PR is not rocket science – as one of my senior colleagues once put it – yet it is not suitable for everyone, especially in the absence of theoretical knowledge and practical experience.
PR is a profession that requires creativity, broad knowledge, and insight into finance, accounting, legislation, and sales. It is less well-known that creating and implementing a crisis communication plan is just as much the responsibility of a Public Relations professional as planning and operating corporate external and internal communication channels. PR is not rocket science, but a good corporate PR person must indeed understand many things. However, very often, expectations are formulated for communication professionals that have no relation to reality.
Let's take a look at the 4 most common misconceptions about the Public Relations profession that I encounter most frequently in my work:
1.) Everyone understands PR!
Of course, just like with chicken soup, no one can cook a soup that tastes like their grandmother's.
An effective communication campaign is well thought out, precisely planned and scheduled, and based on research. (Yes, all of this is time-consuming). PR leaders who have advanced from procurement or assistants can mostly only delegate tasks to their subordinates/agencies, but they know nothing about the profession. Public Relations is, after all, a profession.
Agencies working with such clients are in a difficult position. Often, there is a lack of precise formulation of expectations, there is no brief, or the client does not understand what work and deadlines are involved in the given processes. In the best case, they „push” everything onto the PR agency, thus not revealing their professional ignorance or shortcomings.
2.) „PR is free!”
Oh, no. There is no free lunch, only in the mousetrap.
Recently, at one company, the sales manager sat down across from me and said:
„We want to launch a PR campaign to support one of our products so that 1 forint looks like 10. I can only provide a very small budget for this.”.
Hearing the specific amount left me speechless, wondering if he really meant it? The excellent professional had no idea that PR articles are not free; any activity conducted on any communication channel must be paid for! (Except, of course, for our own platforms).
It is true that there are PR guerrilla campaigns that are picked up by social media and spread like a virus among users, but it is a mistake to think that these were born out of nowhere and were „free.” Besides, planning on credit is not possible. Good media relations are indeed essential for those appearances that clients consider „free,” but there has always been/is/will be a price for this.
3.) A press release is a dime a dozen, let it ring!
Another of my favorite examples of a foolish expectation that makes our daily lives miserable: we constantly bombard the editorial offices with press releases about us. Boring press materials on topics that hardly interest us, with no specific message, mostly end up in the trash. There is a special place in hell for those who approve these press materials!
It is not rocket science to realize that sending a press release does not equal getting published! If there is no compelling message, our press release will be equivalent to a golden record message sent into space aboard Voyager-1. We sent it out, but it has no results.
4.) „PR is equal to writing press materials”
We wouldn't have much of a place in the profession if Public Relations were really just about journalistic talent. Reading the above, I hope this misconception will slowly but surely become part of public knowledge.
Contrary to popular belief, PR is a complex job: a good PR person - whether a corporate professional or from an agency - observes the small details with a quantum physics perspective, draws attention to the consequences, and helps to confront the world perceived by the client with reality.
#ezisPR If education has already been mentioned, it should not be forgotten that the PR profession requires continuous learning. That’s why I started the #ezisPR hashtag on the Hungarian PR Association's Facebook page, where I try to showcase the beauties of the Public Relations profession through the most interesting domestic and international examples.
