In recent news, Tiger Woods is accused of having an affair with another woman. Before this, everyone saw Tiger Woods as this perfect golfer, with a perfect family– wife and kids. This affair supposedly went over for over two years as well. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/12/tiger-woods-jaimee-grubbs-affair-voicemail-us-weekly-text.html This site states that Tiger has already apologized to the people of America and his family, but it is going to take a lot more than an apology to repair his reputation. Not only was this bad PR for Tiger Woods as a person, but it is going to greatly affect all of the advertisements and companies that Tiger Woods represents. Most of these companies such as Gatorade and EA Sports valued his spotless image and thought that they could trust him to create great PR for their companies. Before this incident was discovered, this is exactly what Tiger Woods was doing. He was being used as a great PR tactic for these companies. People who saw that Tiger Woods drank gatorade or played video games, also wanted to drink gatorade and play video games. Now, Tiger will have to mend the relationships with his family as well as these companies. Most of his millions come from these advertisements, and he may very well lose this due to his affair. Tiger woods has definitely created bad PR for himself as well as everything that he represents.
Is This PR? #4. December 2, 2009
During the 2009 VMA awards, Taylor Swift received an award, but not in the way that she would have wished. As she went up there to accept her award, Kanye West runs up to her,grabs her mic, and begins to talk about how Beyonce had one of the “best videos of all time” Poor Kanye obviously was not thinking when he did this for he ruined his reputation as well as the rap music industry’s reputation. Bad PR? Definitely.
In this split second, Kanye dug himself in a hole of a shame. This was definitely awful PR for Kanye West and his managers. After he said this, so many people and fans that respected Kanye West no longer did. Not only did he create bad PR for himself, but he also created bad PR for other rappers. Other rappers associated with Kanye, and even rappers that are not associated with Kanye probably have suffered consequences as well. When people saw how well Taylor Swift reacted and how poised she was throughout the entire situation, she gained a lot more credibility. She, on the other hand created good PR for herself and all of country music. She stayed calm and under control and basically showed Kanye that she was a better person than him and that she could take this obstacle and overcome it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCD_4kmNQzM In this clip, Kanye tries to apologize and show his remorse, which is a step in the right direction, but he still has a long way to go. Sorry Mr. West, bad PR for you. Taylor Swift? The way she handled this definitely became great PR for her.
Is this PR?- Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show December 2, 2009
Last night, the annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show debuted on television. With Heidi Klum as the host, special guest stars Black Eyed Peas, and a new model revealed, the show was definitely successful. Was this show good PR for their company? Absolutely. Not only did they have the show but they had many commercials and information on their website reminding people to watch. On their website, www.victoriassecret.com the first thing that appeared prior to the show was a video clip showing clips of the models and talking about when the annual fashion show would be on. This in itself was good PR for the company. However, the event itself was great PR for Victoria’s Secret.
When men watched this show, they more than likely were drawn to the looks of the models. Because of this, these men may be more inclined to go out and buy Victoria Secret products for their wives. For women watching this fashion show, they more than likely would love to buy these products because maybe, just maybe, they will look as good in it as the models do. I know my roommates and I were watching, and we felt very motivated to try and look like those models. Of course, we will never look like these models, but we can buy their products and feel more like them. Overall, this fashion show is a great form of public relations for Victoria’s Secret. It appeals to men and women and is a highly respected company to everyone.
Is this PR? – Clemson University and Nike November 24, 2009
http://clemsontigers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112309aae.html. Clemson University has shocked most of the nation towards the end of its football season. At the beginning, we thought we would once again be a mediocre team like we usually are. Now, we are 7-3 and are heading to the ACC title game for the first time ever. With this hype and new respect across the country for Clemson University’s football team, came much more attention from others. Because of their success, Nike has chose the Clemson football team as one of the eleven teams in the nation to debut these new jerseys–which Nikes says is the lightest uniform they have ever created.
