I remember a summer evening, a long, long time ago, when my mother responded to a polite query by a visiting friend: What does your husband do?. The unsuspecting visitor was oblivious to the winded discussion she had just started. For the next half an hour, my mother tried to explain to the utterly confused lady that my father does not work in advertising. Soon after, both of them gave up trying to understand each other and quietly sipped on tea until another topic of polite conversation presented itself.
That was 12 years ago, in India. My father was, and is to this date, a public relations practitioner.
Even today, in 2009, some of my friends end up asking me a similar question: What does public relations really do? Luckily, the field is a lot more mature, and I am slightly more knowledgeable about it than I was when I was 11.
As my chosen field of work, at least for the next 15 years or so, I thought it deserved a detailed blog post. So for all those who are curious about it, here are your answers -- I hope.
Let me start by telling you what it's not. It is not about dining journalists. It is not a fully developed field. It is not propaganda. It is not deception. It is not lying. It is not bribery. It's not about sucking up to journalists. It is not manipulation.
If and only if you are willing to believe that, should you read on.
Now, let me tell you what it is. And this is going to take a while.
I think the keyword to the definition of public relations is: relationships. What we do is create, nurture and maintain relationships that may or may not bring our client any monetary profit. What they will bring to our client are benefits that cannot be shown on any balancesheet -- trust, loyalty and commitment.
Public relations is about common sense, and I can't even begin to tell you how much of a skill that is. At the strategic level, it is all about doing the same things you would do to foster relationships in your personal life. The values that drive relationships don't change, whether they exist in the personal or the public sphere of life. People are motivated and affected by the same things everywhere and understanding that is key to doing a good job at public relations.
Public relations is not just about the media. For the longest time ever, this profession has been treated as buttering up journalists so that they write in favour of your client. Such an equation shows both public relations and journalism in a very dismal light. At the same time, I am happy to say that it is a fast-fading phenomenon. People are slowly waking up to the reality that media coverage is just one way of getting your message out there. It is a means to an end -- it is, most certainly, not the end.
It is a strategic management function that helps strengthens the flow of communication within and outside an organization. It is what keeps the employees happy. It is what dictates how your target group is going to react to your new product. It is what will make you apologize (or not) in a crisis. It is what will make the neighbourhood respect you. It is what dictates every move of your company -- not just what it is going to be, but also how it will be carried out. Having said that, let me also say that public relations is definitely more important than you think it is. No doubts about that.
For these reasons, and many more, the industry is waiting for the world to acknowledge and accept the public relations function for what it is. For now, it remains largely ignored and highly misunderstood. The good news: it won't stay like this for long, especially because of the communications-educated crop that is heading into the field.
As someone who hopes to make a mark in it, I can only say that I'm cheering for a profession that has a long, exciting way to go and to all those who are going to take it there.
