pensive reflections on public relations

safe harbor video - wrapping it up

2010-12-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

Our Safe Harbor video is finally done! I really like the final product, and hopefully, everyone else will too. The final version was very hard to come by with all the editing and cutting. Learning editing skills took almost as much effort as deciding what parts of Deborah's story to cut out. Luckily, we were able to make an extended (i.e. uncut) version also. I hope Safe Harbor uses both as the story in its entirety is very inspiring. Deborah chose her words so perfectly, you'd think she was a spokesperson (I promise, no prepping was involved!).

We learned a lot about video editing through trial-and-error in making this video. Once we got the hang of it, it wasn't too bad, and I really think it is a skill that I'll be able to use in the future. We decided not to make the video too elaborate as the story is the focus and we want people to walk away from the video with that in their minds.

While this is mainly an awareness video, I think the story is inspiring and could potentially raise funds for Safe Harbor too. I really enjoyed making this video because we were able to directly interact with a survivor of domestic violence that Safe Harbor helped. As I mentioned in my last post, I think I want to work for a non-profit one day, so being able to help one now while I'm still in school is a really great experience. Hopefully, Safe Harbor will find this experience as useful as I have!

class - wrapping it up

2010-12-05T16:55:00.000-08:00

Well our class is basically done (except for our final projects -- more to come on that when we're finished editing!) and I feel like I learned a lot. Out of all of the PR classes I've taken, I've enjoyed this one the most (though I think it took the most work too) because it focused on the kind of PR I want to do: non-profit! I can't see myself being happy doing PR for some random big corporation like Coca-Cola -- though I'd make more money that way -- but I'd rather use my skills to promote an organization I really believe in. That's why I think the things I learned in this class were important for my eventual career. While the other PR classes I've taken were important because they taught me the basics but this class went into more depth and taught more practical skills. The class projects also helped me realize the real amount of work that goes into various PR campaigns through hands-on experience. I might even keep the books as they apply directly to what I want to do!

pepsi refresh - wrapping it up

2010-12-05T16:44:00.000-08:00

So the month of November is over and we weren't able to get the Pepsi Refresh grant. However, we were able to break the top 100, and our efforts helped raise awareness for Safe Harbor. For our class's first attempt (and my first attempt) at a PR campaign of this size, I think it went pretty well. If nothing else, I learned a lot about what kind of effort has to be put in. I wish there was a way to know how the people who did vote found out about it so we could know which efforts worked and which ones didn't.

Looking back, I might make a few changes to how we approached the PR plan. First off, I wish we had known about the texting thing from the beginning. We could have advertised about that for the full month instead of just the half. I also would have put up the flyers earlier (and more of them). I also feel that a more cohesive effort on Facebook might have been helpful (like maybe an event?).

I felt a little burned out at the end (I think everyone was) but I think that just shows you how much effort actually goes into these types of campaigns. Just because we didn't pay for anything doesn't mean we didn't put in any effort. And that's PR. Again, overall I think this was a good experience for me to learn through a real effort, and hopefully it benefited Safe Harbor at least in awareness.

who governs who?

2010-11-28T23:43:00.000-08:00

The second part of this week's readings discuss the governing boards of non-profits, basically the people who make many of the final decisions on how things go in an organization. I'm glad there was a chapter about this because, frankly, I forgot about this aspect of non-profits completely. I guess because boards are often backstage, you can forget they exist. And that's the point of this chapter: to make boards more interactive with the public so they can be included in key decisions too.

This chapter starts with an example of a closed board and an open board that uses social media. The open board is taken to the extreme, but it's noted that not all board will be able to operate that way immediately (again, long transition period). I like a lot of the ideas presented in this chapter though. Boards do need to be open because they make many major decisions.

The key characteristics of an open board presented in the chapter by the P2P Foundation really hit it perfectly, so I'm just going repeat them:

"Anticredentialism, the idea that anyone can participate regardless of their title or position."
"Collective choice systems, meaning that hte group makes key decisions democratically."
"Communal validation, in which the products and choices of the group are open to public scrutiny and revision."
"Open development, which eschews closed doors and hiding places. The entire project is developed transparently."

These characteristics may seem lofty but I think they are doable. It might be hard to start up, though social media makes it much easier, but these practices should be incorporated slowly into an organization's board.

Luckily, the next part of the chapter is dedicated to the "beginning" of governing as a Networked Nonprofit. It lists a bunch of easy steps an organization can take to be more open. This means small things like having a Facebook group to posting agendas online to just meeting somewhere new. It basically means stepping out of comfort zones and utilizing social media/the Internet to its fullest.

"friending to funding"

2010-11-28T16:46:00.000-08:00

This week's chapters discuss some of the more logistical aspects of Networked Nonprofits: funding online and the governing boards. This post is about the former. I'll admit, when I first read these chapters, the ideas seemed a little extreme and not feasible for many organizations. To the book's merit, they do say that the transition to a Networked Nonprofit could be long.

One point the chapter stresses from the beginning is to mix traditional and nontraditional forms of fundraising to maximize the amount raised because while social media has taken off, some people are still more comfortable with traditional forms of givings, such as writing checks. Even though I'm part of the "millenials," I sometimes still prefer more traditional methods of giving. There is something about giving all of your credit card information on a random Web site that means you must really trust whatever organization you are donating. This brings about another point the chapter stresses. It says organizations should focus on young people as donors and to connect with them through social media. I agree that this is a good way to connect to young people, i.e. me; however, I feel that this is may be aimed more at young people who are a bit older than me, i.e. out of college. I hardly ever donate to random organizations online, whether introduced through social media or word-of-mouth. This is because I'm involved in so many organizations and only make money through a part-time job, so no donations are ever random for me. Usually donations are made to organizations through some sort of philanthropy event, mine or friends'. I can't be sure but maybe organizations' social media will be more relevant when I'm out of school.

The chapter goes on to discuss habits/patterns of social media fundraising. Among these habits are using a multichannel strategy, treating donors as partners, thanking donors often, conducting online fundraising contests and using stories to make fundraising personal. This last habit is particularly important to me because this is the strategy we are using for our Safe Harbor video! We are hoping that by putting a face to the story and having such a potent example of domestic violence that we can help women find help. The chapter also discusses "click actions" or clicking to support a cause that leverages a donation from sponsors. It specifically mentions a game called FreeRice which I absolutely love and have been playing for a couple of years now. Obviously I knew I was helping by playing the game but I never even thought about the PR strategy that went into it, but really it's quite clever. A site similar to this is thehungersite.com. This site isn't a game or anything but you can click every day to provide food for people who need it. There are also tabs at the top where you can click for several other causes.

Also, on a completely random thought that has nothing to do with the chapters discussed except that it's philanthropic, I saw a Toy Run today in Anderson! Toy Runs are events where bikers ride around all day to support Toys for Tots; usually a toy is part of the participation fee and sometimes the bikers actually transport toys from collection bins to kids. Basically, there were hundreds of bikers in Anderson today, riding for a cause. I think this is pretty cool since bikers aren't usually seen as a philanthropic group. Here's an example of a pretty big toy run: The Big Texas Toy Run. This is also a good example of a grassroots organization since these toy runs are held all over the country without any official sponsors or leaders.

pepsi refresh update

2010-11-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

We are slowly getting higher in the rankings for the Pepsi Refresh grant (86 as I write this) but I'm afraid it's not going fast enough to reach the top 10 before the month is over. It really breaks my heart especially after personally seeing people trying to win this for Safe Harbor. For example, when we went to film a Safe Harbor shelter for our video, the employees told us they were voting every day and thanked us for doing it. After seeing the actual shelter we would be helping and hearing the gratitude of the employees, it made me want to win even more.

Another story: During one of my multiple attempts to get our flyer approved at Hendrix, a guy who was also getting a flyer approved, stopped me so that he could text right then. Apparently, he had been in a class this summer that applied for a $5,000 grant (I think they got it too!), so he knew how important it was to vote. He also mentioned that he got a Tweet about it from @ClemsonStudents which is pretty cool that others are doing it too.

safe harbor video project update

2010-11-23T14:19:00.000-08:00

So! Our video project has finally begun with filming that took place Friday. Though we hit a few bumps with microphone/sound problems, overall I think it went well. The sound wasn't very good when we played it back on the camera but it sounded better on my computer so I'm optimistic that it will turn out well.

As for the actual inter view, it was great! The woman we interviewed had an amazing, inspiring story. She wanted her face to be shown so that there would be a face to the story (which it is pretty amazing). We couldn't have asked for a better interview. The only problem is her interview lasted almost 10 minutes, much too long for our video, and we have no idea what to cut out!

In our last class, we did some story boarding. I think the focus will definitely be on the story of our interviewee with domestic violence statistics and facts throughout. We also have footage of the inside of one of the shelters which we hope to incorporate in the video, possibly when she discusses the shelter itself. Mainly I think our goal for the video is to inform viewers of domestic violence and show how Safe Harbor can help.

And I think we'll succeed.

some new concepts: crowdsourcing and learning loops

2010-11-16T10:42:00.001-08:00

This week’s readings discuss crowds and learning loops. Chapter Eight, “Working with Crowds,” talks about, well, crowds. It starts by defining “crowdsourcing” as “the process of organizing many people to participate in a joint project, often in small ways.” Then it classifies it into four categories:

Crowd wisdom: Best example? Wikipedia. I mean, can you think of a better example of quintessential crowd wisdom?

Crowd creation: PostSecret - This is an ongoing art project, as described by the website. Users anonymously submit secrets; it started through snail mail and has grown to include e-mail and such. If you've never seen the website or the books, you're missing out. They even have a Twitter now.

· Crowd voting: Pepsi Refresh! Need I explain more?

· Crowd funding: Crowdrise - Crowdrise is a website that allows anyone to start an online fundraising page so that you don't even have to be an organization, you can just raise money on behalf of an organization.

These are the four different ways an organization can utilize crowds to create social change. I think it’s important to define these categories because it shows the different ways you can utilize the power of a crowd. I tried to find examples for each because though the book gives its own examples, I was finding it hard to think of other ways each of these could be conceived. I’ll admit, it seems that utilizing a crowd seems to be much easier to put in motion when the idea is something creative like in the example of the Royal Opera creating a user-submitted opera or the Humane Society creating a video contest after the Michael Vick scandal. Can these methods be easily used in a different type of non-profit such as a hospital? I think that the creativity and scope of crowdsourcing corresponds with the creativity and scope of the organization’s goals. I’m not saying a hospital can’t use social media and crowdsourcing – far from it – but they have to modify it and maybe use slightly more traditional methods to reach its audiences.

