• Introduction
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing the flow of information between an organization and its publics.[1] Public relations provides an organization or individual exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment.[2] Their aim is often to persuade the public, investors, partners, employees and other stakeholders to maintain a certain point of view about the company, its leadership, products or of political decisions. Common activities include speaking at conferences, winning industry awards, working with the press, and employee communication.[3]
Public relations describes the various methods a company uses to disseminate messages about its products, services, or overall image to its customers, employees, stockholders, suppliers, or other interested members of the community. The point of public relations is to make the public think favorably about the company and its offerings. Commonly used tools of public relations include news releases, press conferences, speaking engagements, and community service programs.
Although advertising is closely related to public relations—as it too is concerned with promoting and gaining public acceptance for the company's products—the goal of advertising is generating sales, while the goal of public relations is generating good will. The effect of good public relations is to lessen the gap between how an organization sees itself and how others outside the organization perceive it.
Public relations involves two-way communication between an organization and its public. It requires listening to the constituencies on which an organization depends as well as analyzing and understanding the attitudes and behaviors of those audiences. Only then can an organization undertake an effective public relations campaign.
Many small business owners elect to handle the public relations activities for their own companies, while others choose to hire a public relations specialist. Managers of somewhat larger firms, on the other hand, frequently contract with external public relations or advertising agencies to enhance their corporate image. But whatever option is chosen, the head of a company is ultimately responsible for its public relations.
• DEFINITIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
“Public Relations is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and
maintain mutual understanding between on organization and its publics.”
- Institute of Public Relations, USA
“Public relations is the attempt by information persuasion and adjustment to engineer
public support for an activity, cause, movement or institution.”
- Edward L. Bernays
“Public Relations is a combination of philosophy, sociology, economics, language,
psychology, journalism, communication and other knowledges into a system of human
understanding."
- Herbert M. Baus
“Merely human decency which flows from a good heart.”
- Charles Plackard
“Good performance, publicity appreciated because adequately communicated.”
- Fortune (Magazine)
“Public Relations is Dale Carnegie - winning friends and influencing people - writ
large.”
- Robert Heibroner
“Everything involved in achieving a favourable opinion."
- George F. Meredith
Former President of the American Pubic Relation Association
“The Management function which gives the same organized and careful attention to
the asset of goodwill as is given to any other major asset of business.”
- John W. Hill
"Public Relations is distinctive management function which helps establish and
maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation
between an organization and its publics; involves the management of problems or
issues; helps management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinion;
defines and emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve the public interest;
helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, serving as an early
warning system to help anticipate trends; and uses research and sound and ethical
communication as its principal tools."
- Rex F. Harlow
• NEED FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS
Investing on Public relations will help the organisation to achieve its objective
effectively and smoothly. Public Relations is not creating good image for a bad team.
Since false image cannot be sustained for a long time. Though the organisation
product or services are good it need an effective Public Relations campaign for
attracting, motivating the public to the product or service or towards the purpose of
the programme. It is not only encourage the involvement from the public and also
resulting in better image.
An effective Public Relations can create and build up the image of an individual or an
organisation or a nation. At the time of adverse publicity or when the organisation is
under crisis an effective Public Relations can remove the "misunderstanding" and can
create mutual understanding between the organisation and the public.
• FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
= Public Relations is establishing the relationship among the two groups
(organisation and public).
= Art or Science of developing reciprocal understanding and goodwill.
= It analyses the public perception & attitude, identifies the organisation policy with
public interest and then executes the programmes for communication with the
public.
• Goals of Public Relations
Some of the main goals of public relations are to create, maintain, and protect the organization's reputation, enhance its prestige, and present a favorable image. Studies have shown that consumers often base their purchase decisions on a company's reputation, so public relations can have a definite impact on sales and revenue. Public relations can be an effective part of a company's overall marketing strategy. In the case of a for-profit company, public relations and marketing should be coordinated to be sure they are working to achieve the same objectives.
