Public Relations - The Silent Communication Arm
Building, managing, sustaining relationships is the crux of all marketing activity, more specifically so in respect of Public Relations (PR) - the silent arm of strong communications.
Given the door-mat treatment till recently, PR has finally come into its own in the last 5-7 years. Today PR has greater accountability than ever before. The sleeping giant has woken, and with full energy and vigour to do its deeds, with the concerned Publics.
Corporates are realizing the force of this silent arm, of the many communication tools available at their disposal. As rightly said, ‘a picture 
is worth a thousand words'. A picture that is different, even whacky as was the case with Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic promoting CEO as celebrity through PR, putting competition on the edge. Closer home Infosys, has relied heavily on PR. Quietly boasting of 95% client retention, it has obtained several international awards and is ranked 25th for the worlds best technology based companies in 2009 by Business Week. It also ranked 14th among the most respected companies in the world by Reputation Institute's Global Pulse 2008. Credibility speaks for itself... gently!
Research shows that while TV, radio & posters help in attracting the attention of prospective buyers, newspapers help in building desire for the product. PR on the other hand helps build preferences and conviction. No wonder then that, Microsoft spent $220 million in 1995 to hype its new operating system, Windows 95! The Wall Street journal estimated that there were 3000 headlines, 6582 stories and 3 million words in the press between 1st July to 24th August 1995.
PR is defined as the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between the Organisation and its publics. The Publics refers to groups of people whose support is critical to the successful working of an organization. They may be internal, like employees or external publics, like the government, suppliers, traders and consumers. Nurturing mutual understanding amongst various publics, assisting in their strong and healthy growth is the primary function of PR. Key tasks of a PRO include:
- Gentle persuasion, keeping the press in sync with the company through goodwill giving them appropriate time and space
- Saying your mind in a positive manner, competitiveness aside
- Laying a firm anchor with belief in sound corporate ethos are winning grounds for good PR
- One good word wins many a races!
PR is therefore not propaganda but 90% doing good and 10% talking about it. It is an extended arm of top management supporting each function of the organization. It's therefore, the ultimate responsibility of the CEO.
Key to nurturing all these corporate relationships is a clear understanding of the clients business. Simultaneously, an understanding of the communications industry is critical in laying a strong foundation for the long-term in making a career in communication. A mere course in PR for 6 months without an understanding of market-economics will be only temporarily advantageous. Courses for a duration of more than a year, which alongside provide intensive work exposure in the form of internships prove far more valuable and beneficial.
A career in PR starts with media monitoring, media relations, client business analysis moving towards strategic PR planning. As is rightly said ‘Clients look for solutions not routes. The right organizational structure can promote such thinking and delivery. Nurturing partners, internal and external, within structural confines is the real challenge.'
A good PR person therefore is both the Top Management spokesperson & representative. The managerial challenge is to analyse whether conscious efforts are being made to manage corporate reputation and relationships. The person communicates the policies, problems and performance of the organization to various publics. Providing feedback to the firm on socio-economic, political and technical trends and public opinions is also critical to their role.PR is ,what PR does, connecting corporates through appropriate systems management.
Source: Prof. Ramola Kumar (Dean, The Delhi School of Communication)
Date: 29th April, 2010
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