When i read chapter 11 i was impressed at the few PR companies that has the mental strength to keep their cool in the face of disaster. This brings me memories of when SARS was seemingly omnipresent in Singapore, where they had no sure way of getting rid of it. However, the Singapore government acted admirably and thus, got a good and favourable result over the situation.
The book mentioned planning for a crisis in all circumstances. While that's well and good, sometimes even if very meticulous planning, we cannot plan for the unexpected. If it was expects, it will not be called a crisis at the first place. I think we should learn that, cause its obviously more important, on how to expect the unexpected. It definitely is beneficial for this chapter do not get me wrong, however i want to know how would i react in the face of a situation, and not to rely on notes to get me through. We cannot use the same strategy for every situation.
Chapter 16 talks about the doing PR in the Third sector. This is very important, for i can see the power that consumers have over the companies, which is a dynamic shift from the past years. To keep them happy, we have to give them what they want, but we cannot allow any change in our code of ethics. Moreover, we should not give it to "bullies" because we are afraid of losing revenue. If i was a PR practitioner for a CAG, i will strive to ensure more awareness regarding my group by first launching an event which will get people's attention, e.g. droga5's campaign for the Tap Project. Once i have this my group will have more say over some issues, and then we can acheive something.
Both sides of the coin i can take, but there can only be one code of ethics i can follow. :)
signing off,
joel
Friday, March 20, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
RE: a typical program of PR.
hey blog, this is a very interesting piece of work that Candy Tymson has given out.
One very important point is that i never knew that there must be a review of every PR program that has occurred, to evaluate the pros and cons of the program. I have always thought it all ends with you basking in the glory of the success of your program. :)
It is important to note that not being able to pass on the program to the next year does has its drawbacks. To ensure continued success we have to continually evaluate the program, and ensure that the modified programs does not move far from its purpose.
The target audience section is also very informative and it should provide a good base as to which i can peruse in the future, or maybe even for the Killa Balla project.
The budget part is very important. Clients will always love using less budget to accomplish the same effect. What must be continually done in the future, with the evaluation is also to review the budget portion. We must know which one to erase, which one to keep, which part to improve on, or which one needs more budget. this would help the various departments immensely and at the same time the companies will aso get a detailed summary every time.
One very important point is that i never knew that there must be a review of every PR program that has occurred, to evaluate the pros and cons of the program. I have always thought it all ends with you basking in the glory of the success of your program. :)
It is important to note that not being able to pass on the program to the next year does has its drawbacks. To ensure continued success we have to continually evaluate the program, and ensure that the modified programs does not move far from its purpose.
The target audience section is also very informative and it should provide a good base as to which i can peruse in the future, or maybe even for the Killa Balla project.
The budget part is very important. Clients will always love using less budget to accomplish the same effect. What must be continually done in the future, with the evaluation is also to review the budget portion. We must know which one to erase, which one to keep, which part to improve on, or which one needs more budget. this would help the various departments immensely and at the same time the companies will aso get a detailed summary every time.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Chapter 6 and Chapter 10
Having read chapter 6, i felt that this research methods that they have mentioned are important not just for PR, but for the communications industry. New ideas can be borne out of focus groups, truth can be extracted in face to face interviews and so on. However, we must remember to substantiate qualitative with quantitative, which is a delicate balance that we must not forget. However much we love one part of the research we must always remember the other. A wholesome study does not hinge on one research method but a few. the Internet also has much to offer, but as much as there is good information, there can also be inaccurate information regarding the same topic. and for this we must exercise discernment between mainstream and alternative media, which is credible and which is not.
In Chapter 10, this was the topic that was intricate to my sponsorship debate. Sponsorship covers many forms, but the most common and the most lucrative is definitely corporate sponsorship. With corporate sponsorship, the campaign gets a huge uplift in terms of funding and what not. More importantly, the coverage that the company could give would be a lot better, and the budget needed to advertise can be used to other places. However, we cannot accept any sponsorship, cause they may be beneficial to no one but themselves. Such selfish companies like that should not be helped to advertise. Therefore we must develop stringent methods to evaluating which sponsors to use.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tactics and me
this chapter seems to have a huge array of tactics that i can pick and choose for my future campaigns, however i feel that this list can only expand, with the new technologies and the creative minds of people coming up.
first off, i believe that uncontrolled tactics are far more riskier than controlled tactics, and i as a person would want people to know my perspective, and how we got to that advertorial instead of leaving it together people who could potentially twist and turn the facts. so if it was me, i would rather use a controlled tactic rather than a uncontrolled tactic, although i concede that uncontrolled tactics do create a media frenzy and there would be greater advertising value than a controlled tactic.
