Public relations

Public relations (PR) is the means and industry of influencing public opinion towards an organization and its products or services. Public relations clients include political parties, ruling or otherwise. PR is distinct from advertising as it is generally not aimed at selling a particular product from a particular business, and, for further comparison, propaganda, sometimes carried out for political purposes by governments. Many of the same PR techniques may be employed in all these areas. Within the industry, those involved in marketing may consider public relations a subfield of marketing; those involved in PR may disagree.

The industry today

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were approximately 122,000 public relations specialists in the United States in 1998, while there were approximately 485,000 advertising, marketing, and public relations managers working in all industries. Public relations agents or "officials," most often called "executives," deliver info to the media or directly to the public to convey messages toward wider audiences, or to specific demographic segments within the public, called "target audiences." Because similar opinions tend to be shared by a group of people rather than an entire society, research may be conducted to determine a range of things such as target audiences, appeal, as well as strategies for coordinated message presentation. PR may target different audiences with different messages to achieve an overall goal. Public Relations sets out to effect widespread opinion and behavior changes.

Related Topics:
Bureau of Labor Statistics - United States - Media - Public - Demographic - Target audiences

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Modern public relations uses a variety of techniques including opinion polling and focus groups to evaluate public opinion, combined with a variety of high-tech techniques for distributing information on behalf of their clients, including satellite feeds, the Internet, broadcast faxes, and database-driven phone banks to recruit supporters for a client's cause. According to the PRSA,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"Examples of the knowledge that may be required in the professional practice of public relations include communication arts, psychology, social psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and the principles of management and ethics. Technical knowledge and skills are required for opinion research, public issues analysis, media relations, direct mail, institutional advertising, publications, film/video productions, special events, speeches, and presentations."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although public relations professionals are stereotypically seen as corporate servants, the reality is that almost any organization that has a stake in how it is portrayed in the media employs at least one PR manager. Large organizations may even have dedicated communications departments. Government agencies, trade associations, and other nonprofit organizations commonly carry out PR activities.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Public relations should be seen as a management function in any organization. An effective communication, or public relations, plan for an organization is developed to communicate to an audience (whether internal or external publics) in such a way the message coincides with organizational goals and seeks to benefit mutual interests whenever possible.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Specialization

• food service PR
• health care PR
• technology PR
• public affairs PR
• on-line PR

}}

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As industry consolidation becomes more prevalent, many organizations and individuals are choosing to retain "boutique" firms as opposed to so-called "global" communications firms. These smaller firms typically specialize in only a couple of practice areas and thus, often have a greater understanding of their client's business. And because they deal with certain journalists with greater frequency, specialty firms often have stronger media contacts in the areas that matter most to their clients. Added benefits of smaller, specialty firms include more personal attention and accountability and as well, cost savings. This is not to say that smaller is always better, but there is a growing consensus that specialty firms offer more than once considered.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A number of specialties exist within the field of public relations, including:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• crisis management
• reputation management
• issue management
• investor relations and labor relations
• grassroots PR (sometimes referred to as astroturf PR)