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15
GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS AND BRANDING: ISSUES FOR THE APPLICATION OF
DIGITAL PR STRATEGIES AND INSTRUMENTS
Aziza Faxriddinovna ASLANOVA
Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Uzbekistan, Doctorate (PhD), Tashkent, Uzbekistan
AB O U T ART I CL E
Key words:
Digital PR, branding, Digital PR strategies,
Digital PR instruments, press service
.
Received:
20.12.2024
Accepted
: 25.12.2024
Published
: 30.12.2024
Abstract:
In the modern era of the Internet and
the digital economy, the demand for the effective
use of digital PR in everyday life and business is
increasing. Digital PR is becoming an integral part
of business strategy as companies are forced to
use the Internet and social media to advertise,
connect with customers, and sell their products.
An important aspect of digital PR is changing the
content
of
brand
communications
with
consumers. Despite the fact that the basic
principles of information exchange and the
formation of a positive image of the brand remain,
this process is taking on new forms and tools.
This article analyzes what Digital PR is in branding
development, its active strategies worldwide and
in Uzbekistan, the role and importance of digital
PR in promoting the name of local state
organizations, and the instruments used.
As a result, the effectiveness of digital PR not only
strengthens the brand's communicative activity
but also gives the organization the opportunity to
adapt to changing requirements and increase
competitiveness quickly.
INTRODUCTION
In September 2022, the Center for Economic Research and Reforms analyzed the
activity of companies in Uzbekistan and the processes of brand registration. According to it, in
September 2022, the business activity index for trademark protection was 0.9671 units, and this
indicator decreased by 3.3% compared to September 2021. As of September 2023, 206 trademarks and
trade names were registered by legal entities [6]. Registration of new trade names indicates the creation
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of a new brand. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that local companies' activity in creating and
promoting a brand has increased.
In the digital age, the concept of personal branding and branding has become popular. In the past, it
took a lot of effort, time, and money to publicize a brand, but today PR formats have changed and the
process has become a little easier. But this is a relative concept. The reason is that the format change
has created a huge competitive field in addition to increasing the number of strategies and instruments.
Naturally, this makes it difficult to promote branding.
Digital PR is a new format of communication with a target audience that serves to build the image or
raise the reputation of an organization. That is, the basis of this process is traditional PR. It's just that
the principle of operation has moved online. In a word, it is the repeated mention of the brand name in
social networks, websites, thematic forums, and even in reviews [9, p.22].
Digital PR
primarily serves to expand the brand's reach. In addition, without digitization, it has become
difficult to achieve goals such as gaining the trust of customers and partners, attracting new audiences,
and ensuring that the organization's website appears at the top of the search engines.
Although classical and digital PR have the same goal, they are fundamentally different in terms of
methods. While traditional PR works through offline publications, digital PR relies on online resources.
PR instruments
are tools used to shape the image of the organization.
APR strategy
is a set of tactics used to achieve various PR objectives. Which instrument to use in the
strategy is chosen based on the organization's value, direction, status in society, and financial situation.
So, the instrument is a part of the PR strategy.
METHOD
According to American researcher Matias Rotsevich, the main problem in traditional PR is the
complexity of measuring effectiveness. Unlike digital, it is difficult to keep statistics on how many people
are reached after posting PR materials on channels. According to him, a lot of time is spent on the
formation of results in the classical approach. As a result, it takes a month or two for the goals of the
organization or company to be realized. Some publications, especially magazines, can take more than
two months from editing to publication. This delay reduces the value of the organization (13).
When talking about the advantages of digital PR, it is worth noting that it is more convenient than the
traditional one. According to Russian scientist Olga Kaznina, online branding efforts are important for
organizations, especially brands that have just started, and digital technologies such as blogging, viral
advertising, and social networks are helping the company to create and develop its “desired” image in
the Internet world. [10, p.22].
According to her, in traditional marketing, the brand manager has the following tasks when creating a
product and introducing it to the market. In particular:
–
creating a brand (developing a logo, slogan, name, etc.);
–
adaptation of the brand to existing and potential market requirements;
–
ensuring registration and legal protection;
–
promotion, brand management;
–
increasing the value of the brand portfolio;
–
assessment of brand equity.
