Like every other PR practitioners, we couldn’t
help but to read PR-related articles (very cliché, we know). Of all that we
read, one article by Craig Pearce - an industry commentator from Australia -
caught our eyes. In his article, he discusses whether PR is dead or not.
Today, the PR toolkit is still relevant - and
forever will be. Every organisation still needs the skills PR practitioners
have, therefore PR remains alive. It’s no secret that effective PR can help
manage the reputation of an organisation by communicating and building good
relationships with all organisation stakeholders. This ensures that the
organisation operates at optimum level.
Anyhow, we’ll let you get to that. Have a read
and let us know what you think in the comment section below.
Public Relations
and Managing Reputation
Short-term pain for
long-term gain
The idea that public relations is dead is
fundamentally absurd, but it makes for a catchy headline. And some circling
vultures might find the scent of death compelling enough to swoop down for a
closer look. There’s a slew of reasons one can slalom through to explode the PR
is dead myth but, at its very heart, the ideal form of two-way symmetrical
communication ensures the assertion is a fallacy.
A discussion booted off at PR Redefined
gathered the insights of some pretty cluey comms professionals – as well as
those of my own – on the topic and a discussion at the PRIA LinkedIn group also
contained some interesting dialogue generated by the issue. Following are the
notions I put forward.
Two-way
symmetrical communication at the heart of public relations
PR cannot be dead if you subscribe to the
theory of two-way symmetrical communication.
The chief and defining point of difference for
the ideal form of two-way symmetrical is that, based on feedback from target
audiences, an organisation will modify its initially proposed business activity
so it is more in line with the needs and wants of its target audiences. So it
is not, literally speaking, purely a communication activity, but its
application does impact profoundly on the quality of organisation-stakeholder
relationships.
The other two key elements of the ideal form of two-way symmetrical are market research (being used as a means to listen and learn, not just to help persuade) and two-way communication (listening, again, to stakeholders to gain an enhanced understanding of their views).
Two-way symmetrical frequently occurs, even if
it sometimes takes a crisis to motivate the organisation to adopt this
approach!
If a practitioner is sceptical of the efficacy
or practical application of two-way symmetrical, it provides an admirable
aspirational objective to incorporate the approach into business as usual comms
(along with achieving ever present business/ commercial/ organisational
outcomes, of course…).
Risk
management and rigour from PR
Whether you subscribe to, and apply, two-way
symmetrical or not, it is a fundamental responsibility of PR to assist
organisations understand the views of stakeholders. This generates information
which will inevitably enrich organisational decision making, as well as the
outcomes of this decision making.
Even if this stakeholder scoping leads to no
change to the proposed decision/business activity, it will have provided
valuable rigour, risk management and
quality to the decision.
Building
relationships that last the distance
Inherent to stakeholder scoping, or sometimes
additional to it, PR applies its traits of empathy,
negotiation and alliance building, making the effort to understand, and
then actually comprehend, the needs, wants, motivations and perceptions of
stakeholders.
PR can never be dead because these traits – necessary for an organisation to operate at optimum levels – are more fundamental to PR than any other business discipline. Including marketing.
Marketing exists to make money for an
organisation. PR can exist to help achieve this but, more importantly, its
focus is on creating an environment where relationships prosper, helping
organisations in a holistic sense more than other business disciplines. If this
does not occur, organisations will be mired in firefighting mode and expend
energy more on damage limitation than reputation enhancement.
The
moral compass at the heart of storytelling and positioning
PR is the storytelling
function of an organisation. In an age of content marketing, brand journalism and a decline in the
amount and quality of the media, this role is more relevant and powerful than
ever.
With the decline of the fourth estate, however,
comes great responsibility. Without
aspiring to achieve he actuality and sub-text of two way symmetrical, the
organisation will lack a moral compass to assist in the navigation of its
communication, culture and positioning.
The moral compass (perhaps it’s just a common
sense compass?) necessitates corporate brand journalism not being characterised
by spin or tedious, self-serving platitudes. As PR is a boundary-spanning
(between organisations and their stakeholders) enabler, it has the capability
to use characteristics previously outlined (e.g. empathy, understanding
stakeholder needs and wants) to produce creative and authentic content which
engages, and doesn’t repel, stakeholders.
Internal
relationships in a world of change
Souls more attuned to the zeitgeist of our
times than myself have commented that change management within government and
commercial sectors is occurring more frequently than ever. This means internal
public relations – change comms – is increasingly in demand.
And while often there is not much the PR pro
can do about what constitutes the ‘change product’ – so much for two-way
symmetrical communication here! – relationship building and issues management
help organisations limit reputational damage and maybe, just maybe, contribute
to creating an environment where the change is welcomed and adopted, not just
tolerated or abjured.
By Craig Pearce - 9 June 2015If you found this post of value, please share it through LinkedIn, Twitter, or any other death-inducing mode of social media poison….#irony.
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