Can You Do Away With PR?

By Karen Galarpe

THESE DAYS when gas prices are high and companies are tightening their belts, it may be tempting to let go of public relations efforts. After all, as long as you’re delivering what the market wants, everything’s going to be fine, right?

But who among your market will know what you’ve been up to lately unless you publicize it? That’s why you need public relations.

Before you think PR is just an added optional expense, let’s take a look at what PR is. “Public relations is about managing corporate reputation through purposive, persuasive and proactive communication efforts that seek to establish and sustain relationships with a company’s stakeholders, or those groups of people on whom the organization’s success depends,” says Juris Umali-Soliman, vice president of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP). “There is hardly any action that a company or an organization can take without considering the impact it would have on the company’s key publics or stakeholders. Thus, businesses need PR.”

Jones T. Campos, PRSP president, adds, “PR encompasses managing communication touch points that allow the target stakeholders to experience what the company has to offer. This involves understanding the publics, crafting the messages in a way that would appeal to the target public, and would be engaging enough for relevant media outlets to carry, disseminate and talk about.” It’s more than just sending out press releases, as Campos points out, it also “involves evaluating the impact of the communication efforts to ensure cost efficiency.” And PR also encompasses corporate social responsibility (CSR).

While writing press releases and marketing these to media outlets are PR efforts, PR success is not measured by the exposure the company gets. “Ultimately, PR’s goal is to influence change—in awareness, mindset and behavior,” says Umali-Soliman.

So whether you have a new product to introduce, a new cause to share, or a crisis that has to be managed, PR can be an effective tool to meet your goals.

Source: http://blogs.inquirer.net/openforbusiness/2008/09/05/can-you-do-away-with-pr/