Another major public relations goal is to create good will for the organization. This involves such functions as employee relations, stockholder and investor relations, media relations, and community relations. Public relations may function to educate certain audiences about many things relevant to the organization—including the business in general, new legislation, and how to use a particular product—as well as to overcome misconceptions and prejudices. For example, a nonprofit organization may attempt to educate the public regarding a certain point of view, while trade associations may undertake educational programs regarding particular industries and their products and practices.
Steps in a Public Relations Campaign
Effective public relations requires a knowledge, based on analysis and understanding, of all the factors that influence public attitudes toward the organization. While a specific public relations project or campaign may be undertaken proactively or reactively (to manage some sort of image crisis), the first basic step in either case involves analysis and research to identify all the relevant factors of the situation. In this first step, the organization gains an understanding of its various constituencies and the key factors that are influencing their perceptions of the organization.
In the second step, the organization establishes an overall policy with respect to the campaign. This involves defining goals and desired outcomes, as well as the constraints under which the campaign will operate. It is necessary to establish such policy guidelines in order to evaluate proposed strategies and tactics as well as the overall success of the campaign.
In step three, the organization outlines its strategies and tactics. Using its knowledge of the target audiences and its own established policies, the organization develops specific programs to achieve the desired objectives. Finally, step four involves actual communication with the targeted public. The organization then employs specific public relations techniques, such as press conferences or special events, to reach the intended audience.
In step five the organization receives feedback from its public. How have they reacted to the public relations campaign? Are there some unexpected developments? In the final step, the organization assesses the program and makes any necessary adjustments.
• Areas of Public Relations
Public relations is a multifaceted activity involving different audiences as well as different types of organizations, all with different goals and objectives. As a result, there are several specific areas of public relations.
PRODUCT PUBLIC RELATIONS. Public relations and marketing work together closely when it comes to promoting a new or existing product or service. Public relations plays an important role in new product introductions by creating awareness, differentiating the product from other similar products, and even changing consumer behavior. Public relations can help introduce new products through staging a variety of special events and handling sensitive situations. For example, when the Prince Matchabelli division of Chesebrough-Pond's USA introduced a new men's cologne, there were twenty-one other men's fragrances being introduced that year. To differentiate its new offering, called Hero, Prince Matchabelli created a National Hero Awards Program honoring authentic male heroes and enlisted the participation of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America to lend credibility to the program. Similarly, when Coleco introduced its Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, public relations helped increase awareness through licensed tie-in products, trade show exhibits, press parties, and even window displays in Cartier jewelry stores.
Public relations is often called on to give existing products and services a boost by creating or renewing visibility. For example, the California Raisins Advisory Board organized a national tour featuring live performances by the California Dancing Raisins to maintain interest in raisins during a summer-long advertising hiatus. The tour generated national and local publicity through media events, advance publicity, trade promotions, and media interviews with performer Ray Charles. Other public relations programs for existing products involve stimulating secondary demand—as when Campbell Soup Co. increased overall demand for soup by publishing a recipe booklet—or identifying new uses for the product. Public relations can interest the media in familiar products and services in a number of ways, including holding seminars for journalists, staging a special media day, and supplying the media with printed materials ranging from "backgrounders" (in-depth news releases) to booklets and brochures. Changes in existing products offer additional public relations opportunities to focus consumers' attention. An effective public relations campaign can help to properly position a product and overcome negative perceptions on the part of the general public.
EMPLOYEE RELATIONS. Employees are one of the most important audiences a company has, and an ongoing public relations program is necessary to maintain employee good will as well as to uphold the company's image and reputation among its employees. The essence of a good employee relations program is keeping employees informed and providing them with channels of communication to upper levels of management. Bechtel Group, a privately held complex of operating companies, published an annual report for its employees to keep them informed about the company's operations. The company used surveys to determine what information employees considered useful. A range of other communication devices were used, including a monthly tabloid and magazine, a quarterly video magazine, local newsletters, bulletin boards, a call-in telephone service, and "brown bag" lunches where live presentations were made about the company. Suggestion systems are another effective way to improve employee-management communications.
