body-container-line-1
19.04.2018 Opinion

Ghanaian Artists Must Hire Public Relation Experts

By Edward Gyasi || PR expert
Ghanaian Artists Must Hire Public Relation Experts
19.04.2018 LISTEN

Many Ghanaian artists do not take into consideration the need to hire communications or public relation experts. They have little or no idea about the relevance of PR in their competitive Art industry. They believe that the quality of their art works and some promotions can do them the magic, “Obviously people are going to love me once my music is good”.

Well, accepted, people will love your craft, you will rise to fame with some sort of good reputation, but how do you remain up there? How do you manage the reputation you’ve won and build a solid brand for yourself? These works fall on the laps of Public Relation experts.

What is Public Relation? According to Wikipedia article, PR is a field concerned with maintaining public image for businesses, non-profit organizations or high profile people such as celebrities and politicians. The British Institute of Public Relations (BIPR) defines PR as the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain a good will and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics. With regards to the above definitions, it is quite conspicuous that PR goes beyond ‘PROMOTION’ as understood by many artists. This article would discuss threes roles or functions of PR experts that are very significant to the career of every artist.

  1. Communications management

Communication saves relations; this might be a cliché but a very important quote to humanity. Celebrities and public figures require communication training that can only be addressed by experts. Popular artists must be conscious of their media interviews and interactions, subsequently benefitting from that opportunity while avoiding the media slide. As a public figure, people are readily available to judge and punish you by a single misstep; therefore you must know what exactly to say to the media whenever you are confronted. You must note that what you say defines your brand and that ‘your one sentence’ in the press can ruin a reputation you’ve built over twenty years. Your PR expert would make sure that you are not caught off guard in a media interview or other public appearance. For instance Ghanaian actress Moesha Buduong’s recent interview with CNN which has subjected her to public criticism, this is a situation that a PR experts can diligently deal with.

Also, Public Relation experts would guide artists to employ James Grunig’s two way symmetric communication models, where they would spend ample time to communicate with their key stakeholders and get their reactions on their art works. This would be the best way to improve on their works and remain relevant in the competitive art industry for a long while.

  1. Crisis Management

A crisis is defined as a significant threat to operations that can have negative consequences if not handled properly. (Coombs 2003). This threat may include lawsuits, financial loss or reputation loss. Seymour and Moore (2000) have categorized crises into two types using a snake metaphor; the cobra crisis and the python crisis.

The Cobra crisis takes people by surprise; it is sudden and hits you without any prior notice. The Python Crisis is the type that gradually steals up an organization and crushes it. It is a slow-burning type of crisis.

Crisis Management is therefore the deigned strategies to protect an organization from any harm or damages.

An artist must be prepared to deal immediately with certain rumours and unfortunate mistakes that may unfold and tarnish his/her brand image. “It takes 20years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it” (Warren Buffet). It is quite difficult for most artists to take split second decisions in times of difficult situations. With an astute PR practitioner, an artist would have a pre-crisis and a post crisis plan that would address the issue immediately with little or no damages at all.

  1. Social Responsibilities (SR)

Ghanaian artists must be commended for their efforts to give back to the society. Once they become successful, they try as much as possible to bring up the living standards of people still struggling to get their basic needs. “Social responsibility involves the idea of people being proactive and doing more than just their self-interest, it’s in fact an activity that aims to promote the interest of the society in general”. (Alison Thicker).It is rather unfortunate that many artists do not know the exact social responsibility to perform for a particular society. They do not have the time to undertake thorough research to know what exactly the people need. Your help would be welcomed anyways but it would probably not attract their attention because they don’t really need what you’ve provided. A PR expert through his/her boundary spanning role would know the kind of social responsibility to perform to the targeted societies. On behalf of the artist, the expert can establish a relationship with the people in the society and he would apparently get to know their most important need. You don’t just wake up and travel to a particular society to help them.

These aforementioned activities could easily be performed by astute Public Relation practitioners whiles the artists concentrate on making a good craft. The art work could gain masses appeal but it’s not enough to protect your brand and your hard won reputation.

body-container-line