Publics in pubic relations
As I didn’t get a discussion going for last week’s class (week 6), there is no grade for that week. Here is the week 7 blog discussion as preparation for media relations and continuing our class conversation on the PR process. Please provide a response to both points as #1 is reflection and #2 is preparation for class.
1. Identifying key stakeholders, characteristics about those publics and how to motivate them are all important aspects of building a strategic plan. In fact, several recent cases listed in PR Week e-updates look to the fact that identifying publics and finding creative ways to reach them is important. For example:
- NEW YORK, NY: Nivea has launched the Nivea Touch Path exhibit in New York City as part of a major PR push for its newest product line called Smooth Sensation (19-Sep-06.)
- WASHINGTON: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a nonprofit civil rights and advocacy organization, has launched a rebranding effort, including a new logo, to better convey its work with other community groups and the government (15-Sep-06).
- WASHINGTON: The Department of Energy (DOE), working with the Environmental Protection Agency, on October 4 will look to internal communications as it launches a month-long program to encourage US households to replace at least one incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). (27-Sep-06.)
- NEW YORK: Nokia went "Crazy" Tuesday evening in Times Square by hosting a global, invitation-only Gnarls Barkley concert as the international launch of its new music phones (28-Sep-06.)
- WASHINGTON: The US Missile Defense Agency recently issued an RFP for a marketing firm that will use PR, public events, advertising, and other means to recruit new employees for engineering, accounting, program management, and other jobs (28-Sep-06).
- LOS ANGELES: Fisher-Price employed 19 months of cloak-and-dagger secrecy to prepare for this week's unveiling of T.M.X. Elmo, the 10th anniversary (or "extreme") edition of its wildly popular Tickle Me Elmo doll (22-Sep-06).
Drawing on your understanding of the programming and planning elements of campaign preparation in chapters 12-14 of the 2006 Cutlip et al. textbook, which elements of the process do these campaigns best exemplify. What questions does this raise for you about the PR process?
2. Find a current newspaper article or broadcast transcript (TV/radio) that you think is an example of excellent media relations on the part of the organization. In your comment to the post, describe why you think it’s a good example and at least two principles from Chapters 9 and 10 in the Cutlip et al. textbook that are exemplified by this media clipping. Note: I want you to focus on good media relations that you think was done to lead to the article and not qualities of the article itself. (The presenters for this week can use the same example or a different one than will be in your presentation).
posted by prteacher @ 10/05/2006 11:18:00 AM
7 Comments:
1. While all of these instances are clearly examples of strategic planning, I think of all the sections in our book – they mostly refer to disseminating the message and diffusion. They’ve done their research and planning – and are now trying to get it out into the public. While they all have very different objectives, each company has figured out the best way to reach their publics. The text says to disseminate a message, “Gaining acceptance…is more than simply beaming it to an audience…communication must be aimed with the precision of a laser beam” (Cutlip, p. 354). Each of these companies have come up with a very specific, very controlled way to reach their desired publics. Another point the text makes is that the message must motivate self interest and cause a response. While it is unclear yet if these launches will work, besides one, they have all come up with a campaign that has measurable results: NOKIA-buy the phone, US Missile Defense Agency – get new employees, DOE – get people to switch out their light bulbs, etc. At the end of their campaign, they can easily go back and see how many phones they sold, how many new employees were hired, how many fluorescent light bulbs have been sold. My question is – what if you have something that is not so easily measured. How will the CAIR measure their success? What if you do not sell a product, but provide a service? What if it is a service that is not necessarily appreciated, but necessary?
2. The article that I found is about the lockdown on Friday at Marion County Middle School and North Marion High School - False alarm leads Marion schools to lockdown (http://gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061007/LOCAL/210070340/1078/NEWS). 911 got an anonymous phone call that a boy was planning on going to school and killing his ex-girlfriend and her best friend. Marion County Public Schools showed great media relations by shifting into crisis mode and immediately taking action. They followed internal policies, communicated with their staff and locked down the school. SWAT was called in and both students and their belongings were searched. Marion County Public Schools was upfront with the media and immediately got the word out so that parents could come pick up their children once the all-clear was called. They had a spokesperson who kept the communication lines open and ultimately the situation was kept as organized and managed as possible. By handling the incident so well, I think the Marion County Public School system helped themselves tremendously – had they not already had an internal plan and been so organized and upfront with their information, the big story of the night could have been questioning the safety of the school system.
