small talk about PR

The Travelers Companies, Inc.

2007-05-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

St. Paul Travelers and Citigroup to Re-Brand, Red Umbrella to Return to Travelers

simple but appealing

It is the small thing that makes the difference.

Make your own creation.

2007-05-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

Pretty look is no more appealing.
(Just like an airheaded beauty... nothing to talk...)

Make people do something and make them talk about it.

You can create your own letter combination.

http://splittype.phpnet.us/

(other websites are listed on former blog posts.)
Don't forget Internet is an interactive medium.

Everybody needs power.

2007-05-04T18:28:00.000-07:00

As long as human beings have lived in groups, the limited resources have caused power differences. The difference of power is a basic rule of society. Like differen heights of ground makes water flow, the difference of power makes social resources flow.

Becuase it is impossible to maintain equal power between different groups, symmetrical public relations theory would seem desirable but not practical. Symmetrical public relations theory acknowledges primacy of dominant coalition in makin organizational decisions and influencing public relations practices but reveals little about this poserful inner circle. There are some studies which open up the dominant coalition and reveals its complex poser relationships and a matrix of constraints that undermine and limit the function, rendering it difficult for practitioners to do the "right" thing, even if they want to.

If public relations is to better serve society, professtionals and academics may need to embrace an activist role and combine advocacy of shared power with activism in teh interest of shared power. In my opinion, if public relations practitioners and academics do not focus on developing their own power, their public relations fuctions as secondary work without enough power to enact their opinion. Public relations academics also should not choose to abserve the situation from the ouside as a third person.

Chaos theory as a model for managing issues and crisis

2007-05-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

Because of the extreme complexity among surroundings, organizations and publics, many theories are mentioned to analyze crisis situations. Some researchers borrowed chaos concept to find guideline of crises. Since the complexity of crises makes analyses difficult, we have to try various approaches. I agree with the opinion that qualitative method is more useful than quantitative method in crises. Those attempts of empirical analysis sometimes fail to draw significant result. There are some studies that hypotheses are seem to be plausible but fail to approve. Qualitative method might not only give missing clues to prove these hypotheses but also find different concepts of accepted thoughts. In my opinion, the main point of crisis studies is to understand the complexity of crises.

Chaos theory stressed that the positive feedback in that organizations managerial shortcoming amplify over time until they breed a crisis that transforms them permanently. I think it is very interesting point of view. In this point of view, the perception of an organization should focus on teh organization itself. The insight of organizations itself might make practitioners expert future crisis.

Two Different Worldview for the Crisis Communication

2007-05-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

The clash of civilizations.

I've observed two starkly opposing thought of worldview; one that sees chaotic world versus the other that looks as the orderly linear world. Their interpretations of crisis communication were pitted against each other.

The positivist worldview that has dominated America scientific research tends to explain phenomena with the cause-and-effect relationships. This way of thinking has proved to provide a useful tool for finding some "rules" or generalizable results. But this view seldom tells us something that we do not know about since the deductive method of probing, which is the positivist way of thinking, requires the premises which have already proved true. In addition, researchers in this stream of thought are likely to put their lens of investigation on narrowly defined particles of facts, thus often making an error of missing the entire scene.

On the contrary, the worldview that the Chaos theory holds looks for the patterns embedded in seemingly disordered and randomized events. Therefore, instead of looking at each puzzle piece, the Chaos theory urges researchers to see the complete big picture that the puzzle pieces form altogether. From this holistic viewpoint, changes and diversities are preferred to orders and legitimized standards as the clues to revealing the truth.

Which side are you on?

It's the small thing that makes the difference

2007-05-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

mini espresso maker... one-cup at a time...

There is something makes you buy it other than the function.

Take a look!

2007-05-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

Best of the Best

2007-05-04T12:38:00.001-07:00

Something about Design

2007-05-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

There is something makes you buy it other than the function.

Something about Design

2007-05-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

There is something makes you buy it other than the function.

Interesting Website to Check-Anti-Smoking

2007-04-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

Anti-Smoking Campaigns

“Are you OK with that?” campaign website run by Minnesota provides participating online quizzes and participating online polls. The main page shows inside of a bar where most of people are smoking. By dragging a mouse, users can see where they want to see of the bar. If you click a person who is smoking inside of the bar, caution box comes up and say one of the bad effect of smoking related to the person whom the user click. (If you click a lady who is smoking, the caution box shows information about smoking and pregnancy.)