Chapter Nine discusses learning loops – something I had never heard about until reading this book (I had heard crowdsourcing in passing at least). Thus, I feel that I need to define learning loops, mainly for myself. Learning loops is the process of monitoring (and analyzing) results and then using this information to change future plans. The way this is different from normal analysis that PR professionals have been doing for years is that it is all done in a short period of time, or in real time. The Humane Society example works here too (in fact, it was the opening example of the chapter). The chapter warns to not have too broad of a scope, however. It suggests working in small sections with targeted audiences so that if one small section doesn’t go the way you want it, you have the chance to change/scrap it without losing a ton of money and a ton of time. While the chapter gives a million and one ways you can measure the success (many suggestions don’t require money or too much effort), it emphasizes the overall goal. At the end/middle/throughout campaign, analyze it with the overall goal in mind. Did it reach it? If it did, what elements made it successful? If it didn’t, what didn’t work?

The suggestions and ideas of the book are lofty at times. I think they are all feasible but seem to apply to some organizations more than others. However, it might take some time for organizations to move completely into this direction but I think it’s a great direction to be heading!

To offer a possible downside of crowdsourcing, here's an article I found on Fast Company that describes why crowdsourcing may only produce mediocre results. However, I think that if an organization uses it for smaller things (I mean, designing a car? That's a VERY lofty goal for a crowd), it can produce good results.

building relationships through transparency

2010-11-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

Wow I've been neglecting my blog. This has definitely been my toughest semester so far. BUT excuses aside, I plan for the rest of the semester to be much more active, especially as we start to wrap up everything for the semester, like the Safe Harbor video and the Pepsi Refresh project. But first, I'm going to talk about the book. This week's readings dealt with, as my title says, building relationships through transparency, an idea that is just now starting to catch on among non-profits.

I'll start off with one of my favorite statements from chapter 5, "Listening helps you be less of a spammer and more of a service provider." Now this I like, I mean, who likes spam? I've signed up for plenty of mailing lists, only to get annoyed by the daily e-mails that don't even apply to me. I've set up an entire email just for things like that and it has become my default email to give to companies/organization, basically used for anything that's not personal or school-related. About once a week, I'll go through it and basically delete all of them. Seriously, it's a horrible task. Ok, so that rant has a point, I promise. I think if more organizations listened to their consumers/supporters/whatevers, all forms of communication would be streamlined, improved and more efficient. Of course, listening isn't the only step. You then have to use the information you get from listening and apply it, so you can effectively engage with your public. An organization must engage with everyone, even their critics. The book makes a special point about talking with critics. Listening and engaging with critics provides two great advantages to an organization:
1. You can hear criticism and fix the problems within your organization that are most important to the public.
2. You can explain and give further information to clarify problems that critics have. If you don't respond and just leave the criticism out there, that's hurting your organization. However, if you respond with a thoughtful, concerned answer, people will usually have more respect because it shows you care. Then the discussion begins.

Here's another pretty important concept: being able to lose control. No one likes to lose control, especially when it comes to an issue or cause that one is passionate about. Because of new technologies, the "power is being pushed to the edges." The public has more control now; it's not just the CEO of a company who controls the outcome of an organization's efforts. There is a forum for everyone to get their opinions out and control their own efforts. This doesn't mean that an organization should put in no effort to create well thought-out messages, it just has to understand that the public and other organizations have their own messages and efforts too. The good thing is, most of the time these other messages and plans will help a cause or effort, rather than hurting it. Even if your messages are exactly the same, if everyone is working toward the same goal, it's a good thing.

The next chapter continues with these ideas of relationship building by discussing one important aspect of building a relationship: transparency. You can have relationships with your publics without transparency but they won't be as meaningful and therefore your publics may not be as interested in helping your cause. The very first thing mentioned in Chapter 7 is the dashboard. I'll admit, I had never heard of these before but they sound really cool. Having all of that information in one place, in an easy-to-navigate table makes it easy for people to understand how the organization work and what problems/successes they are having.

This chapter emphasizes trust; however, it is not only referring to building trust within publics but it also states that for trust to build in publics, the organization must trust that people "on the outside" mean well. I think this is a key point (and so does the book). If an organization thinks everyone is out to get it, it'll never let its guard down enough for anyone to help.

The last points made by this chapter are on how to apply these ideas of transparency to the way an organization works. In referring to "publicness" (a word I quite like, I might add), author and blogger Jeff Jarvis (in the book) has this to say: "The more public you are, the easier you can be found, the more opportunities you have." For a non-profit organization, this is absolutely key. I mean, it's important for all types of companies but for-profit companies can afford to be underground while not-for-profit organizations need all the "publicness" it can get to reach its audiences and have an impact. This publicness can be achieved through letting an organization's information out into the public domaine (all information! - not just the good stuff like how much money was donated), being easily found on search engines and having a presence on social networking sites.

Transparency must be found inside and out of an organization. That is, an organization has to share this information (and one could argue even more) with its employees. Creating trust among employees is equally (again, one could argue even more) important in the success of an organization. As we've learned from day one in PR classes, happy, enthusiastic employees equals happy, enthusiastic publics. Problems with employees can seep out to "the edges" of an organization. Besides, internal relations is the place to start to achieve transparency. Start the conversation inside, share it with the outside, and then engage the inside and the outside together.

creating and maintaining social culture

2010-10-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

This week we read chapters 3 and 4 in Networked Nonprofits, called "Understanding Social Networks" and "Creating a Social Culture" respectively. In the previous chapters, they discussed the importance of social media in creating a successful nonprofit while these chapters discuss the logistical details and how to fully utilize social media to the advantage of an organization. I'll start by talking about chapter 3.

Chapter 3 starts by blunting stating that an organization can no longer think it is the most important thing around. People and other organizations are constantly moving and changing; your organization has to do the same or it will be lost in the world of social media. This chapter also introduces a lot of social media lingo that I am not familiar with, like "ecosystem" (in reference to social networks) which I think is pretty self-explanatory. These ecosystems are not random; they have structure. This structure is made up of nodes (people or organizations), ties (the connections between them), and hubs (larger "nodes" with lots of "ties", the influencers). Again, pretty self-explanatory. The hubs are the heavy-weights of the social media world. They are the ones with thousands of Twitter followers and Facebook friends. They are the ones whose blogs are read all over the world. Basically, they're important for a nonprofit to get the word out. Other social media definitions: core - the people who do most of the work, and power law of distribution - the imbalance that applies to most social networks where a small number of people have the biggest influence/do the most work. Finally the chapter discusses different ways to map an organization's social network. Mapping can be useful to realize and understand the different ties/relationships that exist and which ties don't exist but should.

The second half of this chapter talks about the importance of "social capital." Social capital is important because it is what makes relationships meaningful and is how you make real progress in creating social change. With social capital "two things generally exist: trust and reciprocity." This idea is elaborated in the next chapter that discusses creating a social culture.

Chapter 4 goes back to what we learned in introductory PR classes was one of the most important aspects of PR: relationships. This book, however, shows how relationships are changing. They are no longer just your neighbors and old roommates (though those are still important too), rather you can create and maintain relationship entirely online. But like with social capital, trust and reciprocity must exist. The basic qualities of a relationship are the same, whether in person or not.

This chapter also focuses on the idea that "social-ness" is more than just individuals using social media; it is the entire organization shifting the way it works fundamentally. An organization cannot just rely on young staffers and interns to handle social media. For social media to be used to its full potential, the leadership of an organization must be involved. Everyone connected to the organization should engage in social media. The book suggests that rather than making interns do all the work regarding social media, have them teach executives how to use social media so that they can use it themselves after the interns move on.

safe harbor video inspiration!

2010-10-11T16:32:00.000-07:00

Our group has already discussed a few ideas for the videos we are creating for Safe Harbor, like the "3 in 4" theme. So I did the first thing I always do, I looked on YouTube for some inspiration!

Here's a few videos I find inspiring:

This first one doesn't relate to domestic violence directly, though it is one of the examples given on how children learn from their parents. The thing I like about this video is the theme. The different situations shown combined create a video that sends a powerful, reinforced message.

This video is specifically for a domestic violence organization and its programs. I like the quotes from people who have actually participated. I think this would be a good alternative to actual people talking about their experiences, if that's not possible.

This video is a good example of a class-made video. While it's more of a documentary and much too long for what we're going for, the set-up may be something to imitate. Also, I think the title "Hands Off" is really great and memorable.

This video is by the Avon Foundation. Obviously, it is quite professional-looking which I like. I think my favorite part of this video though is the families and (one) man that "speak out" too. Having other viewpoints rather than just women can reach those who may think it only affects women.

Last but not least, here's a PSA from a Canadian organization for women. Obviously, our videos will be longer than this but like the first video, I think the theme is well-organized and well-chosen. Also, like the third video, I think the title "Shelter from the Storm" is really great.

So that's all for my inspiration right now! Hopefully our group can incorporate some of the better ideas from these videos to create our own great videos. Also, I'm on the look-out for some fundraising videos as most of these are geared more towards general awareness.

best spokesperson ever?

2010-10-11T13:50:00.001-07:00

Since I've been blogging like crazy this week, I thought I'd add one more. This is just a funny video I found. With the title, "Should BP hire this guy for PR?" and our recent class discussion about spokespeople, how could I not watch? Now this guy knows how to turn around a question (completely unethically, of course, though nevertheless amusing).

http://www.wimp.com/bppr/

Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to embed the video, so there's a link to the site where I found it.

the value of free agents

2010-10-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

The second chapter of our book focuses on "free agents." At first glance, free agents could be seen as a threat to nonprofits striving toward social change because they do what they want when they want and won't disseminate your message exactly how you want. This chapter shows how you can turn this challenge into a solution.

The chapter starts off by talking about "millenials." Millenials are the generation after the baby boomers that are really the first generation to grow up using all of the technology available today. I'm a millenial, and I know that I can't imagine what I would do without the technology I have, like my cell phone, the Internet, all the social media and a lot more. I consider myself lucky to be part of this generation because I've grown up with all the social media, it doesn't take any effort to learn how to use it for social change. The chapter gives examples of people -- free agents -- who use social media to create social change, often on behalf of a non-profit organization. This, of course, reminds me of our class. We are using social media on behalf of Safe Harbor to help put out their message and hopefully get them some money through the Pepsi
Refresh Grant!