Is this PR for Clemson or for Nike? In my opinion, this is great PR for both Clemson and Nike. When Nike creates their lightest uniforms yet and then chooses eleven top ranked teams to wear them before they are out for anyone, this is a great PR tactic for Nike. When elite football teams are seen in their uniforms, it will entice others to want these same jerseys when they hit the market. Now, when Clemson is seen wearing these, they are seen as an elite football team. These uniforms will separate them as elite and the public will recognize Clemson’s success. Clemson’s great season in itself has been awesome PR for the University in general, but the football team being known as part of an elite group helps out even more.
- New Nike Uniforms
How is social media being used to bring employees into the communication fold? November 24, 2009
As this website says, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USpI6Jzl3No, putting the “public” back in Public Relations and realizing that focusing on important markets and influencers will have a far greater impact than trying to reach the masses with any one message or tool. In the presentation we watched, https://bb.clemson.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp, it noted that three out of every four Americans uses social technology. Social technology, websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogging, are not used just for pleasure either. This slide also noted that about 75 percent of Americans use social networking for business as well. Because social media is being used in these business settings, employees will be faced with these styles of communication at some point– if they have not already. There was also a statistic given that “companies that communicate effectively are 4.5 times more likely to report high levels of employee engagement.” Social media allows for these employees to communicate more effectively, and when it is used, these employees will be more likely to actively engage in their organizations or companies.
For me, it is hard to imagine growing up in a world without social media, or having forms of social media without actively using it. Our generation is so wrapped up in these forms of social media that it would definitely become a challenge to go without it. It was even said in this slide that around 7 billion texts are sent every day. Even text messaging is a form of social media, that I am positive our generation would feel slighted if text messaging disappeared or if we were no longer allowed to use it.
“The key point here is that Social Media has yet to reveal its true impact. While many are defining its future, the majority of people around the world have yet to embrace it and participate. This means that it’s only going to become more pervasive and as such, become a critical factor in the success or failure of any business.”
PR practicioners role in employee/internal communication November 24, 2009
“Rather than controlling and directing employees through providing information, today’s practitioners need to focus on involving and engaging employees and help employees to be flexible and deal with constant change and innovation effectively.” This quote came from the website, http://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/568/. On this site it is greatly emphasized that the role of practicioners today is to focus and engage employees more so than just controlling them. An environment where the employees feel more comfortable and flexible is much more beneficial to them as well as the company. To me, it is crucial as an employee to feel like my organization actually cares about my needs
This site also discusses that the main goals of practicioners today are to understand people in organizations, strategic focus, change management, coaching and consultation, tactical skills, etc. It also said that practicioners use to focus more on journalistic skills, writing and editing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_communications. Wikipedia describes internal communications as a generic expression for all communication (formal and informal) that an organisation undertakes with its close stakeholders. In looking at this definition, I was able to understand more exactly what internal communication was. In this one little definiton, it became clear to me that internal communication is not only important but crucial in an organization. Essentially, internal/employee communication holds an organization together. It allows an organization to overcome issues, crises, and change. Without overcoming issues such as these, an organization or company can never be successful.
Is this PR? — ChickfilA Event November 19, 2009
This past week, my sorority had a fundraiser night to raise money for St. Jude’s Chidlren hospital in Tennessee. With events like this, it is really important that you have good PR because only 20% of the the profit made that night actually go to the organization that you are raising money for. For this reason, we had to make sure that we had great PR. We first of all used the word of mouth method to tell anyone and everyone we knew to come out to Chickfila at that certain time. Then, we hung flyers in the library and in several academic buildings here on campus. Lastly we used resources such as http://www.facebook.com/. The most successful form of PR, I would say, was the event that we created on this website… http://www.facebook.com/#/event.php?eid=173933252203&index=1. Here, it showed some pictures from St. Judes, and gave all of the information that people would need to know about the event. It was really successful, and we had over 700 people join. Then, the day of the event, we had several members of our sorority change their facebook statuses to say something about the event.