There are so many tactics that i can't imagine doing so many things for one PR campaign, and i am definitely spoilt for choice. However, i cannot find one of my favourite forms of advertising, which is subtle advertising, like Coca Cola in American Idol, Sprite in NBA skills challenge. these companies as i may have mentioned above "attack" the subconsciousness of your mind to hit you where your heart belongs, and persuade you to buy that product, Coke for this example. Imagine one cup of Coke drunk by the judges during filming tells a lot, and generates more advertising avenue than just an advertisment.
As i said earlier, i feel that there can be no same PR campaign every time. We can do the same thing because as mentioned at the previous post, we would be treating the target audience as an robot, and they may not react in the same way as we have hoped in the first PR campaign.
first off, i believe that uncontrolled tactics are far more riskier than controlled tactics, and i as a person would want people to know my perspective, and how we got to that advertorial instead of leaving it together people who could potentially twist and turn the facts. so if it was me, i would rather use a controlled tactic rather than a uncontrolled tactic, although i concede that uncontrolled tactics do create a media frenzy and there would be greater advertising value than a controlled tactic.
There are so many tactics that i can't imagine doing so many things for one PR campaign, and i am definitely spoilt for choice. However, i cannot find one of my favourite forms of advertising, which is subtle advertising, like Coca Cola in American Idol, Sprite in NBA skills challenge. these companies as i may have mentioned above "attack" the subconsciousness of your mind to hit you where your heart belongs, and persuade you to buy that product, Coke for this example. Imagine one cup of Coke drunk by the judges during filming tells a lot, and generates more advertising avenue than just an advertisment.
As i said earlier, i feel that there can be no same PR campaign every time. We can do the same thing because as mentioned at the previous post, we would be treating the target audience as an robot, and they may not react in the same way as we have hoped in the first PR campaign.
Community Relations.
hihi! i'm here to blog about what i felt regarding this topic.
its important, in my opinion, that we must know about the community, since it is quite likely, in the future, that is where most of our target audiences resides in. therefore we must know about the community.
i think the most important thing that the book taught me was that to reach out to the community via PR, we have to relate to them as personally as you can get, not hiding behind a corporate veil. The community will learn to accept your product more if you were able to communicate with them at a personal level, not as a business level. It is very important for us to understand that fact. Most of the time we must do to others how you would like them to have done it to us. So for those who have connected well with the community, chances are high that they have done well. (McDonald's, NTUC)
I like the way they hold the list of things that an organisation can do if they want to appear more caring and concerned about the community and the general public. I can see the importance of "filling the gaps" from the PR side, cause rumours can kill many organisation or cripple it. That is why when there were rumours that US President Barack Obama was Muslim, they acted quickly to quash that rumour so that the wrong idea will not be taken of him. This form of answering questions even before they are answered by another person who doesnt know is quite good to my opinion.
its important, in my opinion, that we must know about the community, since it is quite likely, in the future, that is where most of our target audiences resides in. therefore we must know about the community.
i think the most important thing that the book taught me was that to reach out to the community via PR, we have to relate to them as personally as you can get, not hiding behind a corporate veil. The community will learn to accept your product more if you were able to communicate with them at a personal level, not as a business level. It is very important for us to understand that fact. Most of the time we must do to others how you would like them to have done it to us. So for those who have connected well with the community, chances are high that they have done well. (McDonald's, NTUC)
I like the way they hold the list of things that an organisation can do if they want to appear more caring and concerned about the community and the general public. I can see the importance of "filling the gaps" from the PR side, cause rumours can kill many organisation or cripple it. That is why when there were rumours that US President Barack Obama was Muslim, they acted quickly to quash that rumour so that the wrong idea will not be taken of him. This form of answering questions even before they are answered by another person who doesnt know is quite good to my opinion.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
chapter 5
Ethics is a very touchy issue everywhere in the world today, as there is everything that people need and require in their daily lives. I feel that all this is important, not just in PR, but in every aspect of our lives. If we are ethical, and we do things efficiently, people will respect and continue to use our services. If we are unethical, it may benefit us in the short run, but the truth will always come to light, and you cannot hide from living in a lie forever. Granted, we may be living in a protected world in Singapore, where most ethics are being taught in school in the form of CME (civics and moral education), but we cannot discount the power of the global village. I for one have seen many of my church members lose their passion and drive for Christ slowly through the immense influence of the Internet and various TV shows.
