What To Do When Public Relations Fails
What To Do When Public Relations Fails
Public relations is about using persuasion and relationship-building to build support for an organization, individual or cause. Provided it is carried out ethically, it is an important ingredient of democratic politics and an open society.
In the real world, however, “public relations” (or something that calls itself public relations), sometimes fails to achieve its stated purpose (building public support). There are two very common times when this happens:
• When it deteriorates into spin-doctoring to promote indefensible actions, behavior or policies;
• When it becomes nothing more than self-promotional hype and fails to establish a legitimate public need or the public interest.
Examples of both are all too common and include:
• Companies who blame their product failures not on the real problem (a lack of value in the product) but on “negative media” or “nit-picking consumerists”;
• Companies who blame their falling stock price on “negative analysts” or short sellers, when their real problem is poor business decisions or management misbehavior;
• Organizations (governments are a prime offender) that blame their problems on a “failure to get out our message.”
These are not failures of legitimate public relations strategies. They are examples of confusing a “communications” problem with a “reality” problem.
What separates the public relations professional from the public relations pretender is the honesty to see the real problem, the intelligence to analyze it correctly, the creativity to devise a solution to it, and the courage to speak about all of these things straight from the shoulder.
Over a period of years I have developed a methodology to help organizations figure out when and why their “public relations” isn’t working, and what to do about it. It’s scarcely “revolutionary”, but it does open a window of opportunity for organizations or individuals who are frustrated at the inability of their “public relations” program to achieve desired results.
For details, contact me at consultjohn@dccnet.com
What To Do When Public Relations Fails - To learn more about this author, visit John Barr's Website.
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Why “Public Relations” Fails, And What To Do When It Happens
Public relations is about using persuasion and relationship-building to build support for an organization, individual or cause. Provided it is carried out ethically, it is an important ingredient of democratic politics and an open society.
In the real world, however, “public relations” (or something that calls itself public relations), sometimes fails to achieve its stated purpose (building public support). There are two very common times when this happens:
• When it deteriorates into spin-doctoring to promote indefensible actions, behavior or policies;
• When it becomes nothing more than self-promotional hype and fails to establish a legitimate public need or the public interest.
Examples of both are all too common and include:
• Companies who blame their product failures not on the real problem (a lack of value in the product) but on “negative media” or “nit-picking consumerists”;
• Companies who blame their falling stock price on “negative analysts” or short sellers, when their real problem is poor business decisions or management misbehavior;
• Organizations (governments are a prime offender) that blame their problems on a “failure to get out our message.”
These are not failures of legitimate public relations strategies. They are examples of confusing a “communications” problem with a “reality” problem.
What separates the public relations professional from the public relations pretender is the honesty to see the real problem, the intelligence to analyze it correctly, the creativity to devise a solution to it, and the courage to speak about all of these things straight from the shoulder.
Over a period of years I have developed a methodology to help organizations figure out when and why their “public relations” isn’t working, and what to do about it. It’s scarcely “revolutionary”, but it does open a window of opportunity for organizations or individuals who are frustrated at the inability of their “public relations” program to achieve desired results.
For details, contact me at consultjohn@dccnet.com
What To Do When Public Relations Fails - To learn more about this author, visit John Barr's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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 John Barr (Visit John's Website) John Barr, a Canadian communication consultant with more than 30 years of experience in media, politics, corporate communication and consulting, works with private and public sector organizations in the following fields: -Financial services (including insurance and banking) -Natural resources and energy -Transportation. He also works closely with not-for-profit organizations, particularly in health care. He provides strategic communication counsel and various kinds of communication training (including both media and presentation skills) to executives and managers. He has published three works of history, three e-books on communication planning, and numerous papers and contributions to references such as The New Canadian Encyclopedia. His work has received numerous awards -- most recently, a Gold Quill Award of Merit from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). He lives in Boundary Bay, British Columbia, and practices in Canada and the United States.
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