Our Personal PR Practitioner!

I've spent the last year studying Public Relations, but how much do others know about it? Surely our everyday life activities such as meeting people, spinning the truth and enhancing our reputation are merely examples of our own personal PR?

In the competitive world that we live in we are constantly pushed to show ourselves off. Every person has their own drive to successfully prove that they are better than others. This is clearly shown throughout development. Children push themselves to be best at skipping, sports or in class by learning their timetable prematurely. Teenagers are constantly trying to be as fashionable as Kate Moss, be the first to French kiss and get into the best universities. As adults we are motivated more by money and job security. Our CV’s are just one example of us showcasing our talents. However, the way in which we push ourselves depends deeply on our personality and motivation. I believe this can also be linked to parts of a business.
Some of us are more subtle than others. The people that shout out their talents from the street, making sure that everyone knows that they are the best - these are the advertisers of the human personality. They have no subtly with their approach to selling themselves. They want to put everything in black and white, paste it on a big screen and let everyone know that they are the best.

This can be seen as a positive trait, as they are always in the limelight, they are more likely to be spotted and their works are more likely to be displayed in places where it can be seen. These people would be recognised for who they are and what they have done. However, this can also be a disadvantage. For example, if their work was to fall through, everyone would see them fail. They would not be able to lose with dignity, and losing to these people would be a major concern. An example from the recent media is Kerry Katona, she is constantly pushing herself to be in all the papers and gossip magazines. She also makes a television show about herself and how she is coping with being bipolar. She sees this as a positive thing because she is showing the world that she is on the right track and is happy, however, with the good mood days also comes the bad days and these are what the media and people pick up on. Although no news is bad news, the media find it very easy to pick up flaws and will focus on them and sadly this is what the public remember her for doing.

Then there are the Public Relations officers amongst us who are keen to push ourselves forward and become well known, but in a more subtle way. People like this would probably become acquainted with those in higher positions, keep on good terms with these people and push themselves so that one day an opportunity would arise for them through their good relationships. Their contact list would be huge and there would never be an opportunity missed, any chance for another contact in another business would be taken seriously. These people would demonstrate their best work only, but discretely, only showing it to their target audience for examples possible future employers. They would spin the truth as to make themselves look better, if a bad piece of work was to be shown they were cover it up by producing a fabulous example of how they can do much better.
This behaviour has its advantages as only good work is usually portrayed and their ever growing contacts list would mean that many people would have heard of them. They would constantly be in contact with their contact list, ready for any possible interview for a job. However, a disadvantage of this is that they could be seen as too modest and not be pushing themselves hard enough to get to where they want to be. In the working world, especially during the credit crunch, people have to push themselves to get noticed as jobs do not arise as often as in previous years.

However, in my opinion a mix of these personalities would be necessary to be successful in life. Although, even if people are not aware of what Public Relations is, they are probably working all types of PR for themselves, to ensure they have friends close and enemies even closer. We use it to cover our everyday mistakes that we make and when promoting ourselves. In fact, we are all our own PR practitioners.

Public Relations(hips)

From my previous blog "What is PR?" I discussed the idea that Public Relations deals with reputation and maintaining relationships. From my experience of PR there was hardly a minute let alone a second that the phone did not ring or someone popped in. As Public Relations officers are constantly building relationships, what if one was to break. Its always been said that a reputation takes a life time to build and one act of bring it down. How can we keep everyone happy?

Making:

A speck of wisdom that I learnt while on my work placement is that journalists get thousands upon thousands of press releases sent to them everyday. If they were to actually reply or use every one of these press releases, well, the certainly would have square eyes. They would never get away! Especially as many of them will be round robin emails sent to everyone, not especially your target audience.

I learnt that addressing an email to person's name who shall receive it will keep their interest. Even if you've slightly messed up and sent some coverage for a new band to a paper who deal with finances, seeing their own name will make them see you've made an effort. This also means that they are more likely to get back in touch with you and maybe even suggest further contacts.

As a PR officer, you've got to remember that everything you do reflects not only yourself but also the company you are working for, the clients that you have and the public. This means always being well turned out and friendly, even if you're boyfriends just dumped you and your cat is missing.

Breaking:

Always make sure that when you are sending an email, letter, fax - ANYTHING that you double check it for spelling mistakes. A journalist would be very unimpressed at bad grammar or spelling mistakes and think "Idiotic PR officers, no wonder they're not a journalist!"

A mistake that I saw when working on placement which was easily amended, but was very embarrassing for the company at the time was an email to the agents of a singer they were covering saying that a newspaper had loved her. This was definitely not the case! They hadn't read the article properly and actually they were really slating her for her work! The agents thought that the company were being sarcastic and rude! Not good!

