What is Public Relations?

Personally or collectively, we all want ‘good PR’.

We know that, by having ‘good PR’ we are more likely to achieve an objective.

On a personal note, that objective could be... more friends. For a business, it may be greater awareness and market influence, more credibility, new contracts, project support or higher ticket sales.

Although people desire good PR, most don’t know how to go about getting it.

Enter the Public Relations professional.

The art and practice of Public relations is the total of solutions and experience the PR professional can bring to help a business build - and maintain- a positive relationship with its customers or the wider public.

It helps define the relationship an organisation enjoys with members, a company has with its employees or an author has with readers.

Public relations can determine the rapport a politician has with voters. It may even define whether they stay in post.

The practice of public relations, done well, requires in-depth knowledge of the modern media landscape, how it works and how best to work its levers. A network of media contacts helps the Public Relations professional get a client’s message across to the widest or the most desired audience, depending on the objective.

Unlike paid media (advertising), the Public Relations professionals earns editorial coverage for the client in target publications, honing the message and tone to communicate with the client’s target audiences while giving the media what they want. Exposure in reputable outlets, governed by editorial Codes (‘earned media’) builds trust and confidence between a client and their target audience.

Public relations can involve writing and disseminating press releases and statements that the media will run, generating impactful pictures and videos that paint a thousand words. It can involve articulating a company’s vision and values through internal digital channels or developing important case studies for websites. It can be handling news enquiries. It can involve speech-writing, message refining, briefing for interviews and even rebuilding shattered reputations in the face of crisis or unexpected negative events (see What we do).

The Public Relations professional must be an astute ‘listener’, understanding and analysing news and societal trends in order to maximise opportunities for clients; positioning them on the right side of the narrative.

Why Public Relations?