Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Best Practices in PR

Throughout this semester in Advanced Communication Skills I have learned numerous best practices from the pros in public relations. In this last entry, I have mentioned just seven that I have found to be most valuable.

1. Read the newspaper- You must read newspapers and keep up with the trends, way of life and what is going on a local and national level. You have to know how the media works and how they reach the public. This is among one of the most essential elements of public relations.

2. Transparency- act like you have nothing to hide. A Coca-Cola case study involved nine children who got sick in Belgium after drinking Coke. This was made known to the public and Coke failed in taking care of this issue solely because the company did not confront the issue. There was no transparency; they left people in the dark, so in turn Coca-Cola got a lot of negative press. Coke tried to deny responsibility. Being forth coming and taking care of the issue is always better. It allows the public to know exactly what is going on, so no questions are raised about the company. PR has a lot to do with image control and transparency is needed to keep a good image perception. (http://www.icmr.icfai.org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG097.htm)

3. Corporate Social Responsibility- Image perception also relies heavily on corporate social responsbility. Companies have to maintain one especially because of the Internet. Companies are being held much more liable because information is out there for anyone to see. Paul Kelley, CEO of Harrison and Cowley, spoke about CSR and how he advises his clients. Kelley states, "Go through the motions becasue if you don't, there are consquences and you will suffer those."

4. Mass Personalization- These days companies have to cater more to the individual. Nike has done this by beginning their NikeID line (http://nikeid.nike.com/nikeid/index.jhtml#home). Consumer can actually go online and build their own shoes, choose the colors they want and even add your name onto your shoe.

5. People like me- Consumers are no longer trusting those in positions of authority, consumers would rather hear from "people like me." By building their own networks within blogs or other websites, consumers choose who and what they want to believe. In Edelman's 2006 Trust Barometer, six of the 11 countries surveyed the "person like yourself or your peer" as the most credible spokesperson of a company and among the top three spokespeople in every country surveyed (http://www.edelman.com/trust/2007/prior/2006/FullSupplement_final.pdf).

6. Grasp a hold of new technology- Since the “New Frontiers in Employee Communications” study in 2004, the 2006 report states, "the number of blogs globally has doubled more than three times, growing from roughly 6 million to more than 57 million." (http://www.edelman.com/image/insights/content/NewFrontiers2006_Finalpaper.pdf) Blogs have become an essential part of almost every company. Blogs allow companies to write about new products, upcoming events and reach a wide range of audiences. Blogs can be used for news, political campaigning, events or any subject matter. This social media is interactive and allows readers to leave commentary, responding positively or negatively to any post.

7. Use your resources- There are so many companies these days that have gone global. PR companies who have offices around the world are in luck when a company is trying to merge into a different geography. It is absolutely essential to use these resources in order to figure out the culture of the area you are trying to integrate into. Euro-Disney when coming into Europe had numerous problems. Being such a success and icon in America, Euro-Disney thought they could just go into Paris and be just as successful. They failed miserably because they did not do their research. They tried to bring in American ways and people resented that and their arrogance was quite prevalent. It is absolutley essential to get that culture you are trying to emerge into to help you out.

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