Comet Branding - Branding | PR | Social Media

Defining Execllent PR

The Encyclopedia of Public Relations defines PR as “a set of management, supervisory and technical functions that foster an organization’s ability to strategically listen to, appreciate and respond to those persons whose mutually beneficial relationships with the organization are necessary if it is to achieve its missions and values.”

Hopefully that didn’t scare you off. That definition is rather convoluted and pretty contrived, so let’s simplify. Public relations helps organizations or people credibly and strategically relate and communicate with a desired group(s).

There are many roles of roles of PR. A leading one is media relations, and it differs from advertising and marketing in that it is earned and not purchased – and is seen as more credible. If you have the money, you can walk into the offices of The New York Times, and buy a full page ad and put a big picture of your smiling face on it that reads, “Hi, my name is (insert your name here) and I’m a really great person who you can trust. Let’s be friends.”

Now, I don’t doubt that you’re a great and trustworthy person, and some people will see that ad and agree to be your friend. But, a larger group will have doubts. They’d be skeptical. Their doubts would be understandable and justified because they know that you paid for that ad and know you would never, ever say anything bad about yourself.

This is a major hang-up of paid advertising and marketing. There will always be skeptics because they know you are the one controlling the message and paying for the placement.

Now, if we look at that same objective – for you to make friends – and instead use PR, how would this situation be different? The role and function of a PR practitioner or agency would be to meet with you and learn about the who, what, when and where of your wonderfulness. A great PR practitioner will dig deeper and find some amazing stories and talk to a bunch of your friends and family to add rich color and validation to your story. This person would be able to uncover the how and “why it matters,” which will help create the best possible story to propel your brand and connect with customers in the best manner possible.

Then, that PR practitioner will work with a third party – The New York Times in this case – and share all of the amazing stories and reasons why you’re so terrific. That reporter will likely do their own research to affirm the stories and if things work well, they will tell their readers about you. In this case, the journalist would be providing credible, third-party validation of your story. People do not expect the media to lie. Because of the added credibility of the journalist, there will be fewer skeptics and you will likely make more friends.

Public relations or any marketing element should never be used as the singular way to communicate with your potential customers. It’s best to use a mixed and varied approach that includes multiple forms of advertising, marketing and public relations.

This is just a small anecdotal snapshot of how PR can help you and your business. Public relations helps foster credibility and enables rich, brand storytelling, while costing much less than its marketing channel buddies. Beyond this, PR is evolving and is proving time and time again, its worth as an integral component in business-wide strategic planning and a key player in helping the company achieve success, impact branding, help determine product mix and grow sales.

Tags: Definition of Public Relations, Iverson Language Associates, PR, Public Relations, Steven Iverson