Public of Public Relations

PUBLIC OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

It's very very important to know who is your target public. So, when planning a P R Campaign, we must ask first the following questions;

a. who are the public to be targeted through the communication
b. what objectives are to be achieved through dissemination of the communication 

Accordingly, communication (message) is  created and an effective media strategy (Plan) is worked out to reach the target public so as to achieve communication objectives. Therefore, deciding right public for your PR message is of utmost importance for the success of your P R campaign.  

Who all are the Public for a PR campaign of an organisation ?

a. Public are groups of people, internally and externally, with whom an organisation communicates.

b. Public are also group of people bound together by common ideas, aims, objectives, and aspirations. They may be people with like or unlike views but as members of group they are composed of similar
interests. 

Term GROUP is meaningful and peculiar to Public Relations. Because every public relations activity is aimed at carefully selected group of people who are sub-divisions of general public. 

It is important to note that Public of one organisation may differ from those of another therefore, there is a need to define the Public. 

And the need is;

a. To determine who are relevant to your PR Program.

b. To establish priorities in PR budget.

c. To select media & communication techniques.

d. To prepare message in forms acceptable to different publics.

Consequences of not identifying Public:

a. Money and efforts will be wasted in effort to reach too many publics.

b. Same message goes to different publics irrespective of suitability and capability of the audience.

c. PR objectives would not be achieved.

d. PR plan would be accused by the organisation for lack of results.


e. Communication dysfunction

Types of Public Relations Publics.....
Broad Based Groups of Public: Opinion Formers, Pressure Groups, Media, and Local community.

Overseas Public: Overseas Customers, Foreign Governments, International Banks, International Agencies, Business Associates and Partners.

Financial Public: Financial Media, Shareholders, Investors, Banks and Financial Institutions, Financial agencies.

Internal Public: Existing Employees, Top Management, Board of Directors, Employee Union(s), Ex. Employees, Pensioners and Potential Employees.

Commercial Public: Distributors, Suppliers, Service Providers, Wholesalers, Retailers, Existing Customers, Potential Customers, and Trade Competitors.

Government Public: M Ps, M L As, Members of Special Committees, Govt. Officials at the Centre, and State Govt. and Local Bodies.

James E. Grunig, a Public Relations Theorist and Professor Emeritus for the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland, USA defines PUBLIC for an organisation from the following two angles;

a. Firstly, Public can be defined by considering very carefully exactly who will be affected by the policies and activities of that organisation.

b.Secondly,  By monitoring the environment it is possible to identify the groups or organisations whose opinions and behaviour will significantly affect activities of the organisation.

Therefore, if an organisation is able to rightly identify its PUBLIC, it can greatly help the organisation to plan and execute its PR campaign wisely and effectively.

Thank you for reading :)
                                                                             
                                                                                 
                                                                             +++++++

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