Characteristics of PR

Kimishua Angela
BAPRM 42583

1. Meaning:
Public relations activities are typically designed to build and maintain a favourable image for an organisation and a favourable relationship with the organization’s various “publics.” These publics may be customers, stockholders, employees, unions, environmentalist, the government, people in local community or some other groups in society
2. Important Managerial Function:
It is an integral part of managerial functions. Many companies operate a special department for the purpose known as public relations department to create and maintain constructive relations with different interested publics. A manager must take concrete steps to manage successful relations with the key publics.
3. Publicity and Public Relations:
It is an extension of publicity. Publicity concerns with getting favourable response from mass media about a company, its products, and its activities while public relations concerns with creating and maintaining constructive relations with various publics over a time.
4. Wide Range of Activity:
Public relations includes a lot of activities to build and maintain long-term and positive relations with a large set of interested publics. It involves a number of interactions, such as contacting, inviting, informing, clarifying, responding, interpreting, dealing, transacting, and so forth.
5. Various Parties:
Public relations covers a number of publics – formal and informal groups. These publics may be customers, stockholders, employees, unions, environmentalists, the government, people in local community, or some other groups in society. The purpose of public relations is to make these parties build positive attitudes about a company.
6. Continuous Process:
Public relations is a continuous process. It starts with inception of business unit and lasts as long as it exists. The firm has to perform public relations activities on a continuous basis. Once the company has established a good image and reputation, such image and positive attitudes may extinguish if they are not monitored or maintained. Similarly, along with expansion of business, it has to build new relations with varied parties at different places.
7. Management Philosophy:
It is fundamentally the management attitudes and managerial philosophy to build and maintain good relations with publics. A company formulates policy to establish public relations. This philosophy is based on building healthy relations with various groups for company’s interest. Management must know the attitudes of publics toward the company’s policy and practice. It considers general interest while taking decisions.
8. All Level Activity:
All the officials from the top level to the supervisory level perform public relations activities. It obvious that officials working at various levels of management can contribute in developing positive relations with different publics like shareholders, customers, traders, service providers, government, and so on. It is the joint duty of all the employees from top to bottom.
9. Routine Activity:
Note that public relations is a part of routine activities. It is not incidental or occasional. Further, it is not taken as distinct activity, but a part of day-to-day activities. It is treated as part of daily activities like purchase, administration, production, marketing, finance, and likewise.
10. Essence of Public Relations:
It is an essential function of marketing department. A company can build, improve, and maintain its image through public relations. Due to the healthy public relations with several publics, the company can smoothly carry out its operations. It is treated as important as production and marketing.
11. Public Relations as a Profession:
In relation to modern management practices, the public relations has become profession. It enjoys professional status. All the characteristics of profession such as specialized knowledge, need of formal education, ethical codes, service motive, continuous development, etc., are also prevalent in public relations.
The professional is called PRO (Public Relations Officer. There are special courses intended to prepare and train successful professional public relations officers. There are professional public relations consultancies to guide businessmen how to build, improve and/or maintain public relations.
12. Public Relations as an Art:
It is, no doubt, an art. To make publics think positively about the company, one must know how to deal with them. The officer  designated as public relations officer (PRO) – must have skills, special qualities, and knowledge to interact successfully with different groups of society to build the long-term constructive relations. He needs special qualities to be the successful PRO.