Month: March 2021

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The Value of Planning

Project Planning and Delivery: 6 Steps to Get Work Done Faster - Blog | Planview

Warren Buffett, successful business tycoon, once said, “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” This quote focuses on the value of planning because motivated communicators take the time to strategically plan for themselves and others. Planning is the foundation that helps us project our objectives and achieve our goals. There are many important resources that discuss the value of planning, but we want to focus on Presspage, a strategy and planning resource that has good tips to guide us through the steps of a good plan.

This website is selling a service, but we’re not profiting from sharing it. However, it does have great information for determining the important elements of communication planning. We might not always have to go into grave detail about each of these elements in every plan, but they can help keep us on track to meet our goals. This website goes into detail of each step, in hopes to help you create an organized method of planning.

Why should you care about planning?

When we have a planning process, we’re better equipped to prepare for the future. Planning helps us foresee any calculated mishaps. Of course, we’re going to have to deal with surprises, but we can at least have an action plan if something does go wrong. Planning also teaches us how we can stay on schedule. Just like we have deadlines in school, we’re going to have deadlines in the workplace as well.

We’ll now guide you through the step by step process of planning.

Step 1

The foundation of our plan starts with the situation, which explains exactly why we’re planning in the first place. We wrote this blog in order to inform COM students about the value of Public Relations topics.

Step 2

The next step is understanding our audience, which has the biggest retention for COM students. Whether we’re writing or speaking, we always have to think about our audience. We even planned this blog with a specific audience in mind.

Step 3

Once you’ve figured out the first two elements, you can move on to your goals & objectives. Goals are what you want to accomplish overall, and objectives are specific outcomes that utilize the SMART method – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, & Time-bound. When we planned to promote our blog, one of our goals was to create awareness for Public Relations. Our specific objective would be to get 15-20 engagements on our blog over the semester.

Step 4

We can then use strategies to achieve our objectives and tactics to support the strategies. Essentially, strategies explain why, and tactics explain how. One strategy for our blog promotion was to use print media to attract students to interact with our blog. The specific tactic was to post flyers in buildings on campus.

Step 5

Another element is the calendar/timetable, which details specific tasks and due dates for when we want to achieve the goals and objectives of our plan. Our blog calendar focuses on what each person is doing and when it’s due. Each blog posted was specifically planned.

Step 6

Budgets are another element of plans but depending on the situation they won’t always be necessary. This part of the plan ensures that you have all the required resources for achieving your goals. If we were to have a budget for this blog, it might be focused towards our social media strategies where we would possibly buy paid advertisements.

Step 7

The final element is evaluation. Once we’ve completed our plan, this step will tell us how successful we were in achieving our objectives. At the end of the semester, we intend to evaluate the success of our blog by reflecting the objectives of our plan.

Lasting Thoughts

Overall, it’s important to be aware of the resources we can utilized while planning for assignments, weekend plans, and especially for our futures. If we can understand how to plan well, we are setting ourselves up for success in all aspects of our lives. Thoughtful and well-researched planning strategies are invaluable to our roles as communication professionals.

Next week, we will dive into a case study on the topics of audiences/publics, branding, and planning. This case study will lay out exactly how these three PR topics work well together in any organization.

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The Art of Branding

Branding is such an important part of building the image of a company, and good branding can be easily recognized. If we look at companies like Apple Nike and Coca-Cola, we can see how they have mastered the art of branding and created a strong global awareness for themselves. To understand how to brand effectively, first we need to understand what branding is. Once we understand what branding is and what it entails, we can better understand why it is so important. 

Branding is a marketing practice of promoting a specific product or company by advertising and creative design to distinguish itself from the competition. This creative design includes the name of the product or company, logo, taglines, mascots, etc. According to Donald Miller, author of Building a Story Brand, “Branding is working to create simple, relevant messages we can repeat over and over so that we brand ourselves into public consciousness.” (Building a story brand, Donald Miller).

Let’s break this down into some more simplified steps:

  1. The first step is finding your public. You need to center your brand around your public. One way to do this is to create a persona for the public you are trying to reach. This gives you a more personal look at who your public is.
  2. Now you need to ask questions to complete the persona. What are their needs? How can I make the company about them? How do we help them? These questions can help you narrow in on what you will need to do to effectively brand to them.
  3. Next, we need to identify the internal and external problems. External problems are the easy ones to find. What does your product or company do for the customer on the surface level? That’s the external problem you are solving.
  4.  The internal problems can be much harder to find. The internal problems are the customer fears, desires, or frustrations. Typically, the product is used to solve the external problem, but it is also often used to solve the internal problem as well. If you are selling a security system for a home the external problem you are solving is keeping the home safe. The internal problem you are solving however, is putting the homeowner at ease, and getting rid of the fear that their home isn’t safe.
  5. Finally, once you have identified the problems, you have to find out how to guide your public and make it about them. This will help draw them to your product or company because they feel that you are helping them. You can do this by providing a call to action. A call to action gives your customers something they can act upon that leads them to your business or product.

