Publics
This article covers meaning & types of Publics from marketing perspective.
What is Publics?
Publics is the group of people that influence the business activities of a company or people who have real or potential interest in the company. This public is responsible for building your company’s image amongst the customers or the industry.
Types of Publics
There are following different types of publics:
1. Financial Publics
These are the people that affect a company’s funding. Banks, investors, brokerage firms, stock holders etc. This type of publics affect a company’s ability to take loans, favorable payment terms etc. They also determine how the customers or other publics perceive a business.
Example: If a company is a supplier of some auto-part to an automobile giant and if the automobile giant fins that the product is faulty, it may directly hinder the company’s ability to work with the other giants. Or if a company is known to always be in losses, investment houses may refrain from investing in such companies.
2. Media publics
This type of publics generally use newsletters, articles, blogs, magazines, radio announcements etc. to make a perception about a business in the minds of the stakeholders. Having good media relations can always help a company hide its faults and highlight its strengths. But if the media relations are not good, it might lead to heavy losses.
3. Government publics
The Government rules and regulations need to be followed while operating a business. Any change in the rules should be noted and corresponding alterations should be done in the business procedures.
A business should always be updated about the Government policies and may consult a Government official or advocates etc. for doing so.
4. Citizen-action publics
These are the voluntarily or involuntarily formed public groups for the benefit of the general consumer. These include consumer groups, environmental groups and minority groups etc. A company’s PR department needs to be updated about what these groups have to say regarding the company.
The general public that might affect the business should be known and efforts should be taken to keep friendly relationships with them.
5. Local publics
These include the neighborhood citizens, general local bodies etc. A community relations officer needs to be appointed to solve the issues of the local public.
6. General publics
General public includes the general customers. The customers brand perception is very important for the company’s success. Various advertising campaigns might be undertaken to build a healthy image.
General public’s perceptions can be judged through their feedback on social media.
7. Internal publics
A company’s employees, managers, distributors, suppliers, volunteers, stakeholders, Board of Directors etc. are very important assets of a company. If the internal public is happy and content, then only they will try to increase the goodwill of the company, in the outside world. Newsletters, memos, company meetings etc. can be used to educate and motivate the employees.
They can also be used to inform the employees about the new advancements in the company.
A business may develop strategic plans to target some or all of the publics to achieve greater profits through increased goodwill.
Hence, this concludes the definition of Publics along with its overview.
Browse the definition and meaning of more similar terms. The Management Dictionary covers over 1800 business concepts from 5 categories.
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