Public Relation (PR) - As a career option
Introduction
“If a young man tells his date how handsome, smart and successful he is – that’s advertising. If the young man tells his date she’s intelligent, looks lovely, and is a great conversationalist, he’s saying the right things to the right person and that’s marketing. If someone else tells the young woman how handsome, smart and successful her date is – that’s PR.” – S. H. Simmons
From the aforementioned quote, we well understand the fundamental work of Public Relations. The work of PR firms/individuals is to maintain a fair image of any business/government organization, or a private enterprise amidst the general masses so as to engender a faith in the respective organization/enterprise.
To survive in society, we must be social. Public relations acts as the integral unit which maintains the social opinion of a particular organization. This includes:
Government organizations
- Businesses
- Brands
- Celebrities, etc.
How is Public Relation (PR) different from Advertising and Marketing?
All Maggi lovers raise your hands! Remember that ad where they show how you can make Maggi in just two minutes and let’s face it, it looks really tempting. Through these marketing policies and ad campaigns, the company is working towards the sale of their product. Now, remember the recent muck that the company was in due to the lead contents found in their product? But despite all that shindig, Maggi is still our favorite. Any guesses how? Two words, Public Relations.
Public Relations take the load of an organization/institution’s image and work to keep it favorable and hospitable in the eyes of the public. It’s a job that requires very quick thinking, amazing management skills and lastly, the humility that is the trademark of the profession.
They act almost like family to actors, politicians, industrialists, artists, etc. So if there’s an ad on a billboard or for social media, the Public Relations department will be more concerned with the content of the advertisement than its text, font, and design. Therefore it aims at reaching out to masses with the right idea/image of an organization/institution.
Several channels of publicity used by PR Expert
- Word of mouth publicity
- Digital Advertising
- Billboards and hoardings
- Pamphlets and flyers
The idea here is to provide the masses with such information about a client which helps them develop an opinion about them. Public Relations does not pertain to selling a product; that comes later. Their work is to let you know everything you need to know about the client, now whether you buy the product or not depends on the marketing and advertising departments.
This begins with your first image of the brand, to every time you look at it afterward. So now when you think about brands like Colgate, Frito Lay’s and PepsiCo, you see how you have been convinced by their PR over the years.
Eligibility criteria to become a Public Relations (PR) Expert
- +2: Students from either stream (Science, Commerce, Arts) are eligible.
- Bachelor’s Degree: Bachelors in Mass Communication / Bachelor of Arts
- Master’s Degree: Masters in Mass Communication / Bachelor of Arts
Studying for Public Relations will need you to pursue a Mass Communications course for your graduation. Further, this course could be followed up by a Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Communication + Masters in Communication. This course integrates:
- Advertising
- Public Relations
- Entertainment Management
- Digital Communication
- Marketing Strategy
As you can see, the subject matter of Mass Communication ropes in many sub-fields related to Public Relation, which in turn give the student an in-depth knowledge of the subject. Generally, interested students of Mass Communication opt for Public Relation during the final years of their graduation. But an additional Master’s degree only adds to the profile. Needless to say that internships always benefit students with the experience that the profession of Public relation demands.
Some prestigious institutes in India that offer courses in Mass Communication are
- Delhi School of Mass Communication
- Indian Institute of Mass Communications
- Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi)
A day in the life of a Public Relations (PR) Expert
Hi! I’m a Public Relations Expert. My job is to keep the image of my clients clean and favorable among its target audience or the masses in general. I run a Public Relations Firm and I work with Businesses, Politicians, Musicians, Authors, etc.
The work I do keeps me connected to the general public as the profession requires a great assessment of the general public’s reaction to things. It also provides me the chance to work up close and personal with great professionals.
Here’s how I spend a regular day in my life.
7:00 AM: Time to wake up. I freshen up and go for my run.
8:00 AM: Breakfast and the news. I like to savor my news so I skim through the headlines and save the goodies for later. Time to get ready now. Duty beckons.
9:30 AM: The first thing on my doc. today is a list of write-ups that needs to be generated for a certain client. This client is a builder and is looking forward to the inauguration of their latest project. They have a powerful ad campaign going on, with a full social media integration. A nice press release will act like the cherry on this cake. But we need to be quick, there’s a deadline for tonight that we need to meet.
12:00 PM: I’m now waiting to see the organizer of an event company who booked an artist that we’re taking care of. Now there’s a finance-related confusion. Apparently, the presented package did not include accommodation of the artist. This later rose as a tiff between two parties and has now boiled down to a point where the show may or may not happen.
I’m going to try explaining the organizer where the confusion arose. Because we are in the wrong for not specifying our entire package we do not have much of a say in the matter. The best thing to do at such a time is to surrender with dignity.
2:00 PM: Luckily, the matter is finally resolved in good faith. In the profession of Public Relation humility is key. Sometimes, you end up hearing things from both sides but your job is to pacify.
2:30 PM: Hunger strikes! This can’t wait any longer.
3:15 PM: Meanwhile, another band that we’re looking after is releasing their third album, which is a biggie for them. They are currently on-going studio recordings. This could be a good opportunity to film. Get few clips from behind the scenes and post them on Social Media for some initial publicity. So my executive officer calls up the band manager to fix up a meeting.
4:00 PM: We’re meeting the band at the studio they are recording in. There’s a Social Media marketing start-up that could give us just what we need at a fairly lesser price. My executive called up his lead in the firm and told him about what we’re trying to do. He sounded excited so we called him over to the studio, so as to finalize things. Too early? Maybe, but you gotta try to know.
7:00 PM: We are all set with the plan of action for our Social Media promotions. Work begins tomorrow.
7:15 PM: We are doing public relations for a certain author whose recent novel comments of some crucial religious lines. Although it’s plainly harmless things, Twitter and Facebook tell us that a few people are misinterpreting it. We need to work out some content that disproves their allegations. My content team gets to work. Why are creative people so difficult to deal with! I need to see this author.
Sometimes, it’s not about how good you are with words but how you use them that makes all the difference. I’ll need some Wi-Fi.
8:30 PM: I reach my client’s (Author) residence. She seems pretty upset which means more work than I anticipated. In many cases, public relations requires the ability to listen and interpret. I need to convince my client how things like these happen on a daily basis, and then to drive her focus towards correcting the incorrect idea that her readers have.
10:00 PM: We’ve worked out some anecdotes that could be useful and bring more clarity to the subject matter of my client’s novel. I’ve forwarded my content team some matter, to schedule a few tweets and posts over various social media platforms depending on the traction so far. Tomorrow shall hopefully be a better day. And now some free dinner; courtesy: the upset author.
11:00 PM: My latest catch- a Disc Jockey is playing his opening set tonight at one of the premier clubs of the city. He has his Social Media Team in its place but I still have an invite. As they say, ‘a little party killed nobody’.
This is how a typical day in my life looks like. Do you want to become like me? We hope this article has added something valuable to your research about this profession. Have your say in the comment box below. Enjoy reading!