Stirling PR Students: 11/15/09

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Movember: Successful Charity PR

Movember (AKA November) is an inventive PR success which highlights Male Health issues. Participants, (AKA Mo Bros), looking for sponsorship simply register @ MOVEMBER and on the 1st of Movember start growing their ‘Mo’ which is short for moustash. Friends, family and work colleagues are then invited to support to the cause in form of sponsorship or one-off donation.

My main reasons for finding this campaign exciting is two-fold;

1. This campaign relies heavily on word-of-mouth for its success. Mo Bros create an advert for the charity on their face, a place where everyone they encounter on a daily basis sees their commitment to the cause. It creates intrigue which then allows Mo Bros to part with some wisdom on the cause and get the ball rolling.

2. I also ♥ this campaign as its fun as well as interactive. By getting people involved in a fun campaign for sponsorship and raising awareness it means, in my opinion, they are more likely to get involved every year as well as recruit others to the cause.

My long-term aim is to gain employment in the not-for-profit sector and with the growing issues highlighted in this recent PR Week article which I think identifies the need for charities to think differently about their PR efforts; I like to see PR campaigns that interact with their publics; those they are trying to educate and those who can raise awareness and funds on their behalf.

This campaign is growing in size with a campaigns currently running in Canada, USA, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

I am especially loving endorsement on twitter.com by Lance Armstrong, local interest by The Med on FaceBook and Wilkinson Sword using the idea to promote awareness for the charity AND boost sales.

So whether you are a potential Mo Bro or Mo Sista, please support this cause in any way you can. Donate, grow or attend this event.

I’ve got my 'Mo'- do you have yours?

PR function in a crisis is subject to judicial procedures

I believe no one would doubt that past week is a dark week for the phone giant T-mobile as it has been revealed that one of its former staffs sold huge amount of customer data to its rivals for money. What is worse is that, according to Telegraph, this incident has happened “more tha n one year”.

From a public relation practitioner perspective, especially from the point of Ledingham, the responses of T-mobile should be criticised because it failed to inform affected customers of the incident immediately and made official announcement publicly to maintain and build mutual relationship.

However, a spokesman for T-mobile in an interview with BBC reporter explained that “[T-mobile] keep it secret [is] to avoid any criminal prosecutions being prejudiced.”

Well, here is the problem: will public relation approaches always work effectively in a crisis situation, or it is subject to other factors? From the case of T-mobile above, perhaps the answer we get is “NO”. It is true that in some circumstances those organisations which are suffering from crises have to keep “silent” in the name of justice, that is to say, whether public relation approaches could function in a crisis effectively is subject to the type of judicial procedures and relevant laws that are applied in that crisis situation.

How important is the relationship between PR and politics?

Public relations and politics have become inextricably linked over the years, politics would now be almost unrecognisable without the spin created by PR practitioners. However how important and strong is the relationship between PR and politics?

A political party and its politicians set out to influence public opinion and understanding as do those in PR. PR is all about improving relationships, managing communication and facilitating public debate and questions. PR acts a link between the organisation and the public. Dr Edward Bernays strongly believed that there was a clear connection between PR and politics; it is a mutually beneficial relationship.

PR plays a large and important role in politics in many ways; it primarily acts as a great tool for gaining coverage and general awareness for candidates, policies and causes. This is all done by effectively managing and using the media to the best of their ability. PR can act as a tool to help the public understand the candidate and the message they are trying to deliver. Voters want to feel a level of connection with those in power; they want to see that the right decisions are being made and that their interests are being met. This is where I feel PR steps in; it allows a level of feedback and connection. Future messages are often developed as a result of this feedback.

An effective publicity campaign can often be the defining aspect of a party campaign; it can make all the difference to the overall outcome. The Tory Party is a prime example of a party using PR and the media in an attempt to re-brand their image . This was done after David Cameron was elected as the new leader of the party. Cameron wanted to be seen as a somewhat liberal Conservative, with his party no longer being viewed as the 'nasty party'. Has this re-branding been a success for the Conservatives? Some would say yes as the party now has The Sun backing them after years of supporting New Labour; however the success of this new Conservative image will only be seen after the next general election.

Politicians are generally aware of the variety of new media sources out there and are being advised wisely to use them, from YouTube to Twitter the likes of Gordon Brown are being kept in line with the times and ensuring they stay connected to all groups in society.

How would a party look and survive without PR? It is unthinkable to have a political campaign or party in office and there not also be high level of publicity. Dr Steve Iseman, a professor of PR at Ohio Northern University, stated that public relations and politics are two concepts firmly entwined since the begging of recorded time. I think it is fair to say that it would be unimaginable to see this marriage end any time soon.

Twitter and PR

Twitter, the representative of micro-blogging, is attracting more and more eye-balls these years. Its salient number of user growth from 475,000 to 7,000,000 within one year seems to reveal its potential in PR industry.

So will Twitter help PR work? The answer is affirmative. Volpe suggested that Twitter is useful to PR industry in 6 aspects.

1. Engage company/ organisation CEO in mass media.
2. Keep in touch with important media.
3. Monitor company/ organisation reputation
4. Announce new products and/or other special offers
5. Publish latest information about any events
6. Promote useful material by posting relevant web links

In addition, Wes Upchurch also added that Twitter may:

“[Allows] the PR specialists to connect with journalists and bloggers. When used tactifully, it allows those in media relations to learn about a journalist’s specific interests and preferences. This can help the PR professional prepare customized pitches for journalists that want to hear them.”