“Anti-smoking” campaign website run by Lean Mean Fighting Machine provides activities. This website has built six fun games to play. Each game is designed to show how easily the fags can be destroyed if you put your mind on it. It has shooting game that you have to shoot cigarette pack and avoid flying cigarette bullet at the same time. It also has erasing game that your mouse cursor becomes eraser and users erase the cigarette pack.

Interesting Websites to Check-Guinness

2007-04-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

Guinness Campaigns

Guinness- U.K. “Hands—Good things come to those who wait” campaign website run by Guinness-U.K. provides video creation. The advertising features a pair of hands waiting for a pint of Guinness and is in black and white. The final scene reveals a perfectly poured pint of Guinness and the hands re-appear to type the line “Good things come to those who wait. The website is a campaign-dedicated website and visitors to the site will have the opportunity to direct and customize their own Guinness “hands” film, which they can send onto friends. Making video is done by few mouse clicks. There are copy writer picture, and if you click one letter than it shows short hand motion and motion name. Users can choose five different motions and if you choose all five of them, it will show your own video.

Guinness- U.S.
Guinness has stepped up its campaign. Internet users who are over 21 can join the poker game. Participants need to register first and play poker with other participants. I think they’re onto a winner with their Poker Night initiative as it taps into one of the most popular trends in recent times. The most successful consumer PR campaigns recently have been about creating events to bring people together or experiences that people will talk about, and this is a great way to get a group of friends around a table together.

Relationship between PR practitioners and Lawyers

2007-04-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

According to the interview I condected with a PR practitioner and lawyer, both of them talked about the close and amicable relationship between them.

However, we tent to hesitate a littel in predicting the future of this rosy relationship. It might be that both parties were saying these sorts of answer to try and benefit their particular field of interest by not adding "fuel to the fire."

There is an interesting articles about this relationship in 1984.
In the article "PR Counselors' Prickly Relationship with Lawyers" (Sidney, 1984) , Alec Been, president of Benn & MacDonough, stated that "Lawyers don't want to say anything. Lawyers often famage a firm's reputation in their eagerness to avoid suits. Lawyers are necessarily antagonistic. Theirs is an asversary profession. Public relations people often don't make their recommendations pertinent enough to the corporation's interest." (Sidney, 1984, p.26)

Even though this article was published years ago, this statement is completely qualified by the PR practitioner in the discussion of previous employment (see the former posted blog-interview with PR practitioner).

It was said that the lawyer in his or her previous firm did not let anyone speak with the press or publid, to the point that it made employees not want to perform their job as a PR person. It did seem that this type of incident had ceased to exist in teh current employment though.

Interview with PR practitioner

2007-04-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

How we can describe the relationship between lawyers and PR practitioners?
By conduction interview with each of them, we would have some idea about this relationship.

Interview with PR practitioner of a health insurance company

1. The PR practitioner implied that they work together on an weekly basis, but interaction can become more frequent in an time of crisis.

2. The PR practitioner stated that "the most common thing is that we want to be upfront, open, and honest about what has happened and to assure that whatever the problem is, we have addressed it, are in the process of addressing it and have a plan to make sure it does not happen again."

3. The PR practitioner described that the relationship between lawyers and PR practitioners is close.

4. Unlike the lawyer, the PR practitioner shared a story regarding her previous employment where the two did not get along as well. The situation composed of a lawyer sho did not want PR people talking to anyone in the press for any reson without approval. This made the PR practitioner's job much more challenging.

One thing noted by the PR practitioner and not the lawyer is that the feeling of cooperation is helped by teh fact that both groups report to the same executive level.

Interview with in-house Lawyer

2007-04-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

How we can describe the relationship between lawyers and PR practitioners?
By conduction interview with each of them, we would have some idea about this relationship.

Interview with in-house Lawyer of a health insurance company

1. The lawyer explained that, in terms of dealing with crises related to lawsuits or mistakes the company made, ,the company needs both the legal and PR communication perspective.

2. The lawyer does not specifically know about the communication styles or strategies the PR practitioner uses.
"Do not say 'no comment'" was the one she gave me as an example.

3. The lawyer described the relationship between lawyers and PR practitioners as a close one.

4. In terms of decision making, it is hard to figure out who has more power, but it appears that in a crisis situation both lawyers and PR practitioners share equally in helping to resolve problems.

There is noting real on Reality TV shows

2007-02-26T14:18:00.000-08:00

Go Go Luckey Productions, producers of everyone's favorite teen drama queen show Laguna Beach, are looking for the next reality TV star -- an aspiring Fashion Assistant.

