Research as strategy & the role of PR
We didn’t have time for a lot of discussion of the role of research as a strategy and tactic with Dr Martinez, so we can explore that a little this week. In the last 24 hours, the PR newswires have led me to the two links in the next paragraph that use “research” as a newsworthy item. In the Center for Media Research’s statement “Most Americans Say Green Advertising is ‘Just A Marketing Tactic,’” they refer to an Ipsos Reid study conducted this spring on behalf of Icynene which found that seven in ten Americans either 'strongly' or 'somewhat' agree that when companies call a product "green" (meaning better for the environment), it is usually just a "marketing tactic." In an academic example, the USC Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center is asking for PR professionals to participate in the fifth Public Relations Generally Accepted Practices (GAP) Study.
Research is a tactic that I think sometimes can have real value as a way of building your credibility as a resource (not just a source) for the media, but it also has the potential to be superficial and abused. Given our brief discussion of ethics and research as strategy, what is your view of these two uses of research?
Your colleague, Yeonsoo, raised this question that I have paraphrased here for discussion: Actually do public relations companies at a high rate make their plan based on the results of research? Even though there are several creative ways to conduct low-cost pre/post tests, most public relations companies seem to rely on intuition based on experiences rather than empirical scientific methods. Last semester, a guest speaker's answer was they never conducted research for planning and most stakeholders regarded it as a time and money consuming process. Is this phenomenon just explained by a huge gap between practice and ideals?
Finally, to begin our discussion of the role of public relations in any organization, let’s start by discussing the function of public relations in general. Jonah Bloom in his AdAge column “Want to Restore Marketers' Faith? Embrace Agnosticism: Agencies Need to Stop Talking 'Integration' and Really Give Clients a Silo-Busting Solution” states that while we talk about integrating advertising and public relations, what we often get is a lop-sided plan that favors our training. This may not be the clearest column, but it does raise a critical question about PR in a world that increasingly favors integration, viral marketing and new media. David Strom in “Strategies to Succeed Online: The old ways of hiring a public relations firm and putting out press releases just don't cut it anymore”, also reflects on the changing world of the PR function. Thoughts?
Remember: you don’t have to address all of these discussion starters. You do have to refer to the readings, a current issue and your peer’s comments.
posted by prteacher @ 9/27/2007 03:15:00 PM
38 Comments:
David Strom’s article in the New York Times, “Strategies to Succeed Online,” highlights a very salient issue in the discourse of public relations’ roles. Keeping in mind all the benefits of two-way communication, it is important that practitioners employ a “conversational approach” when interacting with clients and stakeholders. In the article, Mr. Patrick emphasizes practitioners must “be more hands-on, grass roots, interactive”.
Now, with the idea of “interactive” communications, the list of practitioners’ roles has expanded and overlapped with the roles of marketers and advertisers. Unfortunately, though there is a high demand from clients to adopt this new media trend to increase its visibility and improve its reputation, many practitioners do not know how to strategically use these new mediums of communication.
Karl Greenberg of MediaPost’s Marketing Daily recently wrote an article addressing the effects of the new media trend, titled Marketers, Learn What You Can, Cannot Control Online. The article points out some issues when dealing with new media outlets as marketing or PR tactics. “Darren Bowie, assistant general counsel at AOL, says this year, as many as 48% of companies will deploy marketing on social-networking channels--an increase from 38% last year.” When implementing a blog, an important question to ask is: What happens if blogs are criticizing your clients? What do you do? The article gives the example of Sony’s blog pushing PlayStation, called "All I want for Xmas is a PSP," reportedly circulated by a hip-hop artist. The blog was not authentic; it was a fake blog put up by a public relations firm. Bloggers became aware of the deception. Sony admitted the error and removed the blog.
Though PR’s roles are evolving, practitioners must opt for quality over quantity. There is no point in tackling new media such as blogs and online social communities when you don’t know how to strategically use it for the client’s benefit. “The key for public relations is that the new technology promotes interactive communication, the essence of building and maintaining relationships. Nevertheless, traditional media still have roles to play…” (Cutlip et al., 9th ed., p. 254). As Cutlip et al. point out, new technology and interactive communication lead to effective relationships (if used correctly), but do not forget the importance and effects of traditional media
Although research is considered as one step of the entire PR process, I realize that research plays an important role in every step of the game. Obviously, research begins every campaign and communication plan. But in order to successfully come up with appropriate strategies and tactics, as well as implementing them effectively, research needs to come back each step to confirm and provide evidences and reasons for certain decisions and actions. Even the last step of the game, stewardship also needs research, because in a way, it is researching the ways to maintain and give back to the important publics to keep the relationship alive.
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/mar2007/id20070314_689707.htm is a good example of how research played an important role in making Nokia design a better design for customers. The researcher Chipchase speaks of spending several months to really figure out what they need to improve and produce. I am sure that there have been many cases in businesses to spend a good amount of time to research the market and publics to successfully implement their campaigns. And I believe this is a good idea and it must go on as PR seeks to gain more professionalism in the industry itself. No one can refute and doubt when we have research backing our claims and statements. Even myself, I tend to believe news and studies more when it’s backed up by research and its results more than a simple claim. Dr. Martinez pointed out a good point saying that there is a 2nd level to research: evaluative research to really judge the outcome (impact) of the program itself. Research, in a way, is becoming the news these days and research is often used as a strategy. Research should not step at the research stage. It should continue on throughout and even after the program is finished.
As far as interactive communications go and the new media technology develops itself rapidly into the world of communication, PR practitioners must pay extra attention and also research its use and methods. I think this is an essential part of today’s business. It allows the communication to flow and continue in business world. The Internet provides an easy and cheap setting for anyone to provide opinions and feedbacks for companies to pay more attention to. I found an article (http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2007/sb20070606_425478_page_2.htm) that point out that interactive marketing and communication strategies help gain customer loyalty. “Technology has changed a great deal over the past several years, enabling a whole new world of customer intimacy and communication,” says the article. As I hope to become a PR practitioner in the future, I’d hope that my organization/company would effectively implement this interactive program, of course through research, and gain much from this type of communication. However, I think it’s also important that PR practitioners have the knowledge and skills to distinguish between a useful comment and comments that can be ignored on these interactive communications that go on in the infinite space on the web. But PR departments should also act as an important player to make sure that companies and organizations are balancing their weight on both traditional media and the new technology in communication to thoroughly reach target publics. Traditional media have established a prestigious placement in credibility in the past so far and it’s definitely still a useful segment of communication tool to reach audiences. After all, many news are still produced from press releases and PR efforts to get their story out there in the media. the best way to remain successful is to understand and learn how to go about using all the media outlets and resources that exist today to reach the most important sectors of publics to our specific organization and its purposes.
