Public Relations play an important role in successful corporations and successful people. Most corporations either have a Public Relations department also known as a marketing department or an outside firm that is responsible for these functions. The Public Relations team is responsible for promoting the company and is involved in the strategic planning of the organization. This paper will summarize some of these functions of Public Relations with a specific focus on Public Relation actions, as well as the impact of positive and negative Public Relations in our daily life.
             Some people confuse advertising with publicity, although these two are very similar, they are also very different. Advertising is something that is created, paid for and controlled by the company. Publicity on the other hand is something that someone else writes or says about your company in regards to items of interest.
             Companies can create good publicity by engaging in the interests of the public or releasing press statements. Negative publicity can occur as well whenever the company failed to pay attention to the interest of any given public. The end result is that advertising is 100% controlled by your organization while publicity is not. Proactive Public Relations planning involves being prepared to discuss important subject matters prior to the publics requesting it. Being proactive can include remaining out of the limelight on certain subject matter. If a Public Relations team is proactive then they have a plan implemented to address the situation and are not caught off guard. Reactive crisis management on the other hand happens when an unknown and unpredicted crisis hits such as 911 or the Exxon Valdez. These events could not have been predicted and the crisis management team must implement an immediate plan. The expediency of this plan is critical to the success, the Public Relations team and senior management must insure that they react according to t...