As a PR person, whatever we do affects the lives of many people who views the advertisement or PR campaign. If we do not make our code of ethics the center of our thinking during brainstorming, we might not gain approval of the parents or even the government, which forms a substantial amount of revenue in the eyes of the company. To me, I feel that it is more disheartening for a consumer to complain about the ethics of the company than to record good receivership in the market.
I quite like the idea of a counsellor and an advocate in PR. If used appropriately, these two different aspects of PR campaigns can form a good team, complementing each other.
1. An advocate is radical, but a counsellor controls.
This complements perfectly as an advocate would usually be the one who comes up with excellent ideas, but a counselor can control the ideas and ensure that it does not overstep any boundary.
2. An advocate thinks out of the box. A counsellor controls the size of the box.
An advocate will be the strength to think of new campaigning skills without any hindrances, but the counsellor must endeavour to say "no" if it is too crazy.
3. An advocate must edify, a counsellor must dignify.
The purpose of an advocate should get their points across as their objective, but a counsellor must create a holistic approach of the campaign so that the campaign can maintain ethical conduct towards the audience.
As PR personnel, we must learn to always keep our ethics in check. In a ever-changing world, we must remain true to our cause. people may think whatever they want, but creating a cult image is still a PR practitioner's doing. Since the hypodermic needle theory does not work on people anymore, the people will does get affected in accordance to the "involuntary breath" theory, where the PR campaigns attacks the sub-consciousness of the audience.
From what i wrote, i guess the key points i gathered from the topic is that 1. I must always remain ethical in my work, and my life, and 2. we must have someone to maintain a quality check of our campaigns.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Chapter 9
I find that there are many things that go behind the scenes to create a positive image for the company you represent. That could be why the PR department's budget is expensive, and would inevitably lead to cuts in the budget if the PR department is not doing their job.
There are many ways to get the news across, but i find that the media conference holds the best chance for total transparency. It promotes clarity of information and a good chance for both the journalist and the PR personnel to clarify any wrong words or any potentially misleading information, so that both parties will get the right idea. The book also provided a good summary of the Kipling's six strong men regarding the media conference.
I feel that these skills are important because it shows how to do the procedures step step and structured, so that we can have a base on which we can build and improve on. I am quite puzzled however, as i am taking a journalism major also, so its conflicting information that i'm getting. However, if i can split my thoughts appropriately, i'm sure that i can do well in either PR or journalism.
From the conclusion, i agree with the author. I believe that PR and Journalism, although they are on the opposites sides of the fence, should learn to work together and tear down the fence, so that the readers can benefit from the transparency between the two. That could be why i'm doing a double major of PR and journalism, so that I would know how to bridge that gap, and become invaluable to the company in the process.
signing off,
Joel
There are many ways to get the news across, but i find that the media conference holds the best chance for total transparency. It promotes clarity of information and a good chance for both the journalist and the PR personnel to clarify any wrong words or any potentially misleading information, so that both parties will get the right idea. The book also provided a good summary of the Kipling's six strong men regarding the media conference.
I feel that these skills are important because it shows how to do the procedures step step and structured, so that we can have a base on which we can build and improve on. I am quite puzzled however, as i am taking a journalism major also, so its conflicting information that i'm getting. However, if i can split my thoughts appropriately, i'm sure that i can do well in either PR or journalism.
From the conclusion, i agree with the author. I believe that PR and Journalism, although they are on the opposites sides of the fence, should learn to work together and tear down the fence, so that the readers can benefit from the transparency between the two. That could be why i'm doing a double major of PR and journalism, so that I would know how to bridge that gap, and become invaluable to the company in the process.
signing off,
Joel
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