Well, the Isleworth community, where Woods lives faces a potentially damaged reputation in the aftermath of Tiger’s accident. Isleworth is known for its high class and wealthy members, many of whom are celebrities (i.e. Shaquille O’Neill) and “superrich” business moguls. Arnold Palmer, a golf icon of the 1980s (comparative to Woods) established this Isleworth. So, this high-end community is known for its challenging golf course and wonderful golf amenities.

According to a Time Magazine article, Woods’ crash is not the only mishap to have recently damaged Isleworth’s reputation. The first homicide in the community, recently occurred. In late September, Bob Ward, an Isleworth resident was charged with the murder of his wife. So, naturally, Isleworth residents are worried about the safety of their community.

These incidents were obviously bad PR for Isleworth, however, they remind us that an organization cannot necessarily control its own PR. Sometimes outside factors can influence PR. Nevertheless, it is important take these problems head on and recover as quickly as possible. With a good campaign in action, I think Isleworth can overcome this bad publicity and reestablish its reputation.

The CDC’s promotion for Autism awareness has been increasingly successful over the years, as the disease has become more present. Autism is a disease that seems to have increased in numbers over the years, and the Learn the Signs. Act Early. campaign aims to increase awareness of autism, inform parents of early warning signs, and encourage developmental screening. The ultimate success of this campaign, however, is most likely a result of its partnerships with other Autism awareness organizations, including Autism Speaks, Autism Society of America, and First Signs.

This ability to team up reinforces the message and makes it more available to society—ultimately a great PR move! In addition, the media frequently publicizes autism. For example, Jenny McCarthy’s book, Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism, about her autistic sonwas heavily publicized when it was released. This publicity can prepare audiences in advance to be more receptive to the CDC’s campaign, ultimately making the Learn the Signs. Act Early. campaign more effective. Overall, I think this campaign was successful in publicizing autism, but it was not very difficult spread the message because there is already a large focus on autism in American society.

]]> http://schipp.prblogs.org/2009/11/30/learn-the-signs-act-early-is-this-pr/feed/ 0 http://schipp.prblogs.org/2009/11/30/is-this-pr-inside-the-verb-campaign/ http://schipp.prblogs.org/2009/11/30/is-this-pr-inside-the-verb-campaign/#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:32:21 +0000 schipp http://schipp.prblogs.org/?p=120 Remember the VERB campaign? It encouraged young children (ages nine to thirteen) to be physically active every day, and its goal was “to increase and maintain physical activity among tweens.” According to research, one third of children and teenagers are either overweight or at risk of being overweight. From 2002 to 2006, the VERB campaign tried to engage the community, and create a change in unhealthy eating behaviors and laziness. The messages and goals of this campaign were sound, but their poor execution led to its ultimate ineffectiveness.

Furthermore, I think the dependency “tweens” place on television and/or video games for entertainment can lead to unhealthy snacking behaviors. In addition some studies have found associations between the sheer amount of time a child watches television and the child’s weight.So, the importance of the media in our daily lives makes it difficult for the VERB campaign to be successful.

The campaign would have to change TV viewing patterns and dependency first, and then promote an active life in order to more effectively evoke change. Some may have benefited from this campaign, but ultimately this campaign failed because it was unable to collapse and rebuild our society’s rigid social structure into a pro-activity life. I also think it’s message was simply not loud enough and consequently fell to the wayside of the many other messages we receive every day.

According to eHow’s article, “Reccomendations for Recruiting and Selecting Employees,” recruitment efforts must be planned out in advance in order to reach a wide range of potential employees and to ensure the potential employees will be qualified and interested in the job. In addition, a public relations practitioner should make sure to publicize the criteria for the position(s) and the fact that the business offers and expects new employees to grow. Also, those who hire the employees should gauge how motivated the potential employees are.

Closely related and intertwined with an organization’s recruitment efforts are its retention strategies. According to a ManagerWise.com article, replacing a typical employee can cost anywhere between $7,000 and $14,000. For more high-paying and high-demand jobs, like a critical care nurse, it can cost $185,000.  This is a great reason why it is so important to have effective retention strategies–it saves money! ManagerWise.com has a 5-step strategy for high retention rates, PRIDE:

P - Provide a Positive Working Environment
R - Recognize, Reward and Reinforce the Right Behavior
I - Involve and Engage
D - Develop Skills and Potential
E - Evaluate and Measure

Overall, I think this is a good plan that can be applied to many businesses. However, I think these steps should be personalized for each organization. In general, it’s important for all businesses to consider creating a sound retention and recruitment plan. After all, if a business’s recruits effectively and hires employees that are a good match, then it will have a good chance that its employees will stay with the business.

A great example of internal communications at work is General Motors (GM), a company that realized it needed to revamp its employee communications after a big strike in 1998. According to an article, GM created a new position to help do this–Business Communication Integrators, whose job it was to consult head quarter executives on local performance and instill consistent roles and processes for all employees. Ultimately the goal became for GM to create relationships between their managers and employees with more trust, understanding, and communicating. So, GM created the Internal Communication Improvement Process (ICIP) to help make relationships stronger on all levels of the communication hierarchy.

