What is PR?

Vanda Raimundo Public Relations and Communication Top Contributor

What's the best definition of Public Relations for you? Do you feel your clientes feel ambiguous
about what that means?

Understanding Public Relations scoop.it

Integrate PR efforts with your ongoing marketing activities. There are simple, time-effective
ways that you can amp up your PR efforts, while continuing to effectively market with email,
social media, and other campaigns.

Comments

Carlos A. Agatep, Albert N. Mitchell II and 1 other like this

16 comments Jump to most recent comment

Mojisola

Mojisola Obabori

Associate Analyst at The Quadrant Company

hello, I am really trying to understand what PR really is and how to apply it practically.
Please help!

Correo de P. likes this

Kjetil

Kjetil Bjrnsrud
 Erfaren kommunikatr med ledererfaring p jakt etter nye utfordringer

Public Relations is about strategy and about managing an organizations publics. Publics
are people/organizations that have goals or consequences up against the organization, or
vice versa; people/organizations that the organizations have goals or consequences for.
PR - or strategic communications - is not about 'publicity', but about reaching the
organizations goals with communications (dialogue) as the main tool. These tools are
many and diverse. Press/media relations is a part of this, but not as important as
'publicists' like to think.

Denise B., Correo de P. and 1 other like this

Trond

Trond Borge Ottersen

Seniorrdgiver hos Nucleus

One must also understand that PR is something every organization have - it is practically
impossible not to have relations with publics. Relations exist, however weak and difficult
to define. So the question is what you should do to manage these relations, and to develop
new relations, in a beneficial way for your organization. Doing nothing could be ok, the
relations might remain good and even become more beneficial, but "trusting in luck" is
not a good strategy...

Denise B., Kjetil B. like this

tabitha

tabitha bunshak

Information and Public Relations Officer at National Universities Commission

PR is an interesting aspect of running an organisation. It is all about applying strategies

through the use that could facilitate smooth management, for the achievement of a set
goal/goals which are enshrined in the Vision and Mission Statement. As earlier defined
by professionals, these PR strategies supposed to be deliberate, planned and sustained in
 order to achieve results. It should however, be noted that PR practice is not about
'blowing the trumpet' or 'mirror image making' where the rot is covered for ulterior
motive. Unfortunately, some have erroneously, come to identify PR practice with
journalism. Though, they are like Siamese twins, each has its modus operandi. While the
reporter is after news making occurrences not mindful of what they generate, the PR man
is after creating concord between an organization and its publics-both internal and
external. However, in the desire for good image making, some organisations concentrate
more on their external publics to the detriment of the internal publics, who are supposed
to be the litmus test for effective PR. A good PR practice therefore, is one that starts from
the internal.

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Robert T.

Robert T. Jordan

Educator, Media Consultant, Event Planner, Strategic Communicator, Speaker, Author,

Photojournalist

Top Contributor

Vanda, PR has evolved over time from an intangible service that sought to increase public
awareness of an individual, a business or other entity . Initially, "any publicity was good
publicity" because it drew attention to the stakeholder. Thus, "propaganda," which was a
perfectly good descriptor, became a pejorative term for deception.

Now, our clients want more than awareness--they want tangible, measurable results.
Thus, we have evolved into the age of strategic communications...and SC has a broader
goal of defining desired results or effects while precluding unexpected or undesirable
effects or outcomes.

We no longer can rely just on a media release...or an interview to create favorable

"awareness" -- we need a strategy to define our vision of what the "outcome" should
be...and then we need to employ a number of tactics to implement that strategy.

Grace
 Grace Akonnor APR

Communications consultant at G A A Associates

Top Contributor

Public Relations is a constant strategic communication with an organization's publics to

maintain good relationship and good image in very simple terms.

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Olusanya

Olusanya Awosan

Chairman/CEO

The old idea of PR as a deliberate,planned and sustained communication efforts towards

establishing and maintaining mutual understanding between an organisation and its
publics cannot be considered as obsolete.