As we can guess from Mr. Strom’s article, blogs must be a hot issue in communication, and there are some controversial debates on how to identify blogs. As we briefly discussed in the theory class this week, people are arguing about whether we should consider blogs as media or not. We also question the roles of a blog—whether it is a source of information or a medium to deliver information. No matter what its positioning is, a blog plays certain important functions in public relations. In particular, small businesses use blogs not only as a tool of marketing but also to manage relationships with publics while providing a friendlier environment. In an environment where people are proactively seeking information by web searches and sharing their thoughts by posting on blogs, public relations practitioners should use this virtual zone in order to build a good relationship with their publics.
Public relations practitioners can reach their PR goals through optimized blogger relationships. I found some tips on how PR practitioners can use blogs more effectively: Blogging for PR . While referring to ideas from Steve Rubel, who created Micro Persuasion to guide how technology is revolutionizing media and marketing, the writer mentioned that the key to making a blog work for you as a business owner or manager is focusing on a topic that relates to your work and expertise. However, he also warns us that it is bad PR if it obviously reflects a PR purpose without maintaining objectivity in the blogosphere. It’s obviously true that we should keep that in mind when we maintain a blogger relationship. People may feel a sense of betrayal when they realize the blog is being run for commercial purposes. While the number of blogs and other virtual spaces online are increasing dramatically, publics are getting fed up with the commercial use of blogs. In the same thread of ethical concerns, we should make guidelines so as not to abuse blogs.
The increasing number of Internet users and information seekers forces an organization to have its own blogs and maintain blogger relationships. Regarding bloggers as one of its publics is not only for profit sectors but also for nonprofit organizations. Most celebrities have their own blogs or virtual spaces to communicate with their fans. In fact, my undergraduate university has its own blog with the same function as myspace.com, and there is a designated public relations practitioner who maintains the relationship with bloggers. A blog relationship is a good tool for managing both its current students as potential donors and high school students as prospective students. However, we should remember that there are proactive bloggers like Ms. B.L. Ochman, who writes some perilous comments on her blog, that put a company up against a wall ( Abuse of Blog Power).
Old mindsets hardly full play the PR unique value
Under the impact of new technology that shakes the relationship involving news providers and consumer voice transportation, it is time to re-clarify the role of PR. If we define PR as building up relationship and interactive communication with the groups that your business is relative to, traditionally we have media relations for publicity to influence the opinion of the public or our consumers. Additionally, powerful media mean the media with sufficient circulation as well as right target. Nowadays, blog is developing as individual news station. Successful blogs have their own readerships and high rankings, whereas some traditional media have been dramatic losing their circulations and audiences. As a relationship builder, why not turn down some media relations and set up blogger relations?
However, as Moonhee reminds in her blog post, blog PR could be trend, but abusing blog PR becomes common. I think it is a common phenomenon happening whenever a new technology is invited. Not only blog abuse, but also websites were misused when it introduces to the world. The problem of new PR and old mindset is clearly pointed out by an article, recent public relations research set up conflict between PR professionals and old school bottom line . In other words, PR practitioners face a big challenge coming from the old broad decision makers with old mindset. The problem also occurs in some PR practitioners or PR agencies.
PR agencies charge by hours, and get paid by client satisfactions. No matter retainer or by project, basically they are short-term responsible for your business. They come to your office to listen to your briefing. That means doing good research and clarifying questions are your business. After hearing your clear briefing and understanding your expectation, PR agencies develop a win-strategic proposal to get your pitch and begin service for their income not for your sales. During the system, really helpful or right PR strategy sometimes is not very attractive. You or your boss will choose WOW PR plan that may not be a solution to your problem, but who knows the final answer if the gambling does not run?
The role of PR is changing. Blog PR or not is not the central matter of the question. The critical problem is in new ear how PR contributes PR unique value instead of becoming a marketing tool or a fashion trail for clients.
I just want to agree with Moonhee's mention about what came up as a discussion topic in theory's class this past week. Is blog something PR practitioners must consider as media? Should PR practitioners pay much more attention to bloggers now that they have placed themselves as an important sector of media itself?
I agree what Moonhee said about having to stay on top of these blogs, even if they may simply be an opinion of a few people because nowadays, people are "proactively" seeking information and credibility is a personal judgment. Therefore, it is an important skill for PR personnels to try their best to effectively use the Internet as a tool to reach out to those publics who may be the most approachable through the net and use this opportunity to remain on top of their game.
Blog becomes important tool nowadays. Many organizations depend on this tool to promote or operate as the description of the article "Strategies to Succeed Online" written by David Strom. I agree with what Moonhee mention, although blog is important and useful tools for profit section or non-profit organization, we should prevent abusing it.
Blog is a resource which provide interactive environment. Clients often want to find or search more unofficial release on blog because blog will provides more true information. However, blogs’ information sometimes is not completely correct. Some information may be boasted or distorted. According to the studying about rumors on the Internet, also, blog is a resource of rumors on-line.
In this point, I think it is necessary to distinguish the official web-site and blog. Blog is a good way to proceed communication and increase the rate of contacting and reaching. However, I think it’s also necessary for business or non-profit organization to establish well-done official web-site and build the channel to communicate because it can increase the credibility.
As Wilcox’s mention, Internet is a way to manage relationships with publics, “Building relationships through an interactive Web site will ultimately serve to improve the corporate image and align corporate policy with public opinion” (Wilcox, D. L., 2003, p.280) Therefore, Internet is a powerful tool for building or maintaining relationships with publics. Of course, it is also important to learn how to use this tool suitably because it's not a panacea. Depending on different characteristics of business or organizations, some of them still need other tools to help them establish brand or promote campaign. For example, such as a big company as Pepsi, it’s not suitable just using Internet as the tool to promote without PR and AD. Therefore, I think that learning using different tools depending on different organizations or try to find the balance is a critical way to create effective communication.
I think David Strom’s article touches upon on a more elusive question about the use of new media in today’s globalized world. It impels one to ponder on an issue we briefly discussed in the theories class- Impact of new media on traditional media tactics and operations. Have the old-media techniques become outmoded to the point that they seem meaningless and futile in this rapidly flourishing e-world? For those who think that old-media techniques have lost their charm, I would like to bring to attention the latest launch of Halo 3 by Microsoft. David Hufford, global director of Xbox PR, wanted to rivet that latest adaptation of Halo 3 is a “cultural milestone”. They wanted to change the perception of media persons that a video game is something meant only for kids; it has a wider cultural scope and significance. The campaign targeted traditional media outlets and was grounded on a strategic plan that ran over a year. What made Microsoft target the traditional outlets when the game is so well publicized and popular in the online gaming community? I raised a similar question in my previous post about the dynamism of this digital online world. It brings to attention an important consideration that though new media like the blogs, websites and other online content in influential one cannot and should not ignore the power of traditional media relations.
The online media raises another important issue worth contemplating and it is about the authorship or the ownership of the content. How much can you trust the source and its credibility? I agree with both Moon and Jessica that we need to be on top of blogs (I really liked the phrase on top), but when I read an article on PR week my concerns got directed towards an all pervasive question of ethics. The article raised questions on Burson-Marsteller- Microsoft relationship . The firm was accused of not revealing its association with Microsoft on its online forum with over 100 UK based companies as its members. Apparently the firm was behind the campaign that advertised the risks associated with Google's planned acquisition of online advertising broker DoubleClick. News like this, fill many, including me, with misgivings and pose a threat to the ethical foundation of Public Relations. What do you all think about this? Do we, as PR practitioners, bear responsibilities to make the information as honest and as transparent as possible? Also, how much credit should we give to the information retrieved from such online sources during various phases of our research activities?
