The definition of public relations, according to the Public Relations Institute of South Africa (PRISA): “Public relations is the management, through communication, of perceptions and strategic relationships between an organisation and its internal and external stakeholders.”
Perhaps Abraham Lincoln frames the thought more vividly: “Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
Public relations professionals: Gin-and-tonic dolly birds in short skirts, fusspot event managers, the boss’s sullen wife, or at best, his leggy personal assistant.
Public relations as a marketing discipline: A shamefully ill-informed industry with scant respect for the irrevocable newsroom-driven code of deadlines, and one that bills top dollar for poorly written news releases.
Fact or fiction?
Unadulterated fiction charges Next Generation Communication’s Annemarie Penderis. “Gone are the days where the public relations person was called in and informed of developments almost as an afterthought. The strong communicator is now at the forefront of the battlefield with the sole purpose to harness the communication tools available to build a successful brand.”
Fighting talk indeed. And if Morne Ebersohn, director of Veracity Incorporated and chairman of the Public Relations Consultants Chapter, is to be believed, the industry has transformed itself over the past few years.
“Consumers are reluctant to believe advertising messages which try and convince them that a company is ‘out to do good.’
“If, however, they are exposed to PR messages which prove a promise advertising has made, they are in a better position to form opinions about a brand or company.”
Director of Citigate South Africa, Chris Reader, believes that people often confuse public relations with propaganda and with hidden persuasion. “They forget that it is concerned primarily with communication an essential ingredient in any democratic society.”
“Professional PR people are committed to the principle of establishing and maintaining mutual understanding. This cannot be built up by buying free drinks for the press.
“It takes conscientious and painstaking attention to detail to influence a select audience through media or activities.”
But the question that still begs asking is whether PR practitioners can prove beyond reasonable doubt that they have it in their power to create intangibles like reputation, brand, employee loyalty, intellectual capacity and public trust.
Several journalists argue heatedly to the contrary. They say that the discipline of public relations is nothing but a frivolous pursuit and a misplaced exercise in persuasion.
“If you want publicity, target it intelligently. Rather a few well-aimed arrows than a bucket-full of stones chucked randomly at the media,” says former SABC TV3 news anchor and AM LIVE radio presenter, Sally Burdett.
“Sometimes, a well-timed, informative and intelligent press release clearly aimed at my target market is an absolute godsend. Conversely, there is nothing more annoying than having to fend off ill-informed people trying to push their product at you.”
Marketing writer Chris Moerdyk maintains that when public relations is done properly, it is not only an extremely powerful marketing tool, but economically efficient as well.
“Trouble is that half the time it is not done properly. Not necessarily because PR people don’t have the skills, but because clients use it more to boost their own egos than anything else.”
Outspoken freelance journalist Charlene Smith is a lot less delicate in her views.
“As a whole, the public relations industry is filled with the most incompetent bunch of excessively charging people in the universe, and worst of all, they have no idea of what journalists want, or how to write.
“And they have the cheek to say they are serving the media industry, when the average PR doesn’t have a clue of our deadlines, and of what the needs of the various media sectors are!”
Smith grudgingly admits that there are exceptions to every rule, “but they are so few, so rare, that they become exceptional. The industry as a whole has a lousy reputation because it deserves it.”
Sunday Times columnist David Bullard pulls no punches either. “What, if anything,” he huffs, “do these people read apart from You magazine?
“I find most of them clueless when it comes to developing a relationship with the media and even more clueless when it comes to knowing what they expect from that relationship. Their ignorance of their client’s requirements is scary and their lack of commercial realism is daunting.”
And, as if that’s not enough, Bullard delivers a killer parry: “If a tidal wave destroyed 90 percent of the PR industry, nobody would either care or notice.”
Oh Lord, Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Are journalists like these unduly vicious in their attacks of what may fast be developing into a crucial communication tool?
Undoubtedly, says Johnnie Walker marketing manager, Lucien van Huyssteen.
“I believe that the role of PR is still widely misunderstood by most people, probably because there is a lot of emphasis as there should be on effective and efficient investment behind your brand and the brand strategy. And with PR, it can be difficult to quantify return on investment.”
Van Huyssteen made use of a public relations campaign to leverage Johnnie Walker whisky’s positioning of “Inspiring Personal Progress.” This campaign paid tribute to local heroes who were an inspiration to their community.
“Consumers experience brands from a variety of connection points or exposures, and PR can add tremendously to that big picture by clearly demonstrating the brand’s desired positioning,” Van Huyssteen said.
“PR can therefore, in a very focused manner, differentiate your brand against competitors and stretch the investment behind key activities whilst maintaining a credible image for the brand.”
In a similar vein Danni Vos, managing director of RedCube Agency, a new company that specialises in ‘brand PR’ and includes Cadbury and Barbie on its client list, says: “Thanks to the wide range of alternative brand building media available, gone are the days when an expensive above-the-line campaign was considered to be the only effective means by which to create a brand.”
To Lee Walker, marketing director for M-Net Channels, her company’s publicity initiatives had more impact than above-the-line advertising.
“However, this is by no means accidental. With major budget cuts each year, we decided to shift our focus to concentrate more on editorial coverage. This has proved to be much more valuable,” she said.
Perhaps an even better example of making successful use of a strategic public relations service is business intelligence company Knowledge Integration Dynamics (KID).