The tasks of today's brand managers have not changed much. They:
–
simplify the choice for the buyer
–
determine the product needed by the market
–
forecast current and future profits
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–
strengthen the legal basis of the producer
–
create public trust and image of the brand
The difference is that today's lifestyle, habits, and thinking of modern consumers have led to a change
in advertising tools. This resulted not only in the promotion of the product itself but also in the task of
reorganizing and adapting the existing strategies following these advertising tools and forming new
ideas about the products [11, p.23].
One can agree with this opinion. The reason is that through the Internet and social networks, it has
become easy for every person, every expert, and every business entity to present themselves at the
brand level. The most interesting thing is that every entity that aims to create a personal and business
brand is who they want their audience to know and recognize. In traditional PR, this is a difficult
process. This can be understood in the example of the concepts of virtuality and reality. That is, if digital
PR promotes its ideas in virtual life, traditional PR has performed its functions in reality.
Russian scientists include the following among PR instruments:
•
“Press release (brief
information message of the company to the public)
•
Media kit or press kit (the second most important PR tool after the press release)
•
Backgrounder (main information that is not news or sensational: organization's activities, plans,
history; presentation of content of documents, description of goods and services, statistical data)
•
Authored article (an article written by an expert and published under the name of the head of
the company);
•
Commentary (an article devoted to large-scale problems, in the writing of which everyone
participates)” [7, p.63].
Another Russian researcher K. Mayorova divides PR instruments into 4 groups [14, P.11]:
(Details can be seen in Table 1)
Table 1
The researcher divides and classifies PR instruments for state bodies into 7 groups. Specifically [14, p.113]:
(Details can be seen in Table 2)
informative PR
instruments
communication
PR instruments
analytical PR
instruments
organizational
PR instruments
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Table 2
The Russian researcher N. Bolshakov mentioned 6 strategies for promoting the brand in the online
environment. In his opinion, it is advisable to use them in a mixed state to get more results. These are:
“Influence marketing. Implementation options: Instagram stories, native advertising, and product
reviews by celebrities. Another way is to participate in events on the company's social network page.
The important point is that the promotion involves an opinion leader, an authoritative person who can
be listened to.
Partnership. Mutually beneficial cooperation with partner brands. The main thing is to choose the right
partner, cooperation with him will give better results than independent PR.
Media in the online format. These are mainly publications that previously operated in print form, but
now also have an online format.
Event marketing. Mainly used to announce new product releases and events. For example, a blogger
posts a short story about an innovative anti-wrinkle product or a robot vacuum cleaner in their stories.
Are there any events planned soon? This means that it should be organized specifically to increase the
popularity of the brand among subscribers.
Online media appearances. It is not necessary to mention the brand, it is important to arouse interest
in it, the rest will be done by the users themselves: they will find information, and ask about the
company's products. This strategy encourages the audience to seek more information.
Interaction with journalists and editors. Choosing materials that are of interest to media
representatives will be useful for them” [5].
Chelsea Feil, an Israeli scientist and marketing expert, also states that “for a long
-term plan, mixing
several types of digital marketing and using them in a mixed form will be effective, and decisions should
be made based on the direction, values and target audience of each object. She also lists 8 types of digital
marketing strategies.
These are:
–
search engine optimization (SEO)
–
content marketing
corporate
identity of the
organization
social network
newsservice
expert articles
live PR
events
press-tours
business
trainings
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–
contextual advertising (PPC)
–
collaboration
–
native advertising
–
marketing in social networks
–
video advertising
–
E-
mail marketing” [8]
Another Russian researcher, Yuriy Rozhnov, states that “6 strategies are enough, and each organization
should use one that suits them:
1.
Content marketing; 2. SEO optimization; 3. SMM; 4. Email marketing; 5. Advertising; 6. Web
Analytics” [16, p.7358].
“
PR strategy development consists of four stages: analytical, organizational, implementation and
performance evaluation”. “See Figure 1” [15].
Figure 1
Research
In the conditions of Uzbekistan, various organizations and PR companies are effectively using the
following directions: (Details can be seen in Table 3)
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Table 3
It should be noted that content marketing, marketing in social networks, and video advertising give
good results in the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation activities, which is considered
the object of the research. This is because the majority of Internet users are young and middle-aged, so
they prefer short and all-inclusive routes.
However, the level of use of native advertising, influence marketing, and event marketing strategies is
low.
