First, the meaning of public * * * relationship
The word "Public Relations" is imported, and its English is public relations, abbreviated as PR, abbreviated as public relations. "Public relations" can also be translated as "public relations", but this kind of "public relations" can be understood as both "relations with the public" and "relations among the public". For a social organization, the former is one-way and the latter is irrelevant. Therefore, it is easier to be accurately understood as "the relationship between the public and the public" for the following reasons:
1. The "public" of public-to-public relations is not only composed of people, but also includes government, community, media and other institutions. Because the government, community, media and other institutions are public institutions in the eyes of China people, it is more acceptable to translate them into "public relations".
2. Most Chinese works in Hongkong, Taiwan Province and other places are translated in this way, which has become the mainstream translation.
3. The word "public * * *" corresponds to the word "private", which accurately expresses the different essence of "public * * * relationship" and "private relationship". There are various definitions of public relations. It can be said that there are as many works on public relations as there are definitions of public relations. By enumerating several definitions of public relations, we can see that public relations, as a professional activity, has a history of nearly a hundred years; As a science, it has a history of nearly 80 years, but today, it is difficult for people to find a scientific definition that can be recognized by everyone. This at least shows that the relationship between the public and the public, as a new science, is still in its infancy. However, from the different definitions of public-private relationship, we can easily find some similarities. These similarities are mainly manifested in the following aspects:
(1) Public-private relationship is the relationship between an organization and its public. This relationship is formed in the interaction and influence between an organization and the public.
(2) The relationship between the public and the public is a special kind of thought and activity. As an idea, it permeates all the activities of an organization; As an activity, it has its particularity and special requirements different from other activities of the organization.
(3) Public-private relationship is an independent function of modern organization and management. The main task of public relations is to coordinate the relationship between the organization and the public, make the organization adapt to the requirements of the public, and make the public conducive to the growth and development of the organization.
(4) Information communication and dissemination is a special means of public relations. The main means of public relations coordination between organizations and the public is information communication and dissemination.
Based on the above, we give a concise definition of the relationship between the public and the public: that is, an organization uses effective means of communication to adapt itself to the needs of the public and to adapt the public to the needs of organizational development.
Second, the word "open * * * relationship" is ambiguous.
At present, there is no world-recognized view on how many layers of meaning the relationship between public and private has, and the understanding and definition of its meaning are multi-level. Generally speaking, it can be a state, an activity, a theory, an idea and a profession.
1. Any organization is in a certain state of public-private relationship, which is objective.
2. Organizing public relations activities is a process of organizing long-term social communication, information communication, making friends and establishing a good image. There are two types: daily public relations activities and special public relations activities.
3. The concept of public relations affects and guides the value orientation of individual or organization's decision-making and behavior, thus counteracting people's public relations activities and indirectly affecting the actual state of public relations. The concepts of public relations mainly include: image concept, public concept, communication concept, coordination concept and mutual benefit concept. In addition, the concept of public relations also includes team concept, innovation concept, service concept, social concept and so on.
4. As far as discipline characteristics are concerned, public relations is not only a marginal discipline with strong application, but also a comprehensive and interdisciplinary discipline in theory, involving sociology, philosophy, politics, economics, communication, management, marketing, psychology, ethics and so on. It is a new discipline based on communication and management.
5. The professional task of public relations is to coordinate the relationship between social organizations and the public, create a good social image of the organization, and promote the continuous development and improvement of the organization. 1903 gave birth to the profession of public relations. People usually regard American journalist Ivy Lee as "the father of modern public relations". In fact, the "public * * * relationship" here mainly refers to the public * * * relationship occupation. It is precisely because Ivey Lee 1903 began to engage in public relations work to establish an image for the organization, and in the following year, he founded a public relations consulting company to open to the outside world, which made the public relations profession appear in the society.
Third, the characteristics of public and public relations
Public relations is a manifestation of social relations. Scientific public relations is different from any other relations and has its own unique characteristics. Understanding these characteristics will help us to deepen our understanding of the concept of public relations.
1. Emotional. Public relations is an art of shaping a beautiful image, which emphasizes successful people and environment, harmonious personnel atmosphere and the best public opinion, thus winning the understanding, trust, goodwill and cooperation from all walks of life. The ancients in our country paid attention to "harmony between time, place and people" and regarded "harmony between people" as an important condition for success. The relationship between public and private is the pursuit of "harmony between people" and creates the best soft environment for the survival and development of organizations or individual activities.
2. Two-way. The relationship between the public and the public is a two-way communication based on the truth, not a one-way public communication or investigation and monitoring of public opinion. It is a two-way information system between the subject and the public. On the one hand, organizations should absorb human feelings and public opinions to adjust their decisions and improve themselves; On the other hand, it is necessary to spread it to the outside world so that the public can know and understand themselves and achieve effective two-way communication.
