What don't we do?

Catherine Paneral

Jour 4460

February 23, 2012

Blog Six — What don’t we do?

I cannot even count how many times someone has asked me “So, what exactly does a PR person do?” As my head starts to compile a list of everything we do, I suddenly realized I had a simple, all-inclusive answer: What don’t we do?

The definition of what a public relations professional does is endless.  According to Google, it is “the professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company or other organization or a famous person.” Professional maintenance is right.  It is our responsibility to make people and/or companies look good by being honest even when that may be the hardest thing in the world to do. We make sure the face of the company stays clean and reputable because without that there would be major drama. But we also do so much more than just keep up a pretty face.

I am currently the PR intern for the PepsiCo transportation department. Believe me when I say every single day of work has been different. I design and develop brochures. I design banners and posters. I write press releases. I have conference calls, on the phone and webcam. I sit in during various meetings. I manage and monitor our social media pages. I attend conventions. I edit letters and documents. I meet with companies we work with. I give guidance to other employees who have to write up letters to their clients. The list goes on and on. I am involved in everything that goes on here because I need to have a strong knowledge of our company in case I should ever have to publically represent us. But I think that is what keeps the job interesting and fun. I am never bored because there is always something to do.

In an article by Steve Cody, You Don’t Know Jack About Public Relations, he talks about the annoyance he has with people mixing up advertising with public relations. He comments on the fact that not many people understand what public practitioners do. He says, “In fact, I believe far too many chief executives officers of the country's fastest-growing companies have no real clue how truly multi-faceted and more powerful public relations is than its marketing counterparts.” I agree with that 100 percent. Non PR practitioners think they know what they can and can’t say and what they think they should say and shouldn’t say. Not many people realize what a tough job PR can be.

Going back to Cody’s annoyance, his article talked about the differences between advertising and public relations. He explained that in advertising the client decides what they want to appear in the ad, where they want it to appear, when they want it to appear and exactly what it will look like whereas in public relations we can put together the most fabulous, complete and informational story but it is up to the news medium of what exactly will be published. We never know exactly what will happen, just hope for the best. In more simple terms, advertising creates awareness and public relations enhances credibility. People don’t trust advertisements and they have good reason not to. The ethical decisions made by an advertiser are quite different from what a PR practitioner would suggest. According to Cody, “PR now far surpasses advertising as the most-trusted source of information for most consumer or business purchases.”