PR defines how you are perceived. PR campaigns put you in direct contact with your target audience through public appearances, publicity and community outreach. Publicity, an important element of PR, is the art of building favorable interest in your product or service through the media (Cohen, 2003).
The IPR Definition of Public Relations:
The IPR's definition of public relations is quite simplistic. It begins and ends with one of the most important facets of how well an organization interacts with others, its reputation. They state, "Public relations is about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you" ("What is public relations," n.d.). Public relations involves actions that influence the opinion of others regarding the organization, and the actions that are necessary to form a favorable opinion. These efforts are planned and sustained in an effort to establish and maintain goodwill and understanding between the organization and the publics that it interacts with.
My Personal Definition of Public Relations:
My personal definition of what public relations is would have to incorporate ideas from all three of the above definitions. It is all of the processes and activities that go into building mutually beneficial relationships, both inside and outside the company. This includes establishing contact with publics and improving the reputation the organization has with these publics.
Conclusion:
In the end, there are a variety of definitions of what public relations is. This is due...
First, there is the relative newness of the industry and the time it takes to get such a creative group to agree solidly on one definition. Second, is the different ways of accomplishing the same end goal, which leads to different definitions, although they look to the same goal. and, third, is the different levels of importance of one facet of achieving this goal that individuals place, and thus design their definition around the most important facet or facets.
All four definitions are similar in that they all see the need to build relationships with the publics the organization deals with. They, however, seem to go about it in different ways. The PRSA simply says that this goal is the definition, and everything else is incorporated into it. Cohen notes the importance of interaction as a means of building relationships. and, the IPR feels that by enhancing an organization's reputation they can better build relationships. My definition takes bits from all these and puts them together for a more comprehensive, but still concise, definition.
References
Cohen, S. (28 Jul 2003). Public relations: It's all that and more. Westchester County Business Journal, 42(30). Retrieved February 17, 2005, from MasterFILE Premier database.
Official PRSA definition. (No date). Retrieved February 17, 2005, at http://www.prsa.org/_Resources/Profession/index.asp?ident=prof1.
What is public relations? (No date). Retrieved February 17, 2005, at http://www.ipr.org.uk/direct/looking.asp?v1=what.
Public Relations
