The glamorous side of PR

Our Studies Come to Life

Its strange when you experience certain things in the “real world” and then learn about them or read about them in an academic environment. As I read in our textbook, I found myself constantly saying to myself, “oh yea, like when I did that for this…” I think its fascinating how the media kits and the discussion about special events are all things that I have dealt with in my own experiences through internships. I interned for an event planning and public relations consulting firm in which I helped organize and manage special events and news conferences. I saw first hand what it was like to put a media kit together but my favorite aspect of my job was managing events in which media control was pertinent.

There is no pressure in this business

I cannot imagine being a speechwriter. Just thinking about the pressure and responsibility stresses me out. So many public figures have had poor speeches or have had one word make a difference in the message they’re sending. While I am in public relations, preparing speeches is not one thing that I would choose to do. I don’t mind preparing events or media materials though. I guess everyone excels at different things.

STORY TIME

The logistics

The name J.K. Rowling is almost as familiar and popular as the name Harry Potter is. When authors write short stories, poems, novels they get serious recognition for everything. What about the people behind the scenes? In many cases, those are the people who put in the most legwork. If you are not okay with being behind the curtain, do not go into public relations! We are in a business in which, for the most part, we do not get public recognition. However, we do get to be involved in some interesting activities. So much of the creativity that public relations people contain is inspired by looking back. You have to look back on other works in the past to get ideas, especially when you’re doing a feature or a persona.

Once Upon a Time…

As a general rule, news, public relations, and “stories” are all considered in their own category. However, people do not realize that the news and public relations efforts involve story telling as a main ingredient. Including an anecdote, or opinions or people involved allow readers and the audience to transport to become part of that story. This is how any good public relations writer gets the audience to listen to the issue at hand. By using a storyline to keep readers interested, writers can persuade readers to get involved in the facts and the reason for the work. However, before you get too involved in the story aspect, you have to make sure to balance the feature or the work so that it is a combination of persuasive facts and affective description. The lead is the most important part of the work, just like the first sentence or paragraph of a novel is the most important attention getter for the reader. You may not be able to judge a book by its cover but if you have a bad lead for your feature story, you may be looking for a new job. If no one reads the feature, or if the feature does not succeed in its purpose than it is a waste of space. This is an example of a decent lead. It is to the point and combines facts with drama.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/02/20/satellite.shootdown/index.html

Simplicity is the name of the game

Anatomy of a message

The creative process that we, as public relations people, must master throughout our work experiences is a multifaceted one that makes up a web of factors that influence good message designs. After the research and analysis of your client and their needs, there is still plenty of work to go. A verbal message is prominently important while creating a good message design. However, what I found the most fascinating is the discussion about type and legibility. Most consumers don’t even consciously notice the font used for titles and messages of companies, but this doesn’t mean these things don’t affect their attention and decision-making process. While I thought about this a couple fashion companies, that I pay attention, to came to mind. There are some brands that have the most simplistic type of font for their label, and consumers can recognize the company and its concept from a mile away. For example, Gucci and Chanel are two fashion companies that use font that is simplistic and very legible. Another company that is on the same exact level of fashion as the former two is called Christian Louboutin. The label for this company is easily forgettable and almost completely unrecognizable from most consumers because of the complexity and lack of legibility. Here is a picture of what it looks like:
http://i3.iofferphoto.com/img/item/322/632/76/o_new-52.jpg

Logos are people and colors are their emotions

I really enjoyed the discussion on logos and colors. I found it fascinating. While I knew certain colors arouse certain feelings and thoughts, I had not thought about the cross-cultural affects of color before and how colors mean drastically different things to different people. This is so important to think about when deciding what color most signifies and empathizes with your publics. I also believe that thinking about a logo as a face or even a person is crucial to truly understanding and executing the appropriate logo to become the soul of your client or a certain company. Consumers today have constant cognitive dissonance when it comes to massage dissemination, and they always have their guard up. As a pr person designing a message, you kind of have to assume that consumers are against your client, and your job is to immediately show them or tell them through your message why they should pay attention. Most of the elements you will slave over will consciously go unnoticed by consumers, but believe me; they make a difference.

Don’t get lost in the sea of information

I’m my own critic

It is hard to imagine knowing or even doing anything without technology. HOW did our parents and ancestors get by? In all seriousness though, we rely so much on research and the immediate access to information that it is hard to understand how (before the Internet) people moved forward. In PR, research is a prominent aspect to the profession and being able to whip up some information and some quantitative figures is vital. While it may sound like I’m praising the Internet, I definitely have issues with the information dissemination tool. For every accurate and unbiased study or piece of information, there are multiple “fake” or biased studies found as well. As a PR professional, you must be ready to do massive amounts of research. However, you also must be ready to question and check every piece of information you find. I’m always tempted to use Wikipedia, and while some of the background info on there is accurate, it is not a credible source by any means. The point is: Be a skeptic or you are going to find yourself in some sticky and unemployed situations!

 Superbowl commercials

As I watched the Superbowl on Sunday, I found myself thinking like a PR student instead of just an entertainment seeker. The commercials, in my opinion, have been much better in the past but that is beside the point. During a lot of the commercials I wondered what research went in to these marketing approaches. What publics are they trying to attract? People watch good commercials and think that company has a great marketing team. What a lot of people don’t know is that a good commercial or a good marketing tactic usually means good, in-depth research. They understand their publics, and what messages will reel them in. Because of the strategy of using psychographics, a lot of researchers and PR professionals probably understand people’s decision-making process more than the individuals themselves. I think this is why PR is so cool. Tailoring messages to specific publics is crucial in this business.

 Being a reporter

I love doing interviews. I remember when I did my first interview I was really nervous and I didn’t really understand the whole point. When I gave the interview, my attitude completely changed. I really enjoyed, and thought it was fascinating. I think interviews are one of the best ways to do research because you always get more out of it than you were hoping…well, at least in my experience thus far. One thing the book went over that I knew but never thought about before is how you adapt your communication to suit the interviewee’s way of communicating. I thought back on the interviews I have given and that has been true in each one. The more you can achieve this, the more comfortable and successful the interview will be. Being able to empathize with your interviewee and their communication will get you far. 

One of my favorite Super Bowl commercials:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=g0nliPWaCvA