WHAT I LEARNED

This semester I have learned a TON of information about the Public Relations world. Coming from a graphic design major learning about public relations was an eye opening class. Other than a lot of writing and research, this class was fun. Getting to make up my own branding and advertisements for a company was something that I can’t wait to do in my career.

         The career center plan book was a lot of work, but I did learn a lot of information along the way. It was interesting being able to see the improvement and the way that it all worked together when I actually printed everything out. My favorite part was doing the branding design and the layout of the campaign book. My least favorite would have to be the research because I just don’t like it at all. I am not a very good writer so it was defiantly challenging at times for the secondary and primary. The tactics were fun to come up with I really enjoyed placing an ad in the lanthorn newspaper and thinking of ways to bring out the career center.

         I will take the information from this class and bring it to the real world when I start my career..who knows I may even be a designer for a Public Relations firm someday.

         This class will also help me out with my one advertising class so that I am able to graduate with a minor in advertising. I am one year away and I am so excited to go out into the real world and actually experience real life situations with clients. I believe that CAP 220 has helped me improve my experience to become better at what I do. I will never forget this class, probably because of how much work I had to do, but also because of how fun it was. 6-9 on Mondays are pretty challenging, but with a funny professor and great students in my class I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the semester.

My New PR Definition

My new Public Relations Definition: Expanding an organization’s brand image through promotional tactics through a variety of media.

 

 

Being new to the public relations world, I was not sure what it actually was. I never really looked into it or thought that it could benefit my career…I was wrong.

Public relations is what builds the images of companies through strategies and tactics. After reading Corbett’s blog, “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics,” (Corbett, 2012). Although, his definition is much more professional and he probably knows a lot more than I do, but I think we are somewhat along the same terms.

            Public relations can only be successful by the people who work. Harlow gives an excellent definition, “Say what public relations is, but don’t say what it does; on the contrary, say that public relations practitioners use public relations in performing their function,”(Harlow, 2014). He honestly couldn’t say it better! The people are what create the success in PR firms. You have to know the little things that create the brand image and the successful PR firms have that with their employees.

            Public relations also has a big part of social media. TopRank online Marketing blog talks about the importance of social media. “By participating in the social web with the goal of PR, you’re going to inspire attention for your brand,” (TopRank Online Marketing). This is the area that I think PR is so successful. Employees at the PR firms have to be up to date with the social media that is popular at that moment. This is an amazing quality that firms have because it can make or break the brand image.

            I have learned a lot about the Public Relations world. It has taught me all of the hard planning that employees have to deal with and I give total respect for that because I am not good at it.

            Public relations is not my major, but I know that in the long run I will be working with firms and im happy I am able to understand the methods of how the PR firm works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corbett, G. (2012, March 01). A modern definition of public relations [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://prdefinition.prsa.org/index.php/2012/03/01/new-definition-of-public-relations/

 

Harlow, R. F. (2014). Building a public relations definition. (issue 4 ed., Vol. 2, pp. 34-42). Elsevier Inc. Retrieved from http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0363811176800227/1-s2.0-S0363811176800227-main.pdf?_tid=1a387da6-c3ef-11e3-ba91-00000aacb360&acdnat=1397491925_b7b2c109bd418a0c954d31595eebddce

 

 

TopRank Online Marketing. 3 steps for effectively using social media for pr [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.toprankblog.com/2009/11/how-to-social-media-pr/

My Career Aspiration mixed with PR

My career aspiration is to become a successful graphic designer. After spending four years in school my love for my degree has increased and I could not be more excited to graduate next year.

Having a minor in advertising has taken me to CAP 210. I never really thought about having anything to do with public relations until this semester. I might ad, I am no experienced writer in any way and it has become more and more clear as my college years go on. With public relations I have come to conclusion that writing is a pretty large part for this job. Public relations might be a big part of my career if I plan to work at a firm in the design department.

Public relations may not be exactly what I would do, but in order to keep the clients there needs to be strategies created and successful plans to keep the customer happy so I am able to do design work for them. As Phil, a blogger called Design Champ states in their blog, “A public relations specialist may not be an expert in color theory, or a graphic designer may not be an expert in relationship building, but understanding each other’s process is crucial. Working together to learn about a target audience, asking questions, and sharing perspectives will help both graphic designers and public relations specialists become better communicators and succeed in their message goals,” (Design Champ, 2012). Phil couldn’t state it more clearly. Designers need Public Relations to help them and vice versa.

