Communication Management through Public Relations

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 68th blog titled “Communication Management through Public Relations” to commemorate 53^rd Anniversary of National P R Day.

Friends…..Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

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.

Friends, every year, the Public Relations and communication professionals across the country celebrate April 21st as National PR Day and re-dedicate themselves for the profession of Public Relations.

PR professionals from all over the country met for the first time on April 21, 1968 in New Delhi at the 1st All India Public Relations Conference under the aegis of PRSI. During that conference Code of Ethics for PR profession was adopted marking the beginning of professional public relations in India and in 1986, April 21 was declared as the National PR Day by PRSI.

In the year 1984 two great scholars James E. Grunig and Todd Hunt defined that ‘Public relations is the management of communication between an organization and its publics” in their landmark text book “Managing Public Relations” and this shift from public relations to communication is all around us today.

Friends, communication plays a vital role in effective public relations because it’s very important to communicate between the two individuals or organisations so that both are on the same page. The organizations must understand what exactly their target audience wishes to listen to. Hence, they must ensure that whatever message they are communicating to their target public is correct and is in the best interest of the both, the communicating organisation and their publics – internal as well as external to receive the correct feedback which will help the communicating organisation for doing management of communication to the best of their ability through using right PR tools and tactics.   

We must remember that the message that is being communicated should impact and influence the behavior of receiver so that they become loyal to the communicating organisation, its products or services.

Therefore, while encoding the communication, we should ensure that we are using the right and appropriate words and language keeping the 7Cs of communication – CLEAR, CONCISE, CONCRETE, CORRECT, COHERENT, COMPLETE, COURTEOUS in mind, and while communicating the message we must also make sure that we are using the right medium or channel to create the desired influence or impact on our target audience.

Here I would like to quote the phrase “The Medium is the Message” coined by communication theorist Marshall McLuhan which means that the form of a message determines the ways in which that message will be perceived. And it’s critical to realize that whenever we’re communicating with our target publics, that the medium we use to communicate our message is just as important as the message itself.  If we use the wrong medium, our message may never get through to the receiver or may be misunderstood.

Public Relation is meant to disseminate valuable information through right mediums that will benefit the organisation and its target publics. Public Relations have had great success over the years through targeted focused communication campaigns and have changed the attitudes of its target public. PR is a very effective way in managing and changing how people think.

Friends, I personally believe that a good and ethical PR professional can help present the organisation he or she is working for in its right perspective and in a great manner as long as he or she clearly understands the  goals and objectives that are to be achieved using PR as tool and tactics of communication management.

PR involves all those deliberate efforts to formally communicate externally as well as internally with individuals or groups including the top management and the employees, production, marketing and the sales. Now a days the word Corporate Communication is often used to describe these collective specialist functions, but I would still prefer to use the phrase public relations because it best describes what actually happens and that is, the organisation builds relationships in public and with these various publics.

PR has two core elements - communication and management. 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. 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.

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.

 

Friends, at the end I would like to say that if we view ourselves good Public Relations professionals then we must regard the three important dimensions of public relations and those are  ‘what we do, what we say and what others say about us’ as most important.

Wishing you all a very happy "National PR Day".

Thank you very much.

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