‘Spin Doctors’ is what many think a Public Relations Consultant is…Well, I was quite flummoxed when I realised that that is how many perceived Public Relations or PR Consultants to be…so you are in the business of creating news huh?”, “You create news when there is none?” …”You make sinking organisations look nice?” Of course, the most common understanding of PR is getting covered in print and judging the works of the Agency per column centimeter of coverage in Print et al. So, is that all that a Public Relations Consultant does…Well, I say, NO!

Public Relations has been slow in evolution and needs some definitions beyond creating corporate images. I define Public Relations as the Art of communicating with the masses and formulating a Scientific approach to reach out to your target audience to enable the publics have better understanding of an organisations’ objectives and intention thereby building a favourable image.

PR or Public Relations is not just about Media Relations; it is not just about getting coverage in print, electronic media etc. It is ‘Communications’ and any professional who wishes to be a part of the PR industry needs to understand and should be able to understand the nuances of communicating with various groups of people, catering to heterogeneous mass-scapes. It has to be more than Media Relations, but a smooth blend of various ways of communicating with your target audiences. One has to be aware and understand the fabric of heterogeneity in our country. At a time when Media is at its pluralist best, it’s easy to get entrapped in the battle for ink and bytes and summarise PR as getting every bit of both. It is imperative for Clients and those aspiring to engage Public Relations exercise to realize that one should not get limited in their target audiences, which is what defines the route of PR to be taken most time.

As a student of ‘Communication Studies’, I was exposed to many alternate ways of communicating with the masses, such as street plays, posters, handouts, lectures and photography. We also tried to marry our communication objectives with skills that we could teach and impart to make a wholesome package of communication. At the end of the day, all that mattered was to get across to that one consumer, listener, reader, customer, stakeholder etc. That helps today in my profession as a PR consultant, since one does not only understand that target audiences can never be homogenous, but the way we communicate needs to be customized to each and everyone in the audience.

PR has evolved to a level where agencies today offer much more than column centimeter coverage. There is a whole gamut on the platter that is dished out to the Client: Issues Management, Crisis Communications, Investor Relations, Corporate Social Responsibility, Brand Communications, Corporate Communication, Healthcare Relations etc…and the Consultant knows it all. The PR Consultant knows how to synergise, how to create that perfect concoction of your messages that can be easily absorbed by the last man standing who matters to you as a Client.

Public Relations has evolved as an industry in itself, but the perception of PR hasn’t undergone much change. There is a bigger need today to make the obvious known, that PR is beyond press conferences and press releases…it is about bringing together the basics of effective communication and merging media and non-media activities to be heard and to get noticed. One has been lucky to have got the opportunity of working with Clients who have understood the benefits of communicating with their audiences at the right time and in the right manner possible. Clients who have given us the upper hand to judge what is best suited to reach out to their consumer and take decisions of the channel of communication to be adopted, be it media or non-media. It is heartening when the Client says “I am not looking at print, electronic or online media to make my presence known; I want to reach out to him directly…can you help me do that? Can you help me get a sustained communication blanket where I do not have to over sell myself…Give me an integrated communication plan”. That is good news for the industry, but for this perception to gain maturity is a long way to go.

No, we are not spin doctors, we do not create news out of nothing…we understand the five Ws and H (Who, What, Where, When, Why and How) of a communication model and know how to tune audiences into the same stream of thoughts to perceive our clients better. Public Relations like I said was the art of communication with a scientific approach.

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