The writer’s strike is old news at this point, so I do not feel the need to bore my reader’s with a recap. However, I was reading a post by Susan Getgood and she brought several intriguing points to my attention. She poses the question, who will win the writer’s strike? I agree with her that it doesn’t seem that anyone will really win, or at least not anyone that is involved in the strike. This is what I mean.
Susan says that viewers have more alternatives this time around than they did when writers went on strike in 1988. The most obvious alternative would be social media. What a great turn around for public relations practitioners, since that is the newest form of mass communication. Since there are usually no gatekeepers in social media, a lot of what viewers will find won’t even be worth watching. The flip side of this is that some people will discover amazing talent that otherwise would have gone overlooked. These people are the ones that will reap the benefits of the strike.
Something that is nagging me though, and maybe I just don’t quite grasp the strike, but it seems that enough up and coming talent is on the horizon that networks would be able to easily fill writers’ positions. Wouldn’t that make it a huge risk for writers to go on strike? I may be thinking about this far too simply, but it seems to me that the strike will not benefit the writers, and won’t necessarily hurt the networks.
I bet you can’t guess which blog I was looking at yesterday…none other than my favorite by Kami Huyse. This particular blog was written in regards to the fires in California. She was refering to how two different associations have responded to the media and the public. She said that each have approached the use of public relations in their own particular way, one using the philosophy that public relations is a mutually beneficial relationship between the client and the public, and the other is the one sided philosophy that the client is trying to “deceive” the public.
She mentions that this deception is sometimes thought of as an art. Like Huyse, I agree that it is not acceptable to be proud of deception, nor is it an art that we should strive to master. As a senior majoring in Public Relations, I hate to think that my career will be based on deception rather than helping people. I don’t understand how that could possibly be rewarding.
I feel that a mutually beneficial approach to public relations will be my personal philosophy. I know that I want my work to be rewarding at the end of the day. I don’t know that I could look myself in the mirror otherwise.
You can find the blog post here.
I was reading a disturbing post by Kami Huyse regarding ethics in public relations and journalism. It referred to a study that showed that very few PR practitioners and journalists consulted the Code of Ethics. Only one could remember specific parts of the code. How could something so important take such a backseat?
In classes we learn to build our campaigns on ethics. We are told that without ethics, we lose all credibiity in the eyes of our customers and clients. It is disheartening to think that these same principles are not practiced in the real world. It makes me as a consumer question many of the messages that are being sent to the public.
If anything, this post is meant to be a call to action and a challenge to my peers. We must reverse this pattern. Ethics should not be relaxed in any way. With a new generation of practitioners on the horizon, it is time to set a new example and set expectations high. We have to keep one another accountable in order to ensure that ethics be a part of everyday PR.
I was once again reading on my favorite blog, the one by Kami Huyse, and I found yet another interesting piece that caught my attention. This unusual article was talking about the Baby Boom generation and specific phrases to avoid when marketing to them. It lists seven deadly phrases, and asks for people to add to them. I have always found the power of words to be an extraordinary phenomenon, so naturally this piece got me thinking.
Obviously the Baby Boom generation is aging, and the post talks about avoiding trying to make them forget that they are becoming older. I completely agree with this. Why throw it in their faces? They know that they are getting older, so why does the media need to remind them of it? It almost is an insult to their intelligence. The post says to avoid phrases like “getting older” and “senior/senior citizen/elderly/golden.” These phrases only label that generation and does not allow them to look or to act young. It categorizes them in a way that leaves them no choice but to stare in the face of their age.
The post also says to avoid phrases like “looks good for her age.” Why can’t someone just be attractive regardless of age. To assume that people become less and less attractive as they age is an ancient theory. I would think in our society of forward thinking and new wave ideas that this would a thought of the past. So, I say, why don’t we simpy appeal to people as a whole for their beauty, rather than segmenting them? According to the “looks good for her age” phrase, everyone should be surprised when someone of the Baby Boom generation is attractive. I agree with this post, and believe that we should start over when trying to appeal to the Baby Boom generation.
You can check out this post here.
I have thought many times throughout my college experience that crisis management would be an interesting career to pursue. I respect an organization that deals with a crisis with class and dignity, and still manages to bounce back when it is all over. I recently read a post by Jason McDonald, VP of corporate communications and public affairs at Veritas Communication, on prweek.com. The post explained the incredible brilliance of the reaction of Tylenol to the scare they experienced 25 years ago.
Seven of Tylenol’s customers died as a result of ingesting Cyanide found in several of the capsules. Tylenol responded by pulling all of the packages off the shelf. By doing this, they took a huge financial blow. The result was greater than the loss. Tylenol demonstrated to its customers that their safety was greater than any price tag.
McDonald also touches on the fact that today’s media moves at such high speeds, making it difficult for companies to be the first to respond to a situation. I agree with McDonald in believing that successful crisis management goes back to traditional tactics. The most important tactic is that the customer comes first. A company can always regain the confidence of its customers by convincing them that they come before any amount of money. Tylenol was beyond successful in creating this perception. Companies can still use them as a model for successful crisis management.
