INTRODUCTION TO

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Definitions, Roles, and Functions of
Public Relations

Definitions of Public Relations

Public = (all) society ?

What is Public Relations?

Rex Harlow (PR educator) collected

some definitions:
PR = good performance, respected by
public
PR = Performance & Recognition
PR = work well; hence, get a
compliment.
PR = actions taken to support
beneficial relationship with general
public.
PR = efforts of an organization to gain

John E. Marston:
Public relations is planned, persuasive

communication designed to influence

significant public.
Frank Jefkins:
Public relations is a system of communication

to create a goodwill.
Tony Greener:
Public relations is a positive presentation of an

organization towards its overall public.

Grunig & Hunt:
Public relations is communication management

between an organization and its public.

The First World Forum of PR:

Public relations practice is the art and

knowledge about process of analyzing

trends, predicting their consequences,
giving counseling to organizations
leaders, and implementing planned
programs in order to serve the
organization and public interest.
Cutlip, Center & Broom:
Public relations is the management

functions that build and maintain good

and beneficial relationship between an
organization and public which influence
the success or the loss of the

Important concepts in PR definitions

PUBLIC
RELATION
S

PR
GOALS

FUNCTIONS

PR
WORKIN
G AREAS

PR MEDIA
(PR
TOOLS)

PR
WRITING

PR GOALS
Creating a mutual understanding

between a corporate and its publics

Building the corporate image
Building a favourable public
opinion
Building goodwill and cooperation

Creating a mutual understanding

between a corporate and its
public
Well-informed information between both

sides to avoid misperception

A corporate must realize the real condition
of its public:
Who are my public?; Do they know me?; How

are their perceptions about me?

What do I do?; Why I do it?
How am I different fom my competitor?
Public must be well-informed about:
What has the company done or will do?
What are its products?
Is it committed to support publics interest?

Example: info about a companys future plan

Source: SURYA, 13 February 2012

Example: info about a companys future plan

Source: SURYA, 11 February 2012

Well-informed information will be reached if there

open communication
reciprocal communication.
are

and

two-way

How to create it? employee relations

Openly give info about the corporates vision, mision,

management and recent condition, employees rights,

etc.
Become the facilitator/ mediator of communication
between the corporate and its public, e.g: employees
motivation, productivity, complaints, suggest opinon
box, etc.
Getting information by fact-gathering, formal and
informal, such as regular meeting, managing by
walking around, holding informal events, and making a
bulletin.

Building the corporate image

Image is a description that appears in

publics mind about the corporate its

service, products quality, culture,
individuals, etc.
To change publics behavior:

Hostility

Sympathy

Prejudice

Acceptance

Apathy

Interest

Ignorance

Knowledge

Positive image good credibility

Good credibility:
Expertise
Trustworthy

Corporate image is the whole image built from the

corporates components (product quality, export

success, financial health, employees attitude, social
responsibility of the environment, etc.)
Corporate image is begun from its identity: name/
company logo, employee uniform, company profile,
and non-physical identity such as the corporates
philosophy as well as work and communication
style.

Example of negative attitude to positive (surat pembaca)

Source: SURYA, 13 & 27 February 2012

Notebook Asus Baru atau Bekas?

The relation between corporate identity

and corporate image (according to Smith):

CORPORATE IDENTITY:
- Products & Services (customer
care, product quality)
- Social responsibility, ethical
behavior, and community affairs
- Environments (office, showrooms,
factories)
- Communications (advertisements,
brochures, etc)
CORPORATE
IMAGE

PR activities can be considered as:

Method of communication PR division with

various planned programmes led by PR

manager.
Technique of communications everybody is a
PR ; You are PR on yourself.
Corporate image through CSR programs:
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is PR

program to involve the corporate in solving

social problems around its environment.
CSR is a long-term commitment of a corporate
to strengthen its products brand.
Example: PT Sampoerna, PT Carrefour
Indonesia, PT Lapindo (low crediblity)

Example of a corporates new program & CSR

Source: SURYA, 24 February 2012

Building favourable public opinion

There are 3 kinds of opinions:
Positive opinion (favourable/

supportive)
Negative opinion
Neutral opinion
Persuasive communication done by PR:
To maintain favourable opinion
To create opinion where none exist or
where it is latent
To neutralize hostile opinion
(qtd from Public Relatins: the Profession and the

