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December 14, 2020

Looking Back on CAP 220

I entered this semester with a pretty decent understanding of what public relations was. “I believe that Public Relations is the facilitation of communication and the transfer of information between a business and the community that it functions in. The goal of PR is to maintain a strong, healthy reputation and relationship with the consumers.” To this day, I think that this quote from my previous blog post, The Power and Purpose of Public Relations, rings true to some extent. Still, the younger version of me had almost no idea what public relations actually looks like in the professional world. My experiences this semester has given my classmates and I a glimpse into the real work done by PR professionals, and has allowed me to see what a career in the field might actually entail.

The Campaign Plan

Our overarching task throughout this semester was to create a campaign plan for a nonprofit organization, called Family Futures, that does amazing work in our local community. This assignment offered a welcomed change of pace from my work in the past, that was focused on building already substantial wealth and expanding profits in the corporate sector. To me, this experience was most notably about getting excited to help people create change and finding enjoyment in professional writing. Many hours and 60 pages later, I take pride in the final plan product that I have created.

While my final product may not be infallible in the suggestions that it prevents, my efforts in creating a realistic plan were incredibly self-rewarding. Rarely in my educational experience have I left the class feeling that my product could be mistaken for professional work. In an educational system that often feels abstract, or likely disconnected from the reality of a career in the field, creating this campaign plan has provided a more clear view of the work that awaits me. While this feeling has been rare thus far, I am more often doing professional work as I approach graduation.

The Progress

To me, my growth this semester is most evident when considering how I discussed public relations 96 days ago. In this blog, my descriptions of the field are extremely general, and often theoretical. I describe the job of a PR professional as a “continuous discussion with the customer base.” But what does that actually look like, and how is it carried out in the real world. The truth is that, at that point in time, I had not the slightest clue. I understood the role that PR served in an organization, but not how people in the field carried out that role.

Fast forward to now, with an exhaustive campaign plan completed and many auxiliary creations related to the field, I can at least grasp what the everyday work of a PR professional might look like. In the past few months, I have conducted surveys and interviews, created a GANTT timeline spanning 10 months, crafted a budget, produced two billboards, drafted a pair of promotional emails, written a press release, and much more. Completing these elements of the course provided many opportunities to fail upward, succeed, and gain confidence in a field of interest to me.

Conclusion

CAP 220 was a class unlike any that I have had before. It allowed me to sharpen my skills as a professional writer, and improve my organization as a (one-person) project leader. However, one of the most rewarding aspects of the class was the freedom. As students, we were allowed to rely on our own creativity and self-motivation to create the best possible final product. This was extremely difficult at times, especially with the stress of the COVID-19 world and unfamiliar virtual classes. However, the freedom granted to students contributed to an amazing learning experience, and has made me much more proud of the work that I have done.

October 26, 2020October 26, 2020

PR Messaging in a COVID-19 World

The world is constantly on fire. Or, at least, that’s how things feel nowadays, but as a company, is that the right message? How do businesses toe the line between stirring up anxiety and feigning ignorance? How could their approach to those questions affect consumer trust in the brand, and how can public relations personal fix any messaging mishaps in these times of uncertainty? COVID-19 is forcing us to ask a lot of tough questions, many of which have no clear answer. However, it is increasingly important that public relations professionals are vigilant in their research, and proactive in their quest for the perfect messaging strategy.

The Dont’s

Eight months into a global pandemic, companies across the world are continuing to adapt and change with the world around them. For many businesses, profits and supply chains have faltered along the way, leaving less room in the budget for marketing and public relations. People working in these fields simply don’t have the resources to do large research projects, though now is a time when research is needed more than ever. In times like these, it pays to be creative. AdAge.com, a marketing news media service, published a series of studies using surveymonkey.com in an attempt to find the most effective messaging tactics relating to COVID-19. The first study asked an important question, “are consumers ready for COVID-19-specific package claims” (Molnar, 2020)? The answer, like all things in this dreadful year, is complicated.

