Public relations (PR) is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics. Bill Gates’s famous quote, “If I was down to my last dollar, I would spend it on public relations,” underscores the immense value he places on PR, even above traditional advertising. This sentiment stems from the fundamental difference between PR and advertising: whereas advertisers must pay for the use of media space to sell a product or idea, public relations (PR) employs tactics to establish and maintain good relations between an organization and its constituents (Theaker, 2004). In practice, PR campaigns aim to leverage the free press to secure favorable coverage. In their book, The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, Al and Laura Ries make the point that the public trusts the press far more than it trusts advertisements. Because of this, PR efforts that get products and brands into the press provide far more value than a simple advertisement. Their book details how modern companies use public relations to far greater benefit than they use advertising (Ries & Ries, 2004). Regardless of the fate of advertising, PR has come to play an increasingly important role in marketing and ad campaigns, even as companies can create social media accounts and attract loyal customers who, if they decide to follow the brand’s account, permit the company to deliver free, unfiltered messaging to its customer base.

A Brief History of Public Relations

The origins of public relations, though not formally recognized as such, can be traced back to early forms of persuasive communication and what might now be considered propaganda. Works like Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and articles surrounding the Boston Massacre, for example, employed techniques to sway public opinion in a way that more closely resembled early PR or propaganda than objective journalism. However, the field truly began to take shape with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, giving rise to “press agentry.” This early form of public relations was characterized by one-way communication from agents to the media, with little opportunity for feedback. It was often deceptive and unethical, primarily focused on generating sheer publicity rather than cultivating a specific image for clients. Notable users of press agentry included powerful entities like Standard Oil and the railroads, as well as social movements such as the temperance and abolitionist campaigns. P.T. Barnum, the legendary showman, was a master of this craft, even going so far as to accuse himself of fraud under a fake name to garner free publicity. Standard Oil famously leveraged press agentry by publishing advertisements that closely mimicked legitimate news articles, insisting they wouldn’t pay unless the ads blended seamlessly with regular newspaper content.

A pivotal figure in the evolution of public relations was Ivy Lee, an early practitioner who recognized the profound impact of symbols over purely rational arguments. Lee encouraged businesses to present a “human face” to the public, aiming to manipulate public opinion about his clients. He notably assisted railroads in overcoming significant image problems, moving them away from the unethical practice of bribing media with cash or travel. Instead, Lee famously invited the press to accident sites, a radical move at the time, which often resulted in more favorable coverage as reporters witnessed the aftermath firsthand. This experience led Lee to outline the critical importance of truth-telling in his “Declaration of Principles,” advocating for open, honest, accurate, and timely news dissemination to the press.

Building upon Lee’s foundations, Edward L. Bernays, Sigmund Freud’s nephew, further revolutionized the field by applying social-scientific research techniques to public relations, a concept he termed “engineering consent.” Bernays’s approach involved using principles of psychology and motivation to influence public opinion, as detailed in his influential books Crystallizing Public Opinion and Propaganda. He also taught the first PR course at NYU, emphasizing the importance of understanding crowd psychology and delivering messages through credible sources, promoting a more two-way communication model. A prime example of Bernays’s work is his 1929 campaign to associate cigarettes with women’s liberation, branding them as “torches of freedom” at the Easter Parade. In later years, he even promoted cigarettes as “soothing to the throat and slimming,” despite privately convincing his wife to quit smoking. He also orchestrated a campaign for Dixie cups, instilling fear that only disposable cups were sanitary. Disturbingly, Bernays’s methods were later employed by Joseph Goebbels for Nazi propaganda. This revelation deeply shocked Bernays, who acknowledged that any human activity could be used for social or antisocial purposes. Bernays ultimately articulated three core functions of public relations: informing, persuading, and integrating.

