example of pr #5

Every so often a glorious day will dawn on the campus of Clemson University. That day is free Redbull day. The Redbull representatives come on campus, park their small, shiny, colorful, can-shaped vehicle, pop open the back, and hand out free Redbulls to anyone and everyone passing by. This is a great example of PR because they are meeting their publics where they are, generating excitement about the product, and promoting their product. By meeting their publics where they are it gives the sense that they care about and want to serve their customers. Anytime you give something out for free on a college campus it creates excitement, especially when that something is a caffeine infused, edgy energy drink. The excitement generated from passing out the drinks for free and having the stand on a college campus is a great way to promote the product and create excitement about their drink and it’s presence on campus.

example of pr #4

The White House is constantly engaging in Public Relations. For example, the President’s Weekly Address is one way that the White House engages the public and keeps people informed on what is going on in the White House. The White House’s website keeps a documentation of all their documents and releases on their website, allowing easy access by the public. They also have options on the right side of the page to stay informed through multiple social networking sites. The press releases themselves are one form of PR, but the site also constitutes addition effective PR because they are making the information easily available to the public and also offering ways for people to connect more through the social networking sites.

example of pr #3

While I may have had an unfortunate instance of angry unsubscribers due to the way we have to update our contacts each week, I have been immensely impressed with the services given by our email provider, Constant Contact. One of their most impressing PR moves was the phone call I received after setting up our email account. Within 24 hours, a representative from the company called me to ask me if I had any questions and welcome me to Constant Contact. This did more to enhance my opinion of the company and their services than did any of the promotional emails I have since received from them. That one, short phone call was enough to let me know that I was valued as a customer, and that I was satisfied with our choice of this particular company to be our provider. The representative knew my name, and while that’s easy enough information to find out due to all the personal information I had to submit, it let me know that they care about their customers as individuals.  The phone call verified that they are interested in helping their customers succeed in using their services. While many companies say that, these physical actions were the actual representation of their words. By browsing their website you can also find lots of other PR initiatives they offer, such as webinars and free trials (such as the one we tried). Due to the PR steps this company has taken, I as a customer have been immensely impressed and satisfied with their services.

example of pr #2

Spam and mass emails: These aren’t a few of my favorite things. In fact, I feel like I might not be alone in this fact. If you are one of the few who likes to be bombarded with things you don’t care about, good for you, but otherwise you’re not alone. I have plenty support in these feelings. I know there’s a handful of emails I get everyday that I automatically delete without getting through the subject line (I should really think about setting up a filter for those things). “Why is this bad PR?” you might ask. Primarily, this is bad because you are talking at your public. It is obvious you are not engaging them and seeking feedback because emails simply tell the public what the organization wants them to know. Unfortunately, I have been an active participant in such PR tactics and have the right to be added to the PR hall of shame. Allow me to explain. I am on the communications team for a student organization on the campus of Clemson University and I am responsible for sending out weekly emails to the members updating them on what is going on within the organization. While the subject matter is important to me and the other 450 or so faithful readers of the email, a good 75% of the people on our list serve never actually open the email. Since I set up the account with our email provider, I get the list of “unsubscribees” every week. It was not until last week that I found out that the people who had unsubscribed were still actually getting the email, and they were not necessarily thrilled about it. Whoops. I became the annoying email person. (Fear not, we’re fixing the problem).

example of pr #1

This is an email I received earlier this year that exemplifies a PR initiative made by the Greenville sector of the American Advertising Federation (AAF). The email is inviting people to have drinks and complimentary appetizers with AAF Greenville. This is a good example of PR because it shows how they are reaching out to their public. By having an event like this, they are engaging and seeking conversation with their public. An important part of PR is letting your publics know they are important. By seeking out their publics and holding an event celebrate with and spend time with their public, AAF of Greenville is doing just that.

PR within an organization

As mentioned in the last post, happy employees make happy customers, and happy customers make a successful business.  Positive, effective communication is imperative within organizations to ensure employee satisfaction.  Many techniques are implemented to foster satisfaction amongst employees. An article by Roberta Goughnour, outlines nine steps to improving employee satisfaction. His suggestions include: a shared vision, regular employee feedback, clearly defined job expectations, regular and fair performance feedback, benefits, diversified work force, hiring the right employees, comprehensive orientation and integration programs for new employees, and strong commitment to training and development. All in all, investing in the employees and not just treating them like a commodity is a great way to improve employee satisfaction. Just to outline a few of the techniques, having a shared vision is important to ensure that all employees are on the same page as far as the goal of the company. That way all employees are working towards the same goal, and not fighting to get at individuals goals. Regular employee feedback is an area PR practitioners could help with heavily. This would involve them being in constant contact with employees to hear ideas and concerns and see common trends between employee ideas. A diversified work force is very important, and was also one of the key areas of internal communication mentioned in the class notes. By having a diversified workforce, not only can you save your organization from groupthink, but you can better reflect the needs and values of your diverse audience. The PR practitioner is vital to regulating communication not only between the organization and its publics, but within an organization as well. Without proper communication it would lead to less employee satisfaction and consequently less customer satisfaction. “Communication is key” never sounded so true.

