Is this for me?

Since January, my life has been consumed with an internship, homework and my sorority, Sigma Alpha. I pull twelve-hour days of leaving at 6 am and getting home around 5:30/6:00 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Then Tuesday and Thursday I spend all day in class and completing homework assignments. My evenings, when I am not in class or at work, are taken over by meetings and small groups. I am always exhausted.

So, I began thinking: is the public relations industry for me?

Here is my dilemma. I see the people at The Richards Group working their butts off for nine hours or longer every day and many times, they work on the weekends and from home. Most of the folks on my team do not have families and just appear constantly busy. The ones that do have kids have nannies and I don’t want my kids raised by nannies. When I shadowed a woman in a marketing firm in Houston it was the same thing – always busy, always working and never home.

I want a family. I want to be home with my kids and husband. I want to take them to soccer and ballet, pick them up from school and make my family dinner. Is it even possible to have a career and be the best mom and wife possible? Right now, I get off work and couldn’t fathom having to run myself around for errands, let alone run around any children. The long hours and working weekends doesn’t appear to compliment having a family – especially if my husband is working to.

On the other hand, I am only twenty and have no prospect of getting married anytime soon. So why is this something I am worrying about? I have many talents that allow me to be really great at public relations and marketing and I definitely do not want to waste those. So would not having a long career make my unhappy? I guess these are the joys that come with an internship; making you re-think your life goals. 

Internships make you question, ‘is this for me?’

Charlie Sheen: Winning

Who the heck is Charlie Sheen and why is he EVERYWHERE?

Just kidding. I know who Charlie Sheen is. Charlie Sheen is a rock star. He is always winning and is on the ‘Charlie Sheen Drug’ that only Charlie Sheen can take because it would kill anyone else that tried.

When Charlie Sheen started his twitter, within the first thirty minutes, he had almost one million followers. I’ve had a twitter for almost three month and have 69. Just a random fact.

Americans are so consumed with watching stars crash and burn into public humiliation. However, what makes Charlie Sheen more hilarious is how he is just basking in his fame (because honestly, he isn’t a great actor, so all he is really known for is drugs and prostitutes). If he knows how much public humiliation he is going through, he obviously doesn’t care.  Also, he is probably in the top five idiots in America.

Now, what does Charlie Sheen have to do with public relations?

Basically, Charlie Sheen exemplifies public relations. He is using media stunts and staged acts to capture free media coverage about his product (himself). He is engaging with his audience via social media and live broadcasting (SheensKorner). He is creating new trends such as ‘winning’ and ‘tiger blood,’ which gathers more free publicity. Charlie Sheen is not necessarily ethical or considered an opinion leader but he has opinions and is sharing them will zeal and passion.

 Charlie Sheen is doing public relations better than some professionals. He took the product of himself and made it a national trend in the span of a week. Of course, he does have the mania of a crazy person in his favor. But, in all honesty, Charlie Sheen is making a name for himself. Americans will continue consuming his dramatic and humorous antics we love them.

All publicity is good publicity. Charlie Sheen’s publicity is hilarious and idiotic. But it is still more publicity than I will receive in my lifetime.

Public relations could learn something from Charlie Sheen. Winning is everything. 

The Daily: A New Era of Journalism

The Daily, a totally online, iPad only interactive newspaper launched by Rupert Murdoch February 2, 2011 is going to change the way public relations practitioners must learn how to pitch.

Not only how they pitch a story but also how the story is developed and how consumers receive the story. Innovative and simple, The Daily is the start to a new era of journalism.

Lets begin with the background:

 The Daily was devised to appear identically with a regular print publication while going beyond print capabilities. Although it is completely online, the interactive features create the feel of a print paper. Simple to navigate, it includes everything a print publication has at the touch of a button – even cross word puzzles and Sudoku games.

“With The Daily, Rupert Murdoch has given us the chance to rethink the entire experience of news delivery and consumption,” said Mr. Clayman.” (http://www.thedaily.com/press-release/)

This may not be the first online only paper (Huffington Post is online) but it is the first app only publication to date. With over 300,000 (and well over 300,000) iPads sold across the nation and internationally, The Daily has creatively launched a new product that will be highly successful because it combines innovation interaction with the immediacies of newspapers.

Problems with The Daily? This may be the only way to read the news one day. By demonstrating the simplicity of a tablet-only newspaper, The Daily has successfully started a new product with high potential for growth. If publications are only available online or through apps, it will force consumers to purchase tablet-like items to read the paper, which is expensive. The number of print publications is continuing to decrease and online versions, such as the Huffington Post are become incredibly influential in the journalistic world. The Daily is the beginning.

So what does this mean for public relations? I believe that more creative pitching ideas need to emerge. Pitching for The Daily will involve more videos and interactive capabilities. Most stories will need to have some feature that engages the reader with more than words or graphics. Static press releases will not suffice for The Daily. Creativity will be the key to successful pitching. While this is all speculation, I honestly believe this is something public relations students and professionals must recognize and understand for the client as well as for the consumer.