Another great example I thought of when considering free agents and social change is "The Uniform Project." The Uniform Project was the idea of one girl who decided to raise money by wearing the same black dress every day for a year, making it look unique every day with reused, donated, or vintage accessories. She blogged her outfits every day and got tons of media attention (over 2 million hits and features in a lot of magazines) and money (about $100,000) for her cause -- the Akanksha Foundation, a non-profit that provides education to children living in Indian slums. Sheena Matheikin, the founder of The Uniform Project, created such a buzz, the project continues today in the form of its own company, The Uniform Project company. Now they have different people who volunteer to wear the same dress for a month to raise money for a specific cause (it changes every month). It's such a cool idea and it all started with social media.

In the last parts of this chapter, the book gives some advice to non-profits who want to utilize free agents. Here they are:

Know your free agents and what they are passionate about
Help people break out of their cliques
Let free agents explore and learn about the issues
Don't ignore the newcomer, they may not have a lot of influence now but in a few months, who knows?
Always welcome free agents, whether they are new to your organization or are coming back from a hiatus
Let free agents participate in their own time and in their own way
If a great idea is created by a free agent, run with it. It doesn't matter who came up with it, if it makes a difference, it's worth it.

The important thing to remember with free agents is to work with them, not against them. It can be scary to know there are people working on behalf of your organization that you have no control over, but that's also the really great thing about free agents. You don't have to do any of the work. You trust that people are good and genuinely want to help your organization through their own efforts.

"the operative word: social"

2010-10-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

This week we started reading our second class book, Networked Nonprofits. Though I've just read the first two chapters, I'm already excited about this book. I had no idea when I first bought this book what networked nonprofits meant. Now that I know, I think it is pretty awesome. The idea of empowering people to do their own work through an organization rather than telling people what to do is kind of cool. Scratch that - it's really cool.

Let's start off with the introduction. The book defines a networked nonprofit was an organization that "resembles a social network rather than a traditional stand-alone organization" in which "the foundation is devoted to building meaningful relationships with supporters that go far beyond asking for donations." I really like that comparison of a social network. It embodies the idea of public relations of, well, relationships. With networked nonprofits, the entire organization is defined by relationships rather than just the communications department. They take the philosophy of social media and apply it to all aspects of the organizations. This leads to "free agents." Like in social media, individuals have the power for social change and utilizing these free agents is a foundation of networked nonprofits.

This chapter continues to detail social media, its importance for social change and how it can be used. There are so many tools of social media (for example, Twitter, Facebook, wikis, blogs and YouTube) and so many different types of people who use these that an organization cannot just use one and cannot target one audience through just one medium. The successful use of social media relies on learning the strategies and principles of social media rather than the mechanisms of each one.

The chapter then goes over some myths about social media, but luckily, as one of the "millenials" talked about in the next chapter, I already knew all of these were myths!

Finally, I like how this chapter ends. It defines social change as "any effort by people and organizations to make the world a better place." I like this definition because it encompasses so many things that organizations do to make our society better.

vincent sheheen's campaign for minorities

2010-10-08T19:49:00.001-07:00

For my political analysis project, I had originally planned to focus on Vincent Sheheen's campaign for SC governor. I still am but after talking in class, it became apparent that I could not cover his entire campaign. That's just too much, so I decided to focus specifically on his campaign aimed at minorities. I thought this would be an interesting angle as Sheheen is an Arab-American (fourth-generation Lebanese). Even more interestingly, his main opponent (the Republican candidate) is a minority too; Nikki Haley is an Indian-American.

In a first quick look-over of Sheheen's Web site, the only specific mention of minorities is under the "Issues" tab in the "Jobs and Economy" section,where he discusses focusing on minority-owned small businesses by creating a Division of Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses in the SC government. I'll be trying to look for more details on this and other minority-related information on his Web site.

That said, Sheheen is at least getting a little publicity for being a minority himself. Here's a blog post I found on the Arab American Institute Web site profiling Sheheen and generally supporting his campaign.

And lastly, here's a post I found on Brad Warthen's blog about Sheheen's and Haley's views of the Confederate flag flying at the State House. I think his article is pretty interesting, and the comments are even more so. By the way, Warthen is a guy who used to work for The State newspaper and is now the director of communications/public relations for ADCO, an advertising and marketing agency in Columbia.

So the two articles I found are pretty heavily biased in favor of Sheheen but the Arab American Institute one is interesting because it's covered by a minority organization and Warthen's is interesting just to read the dialogue in the comments area. There are a lot of people who agree with him and a whole lot that don't. The comments really show the opinions of SC voters and how each person views the quotations differently.

So that's the preliminary search on Sheheen's campaign aimed at minorities and his coverage dealing with minorities. I've decided I'm going to have to dig deeper for some campaign information on minorities which is probably not a good thing. Hopefully I start to find some real campaign materials rather than just a bunch of videos and articles trashing Nikki Haley.

beyond the pr professional

2010-10-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

Our readings this week talks about people outside the public relation s professional who organizes communication strategies in a non-profit organization, namely the spokespeople and partnering organizations. These readings focus on very important aspects of strategic communications because they deal with things that are outside your control (to an extent). That's why properly training spokespeople - and for that matter, all people who are connected to your organization - is so important. Without a cohesive, clear message delivered from everyone in an organization, an organization's success is in jeopardy. Both chapters (9 & 10) emphasize this point.

To begin with Chapter 9, choosing spokespeople is a decidedly difficult task. Let's take celebrities. It can go well, like the Rock the Vote campaign (well, minus the fact that Paris Hilton was not registered to vote), or it can go not so well, like this blogpost from Walletpop shows, giving a list of celebrity spokesperson fiascos. Some of the "fiascos" mentioned were for regular corporations but a few are from non-profits like the Beef Industry Council who had two spokespeople that didn't work out. James Garner had a quadruple-bypass surgery (anyone with health that bad probably shouldn't sponsor any type of food-related organization) and Cybill Shephard doesn't actually eat meat (I think it's pretty obvious why she shouldn't be its spokesperson). However, even with all of those fiascos, I think it can be pretty powerful to have a celebrity speak on behalf of your organization...if chosen correctly. Oftentimes, it is just easier and safer to choose a non-celebrity. If you choose someone from inside your organization, like an executive officer, you can probably at least save time teaching them information about the actual organization. Then, the first priority would be to train them to speak well and deliver messages effectively.

Another point from this chapter that I think is important is the power of personal stories. There is nothing like putting a face with a cause to rally supporters. This is the strategy we are hoping to use for our Safe Harbor videos because being able to actually see and hear a real story from someone who has been abused can make the problem appear more real to people who don't understand the problem it can be.

Chapter 10 deals with partnerships. I really enjoyed reading this chapter because I think the power of partnerships is really obvious. Organizations partner together all the time to support a unified cause and it almost always yields a better result than just one organization. When I started to read this chapter, my mind immediately jumped to Orange RockCorps. Ok so Orange isn't non-profit; it's a communications (i.e. cell phones, etc.) company but RockCorps is non-profit. I think this partnership is still worth mentioning though because it's pretty successful. RockCorps started in the USA and, as far as I know, still going. Orange RockCorps started when RockCorps expanded to the UK and Orange partnered with them. Orange RockCorps has now expanded even more to France and, recently, Israel. I say this partnership is successful because the RockCorps movement is much bigger in the countries where they have partnered with Orange, even though the US is where it started. Having the connection with this other company has allowed them to have better communications plans because they have a for-profit company to financially back them.
Note** I also wanted to use this partnership as an example because I love this organization and what they are doing. Oh yeah, I should probably say what they do: RockCorps organizes concerts with some pretty big stars (last year this included Lady Gaga, Busta Rhymes, and Razorlight to name a few) and the only way to get a ticket is to volunteer for four hours. It combines all my favorite things: music, volunteerism, internationalism, etc.

To bring it back to non-profits and more specifically domestic violence organizations, one of the Web sites I looked at to do research for the Safe Harbor project was that of the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV). This organization is a coalition of state coalitions against domestic violence. Through this organization, each state coalition (and in turn, those organizations that make up that coalition) can benefit from the national campaigns. They are even starting a Media Advocacy Project that should be launched anytime now (the site says it will launch a resource center in the fall). I'm excited to see what exactly this project will include.

Obviously partnerships are important and extremely powerful. The book stresses though that each organization must be fully committed and must be included in all plans. This, I think, is important to understand. Like all group projects (no matter how small), if each person/organization doesn't know its position and what is going on, it will probably fail (or at least not do as well as it could).

Next to come: Political Campaign Analysis - I've chosen the campaign - Vincent Sheheen for South Carolina governor! I'm excited to see what this campaign has in store.

a change is gonna come...or it has already started

2010-09-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

Reminding me of my favorite Sam Cooke song, this week's readings discussed the changes in the PR industry and how these changes affect the way non-profit organizations should go about receiving good media coverage.

Ch. 5 starts by talking about the emerging trend of freelance writers. Freelance writers are becoming a common trend among media because it is often cheaper to pay freelance writers than to have full-time employees. This makes it more difficult for non-profits to get their organizations out into the media because it's harder to make solid contacts at a specific news company. Luckily though, even freelance writers often have specific topics they prefer to write about and are often hired by the same medium several times. As an example, here's an article from The Huffington Post (an entirely online newspaper!) written by a freelance writer, Terry Gardner, (who has a few specific topics she continually writes about) about a non-profit organization, Sustainable Works. Also, after taking all these PR classes, I realize that this was very likely pitched to Gardner by a PR professional from the organization. This article from The Huffington Post leads me to the next point from this chapter: the Internet! The Internet is completely changing the way journalism works and the flow of information. While it means PR professionals have possibly thousands more influentials to watch (the blogosphere is huge now) and communicate with, it also opens thousands of doors (including the organization's own website) to get the organization's name out for a much lower cost than traditional media. The book says it well with "Bloggers-Eliminating the Gatekeepers."

With these now thousands of options for media coverage, there are many steps/aspects to earning good coverage. Ch. 7 is long - in fact, the longest chapter in the book - which I think just emphasizes the point that receiving good media coverage is very important and one of the keys to success for social change. The chapter starts by talking about the importance of relationships with reporters, a point it continually makes throughout the chapter and in other chapters of the book. I like the way Karen DeWitt, a VP of communications for a social justice organization in DC, puts it, "You have got to get to know reporters, and the best way to form relationships is to bring something of value to the relationship" (quote taken from book). Reporters are constantly bombarded with story pitches. Having a story with something interesting or different can help your story cut through to the front of a reporter's mind.

