P R Defined

Friends, Thank you very much for taking out time from your very busy schedule to read my blog(s). I really feel encouraged after reading your feedback in the comments column. Friends, presenting 63rd blog titled “P R Defined”.

In a March’ 2012 discussion of the “Public Relations Defined” initiative with New York Times writer Stuart Elliott, Gerard Francis Corbett APR, then Chair & Chief Executive Officer of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), said, “Like beauty, the definition of ‘Public Relations’ is in the eye of the beholder.” Strangely, the opening line of my every lecture on public relations is also…”Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” and that’s how PR is defined by me.

In the Year 1896, before Public Relations became an established industry, Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier who was Canada's first francophone i.e. French speaking  Prime Minister and well-known for his policies of conciliation, expanding confederation, and compromise between French and English Canada and whose vision for Canada was a land of individual liberty and decentralized federalism, showcased the importance of PR and communications with an immigration campaign that has been heralded as one of the greatest and most successful Public Relations efforts in Canadian history.

When Wilfrid Laurier was elected, he faced a difficult predicament. He was the Prime Minister of a Country which had trouble attracting immigrants due to its reputation of being cold and barren. Desperate to change this perception, Laurier created a campaign which was headed by Minister of the Interior Clifford Sifton. Sifton flooded Europe and the US with thousands of pamphlets and placed advertisements in American newspapers that described the benefits of Canada. He also gave US editors and British MPs free trips to Canada in attempt to win them over. The campaign was a massive success, and played a significant role in the 2 million new immigrants who entered Canada from 1896 to 1911. Moreover, it showed the effectiveness that public relations could have on changing public perception.

No one could have had ever imagined that PR will become one of the most fluid industries in the world in the years to come. In just over a century the PR industry has grown from a Canadian minister handing out pamphlets to a two digit billion dollars industry globally that can create, build and manage to maintain right perception and positive reputation of any organisation. PR has changed dramatically through the ages and will continue to do so. Our PR practitioners have coped well with this change, especially considering the speed at which it has affected the industry in the last thirty years i.e. onwards 1990. Our PR industry is also receiving added attention for creating innovative and strategic communications, building significant brands with crisis and improving customer’s communication. Indian PR industry is expected to reach Rs 2,100 crore by fiscal year 2020-21 (subject to after effect of COVID19)  as more and more organizations have recognized importance and need of PR, the call for maintaining consistent and on-going communications with their target audiences has become need of the hour.

PR has two core elements - communication and management. According to Hunt and Grunig (1994), PR is the formal way in which organizations communicate with their publics. In the past, PR activity took place only when an organization faced a crisis of confidence in its publics (Jefkins, 1988). But today, PR is all about management of perception and reputation of an individual or an organisation through planned and focused strategic communication with their target audiences by using effective means of communication.

The P R professionals are expert storytellers and are in the business of persuasion. They use all the requisite tools of PR to convince the target audience, internally and externally, about an idea, or a product or service, to seek support or gain acceptance. They create strong narratives to advance agendas of their clients.  A good PR professional will perform SWOT analysis of the organization, find the strong and positive points for the messages and translate those messages into positive stories.  When the points are weak or in negative, they can formulate the best response and mitigate the damage.

Two words - IMAGE & SPIN are closely associated with PR. In terms of image, the way an individual (a celebrity or political leader) or a product brand, or an organisation is presented through the media and perceived by the target audience, is a strong determiner of reputation and huge acceptance and this popularity can be translated into increased product sales, enhanced revenue, more followers, and votes. Spin is, when PR professionals highlights information that put their clients into a more positive state e.g. when an individual or a brand or an organisation faces a situation when image and reputation are on stake, it’s the PR that comes to support, design and strategies the communication, using 5Ws and 1 H, to handle the situation and to make the client look, as far as possible, good.

Today, virtually any organisation can benefit greatly from using PR as it is very important for organizations to communicate with their target audiences on regular intervals. Sharing information in an efficient and productive manner is an extremely important aspect in public relations and while communicating, it is also essential to make certain that correct message is being communicated to the right group of target audience. 

PR professionals have also started offering digital marketing and or social media marketing like Website Creation & Management, Content Creation, Marketing & Management, Online Event Management, Social Media Marketing & Management etc. PR has evolved, and due to COVID19 situation continues to evolve a bit faster in India as Digital PR is trying to overtake traditional PR.

Digital PR is all about creating a strong and noticeable presence on the requisite digital platforms. The techniques include Search Engine Optimization and Marketing, Content Development, Social Media Management, Website Updating & Management, Blog and Online Media Coverage. Digital PR makes use of social media platforms, networks and tools to interact with people online and build relationships and also provide support functions like online research, social audits, identification of influencers, and timely distribution of the content on the relevant digital platforms to make the communication effective.

As of today the digital technology has taken place of traditional form of PR channels of communications as there is a major focus and shift on digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flicker etc. because of COVID19. And in times to come P R will be having a strong focus on online platforms and less on print and or electronic.

Future of public relations lies in online media as a source of relatable stories and organic, real-time responses. There is, and will be, a considerable shift from journalist/writer-based public relations to a customer-focused approach. As said earlier, PR is about storytelling and perception & image building, and as people and activities evolve, so will the stories.

Today, people spend more time browsing online than reading and to optimize their attention, the more condensed the content, the better. P R has become such a powerful tool today and its impact on its target audiences is massive. Like all marketing efforts, the main aim of PR is to win friends, build influencers, persuade the purchasing decision and build a brand, credible enough to sustain itself.

I’m practicing PR since 1996 and teaching the art and science of PR since year 2009 and very fortunate to have taught PR at some of the leading media colleges and institutes of Delhi-NCR. As far as future of PR related education is concerned, I feel that knowledge of PR is a must for every student at HS, UG & PG levels as it helps the students in sharpening their soft skills which will ultimately help them in whatever they wish to pursue after completion of their education.

Thanks to my habit of reading PR related articles and books, personal experiences in the field of PR, and regular interaction with my network of P R professionals, Offline & Online, I have learned about latest practices being followed in PR. And whatever knowledge about PR I have acquired through these means, have been shared with my students and PR fraternity through my regular Blog on PR (sureshgaurprguru.blogspot.com) and now recently started Master Class on Public Relations on every Wednesday 6PM “P R 4 Everyone” FBLive Series on facebook group Public Relations @ Online (https://www.facebook.com/groups/publicrelationsonline/).

The PR course curriculum designed by most of the media colleges and institutes offers interdisciplinary learning. For example: a student of PR also learn about advertising, event management and media management while pursuing PG Diploma in PR. Beside this they are also taught soft skills and analytical skills to meet the future challenges. I think with the addition of developing fast forward thinking ability, ethical thinking and leadership skills, the students of PR will have the necessary foundation they need to build their careers in the field of PR. Being a PR educator, my endeavor is to prepare my students to lead from the front.

 

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