PUBLIC RELATIONS
Who, exactly, is the public, and how would you like to relate to it?
That is actually a pretty sophisticated question, but yet one that is too seldom asked. Most of the time, there are multiple answers, in fact: multiple publics. In the largest sense, of course, the public is everyone you would like to be aware of who you are, what you do, and to feel positively toward you. But the global public includes lots of smaller groups – customers or clients, vendors, partners, all come to mind, as do, perhaps, regulators, legislators, competitors, and, not lastly, the media.
Most of the time, too, the segments of the public likeliest to pay attention to you already have some sort of impression of you, and before you start trying to leverage attention, you should have a good understanding of where you’re starting from.
And, let’s face it, attracting positive public impression is not all that easy, especially since everyone is trying to do so; and it gets harder the larger or broader the public you’re trying to reach. Still, if you have the right message to convey, and a carefully defined public to whom it should be conveyed, opportunities abound.