With a growing interest in public relations, I recently decided to go to a PRSSA meeting on Clemson’s campus where we had the chance to hear one of our professors, Bobby Rettew, speak about the power of public relations in our own lives. However, Bobby Rettew is not just a professor; he is helps run a small business that specializes in using the internet to deliver video messages by e-mail and social networking. He has many other note-worthy accomplishments and a more about him can be found at www.bobbyrettew.com.
His main message was that one of the first ways we, as students, could set ourselves up for an industry in public relations is by making our name into a brand. First, this enables us to market ourselves to potential future employers. Specifically, Rettew mentioned sites like www.linkedin.com to do this, and he encouraged us to put our name in the URL. For example, to access my Linked In account you go to http://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahcamille. This he argued makes it easy for potential employers to find you and your information. Secondly, Rettew told us that creating a brand for ourselves gives us a way to practice making good PR. Overall, I found his argument very convincing and think he made some valid points that I completely agree with.
Many social networking web sites are making brand names more possible. For example, this blog–http://101publicrelations.com/blog/protecting_your_brand_name_online_001843.html goes into detail about how facebook now offers us the ability to make our name part of our facebook URL in a way similar to my Linked In URL. The blog, like Bobby Rettew, supports making this change and also encourages us to make the change as quick as possible in order to “protect it.” However, at the same time, I think it is important for us to protect our online identities. In my opinion, the best way to do that is by keeping our social/private life separate from our academic/work life on the internet, and by refraining from disclosing any information that would allow someone to steal your identity or cause you harm. If you protect your identity and are smart about what you share, then you have the ability to successfully create a brand and positive image for your name that can take you far.
Chapter Nine discusses the numerous tactics public relations practitioners can implement in campaigns and for smaller goals/objectives. In today’s technologically-driven society, public relations practitioners have the ability to take advantage of the new advances in technology. In particular, the internet offers so many ways to contact different publics. If necessary, we could use Skype to set up an informal meeting among international employees or create a twitter blog for the organization that allows multiple publics to be updated with its improvements. New ads for a campaign or even commercials can be posted to YouTube.com to increase awareness of the cause. From twitter.com to Skype and business web sites, the options for social and online media have skyrocketed in the past decade. As a result, I think public relations practitioners need to keep up with online technology and use it as an advantage for their tactics.
The Institute for PR (IPR) has acknowledged society’s emphasis on social media and recently published an article entitled “An Analysis of the Increasing Impact of Social and Other New Media on Public Relations Practice” (http://www.instituteforpr.org/research_single/wright_hinson_social_media_miami/). I found the results of the analysis very interesting. The researchers found that traditional news media are more truthful, accurate, and credible. However, they also found that most feel social media influences news media and that social media has made communications instantaneous. The results suggest that public relations practitioners be careful when implementing social media in order to ensure its company’s credibility. Furthermore, I think public relations tactics should not be limited to online technology and social media; they should continue to use traditional tactics in addition to more modern tactics.
Another IPR article, “Mapping the Consequences of Technology on Public Relations,” (http://www.instituteforpr.org/research_single/mapping_the_consequences_of_technology_on_public_relations/) goes in more in depth to how public relations has changed as a result of the changes of technology. The article looks at how relationships with public relations practitioners and their publics has changed, how the content/quality of messages has changed, how technology impacts a public relations practitioner’s work, and how organizational structure and management are effected by technological changes. Overall, I think it is important for practitioners and companies in general to maintain current knowledge of what technology can do for communication with the business’s publics to help build/improve relationships.
As chapter eight suggests, in order to plan, the public relations practitioner must have a strong hold on its companies message, values, publics. I think today strategic public relations planning has become more important as society and our technology becomes more fast-paced and we are increasingly linked to one another. Because I grew up in an urban, fast-paced environment–Washington, D.C. I have seen the need for and utilization of planning.
A company based in D.C., M+R Strategic Services, is completely dedicated to planning strategic campaigns for companies, specifically nonprofit organizations (www.mrss.com). This company seems to utilize the power of the internet and keep up with technology, which is a very smart move, especially for a company based in such a fast-paced environment. For example the company uses internet campaigns that include facebook, twitter, and other available networking sites, in addition to implementing online marketing and fundraising.
One organization M+R Strategic Services planned a campaign for is Habitat for Humanity nternational, an organization I am sure many are familiar with (www.habitat.org/). In addition, the company is aiding the Save Darfur Coalition to increase supporters around the world, and ultimately help end the genocide (http://www.savedarfur.org/). M+R was actually responsible for several major media events that brought well known people like President Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and George Clooney to speak out on the genocide and garner support from American citizens. In a way to implement the power of the internet, M+R used its planning knowledge to get online postcards sent to President Bush that urged support to end the genocide.
M+R seems to use its public relations planning strategies in very effective ways. It seems the main goal of many of M+R’s clients would be to fundraise and raise awareness of the initiative. I would love to get an up-close look at how the company’s planners work with its clients to set goals, objectives, and tasks. I find it really refreshing and exciting that public relations planning can be put to such good use, the betterment of society. Overall, M+R Strategic Services is a very impressive, innovative, and cutting edge company.
