formal receptions to private parties. Participation in such events gives brands access to their target audience and ample opportunities for further promotion. The costs of special events and the so-called event marketing, or event marketing, are included in the budget of every major manufacturer. Marketers explain its relevance by the fact that, unlike direct advertising, its tools allow you to influence all the senses of a potential consumer at once. If a commercial “catches” only sight and hearing, and sampling (that is, free distribution of product samples, for example, during tastings) - taste, smell and touch, then all five senses are involved in event marketing. Moreover, the participation of a brand as a sponsor or partner in any event opens up direct access for the manufacturer to the target audience, especially when it comes to premium and super premium brands. When choosing an event for sponsorship, several criteria and conditions are taken into account.

• The first condition is compliance with the concept: first of all, the semantic content, scenario, reason and location of the event must correspond to the concept of positioning and the image of the brand being promoted.
• The second condition is the target audience: the invited audience must belong to the target audience of the brand being promoted, because in most cases event marketing becomes a form of communication with a potential consumer.
• The third condition is a presence strategy: a clear strategy for the presence of the promoted brand and ample opportunities for its promotion within the framework of the event. A number of companies always require exclusive partnerships. It will also be useful to learn about other partners and sponsors of the event, it is desirable that they do not lose in the degree of prestige to the brand.
• The fourth condition is the media effect: among the key conditions for the participation of the promoted brand in the event is the final media effect, the possibility of so-called post-PR, that is, subsequent mentions of the brand in the media. The number of contacts generated at the event itself is incomparably less compared to the number of contacts, for example, in the press, where the event is covered.
• The fifth condition is a social mission: a number of companies that regularly support special events and event projects regard their participation in them as a kind of social mission.

As you know, two things are very important for a brand - the image component and the opportunity to give potential consumers to try the product. An event where members of the media and business elite can taste a product in a comfortable environment, with unobtrusive branding and gifts - the perfect combination that gives a brand both of these opportunities. Accordingly, the most common format for participation, for example, of a partner - manufacturer of premium food and beverages, in an entertainment event is treating guests. For all other companies, other effects of presence are also possible:

• visual use of the brand in interior design;
• installation of a mobile stand;
• distribution of branded souvenirs with a brand logo, etc.

The event organizer provides options for brand communication with the target audience of the event-event, which can be: branding platforms, PR-opportunities, tastings, and so on, depending on the tasks. Sometimes the organizer can request additional funding for participation in the form of a sponsorship package. The size of the sponsorship package, as a rule, directly depends on the quantity and quality of the offered branding and PR support options. A package with a wide range of media options usually costs more, but if the audience of a closed non-public event is of particular interest to the company, you can put up with the lack of additional opportunities for promotion. The level of partnership also plays a role here - it is a one-time or strategic cooperation. So, if the organizer aims to collect fees from the participants in exchange for options, then the packages can cost from $ 5,000 to $ 50,000 for a one-time event. Obviously, the sponsorship package is purchased for specific advertising purposes, but some events can hardly be considered as a platform for advertising promotion. For example, if it is proposed to present a product at a sporting event or gala dinner that attracts a highly profitable audience, but aims to raise money for sick children, then companies will not see the event as an opportunity for strong promotional activity. They are ready to provide it on the terms of patronage, but without advertising, limiting themselves to including their logo in the list of partners of the event. Attraction of sponsors can be seen as an additional tool for raising the status of the event and optimizing costs.

Sponsorship

So, an additional, but very effective tool for increasing the effectiveness of promotion, the level of the event, as well as optimizing costs is attracting various sponsors. The most common forms of cooperation in this area are as follows (www.advertology.ru).

• General, or gold, sponsor - assumes at least 50% of all expenses, receives an extended sponsorship package, as a rule, acts as a co-organizer, has a similar target audience, so he is no less interested in the event than the main organizer. Its main goal is to expand its own client and partner base, as well as to establish personal relationships with participating companies.
• Sponsor of the evening reception - compensates for the costs of the evening VIP-part of the event, which works on his image, and also gives the opportunity to promote himself and personal communication with VIP-guests of the event.
• Information sponsor - as a rule, this is a publication or publishing house that publishes an announcement of the event in the printed version and on the website in advance, places advertising information about the organizer, covers the results of the event, and sometimes helps with the preparation of content for information materials, printing corporate magazines and newspapers. For its part, the information sponsor pursues three main goals: to strengthen its own image, attract new subscribers and advertisers from among the event participants, and also consolidate partnerships with the event organizers.
• Technology sponsor - supplies the necessary presentation or other equipment necessary for the event, for example, can provide assistance in the construction of stands or the production of printed materials. The task of such a sponsor is to present, show advantages and opportunities, promote specific equipment, for him this is the so-called product PR.
• Registration Sponsor - Provides equipment and staff for registration. Such a sponsor is relevant when holding large events, such as exhibitions and large conferences, when a lot of resources are required, you have to print badges directly during registration, accumulate a large amount of information. The registration sponsor is interested in promoting himself and attracting as much attention as possible potential clients, who also hold events and will involve him in the future as a service provider.