Morgan Molnar, the author of the AdAge piece, found some interesting trends in the data. The author created a collection of ads for a hand cream with messages including, ‘anti-bacterial,’ ‘anti-viral,’ and anti-COVID-19.’ First, consumers took more notice of the COVID-19 specific messages, calling them ‘interesting’ and ‘unique.’ However, these advertisements were the lowest rated overall options, with a few recurring themes. The common comments about the COVID-19 specific ads were ‘false,’ ‘unbelievable,’ and ‘questionable.’ Clearly, these messaging concepts weakened the trust between brand and consumer. This is exactly the type of fractured relationship that public relations professionals are brought in to handle, and something that they will likely see more of in the near future.

Our recent political discourse, combined with general ignorance and good old fashioned misinformation, have led to a public distrust in COVID-19 information. Because of this, statements made about the virus must be indisputable and relevant to the product or service being offered. Even so, COVID-19 messaging seems risky at best, and may be best avoided altogether. It seems as though consumers are already living with anxiety amidst a global pandemic, and a trigger for such emotions turn them off to the product.

The Do’s

Though COVID-19 messaging may be ill-advised, there are some options that seem to be effective, and more conducive to a healthy brand-consumer relationship. David Muller of the Automotive News found local business owners that had struggle in the beginning of the pandemic, but managed to turn the tide toward success over time. The common thread, feel-good messaging. These business owners were extremely concerned with putting their efforts into showing consumers that they care, and they were be flexible and understanding in the face of uncertainty. Because of this, they were rewarded with customer referrals, and continued business.

Another public relations strategy that proved to be successful is endorsed by PRovoke media.com. For this method, companies are advised to step back from overt selling, and start emphasizing customer comfort in their new reality. COVID-19 has caused our worlds to go askew, and feel-good advertisements offer the reassurance and stability that consumers of looking for. As the previously mentioned AdAge article states, “there are no rules, magic bullets or absolutes in how companies should approach consumers today” (Molnar, 2020). However, the strongest COVID-19 specific messaging tactics in this era of uncertainty involve positive feelings. In order to connect with consumers, advertisers should offer light instead of darkness.

October 4, 2020November 2, 2020

A Corporate Controversy, and the Lessons Learned

When most people think about public relations, they think of one thing, the crisis. These events make headlines, create conversational buzz, and cause splitting headaches for any PR professionals involved. Organizations have been making mistakes and doing unsavory things since the dawn of time (basically). However, the ease at which information spreads today makes public relations disasters more dangerous than ever. Because of this, professionals in the field must be absolutely aware of their organization’s actions, and ready to respond immediately when things go awry.

H&M, a British clothing company, is no stranger to PR debacles. Nonetheless, they found themselves shrouded in controversy in 2018 after a picture on their website went viral on the internet. The photo depicted a young Black child wearing a sweatshirt that read, “coolest monkey in the jungle.” The business was slammed with accusations of racism and insensitivity (for obvious reasons). As a short-term response, according to the New York Times, H&M took down the image, and vowed to remove the product from their website altogether. But the damage had been done and removing the divisive images did not silence the calls for responsibility by the public.

Proactive, Strategic, Reactive, and Recovery

The Conflict Management Life Cycle breaks crisis response into four stages: proactive, strategic, reactive, and recovery (Dennis Wilcox, 2015). The company’s inability to see a potential issue with the insensitive image exposes a notable lack of foresight during the website management process. If the company were proactive, employing issues management techniques to predict possible public relations complications, they would have had a system in place to comb their own content and eliminate all potential problems. However, H&M failed in this step, and was ill prepared to respond in during the initial backlash as well.

After removing the photo, an action that was deemed the obvious move by the public, the company attempted to shift blame. They claimed, “it is obvious that our routines have not been followed properly,” and promised an investigation. The comment, which was nothing other than an excuse, was an attempt to obfuscate the narrative. Honesty and responsibility would have been the more beneficial position, yet H&M chose to muddy the waters instead. Their refusal to take responsibility was not unnoticed by the public, and their crisis continued to rage on. On top of this, the company’s response dragged on for days, an eternity in the public relations world. The company could no longer drag their feet.