I was once again browsing on Kami Huyse’s blog and I decided to comment on an intriguing post. She was talking about how something as simple as working at McDonald’s gave her invaluable experience for public relations. Three areas were particularly consistent at McDonald’s. She names them as:
1) Know Your Audience
2)The Power of Having and Working a Plan
3)How to Shift Gears in a Crisis
I have found that real life experience has helped me as well. Mine however came in the form of being a student recruiter for Auburn University. As a recruiter, I greet potential students and their families, and if they want to, I give them a tour. I feel that these same three areas apply to me. First, knowing your audience is key when giving a tour. Some students want to hear about the buildings and the history, while others would rather just talk about real life on campus. Next, having a plan is crucial. In the office, we have set hours for specific recruiters to give tours. We also have back-up student recruiters in case of an emergency. There is a specific tour route that we follow as well, and tours shift depending on weather. Lastly, we deal with a crisis in a very efficient way. For example, if we overbook tours, or we have extra large tours due to a school visiting, we call in extra recruiters. We have a list of “on-call” recruiters for that very reason. It is amazing how much you can learn about public relations just by living every day life.
I was browsing through blogs and came across an interesting post by Kami Huyse. In Huyse’s top ten all time favorite blogs, I found a post entitled “Six Principles of Public Relations; But First Develop a Spine.” In her post, she explains six principles developed by Arthur Page. The six principles are:
-Tell the truth
-Prove it with action
-Listen to the customer
-Manage for tomorrow
-Conduct Public Relations as if the whole company depends on it
-Remain calm, patient, and good-humored
Although I find these principles intriguing and very true, I was most interested by what Huyse said next. She pointed out that these principles have a common thread that bonds them together. She defines it as courage. A PR practitioner must have courage in their everyday routine.
By reading this post, I gained a greater understanding as to what that courage really means. I am going to need to develop my convictions long before I ever apply for a job. I need to define where my boundaries lie ethically. It also has helped me to understand the pressing need to research the companies and their culture as far as what they define as their principles and ethics. In essence, I will be spending my senior year growing a spine.
I have always recognized that the forms of communication were changing as I was growing up, but I never realized what an impact it was having on the PR world. Phil Gomes, VP with the me2revolution group at Edelman and senior advisor to the Society for New Communications Research, explains the problem.
Gomes comments that the older generation has not yet grasped the etiquette of the Internet. Therefore communication from upper management to junior PR practitioners is ineffective. Likewise, the younger generation cannot grasp the concept of learning how to “manage up.” This rift in communication creates misunderstanding throughout the company.
His proposal is that proper training must be administered to both the younger and older generations. As a senior in public relations, I take heart in this philosophy. I agree that the only way to bridge this gap is through proper training. The training cannot be halfway done, and all parties MUST participate in order for the training to be effective. With knowledge and understanding of each generation, companies will be able to create a successful flow of communication from the top of the corporate structure to the bottom.
I think it goes without saying that Richard Edelman, President and CEO of Edelman, is revered as an expert when it comes to the field of public relations. Everything he writes in regard to the ever evolving process of PR can easily be used as a guideline for today’s public relations practitioner.
I find his theory of finding the “sweet spot” intriguing. He coined the term “sweet spot” to indicate the place in which a PR practitioner can successfully build a campaign. Edelman says that it can be found at the intersection of a vertical axis and a horizontal axis. The vertical axis represents the analytical side of PR including messages passed down from various sources, and the horizontal axis represents the interpersonal side of PR such as expression and dialogue.
I agree with Edelman in that each axis is equally important. A PR practitioner cannot expect to be succesful in a world that demands each representative to be fluent in all parts of public relations. This is when the evolution of public relations begins to be a factor. It seems that the development of furthered technology is causing the definition of each axis to become a bit blurry. With the development of blogs and viral videos, anyone with a computer possesses the ability to influence the public. Those anaytical messages mentioned above that are considered to be a part of the vertical axis become a part of the horizontal axis as well when a blog is created. A blog allows an author to publish his thoughts to the public, and, in the same token, allows the public to respond by commenting on the blog. Does this form of distribution of analytical messages not also cross the boundary into developing interpersonal relationships?
I find that this globalizing shift into increased technology serves to catapult public relations into an unexplored realm of opportunity. Agencies, like Edelman, that embrace new technology, learning as much as possible about how to implement the technology into every day public relations process, will continually surpass those agencies that insist on sticking to conservative practice of PR. The final edge that Edelman has over other agencies is that not only do they fully understand the need to use technology to enhance the practice of public relations, but they do not forget those traditional ideals of credibility and superb writing and communication skills that make public relations successful.
Find Richard Edelman’s discussion of the evolution of PR here.
It would be a shame to write off Robert Stephens, founder of Geek Squad, as simply a computer geek. In a short twenty minutes, Stephens summarizes what I believe to be some of the most strategic steps to building a successful public relations foundation. After all, he has turned a one-man company into a multi-million dollar conglomerate.
He hits on a topic I have found to be true time and time again. It is the theory that word of mouth is the most powerful advertisement. It costs nothing, carries the most credibility, and is quite simply the best form of marketing possible.
Stephens speaks candidly about his humble beginnings in creating his company. Word of mouth was not only a great form of communication to the public, but truthfully was the only form of advertisement he could afford. Word of mouth from customer to customer launched his small, one-man company into a realm that he had once not thought possible.
Stephens speaks with such ease and grace that it makes clear why his company has been such a success. It’s obvious that he is intelligent beyond normal means, but his manner of speaking and the language that he chooses allows him to relate to any audience. He has a natural talent for relating to the public, and any public relations professional would benefit from listening to his theories and tactics for building a successful company. He emphasizes the importance of the basic fundamentals on which communication is built, and frankly, more public relations executives should follow his example.
You can view Stephen’s speech here.
