The changing face of public relations

MANILA, Philippines - The practice of public relations in the country has gone a long way from its advertising roots in the 1940’s. Back in the day, advertising alone built brands and was strong enough to survive on its own. PR was a back up operation considered as its “poor brother.”

Now, most sizeable corporations have built-in public relations departments that cultivate relationship with media and consumers, and advise chief executive officers on how certain events and public sentiments can affect the stability of the brand or organization.

PR men are also given more importance in the corporate structure. They now have higher positions in the corporate ladder and report directly to the CEO as consultants.

The brunt of the global financial crisis, which continues to be felt, has given the industry new steam as firms slash advertising budgets and turn to PR strategies to build their brands in a tight economy.

Now, with the proliferation of new media tools such as social networking and micro blogging sites, the industry is evolving again to adapt to a more interactive and, sometimes, more hostile audience.

For this reason, the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) is holding the 17th National Public Relations Congress at the Grand Ballroom of InterContinental Manila from Sept. 23 and 24 to address strategies for the industry in the pace of new media.

This year’s theme, “PR.2.0 Build. Engage. Deliver,” focuses on PR strategies to exploit the benefits of personalized media to build brands and create a community of followers who can spread the good word about the product or service.

“As a PR practitioner, we also have to recognize that we do not have to deal only with traditional media. We have to build advocates because now everybody can be a media person. Everybody can have their Facebook accounts.” John Rojo, Vice President of BayanTel’s coporate brand and communications department and chairman of this year’s congress tells The STAR.

Social media has liberalized expression through the internet, making it possible for anyone to broadcast or publish information with minimal censorship. Rojo says this has become a challenge for the industry.

“Before all we had is to talk to editors. Now, anybody can say something bad about you and you cannot go out and talk to all these people. So we have to manage that and take all into consideration,” he says.

“We’ve seen a lot of incidents before where certain incidents came out in social media before traditional media. What we hope to accomplish in the congress is to make PR practitioners understand and plan strategies to integrate that into their discipline,’ he adds.

PRSP President Butch Raquel also recognizes that advancements in personalized communications, such as electronic mail, has diminished personal interaction between PR practitioners and members of the media.

 “We have to bring public relations back to public relations. In line with the changes in social media, there is still the need to maintain the relationship with people in charge of media,” says Raquel also a vice president for corporate communications of GMA Network. “It’s like sending my press release to the editor via the internet is better if I have a good relationship with the editor. It will spell the difference if it merely gets published or if it will get prominence.”

The congress invites speakers from international firms and major media outfits in the country to address the present challenges in the industry. Among the speakers are Tim Sutton, chairman of Weber Shandwick Asia Pacific; Andrew Thomas, Managing Director and Southeast Asia Director of Ogilvy PR; and digital strategist Kevin Lim of Fleishman Hillard-Malaysia.

The STAR’s Business columnist Boo Chanco would also talk about the traditional media practitioner’s view on new media.

PRSP also gives out the annual Anvil Awards for industry excellence. Last year, Metro Bank Foundation took home the Grand Anvil award for its advocacies.

PRSP is also holding this year’s Student Conference and Grand Prix Competition at the University of Santo Tomas from Sept. 11 to 12 with the theme “Bagong Pinoy Bagong ‘Pinas”.

The student PR planning competition gathers 800 students from colleges and universities from all over Metro Manila. Last year, winner Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila won in the competition for coming up with a PR plan to encourage volunteerism among the youth in the 2010 national elections.

“There’s been a growing interest in PR because more schools are offering PR programs in their curriculum,” Raquel said.

Looking ahead

Rojo says firms now prefer to invest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects to connect to their consumer base. A lot of them, in fact, have actively sought out partnerships with non-government organizations.

“The focus of most companies is CSR. Almost all companies have a strong CSR component,” Rojo says. “It helps build brand and corporate image when companies show responsibility. It’s a better way to reach out to consumers.” He says PR practice in the country has become a complementary operation to advertising.

“Before it’s a poor brother, PR was just one desk, but now it’s a friend, “says Rojo. “But the profession is evolving. Before, it was all about image and reputation. Now it’s seen as a tool to actually build brands.”

Raquel agrees: “Before, advertising can survive by itself, but now, there has to be integration.”

PRSP is an organization of PR practitioners formally established on Feb. 19, 1957. It aims to generate public confidence in the PR profession by encouraging ethical and professional standards in the practice. It has membership base of 147 companies from corporate and non-government organizations.

It regularly holds lectures aside from the annual congress. This year’s convention is also open to non-PR practitioners. For more information, you may contact the society at 6380010 and 6380012 or email at [email protected].