On January 16, nine days after the debacle had started, H&M made an announcement. The company apologized yet again and committed to hiring a diversity leader. Though they maintained that the event was completely unintentional, they asserted that their resolve to become more sensitive to diversity was legitimate. The move was absolutely necessary because the story had picked up mainstream relevance. Stars such as Lebron James, The Weeknd, and G-Eazy expressed outraged and the latter two even canceled deals with the brand. Though the company’s image had certainly been shaken, this action was positively received by consumers.

In the aftermath of the controversy, H&M suffered from a stark decrease in sales. The company insisted that their culture change was entirely genuine, but the company still recorded their lowest profits in sixteen years. The recovery phase was a long, arduous journey. Still, the company committed to a “long term view.” In the eyes of company executives, this was a painful, but necessary speed bump on the path back to public trust. The H&M’s recovery efforts entailed simply supporting their previous decisions, and making clear that Annie Wu, the diversity leader who was promoted from within the company, continued to revamp the corporate culture.

Lessons Learned

H &M mismanaged this unfortunate event from the beginning, and payed a heavy price. The clothing giant opted to shift blame from the company culture to employees who may not have been following routines properly. This claim, followed by a more However, one action that has proven to be effective was appointing Annie Wu as diversity leader, a position in which she remains to this day. With Wu overseeing the internal diversity at H&M, the company reported turnover and profit increases from 2018 to 2019. According to a study published by Wiley, a chief diversity officer can motivate employees, energize employees, and improve stakeholder relations. This means that, while appealing to the public, H&M was instituting real structural change. After providing lip service to angry consumers, H&M finally committed to actually addressing the issue within the company, and that proved to be the right decision.

P.S. Drop caps are pretty fun.

References

Wilcox, D. L., Cameron, G. T., & Reber, B. H. (2016). Public relations: Strategies and tactics. Boston, MA: Pearson.

September 21, 2020October 4, 2020

Public Relations Research: The Art of Knowing

Oftentimes, the public relations profession is associated with feelings, hunches, and a general ‘finger on the pulse’ of the public. This understanding is based on a flawed and outdated perception of the field, as research of all kinds has become more and more important with the globalization of the market and the connectivity of the internet. In these modern times, competition is fiercer and seemingly everyone is able to stay up to date with events both local and international. For these reasons, research has never been more important in public relations, and is often the driving force behind successful messaging and gleaming reputations.

The Past

Research has always been an important element in the work that PR experts have done. To gauge what type of message would generate a positive response from the community is one of the single most important tasks that these professionals face. Not only that, but research can also be useful in gauging one’s own performance, especially in an attempt to prove value to another entity. As Don Stacks explains in Primer of Public Relations, public relations professionals have used research to prove to a client that they’re successful connecting to the public, and that their efforts have led to positive results (Stacks, 2011, pp. 3). These findings, as the author explains, were also used to adjust tactics when necessary.

The Present

Perhaps the most striking development in the evolution of public relations research has been the emergence of the internet. Since its conception, the world seems to be shrinking, and people are now more connected than ever before. This has countless important implications. One is that the communities in which organizations function have grown to include more than just local individuals or people who are directly connected to the brand. Another change brought along by this process is the globalization and expansion of markets. In this context, research is absolutely necessary in order to see how differing cultures accept different public relations tactics. In Public Relations, Society, and Culture: Theoretical and Empirical Explanations, the authors thoroughly explain the expanding role that anthropological research plays in public relations success (Lee Edwards, 2011, pp. 28-29). It is no longer sufficient to understand our own culture, it has become absolutely vital to be proactive and study the behaviors of humans across the globe.

