Distinguishing Public Relations from Publicity
Publicity and Public Relations are
often wrongfully considered one and the same. But in fact, Publicity is just
one aspect of Public Relations.
Publicity concerns a
company, organization or individual’s presence in the media. And forms of Publicity
include news stories, articles and event information. Publicity creates public
awareness and attention around a brand, and publicists gain publicity for their
clients by promoting them.
Unlike Public Relations, Publicity is used solely to attract attention.
It differs from Public Relations in the sense that PR focuses on more than just
public attention. The intent in Public Relations is to accomplish an
organization’s stated goals by sending strategic messages to the appropriate
audiences in the hope of impacting their knowledge, behaviours or attitudes.
In short, PR manages the overall reputation of the client while
simultaneously building relationships among all of those who are affected by
it. As a management function, PR
focuses on building relationships and managing an image.
Although pitching a story, event or the latest development to the media
is important in Public Relations, it isn’t the only aspect of the job. In
Public Relations, publicity is viewed as a way to gain the client media
coverage in a cost-efficient and immediate manner.
Saying that Publicity is the same as Public Relations ignores the true
goals and objectives of each discipline and fails to acknowledge the remaining
responsibilities of a PR practitioner, which includes, but are not limited to:
·
Media kits
·
News releases
·
Media monitoring
·
Event coordination
·
Social media engagement
·
Relationship management
·
Public service announcements
·
Pitch letters
·
Media advisories
Clearly, Public Relations practitioners do more than just manage Publicity.
Written
by Alexandria Easland. Alexandria is a Public Relations student at
San Diego State University, USA.
Additional
reports by –Dele Dele-Olukoju
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