At this point, it is permissible to dwell on one aspect. That is, every organization has a press service, and
they produce content and cooperate with the mass media to increase the company's brand level,
operating in a positive image before the government and the people. However, the experience and
schooling in creating and implementing PR strategies are unsatisfactory. We will analyze this on the
example of the international week “InnoWeek”, which is traditionally h
eld by the Ministry of Higher
Education, Science, and Innovation, and is considered an object of research.
Since this event is held internationally on a large scale, the ministry hires a PR company every year (for
the past three years) for its promotion. That is, the PR company + press service create content from the
beginning to the end of the event using the PR strategies listed above and distribute it to the maximum
extent on national and international media channels.
The work is primarily formed by weekly participants, influential speakers, email addresses of startups,
or a customer database. At the same time, the Ministry starts sending weekly announcements, weekly
programs, and invitations to everyone's e-mail addresses.
After that, it goes to the video advertising strategy. That is, weekly pre-production content is created by
professional video makers. SMM within the PR company is distributed by the group in various
advertising channels. It should be said that the hired PR company will actively promote the event not
search engine optimization (seo)
content marketing
market on social networks
video advertising
making speeches in online mass media
E-mail marketing
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only in the territory of Uzbekistan but also in the world media arena. This year, articles about the
“InnoWeek” were published in the mass media of several countries, such as Korea, China, and Iran.
This year, the strategy of collaboration with official mass media and bloggers was actively implemented.
Communication with them was undertaken by the SMM group within the PR company. The most
important thing is that the issues raised during the week, topics that are of urgent importance not only
in Uzbekistan but also on a global scale, came to the attention of the general public and caused a stir.
A question may arise here. Why can't the press service take over this task completely? What is the issue?
First, the ministry is a big organization. Usually, a staff unit for a maximum of 5 specialists is allocated
to the press service of each ministry. One of them is a press secretary, and the rest are creative and
technical staff. The saddest thing is that only one photo and camera master can be included in their list.
In addition, in the press service, the position of PR specialist is not given. So, the problem is that the
scope of work does not correspond to the number of employees and the lack of necessary personnel.
The press service, which does not have the power to fully cover the daily work routine of the Ministry,
cannot manage to publicize the prestigious event in the international sphere, increase its prestige in the
international arena, naturally, from the point of view of lack of personnel and capacity.
It should be said that the first step in establishing public relations of state organizations started with
the organization of information services As its legal basis, it is appropriate to cite the decision of the
Cabinet of Ministers No. 203,
adopted on September 22, 2006, “On measures to develop public relations
of state and economic management bodies”.
In this regulatory document, it is stated that “Information services should be organized within the total
number of employees within ministries, state committees, agencies, the Council of Ministers of the
Republic of Karakalpakstan, regional and Tashkent city municipalities, economic management bodies
(hereinafter referred to as agencies)” and “one of the main tasks of information services as on
e, in the
formation and implementation of the information policy determined by the management of the office,
to cover the current aspects of the office's activities in the national and foreign mass media, the issues
of implementing the unified state policy in the relevant field, as well as the state of public opinion and
the position of the national and foreign mass media about the office's activities it was emphasized to
analyze and inform the management of the office about them” [1].
Although the decision
was adopted 18 years ago, it contains the clause “establishing the office's website
on the Internet and keeping it up-to-
date.” However, it should be recognized that almost all of the
remaining items reflect traditional PR strategies. This can be attributed to the period. The reason is that
at the time of the adoption of the normative document, the Internet system was not well developed,
social networks had not actively entered life, and digital marketing features had not been implemented.
However, over the years, along with the classic form of public relations of public organizations, the
development of PR in a digital format is the order of the times. Not only the development of the PR
service of the local organization but also the formation of the image of Uzbekistan in front of other
countries and special emphasis on PR has become one of the important tasks facing the government.
The analysis shows that the press services of state organizations did not work as actively as in the same
period before 2017. More precisely, this department could not adequately demonstrate its activities. It
can be said that the decision of the Cabinet o
f Ministers No. 125 of February 17, 2018 “On measures to
further improve the activities of information services of the state and economic management bodies of
the Republic of Uzbekistan” brought this activity to a new stage. The reason is that the informat
ion
services of the state and economic management bodies are supposed to be organized within the total
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number of employees of the state and economic management div, and it was turned into a separate
independent unit directly subordinated to the head of this div [2].
