In this era of extreme makeovers, companies attempt to exhaust all possible tools when launching a new product, extending a brand or repositioning a service to a new target market. Consumers have a difficult time separating advertising from public relations and vice versa. For companies, consumer relations can be one of the most important roles that a public relations practitioner performs. Effective consumer relations help companies create consumers rather than customers of a product or service. Although the lines have blurred, public relations is an important ingredient in the overall marketing efforts for a company or organization

The target market profile for many products and services seems to constantly change in terms of demographics and psychographics. These changes require practitioners to continuously research and update consumer behavior, preferences and attitudes toward a company and its product and/or services. From a marketing perspective, public relations plays an integral role throughout the product life cycle – from inception and packaging decisions to the distribution and purchase phase. Practitioners help companies achieve marketing success by matching effective communication strategies with the goals of consumer relations.

Although technology and integrated media campaigns have transformed the role of consumer relations in marketing companies, products and services, practitioners must focus on basic issues of trust and credibility when creating messages targeted at consumers. Practitioners are turning to innovative tactics such as guerilla marketing to distribute public relations messages to consumers. Convergence has produced opportunities for companies to creatively combine product and industry knowledge with interactive media such as the Internet. In some cases, practitioners are using this type of convergence to create a method for keeping the public informed through a process known as branded news where a company becomes an information provider as well as a manufacturer and/or product distributor.

Despite a variety of labels, consumer relations focuses on the consumer. These departments represent the link between the company and the consumer. While there have been distinctions between departments of consumer affairs and public relations, every department within an organization must concentrate on facilitating effective consumer relations. Practitioners within consumer relations must prepare public relations material that will inform and educate consumers. In addition, consumer relations is the first office that deals with issues related to customer satisfaction, unfair and deceptive practices, and customer complaints.

Effective consumer relations requires practitioners to plan for matching company promises with consumer expectations. As long as there are consumers, there will be a need for consumer relations specialists who plan and make recommendations from the consumer perspective, as a consumer advocate.