Public Relations (PR) is the relationship a company, brand or individual has with the public. Larger organisations will typically have a PR department, a dedicated team or person, to manage public relations.
The aim of PR is to maintain a publicly viewed reputation and generate a positive perception for the brand or organisation. This can be done in many ways, including using unpaid channels to promote and highlight achievements from the organisation, as well as earned media opportunities, or paid placements such as advertorials. PR professionals also often influence additional channels, such as social media and press.
PR is considered necessary for both growing and established organisations. As well as being used to push a positive message about the organisation, PR teams are also in charge of recovering an organisation’s image in the event of negative PR, which is also often referred to as crisis comms.
In the event of negative press, the job of a PR team will be to limit damage and rebuild public perception, while also advising how the organisation should proceed moving forward. An organisation will typically have its own procedure in the event of this, with most organisations issuing an initial holding statement.