Perhaps we could understand the function of Twitter in PR industry in depth through reading Jonathan Villet’s “Top Twitter Public Relations and Marketing Campaigns”. It is worth noting that Villet suggested that Twitter’s huge power in information dissemination has been proved during the period of Obama announcing his victory last November.

To conclude, Twitter, as a new micro-blogging tool, is showing its powerful information distribution function and it is believed that it will play a more important role in future.

Twitter for PR (Public Relations)

View more documents from Corinne Weisgerber.

Thierry Henry: a brand in ruin?

The French footballer Thierry Henry has this week had to face a barrage of criticism as a result of his handball during a World Cup deciding match against the Republic of Ireland. What this blog hopes to address is whether this incident will be a PR disaster for Henry or whether he will be able to maintain the popularity and success he has enjoyed. How will this media and public backlash affect the Henry brand?

The press coverage for this sporting incident has been huge and is still of great media interest a number of days after the event gaining widespread discussion on TV, radio, in newspapers and online. The majority of this coverage has not been in favour of Henry and has painted him in a rather poor light with many regarding his actions as the height of poor sportsmanship. The Guardian newspaper for example ran the headline “Hands-on Henry becomes public enemy numero un.” What can Henry do to make this PR nightmare disappear?

In the online edition of PRweek they have highlighted that numerous sports PR experts believe the brand and the man are in no danger despite this current feeling of resentment that has developed towards the player. Since the incident Henry has spoken publicly and said that he would like to see the game replayed as he would like to allow Ireland a fair chance of making it to the World Cup in South Africa. This move of speaking out has certainly been engineered by his media team to show that Henry is taking responsibility and to maintain the positive image he has created over the years. Threepipe co-founder Eddie May has stated that “Thierry Henry has had a reputation of being one of the most sporting players. He has a good reputation in England as a fair player and a nice guy.” May further states that “His image and brand will not be affected in the long run.”

A number of big name football stars have shown support for Henry ranging from David Beckham to Ally McCoist including, notably, the ex-Ireland player Roy Keane who thinks everyone should “Get over it!” With such a variety of people speaking out in support of Henry this can only be of benefit to his brand in such a difficult time. The media backlash Henry is facing is reminiscent of the media attacks against David Beckham after he was sent off during the England v Argentina game in the 1998 World Cup. Beckham has now gone on to become a global superstar and is more successful than ever. This is something that Henry should focus on during this media invasion.

A main cause of concern for Henry is the reaction of the French. Instead of being joyous that their team has made it to the World Cup they are a nation embarrassed by the actions of their team captain and have even branded Henry a cheat. Despite the negativity that Henry may be faced with now he still remains a marketable figure. As Stephanie Branston of Synergy Sponsorship has stated that “His value to sponsors will not suffer in the long-term, although I would not envisage too many Irish companies beating down the door of Henry’s agent this week offering brand endorsements.” Whether this will be a PR disaster for the Thierry Henry brand, it is fair to say, only time will tell. What is a certainty is that Henry will always be remembered, but unfortunately he may now have a tarnished image as the 21st Century’s version of the “Hand of God.”

BEWARE OF YOUR INTERNAL PUBLICS! They can make or break you

It is often said that positive word-of-mouth is the strongest form of Public Relations (PR) an organisation can ever have and if it’s a profit-making organisation, it could even increase its profit margins.

However, most PR Practitioners often seem to forget this, as well as neglect those most capable of spreading the positive word – the employees.

Employees who are often referred to as internal publics are the main public relations representatives of the organisation.
They represent the organisation in their communities - they are the face and voice of their organisation in their communities.

Their attitude and behaviour inside and outside their workplace and their knowledge (or lack thereof) of the organisation’s operations can often make or break an organisation’s image.
Negative attitudes and lack of trust by employees towards their employer creates a negative internal culture which could affect productivity and sometimes lead to high staff turnover.

“Research published [...] by lobby group Business in the Community suggests [that the] internal communication of companies' values and priorities is key to attracting and keeping talent.” (PR Week)

Most often, if not always, PR practitioners leave the job of satisfying employees to the Human Resource (HR) department, but it is now becoming increasingly important for PR practitioners and Marketing departments to work hand-in-hand with HR departments to put the employees first and listen to their views.

It is therefore important for public relations practitioners to be more aware of their internal publics and always include them in any PR campaign they plan to undertake.

Organisations should develop effective internal public relations programmes geared towards making the employees feel valued, such as organising awards ceremonies for employee recognition; showing interest in employees lives by organising family events; and informing them (although not revealing all the details) on what is going on in the workplace so that they are not caught by surprised or feel embarrassed when asked by public members on what is happing within the organisation during a crisis situation.

Ethics and Credibility of the Public Relations Profession

Will the public relations (PR) profession ever gain credibility and respect from the media and the general public?

Two years ago, the majority of a 350 strong audience attending a PR Week debate on Ethics agreed that lying was sometimes necessary to achieve your communication objectives.

Some people were appalled by the voting outcome, but honestly, is that not what the profession is about – selective communication? Persuasion? When you omit some information from the public, are you not lying and being dishonest to your publics?
Isn’t that what clients expect and why they value the work of PR agencies and professionals – ‘airbrushing’ the facts?