Other public relations programs focusing on employees include training them as company public relations representatives; explaining benefits programs to them; offering them educational, volunteer, and citizenship opportunities; and staging special events such as picnics or open houses for them. Other programs can improve performance and increase employee pride and motivation. Public relations can also play a role in recruiting new employees; handling reorganizations, relocations, and mergers; and resolving labor disputes.
FINANCIAL RELATIONS. Financial relations involves communicating not only with a company's stockholders, but also with the wider community of financial analysts and potential investors. An effective investor relations plan can increase the value of a company's stock and make it easier to raise additional capital. In some cases special meetings with financial analysts are necessary to overcome adverse publicity, negative perceptions about a company, or investorindifference. Such meetings may take the form of full-day briefings, formal presentations, or luncheon meetings. A tour of a company's facilities may help generate interest among the financial community. Mailings and ongoing communications can help a company achieve visibility among potential investors and financial analysts.
Annual reports and stockholder meetings are the two most important public relations tools for maintaining good investor relations. Some companies hold regional or quarterly meetings in addition to the usual annual meeting. Other companies reach more stockholders by moving the location of their annual meeting from city to city. Annual reports can be complemented by quarterly reports and dividend check inserts. Companies that wish to provide additional communications with stockholders may send them a newsletter or company magazine. Personal letters to new stockholders and a quick response to inquiries insure an additional measure of good will.
COMMUNITY RELATIONS. A comprehensive, ongoing community relations program can help virtually any organization achieve visibility as a good community citizen and gain the good will of the community in which it operates. Banks, utilities, radio and television stations, and major retailers are some of the types of organizations most likely to have ongoing programs that might include supporting urban renewal, performing arts programs, social and educational programs, children's programs, community organizations, and construction projects. On a more limited scale, small businesses may achieve community visibility by sponsoring local sports teams or other events. Support may be financial or take the form of employee participation.
Organizations have the opportunity to improve good will and demonstrate a commitment to their communities when they open new offices, expand facilities, and open new factories. One company increased community awareness of its presence by converting a vacant building into a permanent meeting place. Another company built its new headquarters in an abandoned high school that it renovated. One of the more sensitive areas of community relations involves plant closings. A well-planned public relations campaign, combined with appropriate actions, can alleviate the tensions that such closings cause. Some elements of such a campaign might include offering special programs to laid-off workers, informing employees directly about proposed closings, and controlling rumors through candid and direct communications to the community and employees.
Organizations conduct a variety of special programs to improve community relations, including providing employee volunteers to work on community projects, sponsoring educational and literacy programs, staging open houses and conducting plant tours, celebrating anniversaries, and mounting special exhibits. Organizations are recognized as good community citizens when they support programs that improve the quality of life in their community, including crime prevention, employment, environmental programs, clean-up and beautification, recycling, and restoration.
CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS. Public relations practitioners become heavily involved in crisis communications whenever there is a major accident or natural disaster affecting an organization and its community. Other types of crises involve bankruptcy, product failures, and management wrongdoing. In some cases, crises call for an organization to become involved in helping potential victims; in other cases, the crisis may require rebuilding an organization's image. In any case, experts recommend that business owners prepare a plan in advance to deal with potential crises in an honest and forthright manner. The main objective of such a plan is to provide accurate information quickly in order to reduce uncertainty. After the San Francisco earthquake of 1989, for example, the Bank of America utilized its public relations department to quickly establish communications with customers, the financial community, the media, and offices in 45 countries to assure them the bank was still operating.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL RELATIONS. Public relations in the political arena covers a wide range of activities, including staging debates, holding seminars for government leaders, influencing proposed legislation, and testifying before a congressional committee. Political candidates engage in public relations, as do government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels.
