Stop boxing yourself!

Should journalism schools offer both PR and journalism classes to all its students? We had a short conversation on that subject in my public relations class this week; well I don’t think I said a word on it then. However, that got me thinking and though I have an opinion on the issue, it may be useful to get some more insightful thoughts from everyone reading this blog, so I hope you all chip in on the topic.

I got my undergraduate degree in journalism and mass communication back in my home country, Cameroon. It was a hectic and stressful 3-year period, probably the most academically challenging times I have ever faced. As JMC students, we were required to take photojournalism, research, news writing, publishing, public relations and advertising classes, and all this in 3 years. Did I mention that we were also expected to participate in quantitative research projects, and work for the campus newspaper and radio station? Does that make some of of us graduates of that program a little confused about our career goals? Maybe! Does that exemplify the adage: “jack of all trades, master of none?” Maybe! However I think like myself, many of us knew exactly what we liked the most even though we were bombarded with all that information. I for example knew from the first semester that my heart belonged in a radio station and thankfully, that remains a huge media industry in Cameroon. Our training also gave us more versatility in a failing job market. If I couldn’t find a writing job with a media organization, I had the option and qualifications to apply for a PR job or something else.

Because I am taking a PR class and not a news writing class I’ll address the following personal tips to my fellow PR students.

·         You need to know how to write news articles. If you learned how to do that but you’ve forgotten, polish your writing skills. You have to realize that PR professionals also write when working for certain organizations. I actually learned a lot about writing from the media relations experts I worked with during an internship at the UNT News Service.

·         Realize that the difference between the journalism and PR is not that great. Journalists and public relations officers both have the duty of providing the public with the necessary information for decision-making. In doing his/her job the PR person may conceal some information about an issue unlike most journalists, who always want to disclose as much information as they can. However think of it this way:  if you are capable of distinguishing between newsworthy potentially damaging information, then you can work in a newsroom.

·         If you have room for an elective course and there is a chance of you enrolling in a news writing class, grab that opportunity

The job market is bad and the benefits from acquiring extra skills by far outweigh any inconveniences it may cause. You may need to switch jobs in search of better pay or for some other reason and it just might help to have some extra skills in your bag to see you through this phase.

“Hail to the V” Campaign Leads to “Hail a PR Nightmare” Situation

Almost half a week has gone by since I saw the most disturbing commercial I’ve seen in a long time. Summer’s Eve Corporation’s launched the “Hail to the V” commercial campaign this summer, introducing feminine hygiene products. Perfect timing I would say, they probably had a larger audience watching what could be considered a controversial and inappropriate commercial which crossed racial boundaries to a certain extent. For those who are unaware of what happens in these commercials, visit summer’s Eve’s website at: http://summerseve.com/.

Feminine hygiene products remain somewhat an unpopular topic. According to popular TV host, Stephen Colbert; he usually fast-forwards lady ads in order to respect their privacy. What happens when a woman needs one or where she gets those products from is not a subject you are likely to hear people talking about publicly. It is embarrassing for some to be seen on an aisle where those products are sold. Summer’s Eve however felt that it was time to change the status quo. Actually in the words of their director of feminine care, Angela Bryant, “This campaign is about empowerment, changing the way women may think of the brand, and removing longstanding stigmas.”

Wonderful inspiration, advertising team, but I guess they never realized how much controversy was going to arise from the release of the commercials. In today’s world, an organization cannot afford to have a multitude of voices criticizing their ideas or products. With the availability of social media technologies such as Twitter and Facebook, those displeased voices travel across countries and continents in a matter of seconds, and sometimes causing irreparable harm to that organization.

Summer’s Eve has therefore not only suffered a failed advertising campaign, but a PR problem. Reactive PR comes in play here. I have heard several times that practicing Reactive PR is not the best situation for public relations professionals.

What is the PR person’s dilemma here? First there is some image damage caused by the commercial. Women and even men of different races may be outraged by the racial stereotypes promoted in these commercials. Why should they buy these products? Would they recommend it to their friends? Probably not. Remember word of mouth remains the most effective way of spreading a message. What message will these people be giving their friends and neighbors? Probably not one that is likely to lead to a sale of the product.

Also, when your new product hits the market and becomes an object of ridicule, you’ve got some image problems to resolve. Colbert who was also among the Time’s 100 most influential people in 2006 made a joke of the commercial. If Colbert’s viewers had missed the commercial on TV, Colbert’s review of the product informed them, and he wasn’t applauding Summer’s Eve for their bold script. I doubt how many of those viewers bought a product dissed by their favorite show anchor after watching that show.

