Course Title: Develop public relations documents

Part B: Course Detail

Teaching Period: Term2 2014

Course Code: MKTG5845C

Course Title: Develop public relations documents

School: 650T TAFE Business

Campus: City Campus

Program: C5281 - Diploma of Business (Public Relations)

Course Contact : Sally Parrott

Course Contact Phone: +61 3 9925 5175

Course Contact Email:sally.parrott@rmit.edu.au


Name and Contact Details of All Other Relevant Staff

Fiona McQueen
Ph:  03 9225 1612
Email:  fiona.mcqueen@rmit.edu.au

Nominal Hours: 80

Regardless of the mode of delivery, represent a guide to the relative teaching time and student effort required to successfully achieve a particular competency/module. This may include not only scheduled classes or workplace visits but also the amount of effort required to undertake, evaluate and complete all assessment requirements, including any non-classroom activities.

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites

None

Course Description

This unit applies to individuals working in public relations roles who are required to develop various marketing communication documents. Typically they would do this as part of a team working on a public relations campaign.
 


National Codes, Titles, Elements and Performance Criteria

National Element Code & Title:

BSBPUB403A Develop public relations documents

Element:

1. Research appropriate public relations documents

Performance Criteria:


1.1. Research previous communication documents for tone, content and style
1.2. Research previous communication media and media distribution channels using appropriate methods
1.3. Research and analyse existing evaluation data
1.4. Conduct research about target public, clients or relevant organisations
 

Element:

2. Plan production of communication document

Performance Criteria:


2.1. Identify and segment the target public
2.2. Identify and agree upon communication objectives, messages and processes with other team members or supervisors in accordance with organisational procedures
2.3. Ensure communication message is related to organisational strategic objectives and operational plans
2.4. Identify and gain agreement on appropriate communication media and media channels to send communication message
2.5. Identify and agree upon processes to test the success of planned public relations communications
2.6. Determine outsourcing resources, and provide input into developing timelines and costs
2.7. Identify legal and ethical constraints impacting on communication message
 

Element:

3. Create and edit public relations documents

Performance Criteria:


3.1. Design and write communication documents in accordance with organisational objectives which effectively communicate issues, policies and practices of the organisation to target audiences
3.2. Scan documents to ensure compliance with legal and ethical requirements and proofread to identify and correct errors
3.3. Assess appropriateness of the style and tone of text for the target public and carry out structural editing to ensure the document flows logically
3.4. Edit the document to ensure its scope and format is in accordance with the organisation's strategic communications plan and complies with house style
3.5. Seek feedback from appropriate personnel on content of public relations documents following proofreading
3.6. Test document and amend it in response to feedback
3.7. Determine and agree upon modifications and incorporate into final draft
 

Element:

4. Implement and evaluate public relations documents

Performance Criteria:


4.1. Forward any required document to outsourced resources within scheduled timelines
4.2. Distribute document in accordance with scheduled timelines using appropriate public relations publications to communicate and promote the goals of the organisation
4.3. Gather feedback and regularly monitor the effectiveness of distributed documents using appropriate evaluation methods
4.4. Evaluate results of public relations documents against communication, organisational or client objectives
4.5. Record and file evaluation results and any improvement recommendations for future reference
 

Learning Outcomes


This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to design, produce and edit public relations documents for various target audiences, and to evaluate their effectiveness in the marketplace.


Details of Learning Activities

Learning Outcomes
This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to design, produce and edit public relations documents for various target audiences, and to evaluate their effectiveness in the marketplace.

Learning Activities
This course is structured to provide students with the optimum learning experience. Students will participate in a combination of group and individual learning activities. These activities will be provided through a combination of face to face teacher/student deliveries plus classroom work time. Additional learning activities will also be provided to students to complete outside of timetabled time.
 


