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Home >> Mass Media >> Public Relations >> Public Relations - Introduction
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Public Relations
What is Public Relations? Public relations is the art of getting along with the people we constantly come in touch with. Public relations simply mean “Putting your best foot forward” by:
Your attitude towards yourself and others.
Your knowledge of your subject to help other people.
Your communication skills.
Your efficiency in dealing with people and getting things done as quickly as possible.
Shouldering responsibilities bestowed on you or as expected of you.
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By being courteous and considerate towards others.
The concept of Public Relations is misunderstood by most of us. For some it is simply a means to get a lot of publicity for their products and services. Public relations as a concept is directly linked to public opinion i.e. how do the people react and what do they think of our working? Whether they look forward to us for our services? In short, are we linked by the people for what we are dong for them? Do they feel justified for paying for the services we render i.e. does the general public echo our claim that our decisions and policies have public interest in mind. In other words, do we receive a positive feed back?
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In terms of career opportunities, Public Relations is broadly practised for product publicity, corporate publicity, to have better relations with the government, to publish corporate publications like newsletter, bulletins, magazines for employees, etc. and to counter the negative criticism, if any. Job opportunities exist in private, public sector companies including tourist and hospitality industry, airlines, etc.
According to Dilip Cherian, most corporates today have realised that regardless of expertise in production, marketing or finance, image is critical to make people buy a product, invest in a share, or even enter into a business alliance. If corporate images are managed well, they achieve objective faster and at a lower cost all around. Today’s public relations, therefore has to be a hardcore management professional with matching communication skills. This will enable him, or more often her, to balance corporate interests and public understanding of corporate actions.
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When one looks up close, public relations (PR) is quite complex in its contents. It is a combination of public affairs, media relations, research and analysis and much more.
Corporations use PR to tackle a variety of communication and image management opportunities ranging from issue management, strategy planning to public affairs.
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In India, public relations has come a long way from a one-man operation whose role in life was to haunt the corridors of power, organise gifts, fawn on journalists or wait at the airport for the chairman with a bunch of flowers. Public relations in India is today developing into a multi-crore industry with an estimated annual growth rate of 40 per cent.
The client’s objectives are analysed and a customised programme is devised to improve his image. This obviously means much more than merely issuing press releases. It encompasses the complete process of enhancing and projecting the corporate image and credulity through newsletters, (both internal and external) product and corporate brochures, advertorials and speeches.
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It involves the refining of all the key messages a company wishes to sent out and even training the company spokespersons to speak in a coherent manner. In some companies, the public relations executive is also the company spokesperson. So a great voice, some poise and a charming smiles may be an asset as you plan to enter the industry. Managements often have no time to keep abreast of industry and related developments. By constantly monitoring the media, public relations people can keep track of trends and anticipate events which are of importance to the company.
Knowledge of public affairs and of the process by which to manage them is therefore an increasingly significant aspect of the overall public relations approach. This is especially true of government regulation and legislation as well as well as other forms of social and political pressures. PR is a high growth and high profile career today.
While the tangible rewards may match other careers, the intangible rewards include opportunities to interact with the movers and shakers of the world and media. Everything a PR person does is on behalf of top management, so you have the satisfaction of knowing that your work is of consequence and usually taken rather seriously. PR professionals now function at the topmost level of management. Realising the importance of corporate PR, managements have started raising public relations to the level of policy making. Until recently, few public relations people had moved up to this level. But today there are some public relations professionals with high powered corporate designations as vice president.
If you are more alert, more energetic and more communicative than the average person you have a chance. It also helps to have exceptional communication skills and a high awareness of the business and political environment. Computer literacy is a definite plus. There is no room in the business for people who want the nice orderly 9am to 5am routine. The hours are long, stressful, chaotic and spent fighting to beat three deadlines at the same time. But the work is far from dull or repetitive. There are always new challenges and whirlwind changes to cope with.
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