Public Relations and Branding

What is Public Relations?

Public Relations is the practice of managing the spread of information between an individual or an organisation and the public, this may include an organisation or individual gaining exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment. PR uses the media by promoting an object or person to a certain audience; this could be via social media, television/radio and newspapers/magazines.

What is Branding?

Creating a brand is about trying to create an idea or image of a specific product or service that consumers connect with. An successful example of branding is Coca Cola, the brand is recognised worldwide.

What could harm a brands image?

There are several things that could harm a brands image; these are:

• Negative press. For example Nestle have had their brand's image harmed by encouraging new mothers to buy their baby formula in countries which doesn't have clean, healthy water. This means they were mixing the formula with unsatisfactory water which was harming the children.
• Poor treatment of workers. Companies such as Primark have a bad reputation for treating their workers poorly.
• Rumors. The Gap designer brand has had a rumour that people at a young age who would have worn their clothing at a time has spread a rumour that it stands for the gay and proud. By this it puts audience of on purchasing the product and doesn't want to associate with the group on purchasing the brand.
• Scandals. The News Of The World phone hacking scandal had such a big impact on the paper that they stopped publishing it.
• Reviews. A bad review on a well known website such as Tip Advisor or even a clothing website will degrade your branding hugely. 
• Celebrity endorsement. Using a celebrity with a bad reputation to promote your product/service will put buyers off, for example Iceland used Kerry Katona to advertise. 

What methods do organisation use to promote their image?

Even though using celebrities could harm a brands image it could also promote their image if an A-List celebrity promoted the product for example Keira Knightly for CoCo Chanel.

Raising and giving money to charities could promote a brands image, if people know a company do a lot for charity they are more likely to trust the brand and buy their products for example Tesco's are a big supporter of Breast Cancer UK.