Thus, one of the options for PR projects in promoting a company and its products is various forms of sponsorship - from using ordinary splash screens or displaying a logo to demonstrating the product and its consumer properties, verbal announcements of the presenters, giving gifts and prizes. Sometimes, in exchange for a sponsorship fee, a company may place direct advertisements. For example, Evian in one of the London suburbs sponsored the reconstruction of an outdoor pool, for which the company was allowed to mount an illuminated logo of this mineral water in the bottom of the pool, which became clearly visible from the aircraft entering and taking off. In our country, the most popular are films and series (47% of all projects), as well as entertainment and music programs (13% each). According to experts, the minimum cost of a sponsorship package is approximately $ 5,000, and the maximum can reach several million dollars. For example, the general sponsorship of the Star Factory, the First Channel project, costs the advertiser $ 2 million. The sponsorship project on STS Kino at 21:00 costs about the same - a screen saver before the start of the program and inside the film every day for a year. A five-second intro before the Sex and the City series on NTV costs $ 4,000. The main advantage of sponsorship, as opposed to conventional advertising, is the "involvement" of the advertiser's brand in the program's plot, which helps to create the desired brand image. In addition, sponsorship is an additional opportunity to promote on television those products for which direct advertising is prohibited. An illustrative example of this is the sponsorship project from Nemiroff, where a vodka manufacturer finances broadcasts of boxing matches in exchange for displaying its logo.

Today, it is sport that remains one of the most effective contexts for promoting goods and services. About 60-65% of the total world sponsorship market is supported by sports events. With an accurate assessment of all risks and a competent marketing approach, sponsorship gives a better result compared to direct advertising, besides, the speed of accumulation of audience coverage at a certain threshold is much higher for sponsorship. All these advantages also enable the advertiser to loudly announce, among other things, the product is entering the market. This is the stage when you do not need to create any relationship to the brand, since it can only be formed in the process of “knowledge plus consumption”. The sponsorship project of Nemiroff, which became a permanent sponsor of boxing matches from the very beginning of its activity on the Russian market in 2002, allowed the company to announce itself to a wide audience that did not previously know about the existence of its product. It is partly thanks to this project that the Nemiroff brand has become widely known in Russia. According to TNS Gallup, in the first six months of sponsorship of boxing matches, more than a quarter of vodka consumers in Russia recognized the Nemiroff brand.

And the Bоurjois cosmetics, which are not well known to Russian consumers, having become a sponsor of the popular TV series "Sex and the City" on the NTV channel, not only increased the recognition of its brand, but was also able to create positive associations with the brand, which, in all likelihood, consisted in expanding the market share ... Nevertheless, for many companies the sponsorship procedure is still a way of creating a favorable image, rather than a variant of brand positioning in order to gain consumer loyalty. It should be remembered that creating a stable, positive image of a brand / company requires a certain amount of time. A one-time, albeit very bright, participation in any event will certainly attract attention, but sponsorship on an ongoing basis nevertheless remains an indicator of the firm's intentions. Both the moderate exploitation of the sponsored object without intrusive use of symbols, as well as the correct choice of this object, matter. Participation in overtly commercial projects, if they are not tied to the main activity of the sponsor, reduces the trust of the target audience, which can make a well-founded conclusion about the promiscuity of the company due to its lack of clear strategic goals or about the promiscuity of funds. With regard to the effectiveness of sponsorship, then, most likely, the role of this form marketing communications in the increase in trade turnover more indirect than direct. First of all, sponsorship is a means of promotion, and in this capacity it is more associated with attracting attention and subsequent retention of interest in the brand, that is, it is aimed at expanding the number of loyal consumers in its specific target segment.

In Russia, the pioneer in the use of integrated sponsorship is the Wimm-Bill-Dann company: one investment in the Last Hero project amounted to at least $ 1.5 million. different options escalating the image of J7 and eventually resorted to sponsorship in order to reposition its brand as part of its promotion. As a result, in addition to increasing brand awareness to 99% and increased juice sales, consumer surveys have shown that the J7 is associated with adventure, freedom and a healthy lifestyle. In The Last Hero 2, Wimm-Bill-Dann no longer took part in sponsorship, but during the showing of the project, it posted on television J7 videos based on The Last Hero 1, after which the consumer had the impression that the company also sponsors the continuation of the "epic".

Interestingly, many experts believe that sponsorship loses its effect when several companies participate in the program. The best option is when there are no more than 3-5 sponsors in one show. Naturally, their interests should not overlap. The absolute leader in terms of the number of sponsors (more than 130 participants) is the "Housing Question", but even there they try to prevent competing sponsors from appearing in the program. For Unilever, however, sponsorship was designed to tackle the complex, delicate challenges of building long-term brand-consumer relationships. So, in the case of Calve (it has been a sponsor of the Culinary Duel program on NTV since the first days of its existence), the company did not need to increase brand awareness: in its product category it is already the leading one. With the help of sponsorship, they just wanted to emphasize that Calve is for those who like creative approach in the process of cooking, and with the help of direct advertising, the achievement of such a goal is unlikely (according to www.ko.ru).

