Public Relations practice in Nigeria
I recently made a friend from Zambia who visited Nigeria to learn about public relations practice in Nigeria.
It turns out that there isn’t much information about the topic online, so I thought I might lend my voice to the subject.
So, here’s what you should know about the practice of public relations in Nigeria.
The practitioner
There are too many titles attached to public relations practitioners which have created a lot of confusion about the profession. You would likely find a Public Relations Officer (PRO) or Public Affairs Manager in government agencies, Corporate Affairs Manager in traditional and longstanding private organisations and Corporate Communications Manager or simply Communications Manager in newer or ever evolving private organisations and more recently PR and Communications Manager in organisations with a southern Africa heritage. As a result, there are a good number of people who are unaware that Public Relations and Corporate Communications are one and the same thing.
Furthermore, we’ve also seen a rise in publicists following the boom in Nigeria’s entertainment and creative industries. Several artiste managers without any formal training have morphed into publicists.
I won’t dwell much on the issue of trained practitioners as my article, Six challenges of marketing in Nigeria, explains it in detail. But in summary, a doctor gets an education to qualify to treat you. And you don’t just walk into a military base and become a soldier. So whatever your profession, you need formal training too.
Hiring journalists to head the public relations function
This is closely linked to the first point but I thought I might treat them separately for clarity sake.
There is a misconception that because a journalist can write, he/ she will make a good PR practitioner. That’s not necessarily the case. The danger here, is for the journalist now PR Manager to believe that his/ her only duty is to manage the media, we refer to that as media relations.
But as earlier established, PR also involves employee relations, community relations, investor relations and other specialist functions. And all these require some training and specialisation. The issues affecting each stakeholder group is different and so the communication strategies should be different.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with making a career change, but when a journalist makes the switch, the journalist should start from the bottom and learn the ropes, not head the team. Otherwise, he/she should be clearly designated media relations manager.
Public Relations function is confined to publicity
The growth of untrained practitioners is also fuelling the misconception that Public Relations (PR) is publicity. And this poor understanding of the meaning of Public Relations and its roles within the organisation remains the biggest factor hindering the growth of the profession. The good news? It’s not a problem unique to Nigeria, but a global one.
For most organisations, public relations is a sub-function under marketing and is only relevant for writing press releases and ensuring they appear in the newspapers as well as responding to media enquiries especially when there is a crisis.
But PR is much more. As a philosophy, its goal is to create goodwill for the organisation among its stakeholders — customers, employees, community, government, shareholders, and suppliers. As a function, it is a strategic management function with research and advisory services at its core. PR’s interaction with Marketing is what is referred to as Marketing Public Relations. The aspect of public relations which deals with product launches and promotions working hand-in-hand with advertising, direct marketing and other elements of the communications mix.
Little or no budget
This is closely associated with the definition of public relations. For some organisations that see value in having a PR department, they do not see a reason to apportion it to an operating budget. Because the function has been limited to getting stories published by the media, the general notion is that the public relations department does not require a budget. This is due to the fact that public relations generates earned media — the ability to make the news over time. And as such complementing other elements of the communications mix.
Nonetheless, PR requires a budget to engage its stakeholders and publics. For instance, it might need to host its industry regulators, sponsor causes in its host communities, produce a video, and engage the services of a consultancy or vendors such as printers and event planners. Training of your spokespeople to effectively handle media interviews and deliver key messages requires a budget too.
This “Nike Dream Crazier” campaign is a good example of a corporate campaign which would require a budget.
Lack of budgets ultimately stifle the creativity of PR practitioners in Nigeria.
Media
This is another big deterrent to public relations practice in Nigeria.
The print media are categorised into tier 1 and tier 2 and despite their shortcomings, brands want to get their stories in tier 1 newspapers because they are read by the government, C-level executives and decision-makers.
The tier 2 media are however kept close not because of their reach but because of their propensity to spread negative news, especially in this age of social media. It’s also worth mentioning that more young people refer to blogs, Twitter, online news sites and more recently, Instagram for the news.
Nonetheless, the broadcast media remain very influential. Radio on-air personalities (OAPs) have become strong opinion leaders because of their interaction with listeners via social media. Because of this influence, more privately-owned TV and radio stations continue to spring up.
Nigeria currently has over 100 TV stations and 150 radio stations. Each state has a local NTA transmission centre and a state broadcaster. Outside Lagos, the NTA and state broadcasters are the main news sources for the locals. Localisation is therefore key to a successful communications strategy.
The idea of pitching to the media might be applicable in the print media but totally alien in the case of broadcast media — television and radio.
In Nigeria, your brand does not secure a radio or TV news mention or interview for being newsworthy. They are rate-carded. Every news mention, radio and TV interview is paid for. You’re only likely to get free news coverage when your organisation has erred or is in a crisis. More so, when you’re a multinational corporation. Sizeable budgets are therefore required to pay for news mentions and interviews on these local radio stations.
The other big issue is the quality of reporting stemming from poor grammar and journalists not building competence in their assigned desks or following trends as the industry they cover evolves. There are a great many Nigerian journalists who cover the broadcast media industry but still do not know the meaning of pay-per-view or subscription video-on-demand (SVOD). For some who report sport, you’ll see them use the term “dunk off” when they mean “tip-off.” Furthermore, a lot of our reporters and editors have still not latched onto social media.
Countering the challenges
Owned media
Thanks to the introduction of the Internet, brands can now create their own media and reach wider audiences at less cost. This is in contrast with the earned media previously mentioned. Examples of owned media are your company website — which many take for granted, and corporate blogs.
When journalists realise that you break your own news first on a well-optimised website, they can over time refer to your website as a trusted source. A lot of organisations now also share breaking news on their Twitter handles.
Introductory presentation to management on the roles of PR within the organisation
Over the years, this has worked incredibly well for me. On every new job, a great way to improve management understanding and get buy-in is to begin your communications department plan with a brief introduction of public relations and its roles within the organisation. Think of it as an onboarding process. This also helps you in tackling the issue of budgets.
Formal learning and continuous professional education for practitioners
For those looking to build a career in public relations the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, UK runs certificate and diploma courses with local affiliates. And once qualified, you are encouraged to participate in continuous professional education with thousands of materials including; articles, webinars, newsletters and books at your disposal. You can also join the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).
