Public Relations Strategic Communication in Society

Question: Discuss about thePublic Relationsfor Strategic Communication in Society. Answer: Introduction The Public Relations Society of America defines the term Public Relations essentially as a communication process aimed at developing such relationships among business organization and the public that would be beneficial to both the groups. On the other hand, Public Relations Institute of Australia considers public relations as the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization (or an individual) and its (or their) publics.This paper is aimed shedding some light on the essential aspects of public relations, besides emphasizing on how public relations is different from marketing. Public relations different from marketing. The primary aim of all marketing activities is to draw the attention of target customers, such that the total revenue of a business organization increases. On the other hand, all public relations activities are aimed at the development (and growth) of the reputation of an organization and thus target the effective management of all communication channels that exist in between an organization and its stakeholders (Grunig, 1989). Thus, the foremost characteristic difference that lies between public relation and marketing is that the former encourages activities that would help in enhancing the brand image of any enterprise, whereas the second is solely aimed at promoting the products or service of an organization to the public. It is worth mentioning that while most marketing agendas and policies are developed so as to be utilized for a short period of time, public relations strategies are developed with the aim of developing a positive reputa tion for the organization in the long run. On the other hand, experts in the domain of marketing are also of the opinion that while the primary aim of all promotional activities is to make the target audience rely on the services or products launched by an organization, the customers tend to rely more on the information available on the PR information as compared with promotional claims. Public segmentation different to market segmentation. Market segmentation is often described as the process of categorizing the target audience into different sections, based on similar characteristics. On the other hand, researchers Kimet al. (2008) are of the opinion that an effective marketing segmentation must adhere to three basic principles: measurability, accessibility and substantiality. Measurability defines the extent to which the quantified information regarding the characteristics of the target customers are available, while accessibility defines the extent to which the target customers can be accessed by the marketing team. On the other hand, substantiality defines the extent to which separate marketing plans can be developed for each individual segment of the market. Thus it can be said that marketing segment is primarily based on reducing the efforts and costs required to reach the entire target customer. In contrast to market segmentation, public segmentation, as practiced in public relations, is not solely aimed at reaching the target customers, but for reaching the stakeholders of the organization, thus obtaining their support in enterprise policies. Thus, it can be said that the segmentation in the domain of marketing is utilized for increasing the micro-level effectiveness of an organization, while public segmentation increases macro-level effectiveness of the same. Contribution of public relations (PR) in an organization. Although reaching the stakeholders of an organization is often considered as the primary goal of the personal relations department, the sole contribution of the same doses not remain limited to the same. In fact, most pubic relation experts associated with business enterprises work relentlessly towards the development of a clean and reputable image of the brand, thus developing strategies for achieving the same (Grunig, 1989). On the other hand, public relations officers are also made responsible for arranging events and charitable functions, so as to promote the brand value of the organization. In fact, the sponsoring charitable events or activities are often considered as one of the core activities of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibilities) policies of business organization: thus, the public relations department actively participates in adhering to the CSR policies of organizations. Besides this, one of the core activities o f public relations department is to communicate with the media channels and experts, thus relaying the perspectives of the organization to them. Communicating with the social media is yet another activity of the public relations department of any business enterprise. In the light of the discussions made in the paper, it can thus be said that in spite of the apparent similarity in terms of communicating with the public, marketing and public relations are entirely different activities. In fact, it can be concluded that PR contributes to a wide variety of activities conducted within an organization, apart from communicating with the stakeholders. References Grunig, J. E. (1989). Publics, audiences and market segments: Segmentation principles for campaigns.Information campaigns: Balancing social values and social change, 199-228. Kim, J. N., Ni, L., Sha, B. L. (2008). Breaking down the stakeholder environment: Explicating approaches to the segmentation of publics for public relations research.Journalism Mass Communication Quarterly,85(4), 751-768.