3. Universality. The extensiveness of public relations contains two meanings: one is that public relations exist in any behavior and process of the subject, that is, public relations are everywhere and run through the whole survival and development process of the subject; Another meaning refers to the universality of its publicity. Because the object of public relations can be any individual, group or organization, any public who has already had a relationship with the subject, or anyone who will or may have a relationship temporarily.
4. Integrity. The purpose of public relations is to let the public fully understand themselves, so as to establish their own reputation and popularity. It focuses on the competitive position and overall image of an organization or individual in society, so that people can have an overall understanding of themselves. It is not simply to convey information and publicize one's status and social prestige, but to let people know oneself in all directions.
5. Long term. The practice of public relations tells us that public relations personnel should be regarded as a "standing army" rather than a "fire brigade". The management function of public relations should be regular and planned, that is to say, public relations are not faucets. This is a long-term job.
Four, the basic elements of public and public relations
The structure of public relations consists of three elements: organization, public and communication. The subject of the relationship between the public and the public is the social organization, the object is the public, and the intermediary link between the subject and the object is information dissemination. These three elements constitute the basic category of the relationship between the public and the public, and the theoretical research and practical operation of the relationship between the public and the public are all carried out around the relationship between the three.
1. The subject of the relationship between the public and public social organizations. The main body of public relations is social organizations. Although some individuals, such as candidates in elections, national civil servants, celebrities, etc. They also hold public relations activities for some special interests. When engaging in public relations activities, they appear not as natural persons, but as legal persons. The comprehensive study of organizations is a discipline of sociology, while the study of public relations mainly analyzes the nature of organizations from the perspective of public relations activities.
Social organizations are characterized by group, orientation, systematicness, cooperation, variability and stability. People must form organizations to achieve some common goals, but the goals exist in different ways, which determines that there must be many types of social organizations: profit-making organizations, non-profit organizations, mutually beneficial organizations, public welfare organizations and so on. 2. The object of public relations-the public. Public relations is also called public relations, because the working object of public relations is the public. To do a good job in public relations, we must understand and study the public. In public relations, there is a difference between the public and "the masses" and "the masses". It does not refer to all or most people in social life, nor does it refer to a certain aspect or a part of people in a certain field in social life, but should be specifically called "organized public". There must be mutual influence and interaction between the public and organizations. The characteristics of the public are: group, homogeneity, variability and correlation. Common public classification methods are:
(1) According to the classification of the relationship between the public and organizations, the public can be divided into internal public and external public. Employees are the public closest to the organization, the cells on which the organization depends for survival and development, and the main body of the public in the organization. Generally speaking, among the external public of the organization, the consumer public, the media public, the community public and the government public are particularly important to the development of the organization.
(2) According to the temporal characteristics of the relationship between the public and the organization, the public can be divided into non-public, potential public, informed public and action public.
(3) According to the classification of the importance of the public to the organization, the public can be divided into primary public, marginal public and secondary public.
(4) According to the public's attitude towards the organization, it can be divided into those who agree with the public, those who oppose the public and those who are independent. For public relations personnel, the obedient public is the basic object of the organization, the rebellious public is the object that the organization needs to be reformed urgently, and the independent public is the object that the organization is worth fighting for.
3. The intermediary of public relations-communication. When the organization has defined the public relations objectives, determined the target public and has the idea of public relations activities, it is necessary to consider how to use the media to turn the objectives and ideas into actions. Media is communication, a bridge connecting social organizations and the public, a communication project and the only means to achieve public relations goals.
(1) The meaning of communication. In this sense, communication refers to the information process of exchanging and transmitting news, facts, opinions and feelings among individuals, groups or individuals. This kind of communication is a two-way information exchange and sharing. It is through this two-way information exchange that the subject and object of public-private relations have established a relationship of mutual trust and understanding.
(2) the elements of communication. As an information exchange activity, communication has its specific structure and is a dynamic process composed of the following elements: source, destination, information symbol and information channel.
(3) The role of public relations, media and communication activities.
The communication of public relations can be divided into spontaneous communication and conscious communication. Therefore, conscious communication must make effective use of the media to improve the communication effect. Mass media (radio, television, newspapers, magazines, etc.). ), group media (fraternity, press conference, tea party, etc. ) and interpersonal media (specific individuals) are public relations media. There are symbolic media (applause, gestures, pictures, etc. ), physical media (gifts, symbols, shopping bags, etc. ) and human media (celebrities, news figures, opinion leaders, etc. Because all kinds of information dissemination activities are carried out consciously and planned, this kind of conscious dissemination activities are much more efficient than spontaneous dissemination.
