There’s a common misconception for those not in the industry that public relations practitioners are in the business of “spin”, of dishing out glittering generalities in the hopes the public will blindly accept whatever comes its way. This could not be further from the truth. In the continuum of attitude change, I would suggest PR reps are most concerned with the first step: awareness. Do people know your company exists? Do they know your specialties? Does management have a face, a personality that they can relate to?
Nevertheless, it would be false to say that perception management is not a part of the job. Hence why every public relations student is familiar with the Tylenol recall in 1982, when the company pulled its product from the shelf after some had been tampered with and laced with cyanide in Chicago. Note that the PR counsel not only went above and beyond public expectations but also relied on sound ethics to design its plan of action.
A journey to the middle of the earth further demonstrates the true essence of public relations. A diamond owes its existence to high pressure and high temperatures. It is only under these circumstances that coal transforms into its refined, radiant form. Similarly, a company under close examination will either captivate and inspire us or lay wasteside, lumpy and full of holes. This sparkling gem is a company’s character, that which remains when all else is burned away.
Because no matter if PR increases acceptance or raises the bottom line, the character of a company will always prevail. People notice when a company addresses their needs rather than doing whatever is necessary to make a sale. People notice when a company is honest at its own expense. People notice when a company not only works hard, not necessarily a virtue, but also works hard to be generous, which is. PR’s success relies on this character.
This truth about truth should relieve those on both sides of the public relations equation. PR reps can relax knowing that a typo in a press release will not entirely diminish a company’s reputation in the public eye. The public can relax knowing the information disseminated about a company is done so with their needs and expectations in mind. As a human representation of perfect moral character in the business of representing underdogs so divinely said in 30 A.D. “…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
P.S. For more on how diamonds and how they are formed, I suggest the following Smithsonian article: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/diamond.html?c=y&page=2
