What Would the World Be Like Without Public Relations?

"When people do not know anything, they start to invent stories." - Professor Ong

This statement made a significant impact on how I view things - corporate as well as consumer level. During our first meeting at our Public Relations (PR) class, our professor mentioned that everyone 'thinks' they know PR but if you put everyone together in a room, the definition would most likely be different from one another. Although different opinions exist on it's true nature, one thing is certain - Public Relations or PR has one role to play: it is to influence public opinion through a mutually satisfactory two-way communication.

Which leads me to my question - what would the world be like without public relations? What would corporations have to do in order to build, sustain and even mold their individual brands without public relations?

Some would say it can be done through other marketing communication tools - but I say differently. Public Relations play a crucial role in each company and I believe that in one way or another, each company - whether big or small - has its own department or people managing this arm of the business. If there's none then I think it's high time to have one.

The PR arm could either be an entire department (like major corporations AKA  fortune 500 companies have) or a function of their corporate communications department. Either way, the objective of this team would most likely be - making sure that the company image is what should be as defined in their vision/mission statement.

Through out the semester, I will be writing my thoughts about PR and how it affects the consumer and how companies should use it as a marketing communication tool.

Wish me luck.