The Relationships in Public Relations
Public relations professionals have always understood the concept of relationships—after all, the word relations is part of their job title. Unfortunately, many marketing people in the past did not always recognize or appreciate the value of public relations.
Some major steps toward bringing marketing and public relations departments closer came in the early 1990s with the development of a concept called relationship marketing, pioneered by PR consultant Regis McKenna.1 At the same time, courses devoted to relationship marketing began to develop in business schools around the world. Although McKenna's background is public relations, he challenged the marketing industry to become more "customer-centric" and to better understand customer relationships. "Advertising, promotion, and market-share thinking are dead," wrote McKenna, "and what counts are the relationships a company develops with its customers, suppliers, partners, distributors—even its competitors."
IMC is helping introduce to marketing practitioners some of the concepts that public relations professionals have known about for years, such as the importance of stakeholder relationships. Marketing people are discovering the power and value of marketing public relations—that is, brand publicity—to deliver highly effective, cost-efficient messages. At the same time, public relations people are learning more about marketing and are using marketing concepts such as branding and positioning to build corporate communication strategies.