Fashion PR Gets a Second Chance at Reality TV

Yes. MTV’s earlier foray into Fashion PR in 2005, the Lizzie Grubman fronted “PoweR Gril,” sent the greater public relations industry a ranting, by playing into every awful stereotype every conceived about a Fashion PR Girl. That show was really a “Nightmare.” However, I would not call the show “PR Nightmare” because that show has not represented PR at all. That show was the same reality show as earlier ones with PR firm look-like television sets.

There are some particular industries that look like very fancy and glamourous, such as television, music, fashion, public relations, and advertising. However, just like fashion shows backstage, it can be seen as fancy work from the outside while there is more to it when you actually penetrate the whole industry.

For example, there are so many reality shows on TV, and most of these shows look like these cannot be done by “normal people.” If you think about “Flavor of love,” “Cheaters,” and “Sweet Sixteen,” it is not hard to believe that there are people who really need to be segregated from others and get some mental therapy.

However, the motivations of these people are obvious. This is a TV show and no one will pay attention to normal, average, and everyday nice people. They need drama to make their show viewable. Even though we call these shows “reality”, we all know they are acting. There is direct and indirect pressure on those participants to make extreme events. Besides, a program director only chooses exciting scenes for broadcasting and gets rid of other, less exciting cuts.

People who have the real potential and ability to work as PR professionals, they definitely penetrate what is underneath the surface. Even though “PoweR Girl” makes PR seem shallow and appearance-based, in the real world there are thousands of people who work in tiny offices writing hundreds of press releases every day. They always smile at the rude and disdainful people in order to get the job done. There is no such a thing as a fancy job in the real world and there is nothing that is exactly same as reality on the TV screen. The target audiences of these reality TV shows are people who just want to have fun. Again, the general concept of all reality shows are same, and only the participants and the television sets (hip-hop style mention, college dorm, PR firm) are changing.

That is why there is nothing we can do about the inaccurate conception of PR on TV and also why we have nothing to worry about.

(“The Devil wears Prada”-We also know that an assistant of the fashion magazine editor cannot afford those fancy designer out-fits.)

The Power of Words

2007-02-23T12:10:00.000-08:00

The Power of Words - By Paull Young

Words these days still can be as meaningful as the words of ancient Egyptians even though the words are more accessible to the masses these days. The different thing is that not all of the words these days are meaningful, while all of the Ancient Egyptians’ are meaningful.

We do not have to think far back. If we recall 20 years ago, writing was a very formal, effort-needed, and time-consuming action. Even for a personal letter, people put some amount of time into finishing one decent piece of writing. (I’m sure they read it more than twice after they finished writing.) People do not usually write on a daily basis and there was a very specific, either professional or personal, purpose and occasion to write.

Since communication tools have evolved especially after the Internet was invented, writing has become a very casual and everyday action just like talking. Writing e-mails, blogging, and even posting a short comment on the Internet are just casual extensions of talking. Even though the format is writing, it is just like having a small talk with your friends or family. It does not have to be one logical concept, a grammatically perfect paragraph, or even a complete sentence.

However, that does not mean that those words are not meaningful. It is just harder than before to select trust-worthy words since there are massive amounts of words on the Internet. Moreover, the Internet has become an open place of evolving public opinion.
Maybe single words themselves are not very meaningful these days, but those words are pieces of public opinion. We can figure out the big picture by collecting these little pieces. Single words may be less valuable than the words of ancient Egyptians, but they are still worth looking at because these words represent what the public thinks about a certain topic at a certain time.

Some may argue that the words from the general public are not as important as the words from people who have social and political power. However, in my opinion, what the public says and thinks is equally important. For example, all elected officials are supposed to work for their citizens and citizens are the ones who can truly affect them. Besides, of course, people exist before a nation or government does, not the other way around.

Imagine that you have a tape recorder that record what many of the ancient Egyptians said. Do you think that tape is not meaningful because the words come from mere citizens? Do you think the words from their mouth are insignificant because they are presented as casual talk rather than sophisticated writing?

Don’t you think those words could be a raw but precious form of evidence for public opinion?

Getting a job in the PR field

2007-02-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

Advice for Young PR Pros from Richard Toth

If you introduce yourself as a young PR professional, some might still ask you what you actually do except lie. Some want to explain PR work as maintaining a long-term, positive relationship with important publics, but it sounds vague and not persuasive. To persuade others and to make them understand, we need more concrete and tangible evidence that we can actually show.

