What is Franchise Public Relations? Let Me Tell You!

What is public relations? Well, there is a saying that says if you ask ten different people what public relations is, you will get ten different answers. The truth is, a lot of people do not know the definition of franchise public relations and even a few people in the public relations world do not know. It is seen as such a vague industry that it is hard to understand what franchise industry PR exactly is.

So what is franchise PR? Well, a basic definition of PR is, "The ability and duty to shape and maintain the image of a company or person (so they appear favorably in the eyes of the public.)" The part within the parentheses is more of an unwritten part; PR does not mean sweeping things under the rug and telling lies in order for a client to appear well in front of publics, or the client's target market, or anything unethical; what public relations is intended to do is help a company or person maintain an image they want. Helping someone or something maintain an image means to get their good news out to the world, get their name in front of people, and to limit damage that can be caused by bad publicity. But I will say it again, an ethical public relations practitioner does not lie or fabricate information for the sake of their client's image.

So how did franchise public relations come to life? It all started back in the early 20th century when mass media was coming around. At the time, "muckraking" was a popular form of journalism; muckraking was when journalists would dig up information about companies or people and then publish it in their stories. It got especially bad when muckraking journalists began fabricating some of the information for their stories. However, the vast majority of the stories were true but still dangerous for the success of the companies that were exposed. Consequently, Ivy Lee, a well renowned journalist and pioneer PRP, wrote a press release defending his targeted clients and helped protect their images. Once the public relations bug caught on, more and more people joined the industry and companies were getting the defenses that they so dreadfully needed.

Public relations practitioners began getting so good at what they did that people starting calling them "spin doctors" because of how well they could spin bad publicity into something good or at least justifiable.

In today's franchise PR firms, PRPs do so much more than just write press releases for newspapers and magazines; they are required to understand the needs and desires of their client's and their client's target markets. Why do they have to know those things? Because the knowledge of those things helps the PRP do the best work for their client. Public relations requires that PRPs form relationships with their client's target markets and do things for the client that please the markets. PR stunts are often the result of this duty. As you know, PR stunts incorporate some marketing concepts so PRPs now have to have at least a bit of a grasp of marketing. PRPs also have to be salesmen; they have to be able to sell their stories to the media and get the media to broadcast information regarding their client. Franchise industry PR firms also need to be able to be a counselor for when there is a crisis that needs to be taken care of.

As a Chicago franchise PR firm and Chicago crisis communications agency, All Points PR has a lot of knowledge in this field and as a full-service PR firm, loves helping those who need the defense of a PR team.