Public Relations is the most underestimated function in an organization. However, ironically, according to research, it is the key function that is blamed when an organization is going through crisis. It could pretty much claim to be the only one that is liable for the actions of other functions. So what is the role of this highly misunderstood, often referred to as the step-sister of Marketing, function?
Well, there might be many “professional” definitions that refer to public image management, media manipulation and/or events management, but I would like to define it simply as effective stakeholder relationship management through effective communication skills.
Stakeholder is yet another term which is often considered synonymous to the target customer and that is what makes Public Relations different from Marketing. For the success of any organization it is necessary to consider all its stakeholders – internal and external, direct and indirect, probable and sometimes the most improbable ones too. Some of the stakeholders to always keep in mind are media, financial community, clients, employees, unions, partners, government and politics, interest groups, opinion leaders and for the believers, may be even God. Further, it is also necessary to understand what drives these stakeholders – is it adaptability or are they goal oriented, is it a latent pattern they are striving to maintain or do they just want to integrate with a particular part of the society. It will be interesting to wonder what drives God but that is another topic to be discussed another day.
Having defined what I mean by stakeholders, let’s talk about the key to successful stakeholder management – communication. In today’s information age, there is abundance of data (which needs to be sieved through for the right information) available at the click of a button and also different channels through which one can access it. Hence, one needs more than just mastering a language (English being the most universal one for corporate communications) to communicate effectively. One needs to have a keen sense of understanding of the ecosystem of any business. An in-depth analysis of the business and communication situation is imperative before even trying to reach out to the stakeholders. To succeed, in today’s world, one not only has to listen to the public opinion but actively engage and hopefully leverage on this opinion for the benefit of the organization. Let me clarify it isn’t about controlling the opinion but “letting go”[1] that is the key to success.
In the days of our grand parents, communication was face to face with almost no scope for misunderstanding each other. However, today there are enough and more channels and modes of reaching out to our stakeholders and the challenge is choosing the most effective one for dissemination of the core message. The channel required to create knowledge is often very different from one that is to change opinion and yet more different from one that is to ensure an action is taken. Speaking of channels, some of the most traditional forms of media are opinion leaders, news paper, radio and television. However, unlike most fields of invention that have a lifecycle with a definite end, the field of communication has innovations and more innovations which all snow balls, the new channels like the internet just adds to the existing channels and makes the life of the public relations expert more challenging and yet more exciting.
Today, as a very knowledgeable man has said, we are digital immigrants in the world of digital natives[2]. Consumers today are cynical – 68% of the people, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, believe in the opinion of their peers (raised from 22% in 2003) than the organization. To put it simply, the traditional top-down approach to communicating to stakeholders might be necessary sometimes but if is the only channel chosen then we are just missing the point. It is the world where the “digital natives” are connected, contributing and in control of their experiences. They are intelligent enough to sieve through the sales and promotions, and find just the information they are looking for. Reputation of an organization can be built up or dashed down in seconds with this immense accessibility of information.
Speaking of reputation, public relations through effective stakeholder relationship management eventually strives to manage the corporate reputation of the organization. And the most common mistake that a public relations expert makes in doing so is having an excellent understanding of the stakeholders and organization and an even more impeccable dissemination/execution of the core message but failing to listen and incorporate the feedback of the stakeholders. This, I suppose, is the result of being used to the traditional top down approach of the media, but once again we have to acknowledge the fact that the rules of the game has changed and change is the only thing that is constant in today’s world.
That was a rather intense discussion into all that happens within the Public Relations function but why then there is a public opinion that this is a field that represents event management, press releases and media parties – a feel good industry for the people who strive to be taken seriously in the corporate world. This is because all that is visible to the rest of the world is the various instruments (like events, press releases, talks, magazine articles, etc) that are a result of the intense understanding of the business and its ecosystem. It is almost comparable to an Iceberg whose tip is the only part that is visible and hence underestimated whiles the huge mass of “ice” lies just beneath the water.
In conclusion, public relations and effective communication is not a function that exists to pick up from where the so called “serious and important” people in the corporate world finishes. It has a very important entity of its own that has the rather challenging task of managing the reputation of an organization through effective stakeholder management and communication skills.