Trade associations and other types of organizations attempt to block unfavorable legislation and support favorable legislation in a number of ways. The liquor industry in California helped defeat a proposed tax increase by taking charge of the debate early, winning endorsements, recruiting spokespersons, and cultivating grassroots support. A speakers bureau trained some 240 industry volunteers, and key messages were communicated to the public through printed materials and radio and television commercials.
PUBLIC RELATIONS IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST.
Organizations attempt to generate good will and position themselves as responsible citizens through a variety of programs conducted in the public interest. Some examples are environmental programs (including water and energy conservation) and antipollution programs. Health and medical programs are sponsored by a wide range of nonprofit organizations, healthcare providers, and other businesses and industries. These range from encouraging other companies to develop AIDS-in-the-workplace policies to the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout. Other programs offer political education, leadership and self-improvement, recreational activities, contests, and safety instruction.
CONSUMER EDUCATION. Organizations have undertaken a variety of programs to educate consumers, building good will and helping avoid misunderstandings in the process. Opportunities for educating consumers might include sponsoring television and radio programs, producing manuals and other printed materials, producing materials for classroom use, and releasing the results of surveys. In addition to focusing on specific issues or industries, educational programs may seek to inform consumers about economic matters and business in general.
OTHER PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAMS. Other types of programs that fall under the umbrella of public relations include corporate identity programs, ranging from name changes and new trademarks to changing a company's overall image. Special events may be held to call attention to an organization and focus the public's good will. These include anniversary celebrations, events related to trade shows, special exhibits, or fairs and festivals. Speakers bureaus and celebrity spokespersons are effective public relations tools for communicating an organization's point of view. Speakers bureaus may be organized by a trade association or an individual company. The face-to-face communication that speakers can deliver is often more effective than messages carried by printed materials, especially when the target audience is small and clearly defined.
• Public Relations for Small Businesses
Like other types of organizations, small businesses can benefit from public relations in terms of their relationships with customers, employees, investors, suppliers, or other interested members of the community. Since small business owners are the most visible representatives of their own companies, they frequently handle many of the public relations functions themselves. But experts caution small business owners against taking on this responsibility if they are unqualified, or if they are unable to give public relations the attention it deserves. In these cases, entrepreneurs may choose to hire a public relations specialist or contract with an outside agency.
In his book Public Relations for the Entrepreneur and the Growing Business, Norman R. Soderberg outlines the main qualifications for public relations professionals. An ideal candidate would be creative and enterprising, possess good communication skills and solid news judgment, have a thorough knowledge of the business, be sincere and considerate in dealing with people, and make a good impression as a representative for the company. Some of the skills required in public relations work include writing and editing, public speaking, graphic arts, public opinion polling, and advertising. The responsibilities of a public relations executive include interpreting public opinion, advising management, generating opportunities to increase public awareness and acceptance, disseminating good publicity, and evaluating the results of campaigns. In order to perform these duties effectively, the public relations professional must know what is going on in the business, which means that he or she requires access to management.
"Most companies need to seek outside help from a public relations agency at some point," Chad Kaydo wrote in Sales and Marketing Management. "Even if staff members handle most of your PR efforts, an independent firm can assist with a special project, or give occasional advice." There are a variety of reasons why a small business owner might decide to contract public relations work out to an external agency. For example, company personnel may beinexperienced in handling public relations; the company may be geographically distant from its main audiences; the company may not be able to afford to hire a full-time public relations executive with the needed skills; or the company may want the objective judgment of an outsider. A small business owner can locate reputable public relations firms through the Small Business Administration, the Public Relations Society of America, the trade press for their industry, or the recommendations of fellow business people or local news people. When choosing between several potential agencies, a small business owner should consider those that have experience in the industry, clients in similar industries, financial stability, and a compatible overall philosophy. Contracting with an outside firm can be costly—some charge their clients a monthly retainer, while others charge straight hourly rates for limited services.
While communication is the essence of public relations, an effective public relations campaign is based on action as well as words. Whether it is practiced formally or informally, public relations is an essential function for the survival of any organization. Small business owners cannot afford to neglect public relations. But lavish parties and gifts are not necessary—it is possible to vastly improve a small business's image within its community while also controlling public relations expenditures. Sponsoring a local softball team, speaking at a chamber of commerce meeting, and volunteering at a neighborhood clean-up are among the wide variety of public relations activities readily available to small businesses.
