Public Relations is Nothing But Spin.

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1 Definition of “Public Relations”

There are many definitions of Public Relations (PR), but none which is universally accepted.

First, PR is a strategic marketing communications tool.

Simply PR is “the development of and maintenance of good relationships with different publics.” And the publics correspond to different groups of people on which an organization is dependent.  When the World Assembly of Public Relations met in Mexico in 1978, they agreed that:

“Public Relations is the art and social science of analysing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organisation leaders and implementing planned programmes of action which will serve both the organisation’s and the public’s interest.” (Smith, 2002)

The Institute of Public Relations (IPR), which is the professional body for public relations in the UK, framed this following definition in 1997:

“Public Relations practice is the planned and sustained efforts to establish and maintain goodwill and understanding between an organisation and its publics.” (Smith, 2002)

In a word, PR is a positive marketing communications tool, of which the aim is the creation of and maintenance of good relationships with different publics. Well-planned and executed public relations programmes can build a relationship of trust between an organisation and its publics, which helps the organisation to survive and prosper. (Harrison, 2000)

The PR mix involves both building creditability and raising visibility. Before visibility is raised the company has to build creditability through their product, ethics and social responsibility and corporate image. Things that have to be considered when building creditability are: quality assurance, employee relations, customer relations, community relations and corporate communications (see appendix 1).

After creditability has been achieved PR can focus on raising visibility through publicity-generating activities like, news releases, publicity stunts, events and sponsorship (see appendix 1). If a press release is to be successful it has to be targeted correctly and released at the right time. (Smith, 2002)

2 Definition of “Spin”

Spin has a variety of meanings. According to the website of “wordreference”, spin is the practice of presenting news or information in a way that creates a favourable impression. It can be compared to twisting news or information. (http://www.wordreference.com)

Another definition is derived from The Columbia Guide to Standard American English 1993:

The noun spin has several specialized senses beyond its basic “the act of spinning.” A new slang and jargon sense of the noun comes from the argot of political campaigners and their spokespeople: “a new, distinctive interpretation, even a distortion, of a statement or an opinion,” as in “She took his press statement’s apparent blunder and put a spin on it that would be acceptable to the voters.”  A person employed to do that sort of thing is what current slang calls a spin doctor.

Spin is a fascinating use of language whereby those who thrive on spinning, turning around, sexing up, stretching facts and winding truths are today called “spin doctors.” (Wilson, 1993)

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) defines spin as “the attempt to manipulate the depiction of news or events in the media through artful public relations – often used with derogatory connotations.” (http://)

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3  PR from a company view

3.1 Examples

Kraft Foods

Kraft Foods has become involved in the public health discussion. Kraft wants to realign their brand to be more caring towards their customers and their health. Kraft has used PR in repositioning itself in customers’ minds and opinions and they have done it in a masterful way. The New York Times quoted Kraft’s co-chief executive Betsy D Holden statement:

"The rise in obesity is a complex public health challenge of global proportions. Just as obesity has many causes, it can be solved only if all sectors of society do their part to help. Kraft is committed to product choices and marketing practices that will help encourage healthy lifestyles and make it easier to eat and live better."

According to the New York Times, Kraft Foods will help in the development of policies, standards and procedures through setting up a global council of advisers. They will also eliminate school marketing to children, introduce smaller portion sizes and develop healthier options. Kraft Foods hopes that their programs will get started next year and be fully completed in three or four years.

''If the industry is going to have to change 'why not be perceived as the one to lead the change.'' Mr. Brownell at Yale

(David Barboza, 02 July 2003)

The rescue of the Perrier Brand

12 years ago Perrier, a French mineral water producer, was forced to recall products from stores because scientists found traces of carcinogenic benzene in the bottles in the US. Even though the levels were not so high that it could damage your health media covered this story extensively and Perrier’s reputation was harmed.

At first Perrier handled the situation quite poorly, Perrier in France did not take the situation seriously enough. They thought that it would blow over in a few days but the sales plummeted and the decision was made to recall 160 million bottles worldwide at a cost of €150 million.

