WARRI – A Public Relations expert, Mr. Victor Anyaegbudike has described Public Relations ( PR) as a fundamental aspect of brand building as according to him, it encapsulates the essence of reputation and relationship building which are critical for performance of any organization or company.

Anyaegbudike made the declaration while delivering a lecture with the theme “Developing a brand in a hostile environment – Brand building as a PR tool” at a workshop organized by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, (NIPR) FCT Abuja chapter as part of their 2018 conference and Annual General Meeting,

“Companies should strive for innovations. As famously accentuated by Peter F. Drucker: Business has only two functions — marketing and innovation and innovation is potent to enhance brand personality if managed justly ” He said.

The Public Relations expert advocated training and certification of PR practitioners in order to check quakery and entrench professionasim in the discipline .

He noted that Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) in defining PR as the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behavior adding that it is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.

Anyaegbudike, who is also the External Communication Coordinator, Chevron Nigeria Limited, advised corporate organizations to sustain the customer promise, build trust, embrace innovation beyond the familiar and train company’s executives and spokespersons.

“Brand building is a discipline process and brands should be ingrained with quality, promise, authenticity, trust, value and other characteristics.” He opined.

According to him, branding involves analytical, prescriptive and futuristic approach to business development and therefore require PR practitioners to possess high leadership propensity, mental vitality, finesse, dexterity and intellectual curiosity.

Citing examples from the product and service marketing perspectives, he emphasized that organizations can build their brands if they leverage the value of research, build brand awareness, leverage digital marketing/social media and develop strong company culture.

He also advised corporate organizations to sustain the customer promise, build trust, embrace innovation beyond the familiar and train company’s executives and spokespersons.