• How to build a brand
Creating a brand and defending a brand are two major functions of a marketing programme. Here is the difference. Publicity through public relations activities creates a brand. Advertising protects the brand once it is created. Advertising does brand maintenance. If there is no brand maintenance, a brand will lose its impact on its consumers. Remember the toothpaste brand called ‘Cibaca’. They used to be heavily advertised once upon a time. Now you do not get to see any ‘Cibaca’ advertisements or television commercials. Because of no brand maintenance the ‘Cibaca’ brand has lost its market share over time.
There are many companies like this one, due to the lack of brand maintenance some may even cease to exist today. Advertisements are used to maintain a brand from going extinct, but advertisements do not create brands. You do not go and buy a Sony product for its advertisements alone. You buy Sony for the faith you have in that brand and the faith has been reinforced by its satisfied users who happily talk about a Sony product. There are many marketing truths that go beyond just advertisement.
The truth is that advertising cannot start a fire. It can only fan a fire after it has been started. To get something going from nothing, you need the validity that only third party endorsements like word of mouth can bring. Therefore, the first stage of any new brand building exercise ought to be public relations.
The power of Public Relations
Publicity or Public Relations (PR) is a more effective way to deal with customer perceptions than advertising. Successful marketing deals with creating great perceptions in the prospect’s mind. A brand is a name that stands for something positive in the prospect’s mind. Public relations can do more than what advertising can do. Here is how.
One of the primary objectives of an advertisement campaign is to increase brand awareness. Advertisements inform people about a company, its products and services. But ads can not always motivate a customer to buy products and services. That is because advertisements do not have the credibility to motivate a customer to buy its products and services.
The weakest link in any advertising programme is its ‘credibility’. An advertising message has little believability with the average person. Today, most of the advertisements are presented as exaggerations or unrealistic claims. Advertising is taken for what it is — a biased message developed by a company for another company with a selfish interest in what the consumer consumes. Ads cannot establish credibility. In order to establish a brand; the brand must possess enough credibility and dependability in consumer’s mind.
Public relation has immense credibility. A third party opinion counts more than an advertising message. People believe what they read in newspapers or magazines or what they hear on the radio or watch on the television.
Public Relations has now taken over advertisements and, according to the industry trends, it is predicted that the PR is the next big thing in publicity campaigns. In fact, many companies have already
embraced Public Relations as a brand building strategy.
• How to get publicity?
Let me share with you, how you can build a brand through Public Relations (PR). Microsoft is the most reputed company in the world. By “the most reputed” I mean, “the most talked about, written about” company through all kinds of mass media. Advertising did not build the Microsoft brand. Massive amount of publicity built the Microsoft brand. You and I have read dozens of stories about Microsoft and its products but we can’t recall much of Microsoft advertisements. One thing is clear. What build brands are media messages.
Getting the media to spread a good word about your company is not easy and at the same time it is not difficult either. All media houses love a good story, whether it is print or electronic media. Anything that is newsworthy is worth getting reported. As your own publicist (if you don’t have one), your job is to turn a story into something that is newsworthy and rightly report them to the right media houses.
The key is this: What is that you can think of as different from everything else? Is there a new category that you can think of in your business? Is there something worth and interesting to talk about your business? If your story is worth telling, then it is worth reporting. In order to report an interesting story you must first become a spokesperson of your company.
Become a spokesperson
Products do not create publicity. People do. Apple ipod or iphone did not just become famous all by itself. Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, went ahead and did product launches that were literally covered by almost all the media houses in the world. A spokesperson’s duty is to tell the world who they are, what they do and why they do what they do. A spokesperson is a great communicator who connects with a large audience, in most cases, its prospective customers.
