In brief: Public Relations vs Publicity The goal of PR and publicity is similar and that is to attract the attention of media

a towards the products of the company but publicity is just a part of the whole PR exercise that is undertaken to generate goodwill and credibility for the company in the eyes of the public (potential customers). The principle of perception is reality is at work when effective PR exercise is undertaken and a really good PR strategy can create an aura around a product or person that leads to amazing success.

Publicity is simply just one arrow in the quiver that is public relations. Publicity is the effort to garner media coverage or exposure about a brand, product, event, etc. Its focus is narrow. Public relations, on the other hand, is the higher level development of an over-arching strategy for furthering a marketing or communications goal of an organization. It is often associated with the term reputation management.

It is true that publicity is a tool that PR professionals can use, but it is only a single tool. If your PR firm is limited to just creating publicity, then you do not truly have a PR firm.

Other aspects of PR (beyond publicity) might include: community outreach, corporate social responsibility programming and sponsorships, government relations, grassroots communications and engagement efforts, public presentations and other tools used to position the organization as thought leaders, new media tactics, and many more. Diff b/w advertising & publicity 1. Paid Space or Free Coverage Advertising: The company pays for ad space. You know exactly when that ad will air or be published. Public Relations: Your job is to get free publicity for the company. From news conferences to press releases, you're focused on getting free media exposure for the company and its products/services.

2. Creative Control Vs. No Control Advertising: Since you're paying for the space, you have creative control on what goes into that ad. Public Relations: You have no control over how the media presents your information, if they decide to use your info at all. They're not obligated to cover your event or publish your press release just because you sent something to them.

3. Shelf Life

Advertising: Since you pay for the space, you can run your ads over and over for as long as your budget allows. An ad generally has a longer shelf life than one press release. Public Relations: You only submit a press release about a new product once. You only submit a press release about a news conference once. The PR exposure you receive is only circulated once. An editor won't publish your same press release three or four times in their magazine.

4. Wise Consumers Advertising: Consumers know when they're reading an advertisement they're trying to be sold a product or service. "The consumer understands that we have paid to present our selling message to him or her, and unfortunately, the consumer often views our selling message very guardedly," Paul Flowers, president of Dallas-based Flowers & Partners, Inc., said. "After all, they know we are trying to sell them." Public Relations: When someone reads a third-party article written about your product or views coverage of your event on TV, they're seeing something you didn't pay for with ad dollars and view it differently than they do paid advertising. "Where we can generate some sort of third-party 'endorsement' by independent media sources, we can create great credibility for our clients' products or services," Flowers said. 5. Creativity or a Nose for News Advertising: In advertising, you get to exercise your creativity in creating new ad campaigns and materials. Public Relations: In public relations, you have to have a nose for news and be able to generate buzz through that news. You exercise your creativity, to an extent, in the way you search for new news to release to the media.

6. In-House or Out on the Town Advertising: If you're working at an ad agency, your main contacts are your co-workers and the agency's clients. If you buy and plan ad space on behalf of the client like Media Director Barry Lowenthal does, then you'll also interact with media sales people. Public Relations: You interact with the media and develop a relationship with them. Your contact is not limited to in-house communications. You're in constant touch with your contacts at the print publications and broadcast media.

7. Target Audience or Hooked Editor Advertising: You're looking for your target audience and advertising accordingly. You wouldn't advertise a women's TV network in a male-oriented sports magazine.

Public Relations: You must have an angle and hook editors to get them to use info for an article, to run a press release or to cover your event.

8. Limited or Unlimited Contact Advertising: Some industry pros such as Account Executive Trey Sullivan have contact with the clients. Others like copywriters or graphic designers in the agency may not meet with the client at all. Public Relations: In public relations, you are very visible to the media. PR pros aren't always called on for the good news. If there was an accident at your company, you may have to give a statement or on-camera interview to journalists. You may represent your company as a spokesperson at an event. Or you may work within community relations to show your company is actively involved in good work and is committed to the city and its citizens. 9. Special Events Advertising: If your company sponsors an event, you wouldn't want to take out an ad giving yourself a pat on the back for being such a great company. This is where your PR department steps in. Public Relations: If you're sponsoring an event, you can send out a press release and the media might pick it up. They may publish the information or cover the event.

10. Writing Style Advertising: Buy this product! Act now! Call today! These are all things you can say in an advertisement. You want to use those buzz words to motivate people to buy your product. Public Relations: You're strictly writing in a no-nonsense news format. Any blatant commercial messages in your communications are disregarded by the media.

