Public Relations - An Overview

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PR or public relations is nothing but the practice of protecting as well as enhancing the reputation of any particular organization/firm
that matter any individual. In today’s world of fierce competition, where every organization strives hard to work toward its brand imag
public relations has become the need of the hour. It is essential for every organization to communicate well with its public/target aud
The correct flow of information is essential. Here comes the importance of public relations.

What is Public Relations ?

The practice of maintaining a healthy relationship between organization and its
public/employees/stakeholders/investors/partners is called public relations. Public relation activities ensure the correct flow of
information between the organization and its public also called its target audience. Public relations goes a long way in maintaining th
brand image of an organization in the eyes of its audience, stake holders, investors and all others who are associated with it.

For schools, the target audience would be students and their parents/guardians, for retailers the target
audience would be customers and so on.

In the above examples, Public Relations ensures a smooth two way communication between the school
authorities and its target audiences (students and their parents).Retailers must address their customers well
for a positive word of mouth and a strong brand positioning. It is really important to create a positive image
of any particular brand in the minds of consumers for it do well. Public relations experts not only help in the
flow of information from the organization to its public but also from the public to the organization.(Two way
communication).The flow of information from the public to the organization is generally in the form of
reviews, feedback(positive/negative),appreciation and so on. Public relations strengthens the
relationship between the organization and its target audience, employees, stakeholders, investors
etc.

Public Relation Activities

Here are some ways of enhancing an organization’s brand image:

1. Addressing the media

2. Speaking at various press conferences, seminars.
3. Advertisements to correctly position the brand, Pamphlets, Brochures, magazines notices,
newsletters and so on.
4. Corporate Social responsibility(CSR Activities)
5. Introducing various loyalty schemes for customers like membership cards, premium clubs so as to
retain the customers.
6. Various events, shows and activities.

Spin
Public relation experts sometimes turn a bad situation into the organization’s favour.Such a situation is
called as spin. Spin refers to a situation where public relation experts tactfully utilize an unfavourable
situation for company’s benefits and publicity.

Negative PR
In cases of negative PR, public relation experts instead of focussing on enhancing their organization’s
image,concentrate on tarnishing the reputation of business rivals. Negative PR also called as dirty tricks
involves extensive research and information gathering.

Effective Public Relations

Public Relations is said to be effective under all the below circumstances:

 Awareness: To create a positive image of an organization, the message must reach the public.
Information must reach in its desired form for effective public relation.
  Acceptance: The audience must understand what the message intends to communicate. They
ought to agree with the message.
 Action: The audience ought to give feedback to the organization accordingly.
To conclude public relations is nothing but an effort to present one’s organization in the best light.

Communication and public relation

Public relations refers to the practice of enhancing an organization’s reputation in the eyes of public, stakeholders, employees, investors and all othe
associated with it. Public relations experts are specially hired by organizations who work hard towards maintaining brand image of organization.

Communication plays an essential role in effective public relations. Two way communication between both the parties is essential and informa
must flow in its desired form between the organization and public. The receiver must understand what the sender intends to communicate for an eff
public relation. The receivers (public, target audience, stakeholders, employees, investors) must clearly understand the sender’s message. (organiz
in this case).

The message/information needs to create an impact in the minds of customers for an effective brand positioning. Communication needs to
a strong influence on the target audience for them to remain loyal towards the organization.

In public relations, the receivers play a crucial role than the sender. The sender (organization) must ensure
that the receivers interpret the information correctly and also give necessary feedbacks and reviews. It is
really essential for the sender to understand its target audience. Public relations experts must do extensive
research and gather as much information as they can before planning any public relation activity. Public
relation activities would go unnoticed if receivers to not understand it well. Public relation activities must be
designed keeping in mind the benefits of the target audience for a better brand positioning.

Example

In cases of hospitals, public relation activities would ensure a smooth flow of information between the
hospital authorities or management and the patients and their immediate family members or relatives. Public
relations experts from a hospital in a rural area must plan and design their activities in the local language for
receivers to interpret and respond well. If the hospital authorities interact in a language not understood by
the patients, no real communication takes place and eventually the effect of public relation activities get
nullified.

Further the needs of the target audience must be understood well. Remember public relation activities are
designed to position an organization in the best light. This happens only when the target audiences are fully
satisfied with its services/products. Understand what your target audiences expect from you to design public
relations activities for the maximum and desired impact. Make sure your target audiences understand what
you intend to communicate.

Let us understand the role of communication in public relations through a simple example.

Peter planned for a vacation with his family to an unexplored destination. He made sure he had map of the
particular place which would help him with the directions and roads of the place.

What is the map doing in the above example ?

It is just guiding Peter about this new place. In other words, the map is communicating in an effective
manner so that Peter does not get lost.

What if Peter does not understand the map ?

Communication is incomplete

What if Peter understands the map ?

This is a case of two way communication where Peter is able to interpret what the map intends to
communicate. A simple example of two way communication.

Public relation experts must ensure:

  Message reaches the receiver (public) in its correct form.
 Audiences agree to the message
 They respond accordingly and give necessary feedbacks.
Public relation skills
Public Relations experts ought to possess the following skills for a highly successful and rewarding career.

