The future of PR- Oliver Willan

The future of PR

(picture taken from:
http://mashable.com/2012/06/12/social-media-beginners-guide/)

When looking at the future of PR it’s impossible not to look at where it started and how it has grown already. The use of Public Relations has been at work for thousands of years, as Professor Larry Litwin noted, dating back to Julius Caesar trying to convince the Roman people he would make the best head of state. But PR has evolved and become the recognised industry it is today in the last 100 years and continues to thrive.

With that said, where is PR heading? What does the future hold? Have these developments been positive or a detriment to the industry?

In the last 10 to 15 years we have seen PR become as integral to the mass media market that we the audience indulge in every day, as any other aspect of the “media”. As technology continues to advance the role of PR and its importance is even more evident. However established writer, EricGoldman noticed negative trends in the industry starting in the first half of the 20^th Century that continued to develop in the 50’s and 60’s and many of which continue to hold true today. He suggested that communication developed through three stages:

1.       Spin aimed at duping the audience

2.       Publicity aimed to build awareness through hype

3.       Two-way communication aimed at building engagement

Many of the developments have actually sent the industry back in time, where it is once again becoming a two way relationship between the brand and the public. With television and other forms of media, the information and “relations” were one way. The producers created the product and the audience consumed however with the influx of social media, search engines, comments sections etc. the relationship has become increasingly reciprocal. As such, and with the new avenues to engage with the audience, practitioners, corporations and celebrities alike look to exploit this new dynamic.

Many celebrities now have Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social networking profiles to engage with their fans, the public. But is it the actual celebrity writing on these pages? Or is this where PR comes in?

Well I suppose it depends on the celebrity but many are making use of their PR team on these pages. For example, global celebrity and brand Britney Spears uses her PR team to handle her tweets. Is this an issue or part of the ever evolving relationship where brand control has become so difficult through the ubiquity of public response that using a PR team is the only rational way to communicate as a celebrity or corporation?

Looking ahead, these are all developments that will affect the continued growth of PR. Finding the best way to utilise these new outlets is the question mark of the future and how the industry chooses to evolve will determine whether PR will continue to thrive as a modern media industry.

(picture taken from
http://www.thepicky.com/internet/top-celebrity-twitter-accounts-list/)

Saving a reputation- Beth Howard

Celebrities get into PR trouble all the time, but it is very rare that this trouble causes them to lose their entire career. Sometimes celebrities get into trouble with the public and need help from their PR adviser to save their reputation.

Take Nick Clegg for example; when he campaigned to become prime minister in the 2010 election, he proposed to reduce student tuition fees. But when he became deputy prime minister, he couldn’t uphold his pledge. He promised to lower tuition fees, but failed to do so and has now had to apologise. The Telegraph published an article on 19th September 2012, with the apology video: (see article here). His reputation before the apology may have been terrible and he must have had discussions with his PR adviser pre apology. For Nick Clegg to formally apologise, he is admitting he has done wrong, and this is a small step to saving his reputation as a political leader or deputy prime minister.

Public relations is deemed as a way of creating a relationship with the public as obvious as that it sounds, but that is what PR does for an organisation or celebrity. Jacquie L’Etang (2008) a public relations theorist said, ‘much of the PR role in celebrity circles is focused on promotion, publicity and media relations,’ which explains a bit about what PR actually does it terms of celebrity status. PR aims to raise the profile of a celebrity by promotion and publicity in the media. We cannot expect PR to fully save a celebrity’s reputation, but we can understand that public relations will help to maintain and uphold a reputation as much as it can. 

Let’s look at BP 3 years ago in terms of PR saving a reputation. Deana Goodrich wrote about the crisis BP was in and how bad their reputation was. She said no PR, no matter how good, could save this organisation anymore. (see article here). 
So she wrote a list of what PR can and cannot do, which we can relate to in terms of celebrity reputations:

PR Can:
• Create impressions
• Reinforce brand/shape reputation
• Educate and inform
• Support sales and marketing
• Heighten visibility

PR Can’t:
• Hide the truth
• Mask reality
• Deliver products
• Solve credibility problems
• Fix product, service or support issues

Public relations can create a reputation for an organisation. Public relations can support a company. PR even can maintain a reputation for a celebrity status in the world, but they can’t do magic. Public relations can’t stop a celebrity making a mistake. Michael Jackson is rated the top celebrity that ruined their reputation by saying the wrong thing.( see article here). He said on national television that he shared a bed with young boys that visited him. He already had been arrested for molestation charges (which have been dropped), but that was a big mistake. That doesn’t mean PR is always successful, but it does mean that PR practitioners are capable of trying.

Video link

PR and Branding- Chukwunweike Okolo

Public relations have influenced the lives of celebrities in many ways with branding being one of the most common aspects. Products such as shoes, perfume, clothes and so on have been recognised by the world through the help of celebrities who advertise these products through the media.

A good example of such celebrities is the football player David Beckham. Beckham as we all know is a popular football player that even those who do not watch sports recognise; however when non-football fans hear the name David Beckham one of the things that comes to mind is that he was one of the people that brought the torch to the London Olympics or an Armani underwear model. Although these companies used him to advertise his PR team has used this to further his career and to make his name more well known.