Much of the chapter also discusses the various ways a PR professional can make it easy for reporter's to get information. One of the ways suggested is to have a press room section on the organization's Web site. This section should include information on the organization in easy-to-read formats (backgrounders, fact sheets, etc.), links to articles mentioning/featuring the organization, press releases, multimedia (photos, audio/video clips, graphs, etc.) and contact information. The book also suggests telling reporters when new information is posted so they also know what's happening. I like this idea because it adds a sense of timeliness to an organization's happenings which is key for news stories. Something that kind of caught me by surprise was the extensive use of the telephone in dealing with reporters. I guess since I've basically grown up with the Internet and mainly communicate through e-mails and text messaging, I didn't realize the impact the telephone still has (Also, I kind of detest talking on the phone. There is something about not being able to see someone that throws me off.). Telephone still seems to be a way to reach a reporter quickly and with a short, concise spiel ready, it can communicate easily without wasting the time of the reporter. Also, the telephone is often used for interviews, audio press conferences, and even radio tours. I guess I'll have to get over my thing against telephones. I will obviously use it in my career.

Alright, the last main point I want to talk about from Ch. 7 is the planning and details of press conferences and major events. I never realized the amount of work, research and planning that goes into both of these. You must alert and invite media well in advance and send multiple reminders (makes sense as I said before, reporters are bombarded with pitches). A lot of planning must go into choosing and setting up the physical locations of press conferences and major events. Training spokespeople and choosing the right visuals are also key for success. While more for major events (though it applies to press conferences too), the production is very important. The book compares it to a theatrical production which I think is pretty accurate. Of course, another key to press conferences and major events is the evaluation. This is something that is emphasized in every PR book I read, every PR class I take, every PR blog I follow. You don't really know if something was a success until you evaluate it. The main reason this is so important is because this shows what worked and what didn't so you know what to change in future events. I'll admit this also sounds like one of the really fun parts to me. It's a chance to see if your ideas were a success and often leads to a second chance if they didn't. All in all, the changing industry has affected the way PR professionals work, yet traditional methods are still popular and some tried-and-true aspects have stuck around (like research, planning and evaluation).

On a side note, I don't know if this means I'm in the right major or just kind of a nerd (possibly both), but I think the Freedom Forum's Newseum sounds really cool! It's definitely on my list of places to go if I ever make it back to DC.

values, values and more values

2010-09-13T08:04:00.001-07:00

Alright so once again, after reading chapters 3 and 4 in our book, one thing keeps coming back as a highly important aspect of effective strategic communications: values. (Ok not to completely dismiss the Ch. 3, research is highly important too and the book suggests that media trend analysis and taking stock of public opinion are two of the easiest ways to research for a communications plan). Basically everything needs to go back to values; but with this emphasis on values comes a need for a thoroughly thought-out message. The idea of "contested concepts," or different definitions for values-based messages is really interesting to me. This is something I definitely see as changing the view of a message and therefore important for PR professionals to understand. All contested concepts have an essential, uncontested core and that is what communications plans must resonate with its audience. I think this is where the FrameWorks framing elements and levels take form. Though it simplifies the process, the three levels used by FrameWorks work well to describe the basic foundation for framing. The three levels are these:
1. Big Picture - This is where the general public is on most issues. It's the basic idea of a movement.
2. Issues & Movements - This is where activists are. These are the more specific groups of people to whom you want to appeal who you already know care about a certain issue.
3. Specific Policies & Legislation - This is where policy makers and experts are. These people know a lot about the issue and usually have a lot at stake when it comes to the issue.
**Note - The book also expresses the need to operate at the level of the audience to whom you are appealing. Using the language and jargon necessary for that particular audience is very important.

I think the way the book explains the importance of framing messages so well, I'm going to quote it: "By properly framing messages, you build a communications strategy on widely held values that shape opinions. And within those frames, you can create targeted messages, assembling the specific concepts and language that will resonate with those who are persuadable and ready to move to action" (p. 44). This presents the "challenge" in the book: to move people past their natural habits and thoughts to a new frame or re-frame the words describing the issue.

Trying to find an example of values shown in an ad:
So this is certainly not for a non-profit (Louis Vuitton is probably considered the exact opposite of that) but I found it interesting that this was the first video in the results after I searched "values" on YouTube.

The messages and reflections on values in this ad are strong. And yet, you would never know what it was for until the very end. There is absolutely no mention of the brand, just the idea of a journey and its effect on a person. This is interesting because it does a good job in connecting a value/idea to a brand. It is obviously appealing to an audience that enjoys travel and puts "being worldly/cultural" high on a list of values. This equates to an audience that can afford to travel a lot, and moreover can afford to buy LV. Many of the comments stated how much they loved this commercial and its branding power; however, others thought it was too fake (connecting this "love life" value with a expensive brand). I applaud LV for this commercial but I too wish it was for something a little more substantial than a designer brand. The emotions and values presented in this video could do wonders for some sort of non-profit organization that wanted to promote cultural tolerance or even an organization like the Peace Corps. People would be less likely to see the commercial as pretentious if the organization behind it was more substantial and fit better with the values presented.

not just the big picture..but that too

2010-09-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

This week we were asked to read chapter two in our book, Strategic Communications for Nonprofits (which I love the way it is set up). This chapter went through the elements of a strategic communications plan, and I mean all the elements. It discussed every little detail for a successful communications plan, yet was able to relate everything back to the big picture - an organization's overall goals and values (that, of course, are based on each other). I think that's what I liked so much about the emphasis of the chapter. An organization must set its goals based on its values, and everything else in a communications plan must stem from that.

The other thing that was repeated throughout the chapter was - get this - the plan! Basically, you cannot over plan a communications plan. A successful communications plan relies on research, well-developed messages, trained spokespeople, high-quality materials, and knowing exactly what resources you have and how you will use them. After defining your goals, you must define your audiences - and then learn everything you can about them. Then you need to know what media they use and to whom they will listen (then learn everything you can about them). A part of the plan that I find interesting personally is the use of the Internet. As a webmaster for an organization, I understand the importance of the Internet and its ability to relay information. The chapter's emphasis on an updated and well-organized Web site is key. You must know what the site is meant to do.

I'll admit, when I first read all of this I thought, this is a lot of work. How do PR professionals do this every day for their organizations? And is it all necessary? After reading the case study on The Fairness Initiative on Low-Wage Work, the answer is yes, definitely. All of these steps and planning were necessary for the success of the Fairness Initiative. This really was the perfect outcome because they did exactly what they wanted; they changed the policy on their issue (and I'll admit that I benefited from this change myself, so kudos to them). The effort and collaboration (20 different groups coming together is impressive!) of the Fairness Initiative was the reason they were able to call attention to their issue and eventually make the ultimate difference.

The last point I found interesting about this chapter is its use of the term "earned media" (p. 74). I really like this term because I feel that it truly embodies the importance of a good communications plan. With the advent of the Internet came an overload of information because now any one can make his or her opinion public (and make it seem professional, whether it is or not). A good communications plan is necessary to gain significant coverage of an issue. If you want your issue to become more than just a blog topic or internal organization issue, a plan gets it regular, positive news coverage.

Social Media for Social Change - Darius Goes West

2010-08-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Darius Goes West is a great example of social media being used for social change. The social media aspect is well integrated (and quite prominent) into the whole movement for a cure/awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Darius Goes West started as a documentary of Darius Weems going to California with his friends (and leaving home for the first time) to get Darius on MTV's Pimp My Ride and have his wheelchair customized. The film ended up creating - and still is - a lot of money and awareness for this disease.
To talk specifically about the social media aspect of this film-turned-foundation, on the website there is a blog with updates on Darius' health, upcoming events to raise more awareness/money (for example, his 21st birthday is coming up and there is a charity poker event to celebrate), and various deals (for example, educators can receive a free DVD). DGW also has a Facebook page and a Twitter account. On the Facebook page, there are songs (Darius is an aspiring rapper), photos, and articles. Also while not created by or specifically for Darius Goes West, this foundation is participating as one of the "hidden treasures" in Geocaching, where people from all over the world use GPS to find "treasures" in the real world and then share them in an online community. The DGW DVD was made a "geocache" by a Georgia teacher who wants the DVD to eventually travel to the West Coast and back, like Darius did himself. All of this, of course, was posted on the DGW's blog.
All in all, this organization really knows how to use social media for social change to help appeal to a younger audience. As an organization who chooses to produce the film independently despite offers from production companies) in order to continue to give the majority of the profits to DMD research, it has really gotten creative on how to get the word out and keep the excitement up about the organization. Social media are perfect for this type of organization that is small and therefore cannot spend a lot of money to do marketing.

ch. 1 - the basics

2010-08-31T09:57:00.001-07:00

The first chapter of our book, Strategic Communication for Nonprofits, discuss the basics of strategic communication. The part I like most about this chapter is its emphasis on the integration of good media relations and communications rather than having these communications seen as a small, separate part of the organization. One of my favorite (and for me, seems one of the most important) sections in this chapter is the "Good Communications Affect Your Whole Organization" box. It really emphasizes the idea that good media relations can make or break your organization and the impact it makes on society. Because all media are connected now, appealing to one may lead to coverage in several others.
I agree with the chapter when it states that nonprofits have a built-in advantage and often overlook their obvious assets when trying to promote their organization for whatever reason (and there are several of those as listed under "choosing your goals." These are incredibly thought-out too. I never realized the vast amount of goals different nonprofits would be trying to reach and how different the plan for each of these goals is. This, I think, is a important thing to remember. Understanding fully how to reach your goal is obviously the first step in creating a good strategic communications plan because the same plan does not fit all goals.
Good strategic communications are often showcased in a big event or a crisis well-managed but for the most part, the small daily tasks that go into strategic communications go a long way. I realized this when I had an internship with Oconee Medical Center's Foundation. While I was able to assist with its employee campaign, much of my job as an intern was spent updating and organizing donor lists and sending thank you letters to various donors. The employee campaign may have been more hands-on but the experience made me realize that being organized and up-to-date about donor relations (this thought could be extended to all types of relations) is a very important part of good strategic communications.

