Public Relations and Advertising Strategy

In many organisations, the PR team manages media relations and events while the marketing or advertising team buys media and runs campaigns, often with different agencies, audiences and measures of success. Strategies start from tactics rather than objectives, briefs to agencies are vague, earned and paid activity are not coordinated, and evaluation relies on outputs such as press coverage, impressions or advertising value equivalents. Senior management then sees communication as a cost rather than a contributor to organisational goals.

This programme treats PR and advertising as parts of one communication strategy. It moves through five stages: research and strategic positioning, audience insight and message strategy, advertising planning and agency management, public relations and reputation management, and integrated evaluation that links communication activity to outcomes and organisational objectives.

Built on recognised practice. The programme references the Barcelona Principles and the AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework for measurement and evaluation, the PESO model of paid, earned, shared and owned media, the ICC Advertising and Marketing Communications Code for responsible advertising, and established strategic planning models such as RACE and ROSIE for public relations planning.

Decisions this programme improves. Which communication objectives support the organisation's strategy; how to divide budget between paid, earned, shared and owned channels; how to brief and evaluate agencies; which messages and spokespeople to use for each audience; how to respond to reputational threats; and which measures to report to senior management.

How it is delivered. Twenty hours across five sessions, built around one running case: an organisation launching a major service or brand repositioning while facing public criticism on social media. Participants carry out situation analysis, write a communication strategy and a creative brief, plan a media mix, prepare a reputation response and design an evaluation framework.

In-house option. For organisations, the programme can be tailored to your own brand, audiences, agency arrangements and reporting requirements, and delivered to communication, marketing and leadership teams together.

Who Should Attend

Communication leaders: directors and heads of corporate communication, public relations and media relations

Marketing leaders: marketing directors, brand managers and advertising managers

Senior communication specialists responsible for campaign planning and agency management

Public sector communication managers in government entities and state-owned enterprises

Agency account and strategy managers working with corporate and government clients

Objectives

Explain how public relations and advertising contribute to organisational and brand strategy

Conduct situation analysis and audience research to inform communication strategy

Set communication objectives that are measurable at output, outcome and impact levels

Develop a positioning and message strategy for different audiences and channels

Write a creative brief and an agency brief that lead to focused proposals

Plan an integrated media mix across paid, earned, shared and owned channels

Plan media relations, content and spokesperson activity that supports campaign goals

Prepare a reputation risk and issues response plan

Evaluate agency proposals and manage agency relationships and performance

Design an evaluation framework consistent with the Barcelona Principles and report results to senior management

Course Outline

Strategic Foundations: Reputation, Brand and Communication Objectives

The roles of public relations and advertising in organisational strategy
Reputation, brand and trust: how they are built and lost
Situation analysis: PESTLE, SWOT and stakeholder analysis
Planning models for strategic communication
Setting objectives at output, outcome and impact levels
Integrating PR and advertising: structures, budgets and governance

Audience Insight and Message Strategy

Audience research methods and sources of insight
Segmentation and personas for communication planning
Positioning, key messages and narrative
Adapting messages for Arabic and English audiences and cultural context
Proof points and avoiding unsupported claims
Message testing and pre-testing creative

Advertising Strategy and Agency Management

Advertising objectives and the creative brief
Creative strategy and evaluating creative work
Media planning: reach, frequency, targeting and media mix
Digital and programmatic advertising, social platforms and influencer partnerships
Responsible advertising under the ICC Code and local advertising rules
Selecting, briefing, contracting and evaluating agencies

Public Relations, Media and Reputation Management

The PESO model and coordinating earned, shared and owned activity with paid media
Media relations: press releases, briefings, interviews and relationships with journalists
Content strategy, thought leadership and corporate storytelling
Spokesperson preparation
Issues management and reputational threats on social media
Crisis communication principles and response planning
Stakeholder and community relations and corporate responsibility communication

Measuring What Matters: Evaluation and Reporting

The Barcelona Principles and why advertising value equivalents are not a valid measure
The AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework: inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impact
Media monitoring, social listening and analytics
Brand tracking and reputation research
Uses and limits of AI tools in content, monitoring and analysis
Reporting communication performance to senior management
Action plan: an integrated PR and advertising strategy for your organisation

Competencies

Strategic communication planning

Audience insight and message strategy

Integrated PR and advertising planning

Creative and agency briefing

Media planning across paid, earned, shared and owned channels

Media relations and spokesperson preparation

Reputation and issues management

Agency selection and performance management

Communication measurement and evaluation

Istanbul

Train in Istanbul with access to Elite Academy’s full portfolio of professional programs. In a city known as a major international business crossroads connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia, organizations and professionals can join upcoming courses or request any program to be arranged locally. Professional training in Istanbul is not limited to a specific group of subjects. Elite Academy makes its complete portfolio available in the city across management, business, technical and industry-focused disciplines. With a major international business crossroads connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Istanbul provides an effective setting for international learning. Use the schedule below to view courses already planned for the destination, or contact our team to request another program and preferred dates in Istanbul, subject to scheduling and delivery requirements.