Public Relations practitioners around the world are currently celebrating the World Public Relations Day, inspired by a burden to have a homogeneous global agenda to cause an understanding and utilisation of PR service.

The day was fashioned in honour of the birthday anniversary of Ivy Ledbetter Lee, foremost Journalist with Washington Post and adjudged as the father of modern Public Relations. Born on July 16, 1877, and died on November 9, 1934, he started off his communication career as a Journalist and grew through several Publicity and PR roles until he was called upon to manage the bartered reputation of the Rockefeller Family after the first World War.

World Public Relations Day is dedicated to truth, honesty and reputation management in a way that is beneficial to all people across the globe, July 16 also highlights new ways the profession could be administered towards attaining development, especially, for a country like Nigeria. It is expected to extensively spotlight the strengths, deconstruct misconceptions and enhance the potential value as well as the utilisation of new tools as an enabler for strategic business communications.

Public Relations as a profession entails every effort that is aimed at improving the reputation of an organisation in the minds of its publics both critical and latent or potential and ensuring that PR programs are beneficial to both interests. PR is strategic to business communication and governance, invaluable in building and connecting relationships, preventing crises and managing crisis communications, achieving business objectives; pushing national interest, and preventing disharmony among stakeholders.

Lee espoused a philosophy consistent with what has sometimes been called the “two-way symmetric” approach to public relations, in which PR consists of social listening or stakeholders’ engagement as well as feel the pulse of the public through effective feedback mechanism.

This philosophy is an embodiment of an aspect of public relations. When messages about the organisation is passed out, and opportunity or window for feedback is provided, it creates a leeway for transparency which breeds trust, acceptance and empathy.

Trust becomes stronger amongst stakeholders of an organisation when there is easy access to information, and releases are easily poked with real time analytic feedback. This means that running an organisation on the threshold of secrecy has far reaching consequences. It is expected that the mechanisms that foster the motion of mutual interest should be understandable. People can only key into what they understand and the integration of the relevant publics to an organisation is the fulcrum of public relations.

Again, Ivy Lee says “Tell the truth, because sooner or later the public will find out anyway. And if the public doesn’t like what you are doing, change your policies and bring them into line with what people want”.

One thing about the truth is that it is like smoke, one cannot hide it. You may try to, but for a short while. It is better to tell the truth and face the backlash with strategic roadmap for progress, than to be caught in the web of a lying brand. If such happens, confidence in what the organisation does will evaporate and a revolution of rising frustration will set in, cascading to extinction. To avoid this, however, PR programs should be anchored on AIDA communication strategy with SMART and identifiable KPI and SWOT test at all times.

However, should there be need to worry over a crisis situation, PR professionals should seek for an understanding of the problem, deploy strategic engagement tools, make statements on progress basis and avoid lies. There is nothing more beautiful than being reliable and known for truth, stakeholders and the public may even be the one to defend the brand on behalf of the Proprietor.

Having a smooth relationship with the organization’s publics is a very key PR strategy that is often undermined. Relationships are usually beneficial, so it is important Brands understand the inevitable need for CSRs.

When an organisation is known for CSR, it gets endeared to the hearts of the publics. These publics are humans and they do have feelings and emotions. People naturally defend their interests when the chips are down. A situation where Press Statements and news releases are dumped on these publics without empathy over what concerns them will only be a catalyst for half-truth to save the day when the chips are down, thereby setting a stage for an implosion.

Indeed, the practice of PR cannot be attained without trust, truth and transparency. These tripod values are the wheels with which public relation is driven.

While I felicitate with PR practitioners around the globe on today’s commemoration, it is my trust that the integration of these tripodic values with our daily practices as professionals will be strengthened for the overall good of society.

Boma Waribor, a communication expert and current Assistant Secretary of the Rivers State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, writes from Bonny Island, Nigeria.