A recent RFP landed in my inbox and I was shocked (ok, more like annoyed) that they refer to a section of it as them looking for a PR spin doctor. Let me say this again. Public Relations (PR) is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their publics. It’s about shaping and maintaining a positive image, managing reputation, and fostering trust. PR is NOT about spinning stories or handling crises. It’s NOT synonymous with advertising or mere media coverage. Effective PR involves transparency, ethical communication, and a genuine connection with audiences. It’s about understanding the needs and interests of various stakeholders and creating authentic narratives that resonate. In essence, PR is about building bridges, not just headlines.
Just a question - Should we use the word "publics" or rather stakeholder? I agree with everything else.
I agree with you. There are definitely still people who expect “spin doctor” activities from our profession. It is going to take education of clients. That said, there are those amongst us who actively market themselves as spin doctors. It makes me wonder what activities they’re prepared to engage in.
Was that the same one where all agency owners were cc'd on the RFP ? Yeah its a pass from us.... no thank you!
If they’re already calling it ‘spin doctor’ in the RFP, it can only go downhill from there…
What did we always say? We may rotate gently, but we never spin. 😁
My mantra: PR is not about what you say, but what you do, or are seen to be doing.
you do NOT want that as a client
SO true! There is no immediate gratification in life - or in business!
Founder of an award-winning AI startup proactively identifying and assisting financially fragile customers to avoid payment defaults.
2wEthel…I somewhat disagree with you on a few things. The best, most comprehensive framesork in the world for PR (in my opinion) is King 3 Chapter 8. It beautifully deals with stakeholder and reputation governance and if you really apply it well, you can develop structured strategies about prioritising stakeholders, engagement strategies, issues, risks, opportunities etc. In fact it’s so important as a strategic consideration, that if you look at the greatest destruction of shareholder value in many companies around the world, most of their problems can be directly linked to stakeholder and reputation governance failures. Boeing is perhaps the best contemporary example of this. But let’s not pretend that PR managers (on average) either know or take a strategic approach to PR. If I look at how PR is executed from my journalism days to my PR days, PR activities and priorities can be directly traced to Edward Bernys - the godfather of propaganda. And propaganda is what’s responsible for many of the headlines I read, the issues that become and remain national and international priorities and our perceptions of those issues. All driven by MSM, which itself is all driven by spin doctors.