Is This PR? - My Starbucks Card

2009-12-10T10:59:00.000-08:00

Starbucks has recently decided to combine two of its rewards programs into one: the My Starbucks card. Starbucks offers this card with the phrase: "Free drinks. Free syrups. Free soymilk. Free Wi-Fi. And best of all, free to join." It's not a new concept. Plenty of companies have these, even small businesses in the form of a punch card. Starbucks even had cards that were similar. The idea is that you register your card and put money on it to use at Starbucks. Then, after a certain amount of drinks purchased, you start to get free stuff. They have different levels. It's all explained in this article from The Coffee Guy (who incidentally gives a little more information about Starbucks in general). He seems to think it's a good idea. He says Starbucks is adapting and trying to help out its customers who come there often. As we know, many people buy coffee every day and Starbucks isn't cheap.
Is this a good PR tactic? I think it is. Some think this program will not create loyalty among patrons, but heck, Starbucks has plenty of people who are loyal. This is about rewarding those who are loyal. I think this says a lot about Starbucks. It is realizing its coffees can get expensive and it is offering benefits to those who still buy it. Is it enough to keep increase its customers? Only time will tell, but I think, overall, this program is a good thing and good PR.

Is This PR? - PETA

2009-12-07T07:43:00.000-08:00

Ok so I don't want to become biased in my Is This PR? presentation but this one is about PETA, its controversial ads, and its responses to negative responses to these ads.
There are so many websites and blogs dedicated to anti-PETA rhetoric, like PETA Kills Animals and Anti-PETA (which is actually a website that contains links to other Anti-PETA websites/blogs). But the particular PR move from PETA that I am going to talk about has been written about by more than just PETA haters. Recently, they put up a billboard in Jacksonville, Fla. that depicted an overweight woman in a bikini with the words "Save the Whales" and "Lose the Blubber. Go Vegetarian." on it. This billboard has outraged people with its insensitivity to overweight people and to women. And there have been quite a few negative responses to the ad.

One of the most interesting things I found about this incident though is the lack of response from PETA and the responses I have been able to find have been insensitive and unapologetic themselves. Here's one from a woman who passed the billboard and felt personally offended - and the response from PETA she received. Here's another from Chattahbox that includes some quotes from the press release about the billboard (and here's the original press release). And, of course, here is one last article that directly mentions this ad while also talking about the power of social media to make this an even bigger issue than it would have been 20 years ago.

Overall, this is bad PR. PETA needs to learn how to make advertisements that don't offend the audience it is targeting. Also, a little humility in responses would help too. I know it's a radical group but this kind of PR won't get it anywhere.

Employee Relations - Diversity

2009-11-30T11:21:00.000-08:00

I've always been a big fan of diversity. One of the reasons I chose Clemson is because I know we have a pretty diverse student body (at least more than other South Carolina universities). I also understand that diversity is important, not just in universities, but in companies and organizations too.
DiversityInc. even ranks companies and put out a list every year of the top 50 most diverse companies. Here's the list from 2008. This site has articles about everything, for employers, employees, and even people who are looking for a job (or just want to know where to shop).

Another website I found that really delves into the topic of diversity in the workplace is HR World's blog. They cover a lot of the hot topics today, like religion, gender, and sexual orientation. On this blog, I found an interesting article about English-only rules. I had not actually heard of them but it really affects diversity in the workplace. Here are the EEOC laws on English-only rules. I understand the laws pertaining to this but I don't think that it should be used as a discriminatory tool against those who do not speak English or who do not speak English fluently. As globalization increases, people have to realize that languages are going to overlap. It is already shown that knowing another language can increase your chances of getting a job or getting a promotion. While it is not necessary to have completely bi-lingual companies, if you want to attract certain consumers (and therefore, increase profits), you must accommodate language-wise.

Is This PR? - McDonald's and service dogs

2009-11-29T21:45:00.000-08:00

About a month ago, a disabled veteran, Luis Carlos Montalvan, filed a suit against McDonald's. His reasoning pertains to his service dog that inspired Al Franken's service dog program for disabled veterans. Allegedly, McDonald's refused to allow his dog inside the restaurant twice, even though after the first time, stickers were placed on the doors stating service dogs were allowed. Then, as he says, he went to McDonald's (but they were closed) to take pictures of the stickers and he was beaten with plastic trash can lids by unidentified employees.

This incident has caused more than just a lawsuit. A veterans organization also started a "small, but passionate" protest outside the 5th Avenue McDonald's, where the original incident took place. Whether it was small or not, I'm sure that a lot more people know about the incident. And people have strong opinions about the discrimination. The story is presented a little fuzzy so many people have doubts about the credibility of the events. Others are just outraged at the alleged mistreatment of a combat veteran.

Whether the story is true or not, McDonald's handled it badly. Besides the original written apology by the first McDonald's manager, there seems to not have been any other apology given to Montalvan. Quoted from the article from Military.com, this is all that I could find about official McDonald's comments: "A spokeswoman for McDonald's USA said the matter is under investigation and that the company could not comment further, other than to say that McDonald's takes pride in making its restaurants accessible to all customers, 'including those with service animals.'" Since according to the story, McDonald's did not make its restaurant accessible to all customers, this just makes McDonald's look even worse. McDonald's should not have waited for the situation to get to a lawsuit level. They should have handled it at the managerial level (and also, at the employee/worker level). Workers should have been trained better to deal with customers who have disabilities and other special needs, like service dogs. If the problem had been dealt with earlier (and better), the lawsuit may not have been filed and McDonald's could have avoided a lot of negativity.

Verdict? Bad PR.

Employee Relations - Let's be thankful

2009-11-29T21:05:00.000-08:00

In light of the Thanksgiving spirit, I think I'll concentrate on the idea of being grateful (and showing it) in the context of employee relations of a company. I think this is a pretty big part of employee relations. Of course it applies to all types of PR but it is particularly effective with employees because it is part of what keeps them happy. According to this article by Warren & Hays LLC, 70% of employees are "very thankful" for their job. This is good, however, the other 30% have different ideas. They even give a few suggestions on how to improve employee relations, such as conducting workplace surveys where employees can give their opinions anonymously. I think this would be really effective because by making it anonymous, employees can give their true opinions about the company without worrying about jeopardizing their jobs.

I also found another article, this time from Biz Coach Tim, that emphasized the importance of saying thank you to employees. While a lot of this article can be applied to all relationships in life, I think some of the advice works really well for employee relations such as these four steps to show gratitude (which are incidentally from another blog post from Kevin Eikenberry):

See it – look for reasons to be thankful to your team
Say it - they won't know that you notice what they do unless you tell them
Write it - this is much more powerful than verbal thanks and longer lasting
Share it - formal recognition is the greatest motivator of all.

Is This PR? - Miracle Whip v. Stephen Colbert

2009-11-13T11:52:00.001-08:00

Recently, Stephen Colbert dissed Miracle Whip in a parody commercial on his show, The Colbert Report. Well, Miracle Whip responded, in a unique way. They bought all of the ad slots for the commercial breaks on the Thursday showing of The Colbert Report. In these ad slots, they showed their normal commercials but with modified voice-overs that talked directly to Colbert. Before the show, they also ran an open newspaper ad (that also appeared in several places on the Internet) that was addressed to Colbert and said that they "WILL NOT TONE IT DOWN." In an article from the Chicago Tribune, there is an overview of the "marketing opportunity" taken, complete with a quotation from spokeswoman for Kraft (manufacturer of Miracle Whip). This article also touches on the irony that in addition to producing Miracle Whip, Kraft is also one of the top manufacturers of mayonnaise.

So, PR? Definitely. Good PR? The ballot's still out on that one.

I have read several responses to the retaliation and the sentiments are mixed. There are two sides to the opinions on this PR tactic. On the one hand, this is a light-hearted approach where instead of getting angry at Colbert, Miracle Whip brought it back with humor. On the other hand, it is a campaign that it taking it too seriously. Contradicting, right?

Well I'll start off discussing the good. Even Comedy Central, the channel The Colbert Report appears on, said Miracle Whip's letter was "admittedly funny." It was. The letter, and following commercials, took Colbert's humor and turned it back around in a creative attempt to retaliate the "Colbert effect."

And then there's the bad. The main problem is people believe Miracle Whip is taking itself too seriously as a product. The commercial is trying too hard. You should give 110% right? Which in any other case besides PR would be true. In PR, however, you must strike a balance. This article from Warming Glow seems to think it's too intentional.

In the end though, I think that most of the people who did not like the commercials were people who did not like Miracle Whip in general. The humorous approach to something they could have turned nasty is Good PR.

Ethical Ice Cream (CSR in action)

2009-11-13T09:26:00.001-08:00

When we were given the assignment to write a blog post about a company that uses corporate social responsibility, my immediate thought was one of my favorite ice cream companies, Ben & Jerry's. Ben & Jerry's has gotten a lot of attention on the subject matter of corporate social responsibility. They have an extensive mission statement that presents separate statements for social, product, and economic aspects.

I found several examples of their socially responsible practices in this article by an apparent B & J's enthusiast that include not using milk from cows that have been treated with recombinant bovine growth hormone which increases chances of infection (and therefore, pain) for the cows. They actually pay the farmers who raise the cows that they get their milk from NOT to use this hormone.

Another interesting example mentioned in this article is their ice cream flavor, American Pie. This ice cream flavor not only taste like an American classic, but is also part of a political media campaign of the company's. Here's an article from Junk Food blog that goes more in depth on the topic. Basically, the ice cream container features a pie chart that illustrates government spending. The purpose is to make people aware of the government's spending on things like nuclear weapons and the war. This is socially responsible, however, it may not be the best PR in general. As you can see from the comments on this post, some people feel that Ben & Jerry's is alienating half of Americans (conservatives). That said, I think it succeeded in informing people about the issue.

Another issue people have been criticizing Ben & Jerry's for is its recent acquisition by Unilever. As B & J's has always been pretty outspoken against corporations, this acquisition came as kind of a shock. Many consumers wondered if the company would still be able to continue all of its socially responsible actions. This blog post from Ideoblog seems to think Ben & Jerry's is still doing a good job. They are teaching their employees about CSR too.

In general, I believe Ben & Jerry's is doing a good job. I also think whoever does their PR is doing a good job too because the word is definitely out there about their socially responsible practices and stances.

Seriously, no company is perfect. As wonderful as it would be for every company to be socially responsible in every aspect, that's a perfect world and that does not exist. I believe that Ben & Jerry's puts in the effort in many aspects of its company and that is more than many other companies are doing.

Here is a quote I found while doing my search on more information for Ben & Jerry's. While it does not have to do with the company specifically, I think it illustrates the purpose (and importance) of CSR quite nicely:

"Money should never be separated from values. Detached from values it may indeed be the root of all evil. Linked effectively to social purpose it can be the root of opportunity."

--- Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Professor, Harvard Business School

The Role of a PR Practitioner in CSR

2009-11-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

As I began to read about the use of public relations practices in corporate social responsibility, I realized not everyone has very high opinions about it. Like this article from The Guardian in the UK, Christian Aid did a study (of which the validity/reliability I am still not sure) that shows that many people think that corporations "preach" about CSR but do not follow through on it (on a side note, this article shows that many people do not think very highly about the PR profession in general).
This leads me to my first point about the role of the PR practitioner when dealing with CSR. PR practitioners must publicize their companies' CSR and then make sure it is enforced. I agree with the article in that companies should not say they are being socially responsible when they are not (i.e. LYING!).
As long as it is being enforced, PR practitioners have the responsibility to make sure their publics and stakeholders know about it. This is their responsibility to the company and stakeholders. PR practitioners need to present it "in the most neutral tone with no hypes nor exaggerations." This quotation is from an article from DT Communications Asia Pacific. They also emphasize the idea that it is not only a specific event, like a fundraiser, but should be seen as an ongoing process where there is no "final point." This article also gives three pretty interesting examples that I feel really exemplify the importance of good PR in social corporate responsibility.
Social corporate responsibility is primarily the responsibility of the company. However, PR plays a big role in this because PR practitioners are the ones responsible for getting a company's socially responsible messages and values to the public. This generates more business for the company which in turn can generate even more socially responsible practices.

Music in the Digital Age

2009-11-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

With sharing music so easy nowadays, copyright lawsuits are becoming more and more common in the music industry. I was definitely one of those people who used Kazaa and Limewire, but I stopped after hearing about people (continuously) getting fined thousands of dollars for music that was worth less than half of the fines. And I understand where the music industry is coming from. People need to get paid, and not just musicians and CEO's of record companies. I'd bet that they would actually be some of the last to feel the cut from illegal downloading. Now, social media sites like YouTube are getting into trouble for allowing their users to use copyrighted music; it's the new battle in the music industry. The big case I'm talking about is the one between YouTube and Warner Music Group.

Warner Music Group has now been removing all of their musical content from YouTube. While this might be protecting their copyrighted material, it is alienating their consumers. YouTube is popular because you have the ability to find anything and everything on it. Taking content off because people are not paying for it, alienates everyone. And there's proof of this. YouTube users have been creating angry videos in response to Warner Music Group's decision to take down content containing their music. This is similar to the airline situation with Dave Carroll that I talked about in a previous post. The airline wronged him and he fought back using social media, specifically YouTube. This is creating a LOT of bad publicity for Warner Music Group. I bet their PR director is stressed.

The answer to these kinds of problems is Creative Commons. This organization provides free licenses to creators of material that allows these owners to choose what others can and cannot do with their original work. It allows people to make more creative works than they would under normal copyright laws. As a music fan (and a fan of music blogs), I think this is great. I love having music available to listen to all the time and I love with artists collaborate with one another or when some music enthusiast decides to make a remix or mash-up. It inspires creativity and, personally, I think it is great PR for a musician or band. I know this free PR is not needed for bigger, well-known bands, but for independent, lesser-known bands, it can get their names out there and make them big.

So what does this mean for PR? I think it means that record companies are going to have to seriously reconsider the regulations they put on their music. It should be the responsibility of the content owners (i.e. the musicians, I'm assuming) to decide the regulations and Creative Commons is the best way to do that. Record companies should look at the reaction to Warner Music Group and learn that strict regulations are not the best way to go even if they are the most protective of original content. Warner Music Group will need to rethink its policies and respond carefully to those angry videos protesting it.

Disclosure and Ethics in PR

2009-11-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

I think Dave Fleet's article about disclosure made some very good points. Yeah, for a lot of people, they don't know that someone else is doing the campaign and, subsequently, they don't care. But I believe that if people understood that a lot of the time PR agencies are creating the messages, they would care. With social media becoming one of the primary ways of communicating, more and more "average" people are becoming aware of issues that usually required some college courses or just an unhealthy affinity for a particular topic. Now, the "average" citizen can learn about issues like disclosure by reading just a few hundred words on a blog, like Dave Fleet's. I think one of the comments on this post really says it all:
John Carson said:

"I think if the campaign goes well, and everyone involved is a hero, then people don’t care about disclosure.

But, if the sh*t hits the fan, then people search for accountability and look back — ruefully — with hindsight about the disclosure issue.

By then, of course, it’s too late!"

That really sums it up for me. This emphasizes the importance of disclosure from the beginning. While, of course, everyone plans their PR strategies to go well but that is not how it always happens. If something goes wrong, which Murphy's Law teaches us that it always will, no disclosure means a much bigger mess than if you just tell the truth (i.e. not lie through omitting) from the beginning.

That said, as another commenter pointed out, giving disclosure on social media like Twitter where you have a limited space can be difficult. Paid tweets are becoming a big deal and the FTC is stepping in. One of the solutions that many PR practitioners are coming up with is some sort of indicator in the tweet that lets the reader know it's a paid or sponsored tweet. Stowe Boyd of microsyntax.com suggests putting "AD" at the beginning of the tweet. Brian Carter of TweetROI takes it a step further and makes the distinction between a paid tweet and a sponsored tweet. Paid tweets, where the company dictates the content, would be indicated by "AD," while a sponsored tweet, where the company does not decide the content, would be indicated by "SP." There are even more elaborate idea such as color-coding and different fonts for different types of tweets. No matter which way will eventually win out, the main goal of all of these ideas is to provide disclosure and keep Twitter-marketing ethical.

Is this PR? - Levi's Go Forth campaign

2009-11-08T19:42:00.000-08:00

I decided to start off my "Is this PR?" presentations with Levi's Go Forth campaign because 1. I, personally, think it is an awesome campaign and 2. I am writing an original criticism on it for another communication class!

Here is one of the print ads for the campaign.

To give a basic overview of the campaign, I'll start by explaining where the title "Go Forth" came from. As the narrative goes, it stands for Grayson Ozias IV, a family friend of Levi Strauss' nephew, who went exploring one day in the West (back when it was uncharted territory) and disappeared with $100,000. The company found his treasure (using wax cylinders he left behind). Now they are creating a virtual treasure hunt that ends with one person being able to do a real treasure hunt and find Ozias' fortune. "Go Forth" also connotes the freedom and revolution that Levi's is trying to create with this campaign. In addition to the "treasure hunt," they also have print advertisements and commercials which feature Walt Whitman poems like "America" and "Pioneers! O'Pioneers!" The entire campaign is trying to take people back to the pioneering age of America, when Levi's was started. Levi's uses other ideas like "The New Declaration" where they invite people to rewrite the Constitution or write their own.

As I stated before, I really like the campaign. However, among others, it has had mixed receptions. And I understand the thoughts of those who oppose it. There have been some blogs that think this campaign is beautiful yet ultimately will not reach its goal of selling jeans but rather alienate postmodern consumers. If you read the comments though, not everyone agrees with this. Others think the use of Walt Whitman poems is an interesting choice. Using poetry to promote a company is controversial because it is using art (something usually seen as not consumerist) to sell something; however, as others note, it's getting people to discover poetry and, really, Walt Whitman wrote reviews for his own poetry so it is kind of fitting that he would be used to promote jeans. I think Rick Mathieson does a good job at summing up the opposing views towards the campaign in his article. To answer some of the questions he poses, yes I do think this can "reset the brand" for today's generation. Just because it is obviously advertising jeans doesn't not mean it is trying to "brainwash" today's generation. It's true; people are pessimistic these days and, while they are not going to believe that buying jeans will change the world, the message Levi's could become associated with through this campaign, could.

In the end, I believe this campaign is good and I believe this campaign is PR. It is striking up conversations about Levi's and it is using social media to the fullest. The interactive element of this campaign puts it in this century, while the message brings back the past. This is a response to their recent financial failures to compete with designer brands, like Sevens and True Religion. Levi's listened to what their publics were saying and realized they could not compete in the same arena as designer brands so they decided to go an alternative route, back to their roots.

That said, I would love to hear other opinions about this campaign because, as I have seen, the views towards the Go Forth campaign have been quite varied.

Crisis Communications in action

2009-11-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

To help myself better understand crisis communications and the most appropriate methods to use (and how to figure out which are the most appropriate methods), I decided to look up a few examples of crisis communications in action. Of course, as I found out when researching for my previous blog post, being prepared seems to be one of the most crucial aspects of good crisis communications. What about if you are not prepared?

Lo and behold, I found an article talking about just that. While it is specifically discussing European firms, I think some of these things apply to American firms too (and actually, I don't mind the European aspect; I hope to work for an international organization). The exact statistics given in this article are that "although 60% of the business decision makers polled have experienced a crisis and more than half of these have experienced one in the past year, only 53 percent currently have a crisis plan in place." Now, I have learned from my statistics class to be skeptical of the veracity of statistics, for illustrative sake, I'll take these as is. This survey was led by Burson-Marsteller, a global public relations and communications consultancy (that description is word-for-word from the article except for the word "leading" which I remember is one of those means-nothing words). Basically the article discusses the consequences of not having a crisis plan ready, one of the more detrimental being that companies without a crisis plan usually have longer recovery period (they cite 9 months, rather than 7). Some other consequences they discuss:

bigger loss of revenue and layoffs
falling share prices
loss of corporate reputation
loss of media and/or public trust
law suits by individuals or groups

All of these I believe are quite true and quite important. They even give an example of this by mentioning British Airways.
...which leads me to the blog post I found specifically talking about why airlines usually have such bad PR.
As noted in the blog post, airline PR practitioners must have one of the most difficult and stressful PR jobs ever. When people are flying, they want a perfect, uneventful trip which seems to rarely happen. This article specifically talks about United Airways. The event discussed was about a Canadian musician, Dave Carroll, who flew United and subsequently had his expensive guitar broken by the baggage handlers. When he received no sympathy from United employees, not only did he blog about it, he even wrote a song and made a video (posted in this article). This has got to be a nightmare for United; musicians are obviously not the ones to cross. United suffered. However, these types of situations are not left just United Airways. All airlines are notorious for losing luggage, delayed flights, bad customer service, and, apparently, breaking customers' personal possessions. It seems to be unavoidable, so the only way an airline can keep its customers happy is with good customer service and good communications, largely the responsibility of public relations practitioners. It also discusses airline attempts (and fails) to use social media to help with customer service and complaints. I think this is partially due to the fact that many problems with airlines are seen as very serious and many people might expect something more formal than social media which is still seen sometimes as young and solely for entertainment. However, if airlines could figure out how to use social media to their advantage, it could be incredibly beneficial (that said, they may just have to wait it out for social media to obtain a more serious reputation).

