Chapter 1: Understanding Twenty-First Century Public Relations
We've been tasked to read Chia and Synnott (2009)'s text, so this post shall be a reflection on the first chapter of said text. Firstly, the chapter covers a historical overview of the field of PR, citing its origins in the empires of Rome and Greece (Edwards, 2006, as cited in Chia & Synnott, 2009). Fast forwarding to the 20th century, modern public relations practice was identified to have started from America. Parallels were drawn between development of PR in America as well as that in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, although the rate at which it does so in these regions differs from that of America, since the local cultures do have a large influence on its development. The text cites China's strict control of media as an example.
We've been tasked to read Chia and Synnott (2009)'s text, so this post shall be a reflection on the first chapter of said text. Firstly, the chapter covers a historical overview of the field of PR, citing its origins in the empires of Rome and Greece (Edwards, 2006, as cited in Chia & Synnott, 2009). Fast forwarding to the 20th century, modern public relations practice was identified to have started from America. Parallels were drawn between development of PR in America as well as that in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, although the rate at which it does so in these regions differs from that of America, since the local cultures do have a large influence on its development. The text cites China's strict control of media as an example.
Here's something I found on the challenges of public relations in China: Weber Shandwick Worldwide.
Seems like to actually practice PR in China, an aspiring practitioner must understand exactly how the government works and be able to sidestep media controls in order to get the required message out (the article does not elaborate how). The article mentions guanxi, or the Chinese term for "relations", and I think this concept of relations factor in more greatly in the Chinese rather than in Western markets, thus the onus is on us, the PR practitioners, to build excellent, reciprocal guanxi with the media so as to achieve our objectives (Liu & Wu, n.d.).
Some definitions were provided as well as various regional perspectives on PR. Again, government control factored in for the context of PR in Asia as mentioned above. What was interesting, however, was the author's definition of it, which encompasses collaboration with the public, continual research and evaluation to improve on work relations across all sectors of society, and being creative, yet adaptable. It echoes the social responsibility ethos in that the PR practitioner, in order to make a difference, should also include activities that brings about positive benefits to the environment that the client is operating in, killing two birds with one stone.
In the next section, the importance of theory was mentioned, mainly to give us students a basis for application and to know what potential minefields to avoid. It also lays the groundwork for further academic study into this field if we so wish (Chia & Synnott, 2009). It was here that I realised PR theory is quite closely linked to communications theory (which we covered last trimester), because familiar names like Habermas, Foucault and Bourdieu appeared at various points in this chapter. Chia and Synnott (2009) even write about Habermas' idea on framing, reminding me of a simple media framing exercise we did under Introduction to Communication Studies, with news angles and so on.
The final portion of this chapter covered the components of PR practice. From internal communications to external networking, crisis management, research, financial public relations (stakeholder-related) and developing positions, PR is actually a bigger field than I ever imagined, even with the little introduction to it in last week's lecture.
This week we linked marketing and PR, which I believe falls under the networking/relationship building and research components as identified in this reading. Ms. Wilson showed us some case studies of PR campaigns (generating the "free" publicity as opposed to "paid" advertisements, something I mentioned in my previous post), and a major takeaway from the tutorial was that PR campaigns need to have a link to the clients they are being tailored for. For example, a graffiti-themed campaign may not suit G2000 well (better known for its all-business, no-nonsense attires) but may be the perfect way to boost the image of Ecko Unlimited (a more edgy, rebellious brand; also one of the case studies shown to us). In my opinion the "Raffles Place Ghost Sightings" which we examined during tutorial had only a small and weak link to the human resource consultancy group that was the client. Linking ghosts to overwork seems a little far-fetched to me, but that's just my two cents. Despite this, it generated attention, so why not, hmm?
This week we linked marketing and PR, which I believe falls under the networking/relationship building and research components as identified in this reading. Ms. Wilson showed us some case studies of PR campaigns (generating the "free" publicity as opposed to "paid" advertisements, something I mentioned in my previous post), and a major takeaway from the tutorial was that PR campaigns need to have a link to the clients they are being tailored for. For example, a graffiti-themed campaign may not suit G2000 well (better known for its all-business, no-nonsense attires) but may be the perfect way to boost the image of Ecko Unlimited (a more edgy, rebellious brand; also one of the case studies shown to us). In my opinion the "Raffles Place Ghost Sightings" which we examined during tutorial had only a small and weak link to the human resource consultancy group that was the client. Linking ghosts to overwork seems a little far-fetched to me, but that's just my two cents. Despite this, it generated attention, so why not, hmm?
This ends the second post.
I like the link you provided, just to show how PR practitioners differ in various countries. Singapore PR scene seems very much dependent on 'face' and your social scene. If you know people, chances are you going to get a big advantage. Sounds like a backstabbing industry or maybe i am just naive.Anyway the 'Raffles ghost sighting' for me was distasteful, ghost and late nights just had no link to the company but Ecko hit it off to the tee.
ReplyDeleteA friend once told me, "When we're young, it's called making friends; as we grow older, it's called networking." I suppose networking is important in every industry, but even more so for us media/PR practitioners who depend on it for a living.
ReplyDeleteI would think that the field of PR in Singapore, being at the crossroads of the East and the West, would have hallmarks of both Western and Asian PR traditions. Chapter 13 deals with PR practice in Asia (which we will come to, in due time), so this is a huge assumption for now. So perhaps it is not just "guanxi" that matters to us here (as well as in our dealings with Chinese firms), but also the need to advance community interests (Chia & Synott, 2009), just to name an example.
Else, like in my post. I share your opinions about Ecko and the "Raffles Place Ghost" PR campaigns.
Hi, the link seems to be broken. Do you happen to save a copy of the link offline?
ReplyDelete