Publicity fellows turned up first (4)
I believe the answer is:
puff
'publicity' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'fellows turned up first' is the wordplay.
'fellows' becomes 'ff'.
'turned' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'first' says to put letters next to each other.
'up' back-to-front is 'pu'.
'ff' after 'pu' is 'PUFF'.
(Other definitions for puff that I've seen before include "Short burst of wind" , "Praise in advertisements" , "Short blow (of smoke)" , "Gasp" , "Advertisement; smoke a cigarette" .)