You misunderstand it; she misunderstands it; he misunderstands it. Almost everyone misunderstands it. Those two words, public relations, take on more meaning than any ambiguous or abstract form of visual art could stimulate, and it is ironic that the profession has this image problem as it is employed to shape and maintain the perception of others.
Propagandists, spin doctors, liars, bloodthirsty sharks, and the harshest descriptor of all, sleazy bastards—these are just some words used to qualify PR professionals and this bad rap is unfounded, or at least, based on hasty assumptions from people not informed on the subject.
A quick search on the internet will bring up over 100 different results stating misconceptions about public relations, nonetheless, with the first-ever World PR Day drawing close – on July 16, to be precise – we have chosen to focus on the positives by highlighting why it should be given more consideration as a practice than it currently receives, and why it should play an integral role with regards to business and governance.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
Avoiding Avoidable Crisis
Oh, to be a fly on the wall when executives held certain managers by the scruff of their necks, screaming in their faces and asking them what the idea was when Kendall Jenner handed a public officer a Pepsi in the much-ridiculed ad. What started as a simple idea ended up being one of the biggest crises in Pepsi’s history. Although the ad was well-meaning, it struck the wrong chord with the audience it sought to appeal to. Above all, the message trivialized the Black Lives Matter movement, making the protests seem like a fun block party as opposed to a serious fight for change. Not only did Pepsi abandon their brand persona, but they also inserted themselves into a situation in which they had no established connections.
A more recent case of avoidable crises was the controversy surrounding the Netflix-acquired French film Cuties. The streaming service began creating awareness about the upcoming original ahead of its September 9 debut by dropping a poster that sparked severe backlash, with many accusing it of sexualising preteen girls. The now-removed controversial poster showed the film’s four middle school-aged stars in outfits baring their legs and midriffs, striking suggestive poses. Following widespread backlash from mostly American audiences, Netflix issued an apology for “inappropriately” promoting the movie, stating it was unrepresentative of the message it tried to pass across.
The bottom line is they could have avoided the aforementioned crises if some PR input went into their conceptualisation. It is pretty much common practice for company executives and managers to think of public relations as an afterthought, rather than a much-needed check mechanism that should be thrust in all company processes and actions, and they always pay dearly for it.
Bouncing Back From Crises
That companies find themselves in a crisis after underestimating the role of public relations doesn’t mean effective public relations can not save them. We are nice guys, and we will help you clean your mess with zero judgment.
When Pepsi received immense backlash from around the world for its tone-deaf Kendall Jenner ad, the company activated its public relations arm and issued an immediate apology. They also took down the ad from all channels and killed the campaign which cost millions of dollars—a small price to pay to save their reputation from being damaged even further.
Effective crisis communication strategies and reputation management helped Pepsi avoid a sustained backlash, and the company has since enjoyed public affection again, especially after they created a Super Bowl LIII ad titled “More Than Ok,” featuring Steve Carell, Cardi B, and Lil Jon. This spot left a positive impression on audiences, and Pepsi reclaimed its persona of being youthful, strong, and hip.
Making Stars Out of Crisis
The world thought Kim Kardashian’s world would crumble after her sex tape with her ex-boyfriend, Ray-J, was released online. What appeared to be an irreversible and damaging scandal ended up being the best thing to ever happen to her. While most people would have made efforts to conceal or bury the story, Kim saw it as a business opportunity and faced the media head-on and controlled her narrative. With the help of PR, the stylist used the incident as a springboard to greater things, subsequently partnering with successful businesses, developing brands worth millions of dollars, and enhancing her reputation and income in the process.
Sustaining Communities
The Coca-Cola Company wouldn’t attract the public affection it does without public relations. While millions fondly remember many campaigns from the beverage company, it is their predilection for sustaining the communities within which they operate that earns them the favourable corporate image they enjoy. The company prioritises CSR activities, a key PR function, so much—that they identified key programme areas with which they aimed to positively affect the lives of millions across the globe positively.
Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, the company suspended all advertising and directed its funds towards ensuring the immediate communities within which it operated received adequate relief. Public relations agencies were also engaged to provide advisories regarding how to contribute tangibly to the communities, with the results being well-researched CSR strategies.
Without public relations, the many CSR initiatives started by many companies around the world would not be as rampant or as effective within the target communities. In fact, public relations reconciles the public interest with the company’s interest, creating a mutually beneficial relationship between both. To summarize, while the public stands to benefit from public relations through CSR, many companies also strongly consider CSR as a long-term investment which may be incalculable most times, but often raises the value of the company stock.
Nation-Building
For a nation to grow and attain a favourable level of stability, certain elements must be set in motion. For example, the family, as a social institution, should be empowered to instil basic ethics into the young ones; the government needs to design and implement informed policies that genuinely emanate from listening to public opinions; politicians and other leadership cadres need to set good personal examples, and formative institutions need to live up to expectation.
It is important to state that without all these elements set in place, public relations will not be effective. The best public relations campaigns in the world cannot build trust while reality is destroying it. So what role does public relations play in nation-building? Public relations is utilised as a tool to communicate with the citizenry and keep them in the loop about the adjustments being made in the nation-building process. It also enhances national unity through consistent narratives that focus on issues and topics which strengthen the national identity and ultimately promotes relationship building and social cohesion.
Without being too expansive, public relations pervades every ambit of our lives, and when people and entities downplay its role when making important decisions regarding marketing campaigns, policies, and even interpersonal relationships, they are masterminding their own downfall.
PR is many times the unsung hero of a company’s overall brand and corporate strategy, a nation’s peace-keeping and development strategy, or relationships. It is so interspersed in our daily lives and it is not so appreciable. It is not a cog in the wheel of peaceful and cordial relations, as we know it; it is the machine.
World PR Day is a day dedicated to truth, honesty and reputation management in a way that is important to all practitioners across the globe. It presents a unified global agenda towards making the world understand, appreciate and utilise PR better.