After reading “Blogging for PR” provided by Moonhee, I totally agree with Rich Ord’s prospect about “valued-added and connecting the reader.” Clients are the most important relationship PR firm should exactly focus on because they are the real buyers. When I was a college student in marketing major, we talked about CRM (Customer Relationship Management). The most crucial concern to maintain a good relationship with your customer’s is their needs and satisfaction. Companies should always step at the customer-oriented rather than product-oriented stage which may fail them in losing connection with customers. Therefore, I think public relations as a relationship management function is supposed to pose itself into customer-oriented direction, not just tactics and skills in tradition, just like Jonah Bloom’s mentioned in his column that agencies really need to give clients a silo-busting solution, instead of keeping integrating with all marketing and communication stuff.
Let’s get back to the research part. Ethics and credibility are such important issues that we often address when conducting a business no matter in PR or other areas. However, when we keep talking about them, we forget the most basic principle that whether if the plan or strategy companies or PR firm implement has supportive evidence – research in ethics and credibility to do the right things. I do agree with Ricco’s practice experience because my former company had the similar dilemma that the cooperating insurance company thought doing the research and planning the strategies were not useful for reputation and all they wanted to do was purchase the media and just show their name to the publics. We all know it was a row decision that they even did not want to have the strategy and research for the media and the publics; therefore, the publics still do not know what this company is for and they still exert the traditional product-oriented strategy to get the business.
I am convinced that research as the first step of strategy process is the universal rule because the plan must at first have strong evidence to convince the sellers or providers to make the product or the service and “be ethical.” The best example to show the importance of research is that many pharmacy companies, for example Wythe (http://www.wyeth.com/research/values) , do a lot of research and testing to make sure whether if the medicine works well and without bad side effects. This relates to the ethics issue due to the publics health and the reputation of the company. Moreover, I believe research is the beginning of value-added process. In “quality management,” a method for ensuring all activities design, develop and implement products or service effective an efficient, it is very important for companies to pass the quality standard that proves themselves as credible to sell the products out. So, they always try to add more favorable element through research in the beginning of the plan.
Although research serves as the first step in public relations process, it will never stop even though process comes into the second step, as Jessica said “research needs to come back each step to confirm and provide evidences and reasons for certain decisions and actions.” In a word, research is in an interactive process. Additionally, no one can deny research is the foundation of the whole process and it takes time to fulfill a good research. Utilitarian hold that research can not bring immediate and obvious benefits, instead, it is a time and money consuming process like the guest speaker’s words. What CEOs care about is the outcome of public relations campaign, and whether the target publics are satisfied or not? They don’t want to invest in the things having invisible “benefits”. So I agree with Ricco and Ping’s viewpoints on the status of research in real life.
Media relationships is one kind of important relationships in public relations, with various new media springing out, it is time for us to take the relationships with new media into consideration. It is dangerous for an organization which doesn’t handle the rumor in internet, because its publics may expose to the internet more frequently than print media. As Moonhee mentioned, we have the similar topic in theory course, that is, whether bloggers serves reporter and sources? The answer of this question may be: it depends, it depends on whose blog is. Unlike the traditional media, Blogs provide a unique and personal way to communicate with publics, and they put a human face on a company that help to maintain the organization-public relations. So how can an organization ignore the role of blog in public relations? So, as a corporate, how to use blog, are there any ethical codes for bloggers? Here I find an article about the tips for corporate which will launch a blog, “The Corporate Weblog Manifesto”
.Although it was written 4 years ago, it is still very useful.
Companies at different level are using blogs to help shape public opinions and attitudes. At the same year AskPatty.com launched its blog, Wal-Mart enlists bloggers in pubic relations campaign, in the article “Wal-Mart Enlists Bloggers in P.R. Campaign”
written by Michael Barbaro, it analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of using blogs in public relations campaign, I hope it is helpful.
As I mentioned above, a corporate blog provides an immediate and personalized vehicle to discuss the issue. Instead of the “spin”, usually associated with public relations, “the blog can serve as an honest and concerned pipeline, directly to the public”. However, if bloggers are independent individuals, how can they choose what information can be discoursed to publics? Who can control blogs? If the blogs are out of corporation’s control, how they contribute to the maintain relationships between the corporation and publics. These are the problems deserve more attention in the future.
Save for the access restrictions outlined by the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), the Internet is one of the last unrestricted mass communication channels available to us at present and I believe it should remain that way. As Rich Ord comments in the “Blogging for PR” post that Moon Hee and Jessica refer to, the value of a blog (or a discussion board, posting, personal website, etc.) is that it offers readers “a unique perspective and commentary” including personal experiences and stances on an issue or company. Many people are tired of always having to speak politically correct in traditional media, in social settings, and sometimes even with their own families. A blog or discussion board provides a forum for people seeking raw, unhampered dialogue. The potential for abuse of the freedoms of the Internet exists, but creating institutionalized guidelines for blogs, as some have mentioned, would defeat the purpose of having such an open channel of communication, and establishing sanctions for irresponsible online communication would muzzle many valuable contributors.
I absolutely agree with Rajul that PR practitioners who engage in online discussions relating to their work have an obligation to be as honest and transparent as possible because in that capacity they represent their entire organization, and what they say can and will have resonating effects on their company and its stakeholders. However, the right of others to say whatever they want regarding an issue or company – even if it is the most disgusting, crass, or twisted filtering of the truth - should be upheld. Respect for others’ opinions garners respect for yourself. The court of public opinion will decide whose arguments are most substantive and thus who to believe, as Cutlip, Center, and Broom state (9th ed., p. 396). It is our job as PR practitioners to make sure WE are the most substantive voice by “finding ways to maximize good works and address critics” (p. 396), by being “nimble” when in crisis (p. 398), and by exercising objective thinking and a desire to serve others before ourselves (p. 49).
As for dealing with potential fallout or rumors originating from more vocal bloggers, Jessica’s assertion that “it’s important that PR practitioners have the knowledge and skills to distinguish between a useful comment and comments that can be ignored” is right on target. Most Internet surfers who belong to the latent, emerging, or active publics of an organization exercise common sense when evaluating the legitimacy of information posted online. If they do believe everything they read, PR practitioners can still have the opportunity to set the record straight with a “well-done official web-site” Hsiao-Ching mentions as a rock of credibility.
