Swag Is Good PR

Swag Is Good PR
by Holly Jones

The news is all a buzz about the upcoming Oscars this Sunday evening. Millions of viewers will tune in to see celebrities wearing designer gowns, jewelry worth millions of dollars and, oh, yeah, to see who wins the awards.
But the biggest draw for both companies and celebrities is the media lounge usually located just outside the awards show. Within this lounge is millions of dollars worth of products waiting to be picked up by the celebrities. These products are called swag, which (according to www.Urbandictionary.com) are promotional products used for the purpose of promoting a label rather than make a profit. Basically, free publicity.
However, the company will profit from it in a different way. It is very good PR to have a celebrity seen wearing your companies product. Weather it is a watch, handbag or snow gear, that product will sell if a celebrity wears it. Not only will the celebrity be seen, but be photographed. Those pictures now reach millions of viewers both in print, on-line and on television.
These viewers are the target publics for the companies PR team. People who watch celebrities will more than likely purchase items their favorite celebrity is wearing. The PR team is creating brand awareness, not only for the viewers but also for the celebrity.
Although, there are some drawbacks for the swag celebrities receive. The IRS would like a chunk of it. Since 2005 celebrities now have to be held accountable for the value of each product they accept. Some of the products could be worth $1,000 to $30,000.
This goes to show how much value is placed upon celebrities. When what they wear is more important then what they stand for or believe.

Crisis Management in a World of Media

In this day and age of a media savvy society, crisis management situations are becoming harder to handle for many organizations. News media outlets are gathering information faster than ever, putting companies in a bind with little or no warning. Companies must be able to answer questions quickly in a looming crisis. In nearly all of crisis management scenarios, how the organization responds with in the first few hours is critical on the outcome of the crisis. It can also have an immense impact on the future reputation of the company.

A crisis management plan is essential for all organizations so they will be prepared if a crisis ever arises. Some important things to remember in a crisis situation is to tell it fast, tell it all and tell the truth. The plan should be laid out before a crisis ever occurs. DPK public relations services say that in a crisis management situation, the organization must have two priorities:

1.) Bringing the crisis under control
2.) Dealing with the intense media and public scrutiny

Although it is sometimes hard to deal with the media, there are ways to minimize the damage to the organization. One of these ways could be to create a crisis management team comprised of individuals who are key to the situation such as the president of the company or the public relations manager. It is important for this team to come up with a plan of action and to decide on a spokesperson.

The success of the crisis management plan is measured in many ways. Do company stakeholders remain supportive? Did the company maintain their reputation? And is the media still at the front door? All of these determine how well the crisis was handled within the organization.

After researching more on crisis management situations, I realize that it is important for public relations practitioners to know how to handle a company crisis. This is one of the many jobs that PR specialists must know how to handle before going out into the work force. I learned that one of the biggest things a company can do in this situation is to work fast in order to get the information out to the public. The faster you can resolve the situation, the faster it will be put to rest in the media.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1612698,00.html?cnn=yes
http://www.winning-newsmedia.com/crisis.htm
http://www.prweekus.com/During-crises-leaders-have-to-provide-company-perspective/article/104380/
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring01/Hayes/
http://www.dpkpr.com/crisis/

Communicating with a College Audience

Communicating with a College Audience

By Christie Gunn

With each generation, young people are becoming increasingly media savvy. As the amount of messages they receive on a given day increase and the methods used to deliver these messages become more varied, college students better their ability to filter, and often ignore, these messages. So what are the best ways to reach this audience?

Some suggest what is called a “360 degree” approach. As the name suggests, it involves send the same message as many times in as many different channels as possible. These methods include print media, online advertising, social media, blogs, vlogs (video blogs such as youtube.com), and text messages to their cell phones.

Others highlight social-media communication, in particular, as the best way to influence the college audiences. This was the case when Hewlett-Packard tapped Edleman PR to handle the promotion of its personal systems group.

It is also interesting to note, using text messages to communicate with students in the event of an emergency is becoming more common on college campuses, particularly after the tragedies at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University. OU instituted this system last year, and many students received alerts on their phones last semester when the campus was briefly locked down. Though this method may not be widely used for non-emergency communication, past president indicates it is only a matter of time until it is.

Perhaps the worst method to contact a younger demographic is the landline telephone. Most students do not have landline numbers, and they are no longer readily available in dorms, apartments, and greek residences on the OU campus.

Though this research I learned just how difficult it can be to get a message to the college audience and make them remember it. Before researching this post, I also did not know how many universities are using text messages to warn students in case of emergency. The public relations value of the articles and blogs I referenced in this post is strongly related to my client, the Sooner yearbook, who is trying to reach OU students and increase the sales of the yearbook.

Preparing for Crisis Situations

Preparing for Crisis Situations

Caitlin Gooch

Companies are never indestructible and must be prepared for the worst to happen in every situation. This is when crisis prevention comes into play. If an organization isnt careful, one false move can jeopardize an employer's job or a company's reputation. There is no such thing as being too prepared, and companies everywhere should implement a crisis prevention plan.

Having a written crisis management plan is not only playing it safe or thinking ahead, it can help prevent internal disasters within your company or organization. No one ever thinks a crisis will happen to them, but one false move could deface a company's image.

A crisis can be defined as a condition of instability or danger, as in social, economic, political, or international affairs leading to a decisive change. In order to minimize potential problems within an organization, a smart thing to do is delegate a crisis management team or even a single person to plan for crisis situations. After a crisis task force is assigned, it is important to train managers and other employers in case they are the ones answering to a crisis.

