Abstract
Public relations professionals must adopt an integrated approach, one that includes elements of “social media, marketing, advertising and client management, for a broader view of the campaign planning process.” That is the main message behind Luttrell and Capizzo’s book.
This is not the first book to address an “integrated approach” in public relations. Ferguson (1999), for example, discussed how the job of a public relations professional was already changing almost 20 years ago, when she argued professionals had to know how to do more than “just” write speeches, press releases, and articles. Luttrell and Capizzo update that list, adding how new technologies, such as social media, have changed the profession—and the professional.
Luttrell, an assistant professor of public relations and social media at Syracuse, and Capizzo, a doctoral student and instructor at Maryland, divide the book into three parts (which, oddly, is only listed in the preface): “Strategic Public Relations Planning,” which introduces the theories behind public relations, and the process of public relations planning; “Discovering ROSTIR,” covering the two key concepts used in the book; and “Campaigns in Action,” which offers actual examples of public relations campaigns, tying the book together. The preface also contains a detailed summary of each chapter, which may help faculty prepare reading lists for classes.
It is refreshing to see a practical book that does take the time to explain theories, including staples of mass communication that affect public relations, including, for example, diffusion and framing theories. Even though the title of the book does not tell it, the cornerstone of the book is actually two connected theories, or models, ROSTIR (Research, Objectives, Strategies, Tactics, Implementation, Reporting) and PESO (Paid-Earned-Shared-Owned), to which Luttrell and Capizzo devote a significant portion of the textbook. It is not the first time Luttrell pitches the ROSTIR model, having already discussed it in a previous book she authored (Luttrell, 2014). It is an evolution of the RACE management model developed by John Marston (1963), which focuses on “Research, Action, Communication and Evaluation.” ROSTIR, then, refines Marston’s and others’ approach by helping “practitioners to execute each critical step within the campaign planning and implementation process” (p. 20).
“PESO” urges professionals to share information and, moreover, encourage their customers to do the same, taking advantage of new tools like social media. Luttrell (2017) has previously called it “the backbone of today’s PR planning” (para. 1) in her personal website. She and Capizzo double-down on that claim by inviting Gini Dietrich, who literally wrote the book on it in 2014, to pen the foreword for their book.
For Luttrell and Capizzo, these two new models together allow new public relations professionals to show that public relations is more than “just” media relations, which should be seen as only a small part (or a consequence) of their work. However, while the models do frame the textbook, they also turn into its main impediment, as the book becomes, sometimes, a bit hyper-focused on convincing the reader of the importance of these models rather than explaining how public relations has changed, sounding more like a promotional piece than a textbook. For example, although Luttrell herself previously wrote on her own website about SOEP, a proposed revision to the PESO model that places a specific priority to each element, the authors make no mention of it or any other criticism here. Doing so, they stop faculty member considering adopting the book as well as students using in class to truly evaluate and understand the importance or validity of PESO.
Some of the more taunted elements of the book—such as the “sample PR plans with budgets” promoted on the back cover—are also not new to public relations textbooks, having being used in previous public relations textbooks, such as Smith’s (2017). But other elements of the book, which the authors call “student learning resources,” do make the work shine as an education tool. These are mostly quick features that allow students to reinforce and practice the material learned in each chapter. They include, for example, “Think Ahead,” short bullet point lists summarizing what students should get (the learning objectives) from each chapter, and “Think Critically,” a series of assignments (in class or as homework) that either push students to think critically of related topics, or do the usual “list/repeat what you read” exercises. A fairly unique and extremely clever feature is the “Key Terms,” included at the end of each chapter to assist students in understanding or memorizing important terminology.
Luttrell and Capizzo do a great job in their book of including current issues in their examples. In “Concept Cases,” hands-on exercises applying concepts learned in each topic, the authors address gender issues by having the fictitious “Equality Today, an LGBTQ advocacy organization” as the client. Moreover, the “real-world examples” included throughout the book, which allow students to connect the dots and further connect to the issues discussed, include discussions on Syrian refugees, Misty Copeland, the first African American female principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, and teachers lobbying local government for more funding (but also include “lighter topics,” such as Baskin Robbins, Lean Cuisine, Burger Kings, The Hunger Games, and others).
The book—the first of two textbooks recently co-written by the pair and released by SAGE this year—is a bit shorter and smaller than the usual textbook, but it does have a clear target market: “the many public relations (PR) students each year enrolling in (upper-level) public relations campaigns classes” (p. xx). Ultimately, it does accomplish its mission of showing these soon-to-be professionals new ways to think about “public relations strategies, marketing approaches, and new media opportunities” (p. xx).
