Brazil has a long history of public relations practice dating back to the early 1900s. It was one of the first countries to establish PR as a legally recognized profession in 1967. PR in Brazil developed in four periods and is now a well-established academic field. While PR has an established legal framework, it still struggles with perceptions in society and some journalists practicing PR without credentials. Cultural factors like a diverse population and short-term orientation influence the practice of PR in Brazil's developing democracy and economy.

1. INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC
RELATIONS
Sirin Al-Masri
S1314001030

2. PUBLIC
RELATIONS
PRACTICE
IN

3. QUICK FACTS: HISTORY IN BRAZIL
• Largest Country in Latin America
• Eighth largest economy in the world
• The country moved peacefully from Portuguese
colonialism to independence and from military
dictatorship to democracy
• Influence of Portuguese language and culture isolated
Brazil from its neighbors, but in the same time this
motivate Brazil to reach out the Intl. community with
reach artistic, culinary and social experience.
• PR arrived in 1910s with Canadian influence
• Brazil legalized PR profession in 1967 and created the
most formal structure that is known worldwide

4. HISTORY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
PR in Brazil can be divided into 4 periods:
1. The Pioneers – 1914
2. The Professionals – 1950
3. The Academic – 60s- 70s
4. The Researchers 90s
** Brazil has one of the Largest collection of PR publication and
research papers in Latin America

5. DEFINITIONS OF PUBLIC
RELATIONS IN BRAZIL
The first official definition:
“PR is a socio-technical and administrative discipline with which
the opinion and attitude of public are evaluated. PR is carried out
through a planned, continuous program of reciprocal
communication destined to maintained a beneficial affinity with
and comprehension of public”

6. ROBERTO PORTO SIMÕES
• One of the first Brazilians scholars to theorize the objectives of
PR, as he led the fourth period of PR in Brazil
• Defined PR as a political function
• Described 6 PR approaches in Brazil:
1. The communication approach includes publicity and internal
communication
2. The marketing approach emphasizes product and organizational
promotions
3. The organizational legitimacy approach focuses on explicit ethical
actions
4. The motivational approach is carried out in conjunction with human
resources
5. The interpersonal approach concentrates on social, technical and
political networking
6. The event organization approach includes the coordination of social
and cultural activities

7. PR EDUCATION
• Brazil was the pioneer in
defending the need for
specialized studies in PR
under the umbrella of social
communications in Latin
America
• In 1967 they offered first four-
years PR program
• Academic and professional
PR initiatives continuous
developing in Brazil
• Profession legal framework in
Brazil is not found in any other
country of Latin America

8. LEGAL STATUS
• Brazil was the first country in the world to adopt PR
• Other Latin American countries have tried to pass
laws to regulate PR without success
• Professionals must have a PR degree and be
licensed by their states regional council to practice
PR legally, and they have practiced PR for more than
2 years with certain specific score to achieve

9. In 2002 the federal and regional counsels defines PR professional
activities in Brazil but the group has had difficulty in achieving 2
issues:
1. The definition of the concept used in the field of PR are
“corporate, organizational, public, communication”
2. The existing law does not precisely identify the types of activities
that are specific to PR, many of them are recognized as
administrators, marketers, journalists and others.
* Situation has improved in the past years, yet PR has not acquired
legitimacy in society
** The recognition of PR by different segment and promoted by the
legal redefinitions in education sectors for the full exercise of
professional PR practice
LEGAL STATUS CONT.

10. TRENDS IN THE
INDUSTRY PR misunderstanding in
Brazil:
Journalists preform PR
calling themselves
“Institutional Journalists”
and see it as production
of corporate publication
& the diffusion of
information on behalf of
the organization.
Any journalist can call
himself public relations
practitioner.

11. 5 ENVIRONMENTAL
VARIABLES FOR INTL. PR
1. Political System
2. Economic System
3. Activism and Social Movements
4. Cultural Dimensions
5. Media Infrastructure

12. 1. POLITICAL SYSTEMS
• Brazil has been a federal republic since wining independence
from Portugal in 1822
• The president is elected to no more than two 4-years terms
• Brazil experienced changes to reach today to the benefits of
democracy despite imperfections
• Individuals are given significant freedom in expressing their
beliefs
• Government institutions use communication for democratic
society “open channels between senators and citizens – advised
by PR professionals to communicate between governments”