In the PR and branding sense Beckham has certainly made some products very famous in the world today like perfumes and Armani boxers; not to talk of being the face of unlikely products like Samsung and diet coke. It can be said that rather than being associated with the products the products are associated with Beckham. If you ask someone 'who's the guy in the underwear advert, or the new H&M advert?” 9 times out of 10 they're reply will be David Beckham. The branding of David Beckham doesn't stop with him but even his wife and family. Victoria Beckham has is associated with not smiling in pictures and has established her own clothing company by doing this. Even for press and advertisements she doesn't smile and change the branding of herself. Many of her celebrity friends say that she has a good sense of humour yet her PR team does not show this through her appearances as she always had the “pout” which is now associated with Victoria Beckham....even in her Spice girls days. Who could forget Posh spice?

Together they take the celebrity world by storm with celebrities wearing her clothing and men sporting his football T-shirts, as well as friends such as Tom Cruise and Eva Longoria it is pretty much impossible to forget who they are. Their PR team have used branding and advertising to their advantage by having things associated with them rather than being type cast or stereotyped with a certain product.

It is safe today that no matter where you are in the world, thanks to the PR team working overtime David Beckham and Victoria Beckham are taking the world by storm.

(picture taken from:
http://good-wallpapers.com/photos/14527)

(picture taken from:
http://david-victoria-beckham-news.blogspot.co.uk/p/victoria-and-david-beckham.html)

How does PR create celebrities?- Lucy Gaskell

It appears today that anyone can become a celebrity. “Skills” are no longer required, you don’t need a sporting talent or a gift in acting but instead outrageous acts or a likeable personality will now get you far. A reality programme such as Big Brother or The Only Way Is Essex will throw you into stardom and with work from a good public relations company you can go from being your average normal person to being seen on the front of magazines, be the face of brands and being followed by the paparazzi. Whether you love them or you hate them, these ‘celebrities’ become well-known to the public because of the backing of a good public relations company. So what is it a public relations company will do to get you on the road to stardom?

(Amy Childs, picture taken from :
http://rockyourcrowningglory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/plum-is-new-red.htm

Harry Beckwith, a successful author, states “people buy personality and ideas before they buy the product”. So basically celebrities first of all need to be seen in a positive way, as that is how they will sell themselves. Jennifer Aniston, a well-known actress who is mainly remembered from the American television series Friends, has the image of the “girl next door” and Katy Perry, a successful singer, is seen as “innocent and fun loving”. By having these images, which are portrayed through their personalities, they have gained roles in the media. It is not just A-list celebrities but also Z-list celebrities who have got where they are today because of their personality. Just look at Amy Childs who first found fame in The Only Way Is Essex (Towie) with her iconic phrases “shut up” and “vajazzel”. Now she is often seen in the media attending events, has had her own reality programme and also has her own clothing line. All this, because she was seen as likeable and people could relate to her.

Being seen as a do-gooder also helps gain a positive public face. George Clooney was involved in the International Rescue Committee, One Direction is the face of Comic Relief this year and Jodie Marsh has been the face of PETA campaigns. All these causes gain media coverage which ultimately gains publicity both for the charity, but also the celebrity.

Knowing how to turn bad publicity into good publicity is also key. Just take Hugh Grant for instance, he was caught with a prostitute in 1995. However by admitting to his mistake, making public apologies and taking the blame for what he had done, people soon forgot about the scandal and his public relation team got him involved in UNICEF.

So in short:

• You need to be ‘out there’, somebody who no one else has seen before.
• Get their name out there – events, link to charities, press releases.
• Positive press.
• Likeable personality – good traits need to be shown.
• Social media – connect with fans.
• Link to ads/brands – if a good brands wants them as a spokesperson, its free publicity. 

PR v Celebrity- Valerie Rivett

Many may say that PR is the machine behind the celebrity. Is this true? What exactly makes a celebrity? What is the difference between PR and Celebrity?

So what is PR?
The public have many different perceptions of what PR is and what exactly public relation representatives do. Some associate PR with advertising, others associate PR with a celebrity persona and how they are perceived by the public. So with so many different opinions what exactly is PR? Are the representatives there on standby to save someone’s reputation when something goes wrong? Are the representatives there just to gain publicity? Even get in the way of gossip stories with statements such as ‘No comment.’

 So in simple terms:
Public Relations (PR) concerns itself with the image of the client. A company, public personality or political person would need PR in order to create and maintain a positive image.

 CIPR which stands for Chartered Institute for Public relations define PR as:

“Every organisation, no matter how large or small, ultimately depends on its reputation for survival and success. Effective PR can help manage reputation by communicating and building good relationships with all organisation stakeholders.” see full quote here: here

So what is a celebrity?

There are many different opinions on what a celebrity is. There are those who deem the Hollywood A listers such as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie as celebrities because they work in the public eye and see the glamour.  However with the emergence of reality television has raised the question: are there different types of celebrity? People like Mark Wright from The Only Way is Essex are now classed as celebrities with OK magazine, reporting on movements in their lives.

Example from Ok! Magazine: here

Do all these people who want their fifteen minutes of fame, class as a celebrity? What does this mean in terms of PR?

It appears that people who are classed as Z list celebrities (not very famous, reality stars and the like) seem to have a more dominant PR team, they seem to release stories in the papers, DVDs for fitness all to keep their image whatever it may be in the public's attention, However those such as Jennifer Aniston, a Hollywood film star, seems to be keeping out of the public eye as much as she can, not releasing things to keep her image up. The only time she seems to want the attention is when promoting a film or television show.

This blog will help define these terms further, answering and asking the important questions that we need to think about as the public. What is more important the PR team behind the celebrity or the celebrity itself?

Is PR redundant without a high status celebrity image, or do celebrities rely on PR more than the public realise?