Correo de P. likes this

Olusanya

Olusanya Awosan

Chairman/CEO

The old idea of PR as a deliberate,planned and sustained communication efforts towards

establishing and maintaining mutual understanding between an organisation and its
publics cannot be considered as obsolete.

Correo de P. likes this



Olusanya

Olusanya Awosan

Chairman/CEO

The old idea of PR as a deliberate,planned and sustained communication efforts towards

establishing and maintaining mutual understanding between an organisation and its
publics cannot be considered as obsolete.

Olusanya

Olusanya Awosan

Chairman/CEO

The old idea of PR as a deliberate,planned and sustained communication efforts towards

establishing and maintaining mutual understanding between an organisation and its
publics cannot be considered as obsolete.

Correo de P. likes this

Olusanya

Olusanya Awosan

Chairman/CEO

The old idea of PR as a deliberate,planned and sustained communication efforts towards

establishing and maintaining mutual understanding between an organisation and its
publics cannot be considered as obsolete.


Olusanya

Olusanya Awosan

Chairman/CEO

The old idea of PR as a deliberate,planned and sustained communication efforts towards

establishing and maintaining mutual understanding between an organisation and its
publics cannot be considered as obsolete.

Correo de P. likes this

David

David Rosen

Strategic/Marketing Communication Consultant and Writer/Photographer

Public relations is a communications discipline/practice that seeks to enhance visibility,

promote understanding, enhance reputation and build relationships that will help an
organization achieve its goals over the long haul. In this respect differs from marketing
communication, which seeks engage audiences and generate responses and transactions.

In recent years, marketing has all but subsumed public relations. In many and perhaps
most organizations, PR and marketing are now taken to mean essentially the same thing,
and the narrow and short-term goals of marketing often push aside the broader and
longer-term goals of PR.

Another LinkedIn conversation on this topic asserts that public relations is a marketing
tool. Some say yes, but a majority says no, PR is broader, and I agree.

Yes, PR provides tools that can be used to support marketing, but PR cannot properly be
defined as a marketing tool. It is also a tool to support government/community
relations, investor (and other stakeholder) relations, media relations, employee relations
and more. At its best, its also a management process that helps organizations make
decisions and take actions to enhance their reputation, avoid costly missteps and respond
effectively in crisis situations.
 Nevertheless, I must say in all candor that many of my clients and former employers do
not fully understand what public relations is and what value it adds. In this respect there
is considerable truth and value in what Robert Jordan said previously in this thread,
although I dont think he is entirely correct when he defines traditional as an intangible
service that sought to increase public awareness of an individual, a business or other
entity. It is an intangible service, but its about much more than increasing public
awareness.

Chi T., Correo de P. like this

Dick

Dick Pirozzolo, APR

Principal & Founder at Pirozzolo Company Public Relations

PR is the MANAGEMENT function that brings organizational goals into concert with
public values.

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David

David Rosen

Strategic/Marketing Communication Consultant and Writer/Photographer

Dick, that's a great theoretical definition of PR at its best, as I stated, but it does not
describe what it is operationally and what most practitioners actually do and why they do
it.

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Lebeko "Cassey"

Lebeko "Cassey" Madikgetla

Technical Expert: Intergovernmental Relations at the Housing Development Agency

My humble understanding: (1) Reduce the organization to an individual, who also has
relations with others due to being in the same environment. (2) Does the individual
(organization) understand the interests of the significant / business relevant others who
matter to him/her? (3) Do these others understand, and what perception do they have of,
the role he/she plays in the same environment? (4) How does the individual
(organization) go about reconciling his/her interests and those of the others?
The others are mainly organizations or organized groupings and the principle is that like
an individual, organizations happening to be in the same environment, business and
general, somehow relate to each other and build reputations; wittingly and unwittingly!
PR brings consciousness to the effort and thus ethics (strategic) or expedience (short-
term).