What Does Public relations Mean
We explain what public relations or PR is, its functions, objectives and strategies. Also, examples of successful campaigns.
What is public relations?
Public relations (often abbreviated as PR) are a certain type of corporate communications that, coordinated and sustained over time , seek to strengthen the strategic links between a company or organization , and its different stakeholders.
In other words, it is a communication management that seeks to maintain the relationships between the organization and its external interlocutors in the best possible state . To do this, it provides them with information , exchange opportunities and fosters the so-called loyalty (preferential client relationship).
Public relations constitute a set of strategies of different types. Its objective is to promote, sell, promote or make the interests of the organization known to its clientele and the general public, in a planned way. Therefore, he uses techniques and concepts typical of marketing and design , but also of sociology , psychology , politics and journalism .
Public relations is also a self-contained discipline and field of study . The Austrian-American publicist and inventor Edward Barnays (1891-1995) invented them in the early 1900s. Its importance during the Great Depression that began in 1929 was significant, as a mechanism to claim business work and its contribution to the economic system.
It can help you: Organizational structure
Definition of public relations
According to some authors and scholars of the subject, we can define public relations as:
- “… A characteristic managerial function that helps establish and maintain lines of mutual communication , understanding, acceptance, and cooperation between an organization and its audiences; It involves the management of problems or issues, it helps managers to stay informed and sensitive to public opinion; defines and emphasizes the responsibility of managers to serve the public interest; it helps managers stay ahead of changes and use them effectively, understanding them as a warning system to anticipate trends ”(Rex Harlow).
- “… The managerial function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on which its success or failure depends” (Scott Cutlip and Allen Conter).
- “… The administrative function that evaluates public attitudes , identifies an organization's policies and procedures with the public interest, and executes a program of action and communication to generate public understanding and acceptance” (John Marston).
Functions and objectives of public relations
Public relations interests are very diverse and distinct, but we can roughly summarize them as follows:
- Manage corporate or organizational identity . This means that PR ensures that the different departments of the company use the same language and project a unified image of it to the public. Which implies:
- Management of external communications. In other words, everything that leaves the organization and is consumed by the client or the general public.
- Management of internal communications . That is, the way in which the parts of the company communicate with each other.
- Management of public opinion. Such as press monitoring, strategic consultations, Internet and social media management , strategic marketing, etc.
- Corporate social responsibility. Thus , the organization's commitment to the community of which it is a part is known, not only as a way of projecting a positive image of its work and its vision and mission , but also as a mechanism to give back to society part of the resources that the company obtains from it.
- Event organization. Often the PR achieve their objectives through the production and organization of various types of events, fairs, invitations, celebrations, etc.
Importance of public relations
Public relations are an inseparable part of business and organizational practice today. They can be a way of bringing companies closer to their public, or a mechanism to "humanize" some large corporations whose operation is more like that of a machine.
Of course, this can involve ethically questionable work , such as washing the face of companies whose economic activity is irresponsible or harmful. In other cases, it may be part of the communication strategies of a positive organization that would not otherwise be as well known and would not receive enough support and visibility.
Public relations strategies
The general PR plan and design of an organization or company is known as a public relations strategy, that is, the set of tools and strategies that it prefers or chooses to put into practice , facing a target audience and a social context and certain commercial.
According to Edward Bernays himself, founder of PR, such a project should take into account the following steps:
- Define business objectives for the public.
- Extract from them a set of achievable goals in the short, medium and long term.
- Research and understand the target audience as much as possible.
- Establish a strategy related to all of the above.
- Schedule the actions that make up the strategy over time.
- Execute the schedule of activities based on schedule.
Examples of recognized campaigns
Some successful and internationally recognized PR campaigns are:
- Starbucks. The famous chain of coffee shops has long been the spokesperson for a responsible consumption message , which involves the purchase of coffee beans from local cultivators in Africa , Asia and America , instead of from large raw material chains , as well as the reduction of non-biodegradable materials in its processes. This is explained to us as soon as we enter their premises and is even part of their decoration.
- Wendy's. Focusing its link with users on social networks , and especially on Twitter, this well-known hamburger and fast food transnational became known for its willingness to reward users for their loyalty and collaboration with the content on this social network. even giving one-year vouchers for hamburgers if a message from its users reached a certain number of replies.
- Nike. Although out of date, the communications and marketing campaign of the North American sports shoe company Nike was very famous at the time for its association with the world of basketball and its patronage of great stars such as Michael Jordan, under the slogan of Just do it. ("Just do it"). This is perhaps one of the most successful corporate image and advertising campaigns in the West in the 1990s.