Public Relations Essay: Theoretical Aspects and Market Relevance

This essay delves into the theoretical aspects of Public Relations (PR) and its crucial role in the contemporary market. It examines how PR, often synonymous with corporate communication, builds strong brand images and navigates globalization. The essay discusses PR's function in influencing public perception, incorporating cultural nuances, and leveraging tools like social media and CSR. It explores the impact of PR on shaping public opinion, generating political and socio-cultural transformations, and the importance of ethical practices. The essay highlights the need for PR practitioners to understand and apply relevant theories to effectively compete in the global market, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between PR, society, and the strategic use of communication to achieve organizational goals. It concludes with a discussion of the challenges and strategies involved in creating a positive public image and emphasizes the importance of a structured and organized approach to PR.

Running head: PUBLIC RELATIONS ESSAY
Public Relations Essay
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1
PUBLIC RELATIONS ESSAY
Q2. The essay aims to look into the theoretical aspects of Public Relations (PR) and
its relevance in the current market scenario. Public Relations(PR) is a powerful weapon in
every organization since it helps in building a strong image and blurring the boundaries that
demarcates one state from the others. Western countries especially have a powerful presence
all over the world and assume a dominant position when it comes to their products and
services (Valentini, Kruckeberg and Starck 2016). In organization since PR forms a critical
aspect it is also known as the corporate communication department. PR and its presence in
organization of various countries has resulted in an intellectual as well as ideological
domination all over the world which has worked in an advantageous manner. In the western
countries, PR acts as a tool for propaganda from which dominant ideas and cultural practices
are dispersed precisely because of which practitioners are called as cultural intermediaries.
Through PR and propaganda, western countries can attempt to establish power over the other
countries through establishing cultural, political and ideological control. In developed
countries PR would furthermore facilitate an integration of ideals of different sub-cultures
and promoting mutual understanding and harmony amongst the members of these sub-
cultures towards the product or service (Cronin 2018).
PR is critical an aspect in organizations of contemporary times because in a
globalized world, a phenomenon appeared around 1990s PR is fundamental in influencing
people and enhancing their awareness of any particular product or service(Baran and Baran
2014). Gaining public acceptance is one of the core functions of PR that would be attained by
coping with communication barriers. The amalgamation different cultures and practices that
can be achieved by incorporating ethnocentricity in PR that would consequent in enhanced
participation and mass involvement in a pluralistic society, political scenario and markets. As
per market analysts the current era of globalization has acted as a catalyst to make the public
relation sector bloom and grow significantly that had helped them to established secured

2
PUBLIC RELATIONS ESSAY
communication with people belonging from diverse background and culture. If any
organization is failing to be a part of hierarchy of domination as within the framework of
present society, PR is the best practice to embrace population spanning borders making the
best use of technology. In the domain of PR ideology formulation should be given adequate
importance that is achieved with the help of communication and consensus. Corporate Social
Responsibilities (CSR) and lobbying are two fundamental parts of Public Relations and both
are viewed as essential communication activity which is pursued for the purpose of educating
and advocating according to clients’ best interests. These weapons are therefore responsible
in creating new policies and practices of the individuals which acts in favor of the brand
existing in a democratic society (Valentini, Kruckeberg and Starck 2016). CSR can influence
policies because it establishes the business in relation to the society and various social
factors. these two activities form the backbone of PR since they ensure in attaining the right
image,, connection and helps in shaping public opinions in a pluralistic society. These
activities along with creating influential discourse can help in giving rise to a political, socio-
cultural and economic transformation and establish harmonious relationship to prevail one
particular brand, idea or service over the others. PR practitioners can make adroit usage of
social media with search engine optimization , where brands and services are largely adhering
by bogs and tags in order to assemble a more organized public attention. The lobbyists in the
sector of PR attempts to emphasize on facts, information and issues and appeals that function
in the best possible manner on behalf of their clients (Ngai, Tao and Moon 2015). Lobbying,
CSR and activism should therefore be conducted in such a manner as to elicit the best
response from the consumers. Many academic scholars have written elaborate theories on the
language of lobbying that would increase the value of product positioning and therefore result
in framing better policies.

3
PUBLIC RELATIONS ESSAY
Social media has immense effect on PR because of the swift interface that it has
created generating a two-way conversation between consumers and producers, enhancing
brand image and awareness. Today PR practitioners are strategically infusing strategies that
invoke memories of traditional media within the people to reinforce brand image and
popularity. Social media helps in building agendas, propagating ideologies and theories
regarding a brand or service with the simplistic use of tag lines, graphic images, gif and
videos that would be beneficial for the organnization. Social media also has a considerable
impact on traditional media which has limited its proliferation in recent times since social
media has massive access to every realm of an individual’s life, especially because of the
visual aid that it results in. as per statics, newspaper, tabloids and magazine circulation has
dropped severely because social media has tailored and personalized the entire process of
news consumption an hitherto unimagined manner (Grunig 2017). Social media and PR
practices are related in sustaining and thriving each other, accelerate community participation
and influencing their opinions on things that matter Both the sectors depend on diversity of
approaches that has changed the landscape of PR practices which can propagate ideas and
images with the help of search engines and thereby eliminating the walls between people of
varied backgrounds and boundaries.The PR practitioners are concentrating their emphasis on
the creative side of branding the product since with the advent of social media many other
brands have already set the niche in front of consumers. With the sprawling of social media
usage one can observe the shifting locus of power from print media or posters to the web
which achieves the responsibility of propagation and influencing and education those who are
unaware of the brand (Pearson 2017). According to scholars social media can be used in
public relations as a potential tool for building ideologies and creation of user-oriented
content that would work in favor of the brand image of product and service. Pr practitioners
are moving away from traditional usages of media to more revolutionized medium like

