Doubling up to hit the target

The challenges of a more and more complex world can only be overcome by a strong duo

 
As a young EU member state, the state of play of Estonia’s PR profession is also somewhat young. During soviet times there was no place for two-way communication, solely ideology-driven propaganda. After the planned economy was replaced by market economics, there was a huge need for marketing. Empty shelves in department stores were filled with goods one could only dream about. Every company had a marketing department and contract with an advertising agency. The story goes that my business card was the first with the job title ‘PR manager’ written on it in Estonia back in 1989. Marketing was like a Holy Grail then. In Northern Europe’s second oldest university, Tartu University, we launched a PR degree and Masters levels in the media and communication department in 1996.  In the same year the Estonian PR Association was established. Public awareness of marketing and PR used to be described as: marketing is about selling, practised by wise guys to bring in money, PR is about lying or image-making, practised by beautiful blonde girls with long legs and it wastes money.

Aune Past

Aune Past is currently a lecturer at the University of Tartu, Estonia, where she pursued academic studies in journalism and psychology. She is also the co-founder and president of the Estonian Public Relations Association and chairperson of Past & Partners PR. Before founding her own agency, she worked in television journalism and several PR consultancies. Her teaching focuses on public relations, organisational communication and reputation management.