I daresay that throughout my career as a PR officer I will make many relationships and perhaps break some as well. The important fact is that each time you make a mistake you clear it up and try and get back on track! Public Relationships aren't the same as human relationships, you cant do it alone and stay single forever, you rely on them.

Can we come back please?

The comeback; what most celebrities want and what most PR officers dread. Let’s face it, if you fell out of the spotlight in the first place, then the public probably don’t want to see you back, no matter how “out there” you’re willing to be. However, it is fair to say that the celebrity world is very forgiving and Mike Paul, a New York PR expert says “Hollywood is a kind of fantasy land as far as reputations go.” Here follows some of the best celebrity come backs…

Michael Jackson – this must be one of the best come backs there has ever been. Although he was never out of the celebrity circle he did however severally damage his image and now he has people begging for his UK tour tickets. Everything from the facial surgery to his accusations of child sexual abuse he is still one of the most sought after celebrities.

Britney Spears – Everything about Britney’s life has been a fantastic PR job. From her virginity that got her up in the charts as well as boys walls to the new sassy “I don’t need a man image”, to getting married in Vegas all the way through to the troublesome time she had over the custody of her children. It is fair to say that Britney has made a fantastic come back this year with her new album reaching number one and tour that shows she’s “Not a girl” anymore and she’s here to drive us “Crazy”!

Victoria Beckham – The Spice Girls were the ultimate girl band but once they split Posh Spice was left wanting more. However, after a flop of an attempt at a solo album we thought she was gone forever. Oh how wrong we were. She is now a household name, well she is with a little help from her husband David Beckham and his right foot. Now "Posh" of Posh and Becks she has now matured her look, had three beautiful children and broken America in style. She is now a celebrity in her own right; with a clothing range, TV appearances in programmes such as Ugly Betty and part of the Spice Girls reunion tour in 2008.

Take That – Could it be magic that the best boy band of the 90’s was reunited in 2006. After the departure of Robbie Williams in 1995 the band went their separate ways, with Robbie becoming a national heart throb. Since Take That’s reunion without Robbie they have had two very successful albums and have relighted fires in hearts all over the world.

The end of the "Fresher" Era.

Alas, I have three final weeks left in Leeds before I venture home to Cambridge for a long and hopefully hot summer! Its incredible quite how fast this year has gone and it scares me to think that this is the end of my first year!

Thinking back to this time last year I was studying hard for my A levels looking forward to a summer of 'nothingness' where there was no work, all play. So much has changed since then and I must say that every change has been worth it!

Not only has this year taught me a lot about PR but also a lot about myself. Last year I would have failed at making beans on toast, but now I am cooking fine cuisine. For example, dinner tonight consisted of chicken stuffed with caramelised peppers, wrapped in bacon, with a baked potato and veg!

Being away from home also has made me independant. As home is so far away I only tend to go home once a term, if at all, whereas my flatmates and friends appear to be going home every weekend. I think this meant that I had to learn to cope without Mummy! If anything needs doing, I know I have to do it myself. If I need to set up a direct debit, I do it. If I need to clean the inside of the cooker, I do it. If I need a house to live in next year, I do it! It's given me a great deal of confidence in myself, as I doubt if last year I would have managed to even change a lightbulb!

I have also grown in confidence and have had to learn not to depend on others, something that for me was originally very hard. I was always used to falling back onto boyfriends, parents or friends. Now I try and sort everything out in my head by myself and only ask parents and friends opinions occasionally. I also know that I could walk into any room and talk to any body and would have something interesting to say! I am aware of what's happening in the media and enjoy a good debate.

Although, the end of freshers is slightly concerning. I have liked knowing that we only had to get 40% to pass the year and that this year doesnt count towards my degree (not that it meant I didnt work incredibly hard Daddy if youre reading this!) Also it means that Im no longer the youngest in the university - I am an old hand at which nights are the best out in Leeds and where are the best areas to live!

A couple of friends are joining me up in the "norrrrf" for university next year and I hope to pass on all the things that I have learnt. This year has been a whirlwind of excitement, tears, experience and knowledge and honestly, I cannot wait for the next!

PR; it's just publicity isn't it?

I say PR! You say spin! Lies! Deceit! Publicity! Followed by a number of other offensive terms that slate the term public relations. Everyone knows of the bad reputation that PR carries, and yet every successful company relies on it – ironic really isn’t it? Many say “Oh it’s just publicity!”, if this was the case, do you really think it would be such a popular choice? Thought not.

