The following paper is about defining public relations. My personal definition and three other definitions of public relations will be compared and contrasted. There are many different definitions of public relations and the reason will be addressed in the following as well. Public relation is important in the marketing world and important for a company to be successful in providing positive public relations.
Personal Definition My personal definition of public relations is that while marketing a company a process has to be implemented to get people's attention to buy the products or services that the company is offering. The public needs to know about a company and has to be interested in the products or services if the company wants to be successful. This is where public relations specialists may come in to help a company gain acknowledgement by the public and gain business. By communicating what kind of company is being marketed and how well your products and services are, then the company will gain customers. Being a successful company is important and successfully reaching out to the public will help in the process of making the company successful.
Other Definitions In the textbook, The Practice of Public Relations, public relation is defined as, "The management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an organization with the public interest, and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance." (Seitel, 2004) Some approaches that echo this definition are R-A-C-E, R-O-S-I-E, and R-P-I-E. These approaches were developed by the late Denny Griswold, founder of Public Relations News. Marston's R-A-C-E approach is a four-step model and was created by a communications professor, John Marston. The model is a public relations process to influence public opinion. (Seitel, 2004) The following is the four-step model:
1. Research- Research