Public relations professional bodies also do not seem to help the situation, because they do not take any action against registered members who disregard their professional code of conduct.

The problem is further compounded by some PR practitioners’ unwillingness to join the professional bodies for fear of prosecution, which in actual fact never happens anyway as stated above. Professional bodies seem to more interested in making money from their training programmes and ridiculously high membership fees.

The public and the media, and even PR professionals are also getting very suspicious of organisations’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes, because organisations don’t always live up to their ideals as projected in their CSR programmes.

The question we should ask ourselves is why we continue to debate about this? Should the question really be about the PR techniques that we use and about whether we decide to disclose or not disclose information or should the debate rather focus on the interests of the organisation that we represent – whether their interests are ethical or unethical?

As a former public relations practitioner, I have learned that it is almost impossible to be truly transparent to your publics, because it is not always in the best interest of an organisation to reveal the whole truth as this could ruin the image of your organisation. Even if you do tell the truth, you tell it in a way that it does not make your company look as if it’s run by poorly trained managers.

You simply cannot bite the hands that feed you, but as a PR practitioner, you need to set a balance between representing your organisation and its publics, because you have an ethical responsibility to both parties, especially the latter.

Friday, November 20, 2009

First job interview...still a nightmare?

Can I ask you something? Do you tremble when you imagine yourself giving your first job interview? Personally, I squake like a fish each time I think of it. I keep wondering about how I should talk, which of my strengths I should promote, how I could hide my weaknesses and generally, what I am supposed to do in front of them. However, after Steven R. Van Hook's tip that I read recently, my nightmare has turned into a dream that I can't wait to live, since he presented an aspect that I had never come across before.
"Your interviewers are likely as nervous about the interview process as you are. They are inviting a stranger in their "home" and they are putting themselves on the line with their hiring decision" Steven R. Van Hook has said in his article.
What I have to do is to assuage their fears with reasons why I am the right person fot the job. Of course, I have to customize my resume (another nightmare itself) and my presentation to their needs first and treat my potential employers with individualized care. I don't know whether this tip or the following video concerning an effective resume will help you, as far as I am concerned, however, I feel much less terrified. What about you?

Crisis Communication: not an iceberg any more...

When you hear about crisis and to be more explicit, about crisis communication, what do you think of? The word that best describes my feeling is panic. The formal definition that is given, is that crisis is an unexpected event or series of events that create high levels of uncertainty and threat or perceived threat to an organization's high priority goals. Personally, I could relate it to an iceberg. There is the part that is visible to everyone and in some cases can be predicted and its effect can be avoided. On the other hand, there is a big part of the iceberg that is hidden and can cause such a damage itself, unexpectedly. Likewise, a crisis can be sudden and create an out-of-control situation, without the organization having even realised its previous existence and being able to prevent it. In both cases, however, the organization and its people should be alert to face it, no matter in which company they work, big or small, private or public. Having recently read Andy Beaupre's article on how to handle a crisis, I would like to share with you some key tips that helped me send away panic and be prepared.

Tip 1: have a crisis plan ready. At first, make a list of possible scenarios and then, work with them like they were real crises. Describe what you need to do, which events would set them off and create a crisis portofolio, ready to work when necessary.

Tip 2: build the crisis response team and speak with one voice. Practice the plan once or twice a year and modify as needed. Make sure you have identified one spokesperson and also make sure that this person has the knowledge, sensitivity, interpersonal skills to speak on behalf of your company.

Tip 3: be there and don't go quiet. Be at the scene, visible and available. Keep communication flowing, be proactive in your communication and always be concerned about the reputation of your organization.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Burnt By The Sun?

hello World

In the latest edition of PR Week Danny Rogers discusses the controversy over Gordon Brown's alleged disrespect to the bereaved mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan. He questions whether the coverage in the Sun has backfired on the paper with public opinion seeming to favour the Prime Minister.

Recently Gordon Brown's public image seems to be at rock bottom - everything he touches seems to turn to dross - is that a true reflection of a PM and Party limping to expected defeat in next year's General Election - or has the Press just decided to curry favour with the Tory Party by taking an anti-Labour stance? The reaction in favour of Gordon Brown over the Sun's coverage of this storyis one of the few instances recently where Gordon Brown has gathered public support. The facts of the story would have revealed to the public that he writes to the families of all the soldiers killed - which they would not have known without the controversy -and the additional detail that he has bad handwriting and can't spell surely makes him appear normal! Gordon Brown's handling of this however did seem unusually defensive - perhaps there is nothing to be gained by taking an aggressive approach to a bereaved mother - best to eat humble pie. So overall this controversy actually appears to have helped Gordon Brown's public image by humanizing him more.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

does two way symmetric communication real exist?

4 US model is about 4 type communications: publicity; public information; two way asymmetric comunication and two way symmetric communication. once a information public, it will follow the 4 US model way boardcast. publity ==> public information ==> two way asymmetric communication ==> two way symmetric communication. ==> two way asymmetric ==> public information ==> publity. sounds good, PR send some information and successfully interested public and company sell the product after. But, does two way asymmetric real exist? or does it enroll in the part of communication? the reason of communication is get feedback and fix the plan. to keep balance between company profit and consumer benefit. the feedback should influence policy a lot. but , it doesn't work. and the two way symmetric communication should not include.

