The End of the Beginning

Throughout this semester, I've written blog posts, developed logos and brochures, and learned about various ways to design visually appealing communication tools for various organizations. As a junior, I'm really diving into my major of public relations, and learning how to really be the best pr practitioner I possibly can.

Many people don't quite understand the capabilities of public relations - slightly ironic, as the point is to connect and develop relationships with the prospective audience. I have to admit that I myself didn't quite understand what my major entailed. A freshman in college with no real plans on what I wanted to major in, or what career I wanted to pursue, I chose public relations because my father runs the local school television program in my hometown (him and another teacher). He led me in the direction of communication, thinking I had a quick wit and an eye for design (the last was debatable in my mind... but I won't argue with the wit), so I enrolled in the public relations sequence with no idea of what to expect.

Now, two and a half years later, I've taken a load of classes in pr, journalism writing and a few in advertising, with a better idea of what I want to do with my life, and (thankfully) and idea of what exactly my major does. This is mainly due to the teachings of many different professors in the School of Journalism and Mass Commmunications, here at K-State. It is because of the education I've received thus far, and the opportunities I've been given in class, that I finally feel as though I chose the right major and future occupation to suite me. This last week of class in the fall semester of my junior year, and the next year and a half to come will furthur develop my skills and abilities to be the best I can be... and will signify the end of the beginning of my new life in public relations.

Internal vs. External PR

Anyone involved in public relations realizes the two main audiences - internal and external - are both very important for very different reasons. But which is more important? As a pr practitioner, is it more beneficial to provide up-to-date information immediately to the external public, or to make sure the internal public is the very first to know new information?

This question becomes somewhat tricky, as the information each public receives is different. The general, external public is given info that the internal public should already know, however in the case of a crisis neither internal nor external publics are fully aware of the current situation.

In times of crisis, I believe the internal public - the people working inside the company - become the most important. As a representative of the company, everyone suddenly becomes a spokesperson in times of crisis. Because of this, it is imperative that workers; the internal public, know and understand the situation at hand.

Both publics must fully understand what a company or organization stands for, as well as its capabilities. By fully educating the internal public of an organization, the external public may also become fully educated.

Curse Technology!

The great debate for many newspaper companies, is whether or not the
standard, tangible newspaper will die. Why continue wasting precious
time and money on paper that has a short shelf-life, and can't easily
be updated?

WELL! I'll tell you why. After a very VERY painful weekend/week of computer-less, phone-less existence, I feel completely unconnected from the rest of the world. Viruses apparently attacked my poor computer, leaving it helpless and unable to start. Which means..... NO Internet.

Now, after not being able to constantly check the web for the latest
updates, a hard copy of news - one that doesn't require ANY outside
source of power - is extremely appealing. Yes, it may be inconvenient at times, and may not always provide the most up-to-date news, but you never have to worry about a newspaper not working. For this very reason, I honestly do not believe we will ever completely do away with the newspaper. Plus - that just provides one more media outlet for pr representatives to pitch a story. No...the newspaper will never completely die........unlike my stupid computer.

Good Job, McDonald's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eN9KP6lOZs

This has become my new favorite commercial. I LOVE love this ad... it's funny, catchy, and easily gets the point across without once having the actors speak, or say McDonald's. As far as impact goes, the ad did a good job... I myself felt like making a trip to Micky D's!

If more tactics like this were used to reach audiences - using humor that people feel like they can relate to, without being over-bearing in the message - advertising and public relations would have a much greater impact on people. The idea is to make the audience have a positive connection to the commercial/publicity they see, and make them feel as if the commercial is speaking directly to them.

Although I realize not all situations are suited for humor or a "feel good" shot of publicity, making the audience connect and develop a self-interest in the product can always be achieved. McDonald's found a way to connect to at least one audience member - enough to make her write about it in a blog. :D

Internships

It's getting to be about that time... I'm about halfway done with the first semester of my junior year, and it's time I sit down and find me an internship! The possibilities are endless as far as different types of companies to intern for, profit vs. non-profit, location - it's really just a matter of finding the right one for me!

