PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MEDIA

Friends, Thank you for reading my earlier blogs and sharing your views. I really feel encouraged after reading your feedback in the comments column. Friends, presenting my 42nd blog titled “PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MEDIA” to you.

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MEDIA

Mr. Thomas Friedman, a foreign affairs columnist, New York Times once said….. “This is the age of globalization and the countries that succeed best at globalization are those that are best at glocalization i.e. taking the best global innovations, styles and practices and moulding them with their own culture”.

Friends, Public Relations, as a practice in INDIA have come a long way into establishing its needs and indispensable role with country’s corporate world. Compared to the stimulating application of Public Relations in the global market, we still have miles to go……

Where the Corporate India is breaking all the barriers to adopt the most innovative strategies and processes to chart out the most viable and effective communication plans, the role of public relations is still largely a media relations game that can potentially influence the key constituencies either by creating a perception, or informing / educating through NEWS. Media is one indispensable channel / mode towards achieving one or more public relation objectives of a business.

When public relations agency goes for a pitch, generally the first question asked is….Can you get a front-page story in a business newspaper or cover story in a business magazine or plant stories against the competition? If the P R agency says NO then the chances of its losing the business are very high. The competition is so intense that some agencies succumb to such unreasonable demands as promising editorial space in publications by the column centimetres.

Has the PR industry been able to deliver? Is it growing fast? Is it still doing the same old stuff i.e. wining and dining journalists, planting and spiking stories? Is it a mere tool for corporate narcissism? The truth lies somewhere in between.

So what is Public Relations?

For me, the best definition of public relations comes from author Mr. Michael Levine in his book “Selling Goodness”….. “When the circus comes to the town and you paint a sign about it that’s ADVERTISING. Put the sign on the back of an elephant and march him through Beverly Hills in Los Angeles that’s PROMOTION. If the elephant walks through flower bed of Los Angeles Mayor’s residence, that’s PUBLICITY. And, if you can get the Mayor to laugh or comment about it, that’s PUBLIC RELATIONS.

As per Mr. Frank Jefkins, a renowned PR expert – “Public Relations consists of all forms of planned communication, outwards and inwards, between an organisation and its target publics for the purpose of achieving specific objectives concerning mutual understanding”. So, public relations effectively reach out to investors through Investors Relations and Financial Communications, Employees through Internal Communication, Government and Regulatory Bodies through Corporate affairs and Lobbying. Public Relations also include Event Management, Marketing Consultancy, and Brand Management. But it is largely perceived as Media Management because it’s one of the important components of public relations. 

The job of Public Relations is to facilitate a journalist to get the correct information in the right perspective. Media management is the key attribute of public relations worldwide. It is a single vehicle that has the mass reach. Media is the quintessence of public relations. It is the last mile connectivity. After a whole lot of research and strategy it has to end with media. All the strategy and plans of the organisation finally must be translated into stories that appear in the media. Only then would the stakeholders know what the organisation is up to.

Media is very important in the whole value chain. Media is part and parcel of the public relations industry as it helps to effectively mould the public opinion and perception. But the real trouble begins when publicity-hungry organisations turn media shy at the first sign of trouble. There could be several reasons and at that time organisations tend to calm up and ask their PR heads to keep the media at bay or kill the negative stories. This is where they antagonize the media. When the going was good, the journalists were CEO’s good friends but the moment the boat rocks, the journalist(s) becomes persona non grata.

Many a times the media is blamed for not being accountable and responsible, and it become a fashion to say “It is a trial by the media”, but we must understand that the media themselves face tough competition within the fraternity. With electronic media, newspapers, news magazines and the internet fighting for an audience’s mind space and a retailer’s shelf space, media are forced to chase issues that will appeal to its viewers and readers.

Organisations for their part use pressure tactics also to prevent a story from appearing. But forced public relations do not work at all and failures cannot be camouflaged. It is here that an organisation’s investment in reputation helps. If an organisation has been historically known for its transparency and best trade practices and where promises are matched with performance then it can be sure that media will not go on overdrive. First deserve then desire is the name of the game. Media management or relations is an ongoing cultivation process……..

Friends, during the years 1996 – 2007 When I was handling the public relations portfolio of erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), most of my business journalist friends, from print and electronic media, while doing a story on banking use to contact me for being a reliable source for information and banking related stories and that was one of the reasons our bank and its C&MD’s and ED’s were always had a mention in news related to banking industry. And even after quitting the bank in April’2008, knowing my expertise, many of my good friends from media use to call me for banking related news.

Friends, being public relations professional(s) you or your organisation’s strategy for media coverage should go beyond trying for just one big story. You must perform in a such a manner that the related media should know that you are THE PERSON or the organisation to contact whenever they are doing a story on a subject that relates to your organisation’s work, and that you are a reliable source for information and stories. In short, you or your organisation should be quoted or referenced in a variety of stories, not just one.

Therefore, don’t think that every media release is going to result in media coverage – it’s not. But sustaining regular press contacts will build recognition of your organisation among journalists, and the result will be ongoing payoffs down the road. As coverage for your organisation is generated, you won’t just be reaching new audiences you will also be reaching your existing clients, reminding them of what you or your organisation is doing and what they have chosen to be a part of.

Friends, please do share your comments.

Thank you for reading the blog.