The Daily is unlikely to be the only publication of its kind so we need to search our brains and look into the future. We have learned from social media (Twitter/Facebook) how influential the web is.

 “We’re going to bring that magic to The Daily -- to inform people, to make them think, to help them engage in the great issues of the day. And as we continue to improve and evolve, we are going to use the best in new technology to push the boundaries of reporting.” (http://www.thedaily.com/press-release/)

Pushing the boundaries of reporting is exactly the futuristic mind-set that journalists as well as public relations professionals must hone into. Leaping ahead of the curve will differentiate one PR person from another and one client from another.

All in all, The Daily has changed the course of the public relations profession, whether we want to admit 

it or not. The days of press releases in the manner we know them today must cease to exist and a new form has to emerge. While I do not have the answer to what that will be, I do know that we need to figure it out soon. Thus, the new era of journalism begins.

Internships: are interns taken advantaged of?

Internships: are interns taken advantage of?

Yes. In many public relations agencies, interns do work above their educational level with little guidance. They are often given the grunt work that other people feel is under them. The long hours expected often interfere with school and social experiences. Should there even be internships then, if interns are treated poorly?

I think so.  An internship gives experience and an understanding of the industry. Interning is competitive and therefore illustrating that you do the busy work, the grunt work, without complaining, professionally and exceptionally well, interns have the chance to demonstrate their basic skills.  Once the basic skills are established, there is the possibility they will be provided projects requiring more skills and given the chance to learn more. This leads to a plethora of experience and potential for more job opportunities.

Interning is so important in the public relations industry. This industry is time consuming and will probably take over your life for the first couple of years while you are proving yourself. But, if you can handle those couple years from hell, demonstrate your worth and talents you learned from your internship, then it will be worth it for your professional career.

The Public Relations Society of America recently posted a blog about intern ethics.

http://prsay.prsa.org/index.php/2011/02/10/paid-and-unpaid-internships-in-pr/

“PRSA believes it to be ethically wrong to employ anyone who adds real value to an agency or employer without compensating them for their work — whether that compensation is monetary or in the form of educational credits. If billable work is being performed by an intern, he or she deserves some form of legal compensation.”

Of course, all students and graduates agree with PRSA’s stance on internships. Unfortunately, unpaid internships are more prevalent than paid ones. Usually, unpaid and paid do the same amount of work – or from what I can tell based on my friends’ experiences. I have a paid internship with The Richards Group – and I do lots of work for them that isn’t quite with the unpaid interns do, but similar.

Do interns feel taken advantage of if they aren’t paid? Most just appreciate the experience and know that without experience, getting a job is next to impossible.

I love my internship and I love knowing that I am creating a fantastic network of people in the public relations industry who provide experience and connections throughout the metroplex. Do I feel taken advantage of? At times. But I know that all the work I do is what any entry-level employee would do. I try not to think of myself above my actual level. I do my work and I do it to the best of my ability.

I have no doubt that my internship will help me find a job after college. As long as I utilize my role as an intern to the fullest extent, I know that all my long hours and hard work is worth it. Sure, I will feel overwhelmed and used and taken advantaged of. But that’s what an internship is about – proving yourself. Proving you deserve to be there.

A marketing strategy is never give anything away for free. Being paid makes me feel like I am less taken advantaged of than being unpaid. But overall, just having the experience of an internship, paid or unpaid, appreciated or not, is definitely worth it. 

Social Media and the use for it in the future.

Every time I get online, first thing I do is check either my Facebook or my Twitter. Chances are, I am not the only one doing this. As I was searching for articles to discuss for my blog on websites like PR Newswire or PR News or the PRSA website, all I saw was blogs and stories about social media.

This started turning the wheels in my head – what happens when social media is no longer a tool for brands, companies or celebrities?

Social media was non-existent as tool for increasing business or awareness about a brand ten years ago. Now, it is a source for almost every business everywhere.

“Join us on Facebook,” “Follow us on Twitter for the latest promotions.” Even on billboards, the Facebook and Twitter logos are sitting in the bottom corners, waiting to be glimpsed at, asking to be noticed by the onlooker.

Why? Why is it that everything appears to revolve around Twitter or Facebook. It is almost like companies do not know any other way to communicate with their audiences.

I am not discrediting Facebook or Twitter. I already said that I check mine constantly throughout the day. I follow my favorite brands or celebrities, I want to be in the know and I love that if I have a complaint about a brand, I can comment on their Facebook page or tweet at them.

The quandary I struggle with is how will companies communicate with their audiences once social media is outdated and unused – like the print newspapers. Will everything go online and stay there? It likely that a new technology will emerge that will prove more successful than social media. So how worth it in the long run is it to train and educate college students about social media if it is likely to die by the time they graduate or shortly after?