Another significant figure was Arthur Page, who served as Vice President of PR for AT&T from 1927 to 1946, becoming the first PR professional on the board of a major public corporation. Page was instrumental in establishing ethical guidelines for the industry through his “Page Principles.” Meanwhile, World War I dramatically highlighted the power of government-led public relations, as “ideas and their dissemination became weapons and words became bullets,” as Bernays himself observed. The government effectively used persuasive communication to mobilize support for the war effort, notably through the Committee on Public Information. This committee hired 75,000 “Four-Minute Men” who delivered short, persuasive speeches, demonstrating the immense importance of interpersonal channels and the concept of “opinion leadership” – a two-step persuasion process where influential individuals provide information to the community. After WWI, the field of PR continued to professionalize, with the establishment of PR agencies, academic programs, and professional organizations, further solidifying its role as a vital function in business, government, and society. The growth of mass media, including radio and later television, provided new platforms for PR practitioners to reach broader audiences, leading to increasingly sophisticated campaigns and a greater emphasis on public opinion research and strategic communication planning.

Grunig and Hunt’s Four Models of Public Relations

Todd Hunt and James Grunig developed a theory of four models of public relations that has stood the test of time since its development and provides a solid introduction to PR concepts (Grunig & Hunt, 1984):

Traditional Publicity Model

Under the traditional publicity model, PR professionals seek to create media coverage for a client, product, or event. These efforts can range from wild publicity stunts to simple news conferences to celebrity interviews in fashion magazines. An early American practitioner of this kind of PR, P. T. Barnum, staged outrageous publicity stunts, and they were effective because the negative press did not deter him; instead, he believed all media coverage had value. More recent examples of this style of extreme publicity include viral social media stunts, such as the widely publicized (and ultimately disastrous) “Willy Wonka Experience” in Glasgow, which, despite its failure, generated immense global media attention. For more restrained examples, consider the Kardashian-Jenner family, who have expertly leveraged their long-running reality television shows and massive social media presence to maintain public visibility and promote their various personal brands and business ventures, from cosmetics to shapewear.

Public Information Model

Purveyors of the public information model aim to disseminate information to a specific constituency. This model does not focus on obtaining dramatic, extensive media coverage, but rather on distributing information in a way that ensures adequate reception and understanding. For example, utility companies often include flyers about energy efficiency with customers’ bills, and government agencies, such as the IRS, issue news releases to explain changes to existing codes. Additionally, public interest groups release the results of research studies for use by policymakers and the public.

Persuasive Communication: Two-Way Asymmetric

The persuasive communication model, also known as the two-way asymmetric model, aims to persuade a specific audience to adopt a particular behavior or perspective. For this to work, this model requires a measured response from its intended audience.

Government propaganda, or the organized dissemination of information to support or undermine a cause (Dictionary), employs this model. Edward Bernays’ work during World War I, promoting the sale of war bonds, is credited with laying the groundwork for the modern public relations industry. One of the first professional PR experts, Bernays, made the two-way asymmetric model his early hallmark. In a famous campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes, he convinced a group of well-known celebrities to walk in the New York Easter parade smoking Lucky Strikes, thereby enticing women, fresh off the victory of earning the right to vote, to take up the habit. Most modern corporations employ the persuasive communication model.

Two-Way Symmetric Model

The two-way symmetric model requires proper communication between the parties involved. By facilitating a back-and-forth discussion that results in mutual understanding and an agreement that respects the wishes of both parties, this PR model often occurs in town hall meetings and other public forums where the public has a genuine impact on the outcome. In an ideal republic, congressional representatives strictly adhere to this model. Many nonprofit groups run by boards with public service mandates use this model to ensure continued public support.

Commercial ventures also rely on this model. PR can generate media attention or attract customers, and it can also ease communication between a company and its investors, partners, and employees. The two-way symmetric model fosters effective communication within an organization by enabling employees to feel they have a voice in the company. Investor relations are also often carried out under this model.

PR Functions

Either private PR companies or in-house communications staffers carry out PR functions. A PR group generally handles all aspects of an organization’s or individual’s media presence, including company publications and news releases. Such a group can range from a single person to dozens of employees, depending on the size and scope of the organization.

PR functions include the following:

• Media relations: unpaid communication with media outlets that often includes staging news conferences or sending news releases
• Internal communications: occur within a company between management and employees, and among subsidiaries of the same company
• Business-to-business: communication between partnered businesses
• Public affairs: takes place with community leaders, opinion formers, and those involved in public issues
• Investor relations: occurs with investors and shareholders
• Strategic communication: messaging intended to accomplish a specific goal
• Issues management: keeping tabs on public issues that the organization finds important
• Crisis management: handling events that could damage an organization’s image