I think GM’s efforts seem great, but it’s hard to know if they are really doing a good job and creating stronger relationships via better communication. This slide show from the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) shows how GM measures the effectiveness of its employee communications. After looking at their plan, it seems to me GM’s employees really do have great internal communication. Their overall internal communication plan seems very thorough and effective. I’m impressed with its internal public relations!

A great example of this type of CSR, is Sprint’s recent announcement that they will soon include greener products and accessories, including a phone made with corn and a solar-powered phone charger. Offering these new eco-friendly accessories, is a great way to show customers that they, like many, are concerned for the environment and doing something about it.

The Sprint community also announced, “As part of the Sprint Go Green initiative, consumer customers will be automatically switched to summary billing.” So, it seems some of Sprints changes will help them use less supplies and save money, while also being socially responsible–it’s a win, win situation! In addition, Sprint is encouraging people to recycle their used phone’s this holiday season via it’s wireless recycling program. Visiting Sprint’s website shows you their videos, inside looks, and the other interactive information they have. You can see how dedicated they are to being environmentally-friendly and how great of a job they are doing in publicizing their “Go Green” initiative.

Another great move, Sprint made was their CSR partnerships with organizations like EPA Climate Leaders, EPA Green Power Partners, the Carbon Disclosure Project, and eight other socially responsible corporations. They even tap into Twitter with their Sprint Green News twitter feed. Overall, I am so impressed with Sprint’s ability to be socially responsible and also publicize it. Their PR practitioners are doing a great job and being very innovative!

Socially responsible organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment in all aspects of their operations. This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large.

It seems to me CSR is an especially crucial part of non-profit organizations, environmental-based businesses, government business, and other organizations focused on the community. While researching business programs for graduate school, I stumbled upon a CSR quiz. After taking the quiz, I realized that the values of CSR can be applied to almost all major organizations because they all deal with society in some way. For example, Forbes ranked Wal-Mart America’s number one most generous corporation. Also,  Ethisphere magazine ranked BMW the world’s most ethical corporation. I would really encourage taking the quiz because it made me realize the importance of CSR and how prominent it is in major companies that many of us know about.

In addition to the campaign’s message that the vaccination is necessary to insure better sexual health, the campaign also sends an underlying message of female empowerment. The One Less campaign “focuses on a strong and positive message that is designed to empower [women and girls] to want to become ‘one less’ person who will battle cervical cancer.” I think the success of the Gardasil ® One Less campaign is attributed to its multiple positive messages and its ability to create change in society while empowering women.What mother or young woman could view a Gardasil commercial or advertisement and not value/appreciate its overall message? None that I know, and I think that alone speaks for the successful PR behind the One Less campaign.

So many companies and brand names we see everyday are in need of global publicity–the Coca-Cola Company, Disney, car companies (Toyota, Volkswagen, etc.), General Electric, numerous clothing companies and SO much more. Coca-Cola, for example has an extensive public relations team, and some of their recent work can be seen on the press center section of their web site. In addition, there is an interesting video that explains just how global their work is. For example, the video mentions how Coca-Cola is sold in 206 countries. And, Coca-Cola has recently sent three “happiness ambassadors” to visit all 206 countries and observe the differences of what makes people happy around the world.

As a result of the need to reach people on a global level, I would imagine the demand for global PR is very high. Most of the large companies I named have their own PR heads/sections, but there are still some  businesses that need help. A New York based business, Strauss Global Public Relations, works with clients in need of global publicity that do not have the resources and extensive team that bigger companies like Coca-Cola have.  Strauss has worked with NASDAQ, National Coupon Month, and many other companies to create campaigns and promote global awareness of its client’s initiatives. Unsurprisingly, many of Strauss’ tactics involve web site development, and implementations of other internet resources. All in all, I think the public relations values for each should remain the same, but the scope in which you view each area of emphasis should become broader as the communities you cater to become broader.

This year, the PRSA conference centered on hot and relevant topics, including social media, crisis communications, branding and sustainability. And on top of that the big name speakers were there to discuss these topics, all of which I have recently blogged about. If only I could afford a ticket to California! But on a more serious note, the reason I decided to look into this was because I was not informed about the conference until my teacher mentioned it, even though I am a member of PRSSA.

So, why does a conference centered on PR topics and hosted by PR organizations not have good PR? From researching online, it seems as like the conference was publicized on prsa/prssa web sites for different chapters. However, social media, like twitter and facebook, lacked communication/information about the conference. Personally, I think a good tactic for informing PRSA and PRSSA members of the conference would be personal emails. In addition, using online media and/or partnering with another PR organization may help spread the word. Contacting PR practitioners of national companies may be another wise move. All in all It seems to me that the PRSA Conference was a success, but in my opinion, could use more PR for a better turn out.