The deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between the organization and its various publics.
The British Institute of Public Relations
PR practitioners communicate with all relevant internal and external publics to develop relationships and to create consistency between organizational goals and societal expectations.
The word ‘publics’ includes “employees, shareholders, future employees, bureaucracy, opinion makers, financial institutions, local and national government and administration, media, wholesalers, dealers, consumers, special interest groups, community and public at large.
PR has three major aims:
1.To change hostile public opinion
2.To shape up unformed public opinion
3.To conserve positive public opinion
PR & Public Opinion
- Public opinions works as a barometer of PR practices.
- Public opinions provides a psychological environment in which organizations prosper or perish.
- PR practitioners keeps a close watch on public opinion and make, alter and implement policies and programs accordingly.
- Each organization has certain core competencies, which may be unique to it. It is important for PR practitioners to use these competencies in favor of the organizations.
- Example:- Mahatma Gandhi statue installation during V P Singh government and criticism by Satish Gujral.
- Example:- The decision of Birla Group to not get into the business of hospitality and distillery.
Key Steps For Positive Public Opinion
- Understanding the core values and competencies of the organization
- To identify various stakeholders/publics
- To understand the communication needs of various publics
- Scanning environment and keeping the organization in tune to the latest
- Decide on the best cost-effective media to reach out to publics
- To create distinct corporate identity for the organization
- Helping in creating an environment of trust and understanding