public relations strategy. Public relations is a comprehensive communication effort by a company to influence the perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes of various groups toward the company.
What is meant by these groups are those who are involved, have interests, and can influence the company’s ability to achieve its goals.
These groups may consist of employees and their families, shareholders, customers, audiences/people living around the organization, intermediary suppliers, the government, and the mass media.
In its implementation, public relations can be carried out by key individuals from a company and can also be carried out by a formal institution in the form of a bureau, department, or public relations section in the organizational structure.
A. Understanding public relations
Many experts define the notion of public relations based on their respective points of view.
When viewed from the management aspect, public relations is defined as a management function that evaluates public attitudes, determines the policies of a person or organization in the public interest, and plans and carries out a program of activities to gain public understanding and support.
Based on this definition there are three main characteristics of public relations. First, high credibility, where articles and news in the mass media are more trusted than advertisements. Second, off guard, namely public relations can reach those who avoid salespeople or advertisements.
Finally, dramatization, namely public relations, has the potential to dramatize a particular company or product. Public relations activities include the following:
1. Press Relations
The purpose of relations with the press is to provide information that is appropriate/worthy of being published in newspapers to attract public attention to a person, product, service, or organization.
2. Product Publicity
This activity includes various efforts to publish certain products.
3. Corporate Communication
This activity includes internal and external communication, as well as promoting understanding of the organization.
4. Lobbying
Lobbying is an attempt to cooperate with legislators and government officials so that companies get important valuable information. Sometimes even intended to influence the decision to be taken.
5. Counseling
This activity is carried out by providing advice and opinions to management regarding issues related to the public and regarding the position and image of the company.
B. Marketing Public Relations (MPR)
The above activities do not fully support marketing objectives. Therefore, in the public relations department, a special section is usually formed called Marketing Public Relations (MPR).
The goal is for the marketing department and public relations department to work together. Through the MPR, many public relations activities were aligned with marketing situations.
Such as helping launch new products, helping reposition mature products (products that have entered the maturity stage in PLCs), building interest in a product group, and influencing certain target groups.
Defending products that have problems with society, building a corporate image in such a way that benefits its products, and others.
Read Skills to listen effectively to sales executives
Public relations is often equated with propaganda. Indeed, the goal is the same, namely to gain public support. However, most of the propaganda is dishonest and misleading.
As a result, there is an assumption that public relations only give good information and cover up bad things, including this assumption that public relations often control the press.
These assumptions arise because the public lacks an understanding of the function and role of public relations.
Therefore, public relations also need to develop an image through two-way communication to achieve mutual understanding. The success of public relations is determined by the achievement of goodwill, understanding, acceptance, and public support.
