Definitions & Global Communications

Definitions of Intercultural Communications

In the 1980's the world saw the development of the information revolution and with this, in 1987, Pavlik identified that within PR International Public Relations (IPR) was "one of the most rapidly growing areas of the profession but one of the least understood.

More recently, in 2003 Wakefield defines IPR as "a multinational programme that has certain co-ordinations between head quarters and various countries, where offices and public's are located and that has potential consequence or results in more than one country.

Tench and Yeaman (2006) also say that IPR refers to the planning and implementation of programmes and campaigns carried out abroad, involving two or more countries.


Global Communications

Advertising, Marketing and PR work closely together but differ in their approaches to achieving end results.

At the core of PR is the establishment and maintenance of relationships and effective PR must be engaging to it's target audience to further enhance their relationships. A PR campaign can focus on engaging with with customers with the intention to create a 'good feeling' about a product or service.

Marketing is centered on who it's consumers are not really who the customer is, it bases itself in numerical details of consumers. The 5 P's of marketing;
- Price
- Product
- Place
- Promotion

Advertising generally uses a one way communication system, it centers on getting the message out to customers but does not concern itself with how the customer feels about the product or service. When analysing budgets within companies when the advertising budget is high the PR budget tends to be low and visa verse.

In today's climate of new technology and social media, images and text now appear to the public in real time making PR fast paced, allowing little time for PRO's to act, so a great PRO is fast thinking, logical and prepared.

Governments frequently engage with IPR to create positive image and reputations, for example in the 2000 Russian Presidential elections Valdimir Putin used an international PR agency to enhance his image. A country can also be effected by negative press, for example tourism fell by 50% after the discovery of Elizabeth Fritzel, IPR would need to be employed to engage with public's and change their opinion of the country.


Brief overview of Hill and Knowlton PR Agency

They describe themselves as a truly transnational agency structured with 82 offices in 45 countries which are closely connected by their shared culture, serving clients and adapting to their needs. By being continually aware of the global economy they know that a generalised solution to clients wont work which is why they are flexible in understanding cultural diversity.

They say the key to a transnational programme is being able to balance the advantages of centralised activities, such as consistency in messaging, with specific local needs.