The Contribution That Public Relations Can Make To Marketing Communications - Essay Example

Critically assess the contribution of Public Relations in Marketing Introduction: Marketing is an important concept of the production process and there have been gradual shifts in the marketing strategies of companies. Public Relations in the marketing sector helps a company ensure that there is exposure of its products in the market, so as to create awareness and demand of the product among the consumers. It has seen a number of changes with the changes in the economic structure and social developments over the years.  The economic structure has grown and evolved into non recognition from what it was two centuries ago. There have been a number of changes that have taken place, and there have been the development of new ideas and concept for the execution of the process of production. Ideas like labour, technological changes and development, management of resources, production using sustainable methods are concepts that have developed very recently (Grunig, James & Hunt, Todd, 1984). There has been a shift from the agricultural age through the industrial age to what is existing today, the information age within 100 to 200 years. (IngentaConnect Publication). Due to the increase in the competition marketing has become very significant in product promotion and in the field of marketing Public Relations has emerged of great significance. In the following paper there shall be conducted a detailed study on the importance of public relations in the field of marketing where the focus will be on the conduction of a detailed and critical analysis of the role of PR in the management of the product and the creation of a market image. Role of Public Relation: Most of the scholars have defined public relations as the communication link between the public and the company. It involves the development of positive relations of the organizations and the products in the market, and it involves a variety of communicative tools to do so (Centre A H, Jackson P, 1995). It traditionally made use of the media services to communicate to the customer base its view point and sell its product. But with the emergence of competition in the market there were a number of other skills and communicative tools bought in to ensure that the PR of firm is able to achieve its goal of capturing the interest of the customer base in the market with new innovative methods of communication links. Thus there has been seen that with time the amount of money that is spent on the PR of a product by an organization has increased and today there is seen that huge funds are being set aside which are invested in simply promoting the products and the organizations through PR. PR has thus emerged as a vital part of the strategy of any company in the global economic order through the creation of effective communicative channels can be established and maintained (Pinsdorf, Marion, 1986). The role of PR has today evolved well past what it was a decade ago. Today it helps ensure that the information about the financial and the business transactions of the firm are communicated to the public, ensure that there is creation of good will of the product as well as the company in the market and among the consumers, look into all the media transactions and information that is being sent out, closely monitor all the media reportings and the public comment on the products and the organization. Finally the most important role that has evolved of the PR in the current day scenario is that it looks into the handling of the crisis situation, where in case of any controversies, it responds to the negative information and looks at maintaining the goodwill of the product and the organization in the market (Hall P, 2007). The PR department forms the voice of the company and all organizations communicate with the external world through its PR.   Tools of Public Relations: As has already been mentioned above the traditional tool that was employed by the PR branch was confined to ensuring that information about the product was communicated to the public where the public relation personnel worked in close sync with the media houses to ensure that a positive image of the product can be communicated to the consumers (Cutlip S M, Center A H, Broom G M, 1994). But there has been seen that as the market evolved into a global economic structure the role of the PR section of a firm also broadened and today there are three sections where the PR of an organization or a firm are actively involved. These include the Financial Public relations, the Product Public Relations and finally the Crisis Public Relations and these have been detailed above. The various tools that are used by the PR firms to promote the products and the companies include some positive and the negative effects. The main aim that is pursued by most of these agencies is the promotion of the products. It does not look at the moral fibre of the products. For example, in the case of a PR agency promoting cigarettes, it does not look at the harmful effects of the product to the user but it simply looks at promoting the product and increasing sales of the product in the market (Burnett, J.J, 1998). As in the case of Marlboro, the company has tried to establish a brand image of the product through the PR that communicates to the customer base a sense of quality and class but the ill effects of tobacco use is not mentioned. The tools that are employed by PR firms in the promotion of the products and the organizations include a number of communicative tools like lobbying, Spins, Meets and Greets, and others. Lobbying: Lobbying is perhaps one of the most important tools that have emerged in the hands of the PR agencies in ensuring that the products receive support in the market. Through this tool most of the organizations establish pressure groups to ensure that their interest are upheld in the government (Lesly, P 1991). This looks at behind the scene manipulation of the matters to ensure that the interests of the organization or the firms are upheld or that the cause of a certain group is promoted in a society. For example, it is a well known fact that most of the industrial companies have a well formed and powerful lobby group in the American legislature to ensure that the interest of the industrial companies are upheld in the legislature and that those bills adopted are in sync with the requirements of these organizations (Nelson J, 1989). Spin: Another important communicative tool that is present in the hands of the Public Relations firms is that of the “Spin”. Under this form of communicative skill most of the PR firms manipulate the facts that are present to present a positive picture of the product in the most effective method to ensure that the interest of the consumers is captured and retained. This is highly effective as it is usually based on the market research that is usually conducted by these firms to get a feel of the needs, demands and expectations