13. 2. ECONOMIC SYSTEM
• Brazil has the largest population in Latin America and the sixth
largest in the world
• 80% of Brazil’s population lives in the south- central urban area
where this fact has positively influenced economic development
• Brazil’s is considered one of the 30 leading exporters of high-
tech product
• Though Brazil has development in economy but it has ridden a
roller coaster of high & low economic performance
• Environmental awareness among Brazilians has increased with
the noticeable involvement of the private sector and civil
society

14. 3. ACTIVISM &
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
• In general, Latin American citizens are becoming more active
and outspoken
• Democracy becomes the responsibility of all citizens according
to the action movement of citizenry
• Even with this enhanced social conscience, Brazilians has yet to
follow the steps of more developed nations
• Its difficult to form public interest groups to discuss matters of
interest such as medical diseases or protest against urban
violence
• The democratization of Brazil and the difficulties of the economy
have contributed to the birth of more active society

15. • The level of development is the aspect that impacts the
evolution and practice of PR in Brazil
• Brazil is rapidly changing because of a vibrant democracy
and an emerging economy while struggling to reduce the
gap between different socioeconomic classes
• Nevertheless, the government is still seen as the most
responsible entity for dealing with crime and health
problems
• Private Organizations are seen as a second force capable
of contributing to employment and effective social
transformation
3. ACTIVISM & SOCIAL
MOVEMENTS CONT.

16. 4. CULTURAL
DIMENSION
• Brazilians are very friendly people and have their own passion of
life
• Brazilian society is very diverse given contrasting European,
Africans and Asian roots, and their population is made up of five
major ethic groups:
1. The indigenous: full-blooded natives who mainly live in the
upper Amazon and in the northern and western borders region
2. Portuguese: who initiated intermarriages with native and slaves
in 1500s
3. African brought as slaves
4. Various other Europeans, Middle Eastern and Asian immigrants
5. Japanese: the largest Japanese community outside japan is in
Sâo Paulo

17. Brazil’s Racist issue
• Less than half Brazilians are classified as back, 70% of them
living below the poverty line, whites live longer than blacks and
earn twice as much
• In 2001 Brazil agreed to support quotas for black in universities
and civil serves
• Still the race issue is complicated – like income inequalities
4. CULTURAL
DIMENSION CONT.

18. Brazil colony and religion
• Brazil is the only Portuguese- speaking nation in the Americas
• National identity is strong in spite of the variety of society
• Brazil has been isolated from its Spanish-speaking neighbors
as the consequence of language, geography and history
• 80% of population follows Roman Catholicism others being
Protestants
4. CULTURAL
DIMENSION CONT.

19. Hofstede Cultural Dimension in Brazil
1. Brazil is a cultural that strongly avoids uncertainty; because of
the political & Economic arena, therefore Brazilians seem to
escape their reality with a great passion of life and optimism
2. Brazilians are collectivistic with high power distance
embedded in their society, societies with high power distance
let inequalities such as physical and intellectual capacities
grow over time into inequalities in power and health
3. Brazil is considered a feminine society, that could be realted to
a peaceful transition from colonialism to federative, republic
and from dictatorship to democracy
4. Brazil categorized as a short-term orientation society, the fact
that the future is always unknown be Brazilians could explain
this categorization
4. CULTURAL DIMENSION CONT.

20. Other aspects
• The gap between rich and poor is VERY BIG
• People orientation is a must in developing media, community,
government and employee relation strategies
• One limitation for PR planning is the short-term orientation in
Brazilian society whereby most of the strategic PR programs
focus on immediate & reactive actions
4. CULTURAL
DIMENSION CONT.

21. 5. MEDIA INFRASTRUCTURE –
CONTROL
• The Brazilians government did not establish a public
broadcasting system for its propaganda efforts instead it
censored the media & tried to exert control over them
• Brazil’s media environment is considered to be partly free, but
government would charge for leaking information to the press
about ongoing cases
• The press is privately owned and newspapers have played a
central role in exposing official corruption
• Brazil has experienced an impressive growth in the number of
internet hosts, the users have increased
• Brazil has a very sophisticated media infrastructure, the system
is advanced with the level of education
• Satellites are used for both print out and broadcasting industry

22. CONCLUSION
• More democracy and economic complexity positively
influences the development of PR as a professional
practice
• As the Brazilians economy stabilizes and its political
system strength, PR will continue to develop in Brazil,
positively influencing the rest of the South American
nations

23. THANK YOU!