Videos:

Why PR? The skills you need to succeed (from the Public Relations Society of America): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GReTADrnZGQ

The importance of your resume (from the Public Relations Society of America): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfpIF6SO6Fw

Careers in public relations (from the Public Relations Student Society of America):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDRaU_JV-4U

Fred Cook, the CEO of Golin Harris, speaking about professional success in public relations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br2xBxkQ34o — Key takeaways:

Expose yourself. Try something different. Read something different when standing in front of the magazine rack. These are “doors to new worlds…where people are different than you.” Apply to movies, restaurants, religion, etc.
Hit the road. Hitting the road helps you to compete and helps you understand the challenges companies face. (Get a passport. Leave the country. If you can’t do that, leave your state or city. Take a gap year (skip a year and learn about the world); study abroad. Learn another language.)
Talk with the senior executives (when you are interning). Ask them a smart question. Take them out for coffee.
Volunteer for things in the office.
Answer your emails.
You need an entourage and a board of directors for your image and your career. Hire a stylist. Find someone to help with your resume. Use your weak ties in your job search.
Work for tips. Customer service is at the heart of every business. So, your hospitality jobs count toward your career. Watch and remember the Starbucks story in the video. Make the tips and lessons learned work for you.
Get as many internships as you can.
Start your own business. Do a lean startup.

Note: Golin Harris has internships available.

Exercises:

Look at the characteristics of most PR practitioners and the skills they possess. Devise a matrix that helps you understand how the characteristics relate to the skills.
Let’s say you are a strategic thinker. How would you chart your PR career beginning with today? List the steps you would take, and assign deadlines to the things you need to accomplish before graduation.

Case Activity #1:

You have just completed a year as an administrative assistant to the executive director of a small, local nonprofit that assists battered women and children. You worked there two summers as the volunteer PR director, as well. You really want to get into public relations and intend to apply for an entry-level position at a small public relations agency. The online ad states, “one year of professional experience required.” Are you eligible for this position? Should you reflect your PR director position as “professional” experience? With whom should you talk to determine if you should apply for this position?

Case Activity #2:

Is there a gender gap in public relations? Why does the field attract more women than men? How does each gender perceive careers in public relations? Focus groups with majors at three universities provided some themes:

The “people skills” stereotype holds for both genders but more so for women.

Women are more likely to define public relations as “party planning” and “having fun” primarily as an influence of how television and film portray females in public relations.
Men are more attracted to the strategy and management side of public relations.
Both genders expect to be in management positions, but men are more likely to pursue corporate settings.
Both genders perceive certain female stereotypes as being strengths in the profession.
Both genders like the variety of the profession. There’s always something new.
Both genders like the versatility of the educational experience. You can do a lot of different things with the degree.

Working in groups of 5 to 10 students, conduct your own discussion of these themes. Does the group agree or disagree with them and in what way? In the group’s view, why are there so few men studying public relations or, to put it another way, why does the field attract so many women?

January 25, 2017January 25, 2017 by drnatalietjtindall

Week 1 Introduction to Public Relations In-Class Case Study

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Definitions:

Reputation from the Institute of Public Relations:

From the perspective of the organization, reputation is an intangible asset that allows the company to better manage the expectations and needs of its various stakeholders, creating differentiation and barriers vis-à-vis its competitors.
From the perspective of stakeholders, reputation is the intellectual, emotional and behavioral response as to whether or not the communications and actions of an organization resonate with their needs and interests.

Reflective Communication SCRUM and Sprints:

Scrum is “where the team reviews progress and discusses what will be done before each session.”
A sprint is “a predetermined period during which actions are developed and implemented. Each sprint is followed by a validation meeting that includes the project owner and possibly stakeholders.”

Case Study:

4-H inspires new ice cream from Blue Bell Creameries, a Texas-based company that sells ice cream in 17 states (including Georgia and Florida).

