PR (public relations) is the work of building and protecting an organisation's reputation through its relationships with the media, the public and other stakeholders. Practitioners on the Proxemics podcast add what the textbook leaves out: PR prepares the ground for marketing, it is not just press releases, it stops where public affairs begins, and it is tested hardest in a crisis.
A one-line definition is easy to find. What follows are five answers from people who do the job in Indonesia, each linked to the full conversation.
1. PR builds the trust that marketing spends
PR earns the trust and goodwill that marketing later relies on to sell. Vanessa Tan, who led PR and marketing at Xiaomi Indonesia, puts it as a sequence: PR needs to pave the way before marketing activities come in (episode 010). When brands skip that step, campaigns arrive to an audience that has no reason to believe them.
2. PR is not the same as sending press releases
A press release is one PR tool, and most of them fail because they carry no news value. Rachmadin Ismail, Editor-in-Chief of Tirto.id, estimates about 90% of brand releases are rejected unless they offer business, editorial or traffic value (episode 023). Good PR starts with the reader's interest, not the sender's announcement, and Vanessa Tan lists "PR is just press releases" among the misconceptions she hears most (episode 010).
3. PR shapes perception; public affairs shapes policy
PR manages how an organisation is perceived, while public affairs engages the lawmaking process with evidence. Jeffrey Haribowo of Mars Wrigley draws that line in episode 013, using cases such as the sugary-drink excise debate. The two often share a team, but they use different tools: media and storytelling for PR, data and industry alliances for public affairs. Our PR vs public affairs explainer covers the difference in detail.
4. PR is tested in a crisis, and readiness happens before it
The value of PR shows most in a crisis, and it depends on preparation done before anything goes wrong. In episode 017, the hosts dissect the Aqua case, where a viral factory inspection video shook decades of branding. Their lesson is unglamorous: on-site PR readiness and real investment in PR people, before the framing spirals.
5. PR runs on relationships no tool can replace
PR depends on human relationships with media, regulators and communities, and AI cannot build those on a company's behalf, argues Yosua Tanuwiria. In episode 034, he describes AI as something that amplifies communicators rather than replacing them. Agencies that win, he says, use AI to become better consultants.
What PR is and is not
| PR is | PR is not |
|---|---|
| Building reputation and trust over time | A one-off announcement |
| Earning attention from media, creators and stakeholders | Buying ad space |
| Preparing for and handling crises | Damage control after the fact only |
| Shaping how the public sees an organisation | Lobbying on regulation (that is public affairs) |
| A partner at the planning stage | An afterthought once the campaign is built |
Where Proxemics fits
Proxemics is an Indonesian PR, marketing and communication podcast hosted by Mercy Tahitoe and Stephanie Sicilia, where practitioners explain how PR works in real Indonesian cases. Each episode page has chapters and a transcript, so students and practitioners can check the context behind every answer above.