On an unrelated note, Jonah Bloom’s article on the lip service given to media-promotion integration was an interesting read given the debate on the academic side of communications as to what constitutes a well-rounded communications education. Bloom’s argument that true innovation in persuasive communications should involve all aspects of communication plus elements of engineering, business, and design mirrors the debate over what students of communication should learn – business, liberal arts, a combination of the two or just specialized communications training. Incorporating too many disciplines into one’s education and training may spread their talents too thin, cost too much in time and money, and lead to inefficient organization systems. On the other hand, an individual who could handle all that knowledge would be a valuable manager to have. Likewise, a business with the human and capital resources coving all the bases Bloom writes are necessary for true integration may not succeed because it is too unfocused. Or, it could turn into a valuable resource for a company seeking to revitalize its perceived image and character. I don’t quite know which side to take and would be interested to read what others think.
We all know research is crucial. But how many companies will actually spend lots of money and time to conduct a thorough research for their PR programs? Everyone wants to use money in a way that is easier to see the result. Research is invisible to some extend. It can only provide you a list of dates and statistics. It could not provide you a definite answer about the best way to execute your plan that can definitely gain positive outcome. However, research is not only a one-step process, it also provides a benchmark for every step, which Jessica also points out in her post.
On the other hand, many big international companies do lots of research. They take it as a tactic for image building. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) released a report “claiming that ExxonMobil from 1998 to 2005 conducted a $16 million ‘disinformation campaign’ on global warming science using tactics borrowed from the tobacco industry ".( Scientists' Report Documents ExxonMobil’s Tobacco-like Disinformation Campaign on Global Warming Science )
ExxoMobile used scientific research to support its stance. On some controversial issues, research sometimes plays an important role to support the company image. Because there is no definite answer even in scientific world, companies can do research which is favorable to its side. They really have done research and provide the concrete statistics to the public to support their standpoint. From this aspect, is it ethical? In fact, each PR step is used to achieve the goal that a company desires or expects. It means that any strategy or tactic should be based on company interests. Therefore, if research plays the role as strategy and tactic, the result needs to be advantageous to the company. Otherwise, why is it used as “strategy”? I think the relationship between ethics and research as strategy depends on how the company balances them. It also requires corporate consciousness of “social responsibility” that Cutlip mentions (9th ed, p390)
Nowadays, “integration” prevails in very industry. People are all taking about integrating various kinds of things to facilitate their work. “Integration” seems to be a powerful word. However, how to integrate to make things work better is another question. As Ricco concluded, the role of PR should be reflected in their unique value rather than following fashion trends. There are lots of new ways to do promotion. Blog and website are the new trends. It seems to be an effective and efficient way to use these new media in promotion. However, as many classmates written that, we should be careful about their backlash effects. I found an article talking about the “ Top 10 Risks for Corporate Blogs". Although it is not an academic paper, it provides some ideas about the risks for corporate blogs.
When I switched on the laptop to write this comment, I first stopped by to check facebook. I think an approximate 95% of all students does exactly the same. That is right what David Strom is talking about in his article. Why not using these current trends in PR?
Using facebook or myspace is a very clever tactic to work on Public Relations or Advertising. The target group's attitudes are clearly defined, it is a very cost-effective way to work, and also you are taking advantage of the two-way-communication. As we know, interactive communication is way more effective than classical one-way-communication.
A blog also can be a good way to do that. The customer feels more involved and by including functions like comments on blogs, he can reflect on his opinion and the PR practitioner can answer questions and answer thoughts.
http://www.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html
Tim O'Reilly wrote this article to define what the term "Web 2.0" is about.
As "the digital world has changed communication within organizations and their various publics" (Cutlip et al., 9th ed., p. 252), we should have a look at what we are actually trying to adapt to.
The most important change in my opinion really is that you can't tell sender and receiver clearly apart anymore. Everyone can be a receiver by writing for Wikipedia, creating a Web Site or a blog comment like I am doing right now.
And this is just why we have to be aware that we need to integrate these possibilities, too.
Adding some thoughts about researches and practical environment. Many organizations don't do research for their campaign in Taiwan. Moreover, some small companies or non-profit organizations don't plan or develop strategic programs, and they just post some posters or post the information about activities on the Internet.
However, many big companies do researches to plan programs. I think whether do we do research is depending different situations and the scales of companies. Therefore, ideal and practice are not controverted. It's about different definitions of cases.
In addition, back to the topic of ethics, I found a web-site talking about ethics. Before we make decisions, we can ask ourselves several questions as the article “Talk about ethics” pointed.
Sorry, the link posted is not work.
"Talk about ethics"
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=36&aid=4346
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
To expand upon Hsiao-ching's thoughts about types and sizes of companies, I agree that each sector discussed in Cutlip, Center, and Broom's text (2006) has a different perspective on research. On a national scale, I cannot imagine the governmental sector making a single move without first researching public opinion and sentiment about each of their options. A simple look at the candidates for the presidential primary race, shows that they are playing to a very particular audience whom they have researched thoroughly. In a sector where every vote counts and job security is directly correlated with public opinions, research and polling are highly esteemed. The business sector provides a different view of research. The emphasis is on profits and not votes. If the dominant coalition views research to have a high ROI, the company is likely to invest in this important step. The opposite is true if they find it to be a waste of time or money.
Truly it is in the non-profit sector where research seems to be neglected. The field does conduct
general studies, such as those published on The Chronicle of Philanthropy's Web site, but it is sometimes difficult for small, charitable organizations to conduct research specific to them. According to Kelly (1998) only 70 percent of 501 (c)(3)s file an IRS form 990, an indicator that these organizations operate on very little income. It is unlikely that with such a small amount of available money, an organization would be able to afford to hire a person whose job is devoted specifically to research.
In the instances of each of these sectors, research can and has been exploited, manipulated, or ignored. One of the dangers of this lie in the spiral of silence (Cutlip, et al.,2006). If survey results show an overwhelming majority of people believe a certain thing, others holding opposing points of view will often fail to express their disagreement. I consider ignoring valid research and acting in an opposing manner to be as unethical and detrimental to the campaign as failing to complete it all together.
Just as David Storm in “Strategies to Succeed Online” brings an important point that “Old ways of hiring a public relations firm and putting out press release just don’t cut it anymore”, public relations are indeed evolving and playing with new tools. With new technologies introducing to the world, people not only use a different way in leading their live, but also use a new way to communicate. The new communication expedites thoughts exchanging and opinions altering, just like this class blog we don’t need to be face to face but can still share our opinions. Thus, traditional one-way communication which organizations want to control does not easy to work nowadays; publics can share or provide their opinions in anyway by blogging, and which is hard to be ignored. Like moonhee says that the increasing number of Internet users and information seekers forces an organization to have its own blogs and maintain blogger relationships.Therefore, PR enters into a new world which it has always to manage two-way communication.
I think Robb Hecht’s article “PR Function To Head Up New Blog Brand Threat” mentioned a circumstance which new media, such as blog, “threatens the power of brand and their message control because blog facilitate open dialogues with customers.” PR thus now are having more integrated and multiplied function to coordinate information form or to blog. Because new media empowers publics to speak out loud and brings a new world which two-way communication is compulsive, PR function must have to work more effectively and more interactively by using new technologies. As Hecht says “This is a great opportunity for PR to take leadership of the strategic role of integrating the voice of the customer between corporate IT and marketing”.