Yes, I fully admit that I can see why some people may think that those working in PR are only there to gain publicity for their client. This is especially seen in Celebrity PR. Of course Britney wants everyone to see the images of her looking gorgeous on the beach on holiday – then people will think she’s recovered, happy and well. What the magazine doesn’t tell you is that Britney’s PR team want us to think that. Duh! Why else would they have sent the photos along with a press release and statement saying she is back with a vengeance? Well, it fooled you.

Charities do the same. “NO!” I hear you cry. “Charities don’t need PR, we donate out of the goodness of our hearts.” Sorry, no. Charities rely deeply on PR to plan and deliver movements that will gain the respect and sympathy of the public, who will then be enticed to donate. Again, fooled.
The truth is that everyone relies on PR for awareness as techniques such as advertising don’t always cut it. Advertising works to a certain extent, but eventually the audience becomes aware that what they are seeing is purely an advert, of course it would say it’s the best product the world has ever seen! However, I doubt whether many who hadn’t studies Public Relations would even be aware of a PR story. I know I didn’t realise until I learnt more about it.

Some stories are obviously PR stunts, for example, the stories that ran in the lead up to Prince Harry’s return from Afghanistan. However, if you were reading a magazine and they suggested a new moisturiser that would slow the aging process that they had tried, tested and treasured, you may be willing to believe them, rush out and buy it. It doesn’t seem relevant that the magazine beauty editor rolled into work worried about being an article short for that month’s edition to find a nice package on their desk with a few samples of moisturiser and a press release. They then regurgitate what is written in the press release and hey presto, you have a nice little article to fill that space. The problem is that journalists have a decreasing time constraints, face constant competition for stories and have a need for profits and sometimes it is easier to take what PR officers give you instead of being creative and researching things themselves.

I bet you’re thinking, so that’s it? That’s PR? Just publicity? Wrong.
Public Relations and Publicity are not synonymous. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations claims that “Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.”

This accepts that some parts of PR are to do with publicity; however, effect PR goes even further than this. Public Relation officers are head of communications for a company and are responsible for making sure their reputation is upheld. Public Relations is the clever and subtle way of increasing the awareness of your business and to promote it. Yes, this could be considered publicity, but could also be seen as “reputation builders” and if the reputation is boosted this is due to good PR planning.

Further than this, PR is responsible for finding out the target audiences of whatever product, service or client they are trying to promote. This involves extensive research as a successful PR campaign is tailored to the audience’s need. They also have to keep good relations with their stakeholders, who are critical to any business. The message has to be carefully planned so that the audience as well as the stakeholder are satisfied and this takes a lot of work as in some situations they each have different needs. This shows the hard work and complicated behaviour of PR, as it usually involves pleasing more than one person. This means that you have to keep on the right side of everyone and so this job usually bends towards those who are good at persuading and usually very charming!

On top of this, everyday you will probably meet someone new and have to charm them as much as you would your stake holders and audience. That is a lot of pressure to be happy and cheerful at all times! You have to present yourself in a way that the potential client would want to do business with you and so you have to impress them into wanting to work with you. When working you have to build up strong relationships with journalists and keep these good connections as one wrong move can cost you a lot of coverage.

So, is PR just publicity - a job with the aims to promote? I don't believe this for a second. Publicity believes that “any press is good press” whereas Public Relations wants only good press to promote the reputation of their client. With all this confusion about PR, all they appear to need is some “good publicity”!

Questions, Questions....

Why have you chosen to study PR and why did you choose this route?

After many tests on careers that I took over my secondary and sixth form education, Public Relations had always been mentioned. I then decided over the summer of 2007 to get work experience in a Public Relations office. I managed to get a placement at Elizabeth Arden in London, which was a fantastic experience. While I was there, I decided that I was definitely interested in working in PR. There was a girl working there who was on her placement year from Bournemouth University and I spoke to her about her course and she said that she would recommend going to university to study PR if I was interested, because it was getting harder to work yourself up in Pr now, which was a common route before. I then looked up universities that taught PR and liked Leeds Metropolitan best. I am glad that I chose the route that I did, because I do not feel that I was ready to be working full time yet. When I did my placement over Christmas I was very capable to do any task that I was given without having to ask for too much help, which meant that I had learnt a great deal.

Who inspires you?

