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The Public Relations
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Handbook
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Alison Theaker
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First published 2001
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.

Disclaimer: For copyright reasons, some images in the original version of this
book are not available for inclusion in the eBook.

2001 Alison Theaker contributors for their chapters

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted

or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Theaker, Alison.
The public relations handbook/Alison Theaker.
p. cm. (Media practice)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. CorporationsPublic relations. I. Title. II. Series.
HD59 .T474 2001
659.2dc21 00-065306
ISBN 0-203-46133-9 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-76957-0 (Adobe eReader Format)

ISBN 0415213347 (pbk)
ISBN 0415213339 (hbk)
 1111
2
3
4 Contents
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6
7
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11113
14
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11117 Notes on contributors vii
18 Preface ix
19
20
21 Part I The context of public relations 1
22
23 1 What is public relations? 3
24 Johanna Fawkes
25
26 2 Public relations and communications 13
27 Johanna Fawkes
28
29 3 Public relations, politics and the media 24
30 Ian Somerville
31
32 4 Public relations and management 35
33 Anne Gregory
34
35 5 Professionalism and regulation 52
36
37
38 Part II Strategic public relations 63
39
40 6 Corporate communication 65
41 Emma Wood
42
43 7 Corporate identity 74
44 Emma Wood
45
46 8 Public affairs and issues management 93
47
48 9 Business ethics, public relations and
49 corporate social responsibility 107
11150 Ian Somerville
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 1111
2
3
4
5
6
1 What is
public relations?
7
8 Johanna Fawkes
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10
11
12
13
14
15
16
11117 ost students and, indeed, practitioners are familiar with the problem of
18
19
20
M trying to explain what they are studying or how they are earning their
living:

21 Public relations? Is that working with people? You know, like an air hostess, shop
22 assistant?
23 No, more problem solving, really. And working with the media.
24 Oh yes, all those parties.
25 Well . . .
26
27 Somewhere along the line words like spin doctors are likely to crop up, replacing the
28 more traditional gin-and-tonic shorthand for PR. And, of course, everyone has heard
29 of Max Clifford. But, how to explain that he doesnt call himself a PR practitioner but
30 a publicist especially if the distinction isnt all that clear to the speaker?
31 This chapter aims to cover the issues of denition and distinction of PR from related
32 activities, but a word of warning. These will not solve the dilemma of trying to explain
33 public relations in a phrase. The fact remains that it is a complex and hybrid subject;
34 it draws on theories and practices from many different elds, such as management,
35 media, communication and psychology. These links will be explored more fully in this
36 book. Readers are more likely to have an understanding of the subject and an ability
37 to evolve their own denitions when they have reached the end of the book, rather than
38 the end of this chapter.
39 In 1976, Rex Harlow scoured through 472 denitions of public relations to come up
40 with the following paragraph:
41
42 Public relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and main-
43 tain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and co-operation
44 between an organisation and its publics; involves the management of problems or
45 issues; helps management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinion;
46 denes and emphasises the responsibility of management to serve the public interest;
47 helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilise change, serving as an early
48 warning system to help anticipate trends; and uses research and ethical communi-
49 cation techniques as its principal tools.
11150 (Harlow, quoted in Wilcox et al. 1992: 7)
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 4 The Public Relations Handbook

