Risk vs. Reward: Public Relations
Think of any industry anywhere in the entire world. There is at least one thing they have a in common. In order to be successful, they have to succeed in their public relations.
I never fully understood this. I was told by relatives that I would do well in public relations because I was “good at talking to people.” Yes, that is definitely one aspect of public relations is to appeal to people. But as a public relations professional, you will have to represent an entire company, and hope they will appeal to the general public.
Most companies large monetary losses have been due to a failure in the public relations department. One company, prominently, is a perfect example of disasterous public relations: United Airlines. Every time I check the news, United Airlines is in the spotlight for a controversy. One infamous controversy was in 2017, when a passenger on United Airlines Express Flight 3411 was violently removed from the plane after overbooking the plane. This incident alone caused uproar in the public discourse. But it was the response by United Airlines that caused the incident to explode.
Courtesy of CGTN
United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz issued a statement in response to the viral video of the incident in which he stated, “I apologize for having to re-accomodate these customers.” This infuriated the public, in which Munoz did not acknowledge the manner of how this passenger was removed in his statement. He was criticized for the lack of compassion for the situation and did not issue a full apology until the media fall-out. This ultimately led to United Airlines stock to drop about 4% and the top trending hashtag of the time was #NewUnitedAirlinesMotto, in which one tweet stated “not enough seating, prepare for a beating.” This failure of public relations has lead United Airlines to be negatively viewed in the publics eye, with having a 44% drop in approval since the incident.
The irony of this situation is that a month before the incident, Munoz was named U.S. Communicator of the Year by PRweek magazine. The lesson to be understood is that you can be an expert in the public relations field, and still end up failing. Though this career-path is not as risky as a doctor, in a sense of life or death, one failure can result in losing millions of dollars. But the career can also be extremely rewarding and provides a stable income.
The average public relations salary varies between $55,000 to upwards of $200,000 depending on location and industry. It is also a career that has a place in every industry. This means you can work in any industry that interests you and work in any location you would like. Most careers do not provide this type of flexibility.
It can also be extremely rewarding, as you can see tangible results of your hard work. One popular example of a public relations success was with the orange juice brand Tropicana. In 2016, they created an interactive billboard in London that showed that 160ml of orange juice provides 60% of your daily intake of Vitamin C. Next to the billboard, they handed out free glasses of orange juice to the public. After surveying the public concerning this, they found that the campaign led 88% of respondents to saying they would purchase Tropicana orange juice. In the public relations world, this is an almost-unheard of success.
Courtesy of Famous Campaigns
Even though there is a risk of losing millions of dollars if you fail, there is also the possibility of success and gaining millions of dollars for your company. This career can be extremely stressful but can pay off with hard-work. It is definitely not a career for the faint of heart, but the benefits can outweigh the negatives.