What is Public Relations ?

 “The di sci pl ine w hi ch l ooks af ter the

repu ta tion, wi th the ai m of ea rni ng
und erst andi ng and su ppor t, and
infl uencing opi ni on and b ehaviour . It
is th e pl anne d a nd s ust aine d eff ort t o
est abli sh a nd ma int ai n goodw il l and
mut ua l un de rst andi ng b etween a n
org an is at ion a nd i ts p ubl ics “. (T he
Ins ti tu te of P ubl ic Rela ti ons, Lond on,
UK)
Public Relations & Reputation Management
 Of all the elements of the communications mix,
Public Relations is the hardest to define. Many
different definitions have been suggested by
practitioners and academics alike

 However, Public Relations has, rather ironically,

suffered from ‘an identity crisis’. A search through
marketing literature will reveal dozens of different
definitions, some placing emphasis on its role in
media relations, others offering a much wider
perspective.
Public Relations, Marketing &
Information Technology
 Given that the marketing environment
has changed so radically over the last
two decades and,
 Information & technology has allowed
considerable marketing convergence, it
is not surprising that a topic as
amorphous as Public Relations finds
itself with such an identity crisis
Public Relations &
Corporations
 The value of PR within the
communications mix has increased
considerably since the 1980s. Today,
corporations depend less on mass
media advertising and have adopted a
more credible PR approach based on
third party endorsement and consumer
education.
Public Relations Essentials in
Management
 Public Relations in essence, is about
managing reputation and perception
and establishing good relationships with
key stakeholders.
 As such, it can be considered the key
weapon in the armoury of corporate
communication and reputation
management
The Scope of Public Relations
 The ascendancy of reputation capital and the
shift from product to value-focus means that
the demands on PR have significantly
increased
 Traditionally within the communications mix,
Public Relations focused on changing or
influencing stakeholder beliefs and attitudes
towards organisations and brands
Public Relations Activities &
Reputation Management
 Public Relations activities were either
proactive, by helping to generate
attention and understanding through
media awareness or reactive, in helping
to protect an organisation's reputation
during crisis or adverse publicity.
Public Relations Major Roles
 For many in communications, the term
public relations has become redundant.
The reasons behind this revolve around
a mixture of negative connotations, the
need to broaden their agency services
and PR’s own inability to address its
own identity issues
Public Relations Major Roles
 Public Relations plays a key role in educating
audiences and further converting awareness,
often generated by advertising and sales
promotion into understanding and
acceptance.
 From the viewpoint of many organizations, its
principal advantage comes from its third party
credibility, when obtained through positive
editorial coverage in major news media
Public Relations & Brand
 Public Relations is one of the most
important elements in building brands
and creating both the right environment
for the brand to prosper, but also for
the right messages to be received at
the right time to the relevant audiences
Public Relations & Brand
 Public relations is also critical in brand
building, as brands cannot rely solely on
advertising and sales promotion to
foster the desired image
FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
 Media relations: gaining editorial
coverage
 Issues and risk management
 Crisis management
 CEO reputation management
 Change management
 Internal communications
FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
 Corporate identity and image management
 Managing stakeholder conflicts: Non
Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and
managing activists
 Corporate social responsibility
 Publications of Annual Reports: corporate
reporting
 Corporation reputation management
 Financial and investor relations
FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
 Managing shareholder expectations
 Exhibition and event management
 Brand building
 Promoting professional services and
business to business services
 Managing sponsorship
FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
 Managing relationship with suppliers
and distributors
 Building relationships with various
buyers
 Media and competitor analysis
 Public affairs and lobbying
 Supporting other elements of the mix
Key Tools for Public Relations
Practitioners
 E-mail: press release
 Press briefings/ conferences
 Site, press and VIP visits
 Photography
 Video News Releases (VNRs): digital
Key Tools for PR Practitioners
 Stunts
 Editorial coverage
 Hospitality events
 Viral campaigns
 Advertorials
Key Tools for PR Practitioners
 Features
 Webcasting
 Interviews
 Competitions
 Surveys and results of market research
 Case studies
Key Tools for PR Practitioners
 Corporate literature and publications
 Newsletters and e-zines
 Contract publishing
 Web sites and portals
 Published surveys and reports based on
consumer, medical or scientific research
Man agement of Reput ati on by
Pu blic Re lati on s

 The Study Program of Public Relations at

Faculty of Communications of President
University supports the idea that,
 ”Public Relations can also be termed
reputation management, although it
recognises that Public Relations has not yet
fully evolved a complete reputation
management function”.
Man agement of Reput ati on by
Pu blic Re lati on s
 Although many different definitions of Public
Relations are available, rather ironically Public
Relations itself has suffered to a certain extent from
both an identity and credibility crisis during the
1990s. The main reason for such difficulties in
defining not just the nature of Public Relations, but
also its scope, is the ascendancy of reputation
capital. Within brand management this has resulted
in a shift form product to value focus, which in turn
has placed greater demands on Public Relations and
its campaign outcomes.
Man agement of Reput ati on by
Pu blic Re lati on s
 Public Relations is developing slowly
into a more strategic and holistic
discipline termed reputation
management. Such a view would have
to recognise reputation management as
an interdisciplinary subject that acts to
present realistically and manage a
corporation or its brands in the best
way possible
Man agement of Reput ati on by
Pu blic Re lati on s
 Unlike traditional approaches to Public
Relations, the reputation management
approach does not just seek to offer
promises, but actively and strategically guides
a brand in such a way that delivers on the
promise. The logical outcome of such an
argument is that brand and reputation are
not the same, which is brands make
promises, reputation is about the delivery on
such promises.
Corporate Reputation
 Corporate reputation is the sum of the
values that stakeholders attribute to a
company, based on their perception
and interpretation of the image the
company communicates and its
behaviour over time
Corporate Reputation
 Brands and brand management should
now be considered part of the Public
Relations armoury, especially for
corporate brands. The hub of the
reputation wheel is brand, as it is
around this construct that most
reputations are lost and made
Public Relations & Identity Crisis
 The problems of Public Relations are
numerous; definitions cannot be agreed
upon, those that are available are vague and
a large degree of discord exists between
theorists and practitioners.
 To compound these problems many of the
supporting elements of Public Relations, such
as sponsorship and event marketing, have
become decentred and fragmented disciplines
in their own right
Public Relations Achievement
 Educating consumers about new
products and services
 Gaining third party endorsements
through articles and editorial coverage -
media coverage
 Changing perceptions and attitudes
 Raising awareness about issues through
surveys and research data
Public Relations Achievement
 Building brands and image
 Building reputation
 Crisis management
 Event management
Public Relations Achievement
& Corporate Reputation
 corporate identity symbols
 good corporate reputation
 desired corporate image
 reputation attributes
 external fit
 corporate ads
 corporate affairs department
Public Relations Achievement
& Corporate Reputation
 corporate advertising campaign
 positioning theme
 corporate advertisements
 marketing leverage
 identity consultants
 corporate slogan
 internal fit
 desired image
 various stakeholder groups
 corporate reputations
 image attributes
References
 Anne Gregory, 2000, Planning & Managing a
Public Relations Campaign
 John Dalton & Susan Croft, 2003, Managing
Corporate Reputation
 Graham Dowling, 2002, Creating Corporate
Reputation : Identity, Image, Performance;
Oxford University Press, USA
 W. James Potter, Media Literacy, 2005, Sage
Publication Inc., USA