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| The Concept of Publics in Public Relations. |
When we talk about publics in public relations, we are looking at any group that has an actual or potential interest
or impact on an organization’s ability to achieve its objective.
Although the term publics is
often used, there are in fact many publics or specific audiences within the
general public. These publics respond in different ways so they must be
considered separately and often communicated to differently. We have
internal and external publics, Traditional and future publics, proponents and
opponents.
To begin, the general public is likened
to citizens of a country. The word “General” defines itself constituting
persons from every nook and cranny of a country. They are the reason for an
organizations establishment because they have a need for which the organization
seeks to satisfy by providing goods and services. Some organizations extend
their services to other parts of the country by setting up branches. Mostly
these organisations are state owned like Ghana Commercial Bank, Ghana
Broadcasting Corporation, Electricity Company of Ghana and Ghana Water Company
limited.
Internal and external publics –
Your internal publics are those who work with you in your organisation
(employees) or are inside the organisation contributing to its productivity.
The external is those outside the organisation; they could be one’s customers,
suppliers, the media, neighbouring organizations or entities who one way or the
other contributes to the organization’s growth. It is important to note that
not all external publics may necessarily be important to an organization.
Traditional and future publics –
Traditional publics are those publics who are currently with an
organisation or are presently available like one’s employees, customers and
neighbouring organisations. Future public’s concern itself with those publics
an organisation will come across in years to come. It is also known as
anticipatory publics. An example is that of armed robbers who currently might
not attack an
organisation but is anticipated by the organisation of their potential presence
therefore plans are taken towards them. In another, it could be that some
community members resent an organisation’s building; a new office near the local
school. This is a creation of a public that has identified an issue, understand
its relevance to them, talk about it and take a decision to do something about
it. An alert PR practitioner communicates with these group very early in the
process, perhaps even before they become organized.
Proponents and Opponents -
Your proponents are those publics who support you on a particular course
or are for you. In other words, in favour of your course or are for you. For
example, sympathizers of the New Patriotic Party are publics in favour of the
party’s course or are for the party. Your opponents are those publics who are
against you and your course. In other words, they are not for you or are not in
favour of you. Sympathizers of the National Democratic Congress are not in
favour or for the course of the New Patriotic Party (The two largest political
parties in Ghana). Your opponents could also be your competitors from other
organizations who do not share in your vision. For example, MTN, Vodafone, Glo
and AirtelTigo are four different competing telecommunications networks in
Ghana.
In dealing with one’s publics, there
are some key things to note and they are as follows:
- Identify key publics
- Establish and maintain relationships with them
- Develop communication appropriate to each public
- Be sensitive to feedback from your publics
- Use appropriate media to disseminate information to your publics
- Develop strategies to deal with each identified public
Your comments and views are welcome in the comments section below. And for further consultation or questions, please email to hrforumonline@gmail.com.
Also Read: The Curse of the Spin in Public Relations.
Source: HR Forum Media
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