The article,"Poor Content Makes Viral Marketing Fizzle," posted September 26 on eMarketer states that according to JupiterResearch, only 15 percent of viral campaigns get passed along. As a result, viral marketers plan to decrease their targeting by 55 percent next year. Analysts suggest that these campaigns failed because they just were not good enough to catch people’s interest. I think this example illustrates Jennifer’s point that “many practitioners do not know how to strategically use these new mediums of communication.” We are learning about how important new media are becoming to public relations. But are public relations students actually learning how to use these new mediums?
Cutlip et. al. state that the “most difficult positions to fill are those that require specialized preparation…such as computer technology” (2006, p. 33, 9th Ed.). Should computer knowledge still be something extra a public relations applicant has? David Strom says that “many businesses now have staff members whose responsibilities include maintaining Internet activities like blogs and online storefronts.” I wonder if these staff members were computer people who had to learn public relations or public relations people who had to learn new media. Nevertheless, I definitely think current and future public relations students should learn how to write blogs, create Web sites, etc. in school before entering the professional world. Once there, professionals not only need to be able to write blogs but need to be masters of them before attempting to use blogs in any communications program. Poor form can cause any tactic to lose the public it was trying to reach in the first place.
Obviously, communications technicians need to be the first to learn new media because they will be the ones producing the online content (Cutlip et. al., 2006). But because managers are the ones doing the strategic planning, they also need to be experts in the new mediums to determine their necessity in a given situation. Jonah Bloom says we should be “coming up with the right solutions rather than committing the marketers' money to multiple channels because that is à la mode.” By understanding how the different new mediums of communication work, we can determine if and when they will be right for our client’s target publics. In the future, new media may be appropriate for most publics, so all students need to be learning how to use the different mediums now.
When you have a question about something, whom do you ask? Your friends, your family? If they don’t know much about it, what can you rely on? Newspapers, the Internet? Absolutely, the Internet. The Internet is already an integral part of our lives.
However, there is no consensus yet on the effectiveness of on-line PR. Many people in the world are not Internet users (U.S., 31.4%) and not all companies are involved in on-line PR.
You Are An Internet User But Many People Are Not
Online PR Roundtable Report
Anyway, with the advent of the on-line society, the function of PR should change. Which direction should it take? The solutions can be found by examining the characteristics of the Internet.
The Internet has some typical traits. Before on-line society arrived, information was serviced only through the conventional media. However, the Internet connects numerous people at one time and information is spread indiscriminately. These traits mean that PR practitioners should invest their time not only in traditional off-line media but also in on-line media. A PR team alone cannot handle data within a limited time to keep it proper and provide a lot of information. Other related departments must actively participate in PR procedures.
The truth of data is also important because of the indiscriminate traits of information. When PR practitioners’ main role is to provide press releases, they can manage the truth of data with little effort. However, the truth of the enormous amount of data uploaded onto the Internet cannot easily be managed. To preserve valid and truthful data, the cooperation of other teams is also essential. Maybe, one of the functions of PR should be to manage the truth.
Another aspect of the Internet is that its users want to react and are easily displeased. It means that users are so picky that it is hard to keep them on a site. It requires PR practitioners to play a role as a dialoguer and a listener. To sincerely dialogue with users, PR practitioners must have versatile knowledge about an organization and participate in a decision-making process that reflects the voice of the consumer.
As “research as news” becomes an evermore popular trend and “blogging” becomes a permanent part of strategy for PR pros, I feel that these “tactics” are over-valued and over-used (if I may be so bold).
Research has a tremendous amount of value in developing strategy and I agree with Xia and Jessica (and everyone else who noted) that we should come back to research through each step of the process. But as Dr. Robinson noted the in her post, ‘public relations companies seem to rely on intuition based on experiences rather than empirical scientific methods.” The reason for this, I believe, is that our role as practitioners is forward thinking.
When you research a company before buying stock, it always says “past performance is not an indicator for future success.” WHY, because research tells you about the PAST and the NOW. It may be predictive in some circumstances, but research, or the “research as a tactic” sort, tells us what’s happening NOW. The most helpful research takes a proactive role in defining current and future trends. In the article “The Futurist” (featured in a special online section --“Job of the Week”--in Conde Nast’s Portfolio), Marian Salzman demonstrates proactive research methods that have helped identify places for growth. The informal methods described, add value to a company’s strategy which differs from those organizations that rely on quantitative data to provide direction.
Each of the four roles defined by Cutlip et al. (technician, expert, facilitator, problem-solver) all require the ability to see the next big thing and be able to function in/relate to it. Each role requires practitioners to be proactive. The Center for Media Research article mentioned 70% recognize the use of “green advertising” as a marketing tool. Going green is no longer a proactive tactic to improve corporate image; it’s now an essential part of corporate social responsibility. Likewise, the blog-bandwagon is not a proactive tactic.
I hate to give credit to anything associated with this man but the article, Bush and Bloggers , clearly highlights building blog-client relationships as a positive PR strategy. As Jessica first mentioned, the PR professional is most effective in this new online realm if he/she can navigate it strategically.
Lastly, Kaitlin, I have to disagree with you that future PR students need to learn to write blogs. We are not “journalists” and I can’t see the value in trying to make our clients become one. Like Moon hee noted, as practitioners we need to insist that our clients/bosses build relationships with influential bloggers but we should NOT proceed beyond that. Blogging as a tactic should be finished. Like bad research, corporate blogs are a pool of ethical questionability. PR should instead focus on the next big idea to help our clients become leaders in their industry, rather than joining the back of the bandwagon.
Iamheck said: "I have to disagree with you that future PR students need to learn to write blogs.We are not “journalists” and I can’t see the value in trying to make our clients become one. Like Moon hee noted, as practitioners we need to insist that our clients/bosses build relationships with influential bloggers but we should NOT proceed beyond that. "
I have to disagree with you again. I think we definitely SHOULD learn how to write blogs. Why not adapting to the latest technical development and use the possibilities we possibly could?
Dr. Martinez brought up some very interesting points about researches role in public relations practice. I think the most interesting point that the Doctor made was about the fact that research can be used as a communication device. Where as I believe that the constant growth of research in public relations is due to the “formative” and “evaluation” aspects, the use of research as a communication tool has been a byproduct of these two aspects. A happy accident if you will. In trying to find a more effective way of implementing tactics of a plan, research became a staple of the practice. Showing a dominate coalition “the numbers” carried over to the realization that the public can be swayed by those same findings. As Ping mentions companies have “to pass the quality standard” I believe research numbers go a long way in convincing a public of an organizations credibility and quality.
But even as research as been shown and talked about as being an extremely useful tool in public relations practice many firms and organizations never conduct it. In the article Research in Public Relations: A review of the use of evaluation and formative research http://www.carma.com/research/PR_Metrics.pdf author Jim R. Macnamara cites a study conducted by IPRA that found 75.9 percent of public relations practitioners found research to be necessary, while only 16 percent of those same practitioners used research (p. 4). That is a huge discrepancy. I would suppose factors such as money and time constraints are the reason for this high difference. But as Ricco pointed out it maybe hard to get clients interested in investing money in the research process. For public relations to progress on the path to professionalism it must continue to highlight the important role of research.
