"Public relations is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and its target audiences".
Public Relations Institute of New Zealand
There are numerous variations on this statement but, essentially, PR is about relationships between an organisation and its environment, be it business, banking, bread-making or customers.
There are five key elements of the PRINZ definition of PR.
- Deliberate: PR requires on-going commitment in order to achieve the desired objectives.
- Planned: Activities are planned using a strategic approach and not an ad hoc or on-off system.
- Sustained: The effects of PR are cumulative, therefore they tend to be medium to long-term rather than short-term.
- Mutual Understanding: Communication is a two-way process; there is often a gap between the messages sent out by an organisation and the understanding of them by target audiences.
- Target Audiences: Every organisation has a number of target audiences, each of whom come from that mass called the "general public".
PR aims to inform and educate. Its persuasive ability rests not on emotion but on facts, sensible information and genuinely helpful communication. It usually backs up and aids existing administration efforts rather than dominating them.
A planned programme directed at target audiences is normally specific and private to each. This contrasts with most advertising campaigns which are broadly based and highly visible. PR is low-key (generally speaking) and it is not common for the best PR programme to be seen as an organised effort.
It has been said that the ultimate practice of PR is to "assist an organisation to deserve, acquire and retain a good reputation".
Deserve - because no amount of good communication can or ever should attempt to overcome poor business or operational performance.
Acquire - because most people or organisations probably have little or no understanding of the client or what it is trying to do.
Retain - because efforts to establish a good reputation cannot be turned on and off like a tap. Once a good reputation has been gained it requires as much effort to maintain or enhance that position as it did to get there in the first place.
No organisation can choose whether or not to have PR. However, it can decide to think about its reputation, to plan, control and implement co-ordinated programmes of activity to create the most favourable attitudes amongst the audiences on whom it depends for success.
Essentially, PR is about communicating. It's all about MAM:
Message - what is it the organisation wishes to say to its various audiences
Audience - who are the people it wishes to speak to. While they may warrant the same message, the means of communicating it might differ
Methodology - what media will you use to communicate with the audiences. Will it be video, press release, corporate profile, or an analyst's briefing. |
