PR gets least budget allocation in Marcom – Mcmedal
By Ibidunni Banjoko
Segun Mcmedal, former Chairman of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Lagos State Chapter and also the Director, Innovation and Business Development of Media Craft, has said that, in the marketing communication (Marcom) space, the budget allocated to public relations is always the least. He also noted that despite the transformative nature of PR, the appreciation level in developing countries like Nigeria is not as high as developed countries.
Speaking during a programme tagged “Brands ‘n’ U”, organised by Classic 97.3FM, the PR expert noted that public relations is about building relationships, creating publicity for products, smoothing ways for brands to penetrate the market, and also building repetition and equity for brands.
“PR is a growing profession, but the appreciation level in developing countries like Nigeria is not as high as developed countries for several reasons, one of which may be in terms of education or in terms of determining the return-on-investment PR brings to the bottom line,” he said.
Stating the difference between public relations and media relation, Mcmedal said: “There is confusion between public relations and media relation (journalism) because of how Nigerians understand it; but things are changing.
He explained that gifting is showing appreciation and smoothing a relationship which is not what public relations is about, while noting that public relations is about building relationships between a brand, an organisation and its publics. Publics, he said, are referred to as stakeholders, people who have interest in the business, whose actions can impact on the brand or the organisation.
While commenting on political PR, Mcmedal said: “The politicians prefer journalists because their understanding is that public relations is about journalism. That is the issuing of press releases, whereas media relation is just one aspect in the field of public relation practice. They believe that any journalist who has a page can manage their communication. Meanwhile, the Nigerian journalists are reactionary while the public relations practitioners are proactive.
“When a journalist is writing about his principal, they write to attack the opponent of the principal. But for PR practitioners, the tone will be milky while passing the same message. PR is not confrontational or antagonistic, it thrives on the truth.
“As PR practitioners, we constantly reach out and get feedback and we do this through several means, depending on what we intend to achieve.”
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