Public Relations

Public relations is a set of actions taken to persuade or improve the

general public’s ideas, opinions, or attitude regarding a particular

individual, organization, product, company, or Web site. In many

cases, PR is executed through the manufacturing of news. By having

a story reported through the media, a company’s message becomes

news, not advertising. This kind of third-party reporting is seen as

unbased and is often more meaningful to customers than messages

delivered through advertising.

A large percentage of the news you read or see is generated through

the eff orts of PR personnel. When you hear about a new Microsoft

product upgrade on CNBC, or an upcoming U2 concert tour

discussed on MTV, or even about the mayor of a small town who

is planning to run for re-election, chances are that the information

began its life as a PR objective.

PR executives use a number of methods to facilitate their work,

including:

• Arranging special events, such as parties for product launches or luncheons for media representatives at an industry trade show.
•  Writing and distributing news releases (summaries of a newsworthy event or information relating to a specific company, product, brand) to the appropriate media outlets.
•  Facilitating interviews between the media and key executives or spokespeople at a given brand.

PR funnel

Why PR works

PR is a behind-the-scenes way to influence public opinion. One of the

primary benefits of PR is that in the eyes of the consumer, the marketer’s

message is coming from neutral sources. Advertising is clearly

biased; a print ad for a Web site that says the site offers the widest

selection is not necessarily believed by the market. Consumers realize

that the claim is likely to be highly exaggerated. Furthermore, empty

advertising claims of being “the best” or “the largest” or the “the leading”

often fall on deaf ears of consumers have heard it all before.

By comparison, statements that proclaim a site to have the widest

selection or a product to be more useful than competing products are

far more believable if they come from an impartial news source that

reports the information. Most consumers believe that the information

they read in newspapers, magazines, media sites, or blogs was

deemed newsworthy by a journalist or editor. The praise is therefore

seen as unbased and more believable. This believability factor is

one reason that aggressive PR campaigns are a popular marketing

method. It should be noted, however, that while the editorial coverage

is typically not paid for, marketers often pay PR agencies to ensure

that positive news makes its way to the journalists’ desk.

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How the web has changed PR

Of course, PR can be used to promote a Web site, and, like any other

marketing form, it is likely to drive consumers to visit the Web site of

a brand they read or hear about and take an interest in. However, the

Web has forced traditional PR to evolve as more consumers look to

the blogosphere for news and information, and street journalists pass

information across the Web through social media tools. Today, PR

professionals work to reach their online audiences in different ways,

including helping to establish blog sites for their clients and maintaining

a scheduled list of appropriate topics for their clients to post blogs

about. In addition, PR professionals will seek out already established

and well-read blogs that are popular with the brand’s target market

and look for opportunities to leave comments.

Marketers also have the ability to increase the eff ectiveness of their

PR from within their own site.