Nevertheless, sponsorship as a promotion tool for Russian companies still remains not very popular, including due to the impossibility of a specific assessment of the effectiveness of sponsorship. To understand whether it is worth starting the implementation of a sponsorship project or it is better to limit ourselves to traditional promotion tools, one should proceed from the goals and objectives of the PR campaign. So, if a manufacturer is going to declare that his product is cheaper than that of a competitor, it is more expedient to use direct advertising, but if it is necessary to create a new image of the product, then it is more optimal to choose sponsorship (based on materials from www.productplacement.ru) (Table 3).

Table 3. Advantages and disadvantages of sponsorship in media projects (TV and radio) when promoting

Dignity	disadvantages
	Sponsorship is about 1.5 times more expensive than direct advertising
The ability to "fit" into the air without causing rejection among viewers
Sponsorship excludes co-emergence of competing brands	The sponsorship effect of one company may be limited to the participation of other sponsors
The sponsorship effect is longer lasting	Difficult to assess effectiveness due to lack of ongoing research
Using presenters and program participants as a reference group (imitation effect)	The format and script of the program impose significant restrictions on the sponsor.
Sponsorship - an additional opportunity to place under legal restrictions on direct advertising of a product	No alternative

Communication of officials - politicians, businessmen, experts - with the media can be carried out in such formats as a press conference and briefing. What are their features?

What is a press conference?

Press conference- This is a relatively large-scale event in terms of the number of participants, involving the presence of a fairly large number of media outlets, in the framework of which an official gives comments to the press on various events, answers questions from journalists. The duration of the press conference is about 1.5-2 hours.

The main task of the press conference is to ensure that the points of view voiced by officials are disseminated as actively as possible in as many media as possible. This contributes, firstly, to the promptness of the impact of this information on certain socio-economic and political processes, and secondly, it ensures its more or less neutral interpretation by the media. Those media that might wish to interpret what the officials said in their own way are likely to abandon such ideas, since they will understand that a large number of other newspapers and magazines will reproduce the information exactly as it was presented at the press conference.

The considered format of interaction between officials and the media assumes that the latter receive information not only at the time of the press conference, but also before it (in the form of announcements) and after (in the form of press releases, transcripts, exchange of additional and clarifying questions).

At press conferences, the focus is on the content, completeness and quality of information disclosure from officials. Therefore, at events of the corresponding type, few topics are usually discussed - 1-2. Taking into account the fact that a large number of journalists from different media can ask questions, then, indeed, the level of disclosure of information presented by the speakers is quite high.

Events such as press conferences tend to involve significant financial costs... Therefore, it makes sense to organize them only if the officials intend to present really important information to the community. Or in the event that, for example, a press conference is held by a person who is so famous that the very fact of her appearance in public is more important than what exactly this person will inform the audience.

It often happens that a press conference is complemented by other events that are not directly related to the communication of officials with journalists, but are suitable for the topic of the events being discussed. This can be, for example, keynote speeches, presentations, discussions with the participation of experts.

What is a briefing?

Briefing is an event that, like a press conference, involves communication between officials and journalists, but less large-scale in terms of the number of participants and relatively short-lived. As a rule, a briefing lasts no more than 30-40 minutes.

Unlike a press conference, the main task of a briefing is, in principle, to start the dissemination of any information in the community. It is presented, as a rule, in extremely concise and monosyllabic formulations so that the media representatives cannot, if they wish, interpret it in their own way. Therefore, a large number of media at the briefing is not the main criterion. But it is important that they can convey information to the general public, and therefore it is welcomed if the relevant media have an impressive audience of readers, listeners or viewers.

Unlike a press conference, at a briefing, officials can present information to the community, presented in a variety of thematic categories. Since there is no such task as maximum disclosure of this information, facts can be rather superficial, but valuable in themselves due to novelty.

The briefing, as a rule, is only the communication of officials with the press. There are no additional events - like those that accompany press conferences - are not held there.

Comparison

The main difference between a press conference and a briefing is for the purpose of organizing the event. In the first case, we are talking about a detailed acquaintance of the community with the points of view of officials, experts, journalists proper regarding a more or less well-known event. In the second case, the community is mainly informed about certain events, about providing the audience with basic facts about them.

A press conference is rarely an independent news item. But the briefing can be just the same. And subsequently, on the basis of the information that was presented at it by officials, various discussions are often formed, there is a need for detailed information - in turn, at events such as a press conference.

Based on the difference in the purpose of holding the events under consideration, it is quite logical to trace the difference between other aspects of the press conference and the briefing - the number of participants, the range of topics discussed, the duration.

Having determined what is the difference between a press conference and a briefing, we will record the conclusions in the table.

table

Press conference	Briefing
What do they have in common?
Both events involve communication between officials and journalists.
What is the difference between them?
Conducted to educate the community on the points of view of officials regarding known events	As a rule, it is carried out in order to familiarize the community with well-known events - officials inform journalists about them.
Lasts about 1.5-2 hours	Lasts about 30-40 minutes
May involve consideration of 1-2 topics	May involve considering a sufficiently large number of topics
Assumes inviting a large number of journalists	It involves inviting journalists from several media outlets - mainly those with a large audience