In honor of the Texas 4-H organization’s 100th birthday, Blue Bell Creameries is introducing Centennial Cupcake Ice Cream. To sweeten the deal, the Little Creamery is donating a portion of the sales to promote 4-H educational programs.
Centennial Cupcake Ice Cream is a delicious cake batter ice cream with pieces of yellow cake, a chocolate icing swirl and four-leaf clover sprinkles.
“We just finished celebrating our 100th birthday so we understand just how special this is,” said Paul Kruse, Blue Bell CEO and president. “Centennial Cupcake is the perfect ice cream to help commemorate this momentous occasion. It has all the ingredients for a celebration, cake and ice cream. The four-leaf clover sprinkles give it that special touch.”
4-H is a national organization which prides itself on teaching young people across America leadership, citizenship and life skills. There are more than 7 million members from eight to 18 years of age involved in 4-H.
Centennial Cupcake Ice Cream will be sold in Texas and across the company’s 17-state distribution area. “4-H is a national organization that benefits so many young people,” Kruse said. “Our inspiration for the flavor came from the Texas organization’s 100th birthday, but we felt it was important to recognize all 4-H groups.”
Blue Bell has also created a unique carton for this new flavor. It features four children in 4-H T-shirts and the organization’s widely recognized four-leaf emblem. “We worked with 4-H to create something that symbolizes what they are all about,” Kruse said. “The organization is for the kids. I think the smiling faces capture the spirit of this organization just perfectly.”
Centennial Cupcake Ice Cream will be available in stores in mid-February 2018.

Your firm has been hired by Blue Bell Ice Cream to launch a three-month campaign to announce this product and generate sales. Your client has suggested a campaign that includes both proactive and reactive strategies because Blue Bell has a damaged reputation among its stakeholders.

Question 1: What issues and concerns created Blue Bell’s damaged reputation? How long ago did this happen? How did the company communicate these issues?

Question 2: Your client states that reputation doesn’t matter and that all publicity is good publicity. What can you state and demonstrate that will change the client’s mind?

You have a budget of $50,000, and some should be spent on strategies that renew the public’s confidence in the Blue Bell brand and to promote this product to families with heads of households who make food purchasing decisions, aged 25 to 45 with children in the states that carry Blue Bell. What are some other demographics that you need to know about these mothers?

Your account supervisor has asked to see your suggestions for a proposed campaign addressing the situation by 2:30 p.m. today. Good luck!

January 23, 2017January 23, 2017 by drnatalietjtindall

Week 1: Introduction to Public Relations — The Definitions of PR

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How should we define PR?

Let’s look at these definitions:

Public relations is the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics, through the use of communication, to achieve mutual understanding, realize organizational goals, and serve the public interest.

Public relations is the systematic promotion of mutual understanding between an organisation and its public.” Or, as the British express it: “Public relations is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its public.”

The definition of public relations used by the PRIA is “The deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation (or individual) and its (or their) publics.”
However, with the massive change in the communication process brought about by the information era, public relations could be described easily as:

“Helping an organisation and its publics adapt mutually to each other.”

Public Relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics. – Chartered Institute of Public Relations

Public relations is the engineering of public consent.

January 23, 2017 by drnatalietjtindall

Week 1: Introduction to Public Relations Case Activity

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Promoting Beef Jerky as a Healthy Snack

Tom Jones Beef Jerky is naturally high in protein and low in fat, calories, and carbs that make it an ideal snack for active, health-conscious individuals. The only problem is that consumer research shows that many have the perception that jerky is unhealthy.

The company wants to change this perception and to increase sales to men and women, aged 18 to 34, who actively exercise and lead healthy lifestyles.

Your PR firm is hired to:

increase awareness of the products through sponsoring an event that would appeal to a “work hard and play hard” audience
provide samples at such an event to showcase the brand’s health snack message
generate local print, online and broadcast coverage.

There is no budget for advertising.

What would you recommend?

January 23, 2017January 23, 2017 by drnatalietjtindall