Subscribe to India PR Blog

To get the latest posts from India PR Blog, enter your email below

Twitter India PR Blog

Redefining ‘public’ in public relations

By Tushar Panchal on Nov 19, 2007 in PReducation, clientservicing

public relationsFew years ago there was this song “Yeh jo public hain woh sab jaanti hain…” became an instant hit and I think if you listen it carefully we can definitely learn few things about Public Relations! Search Google and there are chances that you would find it somewhere on the web to listen and download – Free! But what is the ‘public’ in PR? In this small note I have tried to give you my understanding of the ‘P’ of PR – more suggestions are welcome!

Historically for us our primary public was journalists and if you knew few or many journalists in the field, you can very well say that you have mastered the art of Public Relations. Many PR agencies have started and survived on this unique skill. It’s an art and I have seen many fellow professionals have mastered it. There was a company, there was a journalist, and there was a PR guy who knew both. The marriage rocked and even today it is a successful model. The sophistication started coming in from the B school kids and when so called ad guys started talking about IMC and 360 degree communication and so on – in order to make it sound interesting they have started using the new jargons like positioning, messaging, strategy and so on… They lost out somewhere but the jargons continued in the PR field and it is getting even more complicated day by day – PR 2.0, PR 2.5, PR 3.0, and whatever next!

If you ask me to define the ‘public’ in PR – my definition is simple. Public is the set of people who are connected to you in your business Eco system. Public is your board of directors, employees, shareholders, customers, buyers, investors, dealers, distributors, NGOs, political leaders, bureaucrats, media, a person who is writing this blog… The list is endless! And sometimes many businessmen wonder, do they really need to talk to so many people? But, if you want to be a businessman and that to a successful one, you really need to. You need to pay attention to the every information need of all your public(s), you need to respond to their questions and satisfy them in real time. In today’s environment, you can’t ignore even an individual who is part of this public – and yes! Google never forgets.

Anyone, who wants to be successful in life need to develop public relationships that matter to him or her and believe you me, it is not very difficult and you don’t need an IIM to teach you that. We will talk about the means to manage and maintain those relationship in our next few posts – till then, happy relationships!

Tech Tags:

Popularity: 4% [?]

About the Author

Tushar PanchalAfter successfully incubating two companies in the field of marketing communication consulting & digital marketing, Tushar (some people call him just ‘T’, few clients call him ‘Don’ & his first best friend calls him ‘The Industry’) has finally joined R K SWAMY HANSA to spearhead Group’s foray in the Public Relations business as a CEO. Currently working on his first fiction novel, Tushar is known for his wry sense of humor and telling the truth without being worried about tomorrow. He has a long list of ardent fans an equal number of hecklers in the industry, thanks to his posts on www.indiaprblog.com, where he also was the Ed. One Mumbai morning he on left abruptly, promising to return. The wait is still on. He’s still receiving mails to resume writing on IPRB. He has spent close to 21 years doing all types of jobs like farm keeping, inventory management , sales, media buying, media planning, journalism, copy writing, photography, painting…the list is endless. But when you meet him next, ask him what he hasn’t done. And then let us know, we’ll list it here. He has invested close to 16 years in the business of communication doing advertising, public relations, political communication, corporate and marketing communications etc. He boasts of working with some of the best communication companies in the country like Rediffusion Y&R, Vaishnavi Corporate Communications, Bates Enterprise, Perfect Relations, IPAN and a few more. He is also a visiting faculty to a number of communication and management institutes across the country like MICA, MET, SIMC etc. He also conducts various training and capacity building programs for working professionals and so far trained close to 200 engineers, managers and CEOs. He is also an advisor to many NGOs and on the board of few other companies in the media and training business. He is amongst the very few communication professionals in the country, who has worked very closely with governments and politicians to enhance their image and win elections. You can contact Tushar via email here or online here.

4 Comment(s)

  1. On Nov 20, 2007, Anonymous said:

    Companies, as they run on profits, need to benefit out of these relationships as well. Short term can be boost in sales, publicity, etc. Long term can be building a reputation.

  2. On Nov 22, 2007, palinn said:

    I guess there is some debate on the term ‘PR 2.0′ copied from web 2.0. Guess it’s just PR, just the media changed.

  3. On Nov 23, 2007, Moksh Juneja said:

    PR 2.0 not only the media, but the process of engagement has also changed. It takes communication to the next level that is collaboration.

  4. On Nov 23, 2007, Tushar said:

    I think the interesting part is that we are going back to the ‘Read Write community’ and not remaining ‘Read Only’ community.

Post a Comment

« Previous Post
Next Post »