What PR agency people do?

Yesterday one of my friends asked me what PR agency people exactly do.

I have been asked this question so many times and by so many people from all walks of life (Not from PR obviously) that I really get sort of pissed answering this question in layman’s term. Most of the times, the conclusion drawn by the other person, turns out to be “ Puri Ramayan sunke poochta hai Sita kiska baap tha?) J

So I tried to give him a simplistic description of what I used to do and what many people in the profession do when they start their career in PR or Public Relations.

Take Away: PR is a divine profession. You are the only ‘human’ among Gods.:-)

PR agency has clients, which can be organizations, individuals or Govt. etc.

To start a career in a PR agency, you got to have that light on your eyes, fire in your bellies, a grand dream inside that skull and heights of patience- Imagine a one-handed man hanging from a cliff on the support of that one hand and still smiling away till glory kingdom comes - Thats the kinda patience I meant. And, talent ofcourse- mostly shrewdness and people skills, ahhhh..that misquoted communication skills.

The Work:

The agency goes and presents to the client what all they can do to give that client visibility in the media and as a corollary bolster its image to its relevant target audience.

Then, the money talk and clients fasten their belts and comes to tangible stuff- “We need 100 great stories in a month and in these publications”, as if the poor agency guy’s father in law owns all publicationsJ. We will pay you XX on retainer basis.

The man returns and briefs his agency what the client expectations are- Now, wait- the client is God (in literal terms)- you cant challenge him, you are subject to his mercy if you manage to goof up somewhere, he can me nasty and unfair with you but you cant, you have to obey and obey orders. Coz he is the reason, you can eat, drink, sleep, marry, have children and grandchildren, if you manage to live that longer doing a PR job for so many years of your life- Its killing you see!:-)

Now, how to we get stories for our clients

To add a nice name to an often filthy job- we call it: MEDIA RELATIONS

Alternate 1) You call up a jurno to publish some shit you have written for your company and flirt if that person is of the opposite sex. You can also threaten and bribe him, depending on who the jurno is and how reputed the publication is (most jurnos of the print media are poor and hungry people, so not a problemJ)

Alternative 2) you are an ethical & intelligent person, you write a brilliant story. Either you study, do a lot of research and find out some enlightening stuff about your client that none of its immediate competitors possesses or you just ‘manufacture’ something out of nothing…I mean you relate a SPADE TO –WHAT EXTENT AGRICULTURE IS CONTRIBUTING TO INDIA’S PHENOMENAL GDP GROWTH- Just because farmers use SPADES!:-)

You also go for “MEDIA ROUNDS’ if you are blessed with either great looks or Gift of the Gab, where you can convince people in a clique

If you want to play things safe- make friends. You call up that jurno often, first to discuss the industry, then you develop a rapport cribbing about each others job, then you catch up for a drink and present yourself as some very intelligent guy who just managed to fall into the trap of this strange profession somehow, while wandering here and there thinking of what to do after the graduation day.:-)

You get a third party to recommend the points you talked about in your story- That brings more credibility, you see

So, now your story is published where you exactly wanted. Your client sends an appreciation mail- you happy, your boss happy and people around you - happy or jealous of you. See, jurno is God too, you don’t respect him/her more than wat they actually deserve, they wont file your story.- Your Job is gone.:-)

Yes, you do use tools like- writing press releases, ghost-writing for the MD of the company who is always busy fooling people and making big money, writing press notes, organizing press conferences feeding the famine stricken poor and hungry people, I mentioned earlier.

The story doesn’t end here, Client’s expectation increases- he finds his bait- he wants more stories, better stories, in better publications, and also wants you to figure out more and more opportunities where you can exhibit him to a larger audience through a big industry event may be; build his unmatched image and so on. – Your work INCREASES, pay may not.

The hard part- Now you try to justify to the client through a baffling multitude of reporting formats what kind of torture you go through everyday for delivering those beautifully cursed stories. The client seems never satisfied- Human nature you see~!