Public relations seems to have lost its ‘bad rap’ if the September Beilby Rewards survey is anything to go by. In the past public relations has been referred to as the ‘dark side’ of journalism and its practitioners as ‘spin doctors’.

This months survey results show an interesting shift in thought with 92% of respondents agreeing public relations is either extremely or moderately valuable and 58% indicating that they viewed public relations as a positive profession.

So, the question is not in the importance of public relations, but understanding the full extent of its value.

It’s commonplace in North America and Europe to see public relations operating as a management function, its practitioners having direct access to CEOs and Directors, its primary goals building the organisation’s reputation and communicating with stakeholders.

In Australia public relations is seen first and foremost as a marketing function, with 47% of those surveyed believing the most important goal of public relations in their organisation was the support of sales and marketing efforts. Liaising with stakeholders came in a distant second at around 30% and the ability of public relations to attract investment was all but forgotten at 4%.

So are we trailing behind our northern neighbours? It would appear yes, with less than half of September’s survey respondents aware of any internal public relations activity in their organisation. That which did exist was not being properly utilised, existing as a sales tool instead of a means of reputation management.

Those at the top of Australia’s corporate food chain are paying as much as $650 an hour for the advice of the nation’s best PR professionals, and large public relations departments are popping up in organisations all over the country.

Let’s consider a recent example of public relations at its best.

Masterfoods recently recalled 3 million Mars and Snickers bars throughout NSW as a result of an extortion threat. While the product recall resulted in Masterfoods’ losing cash in the short term, their public relations team cleverly turned a major crisis into a branding opportunity through a well-crafted communication and publicity campaign.

The result: Mars and Snickers sales were 250% above average during their first week back on retail shelves.

Case study source: Public Relations Institute of Australia.