Public relations competence areas
Today, public relations activity is present in more and more fields. The growth of the relationships degree of the organizations with the environment and also the growth of the social responsibility of organizations led, at the end of the XX st century, to an integration never known before, of the public relations in other areas of activity. In this respect, Wilcox and his colleagues identify the principal areas of public relations work , including corporations, several types of nonprofit organizations, education, government, entertainment, sports, and travel.
• CORPORATIONS . A substantial majority of public relations practitioners work to further the goals and objectives of profit-earning organizations. They do so either as members of a public relations department or as a part of a counseling firm employed by the corporation. The primary areas of corporate public relation work are the following:
• Reputation - protection and enhancement . The role of PR practitioners involves preserving and building goodwill for a company by demonstrating to the public that the firm is an efficient producer of well-made products, an honest seller of goods and services, a fair and equitable employer, and a responsible corporate citizen.
This role, performed in many ways, uses a variety of strategies and communication tools to build a positive image of the company or what we also call the corporate identity.
• Information service. Part of building a company's reputation is the role of supplying information to a variety of publics. One important area is media relations. Practitioners send news releases to the media in order to inform the public about earnings, acquisitions, new products, and so forth. They hold news conferences and they sometimes arrange interviews for reporters with company executives. Practitioners must respond to inquiries from customers, distributors, government officials, and community residents.
• Marketing communications. People in the field work closely with the trade press and with the general media as well, in placement of stories about product development and use of products. They write articles and brochures, organize product promotions, create tie-ins with special events, and arrange press interviews. Public relations practitioners work closely with the marketing department. When the quality and the safety of a company's product are under severe criticism, public relation practitioners must use a wide range of techniques either to recall the product or convince the public that the product is safe and a recall is unnecessary.
• Investor relations. The corporate function of investor relations is also called stockholder communications . Essentially, it means providing information to individuals who own stock or have special interest in the corporation. Practitioners elaborate annual reports, quarterly reports mailed with dividend checks, and other printed materials are sent to stockholders on a regular basis.
• Community relations. A company is a citizen in a local community, and such citizenship implies certain obligations. Corporations often take an active role in supporting community organizations. Good relations include an effort (made by practitioners ) to assure company compliance with environmental regulations and to work with other civic groups to improve the quality of life.
• Employee relations. An open flow of information from management to employees, and from employees to management is recognized as essential by most corporations. To achieve this, the public relations department works closely with the personnel or human resources department.
• Special events management. A relatively new role for public relations practitioners is special events management, as companies increasingly sponsor everything from rock concerts to marathon races. Corporate sponsorship of such events requires public relations staff members who have an eye for detail, organization, logistics, and publicity opportunities.
• Issues management. The role of issues management, often carried out by public relations practitioners , is the management process of determining how various public issues will affect the company. R. Howard Chase, a counselor specializing in issues management, says there are five steps in the process: 1) identifying the issue, 2) analyzing it, 3) ascertaining options open to the company, 4) initiating a plan of action, and 5) evaluating the results.
The 8 types of public relations activities just described also take place, in varying degrees, within other types of organizations.
• NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS . Significant among the communication channels that tie contemporary society together are organizations made up of individuals or separate business sharing strong common interests-financial, professional, social, cultural, or intellectual. Usually, these organizations advance the collective interests of their members. Public relations is essential to their success, for without public understanding and support, goals and objectives will not be realized.
There are five major types of associations that involve PR practitioner's work:
- Trade associations- consist of member companies that produce the same type of product or provide similar services. Although they may compete for the consumer's dollar as individual business, they band together in an association to further common interests. The food industry provides examples of how trade groups work together to promote a generic product. The California Milk Advisory Board carried out an extensive public relations campaign to convince customers that real butter is “100 percent natural” and lower in fat content than most health-conscious Americans believe. The objective, of course, was to woo consumers away from margarine, which has seriously eroded the butter market.
- Labor Unions. To serve members and build favorable public recognition, labor organizations must rely on public relations extensively. New members must be sought and new locals formed. Before contact negotiations, union leadership must learn what the members desire and in turn keep them informed about negotiating strategy. Just as in corporate structures, two-way communication is essential. Labor organizations participate heavily in political affairs, from federal to the local level, by endorsing and financing candidates and taking strong positions on issues. Political participation requires a wide variety of public relations activities.