         Graphic designers focus more on the minor details when it comes to clients. They look more into the art aspect while PR looks at the bigger details such as communication. I believe that designers should take PR into consideration because it would only help in the long run when it comes to clients. Maria Martinez talks about how taking a design class helps her public relations major, “It’s important for us as P.R. majors to understand that it takes more than just a well-spoken individual to succeed in this career. As a P.R. major, we will always be working in teams to meet deadlines and exceed expectations,”(Martinez, 2013). As long as design and public relations work together, there is nothing that can stop the two degrees from becoming a successful power combination.

         Like I stated earlier, my writing needs a ton of practice. I am in no comparison to business majors when it comes to the communication skills. But when I am designing, there is nothing that compares. I love paying attention to the typeface chosen and what color is going to look the best. That is my favorite part about design and I’ve always had a passion about it. When it comes to the social media aspect of communication, I tip my hat off to the public relations department. That is another thing that is a growing part of PR. Columnist Kristen Ruby says that its one of the most important needs for an agency, Agencies that continue with the old model of only being a social media agency (without PR) or a PR agency (without social media capabilities) will be left behind. Today, clients want a full-service approach. From content creation to promotion and distribution, clients want one agency handling their social media and PR needs,” (Ruby, 2014). Public Relations is a must on so many levels if agencies and businesses want to become successful, especially when it comes to the social media world.

         Designers need Public Relations and Public relations needs designers. With the two degrees working hand in hand there is really no need for anything else. We have the communication with words for public relations and the visual communication and minor details for design. I know that when I have to find a job after graduation a public relations firm will be in my searching and will hopefully land me with a successful future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Design Champ. (2012, Jan 27). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://designchamp.wordpress.com/tag/integrating-graphic-design-and-public-relations/

 

Martinez, M. (2014, April 5). The benefits of graphic design in public relations [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://ugaprssa.org/the-benefits-of-graphic-design-in-public-relations-by-maria-martinez/

 

Ruby, K. (2014, april 5). Fusing social media and pr to succeed [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://westfaironline.com/61948/column-fusing-social-media-and-pr-to-succeed/

Crisis in PR

Crisis management is a roll in the public relations world that MUST be known. So many companies have crises that go wrong because of the wrong techniques. A crisis that recently happened that was a major deficit was Target. Everyone loves Target and shopping during the holidays is a huge sale increase for the company, but there was a huge problem this Christmas.

I’m sure this is no new news to anyone now, but Target’s system got hacked and credit cards were leaked out to the black market causing people’s cards being used all over.

This is a major crisis for target and it is one that we should look for on the news in ways of bringing consumers back. There are tactics that Target may have used or will use to bring their stores back up to being trusted in the future.

         Another crisis situation is with Obamacare. There is absolute proof that “President Obama often said, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.” In late 2013, it was revealed that President Obama and administration officials allegedly knew that was a lie from the beginning,” (“What Not To,” 2014). There is many issues about the new health care that US citizens are worried about. Obama doesn’t seem to be doing much about it to gain his trust back. I have seen an apology, but nothing much after that.

         With crises, there are certain tactics that need to go on in order to get rid of such a bad image like Obama has. With public relations the tactics are

Proactive- understanding what to do if there was a crisis in the future

Strategic- What way to defend or back up a crisis

Reactive- being able to handle a crisis with prior tactic precautions

Recovery- being able to see the results and recover from the damage done

Examine

These steps are ways to help create a healthy image for a company’s reputation so you can become a trusted and well know image for the future to come.

 

 

 

 

[Web log message]. (2014, February 14). Retrieved from http://www.macstrategies.com/blog/category/brand-and-reputation-management

Importance of Ethics….. and Bieber’s defintion

Ethics clearly plays a huge roll in the public relations world. It is all about the determination of what is right and what is wrong. I personally never really looked into the meaning of ethics until being assigned this blog, but I would have to say, ethics is important to everything. Celebrities, sports, business, ect. all have to deal with ethics every day.

“ Celebrities, and famous people in turn, help to bring people, including adults, together in conversation and social interaction”, (Choi & Berger, 2010).