Another factor of research that Dr. Martinez touched on that has been a through line and topic of interest for me is ethics. As Cutlip et al. touch on in Chapter two of Effective Public Relations 9th ed. for public relations to establish itself as a profession it must adhere to professionalism guidelines which include, “codes of ethics and standards of performance through self-governing“(2006, p. 48). Self-governing being the key. In the release of research findings and the misrepresentation of research and its methods a public relations practitioner must hold themselves to the highest ethical standards not only for the sake of the organizations image, but for the profession of public relations as a whole.
Do PR companies frequently base their market plans on research results? Often this answer remains unclear, as many PR companies appear to rely on intuition-based experiences rather than empirical scientific methods. Thus, how do we explain this tendency? One possible explanation may be the common problem of overcoming budget restrictions on research, even though most PR companies are well aware of the importance of conducting research in developing marketing plans. If so, as Dr. Martinez mentioned briefly, it is vitally important for PR companies to rely on creative, low-cost research methods. This especially entails utilizing all available secondary information or using interpersonal networks among experts. As Jessica mentioned, research plays an important role in every step of PR efforts!
The following is great example emphasizing the importance of formulating research-based tactics and strategies. Here a campaign known as the “Five-a-Day Campaign” (http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/)”, was conducted to increase fruit and vegetable intake as a means of reducing risks of cancer, heart disease and many other chronic conditions resulting from unhealthy eating habits. This campaign particularly targeted those groups with the lowest intakes and has attempted to provide clear and consistent messages. In formulating various tactics and strategies, the campaign’s planners relied on exhaustive research. Research was conducted for every step in relation to audience segmentation, the benefits of consuming higher fruit or vegetable portions, evaluation of campaign achievements, and revising campaign tactics and strategies. Simply put, this campaign clearly shows how research results can be utilized to both devise plans and develop tactics to establish campaign credibility.
Yet although these plans were carefully planned and based on research results, subsequent achievement evaluations revealed noticeable failures. Specifically, the campaign failed to conduct adequate target audience research. For example, it suggested that ‘recipes and cooking tips’ based on research were useful in remedying problems of low fruit or vegetable intake. However, by suggesting fruits or vegetables that were neither cheap nor common, and by offering time-consuming recipes, little success was achieved. In hindsight, the campaign would have been far more effective had planners taken a few extra steps and conducted simple pre-tests.
As my M.A. thesis, I researched relationships among entertainment corporations, media, and publics. In the result, many entertainment PR practitioners and marketing directors have not conducted research for their publics. Although they consider the importance of research, they do not conduct research. Actually, there are several problems: corporation size, and market environment etc. So I asked them how you build a plan for new business. They said their decisions are dependent on the intuition. They have experienced a lot of business, so, their decisional basis is based on their past experiences.
However, I think this situation means that it is a huge gap between practical and ideal. I think experiences for past events might be the tool of research. Although it is not arrayed, and is not supported by statistical data, experiences for past events are good evaluation tools for present situation. Actually, too subjective decisions are problematic, but as referential data, experiences are the one of options for research.
Plus, according to a recent report provided by Samsung Economic Research Institute, along with the rise of the Internet as a major channel of people’s accessing news, the Internet has also revolutionized how consumers interact with the news. Indeed, whereas traditionally consumers of news were quite passive simply reading articles or advertisements, the Internet allows consumers to react to news articles, advertisements and sponsored events. At the same time, firms also have greater power to interact with consumers through messages sent out from their home pages or other sources on the web. (I am so sorry that it is long, but it does not access without membership log-on.)
This report reveals that the importance of new media in PR. New media provide corporations with opportunities to draw a concern of publics. For example, here is a GE case. GE made a blog based on “Imagination at work” as a motto of the company. This site is like a whiteboard, so users draw what they want on the web, also send this picture to friends, and invite friends to draw something with them. This site would increase chances to meet publics, and make publics feel intimacy for the company.
Benetton also makes another case. Benetton made enjoyable communication space on the web. The site provides users with a lot of contents without language limitation.
These are the blue prints for online media in PR. However, new media also might be disadvantageous for corporations. In cases of Mazda and cyworld as Korean facebook, we can see abuse and misuse of blog, as Moonhee and Ricco said. Sometimes, inappropriate responds to publics give corporations unrecoverable damages. So, big corporations make a blogging policy to protect unexpected risk. As we can see above cases, too positive thoughts on blog are wrong, and blog as a PR tool, induces additional changes for organizational structure, so a lot of money need to be cost as David strom said. Actually, technology development makes changes of PR environment, however, with research, PR practitioners can build their own agenda in PR sphere.
Anna, thanks for your comment. Though I wouldn't classify blogs as the latest in technological development, I do see the value in having a working relationship with professional and reputable bloggers. As Rico mentioned, “successful blogs have their own readerships and high rankings, whereas some traditional media have been dramatic losing their circulations and audiences.” However, the value of corporate blogs has dramatically diminished. Because everyone’s a blogger! Nothing is unique anymore. Corporate blogs just serve as another portal to the main page. There’s not always new information and its not always personal; in fact I’d venture to say if blogs aren’t done strategically (as Jessica put it) there is almost no value for the company. However, if you make a reputable blogger impressed (ethically of course) with the service or product and they write about it…that’s earned media! You’ve done your job!
It’s interesting how I grew into this anti-blogging mentality. I did a search for one of my old clients, FedEx, and their use of blogs. As expressed by a top manager at FedEx, the role of my PR firm, was to bring him new ideas all the time! Blogs were never considered and it soon became a non-issue, we didn’t think this was a good tool. After my search, it’s more understandable as to why they never were interested, though I still have the same feeling. I guess the misuse and overuse of blogs leaves me with the same negative feeling that 70% of the public shared with their thoughts towards green advertising.
When I worked at one of multinational public relations agencies in Korea, I was pretty surprised at the fact that many senior PR practitioners, including my boss, hardly knew about online PR although there had been lots of discussions about the new media theoretically and practically in the PR field. There was not any attempt to conduct a concrete research on online media, and the practitioners were indifferent to learning the new ways. At the end of the meeting, instead of building the research, they decided to utilize their ‘intuition’, again.
As Yeonsoo questioned before, in the real world, it is doubtful whether PR practitioners take the research step. Unfortunately, many practitioners that I have met confessed that they don’t have enough time to think about the research. However, ironically, regardless of a lack of the knowledge of the research, it seems that there is apparent increase in using research itself as a tool of communication as Dr. Martinez said last week. This may explain the possibility of superficial and abusive use of research; practitioners can regard the research just as a communication device without considering its original role among the whole communication process. Because they don’t thoroughly understand the importance of research that can result great amount of positive or negative impact on the public, they can conduct and disseminate the research that lacks credibility and responsibility easily.
