February 19, 2015

What is the definition of PR?

What is the definition of PR?

Six months into life in the Orchard and it’s the question that I most often get asked when people find out that I work in PR; what is that? It’s not just a question proffered by the uninitiated though; it was also the first question asked by the course leader of the CIPR Advanced Certificate which I recently started studying.


So how do we define PR? The CIPR states that:

“Public relations is about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you.”

This is the broadest definition that the organisation could provide and this breadth means that you can’t really dispute its accuracy. However there are so many specific areas that are not reflected in this definition.

We could introduce the concept of stakeholders and say that PR is the management of communications with stakeholder groups to convey chosen messages. We could talk about corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the necessity of engaging with the communities in which businesses function. We could suggest that PR involves the ability to use and interrogate the influence of social media in reaching a broader, already-engaged audience. We could look at the role of PR in communicating government strategies and initiatives.

All of the above are good, but by no means exhaustive, points of reference in any attempt to answer the question. However they all fall into the same trap as the CIPR definition in aiming to capture everything that PR entails. Perhaps this is the problem; definitions are too rigid and any attempt to crowbar the myriad concept of PR into a one sentence summary is futile. It would be great to be able to easily sum up what this sector does to any inquisitor with one sentence but it’s just not possible. Fundamentally it is about communication; clear, concise, credible and cohesive communication (and excellent use of alliteration).

So six months into the job, and having commenced a professional course, can I define PR? Well, how long have you got?

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