 Branding is not a short process, so you will need to be diligent and stay consistent with your messaging to ensure that you are staying with your brand. By doing this you will build success and put your product or company permanently in your customers mind where they will come to you first. Now this may seem like a lot of work and it is but that is why branding is so important. There is a reason that Apple Nike Coca-Cola and many others have created success on the global scale and branding is a main reason for that success.

Follow along with our blog and check out our next post where we are covering planning and all the steps you need to do to effectively plan!

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Why Google is Doing Public Relations Right

A prime example of planning, branding and publics in regards to public relations is Google. Since its creation in 1998, Google has evolved into the well-known company we know today. Google has displayed exemplary public relations tactics in various campaigns and developments over the last few years. Here is one example why Google is successful from a public relations perspective.

Background of Google’s Ebola Fundraiser

In 2014, Google created a monetary fundraiser to donate funds to the Ebola crisis that was sweeping over Africa. Google promised to donate $2 for every dollar raised for the cause until they reach its goal of $7.5 million. Google utilized banners on their website to promote the fundraiser. An example of the ad is pictured below with their key information and messaging.They also partnered with Facebook to promote this campaign to users. 

Google named the organizations the funds would go to support which added a layer of transparency and trustworthiness. 

Google Donates $10 Million To Fight Ebola And Promises More
Wright, M. (2014). Google Donates $10 Million to Fight Ebola and Promises More [Digital image]. Retrieved from http://tnw.to/c4h0P

Planning and Branding Tactics

The planning and execution that is entailed in a project of this size is a massive undertaking. A fundraiser of this size would require preparation coordinating with the four organizations, confirming how the funds would be dispersed, setting up the website and payment process, and how to market the campaign. Millions of people supported this cause, and Google was able to disperse the funds to the appropriate organizations. This campaign created a philanthropic perspective on Google’s brand that was not present prior to the fundraiser. Their involvement and action to support a worthy cause gained the respect of millions of people. This example explicitly depicts evidence of thorough planning and branding tactics.

Google’s Audience

The difficult question is who is Google’s audience, and how did they address them? While some may think that the target audience is everyone because nearly every person uses Google, it can be narrowed down even further. In regards to the previous campaign, Google was targeting middle class to upper middle class people. Since this is a monetary campaign, they are looking for people with a bit more financial stability, perhaps people in the 30-50 age range. People older than that may not be as technologically savvy and therefore not understand how to support the cause. They need to reach people who have the technology to engage with their company on the Internet. Users are typically technologically competitive or have higher education. With these demographics in mind, it becomes easier to narrow in on the content, messaging, and tactics to best target that audience. 

Google is a prime example of how much planning and preparation are required to execute public relations strategies and tactics effectively. If you don’t believe me, go Google it. 

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Do you know what it means to “Know your Audience?”

The phrase “know your audience” gets thrown around so often in the world of PR and Marketing. But what does it really mean to “know your audience?”

The world’s greatest message will not be effective unless it is placed in front of the right people in a way they will understand.

The primary goal of public relations is to connect with your target audience, publics and stakeholders. Your target audience comes down to who you are trying to get your message to. As a PR professional, you need to know and understand your audience because then you can tailor content to their needs and ensure your message will resolve any challenges they might face.

When you know your audience, your message will be more likely to resonate with the people who matter most to your success.   

So, how do you get to know your audience? It is not enough to know the demographics and locations of your audience. You have to know as much as possible about them, including their personality traits, interests, values and opinions. Knowing these things about them will help you to craft the perfect message to move your audience to take action. Some of the actionable, practical ways to better understanding your audience include:  doing market research, looking at your competitors (who share the same target audience as you), creating a customer persona, and conducting surveys.

Once you have determined who your audience is, it is important to ensure that the messages and tactics you have chosen are appropriate for your audience. If you want to communicate with your grandma, texting in emoji-code isn’t going to translate well. Similarly, humorous messaging will not always convert well for solemn non-profit or businesspeople.

In public relations, knowing your audience is crucial for a successful campaign. So, before you even begin to craft a message, consider the demographics and psychographics of your audience!

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Bad PR Examples (2021)

On International Women’s Day 2021, the following Tweet was shared on Burger King’s official UK Twitter account: “Women belong in the kitchen.” Insensitive, inappropriate and sexist–talk about a bad PR example! 

