Public relations can be defined as:
Public image makes up 63% of the value of most companies today. When there’s a mishap or when the company’s reputation breaks down, it affects the company’s entire corporate existence and its affiliates. It takes around 4 to 7 years to overcome a negative reputation. Hence it has become important for a company to invest in good public relations strategies to maintain a beneficial relationship with the public. Show
Contents What Is Public Relations?Public relations is a strategic communication process companies, individuals, and organisations use to build mutually beneficial relationships with the public. A public relations specialist drafts a specialised communication plan and uses media and other direct and indirect mediums to create and maintain a positive brand image and a strong relationship with the target audience. In simple terms, public relations is a strategised process of managing the release and spread of organisation-related information to the public to maintain a favourable reputation of the organisation and its brands. This process focuses on –
What Is The Objective Of Public Relations?The main objective of public relations is to maintain a positive reputation of the brand and maintain a strategic relationship with the public, prospective customers, partners, investors, employees and other stakeholders which leads to a positive image of the brand and makes it seem honest, successful, important, and relevant. Functions Of Public RelationsPublic relations is different from advertising. Public relations agencies don’t buy ads, they don’t write stories for reporters, and they don’t focus on attractive paid promotions. The main role of public relations is to promote the brand by using editorial content appearing in magazines, newspapers, news channels, websites, blogs, and TV programs. Using earned or free media for promotion has its own benefits as information on these mediums aren’t bought. It has a third-party validation and hence isn’t viewed with scepticism by the public. The functions of public relations managers and public relations agencies include:
Types Of Public RelationsAccording to the functions of the public relations department/agencies, public relations can be divided into 7 types. These are:
Public Relations ExamplesPR stunts or strategies range from donating to an affected community to running a brand activation stunt in a mall. Some of the examples of successful public relations campaigns are: Google’s Fight Ebola CampaignThe outbreak of the Ebola virus in 2014 was critical as it was spread among many countries and took many lives. Google, to help the people in need and to build up a positive brand image, started a donation campaign where it pledged to give $2 for every $1 donated to the cause through its website. The public relations strategy attracted the media attention and resulted to be a huge success as Google raised $7.5 million. Paramount Pictures The Ring Publicity StuntParamount Pictures, to promote its new horror franchise, The Ring, and to get more user attention, took a step forward and planned a publicity stunt where the protagonist haunted the people in a real-life scenario. The film’s most iconic scene of Samara crawling out of the TV set was recreated in a TV showroom where the protagonist came crawling out of the hidden compartment behind a TV screen and scared people. The stunt went viral and the video received over 10 million views on Facebook. Just Eat & A Sick CustomerJust Eat is an online food ordering application that lets users add comments to their orders to inform the delivery person about the right address or to leave the order to the neighbour etc. One unwell customer tried her luck to see if she could get the delivery person to stop en-route and get her some medicines. She wrote:
The delivery person delivered both and this public relations stunt went viral over the media. Facebook Paris Support Profile PicturesIn response to the tragic shooting in Paris in 2015 where at least 129 people died, Facebook added a France flag filter which the users could apply to their profile pictures to support France. Millions of people applied this filter and appreciated this effort by Facebook. Advantages Of Public Relations
Disadvantages Of Public Relations
Importance Of Public RelationsWith over 63% of the value of most companies dependent on their public image, public relations has become a very important topic today for numerous reasons: Builds Up The Brand ImageThe brand image gets a boost when the target customers get to know about it through a third-party media outlet. A good public relations strategy help the brand builds up its image in the way it wants to. It’s OpportunisticPublic relations strategies make the brand capitalise on the opportunities. Google was in the news for donating to Ebola. Facebook promoted LGBTQ rights. Coca-Cola did a PR stunt against obesity. These opportunities even attract many influencers to share the brand story to their followers. Promote Brand ValuesPR is used to send out positive messages which are in line with the brand’s value and its image. This builds up the brand’s reputation. Strengthen Community RelationsPR strategies are used to convey that the brand is as much part of society as the target audience. This builds up a strong relationship of the brand with the public. Public Relations vs Marketing vs AdvertisingPublic relations deals in communicating expertly drafted messages using non-paid/earned media to build mutually beneficial relationships with the public. Advertising, on the other hand, is a paid communication message intended to inform people about something or to influence them to buy or try something. Marketing is the umbrella under which all the divisions dealing with creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging dwells. That is, PR is the subset of marketing. Everything a PR department does is determined by the marketing goals set by the organisation. Public Relations Advertising Marketing Definition Public relations is a marketing tool of communicating expertly drafted messages using non-paid/earned media to build mutually beneficial relationships with the public. Advertising is the action of calling public attention to an idea, good, or service through paid announcements by an identified sponsor. Marketing refers to activities a company undertakes to create, communicate promote, deliver, and exchange the offerings that have value for the customers. Driven by Relationship driven Communication driven Company/Brand growth driven Communication Two-way One-way Two-way Importance To build a favourable relationship with the target audience. To communicate to the target audience about a certain offering, action, work, or other brand-related information Identify and cater to the customers’ needs to survive and thrive. Go On, Tell Us What You Think!Did we miss something? Come on! Tell us what you think about our article on public relations in the comments section. Aashish Pahwa A startup consultant, digital marketer, traveller, and philomath. Aashish has worked with over 20 startups and successfully helped them ideate, raise money, and succeed. When not working, he can be found hiking, camping, and stargazing. What is public relations Mcq?Public relations (PR) is a set of techniques and strategies for controlling how information about a person or corporation is communicated to the general public, particularly the media.
What does public mean in public relations?In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere.
What are public relations called?Public relations (PR) is the set of techniques and strategies related to managing how information about an individual or company is disseminated to the public, and especially the media.
What is public relations quizlet?Public relations def: the management of relationships between an organization and the publics that affect its success.
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