Verb (abbreviation for verb) public relations and publicity
The relationship between public relations and publicity is mainly manifested in the following aspects: both of them are essentially a process of communication and have some common characteristics of activities; Their work contents are sometimes the same. For example, every organization has the task of uniting internal members and enhancing group cohesion, centripetal force and sense of honor, which is not only the content of internal publicity work, but also the goal of internal public relations work. But there are differences between public relations and publicity, and the differences are as follows:
1. The nature of work is different. Traditional propaganda work belongs to the category of political and ideological work and is a means and tool of political and ideological work. The main purpose of publicity is to change and strengthen people's psychological state and mental state and gain people's support for a proposition or belief. Its main contents are national guidelines, policies, social morality, ethics and legal education. As a special management function, public-private relationship aims at shaping the image of the organization and establishing a good relationship between the organization and the public. In addition to publicity and encouragement, its main work includes information exchange, coordination and communication, decision-making consultation and crisis management. 2. Different ways of working. Propaganda work is a one-way communication process (organization → public), which is indoctrinating and mandatory; Its purpose is sometimes hidden and unknown to the public; The focus of work is often to control the public's psychology with the established goals of the organization; Sometimes, in order to get the support of the target object, propaganda is easy to produce one-sided effect of exaggeration and rendering. Public relations work is a two-way communication process (organizing the public); Public relations must respect facts and convey organizational information to the public in a timely, accurate and effective manner in order to exchange public understanding and trust in the organization in good faith; The important function of public relations is not only to explain and persuade the public, but also to provide information and consultation to the decision-making level of the organization; Its purpose and motivation are open, and efforts should be made to let the public know. The work of public relations is the unity of saying and doing, which not only requires the organization to do its own work well, but also tells the public what it has done well.
VI. Public Relations and Advertising
Generally speaking, most of the advertisements people talk about refer to commercial advertisements, that is, advertisers use various means of communication to spread goods or services to the general public in the target market in order to expand sales and obtain profits. There is no doubt that advertising, an important form of communication, should be used to develop the relationship between the public and the public, but advertising does not mean the relationship between the public and the public. There are both connections and differences between the two. The main connection is that both of them have the characteristics of relying on the media to spread information. Therefore, in a sense, advertising has played a role in expanding organizational influence and shaping organizational image to varying degrees.
Take the marketing activity of a circus performing in a small town as an example:
If you put up a sign in the street that says "A circus will put on a big show in this town on X, X", this is an advertisement.
If you look for an elephant in a circus, put this sign on the elephant's back and walk around the street. This is a kind of "promotion".
If you let an elephant with a sign step into the garden in front of the town government gate, it is "hype".
If the mayor can be asked to comment on "the elephant stepped into the garden in front of the town government", this is "public relations".
The main difference between public relations and advertising lies in:
1. The communication goals are different. The goal of public relations is to win public trust, goodwill, cooperation and support, establish a good overall image, and "make others like me"; The goal of advertising is to stimulate people's desire to buy and have a good impression on the product, "let others buy me." 2. The principles of communication are different. The information dissemination principle of advertising is amazing. Only eye-catching advertisements can make the products and services of enterprises widely known, stimulate people's desire to buy, and finally achieve the purpose of expanding sales and services. The first principle of public relations communication is truthfulness and credibility, and the information it conveys should be authentic and not false. Of course, attention should also be paid to the dissemination of public relations information, but "attention" is subordinate to authenticity and serves authenticity.
3. Different modes of transmission. In order to attract people's attention, advertisements can adopt various modes of communication, including news, literature and art, and can use fictional or even mythical exaggeration to arouse people's interest and accelerate people's desire to buy. The most important way to spread the relationship between the public and the public is to rely on facts, and its information dissemination means are mainly news dissemination means, such as press releases, press conferences, newspapers, magazines and so on. The characteristics of these means of communication are: based on the authenticity, objectivity and intrinsic news value of information, it is believed that the key to success lies not in the grandstanding and grandstanding expressions used by the parties, but in being good at choosing the right time and adopting the right form to deliver the right information to the target public in time and accurately through the right media. 4. The transmission period is different. Generally speaking, the communication cycle of advertisements is short, ranging from ten and a half days to several months a year, and generally not too long. Relatively speaking, the communication cycle of public relations is long-term, and its task is mainly to establish the reputation and image of the whole enterprise. It's hard to get quick success and instant benefit.
5. Different status. Generally speaking, the position of advertising in the overall management is partial, and its success or failure has no decisive influence on the overall situation. However, the job of public relations is different. It is in an overall position in enterprise management and runs through the whole process of enterprise management. The quality of public relations work determines the reputation and image of the whole enterprise and the life and death of the whole enterprise. 6. The effect is different. Generally speaking, the effect of advertising is direct and measurable, and its economic effect is obvious. For an advertisement, its effect is often partial and only affects the sales of a product or a service. So the effect of advertising is partial and tactical. The influence of public-private relationship is strategic and overall. Once the correct concept of public relations is established and successful public relations work is carried out, enterprises can establish a good reputation and image in the outside world, thus benefiting organizations and all walks of life. The benefits of a successful public-private relationship should be the overall social benefits including political, economic and social benefits. Generally speaking, such overall benefits are difficult to be directly measured by the scale of profits.