Public Relations and Brand Building

It is absolutely relevant to state that Brand Building and Public Relations go hand in hand. I have had the first-hand experience of this being a Brand Ambassador as well as PR lead of various acclaimed brands. It is believed, and rightly so, that proper branding combined with good PR can result in higher sales as well as customer loyalty for a brand.

Majority of organisations nowadays recognise the value of having a proper corporate communications department which entails both PR and branding functionalities working collectively towards the single goal of promoting the brand with the ultimate objective of increased sales. Brand awareness is all about a consumer’s interest in recognising a product thanks to good PR. A good product PR campaign is all about top-of-mind awareness, or brand awareness.

A major aspect of branding and PR is linked to attracting a client’s interest in product advertising. This results in the collective act of promoting a brand along with public relations’ press release. Both of these methods together lead to doing everything possible to sell a product.

PR and branding professionals use various methods to attract media interest in a product with the view to develop positive expectations in the mind of the public. There are many parallels in the world of branding and public relations as they both work hand in glove.

Today, almost all the brands use public relations well and effectively to build their brands. It is not wrong to call public relations as the most crucial part of brand building. Public relations helps to build the image and reputation of the brand using different tools.

PR most definitely helps in building a brand since it is an intrinsic part of brand-building. It is widely acknowledged that Public Relations is all about credibility and careful messaging. The coverage that results is an outcome of a planned media outreach that has gone through layers of approvals by company spokespersons, management and the editorial team in the media. The results of well-planned and thought about campaigns are manifold and turn out to be immensely beneficial for a brand in the long run.

PR may also be acknowledged as a very important and dynamic service for brand building because it helps in building a good working relationship with clients and also building image of a particular brand. It also plays a vital role in building the reputation of a brand and in consistently maintaining it. PR is the only medium through which a company can attract and acquire new clients, retain them and maintain trust between them by rendering good services.

Public Relations as a function has evolved over the years and has manifold aspects to it in today’s corporate structure. But we must not forget that PR needs to be relevant at all times, and it may also mean that there has to be a lateral shift to digitally-driven PR. PR plays a significant role in brand building, and an increasing number of organisations have understood the impetus that an effective PR provides to their respective ecosystems.

PR is a tool that can effectively weave together all brand building and communication activities for a brand/organisation. The basis of PR includes a constant communication with the target audience with the objective of influencing them using different modes. Public Relations builds credibility and a direct connect with influencers. Not to forget that in any crisis scenario, PR serves as the most effective tool since it directly reaches out to influencers. However, we must remember that it is all about credibility and careful messaging.

Ritu Bararia
Ritu is a Corporate Communications leader, Mentor, Author, Public Relations Evangelist, Thought leader, Advisor. She has nearly two decades of working experience having spearheaded Communications, PR and Corporate Affairs with corporate brands such as Kingfisher Airlines, The Park Hotels, Bird Group.

She quit her corporate career in the beginning of 2018 to try her hand at various related things within communications space. She turned into a published author in 2020 with her maiden book ‘Little Joys of Communication’.

Currently Ritu is Senior Director at SCoRe and, Executive Director Communicators Guild – India (CGI).

3 Comments on "Public Relations and Brand Building"

  1. Very valuable information, it is not at all blogs that we find this, congratulations I was looking for something like that and found it here.

  2. Very a nice blog. keep posting this type of content.

  3. Very a nice blog, Thanks for sharing.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*