of the consumers (Calcagni T, 2009). In keeping with these demands of the consumers a product image is usually created by the PR companies that portray the products and the organization in a positive and favourable light. The main aim of this tool is to ensure making the product as attractive to the consumers as possible. The most important fact that needs to be kept in mind while looking at this communication tool is that there is high level of manipulation of facts under this (Tye L, 1989). The image that is portrayed is usually not a true picture, and leads to misleading of the consumers. For example, in case of most of the fat free butter, the advertisement that is usually published by the media houses as sent by the PR firms is that the fat free butter continues to provide the same taste and goodness of butter while ensuring that the person remains healthy and does not add to their waist (Forman A 2001). This is easily reflected in the ad campaigns run by Wonder Natural Foods Corporation for its product the Better n Peanut Butter. But the reality of the product is far from this; in fact the taste of the product is quite different from the normal butter sold in the markets. This is used by most of the firms as a adding a “spin”, to the advertisement of the products by making it more attractive to the consumers. Thus, the moral and the ethical outlook that is followed by most of these PR firms are usually low and as long as the goal of meeting the sales is realised misinterpretation of information or ‘spinning’ of information is acceptable in the field. Meet and Greet: This is a method that is adopted by most of the PR agencies to ensure that two or more companies and groups can come together in an informal setting for introduction and communication (Bernays E, 1945). This form of communication usually involves a large number of incentives. In such cases the PR firms are looking for certain goals, is it advertisement and promotion of a product or an organization or coming together of different groups. In such a setting there is usually seen the presence of a large number of media personnel for promotion. There are also other incentives that are handed out to ensure that the participation is high like catering, etc. This method of communication used for promotional purposes has become very popular in the recent times. There has been seen that most of the organization employ this method when looking at any product launching in the market including Film promotions, product launching in the market (Gray, James G., Jr 1986). These events usually invite huge media figures to promote their products. Other than this there are also employed other techniques, where free samples of the products are given out, along with other products in what are usually termed as “goody-bags”, which are usually seen in way of ensuring promotion of the products. Media is also invited to these events to ensure strong media presence in the market and product coverage. For example in the recent times, the upcoming Indian brand that has emerged strongly in the global market ITC has employed this to promote its new products, to create communication channels with different media houses and other companies so as to ensure visibility in the market. Other than these there are also some other PR methods and tools that are employed like publicity stunts, where information, which may or may not be accurate. Be leaked to the public through the media, creating media frenzy so that there is wide spread interest created leading to an increase in demand. This method is usually adopted by most of the producers in films to ensure publicity and a strong viewer base. Also there can be made use of other communicative tools like door to door campaigning, simple desk communication, etc. Conclusion: In conclusion there can be summed up the role of that is played by PR in the marketing of the products in the economy today (Baskin, Otis & Arnoff, Craig). There is no denying the fact that PR today has become a requisite in the marketing sphere to ensure that is creation of a customer base in the market and awareness of the product and the organization is present among the consumers. It helps in the building up, establishing and maintenance of the image of the organization in the market which of great significance given the level of competition that exists in the world today. Yet there has to be realised that as the competition around the globe is becoming more fast paced, the methods adopted and the communication tools employed by the PR firms and agencies are loosing the moral and ethical fibre (Wilcox DL, Ault PH, et al; 2002). There has been seen that is continual misinterpretation of the facts and the products to ensure increased sales. There has also been seen that there is high level of politicization of the economy and this is seen in the lobbying tactics that are employed by the firms to secure support. The PR skills are today being adopted in the political sphere also to garner support for certain parties and ideologies among the masses. Thus, it can be said that PR today is one of the many necessary evils that exist in civil and economic society that is necessary for the functioning of the economy in a productive way, and although there has been seen a qualitative degradation of the PR skills and methods, there are chances that these might grow and develop into productive and ethically viable methods of established communication linkages between the various organizations and the consumers in the market. References: Baskin, Otis & Arnoff, Craig, Public Relations, the Profession and the Practice, 3rd ed. Brown & Benchmark 1992. Bernays E, 1945, Public Relations, Bellam Publsihing Company, Boston, 1945, pp 56-73 Burnett, J.J., A Strategic Approach to Managing Crises, Public Relations Review, 1998. 24(4): p. 475-488. Calcagni T, 2009, Tough Questions, Good Answers, taking control of any interview, Capital Books Inc. Centre A H, Jackson P, 1995, Public Relations Practices, 5th edition, Prentice Hall, pp 14-15. Cutlip S M, Center A H, Broom G M, 1994, Effective Public Relations, 7th ed, Prentice Hall pub, Figure 10. 1 Forman A, 2001, Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire, new ed, Random House Inc, pp 178- 183 Gray, James G., Jr 1986, Managing the Corporate Image: The Key To Public Trust. Greenwood 1986. Grunig, James & Hunt, Todd, 1984, Managing Public Relations, HBJ College 1984. Hall P, 2007, The New PR, pub 2007, New York, Larstan Publishing, pp 124-132 Lesly, P 1991,  Lesly's Handbook of Public Relations and Communications, AMACOM 1991. Nelson J 1989: Sultans of Sleaze, Public Relations and Media, 2nd ed, Between The Lines, pp 16-19 Pinsdorf, Marion, 1986, Communicating When Your Company Is Under Siege: Surviving Public Crisis. Free Press 1986. Tye L, 1998, The Father of Spin: Edward L Bernays and the Birth of PR, Crown Publishers. Wilcox DL, Ault PH, et al; 2002, Public Relations Strategies and tactics, 7th ed, Allyn and Bacon, Boston Read More