To begin planning for a crisis, several initial questions need to be addressed: What problems could surface? What are some possible scenarios of things going wrong? Is the entire company aware of how to act if a crisis does indeed surface?

Some key facts to think about in your disaster planning include:

1. Disasters will occur
2. You have to have a plan before the disaster hits
3. React with urgency, but don't panic
4. Ride it out

Taking the time to plan for a crisis can be very tedious and overwhelming, but when a company's name or reputation can be saved, it is all worth it in the end.

Blogging as a PR Tool

Blogging as a PR Tool

By Sheila Frazier

This article discusses using blogging as a means to build a business. Blogging is a low-cost solution to public relations and marketing, but can it really work?

A recent American Express survey found that only 5% of businesses with fewer than 100 employees have blogs.

Blogging may not be for everyone. Aliza Risdahl, author of The Everything Blogging Book, said the best candidates for blogging are consultants, companies in a sector with a steep learning curve (like wine), or associated with particular lifestyles or social missions.

The main question you have to ask yourself before attempting this form of PR is if you will be able to update the blog regularly or not.

Blogging is a great way to get the word about something your company or organization is doing. It is very low-cost and extremely popular in this Internet age.

A possible drawback could be that anyone and everyone can blog, so if you do not get the word out about your blog, it could be drowned amongst all the other blogs you will be competing with. Today there are 8.5 million people blogging and a new blog is started every seven seconds.

Regardless of drawbacks, blogging still sounds like a good solution for the price. There is not much you can lose with this option. However, you really do have to do some research beforehand.

In order to make a successful blog, follow these steps:

1. Learn from others.
2. Read other company blogs.
3. Make it real.
4. Develop several blogging strategies.
5. Pitch blogs directly or set up a corporate blog.
6. Concentrate on a specific topic.
7. Read your blog before picthing it.

http://www.financialpost.com/small_business/story.html?id=315998
http://victorianewlands.typepad.com/is_blogging_a_pr_tool/
http://advertising.about.com/od/publicrelationsresources/a/prblogs.htm
http://www.salesvantage.com/article/view.php?w=242

The Growing Importance of Internal Communications

More and more companies are beginning to understand the importance of fostering a good work place environment for their employees.  A good workplace environment provides for a more productive outcome for the organization.  In order to achieve these goals, leadership has begun to implement programs that increase employee relations. The main vehicle they use to achieve this goal is through the use of in-depth internal communications programs. These programs aim to inform employees of the mission, changes and developments and issues that can potentially affect the company.

How workers perceive the organization and understand their role in its success is directly related to how hard they work. There are eight main results of a good internal public relations campaign.

1. Builds loyalty
2. Increases employee moral
3. Builds a positive corporate environment
4. Keeps employees invested in the mission or direction of the organization
5. Builds employees confidence in the business
6. Helps employees respect corporate leadership
7. Helps employees manage or counteract the multiple message received from external sources
8. Increase productivity

Some vehicles that public relations practitioners use to help disseminate messages within the company environment include newsletters, memos, booklets, company branding items, emailing systems and flyers placed strategically around the office. For example, one American-based company provides multiple resources for their employees to keep them abreast of issues in their field. On a daily basis, they compile and disseminate a list of recent media stories that affect various departments. “Keeping in the Know Daily” is formatted electronically and sent to all employees across the nation. Tools like “Keeping in the Know” help unite employees and provide a vehicle for the organization to help contribute to the formation of employee perceptions.

As times change, business hierarchal arrangements and chain of command procedures are being circumvented to keep up with today’s social climate and the belief that all can contribute equally to the company’s success. Therefore, today’s corporate leadership have begun to understand the importance of changing from a “need to know” policy to one that is more inclusive. Internal communications programs help meet those changing needs.

For more information regarding the science and importance of internal communications in the corporate environment visit these Web pages:

http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2002/08/19/focus7.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2005/11/28/smallb4.html?q=the%20importance%20of%20internal%20communication

http://www.porternovelli.com/site/mainpage.aspx?pgname=internal_communications

http://www.navis.gr/manager/imp_com.htm 

http://www.ragan.com/ME2/Default.asp

Crisis Management missing in Undergrad programs

Crisis Management Missing in Undergrad Programs
By Ashlie Clay

As a college student, I often find myself engulfed in my own bubble, preoccupied with classes, my work schedule and finding time for friends, all while striving for a sufficient amount of rest and consuming some fraction of the main food groups. But in lieu of recent events, hurricane Katrina and the tragedies that occurred at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, I find it a necessary to be aware of what is going on outside of my own little world. In a utopian society the unexpected would not occur and the necessity of a crisis management plan would be null and void. But as we are all aware, the world in which we live is far from utopia.

Crisis management focuses on worst case scenarios and ultimately managing the information from internal sources to the media and general public. Good crisis management is proactive when it comes to this inevitable component of PR. So why not prepare potential PR practitioners for the inevitable? As a PR senior, graduating in less than three months, I have had no formal training in crisis management over the entire course of my studies at the University. Several universities do offer crisis management courses but are only required in graduate programs.

The crisis management link between PR, communication and business is vital in any industry and can truthfully make or break a company. We take such care in learning the art of news releases, the importance of research, identifying target publics and organizing and implementing a campaign, but what do we do when a hurricane destroys half a state and displaces thousands of people? Or our company’s number one product is found to be defective and harmful. Crisis management is part of real world PR and should be part of PR undergraduate curriculum as well.


http://www.prweekus.com/The-business-of-teaching-PR/article/45288/

http://www.gwu.edu/~guides/sciences/crisis.html

http://www.cmionline.org/

http://www.universitycrisisresponse.com/contents.htm

http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/