This week, the topic for discussion was global PR. Many interesting issues were raised, which culminated in the debate - ‘Good PR is always context and culture specific. The idea of a global PR is anathema’ This motion was not passed.

The debate got me thinking…

As the world seems to get smaller and smaller everyday with the advent of the internet and what seems like the thousands of new media sites launched every year…everyone in constant contact with each other. Global PR, is therefore becoming increasingly important and fast moving to the forefront of PR generally. However is globalization a good thing for PR? Is it as effective as local PR? Will it ever manage to effectively manage cultural differences?

In order to live in our ‘global village’ PR practitioners, as Anne Gregory writes “will understand the need to communicate in a way that is approachable across time-lines, cultures, regions, languages and communication delivery systems.”- Anne Gregory, Public Relations in Practice. But just how easy is this? Can a practitioner from one culture, ever fully understand and effectively convey the PR message in the culture of another? Is it not best left to the local practitioners? Eric Yaverbaum illustrates this, “for example, in general, people in Sweden are very humble and find bragging distasteful, while most Americans have no problem with it”- Eric Yaverbaum, Public Relations for Dummies. Therefore can an American work with the same success he or she would America in Sweden? Can the American transfer their skills from the states, while at the same time fully leave behind the cultural differences which may hinder the campaign?

Really there is no one right answer. The fact is that we do live in a global community. Local PR can have, in face with the advent of the internet and social media it most likely will have effect globally. “As business goes global, so the coverage of its activities goes global too.”- Kevin Maloney, Rethinking Public Relations - The spin and the Substance. How you pay your workers in the Third World can be front page news back home – take Nike as an example. Being globally aware is a must “It is recognising that even if you don’t work across countries, what you do in your locality may have a global impact.”- Anne Gregory, Public Relations in Practice. It is now impossible to treat one country differently from another. There must be uniformity, as information is so easily accessible. An example of this is Mclaren pushchairs, they had a fault with them which put the children who use them in danger and so they were recalled across the United states, however Mclaren decided not to follow the same course of action in the UK, of course this makes the British customer feel undervalued and so they managed to adversely affect their customer base in the UK. Uniformity across nations is imperative.

The real issue is that the “one –size fits all” approach will simply not work. “When doing PR on a global level, you must consider cultural differences when putting your message together. You can’t standardize campaigns globally. You have to take a basic message and make adjustments for each culture that will hear it. A press release will have some basic information that can be distributed globally, but the rest of the release will need to be tweaked for each culture.” (insert reference). However in the same breath, you must be aware of not treating different cultures unfairly or isolating one culture from the rest, balancing the effects of the communication is essential.

It is this culture sensitivity which makes global PR successful. It is understanding that the fundamental principles of public relations apply across all nations, languages and cultures but the delivery of the message will almost certainly need to be altered to effectively targeted and tailored to each culture. “It must balance this global function with local strategies and address local demands.”- Rober Heath, Handbook of Public Relations, p637.

This however, is no easy feat. If a company and is its public relations team can master this balance, then they will have mastered and taken control of global public relations – an invaluable tool, with limitless possibilities.

Global by Design; Globalisation of PR: Myth or Reality

All About Public Relations; Public Relations Across Cultures