'PR' Stands for Public Relations

I was once in a meeting with some experienced marketing professionals creating a marketing plan. As part of the overall strategy they wanted to ensure that a ‘PR’ was used as part of the plan implementation. I sat there confused as over and over again they referenced writing a PR and sending a PR. Being the resident PR guy, I was completely stumped and knew I’d struggle to succeed with the objectives I was assigned unless I could get on the same page as my colleagues. Finally I said, “Why do you keep saying ‘a PR or the PR?’ Do you want me to create and then and send out our PR strategy?”

You know how a dog tilts its head to the side when it’s a little bit befuddled? Well, that is the same look I got from my friends that morning, only with slightly less drool.

One especially seasoned marketing pro who happened to be the manager of the project looked at me and said, “No, we’re talking about a press release.”

There it was! It was all clear to me then. When my colleagues referenced ‘PR’ they were talking about a press release and not public relations as a whole. Apparently they didn’t understand that public relations is crucial part of any good marketing strategy but instead thought it was just an announcement document.

Although the first letter of each word in press release is coincidentally P and R, ‘PR’ is far more than just press releases.

A press release is an essential tool to the public relations practitioner and his/her clients. It is probably still the most widely used tool to disseminate information to the media quickly and effectively. But public relations, like advertising, is more than just one tool and is another key way to communicate with potential consumers and mold public opinion. The tools of advertising are familiar, like the TV commercial, the radio spot, the print ad and the billboard but the tools of PR are just as, if not more important and are less familiar. Some of those tools include the press release, the case study, the media brief, social media strategy and media outreach.

The next time you reference a PR, please correct yourself to say ‘press release’ and save the acronym PR for when you are referencing public relations.