Practice by Otis Baskin et al)

Building goodwill and

cooperation
On this level, PR goal is already on the real action,

e.g: supporting the safety-riding program, being loyal

to a certain product, etc.
Goodwill and cooperation can be achieved because
of the continuous initiative by a corporates PR to
build trust and understanding between the corporate
and its publics, followed by real action commitment.
PR is an activity to communicate 5 W + 1 H :
WHO are we?
WHAT do we do?
WHY do we do it?
WHEN do we do it?
WHERE can public get information about us?
HOW are we different from our competitor?

PR FUNCTIONS
In general PR functions are as follow:
To maintain good communication
To serve publicss interest
To maintain good morals and manners

According to Cutlip and Center:

To support management activities and reach

organizations goals.
To create two-way reciprocal communication by
spreading information from the company to public and to
channel public opinion into the company.
To serve public and give suggestions to the corporate
leaders.
to maintain good relationship between the corporate and
its publics, internally as well as externally.

According to PR practitioners in Foundation for PR

Research and Education, PR is management function

which roles are:
To establish and maintain mutual lines of communications,

understanding, acceptance, and cooperation between an

organization and its publics.
To involve the management of problem and issues.
To help management to keep informed on and responsive
to public opinion.
To define and emphasize the responsibility of management
to serve public interest.
To help management to keep abreast of and utilize change.
To serve an eraly warning system to help anticipate trends.
To use research and ethical communication techniques as
its principal tools.

PR WORKING AREAS
Simply, PR working areas can be

abbreviated into PENCILS (Kriyantono,

Public Relations Writing, 2011):
Publication & Publicity
Events
News
Community involvement
Identity-Media
Lobbying
Social investment

 Cutlip, Center & Broom categorize PR working areas

as follow:
Writing & editing compose news release,
features, annual report, message on website and
other online media.
Media relation & media placement contact the
media (newspapers, magazines, freelance
writers) to publish the news of the organization.
Research collect public opinions, trends, and
issues, and also design a research program,
survey, and hire research company.
Management and administration
Counselling
Special events
Speech
Production
Training

PR TOOLS
To conduct its work, PR has some tools:
Publicity and media relations: press release, press

conference, press tours, press party, media gathering.

Special events: open house/ company visit, fund-raising,
trade-shows, award ceremonies, contests, seminars.
Corporate advertising: ads to support marketing.
Newsletters: means of two-way communication with the
publics.
Speaker bureau (one door system of information)
Lobbying: negotiation with government and NGOs.
Charitable contributions
Thank you notes and letters
Audio-visual instrument
Sponsorships
Letters of denial

PROFESSIONAL PR
PR is a profession that demands integration between

expertise, skill, and ethics.

PR demands 3B: beauty, brain, behavior.
According to theory of interpersonal communication,
physical attractiveness determines peoples attention
towards the message delivered the more attractive
the communicator is, the more persuasive he/she is to
the public.
Skills that PR must have:
Writing
Organization communication
Management of crisis & issue
Research
Theoretical concept and applications of the fields above.

Eventually, all PR activities are focused

on the harmonization of the

organizations daily operations:
Honest communication for credibility
Openness and consistency of actions for

confidence
Fairness of action for reciprocity and
goodwill
Continuous two-way communication to
prevent alienation and to build
relationships
Environmental research and evaluation to

SUMMARY
PR practices include:
Everything to develop mutual understanding between

an organization and publics, internal and external.

Covering and eliminating the sources of any
misunderstanding.
Expanding influence of an organization through
publicity, advertisemnet, exhibition, film, etc.
PR is NOT:
Resistor between truth and public
Propaganda
Publicity directed to selling
Only press-relations activities
Free advertisements
Tricky efforts.

Topic for discussion

Mention 10 words that characterize the

main elements of PR.

Mention 10 activities/events that often
involve PR practitioners.
Among so many definitions of Public
Relations, choose one that you think is the
most comprehensive/ satisfying one, and
discuss your reason.
Discuss the difference between PR and
advertising.