A conversation last week with my colleague Gillian Darcy and an interview the next morning on RTE's Morning Ireland with Jim O'Hara, Intel's general manager for Ireland, prompted this blog.

The conversation with Gill revolved around the work we do and how so much research, analysis, debate and drafting has to be done before we bring proposals to clients. It is obviously more detailed and intense if you are asked to bring your communication experience and knowledge to bear in a business sector or organisation with which you are not involved with regularly. But nonetheless all proposals and activities in the world of PR have to be based on sound knowledge and information.

It's a myth to think that creative ideas come 'out of the blue'. The best creative concepts come from knowing and understanding the audience and context for the communication.

When Jim O'Hara was asked on Morning Ireland how he defined the Smart or Knowledge economy description, so beloved of politicians that it has almost now become a cliche, he talked about economic wealth creation been,
driven, not from physical activity, but from gathering intelligence and using that information creatively.

It was then that the penny dropped. That's what PR people do as a matter of course. It's our Iceberg Syndrome. 90% of our work goes unseen but moves that 10% to a position that it helps our clients avoid becoming another Titanic.

Ask most journalists or the average 'man in the street' what PR is and that is not what you will hear. You are more likely to get an ear-bashing about spin doctors and manipulators.

PR is a term that even some people working in the business seek to avoid by using terms such as communication. But no matter how it is dressed up Public Relations (PR) is what we are involved in. One of the problems in describing PR is that the term is used as an adjective when in fact it is a noun and if its practice is to be criticised then Bad Public Relations is the way it should be described.

There are two other problems in discussing PR. One is that so many different titles are used by people who are seen as 'PR people' - Publicists, Press officers, Lobbyists, Communication Officers. All legitimate. and perfectly describe what these people do.
In the main they meet the dictionary definition of what Public Relations is: "a) the practise of creating, promoting or maintaining goodwill and a favourable imageamong the public, towards an institution,public body etc b) the methods and techniques employed by the Public Relations industry.

However this fails to take into account what the practice of PR has become in the 21st century. That is the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics, through the use of communication, to achieve mutual understanding, realize
organizational goals, and serve the public interest. (Flynn, Gregory & Valin, 2008)
For more information, click here.