The Da Vinci Code can be consider as a example. religions against publish it, but in business position, it sells. coca-cola PR crisis in 1977 in India can be consider as another example. India government ask coca-cola company public it's secret formula or leave India. coca-cola choose leave. Or, Blizzard company never sell it's product before it satisfy himself but not 5 years waited consumer. in fact, i can not find any example for a successful two way symmetric communication. it seemed two way symmetric communication runs in an other level, like a subsystem. company communication system is publicity, public information and two way asymmetric communication. consumer level is two way asymmetric communication and two way symmetric communication ( public to public ).

it is a fraud. PR public information and made an open zone for public discuss. and after that, it is a successful 4 US model communication. the 4 us model is wrong!

Postal strike, a case of Excellence PR

On 5th November, the postal strike against Royal Mail has been called off temporarily by Communication Workers Union (CWU). It is reported that the cause of this incident is the dispute between Royal Mail and CWU over “redundancies, and pay and working conditions.”

I think no one would doubt that such postal strike is an operational crisis to Royal Mail management, however, I reckon it is also a PR crisis. From the result of the whole incident, it is safe to say that this UK’s logistics giant is the loser because it is dealing with the CWU while increasing number of potential and current customers are switching to other companies.

This event reminds me of Excellence PR. If we compare the action that Royal Mail took in the early stage of this crisis with campaign guidlines Excellence theory proposes, we could conclude that the response of Royal Mail failed to meet the criteria of the theory.

The theory suggests that “communication programmes developed for specific publics should be based on 2-way symmetrical strategies for building and maintaining relationships.” And the meaning of “symmetry” consists of 3 parts, which are a balanced flow of communication, the positions of all parties are equal and the relationship is based on mutual needs and understanding.

Although Royal Mail lost in this game, I think it gives us a good opportunity to learn Excellence PR theory in depth.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Poisonous PR

As we are all well aware, the issue of ethics in PR practice is a well discussed and controversial topic within this sector. Perhaps many of you have had the similar reaction of a slightly raised eyebrow and polite ‘Hmmm, I see’ upon having confessed you are studying such a “seedy” industry. Although the views expressed in this clip are from the extreme PR sceptic school of thought (I’m sure none of us enrolled on this course to learn how to make war look like a good idea!) I believe they still raise important issues and potential problems when it comes to PR methods of persuading the public.

As literature such as Toxic Sludge Is Good For You has discussed, the propagandist potential of PR has been exploited by many of those in power, be it government leaders or money hungry corporations. The granddaddy of this manipulative strain of public relations, Edward Bernays, experimented with the minds of the American public in developing his PR practice. One of his biggest ‘achievements’ was making it socially acceptable for women to smoke after the president of the American Tobacco Company recognised it could effectively double its market if the taboo could be broken. Since at this time women were striving for more self-freedom and equality with men, Bernay effectively used cigarettes as a symbol of developing female power and the number of women smokers began to rise from there. By linking products and ideas to emotional desires and feelings PR masters such as Bernays have since manipulated the public to buy into what they are selling- be it cigarettes or censorship- with the interests of the powerful, not the public in mind.

Despite the professionalization of PR in more recent years, the establishment of codes of conduct and the development of education in the sector to ensure bunches of ethically minded people such as ourselves are the future of the industry, I think it is important to keep aware of the manipulative potentials of PR practice. The increasing use of channels such as this, the blogosphere, as well as the emergence of websites such as PRWatch, is evidence of that democratisation called for towards the end of this clip which will hopefully only continue to develop and improve the reputation of this field.

Annihilating Corruption Good Slogan Not Practical

Corruption is one of the key elements of bringing down a government and paving ground for anarchy, irresponsibility, lawlessness in a country. Afghanistan, for example, is one of those countries in the world faced with corruption where the people do not trust the government and lost their confidence as the high ranking officials in the government themselves are involved in corruption and are warlords.

The government of Afghanistan has several times announced to take serious action against those involved in corruption whoever they are whether senior or junior, but with passing the time the slogans of annihilating corruption not only faded but got stronger than ever before.

The United Kingdom and the United States both have recently put a lot of stress on newly re-elected president Hamid Karzai to take serious action against corruption in his government and do not let corrupted figures and warlords in his government, otherwise, they will stop their support, but as it looks the second top person in his government is a famous warlord.

To show and deceive the world once again that the government of Afghanistan is serious in its campaign against corruption, the attorney general in Afghanistan has raised his voice and named several of the ex-ministers, deputy ministers and municipals involved in corruption and embezzlement.

I believe such kind of announcement by Afghan Attorney General will deceive the world to get their support back, so those countries supporting Afghanistan and sending their troops to restore peace and security there should put into abeyance all kinds of their assistance to Afghanistan till Afghan government is really honest in its campaign against corruption.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8361272.stm

Corporate Reputation & Corporate Culture

Corporate culture, as we can feel, tends to be a key plank of PR management which is important and related to the reputation of the corporations. Every corporation has its own unique culture or value set. Building a reputation one bit a time can be seen as a good way to build positive corporate culture and reputation as well.

