PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public

relations (PR) is the practice of managing the flow of information between an organization and its public. Public relations gains an organization or individual exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment. Because public relations places exposure in credible third-party outlets, it offers a third-party legitimacy that advertising does not have. Common activities include speaking at conferences, working with the press, and employee communication.

 PR

can be used to build rapport with employees, customers, investors, voters, or the general public. Almost any organization that has a stake in how it is portrayed in the public arena employs some level of public relations. A number of specialties exist within the field of public relations, such as Analyst Relations, Media Relations, Investor Relations or Labor Relations.

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) claimed: "Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other." According to the PRSA, the essential functions of public relations include research, planning, communications dialogue and evaluation. Edward Louis Bernays, who is considered the founding father of modern public relations along with Ivy Lee, in the early 1900s defined public relations as a management function which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interests of an organization, followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.

Today, "Public Relations is a set of management, supervisory, and technical functions that foster an organization's ability to strategically listen to, appreciate, and respond to those persons whose mutually beneficial relationships with the organization are necessary if it is to achieve its missions and values. Essentially it is a management function that focuses on two-way communication and fostering of mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its public.

 Building

and managing relationships with those who influence an organization or individual's important audiences has a central role in doing public relations.

METHODS, TOOLS AND TACTICS

Public relations and publicity are not synonymous but many PR campaigns include provisions for publicity. Publicity is the spreading of information to gain public awareness for a product, person, service, cause or organization, and can be seen as a result of effective PR planning.

PUBLIC TARGETING
A fundamental technique used in public relations is to identify the target audience, and to tailor every message to appeal to that audience. It can be a general, nationwide or worldwide audience, but it is more often a segment of a population. Marketers often refer to economy-driven demographics, but in public relations an audience is more fluid, being whoever someone wants to reach. There is also a psychographic grouping based on fitness level, eating preferences and so on.

In addition to audiences, there are usually stakeholders, literally people who have a "stake" in a given issue. All audiences are stakeholders (or presumptive stakeholders), but not all stakeholders are audiences. For example, a charity commissions a PR agency to create an advertising campaign to raise money to find a cure for a disease. The charity and the people with the disease are stakeholders, but the audience is anyone who is likely to donate money.

LOBBY GROUPS
Lobby groups are established to influence government policy, corporate policy, or public opinion. An example of this is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, which influences American foreign policy. Such groups claim to represent a particular interest and in fact are dedicated to doing so. When a lobby group hides its true purpose and support base it is known as a front group.

SPIN
In public relations, "spin" is sometimes a pejorative term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in one's own favor of an event or situation. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, spin" often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics. The techniques of "spins, include selectively presenting facts and quotes that support one's position Another spin technique involves careful choice of timing in the release of certain news so it can take advantage of prominent events in the news.

MEET AND GREET

Many

businesses and organizations use a Meet and Greet as a method of introducing two or more parties to each other in a comfortable setting. These generally involve some sort of incentive, usually food catered from restaurants, to encourage employees or members to participate.

Publicity events, pseudo-events, photo ops or publicity stunts. The talk show circuit. A PR spokesperson (or his/her client) "does the circuit" by being interviewed on television and radio talk shows with audiences that the client wishes to reach. Books and other writings Blogs After a PR practitioner has been working in the field for a while, he or she accumulates a list of contacts in the media and elsewhere in the public affairs sphere. Direct communication (carrying messages directly to constituents, rather than through the mass media) with, e.g., newsletters in print and e-letters. Collateral literature, traditionally in print and now predominantly as web sites. Speeches to constituent groups and professional organizations; receptions; seminars, and other events; personal appearances. A DESK VISIT is where the PR person literally takes their product to the desk of the journalist in order to show them what they are promoting.

PHILOSOPHY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public relations is about man, its fundamental function is to enlighten, educate, emancipate, energize, empower, elevate and enrich man. It can empower an individual through the dissemination of relevant information (education). Therefore the philosophy of PR is the philosophy about human kind. It is important to know the nature of man, this will help in knowing the means of educating man. Because man is not just a biological organism but an animal endowed with reason whose highest dignity is in the intellect.

Public relations as a management function helps in defining and achieving organizational objectives and philosophy, adapts to a changing environment and facilitate organizational change. PR practitioners communicate with all relevant internal and external publics in the effort to create consistency between organizational goals and societal expectations. Their duties go far beyond the skills of communicating like their counterparts in other functional areas of their organization, must be able to influence policy decision and developing strategies to implement them. PR informs, creates ideas, persuades people and makes things happen.

It establishes and maintains mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation between an organization and its publics. Public relations is fundamentally a pull marketing tactic and has had to be creative long before now in the ways it disseminates its clients messages. The beauty of PR is that it can be adapted to any medium (so long as it permits verbal communication) and shall always provide a seemingly more credible source of information to consumers.