I definitely thought this was an example of good PR. Since we are just a campus sorority, our methods did not reach above and beyond to people in the surrounding area. However, given the means that we used, our PR was the most important part in making our Chickfila night successful. If we had not used any PR, then we definitely would not have raised money for St. Judes.
Chapter 15- Public Relations and the Law November 18, 2009
“The challenge for public relations practicioners is to understand the many laws and regulations that govern or, at least, influence their practice.” This chapter helps to explain why law has anything to do with public relations– as it says, it has plenty to do with it. Most practicioners do not in fact have a good understanding of the law. This may be one of the biggest problems. My question is, what can be done so that PR practicioners can begin to learn more and grasp what exactly law is about? Is there something that can be done in order to fix this? The chapter later states, “It is not suggested here that every public relations practicioner should be ready to take the state bar exam. However, you do not have to be a lawyer to have a good working knowledge of the law.” For me, I gathered that it is just mostly important to use one’s best judgement in the situation.
Also, this chapter talks about the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It was stated that public relations practicioners promote a particular product or service, then their actions may fall under the watchful eye of the FTC. I never even considered the idea that PR had to be watched essentially by the government. The FTC essentially makes sure that nothing is unfair or deceptive. This chapter was more informative for me than anything else. I never grasped how important, if at all, law was in the eyes of PR.
Chapter 14- Cross Cultural Communication November 18, 2009
The idea of appealing to different cultures through PR is definitely very important. Just having a relationship with different countries is also quite vital. So many American companies have bases in different countries like Mexico; it would be terrible if there was no communication between us. As time progresses, more American companies are moving to places like Mexico because of reasons such as managers can pay employers less. One example of this is Hershey. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=367×7130. The book notes that it is important to study cross-cultural communication because “now, more than ever before in human history, more people are coming into contact with people from cultures other than their own.” Also, from thinking about, people from all different backgrounds and cultures now live in America, and more Americans now live in other parts of the world as well.
I also like what was mentioned in this chapter about different attitudes in different countries. The book noted how almost anything in one country can be completely unacceptable in another country. It gave the example of religion and how Hindus don’t eat beef. It also talked about America considering 13 to be its lucky number, but Japan considers 4 tobe theirs.
http://library.thinkquest.org/J001272F/folklife/recipes/recipes.htm. This is a website that gives some of the main dishes from all different types of culture. In terms of PR, it is important to think about little things such as this because a culture could be completely offended by something that another culture is not. The smallest thing to Americans may be a huge deal in another country, and if PR practicioners are trying to appeal to another country, it is crucial to keep these little things in mind.
An example of Corporate Social Responsibility November 16, 2009
Before reading these articles, I really was not sure what the main idea behind corporate social responsibility was. As I mentioned in my last post, I had heard the term before but still felt that I knew nothing about what it meant. These articles that we had to read gave great, distinctive definitions of what exactly corporate social responsibility was. In this article, https://bb.clemson.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_42082_1%26url%3D, a definition was given at it simplest. They stated that corporate social responsibility is a “concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the ipact of their activities on customers, employees, shareholders, communities, and the environment in all aspects of their operations.” Many view the idea of CSR as a way for a company to “build its reputation and differentiate itself.”
An example of Corporate Social Responsibility, would be Nike. In this article, http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/CSRfiles/nike.html, they discuss how Nike has been criticized for the poor treatment of its workers in other countries. Nike has decided to use the tactic of CSR in order to solve this problem and show its customers and employees that they will benefit from this company and this issue will no longer be a problem. One tactic that Nike hopes to put into place is a code of conduct to make sure that this mistreatement of workers is no longer a problem for the company. In another article read, they stated that “regardless of whether or not people are consumers of a given company’s goods or services, they should benefit, ideally, from the very existence of the company.” This, over anything, is the most important resason for using CSR.
