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PR & Public Policies : the 4 mutations of new times By Celine Mas , Leah Talatinian ( Publicis Consultants | Worldwide )

When we think about PR, we immediately think about the strategies and the tools that have the power to boost a product or a brand’s awareness and aura. Indeed, the long time objective of PR has been to help businesses to solidify their brand capital and develop their commercial performance.

Because the world is changing in times of intense globalization and growing responsibility of the public sphere, PR is infiltrating institutions and public entities and is used more and more as a key asset in the conquest of public opinion on major social topics. These changes can be summed up in four mutations that greatly modify the way government communicates their reforms and advocates for their public decisions.

The first mutation is about the level of the practices. Public institutions are not bound to use old techniques and tools from the past to communicate! They have the right and even the duty to innovate, invent, and go forward to address more and more complex messages towards various audiences. To this extent, the political arena acts as a marketing area. There are some “products” that one is not able to buy with tangible currency but that need public support to succeed. Public support is the real condition of public policies’ effective achievement. Information is not enough because citizens are not passive masses; they are active players and co-writers of the future of their nation. That is why, in a majority of situations, they truly want to be convinced! That is also why public relations become more and more professional when used in public policies.

The second mutation is good news: it celebrates the return of creativity in the public sector! When Publicis Consultants | France had to build the communication strategy of the 2004 French reform on retirement, we choose the web as a key tool to interact with the citizens on a sensitive subject. Globally, the campaign was a success because the strategy was not restricted to traditional channels like print and advertising but expanded to incorporate modern channels that have become increasingly popular among citizens. There is an e-audience and it requires interactive tools in order to engage public conversation, in a constant dialogue between governments and citizens, to defuse potential conflicts. Therefore, the countries find a clear interest in developing up-to-date PR strategies by refreshing the stodgy image of their administrations and improving their efficiency.

The third mutation is about the messages that PR want to distil for the good of public policies. A few months ago, Publicis Consultants | France worked on the application of the smoking ban decree that went into effect in France in February 2007. The main idea of the strategy was to bring smokers and non-smokers to a consensus regarding the health of all citizens. The real challenge in PR & Public Policies is to find the right tone. Governments and public institutions have great responsibilities to their citizens. But they have to find the most relevant way to say they protect citizens without appearing high and mighty That’s why the tone of the PR strategies and messages is an important challenge to tackle effectively in order to make known the work done by public institutions without denying the freedom of citizens to act and to make decisions concerning their own lives.

Finally, the fourth mutation is about tailoring PR strategies according to the various stakeholders who undoubtedly have differing points of view and different lifestyles. Depending on their social status, they may receive public messages in different ways. That’s why PR in public policies has to adapt to the wide range of individuals that make up a country. It is a question of impact. Each topic has a different degree of resonance and consequence a person’s life. Communicating is about finding out what brings these people together. And about knowing how to talk to each of them as if they were unique individuals.

Today, PR is becoming the backbone of public policies and a far-reaching weapon when in the hands of those in politics. It is said that those who have power want to keep it, and must be heard to reach this goal. Therefore, it is essential to seriously consider PR, to consider it linked to a social environment where sustainable development has more and more importance, and finally to take into account the mutations that influence it.