The major concept and activities of public relations as defined by professional groups and individuals are, counseling based on understanding of human behaviour and characteristics, by foreseeing future trends and predicting their consequences. It involves researching into public opinion, attitude and expectations and advising on truth and full information. It is also aimed at preventing conflicts, misunderstandings and promoting mutual respect and social responsibilities, with the desire to harmonise the private and the public interests. In addition, it promotes goodwill with staff, suppliers, customers and the general public.
From the above, it is clear that PR covers all aspects of communications. But in recent times there is also this new concept popularly known as integrated marketing communications. The integration being employed by corporate organisations and communications consultants is to have a one-way approach to facilitate effective communications. But this involves the techniques of marketing, advertising, sales, promotion, media relations and their packaging.
As a management function, a public relations department is always located at the corporate headquarters and its staff are occupied with various publics, including stockholders, employees, government agencies, community leaders and the media on whom its success or failure depends.
Other related departments, like marketing, on the other hand, can be sited at the headquarters of the organisation with other units at the company’s branch offices. Its officers are fully engaged with retailers, wholesalers, industries and prospective customers at major marketing events such as trade fairs and exhibitions.
Based on their interwoven relationship in performance of duties, public relations and other related professions could complement the efforts of each other in product publicity, which involves various efforts to publicise specific products in corporate communications (internal and external communications) for the purpose of promoting understanding of the organisation.
As the advertiser uses the instrument of financial power to say and get his messages across, so also the propagandist employs the instrument of state, political might to hoodwink the target audience in wrongly believing and accepting whatever is dished out from the powers-that-be. Propaganda is the propagation of indefensible action through falsehoods and tricks with the sole aim of influencing the target audience to pursue a predetermined line of action. This type of communication is used by bad governments and exploitative organisations who, for selfish reasons, fail to address the real issues at stake.
To a large extent, public relations practice, like journalism, believes strongly in fairness, objectivity and style. Even though many journalists have found a place in the public relations environment, their experiences cannot be an automatic licence into the image-making field, if they fail to adhere to those basic principles underlying the practice. The best a journalist can do in an organisation with his background knowledge is in media relations and issuing of press releases, which are just few of the functions of Public Relations.
Since the public is becoming more knowledgeable, wise and sometime aggressive on products and services, public relations supports the activities of other related professions. It creates goodwill among the public by creating awareness, maintaining credibility, minimising competition and correcting wrong impressions about products and services. In general, PR comes in different stages of product tests, launch and trade fair, among others.
The claim that products speak for themselves is untenable in the modern society; public relations provide effective communication for the enlightened environment for sales to take place. Enquiries and information boxes are provided by serious PR units to respond promptly and adequately to public complaints on sales activities. As it supports marketing and sales, so also it assists greatly in scripting for adverts, which may be inevitable in special project adverts like supplements, corporate profiles, public announcements, annual statement of accounts and rejoinders, which are all within the ambit of public relations.
From the foregoing, therefore, public relations involves awareness campaigns and promotional activities, which include events sponsorship, social responsibility, facility visits, community relations, spokesperson, publication of in-house journals and presentation of corporate gifts and lobbying with reason (Government Relations), as well as placing institutional and corporate advertising for some obvious reasons in the media.
In a nutshell, PR is the protector of the entire organisation and what it stands for. It plans all its activities at promoting, protecting and projecting a good image for the organisation, its personalities and services through the establishment, continuous maintenance and sustenance of mutual and beneficial relationship with its various publics.