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ADM NO: 1029667 Name: Omariba Sandra Moraa Unit Code: CMM 423 Unit Name: Public Relations Lecturer: Mr. Moyo
ADM NO: 1029667 Name: Omariba Sandra Moraa Unit Code: CMM 423 Unit Name: Public Relations Lecturer: Mr. Moyo
identifiable group or individual who can affect the achievement of an organization’s objectives
or be affected by the organization’s actions, objectives and policies. They affect decisions made
successful.
government, owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the
The Public Relations Society of America defined Public Relations as a strategic communication
process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.
Stakeholders are important because they are the community that the organization is serving.
For instance, stakeholders can help shape your products or services at an early stage by giving
feedback on what they like or what they do not like. This makes it more likely that they will
support you and put their input to improve the quality of the products or services.
Edward Bernays, The Father of Public Relations
Edward Bernays was born in November 22, 1891 in Vienna, United States of America. Edward
Louis Bernays was an Austrian-American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda,
referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". He combined the ideas of Gustave
Le Bon and Wilfred Trotter on crowd psychology with the psychoanalytical ideas of his uncle,
Sigmund Freud. He felt this manipulation was necessary in society, which he regarded as
irrational and dangerous as a result of the "herd instinct" that Trotter had described. Adam
Curtis's award-winning 2002 documentary for the BBC, The Century of the Self, pinpoints
Bernays as the originator of modern public relations, and Bernays was named one of the 100
most influential Americans of the 20th century by Life Magazine.[ CITATION Enr16 \l 1033 ]
Interestingly, Bernays books also generated distrust of the profession and outrage about some of
its practices, rather than creating a more generally favorable view of public relations. Bernays '
notion of a two-way road was not the issue with Crystallizing Public Opinion. He described
public relations as well. The catchphrase he wrote in the novel, which he never gave up despite
the persistent critique was: "Public relations is the engineering of consent." Sure, it's catchy and
easy to remember, but Bernays's "choice of words when describing ties with public officials as
consent engineers" was, according to writers David Haberman and Harry Dolphin, an easy target
for the critics because it sounded as deceptive, mechanical and threatening, in their 1988
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses
is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of
society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are
governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have
"...the group mind does not think in the strict sense of the word. In place of thoughts it has
impulses, habits and emotions. In making up its mind its first impulse is usually to follow the
example of a trusted leader [an icon or celebrity]. This is one of the most firmly established
principles of mass psychology. But when the example of the leader is not at hand and the herd
must think for itself, it does so by means of cliches, pat words or images which stand for a whole
He helped shape public relations by urging opinion leaders, celebrities, physicians, and other
"experts" to use their endorsements to further reinforce their clients ' claims. He also preferred
surveys, the results of tests and surveys, to give better proof for the roles and goods of his
customers.
In order to overcome this challenge, Bernays used his unique approach. Too costly to remove the
green packaging. The idea-to transform the brand's green shade into a fashion season's showcase
color. In Waldorf-Astoria, Bernays persuaded fashion designers to include color in their new
season designs. For some of the leading entrepreneurs, the company held a "Green Gala."
The daring campaign went on. Bernays linked Lucky Strike cigarettes to the women's liberation
movement to crack the tabouin of smoking in public and held a protest at Easter Parade in 1929
where trendy young women had their "torches of independence," Lucky Strike cigarettes,
photographed. During those years the company was a symbol of gender equality in the U.S.
The Hearty breakfast was his other successful campaign. We have heard everyone say that
breakfast is the most important meal of the day and Bernays played a part in it .. The Beech-Nut
Packing Company was struggling to sell one of its largest meat products, bacon, so employed the
expertise of the reputable Bernays. Rather than simply reduce the price, Bernays posed a more
Bernays spoke to numerous physicians, and together they concluded that a ‘hearty’ breakfast was
better than a light one. The American breakfast of the time – toast, orange juice, and coffee –
would be put on the scrap heap. Bernays got 5,000 physicians to sign a statement that agreed a
protein-rich, heavy breakfast of, say, bacon, and eggs, was healthier than a light one. The petition
was published in newspapers, and the all-American breakfast was born, with a huge spike in
sales of bacon. It’s no wonder he was also known as the ‘master of spin’.
The second successful initiative was to conquer the obstacle of guilt. To increase sales of Betty
Crocker instant cake mix, Bernays introduced more psychoanalytical methods. After a focus
group on the target market–American housewives–he found they seemed ignorant of the use of a
product that took so little effort. The solution–give them a more participatory feeling by
demanding that they add an egg to the mixture. The sales increased when the symbolic egg
This was by far Bernays’ favourite campaigns that he did. Bernays’ work with Procter &
Gamble’s ‘Ivory Soap’ is another textbook case of marketing psychology in action. In the
Bernays line of thinking, he aimed to broaden the market by tackling childrens’ inherent distaste
for soap and bathing, while distinguishing the brand from competitors. Why did the children hate
bathing with soap? Most children did not like the burning or stinging feeling when soap entered
Inspired by an artist he had met who used soap instead of wax to carve miniature sculptures,
Bernays created the annual National Soap Sculpture Competition to inspire children, ‘’the
enemies of soap’’, to get creative with it. The competition ran annually for 25 years and involved
millions of children, and cast the name ‘Ivory Soap’ into the public consciousness.
Bernays also started events such as a soap yacht race in Central Park, to prove it floated better
than competitor brands, and employed a medical consultant to survey American hospitals on
their preference for white, unperfumed soap such as Ivory, rather than the coloured, scented
CONCLUSION
As you can imagine, Bernays’ methods were, and still are, extremely contentious, especially
when utilised in the public sphere and politics. But the introduction of psychoanalytical
techniques in shaping consumer demand is the foundation upon which all modern public
References
4 PR campaigns of Edward Bernays. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2020, from
https://www.edology.com/blog/marketing/pr-campaigns-edward-bernays/
Edward Bernays, 'Father of Public Relations' And Leader in Opinion Making, Dies at 103.
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/08/16/specials/bernays-obit.html
Publishing.
Gunderman, R. (2019, December 5). The manipulation of the American mind: Edward Bernays
and the birth of public relations. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from http://theconversation.com/the-
manipulation-of-the-american-mind-edward-bernays-and-the-birth-of-public-relations-44393
Suarez, E. (2016). Edward Bernays: The Father of Public Relations and Architect of the
Turney, M. (2015, August 15). Edward Bernays: Father and Philosopher of Public Relations.