Crisis Communication - thoughts on the exercises

2009-11-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

Ok so personally I find crisis communication to be difficult and a little terrifying. As much as I, and probably others, would love for public relations to be all campaigns and accepting awards, it's not. I can see this as being where public relations jobs get stressful. The exercises given by Professor Vargas really woke me up to this crucial type of communication for public relations practitioners. I really thought hard about my answers, yet I am still unsure of them. I hope this kind of thing becomes easier with practice.
So I decided to do a little more research on the subject (even using my new-found blog search source, blogpulse!).

"Like the good Boy Scout – a good motto for the crisis manager is 'Be Prepared'."

This is the last line in a blog post of Mike Love's about crisis management/communications. While I'm not sure what kind of actual experience Love has (though the first paragraph of the post seems to suggest a lot), I feel that his advice given in the post is very well said and quite correct. He reminds us that crises happen anywhere and at any time, so being prepared is essential. He mentioned several things like keeping copies of the crisis plan in other places, having alternate office spaces, and having alternate ways to communicate with the necessary people. Another idea that I really liked of Love's is his thought that the "Communicator" sometimes has to be the Devil's Advocate. I think this is true. The "Communicator", or what I am assigning to be the public relations practitioner, needs to be able to find the faults in the company/organization to be able to fix them and/or respond to outside accusations of these faults. If you don't think there is a problem, it won't get fixed.

Crises cannot usually be handled solely by the PR director of a company. Often, the company is too big, there are too many publics, and/or the situation is too much to handle for one person. Therein lies the importance of a crisis communications team, all of whom need to be trained in whatever their role in the team is. In an article written by PR Ideas, the role of the team members is discussed. The tips given in this article are interesting and are very pertinent for crisis communications. Basically, it reinforces what I have been reading in all of these articles and in the slideshow presentation from class.

Also, in my search on the blogosphere, I found an event that pertains exactly to what we are learning that's actually going on at this very point. Here's the link for the Social Media for Crisis Communications in Government.

Chapter 11 - Cyber-Relations in the Digital Age

2009-10-13T18:27:00.000-07:00

This has got to be one of the most interesting chapters for me to read thus far. It's funny how interested I am in social media and digital media because I'm really not that into it personally. I can't seem to keep up with more than networking site at a time and despite serving as webmaster for my sorority's website for an entire year, I still don't really know how to work HTML and other web site jargon. That said, I get excited to understand more about these types of media and the influence they have on society (and PR!).
One of the first terms the book recognizes is Web 2.0., stating in the last sentence of the section that "the reality of Web 2.0 comes down to this: It is all about you". To expand on this, when I saw this youtube video about web 2.0, made by Dr. Michael Wesch of Kansas State University, I absolutely loved it and the way it conveyed the unique relationship between the internet and its users. Here's Dr. Wesch's reaction to the explosion of hits his video received in just the first few days it was released (on youtube).
Another term this chapter talks about is convergence of media. This is another concept I find really interesting. Media converge more and more in the 21st century to form a more homogeneous channel, yet the messages sent on this channel are more and more diverse.
One of the more shocking things I read in this chapter is the "Social Ramifications" section. I never realized all of the consequences of social and digital media. I think the one consequence mentioned in this chapter that surprised me the most was the "mergers of media companies". I realized that several conglomerates owned a lot of the media companies; I learned about that in mass communication theory. The point that hit the hardest was the "loss of journalistic independence". I now better understand the potential loss for independent thought being published.

Week 6 - PR 2.0 & Storytelling

2009-09-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

This week we read articles and blog posts about "PR 2.0" and storytelling used in PR.

PR 2.0 refers to the revolution that PR has experienced. With things like social media and the need to have a plan for PR campaigns, public relations is becoming more integrated with marketing, as discussed on the discussion board this week. Having goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics separate and defining them well is key to a good PR campaign. It is important to know the difference between each of these parts of a PR plan and how exactly to arrive at them. The first blog post we read, Outputs, Outtakes, Outcomes…Oh, my!, explained this very clearly. It is also better to have some sort of measurable unit to make "success" easier to "measure." This comes in during the objectives part of a PR plan. Having a measurable unit also helps the company succeed by having something more concrete to aim for.

In the Public Relations Princess blog, the author mentions what she believes is the "PR student's online bible," so of course I decided I should check it out. This took me to a blog by a PR professor at George Southern called Public Relations Matters. It's a pretty interesting blog basically covering whatever this professor is covering in her class (and sometimes a little extra). And, of course, the most recent post just happens to be about Facebook and Twitter.

Like comments on blogs, having customer feedback is a great PR approach to websites. Things like reviews give a personal touch to the ratings of a company which increases the credibility and trust in a company. It also allows companies to hear what customers really think (though usually it is only strongly opinionated, good or bad, that reply), making it a cheap and relatively effective way for companies to hear how to improve their goods or services and for potential customers to hear about the goods or services. Stories, however, are even better. In many ways they can be more effective than reviews because stories are more likely to stick in your mind. Stories can also turn into something big. This is seen with the Jared campaign for Subway. Subway took one story about a guy who lost weight eating its sandwiches and turned it into a huge years-long campaign. The website alone includes his story, his statistics, the diet he followed, press releases, and "friends of Jared," or other people who were inspired by Jared to lose weight with Subway sandwiches. I personally am not even sure if I had even heard of Subway (or at least, considered it a viable choice for fast food) before this campaign. So, as personal experience goes, I'd say it was pretty effective.

I also found the part about a company as a community very interesting---and completely true. I know, and I'm sure everyone has felt this way before, that when I feel as if I am part of a group, I will work harder to improve the group. An example that fits me personally is Clemson University. People who feel they are part of the "Clemson Family" are more likely to want to improve the university and are more likely to stick around and finish all four years here. It's why there are so many campaigns, like One Clemson, aimed toward freshmen and transfers so they feel as if they belong at Clemson. A university without programs like these would probably not have as high of a retention rate. "Family" spirit is essential in other types of organizations too.

Chapter 9

2009-09-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

Chapter 9 discusses the different tactics public relations practitioners use. This chapter was very thorough in covering the basics for the several different traditional publics. The examples they gave at the end of the chapter were particularly interesting to me. Even though both of these campaigns happened relevantly recently, I do not remember either. That said, I was not the most observant teenager. After reading about them, I am really surprised I did not hear about them at all.
I also never realized how many different ways there are to communicate with a particular public. I also never realized how difficult it is to get a news release published and am now glad that I took a journalism class to improve my writing skills. Reading about the different tactics reminds me that there are so many ways to reach a certain public, you can always find the right one.
The three types of channels are special events, controlled media, and uncontrolled media. Each of these channels are important to understand for good public relations tactics. The idea of "pseudoevent" is very interesting and I think that I agree with the book when they say that whether or not it's a "real" event or just a publicity stunt, if it makes the news, who cares?
In the book, the authors mention the PR firm Edelman when discussing social media news releases. I decided to go to this site to see what the difference was between these and traditional news releases. This site is pretty great because not only to they have several social media news releases on their site, they also have the traditional news release so comparing the two was easy. It's obvious to me now the difference. While the examples on this website did not contain any videos, they were obviously shorter, giving only the most important information of the news story.
As someone who wants to get into nonprofit organizations, I found the section on public service announcements, the only section that specifically mentioned nonprofits, pretty interesting. I decided to go onto the Ad Council website and see what it was all about. When reading about them, I came across some of their most famous slogans, some that I never realized they came up with like "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk." The amount of famous slogans they have coined is truly impressive as many of these (including the one above) have been reused in society and other ad campaigns countless times. While this organization focuses on just one aspect of public relations, it is still impressive.

Chapter 8

2009-09-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

Chapter 8 discusses the different ways and strategies of public relations planning. The three types of public relations plans discussed in the book are ad hoc plans, standing plans, and contingency plans. Understanding the different types and purposes of PR plans is very important for a pracititioner because it sets the information for the details of the plan.

I found a blog post on prblogger.com that discusses twelve steps to a successful PR campaign. I found it to be really interesting because it combines information that has been covered in the past few chapters we've read. Here are the twelve steps that this blogger thinks are important:
1. Research
2. Situation Analysis
3. Objectives
4. Identifying Publics
5. Identifying Stakeholders
6. Key Messages
7. Strategy
8. Tactics
9. Timescale
10. Budget
11. Crisis Issues and Management Place
12. Evaluation
Also many of the responses, from PR practitioners, agreed with these twelve steps. I also agree. He gives a pretty good breakdown of all of the different steps, including strategy and tactics, two important topics for this chapter. While in many situations that PR practitioners have to deal with, there is not enough time to do all of these steps fully. This checklist is convenient to look at and I think I would find it particularly helpful when starting out in the PR business when you don't want to forget something important, yet it's not completely ingrained in your mind.

I also found this article about PR planning specifically for non-profit organizations which is particularly interesting to me because I have seriously considered working for one and truly enjoyed my internship when I did. This article does the same type of stuff as the blog post before but in greater detail and accommodating for a non-profit organization. This article also gives an example communications plan for a hospital. Seeing a communications plan written out as if for an actual organization really helps solidify the information and the importance of each step in the plan. These articles take the basic four elements of the written plan mentioned in the book and adds more details and elements to truly fill out the plan. That said, noting that the book only had four (goal, objectives, strategies, and tactics) shows that you do not always have to include every step and you should choose the most important elements for your situation when you are planning.

Chapter 7

2009-09-22T18:40:00.001-07:00

Chapter 7 of our book discusses the research (and subsequent evaluation) that public relations practitioners do to improve the methods they use and the relationships they maintain. I was definitely able to understand this chapter, especially the section that dealt with surveys and statistics, because I am also taking a statistics class this semester.
I also find the gray box on issues management very relevant because it seems like such an important management technique. Thinking about the example they gave about the U.S. cattle industry was really good because I actually remember when this happen and remember that it was handled very well. I never really realized the PR factor of this because, at the time, that's not at all what I was thinking about.
The Institute for Public Relations is an institute solely for public relations research. It seriously has research on nearly every aspect and type of public relations, from employee relations to international relations to reputation and trust. They even have articles about PR measurement and evaluation, something that was talked about a lot during this chapter. It's an issue because PR is something that is so difficult to measure accurately and the same every time.
I also decided to look up my own example of public relations research. What I found is a blog that posted a survey about which public relations agencies are best with social media and are developing the most beneficial social programs. She really goes into what the survey is about and, something I find important and interesting about this article, the demographics of the respondents. It almost seems that that part of the survey was just as important as the actual answers. This emphasizes that knowing exactly who your information is coming from is important and that diversifying it is also important.

