Home
>
Public Relations
>
Is PR All About Image? NO!!

Is PR All About Image? NO!!

That's like asking if advertising is all about type faces and photography. The answer to both questions is a teeth-clenched "of course not!"

What public relations IS all about, rather than hollow images, is the very real business of dealing effectively with target audience perceptions and behaviors that have a major effect on an organization.

For example, members who believe you're not servicing them adequately; sales prospects who perceive your product as overpriced and are busy taking their buying power elsewhere; or employees who believe you don't give a tinker's damn about them and have dangerously reduced your productivity; or local citizens who believe, true or not, that you dump bad stuff into the river, thus keeping a negative media spotlight trained on your organization,

To answer the headline one more time, public relations is all about insuring that such results don't happen in the first place.

First, if those involved in the examples above had been regularly monitoring those target audiences, they would have had ample warning and the time needed to take corrective action.

So regularly monitoring those key external audiences is a must. What are they thinking about your business, if anything? Are perception problems looming? Are follow-on behaviors developing as a result?

The answers to those questions allow you to set a public relations goal, generally corrective in nature. Examples: you determine that your prices are not only fair, but below several competitors and you plan to publicize and promote that fact; or you plan to meet regularly with employees, listen to them and do something about their complaints, if you can; or you meet with the activist group and share with them the State Environmental Agency's finding that you are in complete compliance with disposal regulations.

With the public relations goal set, we obviously need a strategy designed to reach that goal. And this could be the least complex step in the problem solving sequence because there are only three possible strategies available to us - create opinion where there is none, change existing opinion, or reinforce it. That's it! It must be one of those.

In the three cases outlined above, you clearly would be aiming to change existing opinions.

Next on the public relations agenda are the persuasive messages needed to change that existing opinion. You must design them carefully and creditably to counter the misconceptions you uncover, such as those above. Run them by folks outside your organization so that you get an idea of just HOW persuasive they are (or are not!).

Now, we need to assign a few "beasts of burden" communications tactics to actually carry our persuasive messages directly to the eyes and ears of our key target audiences. Fortunately, we have available to us scores of tactics. Everything from newspaper interviews, on-camera appearances, live radio interviews and in-person meetings to brochures, speeches, op-eds, special events and editorial board meetings.

Which suggests that you consider working with a professional public relations advisor because you probably have neither the time nor expertise to handle this work.

Now, it's back to the monitoring chore to measure how many individuals received the message (and through what medium), and how many are aware of the message content. Monitoring at this point also let's us make mid-course corrections by adjusting both message content and the mix of communications tactics.

As time passes, and your monitoring of target audience opinion progresses, you will begin to notice growing signs of awareness of your business, of yourself as its proprietor, and of its role in the marketplace and the community.

It is now that you will become a believer in public relations's ability to strengthen your business relationships with those important, external audiences. People who hold in their hands not a hollow image of your business, but through their patronage and support, the actual success of your enterprise.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@tni.net.

Robert A. Kelly ? 2003.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations.

Visit: bobkelly@tni.net; bobkelly@tni.net

no-contract cleaning service Mundelein ..

In The News:

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Apple's digital passport feature lets iPhone users breeze through TSA checkpoints this holiday season using Digital ID technology at 250+ airports.

A new phishing scam targets family photos with fake "Cloud Storage Full" alerts. Criminals steal credit card information through fake sites. Learn protection tips.

South Korean scientists create ultra-thin fabric muscles that turn clothes into robotic assistants, lifting 33 pounds while weighing under half an ounce.

Is PR All About Image? NO!!

Public Relations