Google has a unique Google culture. Though Google has grown a lot since it opened in 1998, it still maintains a small company feel. At lunchtime, almost everyone eats in the office café, sitting at whatever table has an opening and enjoying conversations with Googlers from different teams. Within Google culture, it is believed that each Googler is an equally important part of its success. No one hesitates to pose questions directly to Larry or Sergey in their weekly all-hands ("TGIF") meetings – or spike volleyball across the net at a corporate officer. The atmosphere in google is such that each member of staff is willing to contribute to their works which build a positive image for the reputation of Google.

The core of reputation is that the people out there - media, customers, suppliers and voters - know what the company is about. They need to see clarity of purpose in the business and clarity of image.
But reputation also requires trust, which involves consistent delivery. The more reliable the company is and the more it keeps its promises, the more it builds its reputation.
So Google has also invested in several programs which, while not directly related to its core business, are designed to encourage innovation in areas it care about which makes Google more reliable.
Google Ventures - venture capital arm.
Green Initiatives - clean energy efforts.
Google.org - philanthropic arm.

Spring Brother Campaign

Who is the most popular guy in china? film star? politicians? no! the most popular guy in china is the guy in this picture, the "spring brother". this campaign star at 2007 and still developing. more people coming in every day.

This campaign create by public, developed by public, broadcast by public. there isn't any business enrolled. this rule of this campaign is speak out your story with spring brother. and there are some definition every gamer must agree, I'll talk later.

the chinese word in the picture means: convert me, you will live forever

key words:

"spring brother" his name is 李宇春（Li Yu Chun）, man of man. the word "chun" means spring, and brother here means the big man, the one.

Li Yu Chun: she is a female singer star in china. famous by her middle-sex face. and she will become "he" when his name is "spring brother"

80's and 90's 80's = born in 1980-1989 90's = born in 1990-1999.

backgrounds :

there was a big argue between 80's and 90's. it start with some of the 90's define themselves as Non-mainstream, they drink and smoke, wear neutroclothes to hide their sex, treat sex as nothing, keep sending their anti-socialist statemens to internet. those behavior make 80's angry. and they decide to give them a lesson online. but nobody win that battle, because neither 80's nor Non-mainstreams are well organized. 80's need a leader, or at least a slogan .

the second war began when Li getting famous in female singer campaign. her fans are mostly made by 90's.One more time, those crazy empty-heads piss off 80's. This time, 80's decide to make up a spring brother in order to against. Li become a victim in this battle. or say, this is the time that "spring brother" coming to our world and become a savior.

Now, the story is on, now.

the campaign is: made spring brother real exist. it's all began with a slogan: spring brother is a real man (man of man). all the stories, photos, slogans and anything can prove he is a real exist as a man are well come. then, every thing comes very nature, people comes and leave a word about him. such as he is a cool man, and i'm one of his fans. than, things become interesting. more and more people trying to make a interesting word so that it will be carry out by every internet user. it's hard to translate to english because the culture things, the words go the following way:

Spring brother is a real man

no one can be more manlike than spring brother

he is a man of man

a man of man of man

a man of man of man of man

a man of man of man of man of man

..................................

and lots and lots very creative picture are post on the internet. (they use Photoshops to PH him)

the slogan on this picture is: there is no different between boys and girls, one child police. this slogan is made by gov, for against the born rate between male and female (116:100).

those pictures and slogans continued 2007 and 2008. try search :spring brother in google image. but in 2009, people found there is nothing to talk, all the words have been done. but they want this campaign continue. the spring brother transformed. it become a sprit as the frist picture. convert spring brother, live forever; convert spring brother, never get lose; convert spring brother, pass all exams. etc. it becoms a culture thing now.

P.S. Li doesn't respond this voice in this 3 years. did she enjoy it? or she belive spring brother? only spring brother knows.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Public relation of celebrity

Tang Jun is one of celebrities that I quite like. He was promoting to the manager of Microsoft’s global technology center. In March 2003, he served as president of Microsoft in china. Now, he is the president with CEO of Hua Du group.

One of his experiences was definite brought forth his talent and persuasive skill. During he was the president of Microsoft in china. Once he was informed that Bill Gates will came to China for a inspection three days before the inspect date. Unfortunately, that day is Chinese Spring Festival, which is most important holiday in China; just like Christmas, Chinese will have holiday those period, so it is quite difficult to arrange an inspection. We all know that Bill Gate has an extremely bad temper, so when Tang Jun talked about the idea of delay inspection, Bill Gates was very angry.

“What! You want me to change schedule, do you know my schedule always been arranged one year ago!”

“But did you know that the Spring Festival was arranged five thousand years ago” (China have five thousand history) said Tang Jun.

At the last, Bill Gates had to change his schedule!

From his blog and books, I know he is a very observe person, but when it is the interview time, he became extremely activities, even someone though he is much more show feeling. How this can be? I would like to bring the theme back to his outstanding persuasion and personal public relations.

Brand Image and public relations

Brand Image and public relations

People used to select product, which they are familiar with, and well known before choose it. This kind of psychology state refers to aided brand awareness. So how can we get it?

People have cognition about brand image, which based on all kind of brand factor, such as quality, label, package and reputation. The basis of build Brand image is find its proper publics.

Quite a lot of people like to drink cola, when we ask coca cola or Pepsi. They may need to think a second, and then give you a possible answer. For me, there is no difference to drink whatever Coca cola or Pepsi; they are both the same drink. The only difference is which one now has more appearance in TV or magazine. 1993, Pepsi have re-positing their target public is young people, so they designed many imaginative advertisements, such as:” shark, spaceship”, this have made an obvious boundary with older consumer, they went into young consumer.

