NEW DELHI, October 5, 2006 – Harold Burson, founding chairman of Burson-Marsteller and a pioneer of the global public relations industry, today was a keynote speaker on "our role in the new world" at the International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO) Global Summit in New Delhi, where he raised the issues of the institutionalization of public relations, advocating “Public Relations for Public Relations” and the substantive role education must play in the industry.

Burson compared the role of public relations to other government licensed professions such as medicine, accountancy, architecture and law. "Public relations will likely not gain the professional status it wants and deserves unless it embraces licensing." Recalling failed efforts in the U.S. 20 or more years ago to license public relations firms, he did not take a stand on the issue and told ICCO members, "It is an issue your generation of public relations professionals will have to decide." However, he said he has often speculated whether public relations would have greater status with the general public today if consulting firms had been licensed two decades ago.

As corporate behavior has dominated the business news headlines in the recent past, Burson addressed the importance of public relations in a new world of intense public scrutiny by regulators, shareholders, consumers, media and NGOs. Closely aligned with the view of late public relations pioneer Edward L. Bernays, Burson believes the objective of public relations is to leverage public opinion to motivate a target audience to a specific course of action. He articulated his hope that public relations be regarded as an "applied social science," and that its educational curricula put more emphasis on such social sciences as psychology, sociology and cultural anthropology. He also advocated a more structured approach to continuing professional development.

"This new curriculum must also recognize that today's public relations professional must possess a knowledge base beyond public relations," Burson said. "Our clients and employers look to us for information applicable to their business or specific problem or issue. If one is to succeed, he or she must be able to speak the language of the business at hand."

Burson also stressed the importance of positioning public relations to its primary audience - its own people. "We must make them more knowledgeable about the discipline to which they have committed themselves, and we must never stop learning – adding to our body of experience by keeping abreast of new strategies, new tactics and the ever changing environments in which we do business," he said.

However, Burson is optimistic about the future of public relations. “I can recall no time in 60 years of practice when our clients and employers have considered public relations more important,” he said. “Today’s CEO values competent public relations advice and counsel and wants it close at hand."

Though recognizing public relations is relatively new as a business discipline, Burson described the practice of public relations as "old as when the human specie began communicating and interacting with one another," citing historical events like the Boston Tea Party. "There were manifestations of public relations long before public relations was recognized as a somewhat predictable methodology to persuade and motivate an audience to a desired point of view.”

About Burson-Marsteller

Burson-Marsteller (www.burson-marsteller.com), established in 1953, is a leading global public relations and public affairs firm. It provides clients with strategic thinking and program execution across a full range of public relations, public affairs, advertising, and web-related services. The firm's seamless worldwide network consists of 54 wholly-owned offices and 46 affiliate offices, together operating in 58 countries across six continents. Burson-Marsteller is a part of Young & Rubicam Brands, a subsidiary of WPP Group plc (NASDQ: WPPGY), one of the world's leading communications services networks.