Finally, there is the issue of trustworthiness that arose from the commercial. The commercials suggest that women are showing their bodies some love by using the products, but according to a WUSA9, a local Washington media organization, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's health actually deems the use of such products as a bad idea. These products may increase a woman’s chances of getting a vaginal infection."

Bottom line is organizations should always do a test run of their commercials before they are released in order to spare the PR departments a problem-solving nightmare.

 References

Summer's eve 'hail to the v' commercial may cross the line of decorum and health. (2011, July

19). Retrieved from http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/159140/283/Summers-Eve-Hail-To-The-V-Commercial-May-Cross-The-Line-Of-Decorum-And-Health

“Failure to plan, is planning to fail”

This week my public relations class was honored to receive a lecture on public relations planning from PR expert and practitioner, researcher and educator, Jim Haynes, APR, Fellow PRSA. Jim has worked for several organizations for a longer time than I’ve been alive, so take my word, he definitely knows what he’s talking about.

This is something Jim said which I am definitely adopting: “An organization without a written plan is like a runner in a race without a finish line.” Planning cannot be over emphasized. Organizations need both short term and long term planning to survive and it is at this stage that you ask yourself questions such as: what am I trying to achiever? When do I want to achieve it? This goes to show that at the planning stage you need deadlines and you need measurable objectives.

 Imagine that you are planning a wedding and you have all these brilliant ideas in your head but fail to write them down. What do you think will happen? Chances are you will spend more money than you can afford or allocated for the event, you may forget to order the flowers, the invitation cards or worse still, forget to book a hall. Nobody wishes for such a disastrous wedding. The same applies for any organization that is in the race to sell products or ideas. Without a plan your employees are likely to underperform because they are unaware of the expectations their bosses have in terms of deadlines or talent, the organization may fail to meet some of its obligations and most importantly, it may lose some business or a good deal of business.

The truth is, planning relations planning can be a long, slow, time consuming and tiring process, but public relations people cannot do without it. As the adage goes, “failing to plan is planning to fail.”

Navigating the PR Process in a Social Media Era

PR class 2- Takeaway!

The classic public relations process has four steps which are: research, planning, communication and evaluation. Nowadays, the social media has made this communication model even less linear than it was before. In a nutshell, the new media has completely revolutionized the way in which communication is conducted. Taking the relationship between the PR office and the audience for example, now there are direct communication lines between these two groups. Brian Solis and Deidre Breakenridge make a valid claim that “companies lost 100% control of their communications a long time ago,” as social media has enabled people to discuss their brands across multiple platforms even in their absence. Social media is an effective tool for any organization today; maybe more effective than any other communication tool has been at any given time. However, this does not mean public relations officers or their clients should dismiss other less popular tools like newsletters.

This dilemma about what tool should be used brings us to a very important point: research is an absolute necessity. How often have we seen people dive into the planning phase directly without bothering to do the necessary preliminary research? Sure that can be a time-demanding and costly step, but it seems even costlier for any company or organization to forego this or any other aspect of the public relations chain. Your research will enable you to recognize not only who to target your message to and when, but how to do it, and with what communication tool. 

Embrace the chaos!

As concerns companies which fear to get involved in chaotic communication line created by social media, they need to heed to Solis and Breakenridge’s advice and embrace the chaos.” 

References

Solis, B., & Breakenridge, D. (2009). Putting the public back in public relations: How social media is reinventing the aging business of PR. Upper Saddle River, N.J: FT Press.

Taking Baby Steps…

I do not boast to be knowledgeable about public relations. True, my bachelor’s degree states that I have a couple of PR classes under my belt and that I got academic credit for doing a PR internship. The truth is, I barely understood why I had to do all that stuff, I but managed to make good grades because I like to excel even at things I dislike.

My wish and hope is that by the end of this semester, anyone tracking my progress, and that includes my greatest critic- me, will see some progress in me. I should not only be able to have a grasp of what it is to practice public relations in this century, but my way of thinking should have evolved to a more critical one. I also would love to shape PR to fit my life and career choice; I intend to use whatever skills I have gathered from research and broadcasting which I love, to find my own niche in public relations.

Our facilitator for the class, as our professor calls herself, said something really interesting: reporters have news stories to report because of PR people and money to run their organizations thanks to advertising revenue. Since everything is so interconnected, I see no harm in learning about all these areas of communication. In my way of thinking, it will make me an all-round professor, which I intend to be in a few years.