State the term- Public Relations

Public relations is 'the art and social science of analysing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organisations' leadership and implementing planned programmes of action which will serve both organisation's and the public interest' (Mexican Statement, 1978). This definition suggests that public relations must be a part of the wider perspective of corporate strategy and this is discussed at length in Module 16. Increasing use of public relations and publicity in particular, reflects high credibility attached to this form of communication. Publicity involves dissemination of messages through third-party media like magazines, newspapers or news programmes. There is no charge for media space or time however there are costs incurred in the production of the material. (There is no such thing as a free lunch or free promotion.) There is a wide variety of other tools used by public relations, like event management, sponsorship and lobbying. It's difficult to control a message once it is placed in the channels however endorsement offered by a third party can be very influential and have a far greater impact on the target audience than any of the other tools in the promotional mix.