Who’s tried to explain their job to an older generation and had nothing in return but blank stares? Yeah, I've been there.
Who’s been on national radio and had to defend public relations to someone very clever who works in the business and should know better? Is that one just me? Surely not.
Either one illustrates a point. People just don’t understand the nature of what we do or recognise the role’s importance – and as an industry, we’re very fed up with it.
People’s feelings run hot on this subject. I know this because my pre-Christmas Radio 4 Today programme interview on storytelling, in which I went head-to-head with Sir Martin Sorrell, lit a touchpaper.
I should write him a note of thanks. A lot of the challenges that we’ve been discussing within the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) member community finally got a wider platform. It’s a joy to showcase what we’re doing in this space on the back of it.
The core issue is that PR has needed better PR for a long, long time.
A visibility issue
Existing definitions have been good for the industry but have had little success in educating the business community, Government and policy makers about what we do.
To the extent that when I contacted the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) back in November, the reply was that the senior policy adviser involved did not know where PR sat within Government but confirmed it was not within DCMS.
For too many years, this sector has not been strong or proud enough to assert the commercial outcomes that we help achieve, nor have we leaned heavily enough into the strategic, economic and societal outcomes that we drive.
We’ve got caught up in navel-gazing, should-we-rebrand-as-comms, conversations that have missed the point and acted as a distraction.
The ethical dimension that we offer to an organisation has also often been overlooked.
We’ve ended up in a situation where we’ve been sidelined as advertising and marketing’s poor sister, when in fact we’re the mother that they should be answerable to.
Defining PR and its value
So, what to do about it?
At the PRCA, our first step has been to consult with members to develop a new definition for public relations which finally represents modern practice and underlines our role as a strategic management discipline that earns trust and creates lifetime value.
PR is now defined as “the strategic management discipline that builds trust, enhances reputation and helps leaders interpret complexity and manage volatility – delivering measurable outcomes including stakeholder confidence, long-term value creation and commercial growth”.
This was published on Monday, and while it’s for and by PRCA members, if other PR and public affairs’ professionals and bodies like it, they’re welcome to adopt it with appropriate attribution.
But make no mistake – we’re at an important inflection point. Public relations and public affairs have a huge opportunity to be heard and further invested in by ministers and the C-suite alike.
Individuals and organisations desperately need our help to make sense of complexity and build long-term relationships based on shared visions and values that do good in a world that’s suffering.
A call to speak with one voice
So, I’ll end with a call to action. If we want Grandad to understand what we do, we need to unite with one voice to tell him and others clearly and consistently in terms that make sense and resonate.
As you’d expect from the industry’s trade association, at the PRCA we’ll continue to lead the charge.
Sarah Waddington is the CEO of the PRCA.