It is appropriate to say that the elements of digital PR, which are considered the demand of the time,
have been reflected in this normative document. In particular,
–
Quick placement of information on the official website of the organization, regular updating, and
development of social and mobile networks;
–
conducting monitoring and analysis of the information field, preparing proposals together with
experts on the types, methods, and level of response to them, organizing complex work on distributing
materials in mass media, including the global network;
–
preparation of news, informative materials, comments, and information-analytical materials for
distribution in national and foreign mass media together with other units of the state and economic
management div;
–
quality coverage of the activities of the state and economic management bodies in foreign mass
media was determined [3].
Analysis
When it comes to promoting your brand using digital PR, it's obvious that you need to use strong PR
strategies that work. As part of the research, the content of digital marketing of two state organizations
was comparatively analyzed. “Details can be seen in Table 4”.
It is important to note that in recent years, significant changes have been observed in the field of
branding of the bank “Xalq Bank”. The fact that the word brand is added to the sentence “press service”
means that an expert is involved. After the appointment of Gulnoza Alimova as the press secretary of
the organization, first of all, the historical documents of the bank were studied and it was determined
that the bank existed since 1875. As a result, the organization was rebranded as “People's Bank Since
1875”. The slogan “People's Bank
-
the first bank of Uzbekistan” began to sou
nd on the Internet and
social networks.
It should be said that the press secretary of the organization actively promotes the activities of the press
secretary on social networks, and actively covers daily work processes, news, findings, footage from the
photo shoot, etc. in its stories. Before, during, and after an initiative, content is placed based on the
“Preproduction
-production-post-
production” approach.
Bank Influence marketing and collaboration are actively used. In particular, special, exclusive gifts of
the organization are sent to bloggers, experts, and community leaders with a large number of
subscribers on social networks and a unique position at every holiday and official event. Those who
receive the gift take a picture or video of it and “tag”
it on their blog.
The press secretary will re-share this designation in their blog stories. As a result, the social network,
in particular, the Facebook pages, will be filled with posts about the holiday gift to “Xalq Bank” and its
loyal customers and partners.
In addition, the organization has invited the famous artist Erkin Bozorov as the face of the brand and
works based on collaboration. This creator creates video content in his style in the form of native
advertising about the bank's initiatives such as education loans and benefits for women. This content is
presented on the artist's blog, as well as on the bank's social media pages. But one aspect is worth
noting. That is, the number of views of video ads performed by an artist with his audience in the media,
as well as small talk shows with the participation of a press secretary, and videos from banking activities
on the YouTube platform are not up to the demand. More precisely, although the bank has about 10,000
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subscribers on the YouTube platform, the number of content views does not even reach 2,000. This
indicates that the press service of the organization does not use SEO optimization or targeting services.
Elements of classic PR technologies are also noticeable in the work of the bank's press service. Social
roles, social assistance, and sponsorships are among them. In particular, the bank published several
books in cooperation with “Asaxiy books” (based on sponsorship). That is, the organization gave its
financial support to the publication of the book and contributed to the growth
of reading, spirituality, and knowledge of the next generation. This view was widely promoted on social
networks. Here you can see the use of classic PR technology + wide dissemination techniques through
digital PR.
A comparative Analysis of the Use of Digital PR by Government Organizations
Table 4
The absence of PR or brand sentences in the press service of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science,
and Innovation indicates that an employee is not involved in this area. But, despite this, press service
personnel tend to use digital PR strategies. Nargiza Abdukunduzova, the press secretary of the Ministry,
is an expert with several years of experience. She, like all news service managers, is active in social
Number
Strategies
Organization
name
Organization
name
Organization
name
Ministry of Higher
Education, Science
and Innovation of
the Republic of
Uzbekistan
Minister of
Ecology,
Environmental
Protection and
Climate Change of
the Republic of
Uzbekistan
Xalq Banki
1.
Influence
marketing
-
+
+
2.
Partnership
(
collaboration )
+
+
+
3.
Target
+
+
+
4.
Media in online
format
+
+
+
5.
Event marketing
+
+
+
6.
Media
appearances
+
+
+
7.
Content
marketing
-
-
+
8.
Native
advertising
-
+
+
9.
search engine
optimization
(SEO)
+
+
+
10.