As Streib mentioned in 1990, the public research in a large scale, such as citizen survey, “has the great strength in that they have the potential to sample the viewpoints of all citizens (Cutlip et al., 2006).” In other words, the public research itself have the potential to influence all citizens by offering them certain issues to think about and showing them the result that they intended to deliver. It is easy to find the example of influential surveys in political communication. Newspapers such as The Toronto Star pointed out the role of political poll and its impact on politicians and voters. Therefore, the public relations practitioner’s role as a message deliver through research should be taken more seriously considering its influence on the society.
Concerning the blog issue, I agree with Patrick in that the roles of journalists and public relations professionals should be distinguished. However, to be able to anticipate, analyze, and utilize the web communication, PR practitioners need to understand exactly what is going on and how everything is arranged on the web. It is not that we must be a good blogger, but at least we have to be good at using blogs, I think.
When I worked at one of multinational public relations agencies in Korea, I was pretty surprised at the fact that many senior PR practitioners, including my boss, hardly knew about online PR although there had been lots of discussions about the new media theoretically and practically in the PR field. There was not any attempt to conduct a concrete research on online media, and the practitioners were indifferent to learning the new ways. At the end of the meeting, instead of building the research, they decided to utilize their ‘intuition’, again.
As Yeonsoo questioned before, in the real world, it is doubtful whether PR practitioners take the research step. Unfortunately, many practitioners that I have met confessed that they don’t have enough time to think about the research. However, ironically, regardless of a lack of the knowledge of the research, it seems that there is apparent increase in using research itself as a tool of communication as Dr. Martinez said last week. This may explain the possibility of superficial and abusive use of research; practitioners can regard the research just as a communication device without considering its original role among the whole communication process. Because they don’t thoroughly understand the importance of research that can result great amount of positive or negative impact on the public, they can conduct and disseminate the research that lacks credibility and responsibility easily.
As Streib mentioned in 1990, the public research in a large scale, such as citizen survey, “has the great strength in that they have the potential to sample the viewpoints of all citizens (Cutlip et al., 2006).” In other words, the public research itself have the potential to influence all citizens by offering them certain issues to think about and showing them the result that they intended to deliver. It is easy to find the example of influential surveys in political communication. Newspapers such as The Toronto Star pointed out the role of political poll and its impact on politicians and voters. Therefore, the public relations practitioner’s role as a message deliver through research should be taken more seriously considering its influence on the society.
Concerning the blog issue, I agree with Patrick in that the roles of journalists and public relations professionals should be distinguished. However, to be able to anticipate, analyze, and utilize the web communication, PR practitioners need to understand exactly what is going on and how everything is arranged on the web. It is not that we must be a good blogger, but at least we have to be good at using blogs, I think.
Sorry for my first comment, just disregard it!
And for those who have a problem with hyperlink, I leave the control word for html tag here.
the word you want to hyperlink
sorry again, just refer to this link ^^;
hyperlink tag
Sorry for my link
You Are An Internet User But Many People Are Not
Online PR Roundtable Report
After reading several posts about blogging and new media from my classmates, I decided to reflect on the topic of integration of advertising and public relations. I found a website called PR 2.0 (http://www.briansolis.com/2007/06/future-of-communications-manifesto-for.html)that brought to my attention many things that are wrong with public relations. Brian Solis wrote an article on this site titled "Why PR Doesn't Work and How To Fix It" (http://www.briansolis.com/2007/05/why-pr-doesnt-work-and-how-to-fix-it.html). He brings up some interesting points and has a top ten list for the reasons PR doesn't work as well as a top ten list of suggestions on how to fix it. Among his reasons why PR does not work he lists the fact that "Clients don’t realize that what happens after you get the publicity coverage is sometimes more important than the actual placement." This highlights one of the key points Dr. Martinez brought up last week. A solution to that problem is that more evaluation and research needs to be conducted after the fact. This is something that we have been emphasizing in class and hopefully PR practitioners will use this solution more often than not
Advertising and PR need to become more integrated, and blogging is indeed a new correlation between the two. It is hard to define whether blogging is advertising based or if it is more public relations based. In Dr. Choi's Theories class we have been discussing blogging in detail. Many interesting points were brought up concerning the ethical implications of blogging. Additionally, Moonhee's link to "Blogging for PR" raised many interesting points. Id blogging an appropriate channel of advertising and public relations communications for an organization. How credible can blogs be? Cutlip et al. (2006) explain that "The communication step in the public relations process often requires influencing knowledge, opinions, and actions among sizable and distant groups."
For a long time a lot of scholars and PR practitioners has insisted that researches play important roles in conducting public relations activities. Furthermore, areas of researches have been expanded day by day. Now many PR practitioners have utilized researches not only as a former step for PR planning but also as newsworthy items to increase publics’ goodwill and organizations’ profits. Also, in modern society researches using online media are frequently used. However, many scholars raise a question. That question is about whether publics can believe results from online researches. According to Jack Loechner’s article “Most Americans Say Green Advertising is ‘Just A Marketing Tactic” (http://publications.mediapost.com/?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=68186), most Americans think that when companies call a product "green" (meaning better for the environment), it is usually just a "marketing tactic". Of course, 4% of Americans completely disagree and 26% somewhat disagree that “green” is a marketing tactic. This illustrates that many people do not believe results from researches.
What makes such an unexpected distrust? I’d like to suggest two reasons. For one thing, PR practitioners do not recognize the importance of PR research and do not conduct good research sincerely by the excuse of lacking time and budgets. Another reason is that publics think the ultimate research purpose is to improve profits.
PR practitioners have conducted researches superficially for a long time. A lot of PR agents have thought PR researches useless and vain works although the importance of PR researches has been insisted in academic fields for a long time. I was surprised at the episode of Jiyoung’s boss. The company that Jiyoung had worked for has been well-known in Korea. I could not suppose they had conducted researches using such poor and unfaithful methods. I think the boss of the company lacks of professionalism and PR ethics. I’m very sorry that a lot of PR practitioners still have same ideas and conduct same public relations activities. Such an unfaithful attitude and behavior will make many PR practitioners lose trust and goodwill from publics in the end.
In addition, although the ideal purpose of public relations research is to establish and maintain good relationships with a variety of publics, a lot of PR practitioners have used results from researches with lifting profits of their clients in reality. Especially, PR practitioners frequently utilize online media and news releases because those methods have great access and easiness. However, it is not easy to obtain publics’ goodwill and trust because even untrustworthy persons can inform some information incorrectly and it is hard for publics to check source’s reliability on the web.
Although a lot of famous companies have conducted public relations activities about environments and launched products related to environments, only a few companies have done their best to protect environments. Let’s see the case of Dell (http://www.prweek.com/us/news/article/741133/Dell-vows-go-green-08/). Although Dell also announced the environmental campaign, it is not enough to attract publics’ interests because the contents of campaigns are too common and are not different from ones of other companies. Many people already know that insincere environment campaigns were carried out on the purpose of improving images of companies and maintaining good relationships consistently.
