La estrategia aplicada a las relaciones públicas en el medio digital: El caso español

Joan Cuenca-Fontbona; Marc Compte-Pujol; Ileana Zeler

doi:10.4185/RLCS-2022-1537

Authors

Joan Cuenca-Fontbona Universidad Ramon Llull
Marc Compte-Pujol Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Ileana Zeler Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2022-1537

Keywords:

Cyberspace, Corporate Communication, Dircom, Digital Communication, Internet, Strategic Planning, Public Relations

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The purpose of this article is to find out if the communication departments of the Spanish companies with the highest turnover strategically plan the public relations (PR) activity in the digital environment; what the typology and the communicative orientation of the plans that they design are; and which the most used tools in the digital ecosystem are. Methodology: To do this, we sent a questionnaire to the functional communication managers of this type of companies and that are members of the Spanish Association of Directors of Communication-Dircom. Results: Based on the strategic decision-making model of John Marston (1963) and considering PR as an independent and strategic managerial function (Grunig and Hunt, 2003) we have verified that most of the PR plans of Spanish companies in the digital environment have been strategically designed. Discussion: These data contrast with several studies carried out in recent years at a professional level, which indicated that the management of PR in the digital environment was raised tactically and with short-term objectives. Conclusions: We confirm a trend towards professionalization of the strategic management of PR in cyberspace, but we also point out that there are aspects of applied strategic thinking that should be improved, such as the use of other types of programs, beyond those that they seek notoriety and beyond the informative function, and the use of new digital tools.

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Author Biographies

Joan Cuenca-Fontbona , Universidad Ramon Llull

He is a doctor accredited by the Faculty of Communication and International Relations Blanquerna - URL of Barcelona. He is a professor in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations, and Marketing, Director of the Master's Degree in Public Relations Strategy and Management, and member of the Research Group on Strategy and Creativity in Advertising and PR (URL). He is the author of various books and articles in scientific journals. His lines of research are "strategic communication", "corporate communication", and "Public Relations". Visiting professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, USA. He has a six-year period in research by the National Commission for the Evaluation of Research Activity (CNEAI). Member of the Board of Directors of the AIRP-Association of Researchers in Public Relations and member of the Association of Directors of Communication Dircom Catalonia.

Marc Compte-Pujol, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Marc Compte-Pujol is a professor in charge of Information and Communication Sciences Studies at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and an associate professor at Blanquerna-Universitat Ramon Llull (URL). He holds a Ph.D. in Advanced Studies in Communication from the URL and has been accredited by ANECA and AQU. He has published several articles in prestigious international scientific journals. His lines of research focus on "strategic communication", "Public Relations", "corporate communication", and "place branding".

Ileana Zeler, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona

Ileana Zeler is a Serra Hunter professor in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations, and Audiovisual Communication at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), and holds a Ph.D. in communication from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV). With several articles published in prestigious international scientific journals, she focuses her lines of research on "strategic communication", "Public Relations", "digital communication", and "corporate social responsibility". She is also vice-chair of the Strategic and Organizational Communication section of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA).

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