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What is PR?

Definitions and the Industry

Day to Day in PR

Is IPR for you?

Definitions and the Industry

Public Relations Definitions:

Public relations is... about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you.

Public relations practice is... the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.

’Organisation’can be a government body, a business, a profession, a public service or a body concerned with health, culture, education - indeed any corporate or voluntary body large or small.

’Publics’are audiences that are important to the organisation. They include customers - existing and potential; employees and management; investors; media; government; suppliers; opinion-formers.

’Understanding’ is a two-way process. To be effective, an organisation needs to listen to the opinions of those with whom it deals and not solely provide information. Issuing a barrage of propaganda is not enough in today’s open society.

The Public Relations Industry

Public relations takes many forms in different organisations and comes under many titles, including public information, investor relations, public affairs, corporate communication, marketing or customer relations. To add to all the confusion, not all of these titles always relate accurately to public relations, but all of them cover at least part of what public relations is.

At its best, public relations not only tells an organisation’s story to its publics, it also helps to shape the organisation and the way it works. Through research, feedback communication and evaluation, the practitioner needs to find out the concerns and expectations of a company’s publics and explain them to its management.

The UK PR industry is the most highly developed in Europe. The rate of growth in the number of jobs in PR at all levels has been higher than that of any management function over the last fifteen years. This high growth rate reflects the recognition given to the public relations function and increasingly, the individual holding overall responsibility for public relations with major companies is part of the senior management team.

A study by the DTI & BDO Stoy Hayward carried out in 1994 estimated that the number of people working in a public relations role in the UK was around 48,000. The annual income of PR consultancies in the UK was estimated at Ј300 million with a total industry turnover of Ј1billion. We estimate an industry growth of 15% since the study was completed. In short, public relations is a flourishing management function, charged with the responsibility of managing an organisation’s reputation, credibility and corporate image.

Day to Day in PR

Public relations activities cover the following:

• Programme planning - analysing problems and opportunities, defining goals, recommending and planning activities and measuring results. Liaising with management and clients throughout.
• Writing and editing - since public relations work often involves trying to reach large groups of people, the method most often used is the printed word: shareholder reports, annual reports, press releases, film scripts, articles and features, speeches, booklets, newsletters.
• Media relations - developing and maintaining a good working contact with the media. This involves applying knowledge of how local and national papers, magazines, radio and television work as well as the special interests of journalists.
• Corporate identity - developing and maintaining an organisation’s identity via corporate advertising, presenting the company’s name and reputation rather than its products.
• Speaking - communicating effectively with individuals and groups including meetings, presentations, and platform participation.
• Production - brochures, reports, film and multi-media programmes are important means of communication. Co-ordination of studio or location photography. Sound knowledge of techniques for supervision is necessary.
• Special events - news conferences, exhibitions, facility celebrations, open days, competitions and award programmes are all used to gain the attention of specific groups.
• Research and evaluation - the first activity undertaken by a public relations practitioner is usually analysis and fact gathering. A PR programme should be evaluated as a continuing process and measurement is used to decide future strategy.

Is IPR for you?

Public Relations encompasses many different types of activities and like many jobs you will only find out if you are suited to a career in PR through experience in the field. However, according to a survey undertaken by Cranfield School of Management and the CIPR, the following skills and qualities are important if you are considering working in public relations:

Ability to:

• analyse management needs
• counsel management
• identify causes of problems, analyse future trends and predict their consequences
• research into public opinion, attitudes and expectations and advise on necessary action
• plan, organise and co-ordinate tasks
• monitor and follow up
• set goals and objectives
• motivate and influence others
• work effectively with journalists
• communicate effectively with individuals and groups in meetings and through presentations
• establish financial controls
• write and edit press releases and reports
• identify major social issues affecting organisations and to resolve conflict
• work with others

Major requirements for success are common sense, energy, curiosity, open-mindedness, flexibility, creativity, stamina, organisation skills and, of course, literacy.