Video advertising
+
+
+
11.
SMM
+
+
+
12.
E-mail marketing
+
+
+
13.
Company website
+
+
+
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networks and strives to widely promote his work. However, it should be noted that she is not active in
stories and does not use the “Preproduction
-production-
postproduction” approach.
As can be seen in the table, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, and the Ministry
of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change do not use content marketing strategy at all.
This can also be explained by the lack of a PR specialist in the information service.
Native advertisements were registered on the social media pages of the Ministry of Ecology,
Environmental Protection and Climate C
hange, and “Xalq Bank”. However, this element is not visible in
the content of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation. The reason is that the press
service of the ministry focuses on informative content.
For several years now, the “Openness Index” has been evaluated and presented to the public by the
Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It includes evaluation of the effectiveness of
employees responsible for ensuring openness in state bodies and organizations, assessment of the
status of posting information on the official websites of state bodies and organizations, and the
provision of electronic state services, as well as publishing socially important information in
information resources established by law and establishing a system of accountability to the public. The
activities of state organizations are evaluated and given points according to a total of 8 criteria [18],
such as the evaluation of one aspect of this list stands out. The objects that we are doing a comparative
analysis, in particular, the Ministry of Science, Education and Innovation, take high places in the
“Openness Index” every year. “Xalq Bank”, which is effectively using digital marketing and digital PR
strategies and instruments, scored relatively low. (Details can be seen in Table 4)
From this, it can be concluded that the assessment of information services of state organizations is
based on criteria such as quick and impartial delivery of information, quick response to negative
comments and organization of open communication between the office and the public.
Correspondingly, the press secretaries in their workplace more emphasis on providing information in
a short period and announcing a rebuttal in a short time. Quick and impartial delivery of information
indeed takes a leading place in their activity. Achieving a high score in the “Openness Index” rating is
based on digitization, not the use of PR technologies or instruments. That is, the Ministry of Science,
Education, and Innovation presents every process online directly to the public. If any incident
(negative) occurs during the activity, the press secretary of the ministry will immediately respond. It is
necessary to emphasize that in the report of the press secretaries, the number of hours they respond to
the incident is given to the hour and minute. As with all events, even a press conference is organized if
a briefing or a topic is of urgent importance. In addition, the ministry is open to the media, and the
minister has never refused a reporter when he came for an interview.
It is necessary to touch on one more aspect. That is when evaluating the activity of the information
service, more emphasis is placed on how many presentations were made in electronic or traditional
mass media, how many were video content, how many were text, and how many events were rejected
first. True, the numbers speak for themselves in the report. But it is not appropriate to evaluate the
activity of the press service only by numbers, in my opinion. Details c
an be seen in Table 5. “Look at
Table 5”
EFFICIENCY OF WORK ACTIVITIES OF THE HEAD OF THE INFORMATION SERVICE
EFFICIENCY OF WORK ACTIVITIES OF THE HEAD OF THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Scope of information
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5.
publication on radio/television, newspaper, social media, messengers and website
10
publication only on social networks, messengers and on the website
8
only radio/TV and newspapers
6
publication on radio, TV, newspaper, social networks, messengers or on the website
4
when information is not published
0
Help in solving problems in the field
6.
Covering as the primary source
10
Responding to published critical material
5
Is not a primary source and does not respond to published critical material
0
Prompt response to critical material
7.
Within 5 hours from the time of publication of critical material
10
Within 12 hours from the time of publication of critical material
8
Within 24 hours from the time of publication of critical material
4
After 24 hours from the time of publication of critical material
0
The speed of publishing information about events on the official website, messengers, and social networks
8.
within 1 hour after the end of the event
10
within 5 hour after the end of the event
8
within 12 hours after the end of the event
4
12 hours after the end of the event
0
An official statement from the head or the head of the information service regarding a specific information reality
9.
In video format
10
in text form
5
if the statement is not given
0
Publication of materials in foreign mass media
10.
when materials about the activities of the organization are published in foreign media
10
if materials about the organization's activities are not published in foreign mass media
0
Number of criteria approached
10
Total score(D1+D2+D3+D4+D5+D6+D7+D8+D9+D10)
100
[
4]
Table 5
Of course, the quality of the materials published by the information service should be important, not
the quantity. In this case, there should be a weight of materials aimed at increasing the organizational
authority of the press service and forming a positive opinion in the minds of the population. As you can
see in the table, in the list of evaluation criteria, there is not a single item regarding branding, or
maintaining the reputation of the organization.
