What Is Public Relations? PR Functions, Types, & Examples
by Aashish Pahwa · Last updated on August 17th, 2019,
Public image makes up 63% of the value of most companies today. When there’s a mishap or when the company’s reputation breaks down, it affects the company’s entire corporate existence and its affiliates. It takes around 4 to 7 years to overcome a negative reputation. Hence it has become important for a company to invest in good public relations strategies to maintain a beneficial relationship with the public.
Table of Contents
What Is Public Relations?
Public relations is a strategic communication process companies, individuals, and organizations use to build mutually beneficial relationships with the public.
A public relations specialist drafts a specialized communication plan and uses media and other direct and indirect mediums to create and maintain a positive brand image and a strong relationship with the target audience.
Objective Of Public Relations
The main objective of public relations is to maintain a positive reputation of the brand and maintain a strategic relationship with the public, prospective customers, partners, investors, employees and other stakeholders which leads to a positive image of the brand and makes it seem honest, successful, important, and relevant.
Functions Of Public Relations
Public relations is different from advertising. Public relations agencies don’t buy ads, they don’t write stories for reporters, and they don’t focus on attractive paid promotions. They rather promote the brand by using editorial content appearing on magazines, newspapers, news channels, websites, blogs, and TV programs.
Using earned or free media for promotion has its own benefits as information on these mediums aren’t bought. It has a third party validation and hence isn’t viewed with scepticism by the public.
The functions of public relations manager and public relations agencies include:
- Anticipating, analysing, and interpreting the public opinion and attitudes of the public towards the brand and drafting strategies which use free or earned media to influence them.
- Drafting strategies to support brand’s every campaign and new move through editorial content.
- Writing and distributing press releases.
- Speechwriting.
- Planning and executing special public outreach and media relations events.
- Writing content for the web (internal and external websites).
- Developing a crisis public relations strategy.
- Handling the social media presence of the brand and responding to public reviews on social media websites.
- Counselling the employees of the organization with regard to policies, course of action, organization’s responsibility and their responsibility.
- Dealing with government and legislative agencies on behalf of the organization.
- Dealing with public groups and other organizations with regard to social and other policies of the organization and legislation of the government.
- Handling investor relations.
Types of public relations
According to the functions of the public relations department/agencies, public relations can be divided into 7 types. These are:
- Media Relations: Establishing a good relationship with the media organizations and acting as their content source.
- Investor Relations: Handling investors events, releasing financial reports and regulatory filings, and handling investors, analysts and media queries and complaints.
- Government Relations: Representing the brand to the government with regard to fulfilment of policies like corporate social responsibility, fair competition, consumer protection, employee protection, etc.
- Community Relations: Handling the social aspect of the brand and establishing a positive reputation in the social niche like environment protection, education, etc.
- Internal Relations: Counselling the employees of the organization with regard to policies, course of action, organization’s responsibility and their responsibility. Cooperating with them during special product launches and events.
- Customer Relations: Handling relationships with the target market and lead consumers. Conducting market research to know more about interests, attitudes, and priorities of the customers and crafting strategies to influence the same using earned media.
- Marketing Communications: Supporting marketing efforts relating to product launch, special campaigns, brand awareness, image, and positioning.
Public Relations Examples
PR stunts or strategies range from donating to an affected community to running a brand activation stunt in a mall. Some of the examples of successful public relations campaigns are:
Google’s Fight Ebola Campaign
The outbreak of Ebola virus in 2014 was critical as it was spread among many countries and took many lives. Google, to help the people in need and to build up a positive brand image, started a donation campaign where it pledged to give $2 for every $1 donated to the cause through its website.
The public relations strategy attracted the media attention and resulted to be a huge success as Google raised $7.5 million.
Paramount Pictures The Ring Publicity Stunt
Paramount Pictures, to promote its new horror franchise, The Ring, and to get more user attention, took a step forward and planned a publicity stunt where the protagonist haunted the people in a real-life scenario.
The film’s most iconic scene of Samara crawling out of the TV set was recreated in a TV showroom where the protagonist came crawling out of the hidden compartment behind a TV screen and scared people.
The stunt went viral and the video received over 10 million views on Facebook.
Just Eat & A Sick Customer
Just Eat is an online food ordering application which lets users add comments to their orders to inform the delivery person about the right address or to leave the order to the neighbour etc.
One unwell customer tried her luck to see if she could get the delivery person to stop en-route and get her some medicines. She wrote:
Will you please stop in the Spar on the way and get me some Benylin cold and flu tablets and I’ll give you the money. Only ordering food so I can get the tablets. I’m sick xx.
The delivery person delivered both and this public relations stunt went viral over the media.
Facebook Paris Support Profile Pictures
In response to the tragic shooting in Paris in 2015 where at least 129 people died, Facebook added a France flag filter which the users could apply to their profile pictures to support France. Millions of people applied this filter and appreciated this effort by Facebook.
Advantages Of Public Relations
- Credibility: Public trusts the message coming from a trusted third party more than the advertised content.
- Reach: A good public relations strategy can attract many news outlets, exposing the content to a large audience.
- Cost effectiveness: Public relations is a cost effective technique to reach large audience as compared to paid promotion.
Disadvantages Of Public Relations
- No Direct Control: Unlike paid media, there isn’t a direct control over the content distributed through the earned media. This is the biggest risk of investing in public relations.
- Hard To Measure Success: It is really hard to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of a PR campaign.
- No Guaranteed Results: Publishing of a press release isn’t guaranteed as the brand doesn’t pay for it. The media outlet publishes it only if it feels that it’ll attract its target audience.
Importance Of Public Relations
With over 63% of the value of most companies dependent on their public image, public relations has become a very important topic today for numerous reasons:
Builds Up The Brand Image
The brand image gets a boost when the target customers get to know about it through a third party media outlet. A good public relations strategy help the brand builds up its image in a way it wants to.
It’s Opportunistic
Public relations strategies make the brand capitalize on the opportunities. Google was in the news for donating to Ebola. Facebook promoted LGBTQ rights. Coca-Cola did a PR stunt against obesity.
These opportunities even attract many influencers to share the brand story to their followers.
Promote Brand Values
PR is used to send out positive messages which are in line with the brand’s value and its image. This builds up the brand’s reputation.
Strengthen Community Relations
PR strategies are used to convey that the brand is as much part of the society as the target audience. This builds up a strong relationship of the brand with the public.
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This article is wholesome in simplicity,with a vast view of the topic covered and comprehensive language to enhance learning too!GOOD job!
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This is so so good. The way different examples are detailed in explanation of helping a leh-man understand what the topic is about. its really rich and nice. I look forward to having so many of my questions answered through this page. Thank you very much.
We are glad you liked it. Thank you!
Can i get references on this if there are any
You can also add the history of PR in India and in the world. From where PR was started. Growth of PR in India. Principles of PR. Major difference between Advertising, Publicity and PR. How PR is different from Propaganda etc.
Perhaps the article you have written was simple and in well mannered.
If you need any help in writing the above topic,just mail me.
Very nyc information nd everything iz covered in a simple nd easy way it helped meh to revise for my exam nd thanqqqq🙂🙂🙂
Hello Swanpil i may need your help . I appreciate your contribution, i was recently employed for PR and im clueless kkkk
Very good and helpful 🌷❤️
Hello Prunella
We’re glad you liked it.