COMM314 - The Importance of PR

Today I sat in a meeting that discussed all the communications aspects that would be involved in promoting public programs and events. As I observed the process my mind wondered to the question on the value or importance of PR for a company. I went online to “Google” the question and found some interesting answers.

For the corporate sector I found an essay by Mike Manning of Connors Communications. He talks about the Importance of PR in a Successful Company Launch. He states that a good PR plan can actually take a “new market by storm and offers the most cost-effective way to validate a new product or service to the most people possible.”

For the educational sector I found a scholarly paper written by Lee Stewart whose PR Model paper titled The Importance of Public Relations was peer-reviewed, accepted, and sanctioned by the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) as a scholarly contribution to the knowledge base in educational administration. He discussed how crucial PR to the educational system. He claims that the community has the right to know what happens in public schools since the community pays for the public schools. Therefore the school system needs to be able to effectively communicate, needs and results. This holds true for elementary through higher educational institutes.

For the government sector I found an article on the New Edelman stakeholder study shows rising importance of PR in Japan written by one of Japans premier PR agencies. The study found that Japan realizes that they need to run their businesses in the traditional manor yet use the “Western Style” of communication to spread the word. According to this article this is a complete shift in philosophy for the country’s business.

Regardless of what sector you ask PR is now an invaluable asset that helps promote goodwill, mission and cooperation. On a side note, I think it is great that the U.S. can now be called the inventor of modern PR practices!