(The PR Sherpa, the wise man of the mar-com mountain, has returned to lead you up the rocky ridges of the profession to reach new heights of communications efficiency. This
week, the PR Sherpa contemplates how the world looks at PR and marketing practices.)
QUESTION: Sometimes I get the feeling that people equate public relations practices in the same ethical league as pyramid schemes and three card monty con games. Am I being
paranoid?
ANSWER: Yes and no. Attitudes towards PR professionals are, on the whole, quite positive. But there is some genuine skepticism out there about certain shaky
practices. The Public Relations Society of America, working with Harris Interactive, conducted a recent survey to determine how the PR world is perceived. The
survey, titled "Executive, Congressional and Consumer Attitudes Toward Media, Marketing and the Public Relations Profession," took a three-headed approach by polling 150 business
leaders, 150 Capitol Hill staffers and 1,105 everyday citizens to determine their respective attitudes to standard and new-media practices.
The good news for PR professionals is that all three groups feel traditional marketing practices (corporate sponsorships, paid spokesmen, old-fashioned PR pitching, financing
grassroots support) are an acceptable way to conduct the communications business. However, high-tech promotional strategies including text messaging and Internet pop-up ads are
viewed with limited enthusiasm across the board.
"That surprised me, too, since we hear so much about that," says Judith H. Phair, president and CEO of PRSA. "Many people see them as being the same as getting a marketing
call to their cell phones."
Some dubious practices, however, do not meet with approval from the corporate, congressional or consumer audiences. The majority of all three groups strongly believe TV news
shows should clearly identify the source of stories produced by entities other than the news organization. But the majority of respondents in all three groups are equally strong
in opposing additional government regulation of marketing practices, and Phair believes the industry itself can do a compelling job in self-policing.
"Media is changing," she says. "We really need to look at these new challenges as ethics apply to them, and to reinforce the practice of ethical PR day-in and day-out."
The full report can be accessed directly from the PRSA's Web site, http://www.prsa.org.
Contact: Judith H. Phair, PRSA, 212.460.1400.