PR: Vital Still?

Public Relations as an industry has long been a misunderstood because its greatest strength, subtlety, is also the very quality that keeps it far from a client’s mind. Marketers, when they are honest with themselves, know the effectiveness of a good PR campaign, but clients are drawn to the flashy excitement of a colorful creative, and who can blame them? It is easy to get swept up in an ad campaign… and besides which, a picture is worth 1,000 words right? Unfortunately, no. Being bombarded by millions of bright, clever advertisements every day has taught consumers not to trust advertising. Instead, they are relying more and more heavily on family, friends, and publications for information regarding purchase decisions (see graphic above). This week, I came across two very different opinions on the relevance of PR in the blogosphere and have posted copies of my comments below. The first post comes from Ben McConnell of the Church of the Customer Blog. Mr. McConnell is a speaker, writer, and consultant in the marketing field. His most recent research has been on the effects of word of mouth (WOM) on customer loyalty. He has also co-authored two books with his partner Jackie Huba, that have been hailed by Forbes Magazine as "the word of mouth gospel." Mr. McConnell discusses his belief that PR is generated by interactions with company employees. The second post comes from Heidi Alexandra Pollard of The Professional Communicators Coach blog. Ms. Pollard is a coach, author, and speaker with twelve years experience in the communications industry. Her post consists of an excerpt from an article discussing the philosophy behind public relations.

Post 1: Church of the Customer Blog: “PR is Useless…when actions create the real story.”

I agree with your general sentiments that the best consumer experiences (and thus those most likely to generate positive WOM) come from the “smallest of actions by the root-level people”, however I question the narrow definition by which you classify public relations as a field, as well as your dismissal of its importance. By my understanding, the term PR encompasses not only the associations connected with a brand or company as you intimate, but more importantly the process of educating and informing the public of its actions, offerings, and improvements. In such a context then, I find your assertion that “clerks, sales people, support staff, (etc.)…generate real PR” rather dismissive of the work done to promote a company by means of promotions, events, and, most especially, maintenance of healthy media relations that makes up the bulk of the work done by public relations departments. (For an overview of PR strategy, please see the graphic at right.) Your point that PR cannot change the true facts of a situation is completely valid, and in the case of Comcast, nothing short of a renewed commitment to superior service would be able to turn the tide of public disapprobation. However, without a well devised PR campaign, such a commitment might never be known. Studies show that consumers trust articles written by third parties about a company much more than they do obvious advertising by that company. Without the efforts of a skilled PR staff, information about a product or company might never reach the appropriate trusted media channels and would , therefore, receive much less attention and acceptance than if that same information were presented in a different format.

Post 2: The Professional Communicators’ Coach: “Philosophy of Public Relations”

Thank you for sharing this wonderful description of the philosophy behind public relations. It strikes me as especially poignant in its timelessness. With debates constantly raging throughout the web over whether or not PR will continue to be a relevant marketing tool, it is refreshing to be reminded of the fact that, as you quote, “the philosophy of PR is the philosophy about human kind” and as such will never become outdated. As an industry it has the lucky prospect of adapting quite well to the new decentralized environment that has become such a difficulty for the advertising world. In fact, it is uniquely suited to perform well. Public relations is fundamentally a pull marketing tactic and has had to be creative long before now in the ways it disseminates its clients’ messages. Its fundamental goals, to “inform, create ideas, persuade people, and establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance, and cooperation between an organization and its publics” are as relevant today as they were 30 years ago. The beauty of PR is that it can be adapted to any medium (so long as it permits verbal communication) and shall always provide a seemingly more credible source of information to consumers. For those in doubt of the continued efficacy of this field, I sincerely hope they will re-examine the fundamental philosophy behind public relations. Perhaps then suggestions of its imminent demise will be silenced for good.