What is Public Relations?
At a time when people live behind their phones and knee-deep in social media, it’s easy to see why public relations and its meaning is blurry and confusing. Public relations as its core is building mutually beneficial relationships between a brand or person and the public. Another way of defining PR, in a similar vein, is building and maintaining a positive image of a brand or organization to the public. These are simply broad explanations of public relations. Of course, there are micro definitions and different ways of going about maintaining a brand in the public eye. However, for clarity’s sake, we will use our broad definition of PR.
Once a public relations agency or individual works with a new brand, there are multiple layers of representation depending on the size of the brand, organization, or person. A large consumer goods brand requires different beauty public relations than a new, niche upstart skincare brand with very few SKUs. Many big beauty and fashion brands produce hundreds of products across different categories. Often, each of those categories requires their own public relations. Take a large corporation like Unilever as an example: They own and produce several different beauty lines. Each of those different brands require their own public relations. A bath line requires different positioning in the public compared to a skincare brand. All brands under a large umbrella need their own strategic PR to present them in the best possible light to the public.
Social media adds another layer to public relations. Social apps such as Instagram put brands and their founders directly in front of the public. Think of all of the beauty brands and influencers that were called out in 2018. Vox media refers to the drama and fallout as callout culture. This year saw many beauty brands air their dirty laundry online. As various brands’ drama unfolded, consumers were quick to leave comments on their Instagram accounts. Many beauty brand founders found themselves in hot water after trying to protect what they created by not responding from a place of clarity. Often their retorts were rude, judgmental, and overall not professional. Public relations is a must in the world of social media. The beauty public relations industry must be proactive in schooling brand founders they represent in the finer points of PR. If a brand founder has a public, personal account on Instagram, they must post and comment with the public and consumers in mind. It doesn’t bode well when a beauty brand founder goes off the rails on Instagram. It’s a sign to the public that there isn’t a professional behind the brand. Remember, public relations positions a brand in a favorable manner to the public.
Public relations in today’s age must guide brands and their founders and teach them how to present themselves and their products in the best light possible. The public is always listening and reading. When something negative happens surrounding a brand, many of the public never forget. In this digital world of social media, public relations agencies and freelancers have their a lot on their plate. Instagram alone is nearly a full time job for PR. Public relations is always evolving, yet it is still fundamentally about relating a product or brand favorably to the public. PR is simply much harder now because the public is everywhere - offline, online, etc.
