DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Country of Turkey Hypothetical PR Proposal

 

Context

As part of a Public Relations class, I worked with a group of five other students to create a hypothetical PR plan for the country of Turkey. This assignment was meant to help us expand on our learning by providing the opportunity to put the theories we learned into practice. Our overall product would be a 25-30 page proposal, including specifics of our plan to market Turkey to key audiences in order to bring more tourists and businesses to the country and example tactics for ways to implement this plan. Our main goal was to create a proposal that would help bridge the gap between Turkey and tourists to strengthen Turkey’s economy and establish it as a safe and unique country worth visiting.

 

Rhetorical Strategies

Like most proposals for clients, we began by researching who our client was. We looked at the current economy of Turkey, current events in Turkey, and general information such as the government structure and religious culture. With this information, we created a SWOT Analysis and situational analysis that served as a basis for our understanding of how to market Turkey.

 

Next, we determined who our publics were. This is the same rhetorical strategy as analyzing the audience. In PR, this is important because you must understand who the publics are in order to find the best ways to build relationships with these publics. Also, we determined what our objectives for the plan were, what messages we would communicate to our audience to help meet these objectives, and the strategies we would employ in conveying our messages to the publics. This process took several weeks and revisions to hone, but it was important to have a clear understanding of the goals and messages before we could meet those needs with specific PR tactics.

 

This document had an abundance of information, and once we determined all of our content, we put it all together in an organized and visually appealing manner. We took the time to have it color printed and bound with a cover and back. When doing this, we kept in mind the rhetorical strategy of delivery. Just handing over a black and white, stapled copy of the proposal with text and no visuals would not have been as effective as taking the time to make the report presentable. We wanted to impress our client, in this case Turkey, by showing them that we put our best effort into the whole project, from research and writing all the way to delivery. 

 

Reflection

With so many people in the group, it was a challenge to complete a cohesive proposal. However, one of our techniques to combat this issue was to meet weekly and peer review each section as it was completed. We assigned individual parts, but coming together as a group to discuss our ideas in depth and to make decisions collaboratively helped keep the project on track, create a cohesive marketing proposal, and ensure we were marketing Turkey to the best of our abilities. At times this was a challenge, but as a group, we decided to adhere to a strict timeline with room to contemplate and revise our plan as we went. Therefore, this project taught me the importance of weekly communication when collaborating on a large task. It also taught me that bringing ideas together as a group, although time consuming and tedious, is necessary to fulfill the client's needs.

 

If I had more time, I would get feedback from individuals outside the classroom as a form of usability testing for the video and social media we created because this would bring in an outside perspective that emulates what some of our actual publics would be. By utilizing usability testing, you ensure that what you think meets the publics’ needs actually meets those needs, and it is a form of evaluation for the success of the project before it is officially launched. 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.