1994, Pepsi have invested 5 million invited Michael Jackson to act its advertisement, which have extremely successful, no more than 30 days, Pepsi’s selling increased a lot.

Here we can see, the most success of Pepsi is there nicety-marketing position, the most important role of public relations is to save money for organization which though manipulation all connection with organization and its publics.

So what I believed is brand image is a kind of capital, it is should has unique personality.

How Public Relations Differs from Marketing?

As a new learner in Public Relations, at the beginning, I was confused by the differences between Public relations and marketing. Now I found a good answer in a book called Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics, which is edited by Dennis l. Wilcox and Glen T. Cameron.

According to the author, the boundaries of public relations and marketing often overlap, for both of them use similar communication tools to help one organization reach the public and achieve its objectives. But there are still some points make them differ from each other.

James E. Grunig pointed out in Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Manage

ment, a fundamental difference between marketing and public relations in terms of how the public is described. In marketing, professionals tend to speak of “Target markets”, “consumers,” and “customers”. However, in Public relations, practitioners tend to talk of “publics”, “audiences” and “stakeholders”. My understanding about this point is that the area of “publics” in Public relations is much boarder than in Marketing. PR has the responsibility to help organization to improve the relationship with all publics, including the relationship with government, media, suppliers and so on. But marketing focuses the relationship with the organization’s customers; this relationship is only a small part in the publics of public relations.

And, PR has different goal and responsibility with marketing. The goal of PR is to help organization establish and maintain a positive long-term relationship with publics and be responsible for building a hospitable environment for an organization. Marketing is the management process whose goal is to attract and satisfy customers (or clients), it is responsible for the organization’s economic objectives.

Last but not least, the measurement way of PR is also different from the marketing’s. In PR, whether the PR campaigns are successful or not, it depends whether they have fulfilled the objectives which influence the public’s attitude, awareness and behaviour. Regarding how to measure the marketing campaigns, sales data must be involved to judge whether the campaign has put a positive influence on organization’s economic benefits.

In conclusion, Public relations has remit for establishing and protecting the organizational reputation, marketing has responsibility for increasing the sales.

“2012” – a great movie or just excellent PR achievement?

“Never before has a date in history been so significant for so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments. “2012” is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of heroic struggle of the survivors”, says the official website of the film.

I guess almost everybody heard about this movie. I myself heard so many things and watched different trailers. I was eager to see it but it was such a great disappointment for me. The movie is considered as the most expensive one, the cast is really good and computer tricks are amazing. But in my opinion, the best thing about this movie is just excellent PR campaign. The success of the movie mostly depends on how it will be promoted and what kind of PR campaign it will have and it will cause a good attendance. One of the reasons why this movie causes so much interest is that it is a well-known date.

I think it is the issue of the taste but for me it was just wasting my time, nothing more than excellent PR.

The PR Bra War between M&S and Customers

Marks & Spencer, the high street retailer, has agreed to end its policy of charging more for larger bras after a campaign by customers when it found itself under heavy media fire for its decision to charge extra for larger-size brassieres.
M&S has bowed to pressure from bigger-busted customers to sell larger bras at the same price as smaller ones. So it decided to charge £2 more for bras with a cup size above DD. But Beckie Williams, a 30G lady, found the difference of the price and feel furious about this action of M&S and regarded this as discrimination. She created and led a campaign called “Bust for Justice” on Facebook and the group attracted more than 17,000 supporters. Finally, M&S agreed to end the policy

It seems to be a negative image for M&S, but Ian Monk pointed out that M&S wins in the bra and PR wars on the PR WEEK, “M&S executed a screeching u-turn with a one-price-fits-all-bras announcement”he claimed.M&S did well in this sort of crisis, M&S executed a screeching u-turn with a one-price-fits-all- bras announcement. the store was quick last year to leap on to the ‘green’ bandwagon being driven by the Daily Mail. In a noble and headline-grabbing initiative to help save the planet from the perils of tons of discarded plastic, the store levied a five pence charge on its carrier bags.Doubtless when the expense annoys enough customers it will go – probably amid another blitz of sales- boosting headlines.

Sponsorship as a PR action

As snooker is my favourite sport I always follow all events which take place in this field. UK Championship is the second biggest tournament after World Championship and now it will be called “PUKKA PIES UK CHAMPIONSHIP” which runs between 5 and 13 of December, 2009 as Pukka Pies will sponsor it.

As snooker is a sponsor dependent sport the more sponsors it has the better. That is why I am very glad to know that this time the tournament will be sponsored by well-known British brand. The company was founded in Leicester in 1963. It serves the UK, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Austria, France, Malta, and Gibraltar.

I think its PR department is doing a good job. As it is also known for sponsoring the England Supporters Band and Leicester Ladies Hockey Team it helps to maintain good relationships with its publics enlarging the number of its own consumers and increasing good attitudes towards the company.

Mark Selby, the player from Leicester said: "It's great news for snooker to have another big sponsor on board. The UK Championship is one of our best tournaments - all of the players are desperate to win it and it's up to us to make sure it's a brilliant event. As a Leicester man I'm also delighted to have a local company involved in snooker."

