In 1978 at the inaugural World Assembly of Public Relations Associations, PR was defined as "the art and social science of analysing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organisational leaders, and implementing planned programs of action, which will serve both the organisation and the public interest."
It was a rather convoluted definition of PR and may be responsible, in part, for the difficulty the public relations industry has had in defining itself for decades. Today, a more widely accepted definition of PR is as a communication function that seeks "to foster and maintain mutually beneficial relationships between an organisation and its target publics."
What do Public Relations Practitioners Do?
PR practitioners help their clients to reach their target audience in a positive way and often utilise the media to provide a third-party endorsement for a product, service, individual, business or organisation.
Who Needs Public Relations?
Any individual, business or organisation (party) that relies on public support for continued operation should implement some form of PR activity. Public relations will help to build strong and consistent branding by working with a party to refine its public image, develop key messages, seek open communication with target publics, identify opportunities to solidify relationships and adapt as the market changes.
How do Public Relations Practitioners Reach Target Publics?
Traditionally, PR practitioners help parties to shape a news or feature-style story and sell it into the media using their knowledge of news values and the inner workings of the media. This tactic may include developing a media release, media alert, informative documents and spokesperson profiles; holding a media conference or event; media training spokespeople; and liaising with journalists.
PR practitioners also write speeches; letters; award, grant and tender submissions; website copy and printed materials.
How is the Public Relations Industry Evolving?
As media consumption moves away from newspapers and magazines to online and digital formats, PR practitioners are becoming very familiar with the benefits of social media in building relationships between parties and target publics.
Many PR practitioners will recommend that traditional PR tactics be complemented newer ones such as social media presence and smart phone-compatible platforms.
What is the Difference Between Public Relations and Advertising?
In the eyes of the consumer, PR tends to carry more credibility than advertising because PR introduces a third-party - the media - to vouch for a product, service or party. While it is well known that all advertising space is paid for by the company behind it, many people don't recognise when a PR company was the driving force behind a news story. However, even when people can identify a news story as the result of public relations activities they also know that the story must have some merit in order for the media to cover it.
Public relations is a dynamic industry and an effective means of communication that many experts believe is yet to reach its full potential. Nonetheless most large corporations and many smaller ones have embraced the PR function and are much better for it as they are able to continually gauge the attitudes of their target publics, adapt to them and build stronger, more sustainable relationships and better business.
Sarah Mathiesen - Sarah Mathiesen is the director of Harshmellow Media + Design, a public relations and marketing agency based in Townsville, ...
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