In this article we shall analyze the future prospects a
trend in PR, particularly the demand for competent people who could handle PR
tasks either within the organization or outside, in the shape of PR counseling
agencies, with their specialized services.
Change takes place all around us –especially in marketing,
advertising, and public relations, the professions were concerned with
directly. We are concerned with directly, public relations in India, is
witnessing its own special changes. Some significant, some challenging, some so
radical that the evolving of new systems has become imperative.
The PR professionals today are no longer the “gin and tonic
brigade” they were considered to be in the past. Gone are the days when “wining
and dining” was the main function of a PRO in an organization. It has been
possible to overcome this misconception only through proven performance. In
India, the PR practice is generally associated with Press Relations and
Institutional or Corporate Advertising, although it is much more than that. The
professional organizations and managements are making efforts to expand the
scope of the public relations field for the PR Professionals.
Before we proceed to assess the emerging trends in PR
Specially, let us attempt to understand the environment of PR in modern
organizations, and what is expected of it. To put facts in the nut shell:
1. There
has been a growth of public opinion power
2. The
action oriented public participates in matters of public interest, e.g.
concerning for the environment.
3. There
is interdependence of various segments, because of which no one could afford to
shirk responsibility.
4. There
is an ongoing shift from an agrarian society towards a greater industrial
society.
5. There
is also a visible trend in business management and ownership patterns.
Businesses are no longer the only family owned. More and more businesses are now
being professionally managed.
6. With
completion going global, there is a need to have international communication
and hence the need to understand alien cultures.
7. Certain
social issues like the Human rights Issues, which demand equal treatments, have
come up before the word fora.
8. The
greater education has made the general public less too tolerant of
authoritarianism and led to increased expectations.
In this present PR environment, the scope of the PR
functioning is almost unlimited among the important PR tasks are the following:
1. Neutralizing
public opinion on important controversial issues;
2. Winning
over the people who are hostile or opposed to the organization;
3. Informing
people about facts or ideas;
4. Educating
people, or instructing them in how to do things or behave in a particular ways;
5. Reinforcing
of helping shape new attitudes under varying circumstances;
6. Maintaining
loyalty of stockholders (customers, shareholders, employees, and other key
publics) towards the company or organization;
7. Influencing
people to change their behavior in ways conducive to the organization, which is
the most difficult, but the most rewarding function of PR.