I think sponsorship is a very strong PR means, isn’t it? What do you think?

How celebrities take advantage of “Charity” to deal with their PR

PR is defined as communication management to help organization achieve its objectives as well as satisfy its publics. It focuses on the relationship between organization and its publics. But this theory also can be used in celebrities’ life. Celebrities tend to attract more attention from public, say, media, fans, agency, and so on. Hence, the relationship with their publics plays a crucial role in their personal career.

In daily coverage, it is easy to find out that as an effective way to facilitate the relationship with publics, charity is not only used by organizations but also by celebrities. Attending charity events or arranging a charity organization is commonly used by celebrities to establish a positive image or help them get out of reputation crisis in public.

Usually, attending

charity movie or advertisement is a common way for celebrities to gain a good name in the public. Recently, a movie called The Foundation of a Republic has attracted much attention from people and media. This movie was played for celebration of China’s 60th birthday in 2009. Until in the end of this October, the box office has exceeded 400 million. The reason why it is so popular is not only its huge cast of celebrities (more than 170 famous personalities played in the movie, including Zhang Ziyi, Jet Li, Jackie Chan and so on), but also its charity element. It is claimed that every celebrity in this movie played without any payment and all proceeds of the movie would go to China’s charity projects. These two reasons have helped the movie attract much more media exposure than any other movies, much media coverage makes the movie name and celebrities’ names appear in people’s eyes continually, it has become the best free advertising way for the movie and all celebrities in the movie.

Some celebrities choose to establish a charity organization. Because of their speci

al social role, celebrities are easier to find more donation sources. For example, Jet Li established the One Foundation, the concept of which is based on One person+ One dollar + One month=One family. It was established in 2008, and until now, it has gained nearly 200 million for China’s charity project. And through this charity organization, Jet Li has increased his reputation among his fans. Everyday, on his personal blog, people show their positive attitude for his admirable behaviour.

There are many examples of celebrities to sell their personal stuffs for charity or arrange a charity show or solo concert. And many celebrities can be seen in charity events, for instance, a coverage about Angelina Jolie’s adoption or Michael Jackson’s visit to orphanage. Anyway, celebrities’ charity events tend to attract more media exposure than their common activities.

Actually, it is hard to judge the true motivation behind celebrities’ charity activities, no matter what they do for charity is under the shadow of the suspicion that whether they just want more media exposure to increase their fame. Anyway, there is no doubt that doing anything for charity has become one of the most popular ways for celebrities to gain good reputation among their publics.

Who prepares your food?

In the global community we live in today a company can be brought to its knees in a matter of days by something as simple as a videophone recording.

My 12 year old daughter has a videophone, access to a laptop and the skills required to edit and upload a video to http://www.youtube.com/. It is safe to assume that if a 12 year old can publish up to date material online the rest of us shouldn’t have a problem doing it.

Now we have the technology and we just need the material; how about recording your co-worker at Domino´s while he spits in the food and wipes his bum with the same sponge he uses to clean the dishes?

That could be funny, right?

To bad it’s already been done.

The Domino´s-Youtube scandal was born in a small town in America but spread its wings and became a global sensation in the space of a few days.

Domino´s has over 6500 stores around the world and at first glance you couldn’t really tell where the food terrorist worked. Was this perhaps taking place in my local Dominos? That would be gross.

As a global giant Domino´s of course has a massive PR department that immediately announced the location of the store in question as well as the fact that the place had been closed and would be cleaned and sanitized before any more pizzas would be served. They also used Youtube to publish an apalogoy by the president of Domino´s.

Now at least the rest of the world could breathe semi-easy knowing where the booger-pizzas had been made. That didn’t however change the fact that it was due to lack of background checking and surveillance that these employees were able to go about their disgusting ways.

Despite all this Domino´s still serves pizza all over the world and people seem to enjoy them just as much now as they ever did.

That, I guess, is the power of public relations!

Iris Alma Vilbergsdottir

PR practitioners and journalists – a passionate relationship

The relationship between journalists and PR practitioners it’s like a bad marriage...“I hate you, but I need you”.

Journalists think about PR practitioners that are spin doctors and many of them still are reserved in admitting that they are partly relying on PR professionals’ work. But if we look, especially nowadays, at the media, we realize that journalists aren’t able to cope with all the deadlines. The number of newspapers, magazines, specialized publications, internet publications has boosted comparing to the number of journalists. So, more articles to write for less people.

This means that it is indeed a need for PR professionals’ work. And in order to improve the relationship with the journalists, PR practitioners should have in mind some tips, like studying their needs, reading their work, or offering exclusivity for some of them.

But to make this relationship work, it might be useful to approach it from the journalist point of view and see how he/she can improve their position in this duet. The most important thing is that the PR practitioner is just an intermediate between the client and the media. Thus, for example, when a journalist wants an important information, the PR sometimes cannot give the answer until the client accepts the disclosure. So, it might be useful to give some time for receiving the confirmation. And the list can continue.

Unfortunately, not all journalists and PR practitioners are equal. If we approach the relationship from the critical point of view, we realize that the power is an important factor in shaping a relationship. Usually, the one with less power will try to improve their way of dragging the attention of the more powerful.

Overall, PR practitioners and journalists need each other and it can be said that they are soulmates. So, stop complaining and deal with it.