On top of the shifts in research application explained above, the age of information has also allowed organizations to gather more information about public perception. The connectivity of the internet swings both ways, and public relations professionals have capitalized on this fact. One prime example has been unfolding in front of our very eyes. As social justice issues continue to (rightly) stand among the most pressing public concerns, there has been a noticeable shift in how companies and other organizations react. In the past, these entities would often take the safer route: silence. However, it has become increasingly common to see support and solidarity instead. Why? Because the public perception has shifted within the past few years, and research into consumer behavior has pressured organizations to take a stand. In a study by Porter Novelli, 73% of executives said that companies had “more responsibility than ever before to take stands on social justice issues.” The same study also confirms that this is at least partly financially motivated, as 89% of the executives believed that companies are at a competitive advantage when they lead on social justice.

Final Thoughts

It is clear that research plays an integral role in the public relations process, and that this role is expanding as the internet allows organizations to connect with an ever growing audience. While professionals in the field continue to use research to show the value in their work, it is the newer applications that show how powerful it can really be. Public perception is always changing, and (like in the case of social justice) research is absolutely essential to understand the current trends.

September 9, 2020September 16, 2020

The Power and Purpose of Public Relations

Last week, I was asked to define public relations in my own words, without any research on the topic. After a bit of consideration, I came up with this: I believe that Public Relations is the facilitation of communication and the transfer of information between a business and the community that it functions in. The goal of PR is to maintain a strong, healthy reputation and relationship with the consumers. To me, public relations is all about hosting a continuous discussion with the customer base. It requires a certain give and take to develop trust and loyalty to a brand. Public relations can, however, extend far beyond simply communication between provider and consumer.

Created by Trajan Shomin using MonkeyLearn.com

The Short-Term

Public Relations experts are vital when a company is looking to quickly boost the notoriety of a product or event, as well as when a potential disaster takes place. The short-term benefits of a strong PR background can make or break a business in its most pivotal moments. Just before the release of a new product or the start of a new event, an excellent team can whip up enough attention and excitement to kickstart the campaign. Similarly, when a company is shrouded in controversy, a public relations group can help avert financial disaster.

An example of this manifested itself in 2017, when Adidas sent an ominous message to runners who finished that year’s Boston Marathon. The email read, “Congratulations, you survived the Boston Marathon” (Calf as, 2017 , para 3). The message was met with outrage due to its insensitive nature. After the tragedy that took place at the finish line of the 2013 race, the German clothing company had no excuse for making such a statement. So, they didn’t make any excuses. Adidas, whose PR department should have struck down the email before its release, repeatedly apologized to runners and customers for their ignorance. The heartfelt apologies were accepted by the community, and thus the public relations department stopped the bleeding.

The Long-Term

While short-term public relations activity can be exciting and often make headlines, it is a cohesive long-term strategy that can silently create an empire. Some companies are so successful in this area that they have become a household mainstay in many areas. These companies use tactful messaging to develop unyielding trust and loyalty. A relationship like this may be the end goal for any public relations team but can also come with certain ethical and moral issues. When the lines between company/organization and family start to blur, manipulation can run rampant.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of the NRA. The gun lobbying group was formed in 1871 and has used public relations strategies to become one of the most influential forces in politics. Their message has permeated households across the United States, despite their reputation as a tool for firearm producers and other large corporations. However, all good things come to an end, and in 2019 the NRA cut ties with their longtime public relations partner, Ackerman McQueen. This, amid countless lawsuits and suspicions of misusing funds, has weakened trust in the organization in the business world (Pane, 2019). Despite the long-term and continued success of their PR efforts, the NRA is proving that ethical activity and strong communication is vital throughout the entire duration of a PR relationship.

Overall Outlook

In the end, public relations is a pivotal part of the short-term and long-term success of a company or organization that functions within the public eye. The importance of the industry is, to me, what makes it so special. However, success of the company is not the only benefit that such a service can provide. According to an economic paper by Gregor Halff and Anne Gregory, public relations serves an important macroeconomic purpose as well. A society functions higher if their resources are used efficiently, and the authors argue that PR helps ensure that these resources are allocated as effectively as possible (Gregory, 2015). Public relations is a valuable element for both organizational success and economic stability, making it an extremely important factor in the business world.