1. Strategic planning is a key area of public relations success. Starting with the goal, identifying the target publics, and then moving on to objectives (Cutlip, Center, Broom), corporations can set themselves up for an effective PR campaign if these areas are taken seriously.
The CAIR plan to re-brand is a tactic to give their organization a “facelift” seems to be action communication (Cutlip, Center, Broom, pg. 338). They are responding to Americans who may be weary of anything that has to do with Islam, so they are taking action through re-branding. Most likely, they are hoping that this tactic will contribute to breaking down barriers that stereotypes have created. (pg. 351).
Fisher-Price’s strategy to keep the T.M.X. Elmo under wraps for months was a good way to further the popularity and create an element of mystery to their already wildly popular toy. By doing this, Fisher-Price has developed a plan to keep the fascination with the doll alive, even though a version of it has been out for a few years now. I think this another example of an action strategy, the product was updated to renew interest, and the timing of the announcement created interest by its secrecy, and only a couple of months before the holiday season.
I like Fisher-Price’s strategy, they have obviously had a communication plan for this one product for well over a year, and have been waiting for the timing, and for the media and the publics to ripe for the press conference. They created more interest an in already popular product.
2. The article I chose was “Starbucks wants 40,000 stores worldwide, up from 12,000 now” from USA Today. (http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2006-10-05-starbucks-growth_x.htm) Starbucks released information to the media about their successful financial quarter. The information they gave the media to work with was of interest to business reporters reporting their quarterly earnings, and a good time to announce that their eventual goal is to expand to 40,000 stores worldwide. It was smart media relations to announce these both at the same time, in order to give the general public and shareholders a confidence in their Starbucks stock, and useful in attracting new investors. In their press conference, Starbucks followed the “Guidelines for working with the press” (Cutlip, Center, Broom, 2006, pg. 273-275) as far as I can tell. Especially the way they presented their stock information as being important for their target public, the stockholders, not just themselves.
This could also illustrate the public relations department at Starbucks giving the media straight facts with statistics, “Shoot[ing] squarely” (pg. 271) and “Giv[ing] service” (pg. 271) by giving the media a story that is newsworthy as well as timely (2006). Starbucks is a hugely popular organization, so by releasing information relevant for the media’s readers, it helps them in their daily job.
#1. All of the campaigns were strategically planned. It takes a lot of planning to pull off a concert in Times Square like Nokia did or to set up an exhibit in New York City, like Nivea. A lot of planning also goes into re-branding something because decisions need to be made about how best to reach the target publics and whether or not re-branding is the best way to go. When planning campaigns, there also has to be an element of timing. Fisher-Price timed the release of T.M.X. Tickle Me Elmo to a few months before the busy holiday shopping season. While some people will go out and buy the toy now, most people will remember it and will buy it for their children for the holidays.
All of the campaigns also needed to be researched. The companies needed to research the publics they are trying to reach in order to know what type of campaign would best catch their attention and appeal to them. After their research, they can develop a strategy for the campaign. This strategy will include how messages should be framed, what words should be used, what symbols need to be used, and what barriers need to be overcome (Cutlip, Center, Broom). Once all of these things are determined, the strategy can be put into action.
One question that I have is why the Department of Energy is using internal communications to encourage U.S. households to use more energy efficient light bulbs. Internal communications should be used to communicate within the Department of Energy and external communications should be used to communicate with U.S. households. Another question is how can the success of some of these campaigns be measured? Fisher-Price can measure how successful their campaign is by looking at how may T.M.X. Tickle Me Elmos they sold; Nokia can measure their success by seeing how many new phones they sell. For CAIR and the DOE, measuring their success is not so easy. How can CAIR determine how successful their campaign was because they only want to increase the awareness of what they do in the government and the community? How can the DOE determine the success of their campaign because it is quite difficult to measure how many households changed one light bulb in their house from incandescent to fluorescent?
#2. The article I chose is N.C. Plant Fire Forces Thousands to Evacuate. It can be found at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100600213.html. This article is about a fire that started at a waste-management plant in North Carolina. The plant operators are still unsure about the cause of the fire, but people in the surrounding areas were evacuated until it could be determined that the air was not contaminated. The fire started late Thursday night and people are not allowed back in their homes yet. The company, EQ Industrial Services, Inc., followed Cutlip and Center’s “Guidelines for Working with the Press” (p.330) because they were truthful with the press and gave reporters the important information that they would want to include in their stories and information that people would need to know. EQ Industrial Services, Inc. also “shot squarely” (p. 326) and “gave service” (p. 328) because they did not cover anything up and did not favor one media outlet over another. The spokesperson spoke to someone from the Associated Press, so the information he gave them will go to all of the media outlets. He “gave service” to the media by speaking to them quickly after the fire started. The information provided was helpful and timely and he assured everyone in the area and the stockholders that they will work with the authorities to ensure that everything the air and the water are clean and safe before anyone is let back into their homes.