The media wants a spokesperson who represents a brand, usually the creator of the brand, to interview. The spokesperson is the face and the voice of the brand. In most cases, CEO makes the best spokesperson for a brand. The last thing the media is interested in is making your company famous. But they are interested in a human who can tell a ‘human interest story’. What media reporters are interested in is a new idea, concept or innovation. When you promote a new concept, you are not only publicising your brand but also steering the growth of your brand.
The popularity of the CEO will automatically affect the popularity of the brand also.Company or its brands become popular as the company owner becomes popular. British business Mogul Richard Branson built his ‘Virgin’ brand using maximum publicity generating activities like his balloon expeditions and his adventurous rock star life style.More is written about him than the Virgin brand by the British media.
To become popular, you must know all the strategies of personal branding. Personal branding helps you to become a talked about person. Publicity is contagious. Real publicity not only talks about something, it also talks about what has been talked about.
A brand name like ‘Manappuram gold loan’ is much talked about by the media for signing film celebrities for their endorsements rather than their advertisement campaigns.
Getting publicity is not an easy one; but once you figure out ways and means, you can connect with media houses and PR agents who can guide you to build your brand in the most effective way.
Start social movements for social causes that will be talked about by the media. There will be multiple benefits to the society also. Remember this: Those who shy away from publicity will find it hard to build a strong brand. Whenever you get free publicity, make use of it to the maximum. As brand builders, your primary job is to connect with as many people as you can to help you build your brand.
Do something newsworthy
Here is what you do: Think of doing something newsworthy like writing a book on the business you are in. All top CEOs in the world have adapted this strategy to build their personal brands. Just having good stories alone cannot guarantee you publicity. You need to build good rapport with media houses as well. Hire the help of a Public Relation Agency or a PR manager from time to time. You can use their services for product launches. If you do not have any budget to spare for an agency, then you need to become your own PR person.
Internet is a useful platform to release your press articles. Get a well-written press article about your company, products or services. You can google free press releases. There are thousands of websites on the internet where you can release your stories for free. You can also release ‘blogs’ written by your loyal customers. You can get the help of professional bloggers on the internet who will write about your brand as third party endorsements. Customers who write about your brand and praise it in all sense can become a live testimonial. This can boost the credibility of your brand. As we all know, word of mouth is the best form of publicity.
The irony is that companies totally ignore the power of mass media, because they are too focussed on ads. Companies design products to satisfy customers. Rarely do they consider the needs of the media. Yet, if a new product does not achieve some media success, it is unlikely to become a marketing success either.
Keep in mind that brands are built by publicity. Publicity is the right use of mass media.
Publicity is interested in what is new. A new brand, therefore, has more publicity potential than a line extension (sub brands of major brands) of an old brand. You can build a good brand on good reputation. Great reputation comes from great customer satisfaction. What are you waiting for? Go out and make some noise. Talk about how customers feel about your brand.
• Public relation in India
Public relation is a management function that establishes and maintains two ways, mutual relationship and communication between an organization and its public. Public could include shareholders, government, consumers, employees and the media. The main objective of public relation is to improve channels of communication and to establish new ways of setting up a two-way flow of information and understanding. Public relations are communicating your organization’s messages at the right time and in the right place to the right audience. Public relation is the part of a marketing and communications strategy that crafts an organization’s message to its diverse publics including customers, prospects, investors, employee, suppliers, distributors, media/journalists, social media networks, the government and the public. Public relations in India has witnessed a significant growth since the early 1990s.
Based on the combined research you can find the recent changes within the profession, reconfiguring economic, societal, political and global changes. This research focus on the impact of societal culture and media environment on public relations in India.
The most effective public relations are accomplished via the right choice of media. The role of media and public relations is vital for survival of any business. The most effective medium available for advertising today has multiple options. Right from billboards to electronic media to select print media to sponsoring events, banners, in-flight and ground, radio, cinema slides the list is endless for reaching the targeted group. Its optimum use helps a company to advertise correctly.