I recently read Max Clifford's autobiography "Read all about it", which other than being a great read was so informative. Although I have never been interested in pursuing a career in celebrity PR because I am not that interested in their public lives, I found it fascinating the way that Max Clifford has controlled and manipulated the media. His recent involvement with Jade Goody, although I don't believe that what he has done is right, it is not possible to fault his efforts and successes. However, I think my biggest inspiration is my father. He started his own finance business and through his hard work and dedication has made his business a success. He is responsible for the running of the business and I think he does a great job!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

I will be twenty nine by then (blimey!) and I would have liked to have made a name for myself. I always used to want to be a singer-songwriter up until a few years ago, I used to want to be famous. However, now I would rather be "well known" in my field, not necessarily as well known as Max Clifford, however, I would want to be known as an expert of PR! Hopefully I would have started my own business and have loyal clients and a good team working under me, who I can be an inspiration to. I would also like to be in a secure relationship and living comfortably, however, this is not the be all and end all - I would rather just be happy with my life!

What particular skills and qualities do you think suit you to PR? What other skills would you like to develop in the future?

I think I have a natural ability to speak to anyone (AKA gift of the gab) and think I put people at ease when they meet me. I can be very persuasive and people will tell you (friends, boyfriends, parents) that if I want something I can usually wrap people around my little finger and get what I want. I can however, be forceful and if I'm not satisfied with something, I will say. However, I have an ability to put things in such a way that no one gets hurt, as I have a need to please people and understand that we are only human and people make mistakes.

I believe that I need to work on my writing skills and on improving my vocabulary, grammar and spelling. It is to a satisfactory level now, but there is always room for improvement. I find that reading good novels helps and I also make sure that I read a good newspaper at least three times a week.

What position do you usually take when working in a team?

Team leader! If I am confident in what I am doing, I like to take the lead. Although, I would say I am a good team leader because I am genuinely interested in how other people would do a similar task differently, and am always the first to admit if their idea is better. I am very good at encouraging those who are quieter in the group to come out of their shells. I believe that sometimes the quieter members of a group are those who sit back and take everything in, have time to think about the best way of going about things and hence usually have the best ideas! However, if I am less sure of a task I gladly allow someone to take the part of team leader and work just as well under these conditions.

What is the best decision you have made?

I think my decision to stay on in Leeds. When I first came here I didn't really settle very well and was quite upset. I had lived away from home before as I went to boarding school, however, I was still only thirty minutes away from home and Leeds is a good three and a half hours away! The main reason that I stayed was because I loved the course, whereas others loved the social life and looked forward to nights out, I looked forward to going to uni (yes I am a strange child!). Now, I have found my place and couldn't be happier here in Leeds. I have an amazing range of friends, love my course, have lots to do in my spare time and am only sad that the summer is nearly here!


What achievement are you most proud of?

My Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. I was the only girl in my year to complete it and there were only 5 of us in total who completed it in our year! Many people think that the award just consists of walking up hills and you get a pat on the back for it. However, it is so much more than that. We had to create our own routes, map read, cook, set up camp as well as walk through any weather we were given! More than that however, at every level you have to complete six months to a year of a skill, service and physical recreation. That takes some dedication and effort at each level! For Gold I worked in Oxfam for a year for a couple of hours a week, where I met some great friends. I also took up the guitar, wrote songs and recorded them (www.myspace.com/emilybethgarner - bit of PR for myself there!!!) which is another great achievement! I also took up going to the gym four times a week, which I have kept up because it keeps me sane as well as fit and healthy!

In business

This Christmas I undertook work experience at a PR company in Cambridge and I can honestly say that it was the one of the most valuable experiences I have ever had. I was so keen to see how a PR consultancy runs day to day and demonstrate the skills that I had been learning everyday while at university.

When I arrived on my first day, I was surprisingly calm. I was early and had time to sit in the car, take a few deep breaths before entering the office. My initial thought was how colourful the walls were with magazine and newspaper cuttings that demonstrated their influence in the media and I was instantly excited to get started! When I met the team that I would be working with, I was surprised at how young everyone seemed to be and how comfortable they were in their surroundings.

I was instantly put to work and had to do some research into local Cambridge shops and businesses that would be interested in being invited to a monthly networking party that the company was organising. I then had to call around all the shops and businesses, which taught me a lot about using the phone!

I also did a lot of newspaper coverage. I had to find relevant sections out of newspapers to do with music and small businesses. Although this task was tedious it defiantly taught me a lot about all the different newspapers and what sections they feature, which is so important when working in PR and trying to get coverage.

I was also responsible for putting together some press releases, and after my first few attempts I really got the hang of the format and the right type of language. It was also great to see some of my press releases online and in papers which I found really exciting.

Now, I cannot wait to get out into the working world! I made so many great friends at the company, most of which I’m still in contact with now. It’s made up my mind that I defiantly want to do a year in industry in year three because learning about PR is all very well, however, the experience cannot be beaten.

What is PR?

