PR and Communications Organization Structure

by Amie Martin

Whether your business is a small or a large corporation, profit or nonprofit, public or

private, your organizational structure will help you determine the talent you need to hire,
personnel interaction and overall operations. Public relations and communications are
two job functions that often work in tandem or overlap entirely; others in this same
category include marketing and advertising. Though each is distinct, their overall
similarities can cause confusion when defining your organization structure, or chart. The
bottom line is that your organizational chart is customizable to your company, and both
PR and communications can fit in various places within it once you understand the
differences and your specific company needs.

Public Relations
The role of public relations is to build and maintain a positive brand image of your
company or product. The business doesn't have to be a global corporation; it can be
small, nonprofit, private or the opposite of each. Generally, PR utilizes free avenues of
brand messaging, such as the traditional press release and more current social media
portals.

Communications

Communications is, in itself, a confusing and often misused business term. For your PR
and communications organization structure, you are concerned specifically with
business/marketing/corporate communications, not internal company communications. In
this context, communications refers to information conveyed to the market or your
customers. Unlike PR, which utilizes free avenues, communications may include
advertising, product catalogs and webinars.

Top Billing
With both PR and communications tied so closely together, the question of where to
place them within a company's organizational structure is common. Communications
 almost always trumps PR in hierarchy. Communications is broader and allows for -- even
fosters -- public relations, while it is harder to argue the opposite. Marketing is another
category that may trump both PR and communications and also include advertising and
social media; social media can fall under both PR and communications, but if your
company is large, it may warrant its own department.

Bottom Line
"Different structures work for different companies," according to Peter Cornbrooks,
advisory specialist to the Communications Executive Council. Marketing and
communications are common top tier categories, either of which can include PR, but you
don't have to have both if you're structuring a small business.

References (1)
• The Business Plan: Business Organization Structure

About the Author

Amie Martin has more than 20 years of publishing experience in proofreading, editing,
writing, design and layout. She writes for various websites, specializing in branding,
marketing and technical communications. Martin has an Associate of Applied Science in
merchandising from Bay State College and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the
University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Photo Credits

• Keith Brofsky/Photodisc/Getty Images

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