Defining PR
Posted by PRGirlz Alumni on July 10th, 2006
This weekend I headed up north for a friend’s birthday celebration. This is a friend from Humber, so we’re both in the industry and end up doing a lot of shop-talk, comparing experiences and sharing stories. Another friend was at her house and was doing a fairly good job at keeping up with our PR lives, and when my friend got up to change, he started asking more specific questions about my work. First and foremost, the age-old question. “So, what exactly is PR? How do you define it?” I don’t mind this question (good thing!), as I mentioned in a previous post, I see this as part of my job as a PR practitioner, however it does give me pause; I want to give the person a good idea of what PR involves but I also want to make it clear that everyone seems to have their own variation of the definition.
The way I describe it varies by party- if the person asking seems to know a little about the media and how it works, I’ll get a little more in depth. If I’m talking to my Grandfather, for example, I tend keep it simple, usually by giving an example of something I worked on that was particularly successful. Often, I tell people that PR is like free advertising with more credibility. If you read about a product in an article by a third party or see the president of the company on TV talking about it, you’re more apt to take it seriously and try the product, as opposed to seeing it advertised in the paper. People tend to get this- it makes sense to them. This explanation worked well this weekend and led to further, intelligent questions, so I deemed it a success. The problem is that this “definition” really only skims the surface of what we do but I fear getting into too much detail will both bore them and further confuse them.
How do you define PR? What explanations have you found to be the most effective?
July 11th, 2006 » 9:51 pm
As a student majoring in PR, I would find the question “how do you define PR?” totally fightening and would not have to much for an answer. But one thing is for sure, it really depends on who you are speaking with. Because today there are so many people on different levels of knowledge. I really liked your definition of PR and it is a way of looking at it that I had never thought about.
July 11th, 2006 » 9:54 pm
Having just joined the Public Relations department, I am still just as confused at how to define what exactly p.r. is. Honestly, I don’t think there is one specific definition. Public Relations is a vast industry that involves many different ways of communications.
In as short of words as possible, I would describe public relations as a variety of methods used to promote an industry or company positively, truthfully and almost strategicly to the public.
It’s funny how not many people can define it, but everyone understands what it is. And on a deeper level, can critically think about its effects, such as product placement.
July 12th, 2006 » 7:31 pm
Thanks for your input! I like Kristen’s definition and will most likely adopt that into my longer explanations!
July 13th, 2006 » 9:54 pm
I find your “free advertising” description very interesting. That is, I believe, just a component of what PR DOES for a company or client and not what it is.
Here’s how I define it:
U.S. law defines corporations as representative of an actual person. Therefore corporations have the same rights as any person.
In this way, PR is both the ears and voice of that person. We promote the company’s message, accomplishments, downfalls and reassance.
But we also listen. For the company we listen to what the public needs and wants, and do our best to relay that message to the company to help maintain the relationship between the two.
July 18th, 2006 » 7:22 pm
Owen and Kristen I think you nailed it…I plan to use a combination of both of your definitons next time I try to explain to my mother for the 100th time what it is I do for a living!
July 25th, 2006 » 2:33 am
As a student, I’ve had a few internships in the public relations industry and considering those experiences, I still find defining public relations somewhat overwhelming. As a whole, I think the goal of the public relations industry is to positively, truthfully and effectively promote a company or organization to the public while strengthening the relationship the company or organization has with its publics. I liked your way of simply stating that public relations is free advertising with more credibility and I believe that maintaining strong relationships is a way to establish that credibility.
July 25th, 2006 » 12:50 pm
Hi Cody – I would say that you’re off to a great start in PR. I think that is a fantastic definition of what we do. PR can be overwhelming; there are just so many elements involved that it’s easy to get lost in the details. Take a step back and a deep breath and deal with one thing at a time. You’ll be fine!