“KID was probably born at the worst time of the market right in the middle of the burst,” said its managing director Aubrey van Aswegen.
“Many people were pulling back into their shells. That made it even more critical for me to align with a marketing company that had a good reputation, understood the market and the technology, and had a passion for getting the message to market.”
Van Aswegen said that as a consequence of the public relations strategy, KID got the presence in the media that it sought.
“As an example of the type of concrete returns the campaign delivered, Microsoft Strategy approached KID in 2001 to take over its agency from Dimension Data. This subsequently led to KID being named a JD Edwards preferred partner.”
It’s high time, says Total Exposure’s Jeremy Briar, to debunk the myths surrounding the industry, although he believes the industry is often guilty itself of still propagating some of the stereotypes.
“I’ve sat in a few advertising agency presentations and when it comes down to PR, it’s only about how PR can get exposure on the agency’s campaign and not the brand, product or service.”
Briar whose agency became leader in the field of reality television with hit series Big Brother 1 and 2 and Idols, says he’s also unsure about whether the marketing industry understands public relations.
“I think the industry must take its fair share of the blame, as it has done little to build itself as a strong professional body in the same way advertising has done.”
Makhotso Moiloa, accounts executive manager with Indabox Communications, believes the problem lies more with the fact that marketing and advertising has, over the years, become synonymous with products and not people.
“The reality of the situation is that products come by the dozen, therefore the key to achieving those sales targets is not embodied in brand awareness, but rather in understanding by the public of what the producing company is about.
“People no longer want to be talked at. People want to be talked to, cajoled, engaged and their intellectual capacity given due credence.”
Moiloa says that with a solid public relations strategy in place, media disasters such as the debacle involving Shell Petroleum could have been averted.
“Had Shell not divorced their product from their activities, and had they recognised the consumer-empowering elements in globalisation, they could have avoided disaster.”
Dressed for Success
If a report by McKinsey is anything to go by, an altered perception of PR is indeed taking shape, with recognition given to the industry within a wide range of business arenas. The report maintains that a good corporate reputation that is intrinsically linked to a company’s brand can add as much as 20 percent to the share price.
In this survey South Africa’s top public relations consultancies provided near irrefutable evidence that PR may be transforming itself into one of the most cost-effective, fast-turnaround disciplines available. And in spite of the age-old sceptical view of the industry, the survey also reveals that PR is evolving into an essential ingredient of the total marketing package.
If a good image reputation is as important to the success of a company as its financial and intellectual assets, then relationship management and crisis communications are also crucial value-added services.
Debby Reader, managing director of Tin Can Communications, says it takes years to build a favourable company reputation and just minutes to lose it.
“One bad TV interview, one negative story in print, a misleading, cautionary or defensive quote, or worse, a ‘no comment’ response, and in an instant, a company’s reputation is gone,” she said.
“Reputation management goes deeper than traditional public relations it shapes a company’s image and builds confidence and trust. It is about creating favourable perceptions. Perceptions are real. They colour what we see, what we believe and how we behave.”
But, Reader cautions, strong reputations only result when companies own a distinctive position in the minds of their publics.
“A one-off reactive news blast will not gain long-term mind share. Tactical deliverables need to flow continuously. It’s not only about the actual ink that hits the page. It’s also about the quality of column centimetres and the communication of key messaging.”
Moky Makura, joint managing director of FCB Redline, cuts to the chase. “Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have great PR companies.
“What kills the skunk is the publicity it gives itself.”
Makura’s agency prides itself in offering pan-African public relations campaigns for clients in all industry sectors, through a network of 33 affiliate offices on the continent.
“Though it may not be generally acknowledged, some African communities view South Africa and by extension South African companies as something of a new colonial power. PR can help modify such perceptions,” she said.
But with sponsorship PR an almost unknown in the South African context, FCB Redline’s Kim Ferreira said local marketers neglected to promote their sponsorships unlike the United States and other sophisticated markets where PR campaigns to promote events or personalities were viewed as integral to the overall marketing strategy.
“As the local marketplace continues to see increasing sponsorship volume and competition, its critical not only that South African companies select the right sponsorship opportunities, but also that they broadcast their involvement through communications, particularly PR.”
All well and good, but reputation management, positioning and crisis communication aside, the burning question remains: is a client able to effectively measure PR results? Is it all about counting column centimetres and on-air seconds?
Managing director of Lange Public Relations, Ruth Golembo, developed a public relations measurement matrix in which all PR and promotional spend was justified according to a minimum 3:1 return on investment. Based on a variety of aspects, the ‘more bang for your buck’ measurement ranged from column centimetre cost, to head counts of public attendance at launches or consumer events, to polling consumers to measure effective change in brand awareness.
Two women have recognised a niche in the communications industry which, they say, will help remedy the lack of focused and professional resources for the public relations industry. Entitled ‘Communicate’, this electronic newsletter recently launched by editor Louise Marsland and director of Grapevine Communications, Marie Yossava, aims to benchmark the level of professionalism in the industry and provide a forum where issues can be debated and knowledge shared.
Says Marsland: “We want communications professionals to get the recognition they deserve.”
Perhaps though, debate on the industry aside, there may be another way of looking at the picture.
“Public relations is just like a chess game,” says journalist Chris Moerdyk. “The more moves ahead you are able to plan, the more effective it is.
“What happens far to often is that clients and PR people simply just end up playing draughts.”