Public relation communicates the news, receives the news, influences the news and responds the news via media. It is a communication hub of an organization. IT influences and shapes a company image, brand, reputation, goodwill and culture. Public relation connect a brand and its public via direct message or editorial media including print, radio, digital video, broadcast and social media. The main goal of public relation is to create, maintain and protect the organization’s reputation, enhance its prestige and present favorable image. As per the studies it is found that public relation have a definite impact on sales and revenue. It can be a effective part of a company’s in over all marketing strategy.
In India Public relations as a separate career option which has came into existence when lots of private or government companies and institution felt the need to market their product and services. It is highly strategic discipline that integrated with marketing to achieve business goal. It complements with integrated marketing campaign with measurable results through media relations, social media, industry analyst relations, investors relation and special events. Public relation function is to educate public about many things relevant to the organization including the business legislation and how to use a particular product.
• The purpose of public relation in india
Promotional activities, which create a strong relation and good reputation of company in public, are termed as Public Relations. The Public Relation includes the activities that help public, in understand the background and goal of a company. They also make people understand about the product or services, which they offer. The public Relations can also be defined as the practice of managing the relation between the public and company. The public relation disciplines include investor relation, internal communication, labor relation and media relations etc. Public relations can reach a large audience without the expensive cost of traditional advertising and marketing, if properly done.
The public relations run with the aim of enhancing the company’s reputation. Staffs who work for public relations are skilled publicists.
They have the responsibility to present the individual or company to the world, with best prospects. Their role can be termed as a reputation protector.
Today, business world is extremely competitive. Companies need an edge, which makes them stand out from the crowd. They must have all the qualities that make them more interesting and appealing to both public and media. Public are the consumer of product and media plays an important role in its sell. The sell and profit depends on the Company’s reputation and name. The message and the advertisement that company’s do for the promotion of their business or product, should be understandable and interesting to attract the consumers.
A public relations work for the company and helps the public and media in better understanding, how they work and what are the aims of the company.
The customer relation and the public information come under the Public Relations. They help both company and people by creating a good relation between them and by putting the clear view of the products and the services provided by the company to the consumers. They give assistance to the customers, if they are facing any problem
regarding the company’s product or service. Public Relations are the most helpful and useful departments, as they are the one who are responsible for the company’s reputation.
Public Relations help any company in achieving its full potential by providing feedbacks from the customers about their products and services. They conduct research to know about the market and the interest of the consumers. They have the excellent skill to bring up the company’s name or brand. They help in building the base to continue a company with well reputation for a long-term. The Public Relations needs an extremely hard work and it involves high expectation in results. It is important for providing the efficient way of communication and creating the good relation between the company and the consumers. Public relations are beneficial for both organization and the society.
Energy public Relation
You hear all the time from people who strongly object to Americas energy policies, but still have to fuel their cars up twice a week to get to work. Arguments rage on about the dangers of drilling off the coast of the United States versus the need to ease the countrys dependence on foreign oil. Meanwhile, prices at the gas pump creep higher and higher.
Energy is a complicated, highly-charged topic. Handling the many communication issues involved from public opinion to public policy requires someone skilled in energy public relations.
Energy public relations is a fascinating field precisely because of all of the complexities involved. The specialty can involve an incredibly wide range of responsibilities. On any given day, one energy public relations professional might be drafting material to prepare an oil company executive for a congressional hearing, just as another is drafting up content for her solar panel companys Twitter page, updating followers on the latest development in solar
technology. Yet another energy public relations professional might be fielding questions from reporters about a recent rate increase from the local electric company, explaining that recent, much-needed infrastructure investments led to the rate hike. Each responsibility is vitally important to the organizations in question because, with a topic like energy that impacts lives and wallets on a daily basis, people are listening.
One of the most important things an energy company can do is build public support and understanding. For example, communities groups may sprout up in response to an energy company drilling in their area.In this case Energy public relation can help educate the people impacted, get a better understanding of the concerns involved, and work to forge relationships with local influencers to help the client operate in as efficient and friendly a manner as possible.