Part 1. I agree with Amelia that the examples provided are dangerously close to marketing and/or publicity and resemble only marginally public relations. Not surprisingly, the news items featuring services, not products (as Kelly said…CAIR and DOE) are the ones that that seem to have been built on public relations strategies and tactics.
Regardless, strategy and framing were taking place in planning these launches. Gnarls Barkley is a popular performing artist right now, and Nokia probably took great pains to obtain a spokesperson who can reach across the target publics it seeks. The US Missile Defense Agency, in including PR in its RFP, clearly understands the importance of having PR as a component of communicating an agency “face lift.” This is good news for the field! I would imagine that most, if not all of these examples, had clearly developed program objectives behind them. As other bloggers have stated, many can expect measurable results based on the product. But what are the criteria for success? That’s why I believe the CAIR and DOE are the best examples featuring strategic planning processes. These two organizations, in order to develop the program they’ve currently launched had to a) define the problem by situation analysis b) plan and program based on goals, target publics and objectives c) take action and communicate plans and (hopefully) d) evaluate the program. (p. 319).
Part 2. I found a very interesting article from the Los Angeles Times (Oct. 10) titled, “Crystallizing opinion: The gem trade, fearing sales won’t sparkle, campaigns against ‘Blood Diamond.’
This article is about how the diamond company De Beers has gone on the offensive to combat information about the civil wars in the late 1990’s in Sierra Leone portrayed in ‘Blood Diamond,’ a movie to be released Dec. 15. Clearly, it’s a full-length entertainment film, but the history of the events is real. The side that portrayed the most savvy media relations in this article was not De Beers or the diamond industry (who have collectively launched multimillion-dollar PR campaigns “a day late and a dollar short”), but Amnesty International (AI), which states that “the media is covering so-called “conflict diamonds” more now than when Sierra Leone’s bloody civil wars were actually taking place.” The movie hasn’t even been released yet and people are searching for more information on this period of history. AI is taking this opportunity to bring attention to the casualties of war…said AI, “Our hope is that after people see this powerful film, they will want to find out more about these issues and what they can do to help.”
What caught my attention first about this article was the obvious presence of word-of-mouth communication. This issue first arose in 2005, when the movie was first in production. Still today, more than a year later, it is a hot topic and the movie hasn’t even been released yet. This demonstrates how the grapevine can be just as an effective communication tool as any printed or news source. In addition, De Beers violated the first guideline for working with the press, which is to talk from the viewpoint of the public’s interest, not the organization. De Beers was immediately defensive about the movie. Because this was in the past, De Beers should have admitted that first and then gone on to talk about how the organization has changed, doesn’t trade in “conflict diamonds” anymore, etc. The public is concerned about the atrocities and how they were fixed, not that De Beers may not sell as many diamonds as usual. The public can see right through that.
1. What I see here are short news clips, which I assume are based from the press releases each public relations practitioner provided to the media. This basically means the research and planning portion is finished and the corporations, organizations and so forth are ready to take action of the project. News release itself is a strategic communication tool most frequently used in public relations campaign to “spread the word.”
For the case of Nivea and Nokia, the action plan of the pr campaign is to hold a promotion event so that customers can experience the new product and hopefully purchase it in the near future. This is only possible after research is done on how to do a certain event at a certain location during a specific time period.
CAIR obviously detected a problem with their current image, and as a reaction to that, they decided to change their logo and put rebranding effort. By noting a specific action to change the current perception, I assert that CAIR is done with the research and planning, and rolling into action. The case of the US Missile Defense Agency falls into the planning process as well as the action process. Because the second process focuses on “what we an do to change the situation” (p.340), it is clear that hiring a marketing firm to resolve current situations falls into the planning portion of the research.
As Kelly pointed out, each company has a clear cut goal, whether it is to change current perception, sell products, spread the word, or inform the public. In order to have a goal, situation analysis has to be completed. This only means one thing: companies did the research.
My only question is this. While it is evident that these sources are actual tactics (as being news releases) of the strategically planned public relations program, where do we draw the line between “planning” and “taking action”?
2. The article that I found was pulled from the internet on October 10th. This article introduces a study result conducted by a UCLA student which informs that “Fertile women dress to impress.” The original source can be found at
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061010/ts_nm/science_ovulation_dc.