Works Cited

Calfas, J. (2017, April 18). Adidas Apologizes After Sending ‘You Survived’ Email to Boston Marathon Finishers. Retrieved from Time Magezine: https://time.com/4745066/adidas-boston-marathon-email/

Gregory, G. H. (2015). What is public relations to society? Toward an economically informed understanding of public relations. Public Relations Review, 719-725.

Pane, L. M. (2019, June 26). NRA Splits With PR Firm, Lobbyist and TV Station Amid Infighting. Retrieved from Associated Press: https://apnews.com/7c30278f978d47fb9f632cf7a19deaec

March 31, 2019April 1, 2019

Branding Myself: Developing an online reputation

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Throughout the past few months I have been tasked with improving my online brand. I enlisted the help of brandyourself.com in order to learn how such a broad and daunting task could be faced head on, I was not disappointed. The site gave me a baseline, a way to see where I was started and how I could improve using simple, savvy tricks. My original score was pretty much exactly what I had expected. Nothing negative, but nothing really positive either. This was unsurprising to me as while I am not at all reckless, I am also not overly active. To bring my score up, that was the key. For me, improving my digital persona was more about promoting myself rather than suppressing negative information. Because of this, my job was pretty easy. In order to improve my score, I needed to make my presence as visible as possible.

The first order of business was to give the site more information to properly adjust my score. I did so immediately by combing through the search results it found and letting the system know wether or not the the article was actually referring to me and if so, if it is good, bad, or neutral. Luckily, my name is rather unique and it turned out that most of the articles cited were indeed mentioning me in their writing. Much of the content was neutral, ranging from old sports rosters to obituaries. Luckily, none of the results were bad, helping my score advance just a little bit. But most importantly, I was able to tag a few as positive results, a luxury that kicked off my quest for online improvement very nicely.

The second method I looked into was updating and remaining active on social media. Brandyourself.com helped me in a major way, allowing me to understand what it takes to promote myself in ways I had not previously considered. The site has guidelines on what the optimal social media bio looks like, and I took it upon myself to improve my own on every platform possible. On top of this, I began to tweet more and have even posted on Instagram, something that was before a rarity. I also began to focus on other sites as well, most notably, LinkedIn. The decision to be more assertive on this network was an easy one. While Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have a major influence on the social aspect of our lives, LinkedIn can provide a valuable pathway into the professional environment. These social media changes greatly improved my score and have made my digital presence much stronger than it once was. How successful were my efforts? More than I had expected:

Cultivating a strong online representation was important to me, and over a relatively short period of time, I have seen encouraging results. However, in order to maintain such a positive digital image, I acknowledge that I must stay diligent and remain active. I plan to use all that I have learned to grow my networking profile to new heights, hoping never to be so unnoticeable again.

March 31, 2019April 5, 2019

Visuals in Advertisement and Public Relations

The past 10 years has been turbulent for both the Advertisement and Public Relations landscapes. With the ascension of the internet and social media, news and negative press spreads like wildfire. This has made countless professionals’ lives extremely difficult, attempting to hide information or cover it up with aggressive tactics. However, the recent advancement of technology has also been beneficial in many ways. That same proficiency of moving new developments that causes unforeseen damage to a company’s reputation also connects producers and consumers like never before. Customers can be reached with ease. Not only has the difficulty of reaching buyers changed, but more ways that they can be addressed have developed as well. This fact, as well as its newly discovered success in marketing, has lead to the rise of visuals in the advertising world.