1 Although this is useful it contains many key concepts and saves us ploughing
2 through hundreds of denitions, it describes what PR does rather than what it is. Since
3 then, of course, there have been many more attempts to capture its essence.
4 The 1978 World Assembly of Public Relations Associations in Mexico agreed that:
5
6 Public relations is the art and social science of analysing trends, predicting their con-
7 sequences, counselling organisation leaders and implementing planned programmes
8 of action which will serve both the organisations and the public interest.
9 (Wilcox et al. 1992: 6)
10
11 The words art and social science are helpful in explaining the continuing tension
12 between understanding PR as a measurable, science-based application of communica-
13 tion tools, and the affection of many practitioners for the looser, more creative, aspects
14 of the work. In the USA the social science elements dominate the understanding of PR,
15 as is reected in their education and texts about the subject. In the UK, PR is largely
16 though not exclusively considered a management function and is taught in business
11117 schools. In both countries it is sometimes found in schools of journalism.
18 The Institute of Public Relations (IPR) is the UKs leading professional body for
19 public relations practitioners and was established in 1948 (see Chapter 5). The deni-
20 tion framed by the IPR in 1987 is still useful:
21
22 Public Relations is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain good-
23 will and understanding between an organisation and its publics.
24
25 There are several key words worth noting here: planned and sustained suggest these
26 relationships are not automatic or effortless. Indeed, they have to be established and
27 maintained. Public relations work exists in time it is not a series of unrelated events.
28 Also note that the aim is not popularity or approval, but goodwill and understanding.
29 Many think that PR is just about promoting an organisation, whereas most PR work
30 involves ensuring publics have an accurate view of the organisation, even if they dont
31 like what it does. The Inland Revenue doesnt expect to be loved for its activities, but
32 it might hope to be respected, or at least understood.
33 The denition also raises that strange word publics, which will be discussed more
34 fully elsewhere. It is important, however, to stress that public relations is not about
35 dealing with the public as people often think. In PR we say there is no such thing as
36 the public there are instead many different groups of people not just consumers,
37 but suppliers, employees, trustees, members, local and national trade and political
38 bodies, local residents, among many others. One of the key concepts of PR is the idea
39 that these groups or publics have different information needs and exert different
40 demands on organisations. Understanding these differences is a vital skill of PR.
41 Philip Kitchen (1997: 27) summarises the denitions as suggesting that public
42 relations:
43
44 1 is a management function . . .
45 2 covers a broad range of activities and purposes in practice . . .
46 3 is regarded as two-way or interactive . . .
47 4 suggests that publics facing companies are not singular (i.e. consumers) but plural
48 ...
49 5 suggests that relationships are long term rather than short term.
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 What is public relations? 5

1111 It can be seen that none of the above descriptions involves parties, gin and tonic or
2 spinning. However, public relations continues to have a serious PR problem. It has
3 failed to communicate its core activity successfully to the wider public. As a result,
4 many professionals have considered changing the name to avoid the associations.
5 Job ads now seek specialists in Corporate Communications, or Image Management
6 where once they would have looked for PR people. Sometimes the jobs have changed;
7 often its just the labels. BursonMarsteller, one of the oldest and most respected PR
8 consultancies, recently changed its title from public relations agency to perception
9 management.
10 The IPR addressed these concerns by extending its denition to:
11
12 Public Relations practice is the discipline concerned with the reputation of organ-
13 isations (or products, services or individuals) with the aim of earning understanding
14 and support.
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16 This is sometimes simplied further to:
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18 Public relations is about reputation the result of what you do, what you say and
19 what others say about you.
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21 This is probably the most satisfying of the current denitions: it is simple and doesnt
22 attempt to catalogue all the tasks involved in managing reputation. It may even help
23 students and practitioners explain what on earth it is they do.
24
25
26 Distinctions
27
28 Sometimes, of course, its easier to explain what you dont do. The following sections
29 look at areas often confused with PR. As with denitions, the lines are not always
30 clear. To repeat, PR draws on expertise and experience from many elds, it overlaps
31 with other disciplines; it tends to integrate rather than exclude this is its strength as
32 a practice, but a weakness when it comes to descriptions and denitions.
33
34
35
Marketing
36 This is the eld most commonly confused with PR not unreasonably since marketing
37 refers to PR in its texts and practice as part of the marketing mix. To marketing prac-
38 titioners and academics, public relations is one of the 4 Ps product, place, price and
39 promotion which make up a successful marketing campaign. This is not incorrect
40 public relations can play an essential role in creating successful products if the other
41 elements are right, of course. It can help create awareness of the product especially
42 new technological developments, where consumers need to understand what a gizmo
43 is before they can distinguish between brands of gizmo. Once, campaigns had to explain
44 what a fridge did, more recently the market needed educating about the virtues of
45 DVD and WAP technology.
46 Publicity is also essential to launch a new product or service, which is where
47 marketing PR excels. While the marketing team may create special offers and sales
48 promotions, the publicity people will be seeking media coverage and arranging launch
49 events. Together, they can create worldwide successes, from the latest Star Wars lm
11150 to Prozac.
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