Public Relations is a modern occupation with its history laying mostly in America, Britain and Germany. There have been many attempts to define what Public Relations consists of, however, there is no one universal definition. It has been given a bad reputation of “spin” which uses deceitful and manipulative tactics; however, with the ethics and code of conducts of public relations, there is less of this reputation now. It is a complex subject with its techniques constantly developing and changing, yet many people have attempted to identify what is Public Relations.

Morris and Goldsworthy describe public relations as “the planned persuasion of people to behave in ways that further its sponsor’s objectives. It works primarily through the use of media relations and other forms of third party endorsement.” (Morris and Goldsworthy, 2008).
Although this defines a basis of what public relations consists of, the definition does not go into enough depth and from my experience of public relations there is a lot more to the current practise than this definition states. Although their work is mostly achieved through media relations which is a massive part of Public Relations and there is a reliance on journalists to publish their articles in the press to gain coverage, in this definition there is no clarification on how this is done. This definition also mentions the planned persuasion of people, and planning is very important, however it fails to mention research. Research into the publics and environment is imperative when working in Public Relations as they need to be aware of the mindset of their audience as well as their sponsors overall goals. However, this is only two people’s opinion on what consists of the practise of public relations. Others, such as the CIPR, Public Relation Officers and intellectuals have alternative ideas as to what makes up Public Relations

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the professional body of public relations for Britain and their definition states that; “Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.” (CIPR 1987).

This is similar to Morris and Goldsworthy’s definition as it shows the importance of persuasion of the public’s although the CIPR refer directly to reputation which is a huge part of PR and goes further into explaining how you would further the sponsor’s objectives. The CIPR definition also emphasises the importance of mutual understanding and well as building good relationships with the organisations, public and media. This is a key factor of public relations as the success of the business is dependent on relying and helping one another which will overall benefit both parties.

In 1976 Harlow pulled together the 472 different definitions of Public Relations to create his own definition;

“Public Relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation between an organisation and its publics; involves the management of problems or issues helps management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinions; defines and emphasises the responsibility of management to serve the public interest; helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilise change; serving as an early warning system to help anticipate trends and uses research and ethical communication techniques as its principal tools.” (Harlow 1976).

Unlike Morris and Goldsworthy’s definition there is an emphasis on the importance of Public Relations as a management function and their use of research so that they can adapt to change. Harlow mentions the use of communication between the public and organisation and the importance of serving the public’s interest, which is essentially what Morris and Goldsworthy claims and is a key aspect of Public Relations. This definition although long winded, does incorporate the key issues, tasks and techniques that a Public Relations officer would take part in daily. However, it does not actually explain the essence nor the strategy of Public Relations.

Overall, the issue of defining Public Relations is very complex as there are so many parts to Public Relations that overlap with other job titles such as advertising, marketing and journalism. It is ironic that a job which deals with communication runs into major communication issues when attempting to be defined. Public Relations may never have one universal definition because it is a profession that is constantly changing and developing. However, there is a clear need to define public relations to stop it being misunderstood as “spin” which holds its bad reputation and this may be achieved in the near future.

Edward Bernays. AKA. King of Spin.

Edward Bernays is known primarily for being the Father of Spin but also nephew to psychoanalysis expert Sigmund Freud. Further to my previous blog about Freud, I am now going to investigate further into the mind of his close relative to see how he managed to use the subconscious to manipulate public opinion.


Bernays used psychology to help get into the minds of the public’s by using persuasive campaigns. He believed that propaganda that was seen throughout the Nazi period in Germany as well as all over the world during and just after the World Wars were perfect examples of how psychoanalysis could be linked to public relations.


"If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it? The recent practice of propaganda has proved that it is possible, at least up to a certain point and within certain limits."


He believed that deep understanding of the mind and how humans operated meant that manipulation of thought processes, even on a large target audience, could be possible. This was all documented in his essay “The Engineering of Consent” first published in 1947. Bernays believed that those who were undisciplined or lacking in religious guidance or morals could easily be manipulated subconsciously as they had no strong beliefs.


Bernays could be held responsible for the high levels of women smokers today, as it was him in the 1920’s who manipulated the minds of women everywhere from turning smoking into a taboo activity to a socially acceptable and attractive act. He manipulated women by showing powerful, strong females smoking and called cigarettes the “torches of freedom”.


Surely this is what Public Relations is all about; as advertising makes the reader perfectly aware that they are trying to be sold something. However, through the use of public relations we are not subconsciously aware of what message is hidden behind a story. I know for a fact that I have been tricked into buying products purely through great PR, and now that I have a deeper understanding on what PR is as well as knowing the methods Edward Bernays and Freud used I think I will be able to spot the spin even more in the future.