Public Relations (PR)

Public Relations (PR) is a single, broad concept, made up of many different activities, most of which are outlined in this lesson. Public Relations covers any purposeful communication between an organisation and its publics that aims to generate goodwill.

Public relations as part of the marketing communications mix

Publics, put simply, are an organisation’s stakeholders. PR is proactive and future-orientated, and has the goal of building and maintaining a positive perception of an organisation in the mind of its publics. This is often referred to as goodwill.

It can be difficult to see the difference between marketing communications and PR, since there is a lot of crossover, which makes PR a tricky concept to learn. It is also worth noting that PR is often expensive, not free, as some definitions suggest – PR agencies are not cheap. Below are some of the activities and approaches that are usually considered under the PR banner.

Speeches, presentations and speech writing

Key figures within an organisation are often called upon to speak at conferences, award ceremonies and industry gatherings. PR company officials, working with company managers, often write these speeches and design corporate presentations. This is part of a planned and coherent strategy to build goodwill with publics: presentations can be designed and pre-prepared by a PR company, then delivered by company executives.

Corporate literature

Corporate literature includes financial reports, in-house magazines, brochures, catalogues, price lists and any other piece of literature produced by the company. It communicates with a variety of publics. Financial reports, for example, are of great interest to investors and the stock market, since they give all sorts of indicators of the health of a business – a company’s Chief Executive Officer will often write the foreword to an annual financial report, using it as an opportunity to put the business case to the reader.

In-house magazines are used for internal marketing, communication and change management within an organisation, and are targeted at internal publics. Customer magazines, by contrast, help organisations communicate with external publics (mainly customers) on topics such as good news stories, product launches and customer clubs. A company website is also a vital marketing communications and PR tool, conveying information to publics on how to contact the organisation, key personnel, products and services, corporate history, financial reports, and any other planned and targeted information. Promotional items such as pens, mugs and mouse mats, carrying a company’s logo and contact details, are a further, smaller-scale way to build goodwill between an organisation and its publics.

Interviews and photo-calls

It is important that company executives are available to generate goodwill for their organisation. Many undertake media training, learning how to deal with journalists and how to behave in front of a camera. Well-known figures such as Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Richard Branson (Virgin) have historically been effective at proactively dealing with the media in a positive way. Interviews with the business or mass media allow a company to put its own perspective on matters that could otherwise be left open to misleading interpretation in the public domain.

Organising events and facility visits

Corporate events are used to build goodwill with publics, both formally and informally. A formal event could be a manufacturer inviting employees from its distributors to visit its manufacturing plant for a training day – this has a direct business payoff. A more informal event, such as a day at the races or a short trip abroad where clients are entertained at the company’s expense, has a more indirect business payoff.

Facility visits – to a factory such as a chocolate factory, or to a facility such as a nuclear power plant – also help generate a positive perception of an organisation. A factory visit lets loyal customers and other interested parties see for themselves what is behind a well-known product; a visit to a more sensitive facility gives concerned or misinformed publics the chance to see for themselves what happens behind closed doors, letting the organisation address a delicate topic in a planned, proactive way. Public buildings, such as parliament buildings or churches, are also included under facility visits.

Sponsorship and charitable donations

Sponsorship is where an organisation pays for its product or service to be associated with an activity or event, generating goodwill through that association. Charitable donations, where a company gives to good causes without expecting a direct commercial return, represent true corporate philanthropy.

Publicity events and ‘stunts’

Publicity events fall under the banner of guerrilla marketing. Here, an organisation seizes a particular moment to capture public attention. Publicity events and stunts are used by companies and by private bodies, including pressure and political groups – a well-known example was a publicity stunt by Fathers For Justice, a British pressure group for divorced fathers, in which individuals dressed as superheroes scaled Buckingham Palace in London.

Product placement in media

Product placement is an interesting and original use of PR, with many examples across film and television. A car manufacturer might place a car in a movie so that the hero drives it, or a watch brand might ensure its product is shown clearly on screen, underscored by billboards displayed in the city where the film is set.

Lobbying government bodies

Lobbying takes its name from the ‘lobby’ area of the British Houses of Parliament, where lobbying traditionally took place. In the past, lobbying meant catching the eye of a Member of Parliament in order to persuade them to take up a particular cause or argument. Today, lobbying firms are hired by organisations or individuals with a specific cause to promote – for example, a charity might hire a lobbying firm to press for a change in the law around pharmaceuticals or armaments.

Press or media releases, conferences, contact and entertainment

Press or media releases, conferences, contact and entertainment are pivotal PR strategies. In the past, the press – newspapers and magazines – were the primary target; today, the whole media industry is included, from radio and television to websites and new media. Media releases are drafted by a PR company, for example to report financial information ahead of the release of a company’s official financial reports. Media conferences are called, often at short notice, to inform the media directly about a current event that has just happened or is about to happen. Media contact includes interviews with key personnel and can extend to speeches and presentations prepared by a PR company. Entertaining the press or wider media is also undertaken, when trying to secure maximum, favourable coverage.

Summary

Public Relations brings together a wide range of activities – from speeches and corporate literature to sponsorship, events, lobbying and media relations – all aimed at building and protecting goodwill between an organisation and its publics. Because PR overlaps so heavily with other parts of the marketing communications mix, the easiest way to recognise it is by its goal: managing perception, proactively and over the long term, rather than driving an immediate sale.