I saw this article about what bloggers should know about PR from a Tweeter entry from Daniel Goh, creator of entrepreneurship blog Young Upstarts. Written by Pat Law, who is a member of Ogilvy PR's 360° Digital Influence team, it's a good read to gain some insight into the relationship between PR and journalism.
Pat was in turn inspired by these two articles written by Rohit Bhargava, a founding member of the 360ยบ Digital Influence team: What All PR People Should Know About Journalists and What Journalists Should Know About PR People.
Do take a read. :)
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Be SMART and SWOT
This post reflects upon readings for Week 3 -- Chapter 7.
Of all the strategy and planning frameworks covered in the text for this week's reading, two stand out in particular for me for their simplicity, elegance and opportunity for practical application in everyday life. They are:
Besides being a useful framework by which to check if goals set are appropriate, SMART goals are also instructional of the nature of PR. In the corporate context, PR is a results-oriented marketing and communications discipline. It is used to drive profitability and the bottom-line of companies, whether directly (by increasing sales) or indirectly (by positioning brands in a desirable light).
As the owner of GameSync, a web publication focusing on the video games community in Singapore, I can appreciate setting SMART goals. For example, last year I helped put together an online Team Fortress 2 tournament to attract the TF2 community to my website. Although ultimately successful in drawing more registrations from TF2 players and positioning GameSync as the go-to place for the community, defining a SMART goal would have helped to measure the positive impact of the event!
The SWOT analysis is used to identify key factors which will influence a brand or product. It stands for:
Once again taking GameSync as an simplified example, the TF2 community was identified as an opportunity as the game had just recently been launched. No other web publication had yet to actively court TF2 players (a clear lack of threat). GameSync had already established itself as a trusted brand in the competitive video gaming community (strength), although traditionally it was not a type of game that the core audience played (weakness). Clear synergy could be found here and so the decision to go ahead with the organization of a tournament was made.
This is of course a simplified example. In reality, for example, threats would include a much broader range, including other tournaments organized overseas and other general publications such as GameAxis and Playworks.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, SMART goals and SWOT analysis are useful not only in PR, but are also useful in marketing, business and even in your personal life. They're catchy and easy to remember, so try to use them as often as you can!
Of all the strategy and planning frameworks covered in the text for this week's reading, two stand out in particular for me for their simplicity, elegance and opportunity for practical application in everyday life. They are:
- Setting SMART goals
- Performing a SWOT analysis
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Timeframed
Besides being a useful framework by which to check if goals set are appropriate, SMART goals are also instructional of the nature of PR. In the corporate context, PR is a results-oriented marketing and communications discipline. It is used to drive profitability and the bottom-line of companies, whether directly (by increasing sales) or indirectly (by positioning brands in a desirable light).
As the owner of GameSync, a web publication focusing on the video games community in Singapore, I can appreciate setting SMART goals. For example, last year I helped put together an online Team Fortress 2 tournament to attract the TF2 community to my website. Although ultimately successful in drawing more registrations from TF2 players and positioning GameSync as the go-to place for the community, defining a SMART goal would have helped to measure the positive impact of the event!
The SWOT analysis is used to identify key factors which will influence a brand or product. It stands for:
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Opportunities
- Threats
Once again taking GameSync as an simplified example, the TF2 community was identified as an opportunity as the game had just recently been launched. No other web publication had yet to actively court TF2 players (a clear lack of threat). GameSync had already established itself as a trusted brand in the competitive video gaming community (strength), although traditionally it was not a type of game that the core audience played (weakness). Clear synergy could be found here and so the decision to go ahead with the organization of a tournament was made.
This is of course a simplified example. In reality, for example, threats would include a much broader range, including other tournaments organized overseas and other general publications such as GameAxis and Playworks.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, SMART goals and SWOT analysis are useful not only in PR, but are also useful in marketing, business and even in your personal life. They're catchy and easy to remember, so try to use them as often as you can!
Out with the old shit
Blogs are fun to read when they have something useful to say, and when it is said with personality and with passion. Although this is an academic exercise, the fact that it has been moved from a closed environment (the University's Blackboard discussion board) to the open, public environment that is Blogspot and the wider Internet audience demands something different from what was originally intended.
So from today I will be doing the following:
Have fun!
So from today I will be doing the following:
- Start blogging and stop posting stuffy academic mini-essays
- Include more personal experience and opinion on the week's readings and lecture
- Link to interesting articles and opinion pieces related to PR
Have fun!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
An introduction to PR
I think two key points to remember from this week's readings were:
In the past, communicating with a mass audience was available only to corporations which had enough resources to afford to incur massive fees in pushing their messages through media channels required. In this corporate context, public relations was often said to "faciliate relationships and understanding between and organization and its publics" (McElreath in Johnston & Zawari, 2009).
However, the arrival and availability of affordable media recording and production tools and the Internet has resulted in the democratization of communications. Today, anyone with access to a mobile phone with built-in camera and the Internet is able to put out messages to a large audience.
Acknowledging this changed communication landscape, where messages are no longer propagated by organizations but can also be created and spread by its publics, Johnston and Zawari (2009) redefined PR as "the development and management of ethical strategies
using communications to build relationships with stakeholders or publics".
In order to develop and build relationships with its stakeholders (who always take an active interest in an organization or its actions) or its publics (who can be either active or passive in its interactions with an organization), the PR practitioner must be:
This post refers to the readings for Week 2 -- Chapters 1, 2 &3.
- The democratization of communications is quickly redefining how public relations is used
- PR is a science, an art and a business
However, the arrival and availability of affordable media recording and production tools and the Internet has resulted in the democratization of communications. Today, anyone with access to a mobile phone with built-in camera and the Internet is able to put out messages to a large audience.
Acknowledging this changed communication landscape, where messages are no longer propagated by organizations but can also be created and spread by its publics, Johnston and Zawari (2009) redefined PR as "the development and management of ethical strategies
using communications to build relationships with stakeholders or publics".
In order to develop and build relationships with its stakeholders (who always take an active interest in an organization or its actions) or its publics (who can be either active or passive in its interactions with an organization), the PR practitioner must be:
- Systematic in constructing models and frameworks by which the audience can be understood (Science)
- Creative in coming up with new and fresh ways of communicating with audiences (Art)
- Prudent in achieving and creating the best possible value and end result with limited resources (Business)
This post refers to the readings for Week 2 -- Chapters 1, 2 &3.
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