1. Excellent Writing Skills

A Public Relations expert needs to write well. He ought to be creative and should master the art of putting thoughts into
meaningful words. Your words need to create the desired impact and influence the customers. Make sure whatever you wr
relevant and puts your organization in the best light.

2. Creative
A public relations expert needs to be extremely creative and should be able to think out of the box. He/She should be able
come out with innovative ideas to promote the organization and its products among the target audience. In today’s world of
fierce competition, it is really essential for marketers and public relations experts to experiment with new ideas /concepts a
develop something which would benefit the end-users.

3. Good Communication Skills

Public Relations experts must master the art of effective communication skills. It is really essential
to speak well. Don’t just speak for the sake of it. Public relations experts must ensure the recipients
have understood what they intend to communicate. Two way communication is the essence of
effective public relations. Whatever you communicate ought to make sense and well understood by
target customers.

4. Focussed
Stay focussed and take care of even the minutest details. Do not ignore even the slightest doubt.
Even a single detail left unattended can become a major cause of concern in the future.
Crosscheck every single detail and observation before jumping to the final conclusion.

5. Study a lot
Public relations experts ought to study a lot and do extensive research before designing public
relations activities.

6. Proactive
A public relation professional ought to be proactive and on his toes always. He needs to have a
strong grasping power with an eagerness to learn. Lazy individuals generally do not make good
public relations professionals.

7. Competitors research
Keep your eyes and ears open. Find out what your competitors are upto.It is really important to
keep a close watch on competitor’s activities and initiatives. You may draw inspiration from them
but following them blindly would do no benefit and in turn tarnish your organization’s image.

8. Be Friendly
A Public relations expert needs to have strong networking skills. As a Public relations
representative one needs to have a strong association with people from media industry(TV, Radio,
Print - Newspapers/Magazines), employees, investors, shareholders, partners etc. Sometimes it
really becomes essential to flash your smile and get your work done. Never ever spoil your
relationship with anyone. Don’t fight with anyone. If you do not like someone, the best way is to
ignore. You never know when you might need the other person.

9. Loyal towards your Job

Be loyal towards your job. Remember a public relations job is not only a nine to six job. You need
to stay back sometimes even at odd hours and you can’t just complain. At times you need to meet
lots of people in a single day but one can’t crib. One needs to be a little flexible. Make that little
extra effort to satisfy your clients.
 10. Pleasing Personality
Public Relations Professionals need to have a pleasing personality. Make sure you dress smartly.
Public relations experts need to be extroverts.

11. Tech savvy

Be a little techsavvy.Depend on social networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut, Twitter to spread
awareness and promote your organization.

Types of PR tools
Organizations hire public relations experts to position themselves strongly in the minds of target audiences, investors, stakeholders,
employees and all others associated with it. Public relations activities are designed specially to create a strong brand image. Public
relations experts should ensure their target audiences agree to what they intend to sell and thus in a way enhance as well as mainta
reputation of their organization through ethical means.

There are various ways public relations activities take place:

Media Relations
Public relations experts create awareness and market their organization and its products/services to various media sources which in
TV, Radio, internet, newspapers, magazines and so on. Public relations experts develop and design various interesting and creative
stories about their organization and products and pitch it to various media people. Organizations bank on their relations with media
channels to enhance the reputation of their brand.

Following are the tools used in media relations:

 Press Kits
Press kits include written material about the organization and its top people.

 Audio Releases
Audio releases or video releases are prerecorded messages distributed to various media
channels.

 Matte Releases
Small local newspapers accept articles written by organizations when they do not have
sufficient articles or stories to publish. Such releases are called as matte releases.

 Website Press Room

Public relations experts promote their organization and its products/services through online
press rooms.

 Media Tour
Public relations experts publicize their organization and its products through media tour where
key people of the organization travel to important places and locations and promote their
products through various interviews to media people. They interact and share the benefits and
USPs of their products/services with people from various news channels, radio channels and
even print media. Organizations also hire celebrities or other people popular among the
masses to promote and publicize their organization.

 Newsletters
Newsletters are nothing but publications which are distributed on a regular basis (monthly,
quarterly) among target audiences. Public relations experts collect complete information
(name, address, agegroup) of their target customers and distribute newsletters to create
awareness about their products. Newsletters should include information about the
organization, interview from key people, product information, testimonials from clients and so
on.

 Events/Functions
 Public relations experts organize special events, gatherings, parties, to target their customers
and promote their organization and its products among them. People from media are also
invited for coverage.

 Speaking Engagements
One of indirect ways of publicizing an organization and its products is through interacting with
potential customers and target audience. Company officials address the target audience and
do not only discuss about their products and services. They generally prefer any topic which
would interest the target audiences.

 Employee interactions on a regular basis

It is really essential for employers to stay in constant touch with employees and keep them
abreast with the latest developments and happenings within the organization. Management or
public relations experts should circulate latest events, new product launches among
employees through emails, circulars, notices or simply communicating with them.