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DISCUSSION
Digital PR is necessary for every organization, be it government or non-government, like water and air.
Digital PR strengthens the relations between the state organization and mass media, the organization
and the public, quickly and efficiently increase the authority of the office, and helps to promote it as a
brand. If these goals were achieved slowly through classical PR, today they can be achieved quickly,
easily, and effectively through digital technologies, tools, and marketing strategies. In addition, there is
an opportunity to form any opinion about each state organization.
Although the main task of information services is to provide information, information services have
been performing the promotion of the brand of the state organization and the dissemination of changes
in its activities to the general public. The analysis showed that in information services, rather than
promoting the organization at the brand level, it is more important to prevent its name from being
defamed. Rather than building a brand strategy and using digital PR, it's important to respond to
negatives quickly. What matters is the number of articles and shows about what is done instead of
creating targeted content that increases the organization's reputation. The reason for this is simple: this
is exactly what is required in the performance measurement of press secretaries. There are no
measurement criteria for brand strategy and its promotion.
However, providing information is not enough for today's audience. There are many state organizations
in the country today. And the flow of information is even bigger and more intense. Information such as
“it took place, it was held, it was organized” did not attract the attention of the audience. In today's era,
when concepts such as personal brand, corporate brand, and country image are actualized, press
secretaries should also have the task of raising the authority of their organization. They should reshape
or supplement their activities not in terms of “not reducing the authority of the organization”, but in
terms of “increasing the authority”.
In addition, it is necessary to emphasize that criteria such as branding strategy, brand management, and
working with the target audience should be added to the list of criteria for measuring the effectiveness
of press secretaries by the Agency of Information and Mass Communication.
It should be said that a one-
time special PR team is mobilized for the “InnoWeek” week, which is
organized annually by the Innovative Development Agency under the Ministry of Higher Education,
Science and Innovation. Special emphasis is placed on PR instruments. In particular, the invitation of
well-known experts from foreign countries creates the basis for the name of the organization to be
known and mentioned in the international arena.
When it comes to the corporate identity of a brand, many believe that it is enough to create an
organization's slogan and logo. But this is not enough. The selected color, the unique approach in the
advertisements, the music used, and even the fonts must provide information about this brand. For
example, big brands such as Ucell and Beeline, although their names are not used, their colors can be
recognized from them. However, it is difficult to find serious actions on the brand identity in the
information services of state o
rganizations. Slogans such as “Xalq Bank” and “Since 1875” are often
repeated in the activities of the “Xalq Bank”, and the green colour is emphasized in every presentation
about the brand. One of the attempts in this regard is that the head of the bank's information service
runs his daily stories on his social network page in the same font and on the same green background.
A press release is a powerful PR instrument in global practice. But in the national experience, it is just a
two-page paper about the event. When going to the events of the state bodies, the press release written
in the template is held by the information service staff. For a larger event, a pen or notepad will be
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added. If the prestige of the organization and the event is higher, the guests will be treated with small
gifts, and the coffee break will not be overlooked.
Unfortunately, in most events, there is a lot of discussion about the notepad, pen or some expensive gift
and coffee break to be given to the journalists, but there is no deep consideration about the content and
usefulness of the press release. On the other hand, if a press release is copied outright or copied directly
behind the frame, the press service officials will not even think about claiming copyright, or at least
objecting. They are happy that an article about the organization has been published and the video has
been broadcast. In our opinion, the head of the information service of the organization has the right to
compromise with journalists and make demands that the press release be used to obtain information
and not copied verbatim. But before that, this document must be prepared as required and registered
with the seal of the organization.
This instrument is somewhat outdated in world practice. In the digital age, it has been replaced by the
online press release. In the national media, the classic press release, that is, the paper version, has not
yet lost its relevance.
Another popular and powerful instrument is sponsorship. They make good use of it in advertising on
television. For example, a major brand may sponsor a show or series without directly promoting its
name or product. Every time this program or series is aired, it is constantly mentioned that it was
produced under the auspices of this brand during a certain period. Since this practice requires a lot of
money, it is used more by organizations and companies with large turnover. There were no cases of
using this instrument through TV in the activities of state organization bodies.
