PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public relations (PR) is a profession that includes the functions of communication, community relations, crisis management, customer relations, employee relations, government affairs, industry relations, investor relations, media relations, mediation, publicity, speechwriting, and visitor relations. The first World Assembly of Public Relations Associations, held in Mexico City in August 1978, defined the practice of public relations as "the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organizational leaders, and implementing planned programs of action, which will serve both the organization and the public interest."

With the advancement of the profession, in 1988 the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) adopted a short definition, "Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other." In 1994 the British Institute of Public Relations offered its definition: "Public relations practice is the discipline that looks after reputation with the aim of earning understanding and support, and influencing opinion and behavior." Although these definitions vary to some extent, they all imply that the fundamental functions of PR are communicating and improving the behavior of an organization and the perceptions of that behavior by its clientele.

PUBLIC RELATIONS, ADVERTISING, AND PROPAGANDA

People sometimes confuse public relations with advertising and propaganda. Actually, they are different.

Advertising

The purpose of advertising is to stimulate consumers' desires for a product or service and to motivate them to buy that product or service. Designing advertisements, preparing verbal and graphical messages, and buying time and space from the mass media for their exposure are the tasks of advertising. When necessary, PR professionals will use advertising as one approach to building goodwill and creating proper public attitudes toward their organizations. Tobacco companies' goodwill ads and television commercials are one example of such a use.

Propaganda

The purpose of propaganda is to generate conditioned reflexes among people in order to replace their reasoned actions with the conditioned reflex. Propaganda is used to brainwash people with a doctrine and then mislead them, and obviously the term carries a negative connotation. Some commonly used propaganda devices are:

Name calling, which creates a positive or negative characterization, such as "he is wise and conscientious," "he is a liar," or "she has character!"
Emotional stereotyping, which evokes designed images, such as "housewife," "foreigner," or "geek"
Bandwagon, which creates a theme of "everyone else is doing it, and so should you"
Card stacking, which provides distorted information by telling only one side of the story

PUBLIC RELATIONS RELATED ACTIVITIES

To carry out its fundamental functions of communicating and improving the behavior of an organization and the perceptions of that behavior by its constituents, PR professionals practice these major activities: researching the market and public opinion, planning and implementing PR campaigns, and counseling management.

Researching the Market and Public Opinion. The foundation of good PR strategies is conducting research on the market, public opinions, and circumstances on which public opinions are formed. Research enables PR professionals to identify an organization's target market and to discover what they think. Survey questionnaires and structured interviews are useful methods for collecting data from the potential market and analyzing and interpreting public opinions, attitudes, issues, and circumstances that might affect the operations of the organization positively or negatively. In some cases, PR professionals can gather information about their market and public opinion from secondary data, that is, data collected and published by others, such as government agencies, industry groups, professional organizations, research institutions, and universities.

Planning and Implementing PR Campaigns. Based on these research findings, a PR professional is able to plan and implement campaigns for bringing an organization's mission and objectives to the attention of its constituency, enhancing two-way communication and mutual understanding, and influencing or changing public opinions and policies. Planning and implementing a PR campaign involves setting objectives, budgeting, recruiting and training staff, developing persuasive messages, selecting appropriate media, working with the media, monitoring the campaign, coordinating various relations, evaluating outcomes, and managing the resources needed to perform all of these activities.

Counseling Management. Experienced PR professionals also act as advisers or counselors to organizations, which are committed to fulfilling their organizational citizenship and social responsibilities. Such professionals have developed reputations for anticipating potential issues that may affect public opinions and policies, helping organizations prepare for and deal with crisis communication, assisting organizations in establishing and maintaining good government relations, and helping organizations improve labor-management relations.

THE VALUE OF PR TO BUSINESS AND SOCIETY

PR serves a purpose for a variety of organizations, including public and private corporations, trade unions, foundations, hospitals, industry groups, professional associations, schools, and universities, as well as government agencies. PR professionals provide organizations with new opportunities because they interact with more internal and external audiences than anyone else in the organizations. They serve as the eyes and ears of top-level executives to keep them informed of what is really happening "out there," thereby overcoming executive isolation. PR professionals also help organizations manage changes through effective communication internally and externally, thereby reducing resistance and criticism from employees and other constituencies and increasing organizational competitiveness.

In addition, PR helps this complex, pluralistic society reach decisions and consensus more effectively by contributing to mutual understanding among individuals and organizations. It serves to bring private and public policies into harmony.

Finally, efficient public relations campaigns protect organizations when they are in crisis. A classic example is when Johnson & Johnson faced a crisis in late 1982 when an unknown murderer laced Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules with cyanide, causing the deaths of seven people in Chicago. With the counsel of Burson-Marsteller (a PR firm), the company responded to the crisis in a very effective and expeditious manner. As a result, Johnson & Johnson's PR campaign was so successful that not only did its Tylenol products make a successful market comeback, but its public image as a socially responsible company was greatly enhanced.

ETHICS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

PR professionals and their organizations have ethical responsibilities to at least these publics: clients, news media, government agencies, educational institutions, consumers, investors, communities, competitors, and critics. As the PRSA Member Code of Ethics 2000 states, PRSA members are committed to ethical practices. The code is designed as a guide for PRSA members to carry out their ethical responsibilities.