Because of this Tweet, Burger King has come under heavy scrutiny for posting a sexist statement on International Women’s Day. While the company has since apologized, doing a quick Google search of “Burger King Twitter” provides pages of results reporting on the backlash that Burger King has seen as a result of this tweet. 

Burger King’s (now-deleted) Tweet.

Viewing the Tweets following Burger King’s initial “Women belong in the kitchen.” Tweet, Burger King shared that they are launching a scholarship initiative that will provide scholarships to female Burger King employees who hope to work in the culinary industry. The ensuing Tweets explained: “If they want to, of course. Yet only 20% of chefs are women. We’re on a mission to change the gender ratio in the restaurant industry by empowering female employees with the opportunity to pursue a culinary career. #IWD” and “We are proud to be launching a new scholarship programme that will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams!” Yet, focus has remained on their initial Tweet. While the Tweets that followed explained their scholarship initiative, their initial attempt to counter sexism with a sexist comment highlights the importance of thoughtfully crafting messages in public relations. In public relations, we have to carefully consider the content and organization of our message as well as our audiences and their reception to our messaging. In the case of Burger King’s Twitter, they did not analyze their Tweet as thoroughly as they should have–resulting in high amounts of backlash.

Here’s where public relations comes into play. While some people say that “all publicity is good publicity,” we’d have to disagree. Although attention has been drawn to Burger King’s Twitter, the Tweet has proven a bad PR example as well as a disaster for the company. Nearly all of the publicity generated has been unfavorable and has created negative associations with the brand. The goal of effective public relations is to produce communications that create and maintain positive attitudes, perceptions and associations with a company’s target audiences. 

The moral of the story? When engaging in public relations communications, we must carefully and thoughtfully craft our messages by considering the connotative nature of words as well as the ethicality of our messaging. By considering these factors, we can produce effective messaging that creates positive associations and connects with target audiences. In the case of Burger King, the company was attempting to connect with women. Seeking to do so by means of a seemingly offensive Tweet was not the route to go, especially on International Women’s Day. Had the company created more effective communications, perhaps focus would instead be on the scholarship program Burger King has created for women in the culinary industry. When crafting a public relations message, the intended audience to which the message is being sent must constantly be considered. Follow along with our blog and make sure to check out our next post which will detail how to perform audience analysis and tailor messages for various publics.  

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An Introduction to Public Relations

An Introduction to Public Relations

“Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics” PR definition according to the Public Relations Society of America. The field of public relations (PR) is a broad area of work which is inviting to both communication and business majors alike. In this post, we are going to delve into the field of public relations and give a summary of the field.

The purpose of public relations (PR) is to help companies and organizations build their relationships to shape the way the public perceives them. Perception is key in the field of business because it builds a company’s credibility and reputation. Without both credibility and reputation, cannot be successful.

Reputation

Let’s start with reputation. For a company to know how to create a good reputation, they must first know who their publics are. A company’s publics can be a variety of investors, employees, partners, and other kinds of stakeholders. These publics need to see a company’s/brands positive image whether that is success, honest, ethical, or relevant. Once it is known who the public is, a company can cater the communication to them in a specific way.

Credibility

Credibility, as mentioned before is important for a company, organization, and brand. People tend to trust messages that come from a third party who is trustworthy. If a company builds its credibility to the point that a third party spreads the word about its credibility, this will be more effective than their own advertised content. Here is an example, let’s say that there is a donut shop trying to grow as a business. It would be more appealing to new customers for a third party (like a reviewer or customer) post or spread the positive words about the shop than them seeing the shop selling itself alone.

What the field of PR is like

Now that we have established the fundamentals of a company regarding public relations, here is what is it like to work the field of PR. There is a lot of writing in PR for things like: speeches, news/press releases, scripts, social media content, and fact sheets and much more. PR involves a lot of research which could contain sharing data, identifying trends and calculating numbers.

Next, one would have to be creative. Creativity is an important skill to possess because it helps a company create new ways to advertise their products or brand. The creative mind can also build new ways to grow a company, its messages, and ways in researching.

Finally, for you to be a PR professional, they need to know and use business practices. They must know the practices of marketing, finance, accounting, and business laws. This knowledge helps those in the field of PR to be able to work with others in related fields.

Overall, we can see how broad the field of public relations are by seeing all the knowledge, skills, and experiences. Public relations is best summarized like an engine, it may seem like one big piece of metal but once you open it up, you will see that there are a lot of parts to make it an engine.

Next week, we will delve into some bad examples of public relations. This is not only to show you that these examples are bad but to show you why there are bad.