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Public Relations in Greece
Prepared by Elena Scuro
Printable version (pdf)
Part 1: Background information
Official Names:
Long Form: Hellenic Republic
Short Form: Greece
Local Long Form: Elliniki Dhimokratia
Local Short Form: Ellas or Ellada
Former: Kingdom of Greece
Capital City: Athens
Major Cities: Thessaloniki (North/Macedonia), Patras, Volos, Larissa, Heraklion (Crete)
Official Language: Greek (official), other (includes English and French)
Type of Government: Parliamentary republic
Location: Southern Europe, bordering the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, between Albania and Turkey
Currency: Euro (EUR)
Culture:
Geert Hofstede, who ranks countries based on their Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI), Masculinity (MAS), Individualism (IDV), Power Distance Index (PDI) and Long Term Orientation (LTO), determined Greece’s highest rank is in UAI at 112.
Greece’s second highest ranking is its PDI at 60, followed by its MAS at 57 and its IDV at 35. (Hofstede, 2008).
Greeks are an extrovert and friendly people, known for their hospitality and relaxed approach to the demands and pressures of daily life. Their culture revolves around the art and architecture that surrounds them from the Classical and Byzantine periods. They are also strong in their religion, Greek Orthodoxy.
The birthplace of philosophy, Greece is now home to its own culture of modern music, dance and delicious cuisine. Politics play as much of a part in Greece’s society as soccer does, and the Greeks have an immense amount of pride in all they do.
Part 2: Overview of the public relations industry
Public relations emerged in Greece in the early 1950s. At that time, Greece was recovering from World War II and its civil war and was ready to embark on a capitalist/liberal-democratic form of development. From its inception, public relations practice in Greece was constrained by the relative small size of the national market and the structural characteristics of the economy, which was made up of mainly family-owned-and-operated small- and medium-size enterprises. In the 1950s and 1960s, small enterprises concentrated on production and did not pay too much attention to promotion, marketing or public relations techniques. The first practitioners of public relations in Greece worked either as independent consultants or as employees of large private or state enterprises.
Currently, more than thirteen public relations agencies have grouped together to form the Hellenic Public relations Consultancies Association. It is estimated that approximately 1,500 professionals make up the human capital of the public relations industry. Most of the industry is concentrated in Athens.
The Hellenic Society of Public Relations was founded in 1960 and numbers over 250 members. Public Relations practitioners who operate out of Thessaloniki are likely to be members of the Society of Public Relations of Northern Greece, founded in 1972. Greece also has a Union of Public Relations and Advertising Companies of Greece (EDEE) organization.
Public relations consultancies in Greece distinguish job titles in public relations in the following rank order:
- Managing Director or General Manager
- Group Account Director
- Account Director
- Senior Account Manager
- Senior Account Executive
- Account Executive
- Junior Account Executive
- Trainee
While Greece is on the upward trend toward professionalism, the role of ethics in public relations has yet to be firmly established.
Part 3: Overview of public relations as it relates to students
In 1999, the first academic department in Greece that exclusively focused on public relations was established at the Technical Educational Institution (TEI) of Western Macedonia. Before 1999, public universities and TEIs, comprising the higher education sector in Greece, were offering introductory courses or more specialized courses in public relations, however, without granting degrees.
At the level of training, public relations education is provided in the form of courses, seminars and lectures by a number of institutes, associations and companies.
In the mid-1980s, the Athens University of Economics and Business introduced the Department of Marketing and Communications.
Essential courses for a specialization in communications include:
- Business Law and Mass Communication Media
- Intercultural Communication
- Designing Interactive Applications
- Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
- Internal Communication Strategy
Elective courses for a specialization in Communications include:
- Internet and Training
- Political Economy and Communication
- Electronic Journalism
- Web Site Design
- Special Themes of Multimedia Communication
- History of Art
- Applied Project
Two other universities offer communications courses or degrees:
Panteion University and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
TEI of Western Macedonia, Kastoria Campus
Fourka Area, PO Box 30, 521 00 Kastoria
Fax (+30) 246-70.87.063
http://kastoria.teikoz.gr/pr/html_eng/index.php
University of Athens – Communication and Media Studies
5 Stadiou St., 105 62 Athens
Tel.: (+30) 210-36.89.384-5, Fax: (+30) 210-32.20.820
http://www.media.uoa.gr
Panteion University – Department of Communication, Media and Culture
136 Syngrou Ave, 176 71 Athens
Tel.: (+30) 210-92.01.064, Fax: (+30) 210-92.01.431
http://panteion.criticalpublics.com/cmc/index_html
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – School of Journalism & Mass Communication
541 24 Thessaloniki
Tel.: (+30) 2310-992.062, 992.055, Fax: (+30) 2310-992.098
http://www.jour.auth.gr/english/index_eng.htm
As of now, a postgraduate degree in public relations does not exist in the Greek higher education system. A public relations or communications student organization also does not currently exist in Greece.
Resources Used:
CIA (2008). Greece. Retrieved June 9, 2008, from CIA: World Fact Book Web site: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gr.html
Department of Marketing and Communications (2008). Retrieved June 9, 2008, from Athens University of Economics & Business Web site: http://www.mbc.aueb.gr/default.aspx
Hofstede, G (2008). Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. Retrieved June 9, 2008, from International Web site: http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_greece.shtml
van Ruler, B and Vercic, D, (2004). Public Relations and Communication Management in Europe: A Nation-by-Nation Introduction to Public Relations Theory and Practice. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Wikipedia. Retrieved June 20, 2008, from Culture of Greece: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Greece
Zappeion Press Center. Retrieved June 20, 2008, from Media Studies in Greece: http://www.mediainfo2004.gr/cgibin/hweb?-A=472&-V=media&-w=
Technical Institution of Western Macedonia. Retrieved June 20, 2008, from Department of Public Relations and Communications: http://kastoria.teikoz.gr/pr/html_eng/index.php
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