Nowadays a lot of PR practitioners are looking over real function and purpose of research and publics are inclined to distrust the results from researches. However, if PR practitioners do their best to conduct public relations activities ethically and sincerely, they will be able to wipe out disgraces and misunderstandings and maintain good relationships with publics. As PR practitioners, we should not forget the real goal that is to establish and maintain good relationships with publics by conducting PR activities including PR research sincerely and ethically.
Wow! seems like blogs are becoming hot-cakes here. Well, I agree with Anna that blogs are the "in-thing" in modern public relations practice. But I also can not contend with iamheck. Its only that we need to be sure about the ownership of these blogs. If the source is proficient and trustable there is no way we should ignore his/her comments. At one point iamheck is correct that corporate blogs are so pervasive that we can not call them unique. But isn't their omnipresence an indicator of their significance? I mean why would anything meaningless flourish to such large scales? I remember iamheck in one of his previous posts mentioned that he used one blogging site for reference. Correct me if I am wrong!
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I agree with Patrick, that blogs are "overvalued and overused" (yes, you may be so bold - I support you 100%!). The David Strom article emphasized that companies, "have to be more hands-on, grassroots, interactive and maintain this flow of continuous communications." I do not believe that many corporatations' blogs are evidence of companies taking this proactive intiative. I do not consider blogs that are merely a posting from the company with no option of readers being able to post and their posts being available for public viewing to be an example of two-way symmetrical communication. If the blog is the company just putting its news out there, it is, essentially a press release with the middle man (the journalist) cut out. What corporations who are concerned with achieving two-way symmetrical communication need to focus on is answering emails.
The more we discuss blogs, the more I can't help but notice that we are only discussing the positives and not the negatives. The article Google employee's personal blog entry spurs debate provides an example of corporate blogs gone wrong. A Google account executive posted negative and controversial comments about Michael Moore's film "Sicko" on Google's employee health care advertising blog. The result was outcry from hundreds of the blog's readers. Not only did the blogger have to issue an apology, but so did Google. The official statement from Google was that original blog post, "failed to recognize that readers would --properly, but incorrectly -- impute the criticisms as reflecting Google's offical position. I am not saying that all blogs are terrible, but their negative aspects and the problems they can possibly cause need to be taken seriously and be addressed. Todd also mentioned Dr. Martinez' and Cutlip's discussions of ethics - there are not any established guidelines that blogs have to adhere to. Dr. Martinez informed us of companies who disguised their blogs as the real-life stories of people travel across the country to visit different outlets of the organization, when really it was PR professional sitting at their desk in corporate headquarters fabricating the whole thing. Where is the line drawn on how to effectively use these new technologies without taking advantage of the publics' willingness to buy into what your saying? It would be really ironic is a blog, suppossedly used as a effective tactic to foster relationships with stakeholders, actually was the inspiration for a huge organizational crisis.
Jessica brings up an important point when she notes that research must be involved in not just the “research” step, but in every step of the public relations process. I completely agree. When stating our goals and objectives, we must return to research to be sure we have covered all of our bases. When implementing and evaluating a campaign, research must be done to ensure that the goals and objectives have actually been met.
An actual complaint letter written to a brand manager for Proctor & Gamble, producer of Always maxi pads, has been circulating the internet for quite a while. It can be found at or at hundreds of other blog-type sites. Wendi Aarons is not impressed with the new Always marketing tactic: Have a happy period. I believe the letter was written in all seriousness but has turned into a humorous blogging topic. As women, we can appreciate Aarons putting into writing what we are all thinking. As public relations students, we can apply Aarons’ letter to Cutlip et. al when they state that “whether public relations practitioners consider [the profit motive] a “problem” or an “opportunity” will determine where public trust can be maintained (or restored)” (p. 388). Public relations for a company like Procter & Gamble is essential to the bottom line. While Proctor & Gamble did not violate any ethical codes, either written or understood, they did fail (in my humble opinion) in the research stage(s). I agree with the Center for Media Research's statement and think it applies here. Ask any woman during "that time of the month" if she's having a happy period and you're likely to get a black eye or, at the very least, a death look. I feel like is just a marketing tactic and nothing more. To put it simply - it annoys me! And I know I'm not alone!
As both Christina and Patrick agree, blogs are “overvalued and overused”. This letter can be found at over 250 blog sites. Like Christina said, I do not particularly have much respect for organizations using blogs to get messages out to their publics. Blogs, and all new media for that matter, can be detrimental to an organization’s reputation because of the ability to post whatever you want, whenever you want, and anyone with Internet access can read it. In this case, a blog is a great tool for publics to share their feelings, but I can bet Proctor & Gamble and Mr. Thatcher do not agree with that statement.
In many colleagues’ opinions above, the online communication, especially blogs, was pointed out as a new arising tactics in PR communication practices. This new trend has provided a virtual platform that advances and accelerates communications without actual boundary limitation. Some might claimed that those online tactics were overused, just like iamheck, while others thought that they should be well-managed and thus could certainly bring advantages into full play. Here I would like to propose another kind of online communication—online messengers. In Taiwan, the most widely used online messengers are MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, each of which has its distinguishable target users. While most of the MSN users are above 18 years old, Yahoo Messenger is more used by junior high and elementary students. Actually messengers have become an important part in many Taiwanese lives. With messengers, you feel that you’re connected with all people on the friend list even if you are actually along or at somewhere far from them. Students may use it to discuss homework with classmates. One of the manager of my previous company even claimed that MSN has become one of the most important communication tools with his clients and colleagues. In the personal message column, he would post the latest project implemented and the resources at hand. By the connection of messenger, clients could easily and immediately learn the updated information about the services provided, raise questions, or discuss some future plan. The manager expressed that the messenger served a useful and effective tool of client retention and certainly help cultivate other business opportunities. However, use of messengers in work place might have negative influence—employees may spend so much on online chatting and thus decrease their working efficiency. Here we see the advantages and weaknesses of another online communication tool. In conclusion, I would rather agree with Jessica’s comments that the Internet and online sources are important tactics that should be effectively used as a tool to approach those related publics.
After today's discussion about this blog in class and my experience at work I wanted to bring up another aspect of blogging/online posting we have not considered: when the blog is for a non-consumer public, like a sales team. Part of my job is to maintain the comapny intranet for sales reps. They do not need convincing of the greatness of the company's product, but they do need updated technical information and sample sales pitches to pass on to the doctors and medical staff they sell to. Our intranet serves this purpose well, and is in a sense, indirect public relations for the medical community. So in terms of technical assistance or being a resource for a public that we seemed to have forgotten about here (employees, reps, other company-related associates), blogs serve a fully legitimate purpose. As for making them somewhat two-way, reps do not post to the intranet but they can give us feedback on the topics they'd like to see posted and the information they need more of. (Information that is grounded in medical research, by the way - if we didn't use product research, or realted medical research, our reps would not have a compelling pitch for doctors.) Since our goals are the same as theirs (sell mroe product through improved communication) we have no reason to ignore them.
Another aspect of the discussion to consider . . .
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