Not enough can be said about the importance of energy companies having an up-to-date crisis plan. An energy public relations consultant can help ensure that the crisis plan is kept up, and that it includes a plan for new situations that may not have been issues in the past. Having learned from the mistakes of another energy company that recently ran into some considerable trouble, they can also make sure that all contact information needed in the event of an emergency is up to date.
In short, energy public relations is certain to have a staggering return on investment in terms of reputation, efficiency and crisis management.
• Key To Public Relations - Using Press Releases
A public relations company is an organization which helps in bringing the public interests and demands into notice to the company. It is the mediator between the general public and the company which is selling its products. A public relation company helps in interacting with public regarding each and every requirement of the public and it makes sure that by bringing all the requirements asked by the public into notice to the company, their demands are met.
A public relations company not only works in favor of the public but also is of a great help to the company as well in fact, it is the public relations that helps in the effective marketing of a particular product by the company, we can say a public relation company play both positive and negative role. In positive sense it interacts with the public and gets to know what the people actually want and thus, it brings all the required Information , the demands and requirements of public to the company and thus, a company knows what to produce, how to produce and how much to produce, so therefore, the important factors like quantity and quality of the product is maintained and thus, the things manufactured and not in excess so it saves time and lot of resources and thus, it proves to be very beneficial in knowing the demands of the public.
And on the other hand a public relation company can play a negative role on the part of the public.
As a PR company knows what the public want in the product, and what quality are they expecting and they know all their requirements so they market the product in such a way that it may be not that effective but still they advertise using press release in such a way that it highlights all the good qualities of the product and the public is told exactly what they want to hear and thus, a product is sold in large quantities making it a big benefit to the company.
Therefore a public relations company no doubt is very important for every organization specially those organization which cannot interact with the public themselves and get to know their requirements, but their proper functioning is also vital if a public relation company uses the press release in a wrong way there is no use of the public relations company in any organization, as it will make good profit for the organizations but it is of no use to common people or general public who wants to get their thoughts needs, and demands to be bought into notice to the organization so that they could good quality products.
• Advantages of Public Relations - PR
There are many advantages of Public Relations which help business in many ways. They are.
Credibility
Because PR communications are not perceived in the same light as advertising – that is, the public does not realize the organization either directly or indirectly paid for them – they tend to have more credibility. The fact that the media are not being compensated for providing the information may lead receivers to consider the news more truthful and credible. For example, an article in newspapers or magazines discussing the virtues of aspirin may be perceived very much as more credible than an ad for a particular brand of aspirin.
Cost
In both absolute and relative terms, the cost of PR is very low, especially when the possible effects are considered. While a firm can employ AD agencies and spend millions of dollars on AD, for smaller companies, this form of communication may be the most affordable alternative available.
Avoidance of Clutter
Because they are typically perceived, as news items, PR messages are not subject to the clutter of ads. A story regarding a new product, introduction of break through is treated as a news item and is likely to receive attention.
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Lead Generation
Information about the technological innovations, medical break-throughs and the like results almost immediately in a multitude of inquiries. These inquiries may give the firm some quality sales lead.
Ability to reach specific groups
Because some products appeal to only small market segments, it is not feasible to engage in advertising and / or promotions to reach them. If the firm does not have the financial capabilities, to engage in promotional expenditures, the best way to communicate to these groups is through PR.
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Image Building
Effective PR helps to develop positive image for the organization. A strong image is insurance against later mis-fortunes.
• Disadvantage of public relation
Perhaps, the major disadvantage of PR is the potential for not completing communication process
While PR ( public Relations ) messages can break through the clutter of commercials, the receiver may not make the connection to the source.
Public Relations may also mis-fire through mis management and a lack of co-ordination with the marketing department. When the marketing and PR department operate independently, there is a danger of inconsistency in communication, redundancies in efforts and so on.
The key to effective PR is to establish a good program, worthy of public interest and manage it properly. To determine if this program is working, the firm must measure the effectiveness of the Public Relations effort.
