PR is the management of the outside communication of an organization to create the most favorable impression. It deals with perception. This means that it seeks to stress the strong points of the organization, but it also means that it seeks to explain the weak points also.
The reason that many people view PR in a skewed fashion has to do with the issue of honesty. There is an idea that PR is, too often, used to create an impression that is not true and to cover up or minimize failures. This is not the true definition or purpose of PR. All human organizations have goals and, for the most part these goals are noble ones. Even in the business world, where profit might be the main goal, an organization’s mission statement would aim toward providing the customer with the highest quality product and the best customer service. This is how profit is produced.
If an organization’s goals are noble, it is the function of PR to communicate these goals to the people that are most concerned. This is known as the target audience. In the case of a business, it would mean the potential customer. In the case of a Political Campaign, it would mean the potential voter. Regardless, of the goals of the organization or the makeup of the target audience, the need to create a favorable image remains constant.
When you talk about PR, you must remember that it is dealing with external or outside communication. It makes use of the media to basically get the positive message to the target audience. There is also the function of explaining failure and this is always a part of the PR process, but this can be done in an honest and forthright manner intended to restore confidence.
Public relations is sometimes confused with advertising. They have separate functions, however. Advertising is concerned with reaching the target audience with specific information about the products, services, or policies of the organization. Public Relations is concern with reaching the target audience with information about the value and goals of the organization.
Aazdak Alisimo writes about public relations for PublicRelationsTools.com.