Not only did chapter seven open my eyes to the ins and outs of public relations research, footage of focus groups I found on YouTube gave me an insider’s look into what focus groups entail and look like. I found footage of a focus group that reveals how a small group of people were utilized to research which type of salad dressing bottle was better – one with a screw cap or one with a flip cap (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuiI7BFhQl4).
It was interesting to see how the group interacted with each other by supporting each others decisions, and how they responded to the questions. I am curious, too, how the company came up with their questions, and what the purpose was of doing this focus group on salad dressing bottles. My guess is the company was trying to gain a consensus on whether or not to go with the flip cap and/or whether or not to increase the price of flip cap bottles.
The company that posted this focus group is Weatherchem, a company which works for food and pharmaceutical companies to manufacture plastic “dispensing solutions” (www.weatherchem.com). After a little research on their website, the focus group makes complete sense for the business’s goal to “Design, Develop, and Deliver Convenient, Controlled Dispensing Closures ” (www.weatherchem.com). Judging with what I learned from chapter seven, I think Weatherchem put on a successful focus group; they followed most of the ten steps to conducting a focus group. The moderator who asked the questions was concerned with the needs, values, and concerns of the group. I do think, however, that some of the questions were asked in a way that suggested the group find the flip caps more valuable and popular.
Overall, I think the research Weatherchem did for the salad dressing bottles was necessary to establish a plan of action for the promotion of their product. It probably reaffirmed the company’s hope that the majority of the public will probably value the simple, clean, and modern feel of a flip top as much as the company does. In addition to the focus group, I would suggest Weatherchem do a large survey (cluster sampling would probably be most effective) to gather more necessary information. Research is an important part of the planning process, and hopefully the company’s research, including their focus group, enabled them to increase their success of their product and reach their goal.
Seeing as the VMAs (Video Music Awards) are on tonight, I feel obligated to blog about the role public relations plays for entertainers and for major events such as tonight’s show. I really have no idea what working for an entertainer would entail, much less what handling his/her public relations would be like. I decided to do some research on this topic because I think it would be a fast-paced, overwhelming, but also fun job to be in charge of. I find it fascinating how MTV’s web site ( http://www.mtv.com/) has Facebook and Twitter so people watching can comment on the performances they are watching. It shows how technologically-driven our society has become. In a way it also makes the job of knowing what consumers think and what much easier for big corporations, like MTV. There is nothing like being able to give feedback so easily to organizations and for organizations to receive feedback so easily.
As chapter four mentions, public relations practitioners should be focused on building the necessary relationships with the various publics that are involved in the task at hand. For example, I would imagine a public relations practitioner working for a musician who just signed a record deal would be focused on publicizing the record deal. So, the practitioner would need to consider its relationship with consumers, the record company, the musician, other news media producers, and most importantly how the value at hand, the musician’s music, is incorporated or can be incorporated into each public.
There are several public relations agencies who are dedicated to serving entertainers, and I found one based out of San Francisco, CA (http://www.prthatrocks.com/) that deals with a wide range of entertainers. From little-known newbies to big name stars, the agency focuses on publicizing its clients and maintaining good relations with the necessary publics, such as consumers and producers/editors of news media. I think their web site does a pretty good job of “bragging” about the agencies accomplishments and relationships. It is important for agencies such as PR that Rocks to promote themselves by showing off the work they do. They want/need entertainers to come to them for help, so they have to make sure and communicate to prospective clients that they can give him/her what s/he wants and needs. This bit of research that I have done has really intrigued me and I would love to see a day in the life of a public relations practitioner who works for an entertainer.
Chapter Three discusses America’s history and transformation of public relations over the years. In a way, I do not really think the concept of public relations has changed since Bernays established it. It seems only how public relations caters to our society has transformed as our nation has grown and changed over time; the basic concept and fundamentals are the same we are just applying them differently. In particular, I found the case studies in the back of chapter three (about the Red Cross during 9/11 and Oklahoma City Bombing) interesting because they prompted me to think about the role public relations plays during our nation’s tragedies.
I found the study on the memorial for the Oklahoma City Bombing particularly interesting. I live right outside Washington, D.C. and could not tell you how many times I have visited the various memorials in the city. But, I never thought about the public relations work that is necessary to make each memorial successful. I looked at the website for the memorial (http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/) and found a lot of information about the behind the scenes work with the several publics–the government, local communities, and organizations like the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation. Public relations was necessary for raising money, gaining federal recognition, conducting the international design competition, and many more things.
Washington, D.C. recently constructed a new memorial in 2004 that honors those who fought in World War II, and I decided to do some research into what went into building it (http://www.wwiimemorial.com/default.asp?page=home.asp). Similar to the construction of the Oklahoma City memorial, the WWII memorial had to be accepted by the President. I am interested to know how a public relations practitioner would communicate with such an important figure because I am sure s/he has to go through several different people. However, I think the WWII memorial’s web site makes it clear how each aspect of the memorial (dedication, design, funding, etc.) has different publics to communicate with and manage. In order to get the overall goal complete, I think the WWII memorial and Oklahoma City memorial would need a public relations practitioner to lead each aspect because it seems to me that within each task there are several smaller things to do and people to build relationships with.