4
PUBLIC RELATIONS ESSAY
content community based social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram to use public
relation as a vehicle for strategic communication. To enhance organizational reputation and
responding to changes in the external environment within which they are operating, a
concrete understanding of theories is concrete to understand the discipline and large-scale
invasion that is prevalent in the realm of public relations and practices especially from the
sector of advertising agencies and marketing professionals. As public relation requires an
organization and public adhere mutually with each other, and spread brand awareness to non-
profit organizations, investors, patrons, employees and political spheres PR therefore must
function in an ethical manner as a social system (Theaker 2017). In today’s era, PR
practitioners today are under tremendous pressure to appeal the products and services both to
the external and internal target groups as well as to devise new strategies. It is therefore
theories are required to help the PR practitioners compete at a global level since theories
align the organizations or products with economic, social, cultural elements under which they
are functioning. In this way they would be effective in sharing organizational information and
achieve goals and missions. Since PR and society are mutually exclusive to each other
adhering to theories and concept while practicing it, for instance the prevalence of role theory
that determines on the set of specific roles as needed to be adhered by PR to function in a
social system. If the PR practitioners abide by specific rules and patterns they will be in at an
advantageous position in the social system which will develop a positive perception of the
organization by those who are in relation to it. It is inherent for PR practitioners to
conceptualize the entire system of Public Relation since PR has the responsibility to comply
with legal roles, social roles like adaptation to the environment within which they are
operating, making the best usage of the available social and organizational resources that
would be helpful in the creation of a positive image of the organization. Additionally in the
realm of PR, the biggest challenge for the PR practitioners is to generate a positive response

5
PUBLIC RELATIONS ESSAY
from the audiences, it is therefore that the birth of communication theories have a significant
to instructing individuals, reinforcing positive ideas and images of the product/ service and
impel the people to absorb and respond adequately to the messages that PR is creating in the
minds. Vast amount of research has been conducted in the domain of operation of PR and the
systematic process that helps in generating a positive image and awareness and has paved the
way for a number of strategies and methods by which one can make effective usage of media
and communication, therefore it can be safely asserted that PR will ultimately fail to procure
any positive result if it is being done or experimented in a disorderly and unorganized manner
(Theaker 2017).
Public relations should therefore be viewed as intimately associated with public
sphere and therefore should be practiced strategically as it has immense power to exercise
control over public. Without an organized and measures approach the question will always
loom large weather PR is achieving its desired effect on the society. Strategies and theories
should be dispersed as per requirements to achieve a long-lasting influence on the society
symbiotic relationship between people and clients.

6
PUBLIC RELATIONS ESSAY
Reference List:
Baran, S.J. and Baran, S., 2014. Introduction to mass communication: Media literacy and
culture, updated edition. McGraw-Hill Education.
Cronin, A.M., 2018. Introduction. In Public Relations Capitalism (pp. 1-7). Palgrave
Macmillan, Cham.
Franklin, B. and Parton, N. eds., 2014. Social Work, the Media and Public Relations
(Routledge Revivals). CRC Press.
Grunig, J.E., 2017. Symmetrical presuppositions as a framework for public relations theory.
In Public relations theory(pp. 17-44). Routledge.
Kunczik, M., 2016. Images of nations and international public relations. Routledge.
Ngai, E.W., Tao, S.S. and Moon, K.K., 2015. Social media research: Theories, constructs,
and conceptual frameworks. International Journal of Information Management, 35(1), pp.33-
44.
Pearson, R., 2017. Business ethics as communication ethics: Public relations practice and the
idea of dialogue. In Public relations theory (pp. 111-131). Routledge.
Pompper, D., 2015. Corporate social responsibility, sustainability and public relations:
Negotiating multiple complex challenges. Routledge.
Seitel, F.P., 2017. Practice of Public Relations. Pearson Education.
Theaker, A., 2017. What is public relations?. In The Public Relations Strategic Toolkit (pp.
17-27). Routledge.

7
PUBLIC RELATIONS ESSAY
Valentini, C., Kruckeberg, D. and Starck, K., 2016. The global society and its impact on
public relations theorizing: Reflections on major macro trends. Central European Journal of
Communication, 9(2), pp.229-246.