Seemingly everywhere we look in modern society is occupied by a visual advertisement. Billboards, benches, busses, airplanes… you name it, it probably has someones face or logo slapped on it. So much so that many people have gotten used to the images, they walk past them every day without even noticing. These are the type of invasive tactics that businesses love. They have become a mundane part of everyday life. But while this activity is nothing new, the internet is. Without many limitations on what can be done, advertisers have run wild on the internet. Branding everything they can, and selling your information in the process. This combination of direct contact to the potential consumer, and potential for collecting data, has turned your computer or phone into a functioning newspaper spread. A little bit of content, a lot of ad space.

Turned-on Gray Laptop Computer — Image: Pexels.com | rawpixel.com

This development is not all bad however, in fact, in most cases the buyer is unharmed. The advertisements, when done correctly, can be entertaining and even helpful. Things such as infographics can give valuable information to help consumers make proper decisions without boring them half to death. Visual marketing is at its best when the content itself is a part of the viewer’s amusement. When advertisements can get a laugh or emotional response, they are not falling into the same trap that others do. While the visual ad market has become so oversaturated that most go unnoticed, those that grab the viewers eye can be extremely successful.

In the future, I can see regulations changing the world of online/visual advertisements. I can also see marketers improving their strategies to better integrate their content in to entertainment, a development that would be better for both parties. In the meantime, however, I believe that advertisers will continue to bombard us with stale, overstimulating visual advertisements that show a lack of refinement in the industry. Hopefully, improvement comes sooner rather than later.

March 16, 2019

The Development of Collaboration in the Workplace

In the past, working together meant direct interactions, up close and personal. Communication inferred talking to other human beings, face to face. Those days are over. Technology has revolutionized the way people connect in both everyday life and in professional environments. One could argue that in this rapidly evolving society, it less important to be able to relate with people, and more vital to learn how to work with computers.

Photo from: pexels.com | User: *Its me neosiam*

Not too long ago, email was an awe-inspiring new feature. Slightly before that, telephones were a rarity. The point is, the way in which we communicate is ever changing. The generations before use were raised on the idea that being able to work with people directly was the absolutely most important step to success. Communicating effectively was at the forefront of the American education system and it was thought that those who could not would be undoubtedly left behind. At the time, they may have been right. Collaboration at that point meant people skills, it meant being on time, being understood, and reading others. That is where the outcasts come in.

We’ve all heard the stories; the quiet kid grows up to take the world by storm with his brains and entrepreneurial spirit a la Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg. These types of success stories defied everything we thought we knew about the professional world. They weren’t the sweet talking business man types with the confidence to lead an army. They learned how to communicate to investors, employees, and customers effectively with technology. Collaboration was no longer about delivering a speech to those close enough to listen, it was now about creating a message that others around the world to follow.

Because of these societal changes, the world now seems smaller than ever before. It is plausible to reach people almost anywhere. Instead of collaborating in a small conference room at the office, it is possible to host a meeting from your bedside table. Companies who understand how to use this incredible development to their advantage are the ones who have grown larger than anyone could imagine. Corporate giants have tossed aside traditions and run with new practices. Encouraging people to work with those from all regions, beliefs, and cultures. This growth in collaboration between people who are otherwise unlikely to interact has meant the development of new ways of thinking, groundbreaking ideas, and lasting partnerships. It has also, however, brought on new challenges.

Now more than ever, it is incredibly important to act with caution. The long-lasting nature of technological communication has made it imperative to speak with the future in mind, as words can last forever. Similarly, the combinations of cultures have widened the scope of offensive content. No longer are marketing campaigns meant only for one demographic, seen by only that demographic. Because of this, companies have gotten themselves into sensitive situations over and over due to a lack of understanding or articulation. This has made the ability to communicate and collaborate with many different kinds of people over the internet incredibly important. Knowing how to reach as many people as possible, understanding how you want to convey your message, and how those many different kinds of people will receive it, is key to success.

Collaboration has evolved into a completely different beast in the working world. Those who adapt, thrive. Those who fail to see the changes, fail. Technology in communication has the potential to aid a company like never before, but also the ability to cripple it. Proceed with caution.

February 25, 2019