PR practice is as old as the history of civilisation itself. King Kroesus of Asia Minor had his face put on the first gold coins. During the World War II, RAF bombers dropped tonnes of propaganda leaflets over Germany. What’s up in India?
A failure to appreciate the role of PR stems from a genuine lack of understanding about what it can and is supposed to accomplish. There permeates an overall attitude of not parting with any information; this myopic approach prevents any dissemination of information, including that for the government’s own good. This lack of transparency acts as a breeding ground for mutual distrust between the rulers and the ruled.
The ill-famed securities scandal of nineties assumed crisis proportions, at one time threatening to engulf the entire financial services industry. Ideally, the government should have admitted mea culpa, not necessarily because it was involved but because it was guilty of negligence. The then finance minister advanced platitudes that failed to convince anyone. A systematic plan to achieve a specific communication goal was lacking.
Such stopgap efforts, aimed at best towards belated damage control, are hallmarks of activism of most of the government’s propaganda machine. Michael Naumann of Der Spiegel thus commented wryly, “Public relation’s main task is to detract people from serious problem and focus their attention elsewhere, or… take your choice … the good looks of the president’s wife, the sexual mores of the opposition leader…”
So if a government sends Sri Sri Ravishankar to Kashmir on a peace mission, even the Economist magazine says that he sounds less like a spiritual leader and more like a politician! So dim the patriotic pitch and replace the spiritual sadhu with a communication guru. That should be the right approach.
Else, the propaganda programmes are likely to invite the comments that those RAF veterans had made sardonically, “The only thing achieved (out of the propaganda exercise by the British Government) was to supply the Continent’s requirement for toilet paper.” PR sure evokes mixed feelings. It is for the practitioner to make it work to the advantage of the organisation. While two scientists from University of California have devised a formula to determine the attractiveness of a female face and those at the University of Manchester have worked out another for a perfect hourglass figure like that of Kate Winslet unfortunately, no luck here. Till such time as the perfect recipe for success in PR is developed the only guideline shall remain: plan, execute and monitor intelligently!
A cocktail with the right blend should do the trick. But do you have the ideal mix? I don’t. Happy hunting!
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.A failure to appreciate the role of PR stems from a genuine lack of understanding about what it can and is supposed to accomplish. There permeates an overall attitude of not parting with any information; this myopic approach prevents any dissemination of information, including that for the government’s own good. This lack of transparency acts as a breeding ground for mutual distrust between the rulers and the ruled.
The ill-famed securities scandal of nineties assumed crisis proportions, at one time threatening to engulf the entire financial services industry. Ideally, the government should have admitted mea culpa, not necessarily because it was involved but because it was guilty of negligence. The then finance minister advanced platitudes that failed to convince anyone. A systematic plan to achieve a specific communication goal was lacking.
Such stopgap efforts, aimed at best towards belated damage control, are hallmarks of activism of most of the government’s propaganda machine. Michael Naumann of Der Spiegel thus commented wryly, “Public relation’s main task is to detract people from serious problem and focus their attention elsewhere, or… take your choice … the good looks of the president’s wife, the sexual mores of the opposition leader…”
So if a government sends Sri Sri Ravishankar to Kashmir on a peace mission, even the Economist magazine says that he sounds less like a spiritual leader and more like a politician! So dim the patriotic pitch and replace the spiritual sadhu with a communication guru. That should be the right approach.
Else, the propaganda programmes are likely to invite the comments that those RAF veterans had made sardonically, “The only thing achieved (out of the propaganda exercise by the British Government) was to supply the Continent’s requirement for toilet paper.” PR sure evokes mixed feelings. It is for the practitioner to make it work to the advantage of the organisation. While two scientists from University of California have devised a formula to determine the attractiveness of a female face and those at the University of Manchester have worked out another for a perfect hourglass figure like that of Kate Winslet unfortunately, no luck here. Till such time as the perfect recipe for success in PR is developed the only guideline shall remain: plan, execute and monitor intelligently!
A cocktail with the right blend should do the trick. But do you have the ideal mix? I don’t. Happy hunting!
K. K. SRIVASTAVA, Advisor,IIPM Business Press
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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