IJEAR Vol. 2, Issue 1, Jan.

- June 2012

ISSN : 2249-4944 (Print)

Public Relations: Not an Overnight Process

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Dept. of ECE, I.E.T. Bhaddal Technical Campus, Ropar, Punjab, India College of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China

Pranav Bhardwaj, 1Tanvir Singh, 2Amit Kumar

Abstract The very first thing one wants to know is what is he studying? So here comes an answer. Public Relations are all about publicity. Publicity is defined as any information usually printed, which brings to a person, place or thing to the attention of the public. In short, Public Relations means bringing to the attention of a defined target audiences a specific message by means, other than paid advertising. In this paper, we have discussed the concept of public relations and RACE Plan, its benefits and scope. Keywords Public Relations, Publicity, Advertisement I. Introduction PR is about reputation it could be remaining on your commitment. What other people think about you [1]? PR aims to earn understanding and support, influence opinion and behavior between the people. The planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics is called Public Relation. By name we came to know about that something is related to advertisement. Paid advertising is the process of telling people about a product or service through announcements in the media- newspapers, magazines, radio, television, neon signs, and hoardings and so on. The advertiser pays for space or airtime. People are absolutely clear that the information they are exposed to in this way, is an advertisement. They may or may not believe it [2]. The surest way to kill a bad product is to advertise it. How a good public relation can be established? For establishing a healthy relationship one need to follow some easily points that are: Warmth Acceptance Tolerance Understanding Cooperative Objective rather than emotional [3] II. RACE Plan For creating a good relationship there should at least one person taking part in say very organization who takes care of these following points. It could be principle in a school, a special appointed person etc. That person must develop a climate conducive to good working relationships with publics and media. An effective public relation plan must follow a RACE condition. Fig. 1, shows the RACE Plan.

Fig. 1: RACE Plan A. Research In research area research is made that how can we attract the public, what are the qualities in our organization, what are we lagging etc. All this research is carried to make our relation with public stronger and stronger. In short we include some of the following points What makes his organization unique? How do people find out about your organization? Do people perceive your organization differently than you perceive your organization? Why? What are the values, lifestyles, interests of your customers? What do they do for a living? Educational level? Are they happy? Disappointed? Who are you communicating with the most? Who should you be communicating and relating with more? Who is critical to your success? Why? How close are you to them? B. Analysis & Planning It includes the Analysis of data generated from questions or other collection instruments. Data collected from research is processed and a plan is made according to the requirement and needs. C. Communication It is the major process of public relation. How is communication done, what is to be covered in that communication? What an organization can gain from doing a healthy communication. It is just like influencing the public. What you want from public is all dependent on the communication. The language you speak, the choice of words, your accent in speaking, your gestures etc. Some of the ways that a communication can be performed are One-to-one, face to face Small group discussion/meeting Speaking before a medium-sized groups Phone conversation Hand-written, personal note Typewritten, personal letter not generated by computer Computer generated personal letter
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International Journal of Education and Applied Research

ISSN : 2249-4944 (Print)

IJEAR Vol. 2, Issue 1, Jan. - June 2012

Mass-produced, non-personalized letter Brochure or pamphlet sent out as a direct mail piece Article in organizational newsletter, magazine, posters, etc. New carried in popular press Advertising in newspapers, radio, TV, magazines, posters, etc. Other less effective forms of communication (billboards, skywriters, pens, give-a ways, etc. [4].

