Since time immemorial, ‘public relations (PR)’ is used by different countries and cultures as an art and science which reshaped the relations between the institutions and their publics. In the ancient civilizations, this discipline was not developed but it was named differently by using the terms - information, winning people with positive communication, etc.
During the period of European Renaissance, public relations played a vital role when people like Da Vinci and Michelangelo gave expression to the utmost divinity of this life through their art., which greatly influenced other cultures.
With the twists and turns of time and the intermingling of different civilizations of the world with each other, the concept of PR also went through revolutionary changes. Today what we see is perhaps the most evolved form of communication. 'Public Relations' today is an evolving discipline like any other emerging social science discipline in a University.
PR is an extremely important and a mighty marketing practice that can support and help companies to achieve their objectives, from building their brand equity, boosting employee morale to increasing demand for their products and services.
Be it a political organisation, or an individual or a commercial organisation, everyone needs a properly laid out PR plan and a strategic communication process that makes sure that their message is properly conveyed to their target audiences.
Nonetheless, in order to achieve these results, organisations must learn to use PR far more strategically as compared to what most are doing today. It is the need of the time that organisations quickly do their SWOT analysis and start working harder to reap the full business value that PR has to offer. Most importantly, they should avoid jumping directly to the execution phase and should instead spend some time calculating exactly what they want to achieve.
PR is all about giving shape to public perception. Without a focussed PR Plan it's impossible for a PR Practitioner to focus on its core objectives. Just like other vital functions of marketing, PR should get due importance and attention. Devising and creating a PR strategy is quite similar to constructing a house. Before you begin, you need a blueprint that maps out the design and layout of the house.
There is no sense figuring out whether you want a wood door or a glass door without first deciding what your overall floor plan is going to look like and how you will use the space. Writing a press release, holding a press conference, launching a company website, or pitching a story to the media are useless efforts without first mapping out the way these efforts threaded into a broader business strategy.
By jumping straight into PR tactics, companies end up engaging in a series of isolated efforts that don't contribute to the larger goal. As a result, they end up spinning their wheels and wasting their precious resources on efforts that do little to move their business forward.
There is a saying that 'God lies in small phrases'. It is actually very true. Today every organisation wants huge positive coverages of their achievements and write-ups on their leadership team. It is imperative for every organisation to know about its own brand positioning in the national or the international market.
For instance, as a PR Professional I got the confirmation of a very well-known business magazine that they would like to feature the CEO of one of my client, a global company. When briefed about this development, CEO was very happy but the very next second he asked me, "Will they give me a Cover PageIJ" I had no reply to that. How could I explain the CEO that the cover page of that magazine takes into consideration only the established giants or any big political leader like the Finance Minister of the country.
In the strategic PR plan, even a small quote of the organisation in a national or vernacular newspaper matters a lot. That is how gradually the organisation becomes familiar with the requirement of its reader or its target audience along with the knowledge that whether it's content is compatible with the editorial requirement of a particular media.
Most of the times PR specialists representing different organisations miss many relevant industry stories because of less observation of news on daily basis. Reading and analysing the news on a regular basis is most important. It will give them an added advantage to become a part of the story, if that story is upon the same industry which their organisation belongs to.
PR is just not the 'cherry on the top of the cake' which many organisations think. So when it comes to reduction of marketing costs, PR is the first function to get affected and this is certainly very unfortunate as in times of crisis it is the most needed activity for an organisation to survive and grow. It is the high time for the global communities and leaders to understand the very intrinsic value of PR.
(The writer is a national media consultant and his views are personal)