In recent years, in the ac
tivities of the “Xalq Bank” press service, it is possible to witness that this
instrument is widely used in other directions than on TV. In particular, the organization has established
cooperation relations with the “Asaxiy Books” project. It is planned to
publish 20 books within the
framework of this agreement. That is, the “Xalq Bank” is sponsoring the costs of 20 books from
translation to publication. May Musk's book “A Woman Makes Plan: advice for a Lifetime of Adventure”
published based on this agreeme
nt has the following line written at the beginning: “Dear reader! As a
people's bank, we have been serving the people for almost a century to ease the problems of our
customers and contribute to the development of our country. Progress will not be complete without
science, and the ancient source of science is books... We are happy to contribute as much as possible to
increasing the interest of our people, especially young people, to their familiarity with books.”(12,
p.216) Here, special emphasis is placed
on the fact that “Xalq Bank” is a people
-oriented organization,
that it is not indifferent to the level, spirituality, and culture of the society, and that it even cares.
Of all the instruments under consideration, it is a fact that the social network is getting stronger year
by year. It is necessary to admit that the official sites of many government organizations are not up to
the standard. Most of them open an official channel for reporting in the Telegram messenger and limit
themselves to posting boring content about where the head/chief went, who he met, and what he did.
It increases the number of subscribers in various illegal ways or does not bother at all to collect a quality
audience. But it is not correct to say this about the content of the Ministry of Justice on the Telegram
messenger. The reason is that the information service of this organization not only provides
information about the events but also provides the audience with quality and necessary content.
Information on the field of law is prepared simply and understandably in the form of text + audio +
video + infographics, that is, multimedia content. Convergent content prepared by their Media Center
can often be found on other social networks.
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Mentioning social networks, most press officers understand the Telegram messenger. But this is wrong.
Social networks include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and most of the population is adapting to
receive information through these networks. So, a large part of the audience is on social networks. This
means that the online space should be focused on by the PR specialist who aims to promote the
organization's brand. It became clear from the analysis that the information services of most state
organizations do not go beyond posting on social network pages. Communicativeness and interactivity
were not observed in them. A brand is built on trust and values. And in the online space where the flow
of information is strong, communication creates trust. Therefore, activity in social networks should be
based on interactivity and dialogue. Today's audience doesn't like one-way communication. He wants
to participate in the processes together, to interact, if necessary, to become the creator of this content,
and he tries to do this. This fact should not be ignored, from our point of view.
We continue the analysis with a comparative study of the Facebook pages of two organizations. 4500
subscribers on the Facebook page followed the Innovative Development Agency (as of 04/19/2024)
Details can be seen in Figure 2. “Look at Figure 2”.
Facebook page of the Agency of Innovative Development under the Ministry of higher education, science and
innovation
Figure 2.
The page is constantly updated with two or three posts every day. Important news and details of events
in the organization's activities will be posted there. The content consists mainly of photo + text, video +
text materials. Posts are mainly posted in news and reporting genres.
The structure of the Facebook page of the Ministry of Justice is the same. Although they differ in the
number of subscribers (9500 thousand subscribers as of 04/19/2024), the placement of posts, tactics,
and strategies, and direction are the same. The approach is similar. “Look at Figure 3”.
Facebook page of the Ministry of Justice
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Figure 3
Both organizations' pages showed the same flaw. This is the lack of communication with the audience.
In the previous period, information exchange was one-way, in the form of a monologue. Today's
generation prefers interactivity. You need an approach that increases the activity of subscribers, posts
written on this basis, contests, and content that sharpens the mind and shares knowledge with them. If
you pay attention to the text of the posts, you can see that they lack emotion and do not ask the opinion
of the audience. Moreover, there is no individuality in the approach. That is the preparation of the same
content for the organization's website, social networks, and messenger. However, the content intended
for Facebook does not correspond to the algorithm and standards of Instagram. In both of these
analyzed pages, it was clear that posts are not processed according to the platform.
Of course, instruments such as press release, sponsorship, organizing events are traditional PR tools.
They have their place. But due to the development of the Internet, some of them were transformed, and
some new instruments appeared.