Significance of pr:A few of the significant public relations benefits include: Economical way to reach your target audience in masses Stimulates awareness of, and the demand for your company's products or services Strengthens your company image and perception Paints the picture of a company that is active and innovative Creates more credibility that traditional advertising

Creates an advantage of your competitors that are not utilizing PR effectively Increase search engine visibility and organic results

As you can see a well run public relations program carries with it multiple benefits that can have a significant impact that is greater than traditional marketing or advertising vehicles. It's a proven fact that public relations also carries a higher credibility factor. If PR is not a part of your marketing program, it may be time to consider and implement a public relations campaign to complement your existing marketing

Definition, nature and Scope of Public relation Definition The term Public Relations was first coined by the US President Thomas Jefferson. He used the term during his address to Congress in 1807. Precursors to public relations are found in publicists who specialized in promoting circuses, theatrical performances, and other public spectacles. In the United States, where public relations has its origins, many early PR practices were developed in support of the expansive power of the railroads. In fact, many scholars believe that the first appearance of the term "public relations" appeared in the 1897 Year Book of Railway Literature.

Edward Bernays is generally regarded today as the profession's founder. In describing the origin of the term Public Relations, Bernays commented, "When I came back to the United States, I decided that if you could use propaganda for war, you could certainly use it for peace. And propaganda got to be a bad word because of the Germans.. using it. So what I did was to try to find some other words, so we found the words Council on Public Relations". One of the earliest definitions of PR was coined by Edward Bernays. According to him, "Public Relations is a management function which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interest of an organization followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance. " According to two American PR professionals Scott M. Cutlips and Allen H. Center, "PR is a planned effort to influence opinion through good character and responsible performance based upon mutual satisfactory two-way communication".

Public relations is the art and science of managing communication between an organization and its key constituents to build, manage, and sustain its positive image. Public relations is the process of aligning the perceptions of targeted audiences (or publics)

with the current realities and reasonable prospects of another entity. Public relations is about building public relationships.

Public relations involves: 1. Evaluation of public attitudes and opinions. 2. Formulation and implementation of an organization's procedures and policy regarding communication with its publics. 3. Coordination of communications programs. 4. Developing rapport and good-will through a two way communication process. 5. Fostering a positive relationship between an organization and its public constituents. Examples include: Corporations use marketing public relations (MPR) to convey information about the products they manufacture or services they provide to potential customers to support their direct sales efforts. Typically, they support sales in the short and long term, establishing and burnishing the corporation's branding for a strong, ongoing market. Corporations also use public-relations as a vehicle to reach legislators and other politicians, seeking favorable tax, regulatory, and other treatment, and they may use public relations to portray themselves as enlightened employers, in support of human-resources recruiting programs. Non-profit organizations, including schools and universities, hospitals, and human and social service agencies, use public relations in support of awareness programs, fund-raising programs, staff recruiting, and to increase patronage of their services. Politicians use public relations to attract votes and raise mon ey, and, when successful at the ballot box, to promote and defend their service in office, with an eye to the next election or, at careers end, to their legacy. PR has had many definitions over the years and since its early boom days of the 1980s has almost entirely redefined itself. This is probably because most clients these days are far too media-savvy to think that fluffy ideas and champagne parties constitute a good media service (of course this is a good thing, but we do still like a good champagne party). PR these days is often misunderstood, and its probably the fault of the PR industry itself that most people arent sure where PR is supposed to stop and marketing, advertising, branding and all the other media services begin. Put very simply, good PR encourages the media (newspapers, magazines, TV and radio) to say good things about your product/service or whatever it is that you want to promote so that more people buy your product/use your services/think youre great. Of course, most PR companies have a team that will come from a mixture of media backgrounds and may be able to offer all sorts of PR-related services such as branding, marketing, copywriting and advertising. That can make defining pure PR all the more confusing for the client. NATURE AND FORM OF PUBLIC RELATION

No one can provide a magic formula for figuring out what form and nature of PR and organization will need. The approaches are many but the time constrains and budget limitation will prevent the organization or the PR person from pursuing all the avenues at one and the same time. It would be sensible to decide about specific jobs which are relevant to particular PR programmes for an organization. In any kind of human activity may it be in industry, commerce, education, health, local government or social service, they need to understand and use public relations and communication. Public relations involve two-way communication between an organization and its public. It requires listening to the constituencies on which an organization depends as well as analyzing and understanding the attitudes and behaviors of those audiences. Only then can an organization undertake an effective public relations campaign. Public relations should be seen as a management function in any organization. An effective communication, or public relations, plan for an organization is developed to communicate to an audience (whether internal or external publics) in such a way the message coincides with organizational goals and seeks to benefit mutual interests whenever possible. Form of communication that is primarily directed to image building and that tends to deal with issues rather than specifically with products or services. Public relations uses publicity that does not necessitate payment in a wide variety of media and is often placed as news or items of public interest. It would be better to make a checklist to find out the exactly the organization wants and what the PR person himself wants to achieve.