Similarly, in terms of getting jobs, we need substantial abilities which can be proven as well as creativity. These abilities that PR students needs are not limited to communication skills but including other knowledge and techniques for the PR world.

Even though most of the PR major is in the Journalism or Communication department, in my opinion, students should take a few business courses and media technique classes to learn photography, filming, Web design, and publication. Students also should be equipped with strong research ability as well as communication skills. Analyzing data is as important as collecting data, and for this job, students should have statistic knowledge as well.

There is no doubt that creative thought and different perspectives are important for PR work. However, these above abilities are fundamentals which are required of everyone while creativity is not. If you think about getting a job practically which is the main concern of most students, these cannot be overlooked for them. In the beginning, people who only have these abilities but lack creativity would get a job because ability can be written in their resume. However, people who have no knowledge and ability but only creative thought and different perspectives would have difficulty getting a job in the first place.

Tim Hardaway-What should a PR representative do for him?

2007-02-19T13:44:00.000-08:00

Hardaway's new legacy a hateful one

If there is a PR representative for Tim Hardaway, was he or she surprised by his speech? Did the PR representative suffer while cleaning up the mess Tim Hardaway just made?

First of all, a PR representative has to anticipate what the client might say in front of the public. A PR representative also should have a prepared plan for dealing with these possible situations.
Second of all, the factor that really matters is not the “statement” itself but the circumstance and context: the speaker, the business and industry involved, and their main audiences—sports fans.

Before acting, a PR advisor should define who the client is and what the client’s character is. A PR representative’s role is not to make a socially acceptable or likable person. All clients have different images and social expectations.

If this “statement” was made from a governor or teacher, almost everyone would level criticism at the person, and the person would be ostracized from society. People requires stricter moral standard for them.
However, in this case, because this statement was made by a sports player, the issue would be one of speech right rather than morality.

People want sport stars to be tough and brave enough to do something that others cannot do without considering others’ views. Main public of sports business is not the gay community but sports fans who are usually more masculine.

Furthermore, it is also a PR representative’s job to make these statements less problematic by focusing on other aspects of the situation behind the case. The focus could be the human right of sexual minorities, the right to voice personal opinion, or even race issues. They should find an appropriate issue to lessen the damage to the reputation.

In this case, the reactions around the blogosphere has been divided into two; one is praising his bold speaking out regardless of politically correctness, and another is blaming him for using word “hate” to refer other human beings. A PR representative would emphasize the former opinion as the dominant one and lessen the homophobic part by pin-pointing his bold speech.

The Turner Broadcasting 'bomb scare' in Boston

2007-02-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

In terms of achieving the promotion goal, which is getting as much awareness as possible, the Turner Broadcasting 'bomb scare' case in Boston would be judged as a successful case. It only cost $2,500 to bail out the two men who authorities say placed electroic advertising around teh city, and Turner got their new cartoon show and character published all over the states.

I'd rather call it a PR success story than PR disaster.

All business people are dying to find a way to promoting their business. Almost every space which people can see is covered with commercials. It is so hard to get the attention of people who are sick of PR and advertising. People refuse to remember or even see the information by treating it as a junk.

Normally, this extreme promotion is not a good strategy for the leading companies, becuase they are more concerned their reputation or long-term relationship with their publics. However, for the rising company, which just wants to earn awareness, this is a very efficient promotion. Even though Turner is a big company, this scheme was conducted to market the new cartoon show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", which is supposed to be funny and silly. This fit their concept.

Berdovsky, one of the men who authorities say placed electronic advertising around the city, talked about 70's haircut to reporter and television cameras to launch into a nonsensical discussion.

The cartoon show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", the funny but extreme (showing the finger) character, insane "bomb scare" happening, and 70's haircut, all fit with their larger concept of the show which is funny and silly. I would call this cohesive campaign.

Even though the marketing sponsors, Interference, have already made statement of apology, they might have laughed and thanked the police in Boston that caused this panic by assuming the light-covered characters were bombs. Usually bombs are hidden rather than place in full view and give people the finger, but these policemen were doing their job really carefully and made the issue a media pitch without any extra charge. "What a sweet new friend of us~ Thank you~"

Small Talk about PR

2007-01-29T10:17:00.001-08:00

This blog will be filled with small talk about PR issues.
(nothing serious, nothing important but something interesting)