Blogging about blogging

First of all, my Office Word 2003 doesn’t even recognize the word “blogging”. So, why did this way of communication manage to become so used in the context of such a short history?

There are many answers. It is a way of expressing yourself freely. It is a way of connecting with people that have the same interests as you.

For example, for PR professionals, blogging has become a part of their job for many reasons. They exercise their writing, they do personal branding, they share opinions regarding the latest updates in practice, comment upon others’ opinions, and with this debate they improve their practice. In other words, they add value to each others’ work.

But many people started blogging just because it is ‘fashionable’, like having a facebook or hi5 profile. In my opinion, the thing they don’t know is that having a blog does not mean socializing primarily, it’s sharing valuable opinions and ideas. Socializing is just a secondary effect of blogging.

A negative aspect of blogging, if we look at the definition, even for ‘professional’ bloggers is updating, writing regularly. It can happen not to have all the time ideas to write about, but the pressure of updating the blog may have as a result a post with low level of quality comparing with the others, so the overall image of the blog might be altered.

In conclusion, if you have something to say and you consider it useful to share, even for you, as you get feedback on what you write and you might find other interesting points of view on the specific subject, start blogging. But don’t cross the limit and blogg just because it’s fancy or it’s been a month since you didn’t write.

The most notorious media manipulatior

When I think about memorable PR people I always remember one highly questionable Englishman. His name is Max Clifford and he seems to specialise in D-list celebrities and scandals involving the general public.

I did not want to do extensive research into his work since I wanted to merely write about what impression I have gotten as an avid gossip reader.

It seems to me that Clifford not only has a very close relationship with his clients (Kerry Katona named her son after him) but he only appears to represent those who come from the wrong side of the track; Jade Goody and former client Kerry Katona being good examples.

Clifford makes it his business to expose scandals to the media or even expose stories that are simply private; Cherie Blair´s pregnancy for example.

I can only wonder why a PR person considers it his business to plant stories in the media that have nothing to do with him or his clients. Is he a PR person or a gossip writer?

Having said all this he does seem to be successful, if immoral, and if one is in PR for the money and fame then I guess one could take a page out of Clifford´s book of media manipulation and spin doctoring.

Iris Alma Vilbergsdottir

Artists want to be in UK’s Top 4? Perform on the X-Factor!

It is simple as that really, unfortunate but true! If you take a look at the ‘The Official UK Top 40 Singles Chart’ you'll notice that the top 4 on the chart are all the performers that have sang at the well known talent show ‘The X-Factor’.

After tonight’s show, N-Dubz, a MOBO award winning hip hop group from London had made it clear that if all 4 performers did not appear on the X-Factor, they feel confident that they would be Top 1.

I think it’s clear that people are influenced by this show. Or do you think it is a coincidence that this is happening? It is of course a really good way for artists to perform and be viewed by millions, if they see the X-Factor as a good way of promotion, then why not? I get that, but what happens to all that don’t get a chance to sing on the X-Factor? Like N-Dubz stated on the show earlier tonight, do they have to perform on the X-Factor to be a Top 1?

And by the way, the last time I checked, X-Factor was still a show who promises to find a person which has a voice, can sing and make a record. Yes, that means acts like Lucy, Jamie and Miss Frank. Some may argue that they are not the best singers in the competition, but I think the vast majority would agree that they at least have a voice, whereas those annoying little twins, John and Edward, also known as ‘Jedward’ do not! They are the most anticipating act for the majority who watch the show, definitely the most energetic but do not have a voice.

Simon Cowell made it clear from day 1 that they were rubbish and we all saw Cowell giving them no feedback and nothing good to say, but still saved them the previous week by getting eliminated. Is it because they have the most attention from the press? That people are looking forward to seeing them every week? Hear the judges argue over them?

I think it is, and Simon Cowell (later called by many Simon COWARD) played his cards right. More Jedward means more viewers... So it is all about the money, maybe the talent just doesn’t come first! See what PR does!! Even too much negative publicity can save you!

And if you don’t believe how hilarious, annoying and talentless Jedward are, I’ll leave you with one of my favourite videos of them at their first autidion.

Enjoy, and I really look forward to your comments.

Luxury Brands prefer PR

It is known that the luxury brands opt for going to a specific and select target, and due to that they must spoil not just the content of their communication but the selection of the media. The luxury Brands such as Hermes, Dior, Chanel or Lamborghini approach their communication towards a personal relationship, and not as massive as advertising.

Apart from Public Relations, from which they use techniques as events or exhibitions, these brands have found out the usefulness of framing in methods as product placement or new media, as Internet.

Dior and Chanel have used Internet to launch their two new shorts starried by two famous actresses (Marion Cotillard and Audrey Tatou) as an example of the use of this media in the frame of the strategy of a better segmentation, effectiveness because of the sharing of the values of the brand, and in general, better interaction with the potencial customer.

Everything seems that the big luxury companies start to rule out the use of advertising because of two main reasons:

High costs

Low efectiveness with regard to the broad audience

The advantages that we can find in graphic design, like its creativity revered almost as an art, are now part of the past.

Internet offers a broad range of alternatives to explore, for that reason, very creative and with very low costs.

Luxury Brands are affected by the crisis and have fears related to loose a huge percentage of the market share, so that they think much more than never before in the importante of a direct, believable, personalizad and original relationship that PR can offer.

Stirling PR Students

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