1) Extent of PR function To what extent the organizations use public relation? The PR function should be recognized as central to good management and able to act as a unifying force within the organization and in the way its itself. That way a schedule of activity can become campaign and a campaign can become a programme. 2) Level of PR function This depends on the nature of business or services being provided by the organization. The point to think is corporations can be longer operating in an environment of confrontation. They must have the acceptance of the government and the citizens. Moreover, in handling sensitive issues, corporate management cannot do away with social, cultural, economic and political ethos existing in the community. 3) Target public How to handle the target public is a frequently raised question for PR person. It has been

acknowledged by the management that the PR person is a necessary link between the management and the various publics (audience). Fortunate this trust has arisen out of the services rendered by PR as a professional.

4) Maintaining goodwill In the long run goodwill always pays. In the early days business and industry could function in total secrecy without public scrutiny. In the present competitive society all sections of the economy i.e. private or public are under constant public gaze. It is equally important to guard the reputation once earned.

5) Evaluation of work PR person should always evaluate himself in his work environment. He should always appraise his own competence, acknowledge potential weakness and thereafter seek expert advice. One should be aware of and be sensitive to cultural environment or which one is working. While improving his professional capability a public relation person has to recognize his organizations responsibility

6) General areas of objectives It is mainly known as which and what are the particular PR objectives do we tend to achieve. It mainly consists of changes we want to bring about. Terms like market standing, innovation, work performance and attitude and Public responsibilities are mainly comes in PR.

7) Communication skills Managing the strategy and skills of communication are an integral part of business policy and decision making. Ultimately, PR is involved in the management of organization behavior and also of the public important to them. PR decides about the methods and media of communication and when and how to use the target public. THE SCOPE OF PUBLIC RELATION

Public relation is a window of the corporation through which management can monitor external changes and simultaneously a window through which society can affect corporate policy.

Today most social conflicts are caused by changing values and higher expectation from the superiors.

We find regular conflicts between employer-employee consumer-manufacturer, management-shareholders, citizens-government and so on due to misconception and misunderstandings. These are generally the major challenges where public relation practitioners can play a crucial role. They should get to know the psychology of the public mind and acquire skill in solving and also avoiding such conflicts.

In our market economy there are information gaps which cannot be filled by the interaction of supply and demand via . cost, wages or prices. Here public relations activity steps in. It provides relevant information on planning technical and organizational developments, inventions and their potential utilization, etc.

The relations activity is becoming more and more important for the procurement of economically essential production factors. It makes it easier to tap the money-market or financing their projects by issuing bonds or shares.

If the corporation cultivates public relations, it is easier for them to acquire land from a community and bring in own interest in harmony with these of the community. Today the public relation profession has even entered into the fields of non-commercial organizations, government departments, hospitals, universities and other non profit organizations. According to Edward L. Bernays, the fundamental laws and the necessity of public relation may be expressed in three words, information, adjustment and integration.

The scope of public relation is wide and also include political filed. Entrepreneurs, teachers, political leaders, social workers, religions, leaders are all involved in public relations day in and day out.

In business public relation is tool of management like marketing, production and finance. It is investing and creating asset for an organization which is finally reflected in improved performance profitability, and growth of the organization.

Successful public relation can be measured by its ability to convert negative situations into positive ones.

Public relations can do the following:

(a) Help win friends, influence people, persuade individuals, groups and in difficult situation bring about goodwill where needed and maintain goodwill where it is existing. (b) Create and build up image and reputation of individual, organization and nation.

(c) Public relations can bring out reward of mutual understanding and risks involved in misunderstanding between individuals, groups, government and nation. (d) Help the public to love life and work for better or for worse without condition.

(e) Forestall attacks by opponents or competitors. (f) Counsel employees to recognize that as human beings they are more of a complete structure.

(g) The possible areas where public relation plays its role. Promotional opportunity, new image, competitive challenge, rumour, crisis, conflict of interest, ineffective communication.