Britain's business leaders are often asked to identify the most important factors in, and biggest risks to, building successful organisations. In poll after poll, they rate reputation as a company's most valuable asset - in fact, they rate it considerably higher than they do a company's financial performance.
With a crucial responsibility for both an organisations' identity and its reputation, public relations plays a vital role in all successful businesses.
PR is about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you.
Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.
Effective PR can support organisational success in many ways: from helping achieve advantage by reducing barriers to competition to opening new markets; from attracting the best recruits and business partners to enhancing access to funding and investors; and from creating a premium value for products and services to protecting business in times of crisis.
All organisations, big or small, local or international, private or public, can benefit from good public relations.
PR consultants provide (or advise on) a range of communications support which may include:
- media relations/press office
- marketing
- online or digital PR
- media/presentation training
- event & conference management
- research
- corporate identity or brand management
- strategic communications planning.
