Coming up with a better definition for PR

In the last two decades, many things have changed about the PR industry. Agencies are doing more sophisticated work now than ever before; international best practices are being adopted by agencies; big bucks are being shelled out for PR, which is steadily moving from being a support function to a critical mainstream activity. Despite all that is changing about PR, there is one thing that has remained constant — the blank look on people’s faces when someone tells them he is working in the PR industry.

The ‘vaguely familiar’ invariably place the PR professional in the ‘wining and dining’ bucket. The ‘better informed’ assume you are the networker with all the right contacts, and the ‘really knowledgeable’ know you are the publicity agent who has a magical media wand. All this usually causes the poor PR professional to momentarily adopt one of the better known professions when someone drops the what-do-you-do bomb on him. He answers that question with a stoic smile and something along the lines of ‘advertising’.

This lack of understanding is one of the reasons why not many make PR a profession of choice. How do you take up something you don’t understand? The PR that’s taught in schools is often drastically different from what’s practiced. It therefore ends up becoming the last resort for those seeking a career path when the roads to all other desired choices lead nowhere.

The fuzziness that surrounds PR is also perhaps the reason why companies have not been able to make PR fully work for them. Most companies do not look at their PR agencies as anything other than cc (column centimetre in the media) generators. Their performance is often assessed by the kilograms of clips generated by the agency.

All the classical definitions aside, if I had to define and designate a PR professional, it would be CRO, the Chief Reputation Officer. He helps in safeguarding reputation and building credibility for a company or an organisation with all its stakeholders. He uses a range of tools to do this, media being just one of them. Others include research, training, events and programs, consumer campaigns, stakeholder management, partnership programs, capacity building, issue analysis, content development, employee communication, CSR and others. He helps define and amplify the voice of an organisation, its tone and content. He helps in mapping potential pitfalls and minimising damage.

This definition notwithstanding, PR practitioners should take advantage of not being completely understood. Lack of clarity makes PR a borderless function, which makes it all the more exciting.

It allows the PR professional the flexibility to dabble in areas that may not have been accessible to her in a compartmentalised world. She can try her hand at branding, marketing, consumer relationship management, R&D and even advertising. Most seasoned PR practitioners would have worked in all these areas at some point in their PR career.

This multi-faceted aspect makes PR a more interesting field, especially in the current environment where most communication streams are colliding. It presents an opportunity for PR to truly lead the communications function of an organisation.

Surekha Pillai is a communications consultant based in Delhi. She is @surekhapillai on Twitter