Global PR is Hardwork.......

After a most stimulating debate in the class I feel that global PR is sheer hard work. It's a big world after all.

According to Lou Hoffman, dealing with our big world represents one of the greatest challenges staring down the public relations profession. Public relations, public affairs, and communication professionals working for nonprofit, for profit, and governmental transnational organizations (TNOs hereafter) face an ever-increasing interdependent world.

I think with the rapid globalization of the profession, it is important that professionals are equipped to deal with the myriad of issues that arise particularly from cross-cultural communication.

Global PR is accused of money generating business well they are right but this money does not come easy. Let’s say, if an English firm is hired by a corporate in India may be Tata’s (India) ....what will the firm have to in order to get across its message correctly? I think following are few of the things that have to fit right in the matrix of communication....

1. Country Profile. The agency has to very carefully study the political & economic situation of the country. The socio cultural profile will have to be cracked. The marketing culture has to be understood. Which medium of technology (media & new media) can be used effectively in the campaign?

2. Media Profile. The media code has to be understood. Who controls the editorial content of the media? Which type of media has.... what type of outreach?

3. Cultural Profile. Communication influences and is influenced by culture. So PR professionals have to evaluate if the country a high content or low content culture? What is the distribution of power in the country? Is it ‘individualism’ of ‘collectivism’ culture?

4. What role does Activism play in the country?

These could be a few reasons that mostly all global PR firms tend to have local people manning their offices. It is noted by Modella et.al (2007) that excellent international public relations is integrated, meaning that worldwide, practitioners report to the public relations department at headquarters and work under a single umbrella. It is recognized that senior managers (probably locals) in each country are responsible for activities in that country. But if something negative happens anywhere, headquarters is ultimately responsible.

It is for this responsibility of the headquarters that the PR firm is paid so handsomely for.

http://www.hoffman.com/inthenews/articles/mc_may_00.html

http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/7/1/9/7/pages171973/p171973-1.php

http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/5/6/8/8/p256884_index.html

Sriramesh K. &, VerČiČ D. (2003)The Global Public Relations Handbook: Theory, Research, and Practice. Contributors: Editors NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.