Chapter 4

2009-09-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

Chapter 4 is about the publics public relations practitioners deal with during their workday. A public is considered any group whose members have a common interest or common values in a particular situation. That definition is copied straight from the book because I think it really covers it well and I can't think of a way to say it better.
I never thought of the different ways you can categorize publics so I was pretty surprised to find out there were so many. The publics involved in an organization are constantly changing. As our world becomes more diverse and more connected, the potential publics for an organization are becoming more numerous. I never thought about how the gay/lesbian community is a public that really has just emerged, or rather has just emerged as a potentially important factor. As it is becoming more acceptable, companies and organizations have to accommodate this community. A few decades back, the Hispanic community was probably not as prominent as they are now. Now, it is necessary for many organizations to have their consumer material translated into Spanish. Signs are in Spanish; instructions are in Spanish. This brings up the language factor. I'm sure it is much more crucial now for a PR practitioner to know another language. The different cultures of our world are colliding and we have to accommodate for that too. I am particularly interested in the multicultural aspect of PR (partially how I am hoping to use my minor in French). An article from PRSA about the importance of multiculturalism really made the issue clear when Virginia L. Kreimeyer, APR, said, "You have to look at the ethnicity and diversity from more than one standpoint. You have to be sensitive to what those cultures are, how members of the group perceive themselves and how other groups within the country perceive them." This same article discusses the sometimes overwhelming ethnocentrism that PR activities are "plagued by," meaning the tendency to see everything from the view of white, Christian, upper-middle class people.
Switching gears a bit, I also found an article about public relations on Facebook, on the pr-squared blog, that while is essentially an article about the social media revolution and the ridiculous success of Facebook, it also discusses publics. It talks about the demographic information of Facebook users that has changed from just college students to all ages (including the fastest-growing demographic of +35). The Facebook situation also reminds me of the example used in this chapter about Kablooie popcorn and reaching the teenagers on the internet. As Facebook has around 300 million users, of course companies and organizations want to get on the action and reap the benefits of having that many people in one "location." But as the article says, it's more difficult that it seems. Companies don't want to bring more business to Facebook (because seriously, they have plenty); they want to bring business to their own websites. The article suggest low-cost approach coupled with some advertising, widgets, and the like. And I agree. With the ever-changing world of Facebook (and really, the next big thing could come around any time), it's best to not spend too much money.

Chapter 3

2009-09-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Chapter 3 of our book discusses the history of public relations. I found it interesting that the book starts out the history talking about propaganda (and of course, with bad connotations and all) and publicity, two things I do not, or rather do not want to, consider public relations. Of course, the book does not say that it is public relations, just the predecessors of PR. Somewhat ironically, I was able to find a PR blog, called PR-Bridge, that discusses this very thing. This blog post talks about how we need to rethink PR history, something I found of great interest since I had just finished reading about PR history (even better, the blog talks about how history of PR is always covered in just one chapter of introductory courses; wow, hit the nail on the head). That said, when he refers to the "only favorable book-length history of the field" he is talking about a book by Scott Cutlip, a PR historian who is quoted and referred to often in our book. While the blog post doesn't delve into PR history itself, it makes some interesting points about how this PR history is created and how a new and better one should be created.

Once I read the Case Study on the March of Dimes which talked about FDR's efforts to raise money and awareness for those with disabilities, I wondered why he was not mentioned before in the chapter. I think an example of great public relations is FDR's fireside chats. These radio broadcasts given by FDR instilled confidence in and informed the public about what was going on. In the perilous time he was president, this was particularly important. Now, pretty much all presidents give some type of "fireside chat," or just a speech to the nation (President Obama takes it to the next level of technology by having his available on YouTube).

One of the most recent speeches given by President Obama and broadcast on YouTube is his speech to students. I know that I enjoyed his speech and do not take it in a bad way but I know that it started a lot of controversy so I decided to look up a little more about that. What I found were a lot of news articles that discussed the parents' views. Obviously, many parents did not approve. An article from the New York Times discussed extensively opinions about it but I think the opinions featured were a little biased. President Obama could have learned from PR history and the problems that arise often from speeches. Among all of the political disputes and divisions, a speech directed at children, even if it was with good intentions, is of course going to result in outrage and issues.

Chapter 2

2009-09-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed reading this chapter because I wanted to know more about the different job duties there would be in a public relations job. After reading that, I realized that my internship I did last fall exposed me to a lot of public relations duties for a non-profit organization (it was at the Foundation for the Oconee Medical Center). At first, I didn't even want that internship because I have no desire to work in health communications but actually it was a lot of public relations and I ended up enjoying it. Now I realize that it is more helpful than I thought. It especially showed me the types of job I will probably be doing at the entry level.
I find the concept of boundary spanning to be really interesting. The idea that PR practitioners act for the good of their relationships to the public expands the definition of public relations and helps explain the importance of a PR practitioner's job. The book then goes on to point out that there are multiple relationships and multiple publics transforming the job to "intersection manager."
The other part of this blog post is to search for PR jobs and see the actual job skills that employers want. The first place I looked was PR Week US in the jobs section.
Here's one of the more thorough descriptions I found for a director of public relations for Columbia College Chicago: link
It seemed to combine many of the attributes mentioned in other ads. Many companies require good communication skills, experience with press releases, and several mentioned working with the blogging/social media community. I also saw words/phrases like "high-energy" used to describe the wanted job applicant. Many of the jobs I saw posted on this site required a lot of experience, usually 10+. So I searched for entry level jobs on CollegeGrad Jobs. The jobs posted on here seemed to be much more varied when I searched for PR jobs. Many were called "account managers" or had something to do with sales. It was interesting to look at the types of jobs I will be getting in a couple of years to start off my career.

Chapter 13

2009-09-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

I found Chapter 13 to be really interesting because it elaborated on what the first chapter said about the difference between marketing, advertising, and public relations. I decided to look further into this subject and found this little example that I believe really helps:

"If you are having a difficult time distinguishing between the three, here's a good rule to follow: Imagine you see a potential customer you would like to get to know.

Marketing is when you strike up a conversation and, during the conversation, you explain how he or she needs a great company to do his or her finishing work and your company is the right one for the job.

Advertising is when you go up to the person and confidently talk about how fantastic your company is, how it is the greatest finishing company on Earth and perfectly equipped to make his or her every finishing dream come true.

Public relations is when the prospective customer comes up to you and says admiringly, "I've heard how wonderful your company is, and I'd really like to get to know more about it."

This was found in an article on allbusiness.com. Here's the link for this particular article:

http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing/advertising/784939-1.html

I thought this article did a good job of summing up much of what Chapter 13 said. As the worlds of advertising, marketing, and public relations melt together, knowing something about all of them to emphasize one of them is a necessity. Mass media is no longer the most effective way to reach a large audience. Companies are starting to focus on individuals instead of the crowd, which leads to the proliferation of integrated marketing communications (IMC). I found the five differences between IMC and mass marketing (focus on individual consumers, use of databases, use of a variety of approaches to send a message, use of consumer-preferred media, and favoring of interactive media) to be very helpful in understanding it. I found the discussion of database marketing to be interesting because while I have been exposed to them basically my entire life, I never realized how much they can make an impact and the effort that goes into creating them.

I really enjoy the focus on integrated marketing communications that is in this chapter. Before this class, I had never heard of this approach but now I believe that it is an effective approach to the communication field. The four P's of the marketing mix (and the subsequent four C's of consumer-driven IMC) make a lot of sense. I tend to like tips like these to remember important aspects of approaches. The detail the chapter goes into really explains it.

While I basically understand integrated marketing communications, I looked up real companies that use this approach to understand how it works in the real world. The company of Flesch, Pritchard, & Peebler explained it well on their services page. Understanding the different projects that go into IMC helps determine the directions I can go into in my career. Also, the occasion real-life example doesn't hurt either.

Thoughts on Chapter 1

2009-09-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

Chapter 1 of our textbook covers the many definitions of public relations. I really like that they explain clearly why public relations is not just publicity and should not have such a negative connotation. This chapter also covers the Hunt-Grunig Models of Public Relations, which shows the many different methods of PR that practitioners can take. I agree with the majority in the survey; I would emphasize the two-way symmetrical model also.
I like that the book chooses to define advertising, marketing, and public relations side-by-side because I was a little unclear about the difference. Public relations rely on values more than other branches because that is a lot of what practitioners deal with. They deal with the public (and others who interact with the company) and present the values of the company and how it is following them.
The four-step process that is used in public relations is a necessary cycle. I agree with the book when the authors state that the process is not linear. Each step can be repeated and they do not always go in the traditional order. The idea that values affect each step and are the basis of the entire process is an interesting one to consider because it may not always come to mind first.
In general, I agree with the book and find it has explained the current, always changing definition of public relations.

Introduction and My Definition of PR

2009-08-28T09:10:00.001-07:00

Alright, so for the introduction: My name is Laura. I am a communication studies major (with a French minor) and a junior. I don't know exactly what I want to do with my degree yet but I figure that I have a couple more years to figure it out. On a side note unrelated to school, I love to travel and look up new music in my free time.

Alright, part deux of my first post, my definition of public relations:
I found this to be difficult. I always hear about public relations and read about public relations but I have never been very clear on a concise definition (one of the main reasons I wanted to take this class). After reading the first chapter of our book, I think I will go with a relatively direct and literal interpretation of the field. Public relations is based on mediating an organization's relationship with its public.
Now, I am one of those people who learned from the start of the negative connotations of public relations. Before getting into this major and taking classes that covered, at least partially, public relations, the usual example of public relations that came to my mind was celebrities who have their publicists turning their mistakes into something better instead of trying to live with the consequences. Now, and especially after reading this first chapter, I know that this is not the only form of public relations and is really not a good example of the field at all.
My definition of public relations, however, is incomplete because this field is so broad, covering so many jobs and overlapping with other industries. It is marketing but with more focus on the relationship to the public, rather than the actual product. The product or service does have an effect but the focus is on the audience and their perception of the organization itself, rather than an individual product or service.
My definition needs work. I hope in this class I can learn a more complete and accurate definition of this field.