I knew a career in public relations offers various jobs, but I had no idea just how many options there were and how many different environments public relations practitioners work in. When it comes to finding a job for you, I think the most important thing is making connections and relationships with people in your desired field. In particular, public relations practitioners need to be focused on relations (shocker!) with all elements of their organization: media, employees, government, community, consumer, and investor. Guth and Marsh go into more detail about each relation, but I think its also important as a student to consider how one can get involved with these elements prior to getting a job.
After researching public relations career tips, I found some great advice (http://www.free-pr-advice.co.uk/prcareeradvice.htm). Two particularly great tips were to get experience and get personal, which I think tie into my idea to get involved while studying public relations. There is nothing better than hands on experience. It builds relationships and connections with the company you are working for and also outside of the company. You are allowed to grow and build connections with the multiple relations your company has. On top of that, experience also offers a great opportunity to get your feet wet and gain knowledge about the field.
Though I have heard about it before, I have become increasingly interested in the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and its benefits for students interested in a career in public relations. After reading chapter two, I have became even more interested in and how PRSA helps those seeking jobs and those seeking employers connect. I just looked at their web site (http://www.prsa.org/jobcenter/), and I did not realize what a large role PRSA played in public relations careers around the nation. I had no idea their web site offered such extensive lists of job offers along with salary information and career resources.
It is exciting to think how many opportunities to be successful are out there for me. Wherever I start of will probably not be ideal, but it is empowering to know that connections that I make through internships and other networking opportunities now will allow me to climb the career ladder. However, one tip I found was to avoid mentioning media contacts at interviews, which I think is true because one could potentially come off as conceited. Overall, I think getting a job in public relations (and probably any field at this day in age!) can be very nerve-wracking and overwhelming, especially when just entering the work force. So, the advice I always stick to is take a deep breath and then take on each task at a time. It’s all about baby steps!
I found Chapter 13 particularly interesting because I almost chose a major in marketing instead of communication studies. I always new advertising and marketing were very similar, but I had not realized the extent to which public relations is intertwined with the two.
Specifically, I found what Guth and Marsh said about Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) and Consumer-Focused Marketing most interesting. I found Northwestern University’s Journal of IMC website (http://jimc.medill.northwestern.edu/JIMCWebsite/site.htm), which goes more in depth about what it is and issues an annual journal with articles related to IMC and how they translate into today’s organizations/businesses . The website also provides a forum for students and professors to assess the ever-changing role communications plays in our society. One of the articles in the latest issue, Adapting IMC to Emerging Markets: Importance of Cultural Values in the Indian Context, I think would be very interesting to read. From my interpretation of what Guth and Marsh said about IMC, it can be applied differently to multiple types of organizations. So, I think the article would be interesting to read and see how cultural values influence IMC.
IMC, which is now growing in popularity, is easily effected by the consumer’s wants and needs. So, I see a direct connection with the growing importance of consumer-focused marketing and IMC. I also think one of the reasons the two are growing in popularity is because I think our nation as a whole is becoming more and more self-focused. And personally, I think it is a genius marketing strategy. If businesses are focused on the consumer, consumers will take that as personal care/catering to them–and who does not like that kind of first-class treatment?!
I found the web site (http://saltworksagency.com/)of a advertising agency in Salt Lake City, Utah that seems to have an innovative consumer-focused approach. They claim to have a “consumer-centric approach” to advertising and to dedicate a great deal of effort to understanding the lifestyles of consumers. Viewing the portfolio, I found their ads to be very intriguing, colorful, and broad-based. Overall, I think the agency’s approach is smart and must be successful. I would love to see what a day at work looks like at their office!
Chapter One of Guth and Marsh’s Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach discusses the role of public relations in the work place and how it’s evolved with society and technology. The authors give an overview of various definitions of public relations along with an overview of how the profession has transformed over the years. In addition, the chapter offers different public relations models, and I think the Dynamic Model is most widely applicable model of public relations as long as one remembers that values play a key role in all aspects (planning, research, evaluation, and communication) of the job.
According to Guth and Marsh, the key to success is credibility associated with effective public relations, and I think there is a lot of truth in that. I think a lot of public relations is maintaining a strong, dependable image for one’s organization and its products. Guth and Marsh discuss the four step, traditional view of PR: (1) research, (2) planning, (3) communication, and (4) evaluation, however they suggest this traditional view is not as applicable in the modern world. Instead, I think these steps are inter-connected and occurring simultaneously. So, it is the public relations practitioner’s job to balance these criteria all at once.
I also found the advice from Judith T. Phair to be very applicable and true for a successful career in public relations. I think her advice to think globally is especially important because current technological advances have allowed our world to become increasingly connected with one another. This global connection also brings the opportunity (and sometimes even expectation) for public relations practitioners to reach a wide range of people/cultures, making their jobs ever more difficult.
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