Teaching Schedule

Week 1 - 7 July
Course Induction

Week 2 - 14 July
Introduction to the PR industry and the importance of writing
Basic principles of persuasive writing
Plain English – rhythm, grammar, sentence structure, flow etc

Week 3 - 21 July
Introduction to Public relations tools, documents and channels – overview of media releases, direct mail, newsletters, brochures etc

Week 4 - 28 July
The importance of the media release
Understanding the creative brief

Week 5 - 4 August
Audiences and stakeholders

Week 6 - 11 August
Public relations and marketing communication documents

Week 7 - 18 August
Blog introduction
Online copywriting

Week 8 - 25 August
Social media integration – twitter, facebook etc

Mid Semester break - 1 - 5 September

Week 9 - 8 September
Tools for persuasive writing

Week 10 - 15 September
Short vs long copywriting

Week 11 - 22 Septmber
Objectives and key messages

Week 12 - 29 September
Newsletters/fliers

Week 13 - 6 October
Events/sponsorship proposals

Week 14 - 13 October
Research & Evaluation
Legal/Ethical issues

Week 15 - 20 October
Final assessments due in class

Week 16 - 29 October
Assessment Feedback

Week 17 - 3 November
No classes - Resubmissions only


Learning Resources

Prescribed Texts


References


Other Resources


Overview of Assessment

Students must demonstrate an understanding of all elements of a particular competency to be deemed competent. Assessment methods have been designed to measure achievement of each competency in a flexible manner over a range of assessment tasks.

Assessment will incorporate a variety of methods including assignments, journals, presentation and written or test. Students are advised that they are likely to be asked to personally demonstrate their assessment work to their teacher to ensure that the relevant competency standards are being met.
 


Assessment Tasks

Task 1 Written Portfolio – Individual- (Due in class Week 8)

Students are required to complete 5 of 7 classroom tasks. All submitted classroom activity will be marked competent or not yet competent and will then contribute to a final assessment grade.

From the class activity submit
• 1 x Press Release (no longer than one page – minimum 300 words) – COMPULSORY
• 1 x Online Copy of 600 words to appear on a website
• 1 x Print Ad (any size)
• 1 x Direct Mail piece of 500 words (letter to customers, email copy, brochure)
• 1 x Newsletter article
• Long copy
• 1 x Communication Plan

PLEASE NOTE the work must follow the basic principles of persuasive writing, be free of spelling and grammar errors.


Task 2 – Blog – Individual - (Due in class Week 12)

Working individually, students are to establish and write a blog around a topic of interest using the theory of persuasive copy writing and best practice blog writing. Ultimately, the task is to persuade people to read and interact with a blog which will demand a combination of persuasive writing style, compelling content (copy and visual) and social media engagement. Students are free to use the blogging platform of your choice.

Comprising a minimum of six blog entries (no max) and a minimum of 2000 words of your own copy (3000 max), your blog must:
• Be written in an engaging writing style that encourages readership
• Include graphics/images/moving footage and hyperlinks to other relevant content
• Integration of social media (twitter etc) in an effort to increase blog readership
• Be consistent in layout, writing style and posting regularity

Your work must be completely free of spelling and grammatical errors and must ensure the principles of ‘plain english’ are upheld and the tools of persuasive writing are employed. The copy must ensure appropriate format, language, writing style and tone for the given medium and audience.

Task 3 – Written Portfolio 2 – Group - (Due in class Week 16)

In groups of NO MORE THAN FOUR, students will choose a virtual client from a supplied list who has a communication objective they need to fulfil. Students will need to consider how that virtual client is going to build their brand and reputation and highlight possible issues the business might be facing, for example:
• A new business has opened and needs to increase awareness
• Launching a new range and needs to inform its public
• Trying to gain interest from a new market


Students are to prepare:
Five pieces in total comprised of:

  • • Communication Plan/Strategy (using supplied template)
  • • Media release (minimum 300 words)
  • • 2 x written piece of MINIMUM 500 words, choose from:
  • Online web material
  • Newsletter article
  • Brochure text
  • • Visual medium – professionally laid out and written choose from:
  • Advert
  • Poster
     

Full details on how this course is assessed against the Unit elements and performance criteria plus critical aspects of evidence can be found in the Learning and Assessment Tool available from your course teacher.


Assessment Matrix

Full details on how this course is assessed against the Unit elements and performance criteria plus critical aspects of evidence can be found in the Learning and Assessment Tool available from your course teacher.

Course Overview: Access Course Overview