Ideally, I would love to have an internship working in sports; preferably motorsports. Competition will be stiff I'm sure though. EVERYONE wants to work in sports - many people major in public relations for this very reason. I'm a little concerned I won't qualify for the job as well as other students working towards the same internship. With it's growing need, public relations is becoming a fast-growing job.... meaning MORE competition. Yet another reason (besides being required by the JMC school) to get an internship. Any little bit to further your experience and increase your qualifications will help.

I know of a few students who have had wonderful internships that led to great jobs after college... my search for that same great experience begins now. I hope I can find the right internship for me, helping me begin my career!

PR Opportunities on Campus

This week, students and staff had the opportunity to donate blood here on the K-State campus. The blood drive was available more than one day this week, in multiple buildings on campus - the Union included. Why is my information so vague? Besides saying a blood drive did occur on campus, and at least one station was located in the Union, I really couldn't provide you with many more details simply because I don't know them. It is possible that I am completely ignorant, and totally oblivious to signs, brochures, radio advertisements etc. that gave more information......... or maybe information wasn't quite as readily available as some students would have liked. If it wasn't for a co-worker of mine, who happened to know the about the blood drive through a friend that was working at one of the stations, I would have never known K-State even had a blood drive this week.

My point? I'm sure there are many great opportunities on campus that never go noticed, simply from lack of good PR. My solution? Utilize PRSSA, utilize public relations classes... utilize students that are majoring in this very thing! The collaborative efforts between pr clubs/classes/students in general, and organizations or events that would like more publicity could result in great benefits for both. Experience for the students, and publicity for the organization.

Disclaimer: I can't knowledgeably say that no pr/advertising efforts were done on the Blood Drive's part - they may very well have. I'm simply using my ignorance on the subject as my blog topic for this week.

Frustrating!

It's hard to believe that it takes so long to make something so small. I enjoy working in Photoshop and trying to design new ideas, but man! Making the logo for PR Tech. took a looong time. And I'm sure it could have been much better. My partner and I made a bridge as our logo - to represent "bridging the gap." I loved the concept, however it may be just a bit too far out of the box to really suit the client's needs. Students in the class came up with some really great ideas. I think it's neat that each group came up with their own concept - none really resembled each other.

For my group, developing the logo in Photoshop took the longest. The concept stayed basically the same, however transferring the idea from paper to computer was a little difficult. I have a new respect for designers! All in all though, I was proud of our work. For being fairly green when it comes to using design programs in depth, I think my group as well as the entire class did an excellent job! Hopefully our client the client thinks so too...

Too much of a good thing?

Today's technology allows advertisers, marketers, and pr firms to reach audiences better than ever. This blog is an example of the new ways target publics are contacted. With the use of computers, television, and creative campaigns, a company and its products really have no excuse for being unknown.

How much advertising is too much, though? A market can become oversaturated with advertisements, which, could eventually turn customers away completely. Stores, like Wal-mart, have started advertising to customers in store. Televisions are placed throughout different sections of the store to advertise for different products within Wal-mart. Although this may seem like an effective marketing technique - constantly making the customers aware of what is offered - some stores are going as far as to advertise to customers with televisions placed at eye level in the checkout line. I'm assuming the intent is to remind people of different products that can still be bought, however I don't think many people will willing leave their spot in line to search the store for that one last product.

Reaching your audience and maintaining a relationship with them doesn't necessarily mean advertising/marketing/pr-ing :).... I made that word up... is essential everywhere people go. Part of maintaining a good relationship with the customer is keeping them happy - and I know I personally would no longer be happy if I constantly felt bombarded with advertisements.

PR Affects Everything...Even Food

It's no secret that fast food restaurants, like McDonald's, are changing their menus to provide healthier meals. A variety of fast food places now offer apples instead of french fries for kids, and milk, juice or water instead of just pop. With the seemingly overwhelming amount of obesity America now has, it would seem places that offer fattening and greasy foods are to blame.