Blogger Jeff Bullas believes the hype about social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogging will be over in two to five years. Freshmen in college, who learn about social media now, could have no use of it upon graduation. Bullas uses the Garner ‘Hype Cycle” to illustrate his point.

Jeffbullas.com

This debacle looms in my mind whenever I log into my social media outlets. But honestly, I know that its effectiveness, for business in 2011 could be quite substantial.

Audience feedback will be taken into consideration during company strategic planning. The ridiculous amount of smart phones being purchased (almost making computers unnecessary) will increase the use of mobile apps – which have proven effective (Apple). Of course, the constant evolution of online markets is something to be considered. Companies must prepare themselves.

Read Write Web, an online blogging page, says this “The next big Online Social Network will not be a network at all. ”

Read Write Web believes that a “community platform” social media will emerge that will create a more effective and easier way to build relationships.

“People today look for more personalized, authentic, private information (where we make) a ‘social contract’ around a topic or context that is beyond the reach of search engine results and Facebook crowds,” said Dave Blakely, director of technology strategy at IDEO.

Read Write Web

Obviously, there are many different opinions on where social media will migrate to in the upcoming years. Hands down, it will take us somewhere. Companies must begin researching ways to build upon Facebook, Twitter and YouTube so they are not left in the dust upon the changing of social media.

One thing Apple does well is outdating their own products. Thus, companies must learn how to outdate social media before it outdates their company strategy. 

Why business' should choose DFW

There are many reasons to choose Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) to do business in.

 The main reason is that it ranks second among international cities for business climate, which targets costs and risk of doing business in a particular location. DFW has very low office costs and low relative business costs. Companies that begin business in DFW also have reassurance that their employees will have a high quality of living. It is an affordable metroplex, ranking fourth and fifth on cost of living and gross product per capita. This combination is powerful, and a factor that draws high swarms of people to the area. Due to the low average age in DFW, there is also a high volume of potential workers available that many cities do not have the luxury of. DFW benefits also from its land transportation networks, which ranks seventh against all North American cities. The central geography of being in Texas also makes east and west coast interests more available. Neutrality in location is a vital business advantage that few major cities have.

Overall, what makes DFW so fantastic for business is the availability of new wider scopes of markets. There is a diverse population, with strong Hispanic influence and African American influence. The potential for these new audience groups I believe is a factor not mentioned in the article but something to remember.

Based on the 2009-2010 Dallas Economic Development Guide. Rankings come from the guide. 

Taco Bell needs to up their PR strategy

Taco Bell should really up their PR campaign. End of story. All they are doing is making themselves look like unprofessional. Even if it is true that their beef is 88 percent true beef and 12 percent a “special recipe” rather than distributing snarky “Thank you for suing” campaign, they really should try to understand the customers’ complaint and handle it with more professionalism. Taco Bell needs to come up with a plan that will prove that their beef is actually what they say without insulting the accuser.

They should begin explaining why they do not use 100 percent beef in their tacos, which they are doing. Next, Taco Bell’s marketing and advertising must reflect this new campaign of knowledge, again, which they are doing. Including a legitimate study from the USDA, illustrating that the beef is safe to eat and not unhealthy (or going to kill you) along with statistics to back it up. Is also something to consider. Finally, constructing focus groups and filming them, following the Dominoes’ example, could be a fantastic way to demonstrate that they are seeking the customers’ input and are focused on providing a satisfying meal. Taco Bell is not doing, in my opinion, a successful job connecting with customers about this beef issue.

It will be interesting to watch the “Thank you for suing” campaign play itself out. While this public relation effort is an effort, Taco Bell needs to also focus on the customer they target. Explaining their quality beef is only half the battle. Without researching their customers, figuring out how they really feel about an 88 percent beef taco is crucial to a successful re-imaging of their company. Taco Bell is an international company. This suit against them is incredibly harmful to their overall reputation. I believe all efforts and money must be targeted at apologies for not explaining more clearly what their beef was made of, making the nutrition information more available (while it may be online, it should be advertised more in stores and through social media), as well as research their customers reactions to this lawsuit.

I will give them credit for the YouTube video, which has the president of Taco Bell, Greg Creed speaking out against the claims. But I believe it would be more effective to have customers discuss how they feel about 88 percent beef, not the president who never has any real interaction with the customers. People are less likely to listen to someone they cant relate to, such as the PRESIDENT of Taco Bell verses someone who is similar to themselves.

This campaign should also not just end in a couple of months. Taco Bell must now be incredibly cautious about how they advertise and double check with the customers on their feelings towards any marketing strategies. This issue will tarnish Taco Bell’s image for quite some time and to continue their successful business, they must forever change the way they advertise. Nothing should be the same. 

Taco Bells website
Taco Bell YouTube