What do charities, mothers against drunk driving, tertiary institutions and US presidential candidates have in common?

They have, at one time or the other, all utilized the power of communication to speak to the world. And in today's fast-paced and sophisticated society, the right communication is more important than ever for any entity wanting to better its relationship with a public bombarded by a never-ending stream of information.

So says an elite group of public relations (PR) professionals during an interview with China Daily. The group, comprising experienced PR experts working in the private sector and executives of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), recently returned to the city from a tour of Beijing and Shanghai, where they met with heads of tertiary institutions and the recently established Chinese Institute of Public Relations (CIPRA), to discuss pressing issues regarding the mainland's PR industry.

"Today, PR embraces a whole new area of non-traditional fields," says John L. Paluszek, senior counsel, of Ketchum Newscan, one of the world's leading public relations consultants.

"NGOs, health lobbyists against tobacco, environmental groups, food industries... all of these parties nowadays need and require public relations to get their messages out. And, in a broader context, every institution in society has a need for public relations, because every institution has audiences or stakeholders. A university does, a charity does - alumni, students, faculty members, donors - these groups are all stakeholders in that institution."

And governments that want to "sell" an important issue, need some form of public relations effort to reach the public, Paluszek adds. "The areas, in which the right communications are required is nowadays so diverse. This is a very exciting time to be in public relations."

And China's mainland is emerging as an enormous market.

"There have been incredible strides in PR made there in the past 20 years," says Del Galloway, a public relations professional and a past president of the PRSA. "We are here because we are interested in how we can advance the profession on the mainland and find areas of mutual interest."

"I agree," says Catherine Bolton, executive director and chief operating officer (COO), of PRSA. "The mainland's PR industry, strictly speaking, is only 20 years old, but we are seeing steady development."

However, Jean Valin, current president of the Global Alliance for Public Relations, has a more tempered view, saying that, while public relations on the mainland is developing, compared to Hong Kong or the US, it is still a fledgling industry evolving in a different environment.

"There are major differences in the way the PR industry operates on the mainland and in, say, the US," says Paluszek. "One, of course, is that the government and the way the media handles issues relating to it are different in the two countries.

"In the US, everything is fair game in public relations on both sides of an issue, and PR professionals are put in a powerful position to state their clients' case. And, equally, the opposite party will do the same. Now clearly that is not present on the mainland," he says. "While PR professionals there are strongly involved in servicing the finance sector, they will not be given assignments which go against government policy. PR professionals may also find there is no involvement in NGOs."

But "we see PR as an effective tool on the mainland in other areas," the PR veteran adds.

In the West, the power of public relations is no better illustrated than in its use in addressing large-scale social issues like smoking or the aforementioned drink driving. In these cases, a government may work in partnership with other organizations.

"In the US, over the past decade, we have largely eliminated smoking in public places through a large-scale social marketing campaign, which itself is a public relations effort," says Paluszek. "Another example is drink driving. Clearly these are not controversial issues and they serve a social good."

Clout in boardroom

In the mainland's private sector, that PR is coming into its own. In major cities, PR professionals are finding they are increasingly in demand at both mainland and foreign companies.

"Because of its exploding economy, the mainland is very aggressively developing public relations," says Bolton. "Of course you have experienced multinational consultants, like Ketchum, operating there, but there are many mainland companies also entering the field."

"Multinational firms are giving local professionals experience, some of whom will later go out and open their own agencies. This is where a lot of the future is. There is a real need for locals who understand the culture, understand the media, but can think globally," says Judith Phair.

President of her own company, she believes that, while the industry is looking up, there is a difference in focus depending on where you are.

"In Shanghai, PR companies are dealing with companies in the finance industry, whereas in Beijing, they are more involved in branding and working with government," says Phair. "The scope (of work) is much narrower in Beijing, whereas in Shanghai it's wider."

One big difference, the group notes, is that, on the mainland, a skill in public relations is regarded as something which is required later in a career. People studying PR are usually executives who already have 10 years' experience in their fields, whereas "in the US, we teach PR to undergraduates from the very beginning".

Fresh graduates are entering the field at a time where there is a seismic shift in the role of the PR professional, who is having an increasing influence in what happens in company boardrooms. While companies and institutions are yet to fully embrace the idea of PR at the executive level, one area of expertise, corporate communications, is on the ascendancy.

Nowadays, "people are realizing that "corporate communications is a management function which helps a company manage its relationships with different sets of audiences," says Paluszek. "People who are able to do that are very senior advisers to CEOs. For example, if the public is demanding a company show a greater concern for the environment, it will face increasing public pressure, media pressure, government pressure... and it will need to consider changing at least some of its policies."

PR gurus are already seeing the industry become increasingly sophisticated as hot issues like corporate social responsibility (CRS) and crisis management become more and more relevant to a company's business. The December 26 tsunami disaster last year and the series of corporate scandals that resulted in the introduction of the Sarbannes-Oxley Act in 2002, to improve corporate governance and accountability, are just two examples of events that created demand for sophisticated skills to help companies manage their public profiles during difficult times.

Companies that integrate CRS principles into their operations will find it is "good for business", says Paluszek, "While they have a duty to shareholders to maximize their returns on investments, they also have a duty to be good corporate citizens. And by utilizing good PR practices, companies that can get this message out to the public can add to their image and can impact on their value and even their share price."

Embrace new thinking

While PR education on the mainland is still immature, the delegation saw many opportunities for development during their trip, which included a visit to Fudan University and meeting members of the Shanghai public relations association.

"By working with educators and institutions on the mainland we hope to identify specific areas of study that will be relevant to PR understanding and practice. These can be developed into a PR studies curriculum," Paluszek says.

"There are also basic proficiency that need to be taught to the students. In the US, we have five core components of a PR course which we teach to our undergraduates, and that is something that needs to be developed here."

But while the group agrees that the quality of mainland PR has some way to go before it reaches the level of sophistication in the US, they are heartened by the importance that the government, local industry and educational institutions, have placed on education.

"They are keen to embrace new thinking, new ideas," says Bolton. "We are encouraged by the number of local educators that are keen to incorporate new principles in PR into their courses. Many of them have gone overseas, to study and pick up new ideas, which they bring back."

But "as well as expatriates coming to work in China, there are a number of educators from the US that have been teaching on the mainland for a number of years," she says. "They are, in fact, developing new ideas there, so the contribution is not only one way."

One area that the group would like to see take on more prominence in mainland courses is case studies. Given that corporate disclosure for companies is a relatively new phenomenon, it may be a while before full case studies find their way into courses on corporate communications. However, "this is likely to change in the future", says Valin.

After years of reluctance, business schools in the US are now seeing the value in offering advanced courses in public relations. And the mainland is likely to follow suit.

It is likely that, in coming years, studies in specialist PR fields like corporate communications will take an important place alongside MBAs and other courses grooming CEOs of the future.

(HK Edition 03/31/2005 page4)