EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTICES IN THE OIL SECTOR
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EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTICES IN THE OIL SECTOR
SUMMARY
African Petroleum Plc, Enugu, is a marketer of chemicals and petroleum products, and they are aware of how crucial goodwill and public support are to a company’s ability to succeed in business. tends to be impacted by the public, which comprises the company’s employees, owners, clients, and press representatives, among others.
In order to improve the organization’s overall performance, the company is genuinely very interested in learning about its public problem areas and opportunities.
It is unaware of what the public believes about African Petroleum Public Relations programmes and the calibre of services the organisation provides to the public.
Nevertheless, the researcher made the decision to start the study;
The study’s goals are as follows:
1. To ascertain the degree to which AP’s public relations communications are accessible to their respective audiences.
2. To ascertain whether AP’s public relations strategies impact the perceptions of its target audiences.
3. To ascertain whether the majority of African petroleum’s audience views their PR strategies as sufficient.
4. To determine whether the public relations section of the Associated Press is considered very efficient.
5. To determine if the appropriate public relations channels were being employed.
The public in Enugu State and African Petroleum Plc are the true subjects of this study. All study aspects that were specified in the study goals were covered, to put it briefly.
A survey was conducted in which representatives of the four main African petroleum publics were questioned. The insights gathered from these interviews proved invaluable in advancing specific areas of investigation and in formulating the hypothesis. It was an entirely empirical method.
Twenty-five (250) respondents, including forty African petroleum employees, sixty shareholders, one hundred and twenty customers, and thirty members of the press, completed a structured questionnaire as the primary instrument to gather pertinent data based on the study’s scope.
The survey had a strict format but was also left open-ended when needed. To provide strong control over the questions and to make it easier to compare responses, both the questions and the responses were very standard.
Additionally, the questionnaires were made to gather data regarding the public relations message and media coverage of African Petroleum, as well as the department and programmes responsible for public relations and the general quality of their services.
The appropriateness of the responses was verified, and the public relations strategies and general service quality of AP were graded.
The following are the outcomes:
1. Given that most respondents said they regularly and easily had access to African Petroleum’s PR messages, the degree of accessibility of AP’s relations to the public is good.
2. African Petroleum’s public relations strategy shapes public opinion. The rationale for this is that the majority of respondents claimed that the AP’s PR messages are compelling and persuasive, which has an impact on their perception of the organization’s policies and initiatives.
Third, the appropriate A higher percentage of respondents said that public relations media were frequently used, indicating that AP use common media combinations to reach its target audience and produce the intended results.
4. African Petroleum’s public relations department is rated highly for efficiency because, according to the majority of respondents, the department plans and implements a number of public relations initiatives that improve public acceptance, mutual understanding, and the company’s goodwill and image.
5. The public does not view African Petroleum’s PR strategies as effective as most respondents did, stating that the department should work harder to raise awareness of other issues that need PR attention and expand its PR Enlightenment programmes to reach the remote areas where the AP’s target audience resides.
Conclusions: In light of the foregoing, Petroleum’s PR message in the media and the general calibre of their services are commendable, but their enlightenment campaign and mobilisation activities require further work.
We should be aware that no public relations campaign is flawless, thus the effort must be strengthened over time. Organisations should be regularly reviewed in order to prevent some unanticipated events, crises, and conflicts.
In order to adapt to the changing corporate environment, public reactions practices are used to determine their efficacy and opportunities for development.
Chapter 1: Introduction
In the current environment, where there are numerous companies producing and distributing a specific good or service, and where there is weekly competition among them, it is now essential for these organisations to build at least goodwill and mutual understanding with their various publics if they are to succeed.
Although the quality of their goods or services is not a determining factor in their success, neither is advertising on its own, nor is skillful salesmanship or responsible financial management; rather, a company’s ability to foster understanding among its target audiences is typically the key to its success.
Jefkins (1988:9) made the observation that, with knowledge and insight, one may turn a bad situation into a successful outcome. In light of this, Jefkins anticipates that the business will employ public relations to foster understanding where there is ignorance, acceptance where there is bias, and interest where there is indifference.
A well-structured public relations practice is now required. “Public Relations is the management function that identifies, establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationship between a company and the various public on whom its success or failure depends,” according to Conter and Broom (1985:4) in their conceptual definition, at this peripheral cutlip.
Businesses establish mutually beneficial relationships with the public by raising awareness, keeping up a regular communication network, assessing public opinion, aligning their policies and programmes with the public interest, and carrying out an action plan to win the public’s understanding and support.
In actuality, public relations entails enlisting the pertinent target audiences and persuading them of the merits of a certain viewpoint; endorsing particular concerns and causes; accepting business proposals and public policy.
When included early in the marketing plan, public relations balances out marketing and can significantly impact the success of a product (Ajala: 1993:22).
In the meantime, the United States of America (USA) saw its first and second world wars, which is tied to the origins of the public relations practice. Additionally, around the time of World War II, Nigeria began to use this public relations technique (Ajala: 1993:2).
The European government had to establish an information office during World military II in order to distribute various messages regarding the military situation as well as other general economic problems.
According to Adebolar (1992, 19), the information office—later renamed the public relations office—was first created to inform the public about the colonial struggle and provide reasons for them to join. It also supported government initiatives that required publicity.
But more specifically, the establishment of a public relations department by the colonial government in 1948, with offices in Lagos, Ibadan, Kaduna, and Enugu, marked the beginning of the modern era of public relations in Nigeria. Mr. Harold Cooper, the director of public relations in Nigeria, was a public relations professional.
He naturally attempted to modernise government information services and started the practice of explaining government plans to the general public. As soon as the government acknowledged the role of the public in carrying out its official duties, the private sector asked to be included.
The United African Company (UAC), presently recognised as the United African Company of Nigeria (UACN), established the initial public relations organisation in these domains in 1949.
In 1960, that group merged into the United African Company network as an information department and changed its name to the public relations department.
The term “continuous effort on behalf of the company to promote the best possible understanding of its policies, activities, and social attitude among those that can influence its development” is how the company goes on to define public relations.
In 1969, Shell British Petroleum developed their own PR strategy. The corporation’s public relations efforts include everything that has to do with how the company interacts with the federation’s government, local communities, media outlets, commercial groups, educational institutions, and other segments of the public.
Similar to how the United African Company of Nigeria (UACN) shell sought to maintain an open line of communication with the public at all times, so was this relationship fostered.
fostering an environment of mutual understanding and cooperation. The oil boom brought with it professionals in public relations and communications to meet the demands of businesses, organisations, institutions, and religious institutions in terms of communication. As the third decade began, people’s worth began to shift.
Public relations became more important as a management tool as people’s needs grew, particularly after June 1990, when the federal military government supported the field with an enabling decree known as Nigerian Institute of Public Relations Decree No. 16 of 1990 (NIPR: 1954:35).
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