employee satisfaction = customer satisfaction

Public Relations practitioners play a key role in a company’s internal communication. Thus far we have harkened on how PR is all about engaging the publics and about a conversation between an organization and it’s publics. One pivotal word in that statement that cannot be overlooked is “organization.” It is not the CEO engaging in conversation with the publics, or the management engaging in the conversation, it is the organization as a whole. This suggests that the whole organization is on the other end talking back. It is important that there is good communication within an organization, because good communication leads to higher employee satisfaction and higher employee satisfaction, studies have shown, lead to higher customer satisfaction. An article by Kim Harrison notes in one study that with every 5% increase in employee satisfaction, there was a 1-3% increase in customer satisfaction.  It later stated that better communication was a large determinant of employee satisfaction. In a presentation by Merilynn Allemann, Leslie A. Grant, PhD was quoting saying, “Employee satisfaction is a highly reliable barometer as to how family members of residents rate the quality of care in nursing homes.”  What does good employee communication even look like? Allemann points out later in her presentation ways to improve employee satisfaction. In another article, Robert Johnson examines the relationship between employee and customer satisfaction in regards to airlines and finds that better employee satisfaction leads to better treatment of customer and higher customer satisfaction. In its simplest form, satisfaction is derived from making a person feel important and heard, which interestingly enough relates to how we want to relate to our publics as well.

Solid Green

It’s one thing to talk about Corporate Social Responsibility and hark on what a good idea it is, but it’s another to effectively put it into practice and really make a positive impact on the community and the environment. A post by Wayne Visser recounts the progress that environmental and social responsibility have made in the last 20 years. CSR is an active idea that responds to the environment and means progressive change. I think a great example of CSR is Clemson’s Solid Green initiative. The University saw a need to take pride in our campus and the environment and responded by instituting a program that got the community involved in being a part of keeping our campus clean. I especially like this initiative because while it was started by the University, the cooperation of students is imperative for it to make a difference. If no students show up to clean up the campus, there is no point in having a “Solid Green Day.” I think the fact that students actually do show up to help clean the campus verifies that this initiative is meeting a need that both the University and the community recognize and it’s implementation has helped the community support the environment in a way it wants to.

 

the role of a public relations practitioner in corporate social responsibility

The public relations practitioner has a key role in corporate social responsibility (CSR).  By definition CSR is “the belief that a company should consider the social and environmental effects of its activities on its employees and the community around it.” Adrian McGuire noted in our suggested reading that an important thing to do is to look at the community involvement when you’re implementing CSR. This in itself is enough to highlight the large need of PR professionals in CSR. It is the job of the PR professional to engage the publics, the community. Therefore, their involvement in CSR is crucial to effective social responsibility. PR professionals should be engaging the publics and the community and getting feedback on the effects of the organization. In Rama Arya’s PR blog he notes that as responsible PR practitioners, it’s our job to make sure that there is substance behind CSR initiatives. CSR isn’t just about making your company look good, it’s about seeing how your organization can effectively benefit the public and the environment and changing and implementing practices to bring that positive affect about.

ethics for everyone

Why are ethics so important anyway? I know my personal standards lie in my faith in Jesus Christ and my moral code is found in the Bible, but what about the people who do not believe in the love and grace of Jesus? Why are ethics important for the people who feel no need to follow the same moral code I do? Principles of honesty, trust, and character are all outlined in the Scripture and I can see their reflection in other arenas of the world. People appreciate and value these things. People are the Lord’s primary focus and according to an article outlining the importance of ethics in business by Manali Oak, “Ethical values are way ahead of earning money. Ethics is more about earning long-lasting relationships in business.” There is a reason ethical actions have been encouraged since the Roman Empire is the same reason your mom corrected you when you’d lie about cleaning your room, honesty is always the best policy. An article by Henry Posters in 2003 explores the importance of ethics in business. I love the way he explained the the benefit of ethics in the fifth paragraph of his article,

It is my firm belief that a “good man or woman” who steadfastly tries to be ethical (i.e. to do the “right thing”, to make appropriate ethical decisions, etc.) somehow always overtakes his immoral or amoral counterpart in the long run. A plausible explanation of this view on ethical behavior is that when individuals operate with a sense of confidence regarding the ethical soundness of their position, their mind and energies are freed for maximum productivity and creativity. On the other hand, when practicing unethical behavior, the individual finds it necessary to engage in exhausting subterfuge, resulting in diminished effectiveness and reduced success.

A lot can be said for having ethical practices. Scriptures recognize it’s importance. The business world recognizes it’s importance. I know I would choose an ethical company over an unethical one 100% of the time. You could work for yourself, strive to get ahead, step on toes, and leave people in your dust, but eventually those actions will come back to haunt you. As mama always said, and I will one day repeat to my children, honesty is always the best policy.