Well, this week was certainly off to a start--reading about the early beginnings of public relations was enough to make my head spin! Initially, I would have summed up the idea of PR as "people helping to make other people or organizations look good"....but that would've been the cynical approach. (Along with referring to that frequently-used-in-political-context-terms, 'spin doctor'.) Apparently, PR is as much an American institution as rock n' roll music, comic book superheroes, the western film, and the game show--its roots date back to the days of people such as P.T. Barnum, founder of the legendary Barnum and Bailey circus. Yet it is also a very, very complex practice that takes a lot of brainpower, focus, patience, and stamina to make a career out of it. It's hard to get into PR in the birthplace of the practice, and it'll be the same the world over, where public relations is really growing as a field in Europe and Asia--China in particular. So much to know.....But I'll do my best to sum up what I've learned so far about the PR field (despite not being a student of the discipline). Just call this "PR for Dummies"...No, wait, don't, apparently there's already a book with that name, shoot....
From Chapter 1
As with most complex terms or techniques, a key to understanding the idea of public relations can be simplified (at first) with an acronym--R.A.C.E. (Research, Action, Communication, and Evaluation). Each component of that acronym also serves to help describe the cyclical nature of the PR process, connected by the needs for both feedback (positive and negative), and the program adjustment that results from it. PR is also what can be described as a multipurpose process, used for almost anything from counseling to publicity (be it corporate, community-related or entertainment-based) to matters of governance and finance. Unlike its close cousins journalism, marketing, and advertising, PR acts as more of an arbitrator whose practitioners seek to build relationships between their client(s) and said client's constituencies or intended audiences--a whole variety of audiences. It becomes even more effective when partnered with marketing and advertising campaigns, allowing both sides of the relationships built to prosper more often if said combined initiative works out well (teamwork between PR, marketing, and advertising agents is a must).
Making a career of PR, unfortunately, is no picnic. If one were to truly have an interest in going into the field, they'd need to have been a major in the subject in college, with supplemental courses on associated fields (economics, journalism, management, etc.). They also need to be masters of particular skill sets, in the form of research, planning, writing, problem-solving, and in this day and age social media, which has become a boon to the business. Whether in or out of college (or graduate school, if ambitious enough), getting a job in PR is similar to other professions in one aspect: an internship in the field is a highly-recommended first step towards a career (though getting a paying one is very tricky). When finally landing the job, one finds the salary to be a bit higher than other comm-based occupations (with a range in the cool $30-40k area, and the more professional getting six figures).
From Chapter 2
Public relations as a term is actually the most recent addition to the practice--the name is U.S.-based, but the practice of presenting a figure or an organization to the public(s) in ways meant to foster good connections between the two parties goes back to the eras of ancient empires. A most well-known usage of the practice was by the Catholic Church during the Crusades, where its extensive use of biblical-based propaganda inspired the faithful to go and fight. A couple of centuries later, it was expressly used by small private companies to recruit settlers for the 'New World' in North America (or South America for the Spanish and Portuguese). The first instances of proto-public relations practices on United States soil came about in the days of the American Revolution, found in historic moments such as the staging of the Boston Tea Party (to protest certain taxes) and the publication of the Federalist Papers (calling for the support of a new, constitutional government free of British rule and oversight).
The U.S. interpretation of the practice blossomed in the centuries to follow, starting with the aforementioned P.T. Barnum and his influential publicity techniques, the roots of which formed the basis for many used by the entertainment industry today. Further forerunners appeared around the time of the great western land rushes, as people were encouraged to hit the trail and settle in the territories acquired by the U.S. via the Louisiana Purchase and other similar acts. The various civil and social movements of the time also utilized publicity techniques to get the voices of the concerned heard, from the women's and temperance movements of the era of American Enlightenment in the 1840's-50's to the wilderness preservation campaigns of the 1890's-1900's. Early commercial PR in practice was found in the 1870's Wannamaker and Macy's campaigns, which resulted in larger customer yields for both department store giants. PR also helped to get the country to fully adopt AC (alternating current, or early electrical) systems nationwide, which while good for AC's champion George Westinghouse was not so good for DC's (or direct current's) advocate, the more prominent (despite what some Nikola Tesla acolytes will say) Thomas Edison.