Some researchers include the following in modern (in some places innovative, in some places digital)
instruments:
–
a business account on social networks;
–
the brand's official channel on Messenger;
–
posts;
–
company website;
–
webinars and online conferences;
–
electronic press release [17].
So, it can be seen that there was a transformation of offline events, seminar training, and meetings into
webinars online conferences, and press releases into online press releases. During the COVID-19
Pandemic in the conditions of Uzbekistan, both of these instruments have been actively developed.
Many government organizations have started holding their events through the ZOOM platform.
Although more traditional public relations instruments are now widely used, transformed instruments
are still in use.
One of the more widespread instruments is the news hook. This tool, which is translated as news
opportunity or news turn, differs from other instruments in that it is cheap and gives quick results.
News hook - focusing the attention of the public and the media on a process related to a person or thing,
thereby achieving free advertising circulation about the brand. This tool is a part of event marketing.
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That is, although it suddenly seems as if a “mistake” in the eyes of the viewer, it is not known that it is
the result of strategic actions.
News hooks can be divided into direct or indirect types. Direct is an event that happens unexpectedly
and makes the brand known. But even in this type, the target audience does not always come, or the
result may be skewed in a negative direction, simply not profitable. For example, when the Twitter page
of former American President Donald Trump gained popularity by itself, without any PR company or
PR purpose, information events related to this person had a great role.
Indirect information is the result of well-thought-out steps taken by PR campaigns. From the outside, it
is difficult to distinguish whether information sources are indirect or direct. This information can decide
the fate of government officials in their career steps.
Let's take a comparative look at this instrument on the example of the activities of two former ministers
of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation. For this, the website www.kun.uz which is
considered one of the largest sites in the country, was visited and articles under the hashtags of Ibrahim
Abdurahma
nov and Abduqodir Tashkulov were reviewed. “Look at figures 4, 5”.
Collection of content about Ibrahim Abdurahmanov
Figure 4.
The analysis showed that the articles about I. Abdurakhmanov are more informative, and informative
materials are rare. A. Tas
hkulov has relatively more. Headlines and sentences such as “My classmate
with better knowledge than me is guarding”, “Abduqadir Tashkulov: “The task now is to achieve quality
in education”, “He claimed that the credit
-module system can eliminate corruptio
n in education” remind
the elements of news hook aimed at forming the image of the minister Figure 5.
Collection of content about Abduqadir Tashkulov
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Figure 5
Sherzodkhon Qudratkhoja, rector of the University of Journalism and Mass Communications of
Uzbekistan, can be cited as an example of an effective information push. Information often circulates to
that person. Sometimes he gets out of context, sometimes he comes to the center of public attention by
speaking in his stories. From this, the number of his followers and popularity on social networks will
increase, not decrease. So, it is reasonable to say that the news is working in his favor. An Uzbekization
of his surname and his quarrel about the need to speak Uzbek with a Russian woman made him known
to the general public. At the beginning of 2024, as the chairman of the National Media Association of
Uzbekistan, his comments on the state language and Uzbekistan-Russia relations in an interview with
the Alter Ego project resonated not only in Uzbekistan but also in neighbouring countries and Russia.
In conclusion, it should be said that in this article, branding, PR strategy, and public relations
instruments, which are part of it, were analysed on the example of the activities of state organizations,
divided into classic and digital or modern types. In the conditions of Uzbekistan, it became known that
some classic PR instruments are developing in a transformed form due to digital technology and the
Internet. At the same time, it is worth noting that news hook is not used effectively in the information
services of state organizations, on the contrary, events and press tours have become popular.
In the comparative analysis of the Facebook page of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and
Innovation and the Ministry of Justice (Details can be seen in figures 4, 5), it was found that the social
network tool of the ministries is not effectively used, and their activities lack interactivity and
communication. Admittedly, the sponsorship tool is slowly developing, and the press release needs
improvement. This means that there is a need for PR specialists and community managers in the
information service of state bodies.
There are many state organizations in the country. And the flow of information is even bigger and more
intense. The audience does not need information like “it took place, it was held, it was organized”. In
today's era, when concepts such as personal brand, corporate brand, and country image are actualized,
press secretaries should also have the task of raising the authority of their organization. It is expedient
for them to reshape or supplement their activities not in terms of “reducing the authority of the
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organization”, but in terms of “increasing the authority”. These criteria should also be included in the
measurement of their performance.
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