PR Explained
We’ve all heard the term ‘PR’ banded about during our lives, and most of us probably realize that it stands for public relations. However if you were to stop people on the street and ask them to define public relations, many probably couldn’t. So here’s the low-down on what PR actually entails.
A PR agency effectively means manages the reputation a brand, person or company has within the public eye. So for example, Kerry Katona is received fairly negatively within the public eye. She has repeatedly messed up in life, and as such, her PR people haven’t had a lot to play with.
However someone like Angelina Jolie, who has done a lot of charity work and is successfully raising several children would provide plenty of positive news for her PR agency.
It’s all about making the public perceive something in a particular way. Public relations experts are simply that – experts at promoting something in the right way.
They do this in a number of ways; via media outlets, via press releases, via staged events for their client or even via spin. Spin is effectively lying; but in some cases it can be representing something in a biased way so that it appears better to the public. An example of this would be launching a press release to announce something but leaving out certain details – like if Kerry Katona were to work at a charity for a day that’d be something to shout about. She may well be getting paid for the work, but that wouldn’t be included in the press release.
Although it may seem sneaky, spin is widely used throughout the world by not only PR people, but by politicians and dignitaries. It’s all about letting the public hear what they want to hear, not the full truth of a situation.
PR is a powerful force in the world and depending on what type of person you are, it can work very well for you. Just remember, it works both ways.