This article explains how women during their menstruation, tend to dress up more nicely contrast to the popular belief that they pull on their sweats and look horribly comfortable.
The reason why I chose this article was because it actually gained media coverage and managed to make the head article for the Life section on a popular portal site.
I am assuming the organization established a “good relationship” with the media during a period of time. Whether the public relations practitioner managed to be around the clock to “give service” or was “fair and square” in providing other materials during the past, a friendly relationship with the media played a great role on getting this study published in the newspaper..
I think this is an example of good media relations because this article does not threat the journalist to “pull off advertising.” Since this is a study result, the purpose lies for good deeds. It is also quite interesting to know that fertile women tend to be dressier than they normally are.
CAIR utilized a number of PR strategies for its re-branding project. One of the most obvious tactics it employed was the timing of its new campaign (Cutlip, Center, Broom, p. 315). The organization launched its program amid the fallout from the Pope’s infamous speech in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor saying that follower of Islam were “evil and inhuman” (http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2000438,00.html, par. 4). Additionally, the PR campaign launched a few weeks before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The organization capitalized on the buzz surrounding the religion to promote its own goals, thereby increasing their media presence because of their salience to the issue. I agree with Kelly, though, that it will be difficult to measure the results of the campaign in a quantitative manner. The organization can track attendance at functions, and hits on its website, but this may be one example in which the bottom line value of PR to the organization may be tough to quantify objectively.
Nokia’s efforts to publicize its new music phones may also be an example of good market timing. I’ve read recently that iPods are loosing popularity because they have become too common. They used to be a novelty item, but the novelty is wearing off. Nokia may be able to capitalize on that sentiment with music phones, which provide both MP3 music player and a cellular phone in one electronic device. Publicizing the new product with exclusive concerts by popular performing artists will likely help generate buzz about the product. One benefit to the Nokia campaign is that their success can be measured easily by examining sales of their new phones. The PR impact (though this does sound a bit like marketing) on the bottom line is easily quantified.
I read an article from the Boston Globe about Little Ceasar’s Pizza’s proposed expansion into the Boston area market. Pizza! Pizza! Little Ceasar’s takes a stab at moving into a region dominated by independent shops. The article does a good job of addressing potential new franchise owners (internal publics) by owning up to corporate headquarters’ mistakes in their last expansion (HQ did not provide adequate advertising and lowered the quality of its pizza ingredients) (Cutlip, et al, p 223). Additionally, it was well framed to address the concerns of independent pizza shop owners in Boston by explaining its target demographic is the family on a tight budget with little money to spare. The article featured quotes from the president of the corporation, thereby emphasizing that this expansion has full support from upper level management (Cutlip, p. 255).
1.
As most of the classmates pointed out, all campaigns listed above have a common ground of strategic planning. However, since strategic planning is such a basic concept that is followed by execution, the term sounds almost meaningless. An interesting aspect that I can find from these campaigns is that public relations plans have combined additional entities with communication message.
Nivea on the presented list, for example, launched an exhibit as part of a PR push for their new product. CAIR came up with a new logo as an effort to convey their work more effectively. Nokia also adapted a music concert as part of their new music phone launching action.
Here, I could find a couple of intentions that can be drawn from those thought-out combinations. One is that an organization can maximize media coverage by making the event more interesting and eye-catching. The other intention is transformation of their message through the additional entities. Entities are designed to best represent the concept of service, product or image of target audience. Such combination of additional entities and communication message seem to bring about synergy effect that eventually accomplishes organization’s goal.
2.
In my opinion, excellent media relations have a lot to do with framing. If an organization is in a good relationship with media, media will reflect a good portion of message framed by organization. Here’s one good example.
It was in the middle of the air show celebrating Children’s day, May 5, 2006, when one of F-15, newly developed aircraft fell to the ground. The pilot who was controlling the crashed aircraft died immediately. Fortunately, however, since the aircraft crashed to runway, there was no injury to visitors which include thousands of children and families. At the initial press conference held by the Air Force Headquarters, the spokesperson said that they suspect that the pilot was holding on to the control level until the last minute to avoid crashing to visitors stand. The spokesperson also added that since the aircraft was accelerated, it could have hit the visitors if the pilot had pressed bailout switch. The immediate media coverage was focused on sacrifice of the pilot and the nation was filled with mourning atmosphere. In a nutshell, the statement at the initial press conference seemed to have effectively framed the tragic accident, avoiding angry and critical response against the Air Force.
Original article The article is in Korean.
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