Marketing Communications & PR Flashcards

A brand discovers a viral social media post falsely accusing it of unethical labor practices. The FIRST step in crisis communications should be:

Answer: Monitor and assess the scope before responding

Assessing the scope and credibility of the crisis before responding prevents overreaction and allows for a measured, accurate response.

Which media relations metric best measures the quality of earned media coverage rather than just its volume?

Answer: Media Impact Score using sentiment and reach

Media Impact Score combines sentiment, audience reach, and prominence, offering a quality-weighted view versus raw mention counts.

In integrated marketing communications (IMC), 'touchpoint consistency' primarily means:

Answer: Ensuring the brand message and tone align across every customer interaction

Touchpoint consistency means customers receive a coherent brand experience regardless of the channel or context of interaction.

A PR team uses a 'dark site' as part of its crisis preparedness plan. What is a dark site?

Answer: A pre-built website activated only during a crisis to communicate with stakeholders

A dark site is a pre-approved, pre-staged website that goes live immediately during a crisis to serve as an official information hub.

Which of the following BEST describes the 'two-way symmetric' model of public relations?

Answer: Communication flows equally between organization and publics, aiming for mutual understanding

Grunig's two-way symmetric model emphasizes dialogue, mutual adjustment, and relationship-building rather than persuasion.

A company's spokesperson gives an interview and goes 'off-message.' The PRIMARY risk this creates is:

Answer: Creating inconsistent brand narrative that undermines strategic communications goals

Off-message statements can contradict official positioning, confuse stakeholders, and weaken carefully crafted brand narratives.

When writing a media pitch versus a press release, the key difference is that a pitch:

Answer: Is personalized to a specific journalist's beat and framed as a story idea

A pitch is a short, targeted story proposal sent to a specific journalist, while a press release is a formal announcement distributed broadly.