When Perrier realised the scope of the problem all efforts were focused at rebuilding their reputation. The recovering plan included press releases and announcement of a $25 million US re-launch programme. When the product was reintroduced in the US “Perrier Day” - events were held where 275 000 bottles were given away for free. After a few months Perrier had recovered from the scandal. (Mark Johnson, 29 March 2002)

Corporate Social Responsibility

Deloitte & Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) has a Black Economic Empowerment strategy in South Africa. The strategy involves scholarship programs, diversity workshops and a “Partner Pairing” initiative to link black professionals with senior management at DTT’s.

Volvo is working on a project together with the UN High commissioner for Human rights that addresses discrimination in the workplace.

Unilever is working on a global Water Sustainability Initiative and on initiation is to help restore a dying river estuary in the Philippines. (Jonah Bloom, 13 May 2002)

3.2 Discussion: “PR is nothing but spin”

Companies use PR to create goodwill. But is that the same as “spinning” the story? And if it is, is it a bad thing?

Spin is spicing up an image by adding invented details or building up an eligible reputation. Just as individuals seek to project a good image, so also corporations seek to project a good "corporate image," stressing their benevolence, as being "on your side." Thus, spin amongst companies is a very important tool to keep or to build up a good reputation.

For PR to be successful a company needs to first create reliability before raising visibility. Kraft Foods used PR to create a new image as a health-concerning organisation. But did Kraft spin the story? It might sound ironic when a snack-company promotes healthier living, but is it wrong? Even though the motive is to increase revenue, Kraft has to carry through their promises to be successful. When Perrier struck some bad luck they had to do something to rebuild their trust with customers. Is it wrong for a company wanting to survive? It was through PR Perrier survived.

4  PR from a government view

4.1 Examples

Iraq War 1990

Bringing the Iraq War in 1990 to mind, a lot of spin has appeared regarding politics. A very notorious story is the incubator story, which was launched by the testimony of a 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl, who appeared before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in October 1990. None at that time bothered to ask who this weeping Kuwaiti girl was or to ascertain the veracity of her claim. This girl, Nijirah al-Sabah, was, it later transpired, the daughter of the Kuwait ambassador to Washington. She lied before the US Congress that she witnessed Iraqi soldiers looting incubators and pitching the Kuwaiti babies on to the floor. This was a lie manufactured by the US public relations company Hill & Knowlton. (Ameen Izzadeen, 06 December 2002)

Dossier of Ibrahim al-Marashi

Another good example for spin in politics could be the dossier of Ibrahim al-Marashi, a post-graduate student from California, used by the British government to justify the Iraq War. The Prime Minister's official spokesman conceded that Downing Street "should have acknowledged" that sections of the dossier about how Saddam conceals weapons of mass destruction, were lifted directly from the paper. Nevertheless, he admitted that the sources used should have been listed clearly. However, he insisted Mr al-Marashi's work was "solid" and an important part of the case against the Iraqi dictator. Furthermore, the revelations were all the more embarrassing for Downing Street because the dossier was praised by Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, in his presentation to the United Nations Security Council in February 2003. Mr Powell described the document as a "fine paper". (Tony Helm 08 February 2003)

Tony Blair spins away

The BBC story, which began the hysterical confrontations, which led to the suicide of Dr. David Kelly, was a story in the pure meaning of the word. Even after it has been discredited, you can feel its emotional force. Tony Blair arrives at Downing Street promising to clean up the corruption of the old Conservative regime and bring in a new politics. At the beginning, only a few cynics notice that Blair achieved power by the use of spin. As the years pass, the ranks of the doubters grew. But Blair has a winning formula and is constitutionally incapable of changing it. He determines to commit an act of breathtaking audacity and spin Britain into a war. Honest spies warn him that he must not mislead Parliament and the public, but, blinded by his past success, he orders his sinister henchman, Alastair Campbell, to instruct the intelligence services to 'sex-up' the dossier on Saddam Hussein's arsenal. When the BBC blows the whistle, Blair's government falls apart. The Prime Minister's reputation is destroyed by the spin, which created him. (http://www.observer.co.uk)

New Labour New Danger

Tony Blair – August 1996. The poster of Tony Blair with ‘Devil’ eyes resulted in numerous complaints to the Advertising Standards Agency. It was clearly intended to portray Tony Blair as a man who could not be trusted. (http://www.politicsbrief.co.uk)

(Pic Source: ....)

