Even though the first newspaper was brought out in Germany in the 16th century, PR was born much later. In simple terms Public Relations is about creating understanding through knowledge.
In the initial stages it was known as propaganda in the 80’s it was effectively used by the kings of UK as a Grapewine. A particular person designated for this in the Court was deputed to inform the Public of the good things the rulers are doing and get the feedback from the public. In India, especially in South India a person called PANAN was there in the Kings Courters. He is to go around the Villages with a ……… and used to sing songs praising the King and …..….. Missionaries explaining his good deeds.
The term Public Relations was first used by the 3rd US President Thomas Jefferson in 1807 in his congress speech. But it didn’t took of or become very popular at that time. Although there were lot of ancient forms and practices in PR like of Julies Ceasors campaign wing biography, Poems, newsletters etc. to illustrate his military successes to boost him as a hero.
After the world war II PR was recognized as a full time profession. It began to develop to a modern, dignified and essential profession. During world war II , leaflets were dropped, broadcasting of news, spreading of Posters etc. was done as part of demoralizing the enemies mainly by UK and Germany. PR was initially known as Media Relations in India ans people with Journalism background were the first gen PR agents. In fact it came to India in the 1980’s. International advertising agencies like Ogilvy started their PR divsion Ogilvey PR in India. But since they were focusing more an advertising their care area it didn’t flourished much.
PR was conceived during that period as a communication method to inform, persuade and influence the target audience.
In 1980’s when I started my career in Advertising & PR in Kochi hardly any PR agencies were there. Newspapers were the only medium at that time. The Televisions, FM Radios and there working only 3 or 4 newspapers. The advertising agencies were doing he PR work for their clients. Of course there were Public Relations Officers in PSU’S and
Government institutions like Cardamom Board, Coir board etc. The main job of the PRO’s were writing speeches for their bosses, taking care of their personal affairs, writing occasional press releases etc. We used to envy the PRO’s because they were not having any definite working time, they can always roarm around in their official capacity and is the vehicle of their organization. In fact they were given unlimited freedom and money to spend to boost the image of the chairman or MD of the organization. But everything was dependent on thewhims and fancies of the boss and the closeness of the PRO’s with them.
In 1986 Charanjit Singh, a Professional working in a German Company stated the first organised PR agency Core PR in India. In 1991 when the Indian Market was opened by the PM Narasimha Rao and F M Manmohan Singh. The impact was Known as LPG. Liberalisation Privataisation & Globalisation. There was a spirit of PR Agencies both India and International. The share market also has a foam. A lot of Public Issues came and with that PR Agencies were also became live. Ad fastest, concept PR, Sobhagya etc. were some of the agencies who became very active during that period.
The terminologies like Corporate PR, Strategic PR etc. were introduced.
But in 2008 there was a Global slow down Added to that in India the Satyam Computers …….gave a big shock to Indian PR Industry. It was the questine of ethical reporting, credibility anf trust. A lot of companies had problems and their survival and growth were affected.
But by 2005 with the digital era, the PR Industry came back focus with the latest concepts like image Management. But the main start coming were the lack of skilled man power, professionalism, leadership crisis, lack of proper understanding etc.
In 2012 PRSA redifined PR as “Public Relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationship between organization and their publics”
The Nielson Global survey in 2014 on CSR in 60 countries throughout Asia, Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Africa and North America. Came up with a pathbreaking revelution that PR is almost 90% more effective than advertising. Advertising is a paid publicity but PR is earned publicity. With advertising you tell people how great you are. But with publicity, others sing your praises. Another very important finding was that 52% of Customers buy
products after ensuring that the brand is committed to positive social and environmental impact.
India has the world’s second highest number of internet users after China. But still 2/3 of India Population does not have access to internet or Smartphone with more penetration of Internet, India is soon going to be one of the top markets in the world.
Publicity is only the beginning of the game. The end game is customer satisfaction. An unhappy customer can spread negative message and can create serious trouble. During a crisis like this only PR can help and repair the damage.
On an average, an Indian spends 3-4 hours in social media in a day. One person is expected to 2000 to 5000 messages in a day. In us its 4000 to 10,000. We will ignore most of them unless you have a personal interest in it. The daily challenges of a brand are – staying consistent, differentiating against competetion, continuity of customer experience and keeping themselves on top of the mind.
A well defined and elaborate content, ……….. and marketing plan differentiates you from others in the field who are using only on their products. The content in internet influences the lives of the people. It can create strong foundation and influence in the minds of the behavior of the target audience. For distinguishing the brand strategy to build a brand, market research helps you to create awareness and trust.
Getting noticed in this crowd and staying a top of the mind of the mind is the trick. Articles, videos, images, testimonials, audios, infographics etc. can create.
Indian PR industry touched 1600 crores in 2019 and was expected to grow 12.5% to reach 1800 crores in 2020. PR Agencies are string to come up from were press relations to integrated communication agencies with the dominance in digital media in the future. Integrating different communication channels is the future media relations, Digital PR owned, earned & paid media relations, Online Reputation and Image Management, P R supported by Research and Data, content creation, story telling etc. must be integrated create relevant, viral and topical content, promote them using on, earned and paid media to keep the image or top of the mind of the stakeholders.
If’s going to be Technology driven with more focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Date, Internet of ……… Virtual & …….. Reality to ensure 3600 value proposition for the clients. The focus must be on transparency and authenticity awaiting fake news.
The times are definitely changing. It is no longer controlled or defined by media to shape your likes and preferences. Now a person with a good number of following in Instagram can change your priorities & brands. Its going to be days of influences & bloggers.
I recently listened to a speech of K L Mohana Varma, the legendary writer in Malayalam in which he was talking about a half men half machine future man. Technology is advancing in such a pace that nobody can predict the future including the PR Industry