Discussion | How can the public relations department find a sense of presence?

Most small and medium-sized enterprises do not actually have a public relations department. So how do large companies do public relations, and how can the public relations department find its own sense of existence?

Most small and medium-sized enterprises do not have a public relations position.

If there is a need to contact the media, associations, government departments, etc., the marketing department will do it for us. We rarely encounter crisis moments, and even if we do, the senior management will discuss and solve it.

But in large companies, public relations is a very important department. Although it belongs to the big system of brand marketing, it is relatively independent.

Therefore, the “number one public relations person” is not necessarily the vice president of marketing or CMO.

However, it is common for the CMO to also serve as the head of public relations. The reason is that under the KPI culture, the results of the public relations department are difficult to measure, so it is relatively safe to temporarily share the indicators of business opportunities and leads with the brand marketing department.

Now let’s talk about what public relations work in large companies mainly does.

Public relations in English is PR, which stands for public relationship. It contains two key words: public, which means facing the public, and relationship, which means building relationships (in many companies, the government affairs and public relations departments are two departments, and some are combined into one). Public relations faces the public through the media, government, and third parties, but does not directly face the company's relatively precise customers.

Therefore, connections are a must for public relations professionals . When recruiting public relations personnel, many companies also look at whether the personnel have experience in media work, whether they have cooperated with relevant associations or government agencies, etc.

Okay, why do big companies have public relations departments?

In addition to getting the authority to say good things, a very important job is to handle crisis events. For example, if the boss says the wrong thing in a hurry, or if a safety accident occurs, the public relations department will silently solve the problem.

Keyword, silently.

That is to say, PR people are usually the last line of defense for enterprises. They are the guardians of the company's reputation. Of course, they also need to step forward and even help the boss speak, which is to be the evangelist .

In foreign countries, public relations people are considered to be the boss's chief staff, and this is a professional and technical job. They need to be able to write, speak and handle things (in a positive sense).

Generally speaking, the growth experience of corporate public relations personnel is:

1. Phase 1: writing media releases, contacting the media, maintaining relationships, monitoring public opinion, etc.
2. The second stage: Provide professional guidance for CEO or senior management to make external speeches, control the content of press conferences, etc.
3. Phase 3: Handle crisis events and participate in high-level meetings on behalf of the company and speak out

Is it hard to be a public relations person?

It's very hard work. I need to be online 24 hours a day. When encountering a crisis, it's common to stay awake for several days. In addition, the pressure is extremely high. When encountering events such as March 15, company layoffs, and negative news on hot searches, I have to explain it as soon as possible. Many times, I don't know where the problem will go, and I am anxious and nervous.

At a time when traditional media is losing credibility and self-media is booming, doing public relations is indeed more difficult.

Not only is it difficult to do, it is also difficult to measure the results of the work.

If the PR department is compared to a fire brigade, no one can predict how many fires there will be. The fewer fires, the better, and it is best if there are no fires. But if there are no fires, how can the value be reflected?

Build IP? Everyone in the PR department builds IP?

In my opinion, although PR work is hard and tiring, being a "traffic-oriented internet celebrity" is the last thing you should do. After all, as the last line of defense for a company's reputation, if the PR person himself damages the company's image, who will do the PR ?

Yesterday’s hot search “Number One” established the persona of a domineering female president in the workplace, and her motherly way of educating people in the workplace was incredible.

In my opinion, the basic quality of a public relations person is to be able to speak. Speak human words to human beings and speak devilish words to devils. At present, labor-capital relations are tense, and speaking wolfishly to the public is equivalent to being inhumane.

Another important task of public relations is to train executives on how to speak. For listed companies, there are strict rules on what can be said and what cannot be said.

According to her level, this lady should have taught many people how to speak, so why can't she do it herself? It's not good to become famous by creating gimmicks, but to harm herself and the company.

In addition, true masters in the workplace speak only with their strength . Saying that they are the number one position in the department seems to be not confident enough and does not match their aggressive momentum (the first time I heard it, I thought she was playing volleyball and attacking from the number one position). In addition, not only did she use the reputation of her current company, but she also wanted to use the reputation of her previous company... I can only preliminarily judge that she is planning to enter the self-media industry, so she attaches so much importance to traffic.

Well, now the goal has been achieved, the traffic has come as expected, and she has become popular. Congratulations to her.

But is black and red valuable? What can it bring to yourself and the corporate reputation you protect?

This is a question worth thinking about. Let me know your opinion in the comments section.

Author: Hanni

Source: WeChat public account: Time Notebook (ID: Think-Growth)