As Chinese Companies Head Abroad, How Will PR Fare?

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By: Doug Bedell

Public relations could be in for a fateful cultural clash as Chinese companies expanding to overseas settings turn to PR counselors for help in getting established abroad. PR's image among much of the public as being manipulative could be strengthened or China's for being controlling could be softened. In any event, it will be a fascinating cultural interchange, as suggested by a Holmes Report post on a roundtable it held recently with Fleishman-Hillard in Beijing.

"We need to build an accurate and realistic picture of our national image," said a Chinese publicist, "It will have a bearing on how well our products are received." But we're more interested in China's national reality and how it may be changing, and in the related standing of an invaluable communication tool, PR itself.

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About the Author

Doug Bedell has a background in journalism and PR and is the proprietor of Resource Relations in Central PA, which focuses on organizational communication, crisis communication, and social media. His blog, “Beetles Beat,” can be found at www.ResourceRelations.com. On Twitter, he’s DougBeetle.

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