 Charity/Corporate social responsibility

Public relations experts engage in various social and charitable activities to
publicize their organization and its products. Organizations distribute
products among target audiences to create a goodwill of their organization.

Models of public relations were proposed by James E. Grunig, a noted public relations theorist who has to his credit several book
articles, chapters and awards in the field of public relations.

According to James E.Grunig, there are four models of public Relations:

 Press Agentry/Publicity
Press Agentry Publicity model is also called P.T Barnum model. Press Agentry Publicity model follows one way
communication where the flow of information is only from the sender to the receiver. The sender is not much concerned
about the second party’s feedback, reviews and so on.

In Press Agentry publicity model, public relations experts enhance the reputation of the organization among the target
audiences, stakeholders, employees, partners, investors and all others associated with it through manipulation. Accordin
to this model, organizations hire public relations experts who create a positive image of their brand in the minds of target
audiences through arguments and reasoning. They influence their potential customers by simply imposing their ideas,
thoughts, creative stories of their brand, USPs of the products and so on. Flow of information takes place only from the
public relations experts to the target audiences. (One way communication)

 Public Information Model

As the names suggests public information model, emphasizes on maintaining and enhancing
the image of an organization simply by circulating relevant and meaningful information among
the target audience/public. Public relations experts depend on press release, news release,
video release or any other recorded communication often directed at the media to circulate
information about their brand among the public. Newsletters, brochures, magazines with
information about the organization, its key people, products, benefits of the products,
testimonials, success stories are distributed at regular intervals among target audiences for
brand positioning. In such a model, public relations experts need to be creative and ought to
have a flair for writing. They should be really good at putting their thoughts into meaningful
words which influence the customers and end-users. Public information model also revolves
around one way communication where information primarily flows from sender(organization
and public relations experts) to the receiver(target audience, employees, stake holders,
employees, investors and so on).

 Two Way Asymmetrical Model

Two way asymmetrical model of public relations revolves around two way communication
between both the parties but the communication is somewhat not balanced. In this type of
model, public relations experts position their organization and brand on the whole in the minds
of their target audiences through manipulation and force the public to behave the same way
 they would want them to do. In two way asymmetrical model of public relations, organizations
do not utilize much of their manpower and resources to find out the reaction of the
stakeholders, investors or for that matter public.

 Two way Symmetrical Model

Two way symmetrical model of public relations is an ideal way of enhancing an organization’s
reputation among the target audience. According to two way symmetrical model, public
relations experts depend on two way communication to position their brand among end-users.
Free flow of information takes place between the organization and its stake holders,
employees, investors and vice-a-versa. Conflicts and misunderstandings are resolved through
mutual discussions and communication. A two way communication takes place between both
the parties and information flows in its desired form. The feedback from stakeholders and
target audiences are also taken into consideration.

Advertisements and Public Relations

dvertising and public relations are two different industries altogether.

Let us carefully examine the difference between advertisements and public relations:

Organizations need to pay for every single advertisement aired on television/radio. Organizations need to buy space/slots in various
newspapers, TV Channels, radio channels to advertise about their organization/product/service. Public relations experts strive hard
gain publicity for their organization without spending much. Public relations experts organize various events, functions, shows, give
interviews to media people in order to create awareness about their organization and its products and services among stakeholders,
investors, partners, and target audience. Organizations even hire celebrities or famous personalities who are popular among the cro
enhance their reputation.

Organizations have to pay for every advertisement and thus have a control over its content. The
Creative team of every organization has a full control of what goes into the advertisement. This however
does not happen in case of public relations. As a public relations expert, you might give an impressive
interview highlighting the USPs of your organization’s products and services, but it entirely depends on
media people whether they telecast the complete interview or not. They have no obligation towards you and
your organization.

Advertisements generally have a longer shelf life as compared to press release. A magazine can’t publish
your interview or article daily or three or four times in a row whereas consumers can view advertisements
several times in a day. They can recall a product immediately when they see the advertisement. People can
relate more with the advertisements as compared to newsletters, press releases, video releases and so on.
Advertisements make a product as well as organization popular among the end-users.

Public relations experts need to be extremely creative and always on their toes. They must master the art of
putting thoughts into meaningful words which create desired impact in the minds of potential customers.
Public relations experts are the face of an organization and it is really essential for them to be prepared to
face several questions from the media, stakeholders and end-users with a smile. Remember as a Public
relations expert you need to meet several people in a single day and you just can’t complain. The exposure
is more in case of public relations than in advertising.

Public relations is more cost effective as compared to advertisements. Organizations need to shell out
handsome money for a simple advertisement on billboard or for an advertisement aired during prime slots.
You have to pay irrespective of whether your advertisement gets noticed or not. Public relations methods
are more cost effective as compared to advertising. Public relations activities, if planned carefully go a long
way in creating a buzz among potential customers. Plan out an event where you have the chance of
addressing a large gathering. This way a public relations expert gets a better opportunity to directly interact
with the potential customers and promote his products/services. You reach to a wider audience in much
lesser costs in public relations as compared to a television or radio advertisement. Smaller organizations
thus largely depend on public relations activities for maintaining and enhancing the reputation.