In modern Russia, the word "PR" is often found in everyday speech, although two decades ago only experts knew about it. Several derivatives of the abbreviation PR have appeared in the Russian language, for example, the verb "PR", and the concept itself has become popular, although not always used correctly.
Public relations as a profession
PR is a reading of the English abbreviation PR, formed from public relations, which means "public relations, relations". The implication is that PR is building public relations in such a way as to create in people a certain attitude towards an organization, brand, or public person. In fact, PR is a system of technologies for influencing public opinion.
The term PR originated in the United States at the beginning of the last century. The scientific approach to the formation of a positive image of corporations and politicians was a response to the active work of independent journalists, who demonstrated to society the vices and negative qualities of famous people. American entrepreneur John Rockefeller is considered one of the founders of the modern PR school. He is also credited with the first public PR campaign, which consisted in the fact that the millionaire distributed many shiny new dimes to children.
Despite the fact that the concept of "public relations" appeared only in the 20th century as a designation for the sphere of professional activity, the phenomenon itself, of course, originated much earlier. At all times, representatives of power and capital were interested in the reaction of people to their activities was positive. With the development of freedom of speech and the mass press, the need for specialists of the corresponding kind became more urgent, but even in ancient Greece and China, the state and religion convinced society of their value and exclusivity.
Types of PR
Modern PR is divided into several types, depending on what goals are required to be achieved, as well as on the field of activity. However, experts identify two main areas of work: political and commercial. Political PR is intended to increase the attractiveness of certain power structures, political parties or individual politicians. In addition to election campaigns, during which political PR specialists strive to convince the maximum number of voters in the attractiveness of a candidate, this type of PR also includes work to support all public activities of a politician.
Commercial PR is the actions of business structures aimed at improving public opinion about them. The goals of such activities can be different: increasing competitiveness, promoting a new brand or product on the market, maintaining the company's image in a crisis. In particular, commercial PR is divided into “routine” and “situational”. The first is understood as the planned actions to form and maintain a positive attitude in society towards the brand: holding charity events, conferences, lotteries, issuing press releases about the company's activities, comments in the press. Situational PR is, as a rule, a reaction to certain sudden events, expressed in the most effective way from the point of view of public opinion.