When we started this course, I thought PR was using psychology to get people believing what you say or buy into your product. I thought I'd have to learn how to be a fast talker in order to throw up those smoke screens. I definitely didn't think "PR" and "honesty" in the same sentence. It brought to mind the "Paris Hilton" and "Kardashian" brands and how anything, no matter how much substance it lacked, could be SPUN to work in the brands favor. I don't see it that way now.
PR is a business that functions as honest as you want it to. Just the way you can choose to be an honest investment banker, (which sounds like an oxymoron these days), or a greedy one. Both will make you money, but you have the freedom to choose which will give you the reputation and longevity you want.
It brings to mind Brittany Spears. There was a time she could do no wrong. Her image was innocence, her sexuality was suggestive and we believed that's who she was. There was a sense of honesty there. When she no longer cared about her reputation and audience, (shaving your head is hardly the way to remain desirable), she almost lost everything. It felt inauthentic, like she wasn't being honest with herself. Her career did get a reboot, but it was a long road and the public will always remember her fall. These days, I'll bet there's a great PR person orchestrating her every move, including writing her posts on Twitter.
Now I think PR professionals need to guard their reputation the way they do that of their clients. You do that working with honesty and real intelligence. Once you lose your reputation, it can be impossible to get it back because smoke screen dust always settles.
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| Brittany Takes an Umbrella to her Career |
I wonder how much control the PR managers actually has over their clients. Some people do not want to relinquish their power over to someone. They think they know best or perhaps they underestimate the value of controlled PR management. That requires self discipline; something many poeple do not possess. Add the stupidity of youth and you get bad decision making. I wonder if there are some situations that cannot be fixed?... Enron perhaps? Yipes!!
ReplyDeleteYes agree and the title of our course text book says it all "Reputation Management". Great flash back to the Brittany gone bad days.. what a freaking PR nightmare! :)
ReplyDeleteNice feedback, Melissa. What I'm enjoying about this self-assessment post is that you're all extremely conscientious about what you're learning in PRFandP. You're putting PR muscle into your coursework!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, public relations -- those two words -- have a reputation problem, all on their own. And I'm grateful that you and your classmates will enter the profession with the skillset that can contribute to the repair of his reputation problem. The best public relations professionals must possess far more intelligence and critical thinking skills than the fast talkers who throw up smoke screens.
I forgot to add a final note tied to your comment regarding reputation.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to public relations -- or any other professional, really -- all you have when everything is said and done is your reputation. That's why it's our role to disregard the spin-doctor comparisons and take on the roles and responsibilities of communications strategists -- a far more respectable position, don't you think?
Yes, respectable because the word "strategists" suggest to me that there was intelligent work done. I would bet it takes more work to be smartly strategic than it does to throw up an illusion. Because the illusion is immediate but the strategy thought about "now" AND way into the future. It as if the illusion is a giant rock, thrown in pond. It creates a big splash but then just sinks. And the strategy is a light pebble. It creates a ripple effect and keeps bouncing along to create more than one immediate splash. I want to be the smarter rock!
ReplyDeleteMelissa is right on track. Strategy not only bespeaks of intelligent work, it also bespeaks of intellgent reputation. I rather be known as communications strategist, instead of a communications illusionist, any day.
ReplyDeleteThat's because people who seek PR help, want someone who can think through the whole situation in question, and provide a goal reaching solution. The last thing anyone wants is the illusionist, who can't really grapple with the essence of the matter.