‘Bush launches PR salvo on Iraq’

‘President George Bush yesterday launched the latest salvo in a White House public relations offensive to convince Americans that things are going well in Iraq.’ (Paul Harris, 12 October 2003)

‘No sexing up please’

To justify war, Prime Minister Tony Blair had only to convey the true barbarism of Saddam. (Nick Cohen, 14 September 2003)

4.2 Discussion: “PR is nothing but spin”

PR is about building and maintaining relationships between government and their publics.  Although people in everyday conversation may give PR a negative meaning (e.g., “spin” or “insincere public gestures”), PR is, in fact, a positive function for most governments – whether they are commercial, non-profit, governmental, or professional organizations.  PR is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between a government and the publics on whom its success or failure depends.

In politics spin has a bitter after taste. For example, politicians promising good things which some voters may want, but, privately, later in the legislative process, delaying, stalling, amending, leaving legal loopholes, or not fully funding these promises. Politicians try to make themselves more interesting, believeable and competent by using spin tools. This is called ‘putting an either positive or negative spin on a story or just spinning the story.’

The poster, mentioned above, backfired since public opinion was very much against this form of personal attack. In government spin is used very heavily, especially when it decides who will be the next prime minister. It’s a way to get the public on your side and obtain that vital vote for power. As the picture above suggests spin and PR work hand in hand in governments.

Spinning has acquired a bad name because it is associated with the idea that any goal or end can be sold if you put the right spin on it. We do not believe this. Unless you have a good story to tell, the public and the legislature will see through what you are trying to do, at least a good percentage of the time.

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5 CONCLUSION

To conclude this essay we believe that there is a noticeable difference between PR and spin. PR is the established technique of raising peoples’ awareness towards and on an issue of particular interest, whereas spin is largely recognised as a method of incorporating a “twist” i.e. distortion of facts to a story in a convincing manner to its intended recipients. We also acknowledge today that PR and spin are largely used together especially in the political arena. Today spin distorts one of the aforementioned principles of Public Relations – it violates clarity of expression. It does express opinions, ideas and beliefs, but still with a twist. It has become a negative word in the ears of the public as it is hugely embroiled in controversy whenever used. Whereas, Public Relations is an image raising technique by organisations to promote their brands, products and services. PR is not necessarily a money-making tool as it is also used by charitable organisations to raise peoples’ awareness on issues such as Cancer research, animal cruelty, child abuse and environmental preservation campaigns.

APPENDICES

Source: Adapted from the video notes from the award winning PR video, Actions Speak Louder than Works, with kind permission from PRTV (London) Ltd. (Smith, 2002, p419)

BIBLIOGRAPHY / REFERENCES     •

Printed books:

• Harrison S. (2000). Public Relations: An Introduction. (2nd Edition).Thomson Learning
• Smith PR, Taylor Jonathan. (2002). Marketing Communications. (3rd Edition). Kogan Page
• Wilson Kenneth G. (1993). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. New York: Columbia University Press

Articles:

• Barboza David. (2 July). ‘Kraft Plans to Rethink Some Products to Fight Obesity’. The New York Times
• Bloom Jonah. (13 May 2002) ‘MARKET FOCUS: Corporate Social Responsibility - Conscientious objectives’ PR Week USA 
• Cohen Nick. (14 September, 2003) ‘No sexing up please’. The Observer
• Harris Paul. (12 October, 2003) ‘Bush launches PR salvo on Iraq’. The Observer
• Helm Toby. (8 February 2003) ‘Fiasco over Saddam dossier’. The Telegraph.
• Izzadeen Ameen. (6 December 2002) ‘Lies, Damn Lies And War’. The DailyMirror.
• Johnson Mark. (29 March 2002) ‘TOP CONSUMER PR CAMPAIGNS OF ALL TIME’. PR Week UK 

Websites:

• The Chartered Institute of Marketing. [online] Available from: http://www.cim.co.uk [Accessed 14 October 2003]
• The Observer. [online] Available from: http://www.observer.co.uk [Accessed 13 October 2003]
• This is London [online] Available from: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk [Accessed 12-14 October]
• UK Politics Brief. [online] Available from: htpp://www.ukpoliticsbrief.co.uk [Accessed 12 October 2003]
• Word reference.com. [online] Available from: http://www.wordreference.com. [Accessed 7 October 2003]