'Public Relations practice is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics.'   (Institute for Public Relations)

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For every PR practitioner there is a different definition of public relations.  Indeed there are two distinct terms used when referring to a practitioner of communications.  In-house practitioners tend to refer to their discipline as corporate communications - which can encompass communicating with all stakeholders whether internal or external; and consultancies and agencies tend to refer to their work as public relations.  The two functions overlap and hold similar skill sets.   The work environment is the main area of difference. 

As an evolving discipline and a relatively new one, the science behind the art is constantly redefining itself with relatively little research (compared with other disciplines) to substantiate the benefits and effects of the activities that constitute public relations.

In the UAE, many associate public relations with press releases and events; but media relations and event management are only two of a wide array of activities that many in the profession deem to be public relations. 

The recently agreed Stockholm Accords (see separate article) are the first global attempt to provide a framework for communicators.  The Accords places communications firmly at the centre of organisational effectiveness - the vision is a communicative organisation (or society) based on the stakeholder governance model.

• Governance
• Management
• Sustainability
• Internal Communications
• External Communications
• Coordination of internal and external communication

If you take the full spectrum of a public relations campaign - and the emphasis is on public (or people) - then you have to include the different publics to whom you are communicating:  employees, suppliers, customers, media, governments, local communities etc all of whom can influence your brand in a positive or negative way.  

The collective noun is stakeholder - those active publics who are aware and interested in dialogue with the organisation  because its activities bear consequences on them and/or whose activities bear consequences on them.

The role of public relations is to inform, influence and change behaviours - to trigger the right response.  No one likes to be "sold to" or manipulated into making a decision - that can be called propaganda.  At its simplest form public relations is a two way conversation between yourself (or your company) and the "person" you want to bring onside or to your way of thinking, to become a "brand ambassador".  As with any conversation, integrity, honesty and truth are the building blocks upon which facts and "colour" are added to make a compelling case. 

Indeed trust and credibility are the real metrics for communicators. 

The channels for such "conversations" are endless - in person, over the phone, via the press, on a blog, company website, in corporate literature etc.  And the ways to present the conversation are endless with no right or wrong way of carrying out a campaign.   The idea of a Western approach being the right way is an anathema to us - what is a "western" approach in the first place?  The issue is whether the format, tone and style of the conversation is right for you (and your company), whether the facts and approach create "goodwill and mutual understanding"  between you and your publics, as well as the broader context in which the message is communicated. 

At the end of the day you want your message to be communicated to your publics in an effective manner that meets your expectations with measureable results (triggers the right response).   If you do not know what your message is how can you communicate it?  If you do not know who your audience is how to do you reach them?  If you do not know how to measure results how do you know if you have succeeded? 

Good communications requires common sense for much of the time but a grounding in business, managing resources and project evaluation are also very useful for today's practitioner. 

MEPRA's charter focuses on best practice and professional standards.  As a professional association our task is to ensure that practitioners have access to leading edge research, policies that endorse best practice and educational tools which showcase the how's and why's of good communications.