- Membership Organizations. Millions of adults and youths belong to nonprofit organizations that provide them with services, training, recreation, advice, and education. Prominent organizations of this type are the American Association of Retired People, the Boy Scouts of America, and the American Automobile Association.
- Professional and cultural societies. Members of a profession band together in associations for their mutual benefit, including the exchange of information, just as trade associations do. The public relations work of professional societies includes: legislative campaigns, publication of information at skilled professional and general readership levels, membership recruitment and general work to strengthen the profession's stature in the public mind. Associations of health professionals such as the American Medical Association and the American Dental Association conduct vigorous campaigns to promote good health practices.
Cultural societies resemble professional groups, except that the common bond of members is interest in a cultural activity rather than career development and stature in the profession. Chicago Historical Society and San Francisco Symphony are examples. They use public relations practitioners to publicize their programs, arrange event openings, recruit new members, and raise funds.
- “Cause” Organizations. Still another group of organizations consists of those seeking to influence the public and generate support for their points of view on a variety of issues. Representative of these categories are the American Association of Retired Persons, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Greenpeace. Because raising public awareness is the first task, cause groups often stage events to generate media coverage. The demonstration in Washington by AIDS victims and their supporters during the early months of the Clinton administration is an example of this method. Arrests often follow, but so do media publicity and public awareness, some of it antagonistic.
• SOCIAL , HEALTH AND RELIGIOUS AGENCIES . Nonprofit organizations that serve social welfare, health, and religious needs call extensively on their staffs of PR practitioners to publicize their work and to raise money.
Social service and religious agencies have four areas in which PR techniques are essential: role promotion, client services, fund-raising and enlistment of volunteers. The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army are examples of social service agencies. On a different level are such health organizations as the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society, which warn the public about the dangers of the diseases they combat.
Religious organizations use public relations practice in much the same way that social services do. Their concerns are to increase the role of religion in contemporary life and to provide related social services. Some church groups also take active roles in such social issues as abortion and alcoholism.
- ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS AND TRAVEL. Promotion of entertainment events is a many-faceted activity, intensely competitive because many events compete for the consumer's time and money. Exposure in the print and electronic media is fundamental. The success of theoretical engagements, fairs and exhibitions, and entertainment centers such as Disney World depends on the work of their public relations' practitioners.
Professional college sports is another category in which energetic public relations efforts are necessary and every professional team has its public relations specialist. Closely related to entertainment and sports is travel public relations, because the travel industry also is competing for the public's recreation dollars.
- PUBLIC AFFAIRS, MILITARY AND POLITICS . Many men and women pursue public relations careers by working for government agencies, the military services and political figures.
The massive administrative and legislative structure of federal, state and local governments needs to explain its work to the taxpayers who support it and to help them obtain the services it provides. This work is done by thousands of specialists, usually called public information officers or public affairs officers. Best known of these is the presidential press secretary at the White House, who has a sizable staff of assistants.
The military services have an elaborate public information service network. Its principal functions are to provide information about military policies and operations, maintain good relationships between military installations and their surrounding communities and distribute news about individuals in service. The way in which the U.S. military forces presented and distributed information about the Persian Gulf War between allied coalition and Iraq is a graphic example of government public affairs in operation. The carefully designed content of the military briefings and the manner in which military commanders limited reporting by media correspondents strongly influenced the picture of war operations received by the public.
Political leaders frequently have personal public relations aides, although the function of these assistants may be obscured by a title such as “administrative assistant”. Personal image-building is a constant preoccupation of politicians. When a politician runs for major office, the press secretary is a key figure of the candidate's staff. Often a candidate hires a public relations firm that specializes in political campaigns to help plan strategy.
- EDUCATION . Public relations programs are essential to the well-being of universities and colleges. Practitioners on campus either conduct or assist in several important functions that further the school's cause among students, alumni and the public. In large universities, the public relations staffs needed to perform these functions are substantial in size. Among the areas in which collegiate public relations practitioners may be involved are: news releases, publications, alumni contact work, fund-raising, student recruitment and internal public relations with faculty and student body.
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