The bad press fast food restaurants have received because of the high obesity rates have even caused some to change their entire look. McDonald's, a restaurant that was most recognizable for it's golden arches and Ronald McDonald cartoon character, had a menu that for the most part had gone unchanged for many years. Cheap hamburgers and greasy french fries were easily available with little difference in choice. Over the past year however, McDonald's has begun the slow change to becoming a fast food restaurant that provides healthy alternatives, a more stylish decor, and even a raise in some of their food prices.

While this could have backfired, because the constant look was at one time an advantage for Mickey D's, 2007 marked the most profitable year in 30 years. The bad press McDonald's received for their unhealthy food, was taken into consideration and used to update their services to meet the needs of consumers. This seems to be a new trend for a few fast food places. Although many don't change how they decorate, the food choices are becoming increasingly healthier. Because of the bad press, fast food has gotten good pr, and made themselves a profitable business again.

This one example shows how even the smallest changes to any company, combined with the right advertising and good pr, can result in positive outcomes.

Are we crossing a line?

Today in my CIS class, we had to discuss the use of cookies on Internet websites. According to the textbook Computers are your Future, by Bill Daley, cookies are small files written on your computer's hard disk by some of the various Web sites you visit. The original purpose of using cookies was to provide convenience to users, by temporarily storing information that was put on the website, to use for future reference. An example would be when shopping online, cookies allow shoppers to place items in the shopping basket - the cookies remember the items you browsed and saved, for easy retrieval later. The problem is though, certain marketing companies are capitalizing on this, and using information gained by cookies to advertise specific products to users, based on Web sites that were previously visited. Although this isn't directly a problem of public relations, pr, marketing and advertising are all very similar, and each have a specific audience that they are targeting. Do we go to extreme measures, even to the point of invading the privacy of others, to fully understand our target audience? Public relations does need information about their audience, however pr, marketing and advertising can obtain this information in more ethical ways - and with the consent of their target audience - than by looking at what Web sites Internet users browse.

Does PR need PR?

This summer, I wrote a research paper for my Composition II class on how public relations positively impacts not only companies and organizations, but society in general as well. The basis for my argument was that, even though public relations has a negative image to many - sometimes termed as "spin" - pr is essential for anyone in the general public to know what is going on within an organization, both positive and negative. When talking about my chosen topic in class, another student, who worked at an oil company, said pr was somewhat of a "dirty word" to many of the employees.

This made me wonder - why does public relations have such a negative reputation? Based on many conversations I've had, pr has a bad reputation among those who don't fully understand the purpose of the job. As pr majors know, the best pr agents are virtually unknown to the general public because they do such a good job, damage control and "spin" aren't needed on a regular basis. When their work is evident (aside from having public events), people see it as just another cover up, or just another excuse as to why their company is insufficient.

Although the negative connotation that can be associated with public relations, the use of pr is far from non-existent. It is a career that continues to thrive and will always be needed to inform the general public. My thought is however, if more of the general public had a better understanding of the full use and positive capabilities public relations can provide, pr wouldn't be such a "dirty" word. Now how's that for a spin?

Where are the jobs?

When you go to college for four years, slaving away at all the writing assignments, econ courses (I hate econ), and copy editing assignments... :D... a high-powered, fancy job with many well-known and respected clients seems like the ultimate goal. You don't want to think four years was wasted, simply to move to a small town and never use your degree to its full potential! The reality is however, that PR jobs are needed everywhere; both rural and urban areas, small and large corporations, for profit and non-profit organizations - the possibilities are endless. Yes, smaller towns and smaller companies may provide less opportunities in getting hired as a public relations representative, as well as fewer choices in what kind of pr work one would be doing, however there is still a need for the profession. Public relations really is a very versatile major, for this very reason. The work entailed doesn't limit where one can or can't go to find a job - it's a profession that will always be needed if any sort of corporation or organization wishes to be known among its publics. Just one more reason pr really is the best major!