D. Evaluation It is to evaluate that what an organization had gained from a good public relation. What other organization were not able to make profit with the poor public relation. This section also tells us the further improvements if necessary. It tells us what we have and what is required further Who are we reaching now? Using what tools/channels of communication? What should we be emphasizing more? What is the best way to reach our target audience? What has been most effective in the past? Why? What new avenues should we explore? What resources do we have? What free help can we get? Who can we collaborate with? There also comes a question in our mind that why is Public relation important? What is need of Public Relation in an organization? So here we come with an simple answer that will eliminate negative thinking towards Public Relation [6]. Public relation helps you to avoid price competition. Media coverage helps you to attract quality prospects. Media coverage increases credibility. A public relations program stretches your marketing budget. Best way to launch a brand. In earlier days there were old rules of the Public Relation which were very inefficient for the growth of the organization. Depending only on that would not gain a benefit. So, now its time to move on to the new rules of Public Relation, these may include some of these [7]. You can post your press release online and it appears in real time on your website, in Google News and through keyword search. The audience is no longer just a handful of journalists. The audience is everyone with a computer and the ability to use a search engine. You can change your language to talk directly to the public instead of just the media. Your release can have a keyword strategy and search engine optimized content. You can broadcast your message directly to the world instead of relying on a 3rd party. You can tell your story beyond just words but also in video, audio and photos. You can hyperlink your stories to more information. You can provide engaging relevant content. The public can subscribe to your news directly and be alerted every time you have something new to say. III. Benefits & Scope of Public Relations No matter how good you are, if you dont communicate with your target audiences, you will lose out to competitors who are using public relations more aggressively and effectively
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to ensure communication. Every organization can benefit from PR. If you dont manage the information by which people form their opinions, their views of your company will be based solely on what they hear from other sources. You cannot see what you lose if you do NOT use PR, but companies which use it can see the benefits. Quite simply, PR can help in building a positive image and thus helps to minimize damage when something goes wrong. It helps to manage the information by which people form their opinions. There can be no quicker way of reaching your target audience than through PR. PR helps to maintain communications with your most important business audiences. It is cost-effective and credible [5]. IV. Conclusion PR takes time. It is not an overnight process. It is an on-going endeavor. The scope of PR today is far - reaching and encompasses several industries and sectors. Social and religious leaders, politicians, entrepreneurs, industrialists are all closely associated with the PR process at some point or the other. References [1] Miss Bhagyashree Dhotre,Public Relation Functions, [Online] Available: http://www.authorstream.com/ Presentation/Dhaval_Bhatt-1323711-public-relation/ [2] "Public Relations: An Introduction", Module-5, Advertising and Public Relations, [Online] Available: download.nos.org/ srsec335new/ch19.pdf [3] "Education World: Public Relations 101", [Online] Available: http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin123. shtml [4] Davis Meerman Scott,The NEw Rules of PR, [Online] Available: www.davidmeermanscott.com/documents/New_ Rules_of_PR.pdf [5] Public Relation,"What is PR", [Online] Available: http://www. authorstream.com/Presentation/warrior83-203229-publicrelations-understanding-pr-education-ppt-powerpoint/ [6] E-Agency,"Elements of PR Program", [Online] Available: www.growourregion.ca/images/file/Communications_Plan/ elementsofaPRplan.pdf [7] RUSSO, New Rules of Public Relation, [Online] Available: www.therussogroup.com/Portals/88234/docs/TRG_ebook_ new_rules_of_PR.pdf Pranav is pursuing his bachelors degree in Electronics and Communication from I.E.T. Bhaddal Technical Campus, Ropar (Punjab Technical University), Punjab, INDIA. His interest includes Public Relations, Development of Personality and soft skills.

International Journal of Education and Applied Research

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IJEAR Vol. 2, Issue 1, Jan. - June 2012

ISSN : 2249-4944 (Print)

Tanvir Singh is pursuing his bachelors degree in Electronics and Communication from I.E.T., Bhaddal, Ropar (Punjab Technical University), Punjab, INDIA. He is working as a budding researcher in field of research on topics Green Computing and Sustainability with a dream to create a Technical Advanced and eco- friendly world. He has published many papers in International Journals and conference proceedings. Amit Kumar received his bachelors degree in Mathematics from the Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India, in 2002 and Masters degree in Computer Application from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India, in 2006. He completed his M.Phil. in Computer Science from Annamalai University, Annamalai nagar, Tamilnadu, India, in 2010. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Computer Science. He is working as a Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science, College of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China. He has many publications in National/ International Conference proceedings and International Journals. He is a reviewer for many international Journals. His current interest includes Techno-Economic Analysis of Broadband Wireless Networks viz. WiMAX-m, HSPA+ and LTE-Advanced. His future focus is to explore the Green Wireless Technologies and their Sustainable development.

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