It was during the first half of the 20th century that PR not only got its proper term, but also came into its own via pioneers such as Ivy Lee, Edward Burnays, and Arthur W. Page, the latter of whom helped cement public relations as an important part of the corporate management hierarchy. Public relations also becomes just as integral to both the entertainment and fashion industries around this time. After World War II, the resulting Baby Boom and the increasing presence of mass media such as television in an ever-growing consumer culture gave more power to PR agents and their related associates (found on Madison Avenue and the like). PR gains a higher spot in the corporate management hierarchy as time goes on, as the ideas of reputation management and relationship building were introduced into the PR agents' vernacular. The field also receives a greater influx of female professionals, so much so that today an estimation of 70% of women being PR professionals is fact.
Today, in an age dominated by internet-based content and social media being a part of everyone's lives, PR agencies and pros have shifted to tactics involving active listening and dialogues with the many publics they seek to attract, while increasing the diversity of their professional population and growing the number of practitioners globally. At the same time, in light of the current debate over transparency in the government (partially due to scandals involving the varying security agencies), corporate social responsibility (or CSR for short) has become a key buzzword for how PR agencies address the needs of both their clients and the clients' respective audiences/customers/stakeholders/constituencies.
From Chapter 4
In the past and up to now, most organizations, governments, and corporations have some form of a PR department--the more, shall we say, 'marketable' term would be 'corporate communications'. Within that setting, depending on the organization itself, the views on the top management there, or the PR exec's capabilities, the PR department will either be near the top or otherwise. In a larger environment, PR departments play a large role in the policy making of the group, while maintaining their own sense of autonomy. In a smaller setup, the PR department is also smaller and plays a more simpler role, such as issuing news releases--thus, they don't really play a part in group policy.
The hierarchy of an in-house PR department usually consists of a head with the title of either manager, director, or vice president (or sometimes chief communications officer). Following that position are the executives, then the coordinators, and then those who work within the department's creative, research, and financial areas. Of course, in a smaller PR department, there could be a smaller number of staff. Either way, the heads of such departments either serve the organization tactically, or counsel the top executive of the organization on matters such as policy.
In a large corporate setting, PR is seen as a staff function of a company or organization, compared to line function which includes line managers who are the prime policy makers. Under the staff function idea, a PR department serves to influence the line managers. While they can only recommend, they cannot implement policy outright. PR is also seen as going hand-in-hand with other similar departments: human resources, legal, advertising, and marketing, despite their being some level of competition between each department, especially between PR and advertising.
We now turn our attention to the more 'free-spirited' of the two types of PR organizations, the firms. Firms vary in size and scope, and these days are found all over the world. They are also multifaceted groups that offer different services to whoever can pay them. Among their services, they provide marketing communications, training for executive speech writing, research and evaluation, and crisis communication in times of potential disaster. They also help with media analysis, community relations, event management, counseling on public affairs, assistance with branding and corporate reputation, and matters of the financial variety.
PR firms are mostly found in large, metropolitan areas of the world, in order to gain better amounts of revenue from their international clientele. This vast scope and scale has become necessary in an increasingly-globalized world, so much that some conglomerates have emerged to address this. Within the structure of a firm, the hierarchy may consist of merely the president/owner, an assistant, and an administrative assistant. In a larger firm, there may be more people to necessitate a larger hierarchy. Within that larger context, it consists of a president, executive vice president, senior vice president, multiple VP's, an account supervisor (or supervisors), and finally the assistant account executives.
Firms drum up their business by hiring themselves out to organizations of varying sizes. Via the approach of 'request for proposal', the firms are asked to present themselves and how they can help the organization that approached them. It is highly competitive, as each firm has to give good reason as to why the organization should hire them for the job. The organization in question, beforehand, needs to keep in mind the pros and cons of hiring a firm. On the one hand, firms tend to be objective, offer an assortment of skills and abilities, have vast resources at their disposal via their many offices throughout the nation, possess specific problem-solving capabilities, and most importantly are very credible. On the other hand, firms only have a vague idea of the client's specific issue, sometimes aren't fully-committed, often need an extending briefing period, sometimes are resented by the organization's own in-house staff, will sometimes need direction from the top (which must also be willing to divulge full information about itself), and most importantly are very costly.
On the subject of costs, a PR firm's fees/charges consist of three common types: the basic hourly (plus out-of-pocket expenses), which is also extolled by attorneys, accountants, and management consultants; the retainer, which covers ordinary expenses and is charged monthly; and the fixed project fee, present only when the firm agrees to a special project for the organization (it's also the least popular of the three).
No comments:
Post a Comment