This posts reflect on readings for week 10.
This week's reading introduces a new concept - the Third Sector. What is the third sector? There's the public sector (government), the private sector (businesses) and then there is the third sector - the activist public. While this third sector is hardly new, it has risen in prominence and influence in this age, with the advent of a more civic-minded society and the internet and other communication tools, which allow like-minded individuals to pool resources together.
What does the third sector have to do with PR? Engagement with the third sector can lead to positive results.
Apple is a positive example. Through its CEO Steve Jobs, Apple often positions itself at the forefront of the concerns of activists. When an issue was made about Apple's laptops and LCD displays containing environment-harming mercury, Jobs detailed how Apple has tried to keep its production practices environmentally friendly, and is actually in the process of rolling out mercury-free products. At a time when the major record labels were advocating placing restrictions on digital music, Jobs wrote an open letter appealing for the labels to distribute digital music with no restrictions. By consistently positioning itself to appeal to the third sector, Apple's products too gain appeal.
On the other hand, not engaging the third sector can lead to disasterous consequences - including PR crises. If an organization ignores or sidelines the concerns of the community or civic organizations, it can find itself or its projects quickly embroiled by protests, which turn public sentiment against the organization. This is especially true in the Internet age, where such community organizations are able to spread messages and mobilize themselves rapidly. PR practitioners must be mindful of these stakeholders and try to engage them to circumvent any outbreak of a crisis. In reserve, the PR practitioner should have a backup crisis management plan that includes engagement with the third sector in order to quickly restore confidence of all stakeholders in the organization.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Nuts and bolts
This post reflects on reading for week 9.
This week's reading is "A typical public relations program", written by Candy Tymson. It way more interesting and concise than the entirety of our prescribed textbook (Public Relations Theory and Practice 3rd edition, by Jane Johnston and Clara Zawawi). Tymson also appears to have covered everything that we've read in the past 2 months or so. I have no idea why they didn't ask us to read this first to give a broad overview of PR.
With that little protest out of the way, I must say that Tymson gives a much more hands on look at what PR is all about. Tymson gives a very practical view of why management invests in PR, and indeed, why PR has often been talked of as being a management function. She then goes on to describe the basics of a PR program and impresses upon the fact that the PR practitioner is in fact involved in a multi-disciplinary role: he or she does market research, comes up with a broad (or narrow) strategy, plans the logistics, calculates finances, monitors responses and reactions from stakeholders and the goes through the whole process again to improve, improve and improve.
Many practical nuggets of wisdom are included, such as not lobbying parliament when it's Christmas, or not getting your CEO to tour factories nationwide when there is not enough time. Pretty sagely. I admire Tymson for being able to illustrate and bring PR alive in a way that the textbook has failed.
This week's reading is "A typical public relations program", written by Candy Tymson. It way more interesting and concise than the entirety of our prescribed textbook (Public Relations Theory and Practice 3rd edition, by Jane Johnston and Clara Zawawi). Tymson also appears to have covered everything that we've read in the past 2 months or so. I have no idea why they didn't ask us to read this first to give a broad overview of PR.
With that little protest out of the way, I must say that Tymson gives a much more hands on look at what PR is all about. Tymson gives a very practical view of why management invests in PR, and indeed, why PR has often been talked of as being a management function. She then goes on to describe the basics of a PR program and impresses upon the fact that the PR practitioner is in fact involved in a multi-disciplinary role: he or she does market research, comes up with a broad (or narrow) strategy, plans the logistics, calculates finances, monitors responses and reactions from stakeholders and the goes through the whole process again to improve, improve and improve.
Many practical nuggets of wisdom are included, such as not lobbying parliament when it's Christmas, or not getting your CEO to tour factories nationwide when there is not enough time. Pretty sagely. I admire Tymson for being able to illustrate and bring PR alive in a way that the textbook has failed.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Don't want to fail spectacularly? Research and evaluate!
This post reflects on readings for week 8.
Sponsorships and special events are mentioned as a high-profile aspect of public relations that focuses public attention on a place or issue intensely over the period of time it takes place. This can be a double-edged sword; the event can be a spectacular success, or an equally spectacular failure. To prevent catastrophy, proper research into stakeholder expectations and evaluation of previous efforts and outcomes of similar recent events should be conducted to ensure that any planned special event stays special.
The Living Heroes VP60 shows clearly how research into input, output and outcomes played a significant role in not only meeting public expectations of a good and fun event, but also in keeping activities relevant not only to veterans who fought in a war that took place more than half a century ago but also the general public who were not old enough to have experienced the war.
Another point I found interesting was that the Taronga Zoo case study illustrates how corporate social responsibility can have a tangible benefit for the organization. In exchange for corporate sponsorship, Taronga Zoo provides zoo membership and special zoo events to organizations, who then pass this on to top-level staff in the form of incentive or salary packages. This can be a crucial differentiating point when fighting to hire top talent in a crowded corporate world.
Sponsorships and special events are mentioned as a high-profile aspect of public relations that focuses public attention on a place or issue intensely over the period of time it takes place. This can be a double-edged sword; the event can be a spectacular success, or an equally spectacular failure. To prevent catastrophy, proper research into stakeholder expectations and evaluation of previous efforts and outcomes of similar recent events should be conducted to ensure that any planned special event stays special.
The Living Heroes VP60 shows clearly how research into input, output and outcomes played a significant role in not only meeting public expectations of a good and fun event, but also in keeping activities relevant not only to veterans who fought in a war that took place more than half a century ago but also the general public who were not old enough to have experienced the war.
Another point I found interesting was that the Taronga Zoo case study illustrates how corporate social responsibility can have a tangible benefit for the organization. In exchange for corporate sponsorship, Taronga Zoo provides zoo membership and special zoo events to organizations, who then pass this on to top-level staff in the form of incentive or salary packages. This can be a crucial differentiating point when fighting to hire top talent in a crowded corporate world.
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