After reading about ethics, all I could think about was how celebrities are always getting into trouble and always are being sued, or put into jail. The most recent activity that came to mind would be Justin Bieber. This kid is 19 years old and is in trouble for a DUI. 19 years old and he is already being questioned for deportion back to Canada. A New York Times journalist, Ruben Navarrette Jr. states his opinion on Justin Bieber and describes his situation about being a foreigner to the US, “There are different categories of foreigners, and each will have a different experience with the law: undocumented immigrant, visa holder, green card holder and naturalized U.S. citizen. The closer you are to the beginning of that list, the easier it is to remove you. As it should be,” (2014, Navarrette Jr.). For a celebrity being here on visa, this is unethical in many ways.

 

Why in the world would you abuse your privileges of being a US citizen when you have such an easy life? You’d think he would try to be a little appreciative about his living situation and not think he can do whatever he wants. According to Public Relations Society of America, the code of ethics should follow these principles:

“Translating values into principles of ethical practice, the Code advises professionals to:

• Protect and advance the free flow of accurate and truthful information.
• Foster informed decision making through open communication.
• Protect confidential and private information.
• Promote healthy and fair competition among professionals.
• Avoid conflicts of interest.
• Work to strengthen the public’s trust in the profession”

 

 (PRSA, 2014)

 

Relation of Justin Bieber and Public Relations is that “work to strengthen the public’s trust in the profession”. This code principle plays a huge role in both subjects. Just like public relations, Bieber needs to be professional and gain trust from the public with his job, especially not being a true citizen of the US. After his stunt people are trying to kick him out of the states and back to Canada. How crazy is that? Clearly his definition of ethics needs to be revised because if any other business did something against the law there would be major consequences due to the ways of ethics.

Ethics matters because it lays down the laws when it comes to common sense. You should always think to yourself, “Should I be doing this?” or “What are the consequences”. But really, lets be honest, if you have to think about it, usually its probably not a good idea. Public relation projects use ethics daily. In order to be successful in the business you have to do the right thing or else your project will be a failure. Ethics are what makes or breaks a PR firm.

 

So for all the Belibers hoping and praying Justin will be okay, maybe you should think about if he even cares? Maybe the luxury is creating his ego to get bigger and bigger everyday to where he thinks he is invincible and everything he does it ethical? I guess that’s for the judge to decide.

 

 

 

 

 

Choi, C. J., & Berger, R. (2010). Ethics of celebrities and their increasing influence in 21st century society. Journal of Business Ethics, 91(3), 313-318. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0090-4

 

Navarrette Jr., R. (2014). Revoke bieber’s visa. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/01/30/when-visa-holders-behave-badly-in-the-us/revoke-biebers-visa

 

PRSA, (2014). Ethical Guidance for Public Relations Practitioners. Retrieved from http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics/#.Uu_J2vldVAp.

The Beauty of Research

Last semester I took CAP 115 Research Basics and all I could think about was how much I was going to dread that awful class because of the stupid writing and research that I was going to have to do. Now, this wasn’t because of laziness, but because I was not very good and I didn’t see the point in the research. I can easily admit that I was wrong.

         Research changes everything if you actually think about it. Like really, what on this earth doesn’t need to be researched before acting on a project? “Research helps you take your project to the next level and can take you to the next stage of your career,” (Bowman, 2012). Everything in the business, art, law, design, and just about every other profession needs to preform research on topics before they act on them. There is really no other way for a business to stay successful without digging in to some research.

         Not only is research important for the business and health world, but also it is important when writing books. You would think that an author can just come up with everything in their heads when writing a fictional book. Not according to author, Jennifer Lyne, “You don’t have to grow up in the projects to write about them.  But if you’re going to “create a world” somewhere, spend as much time there as possible and research everything,” (Lyne, 2013). Research is needed everywhere. It is important in just about every job if you want to be successful at what you do.

         So how do you become better at research? I’m assuming the exact same way you get better at everything, and that is practice. Obviously it isn’t easy at first, but once you get the hang of it there will be many rewards. Take Nora Lopez for example, “ Research has led me to pursue a doctorate in Marine Science. I would never have considered this possibility if I did not have the opportunity to do research”, (Jones, 2005).

There may be some annoyances and hard work in research, but obviously it pays off and it is necessary to become successful in just about any career.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lopez, N., (2005). Why Research?. Bios. 76 (1), pp.28-29
Read more: http://apareferencing.ukessays.com/#ixzz2rdfgOepV

           

Mojo Creator (2012). Research: Why is it important?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mojocreator.com/general/why-is-research-important/. [Last Accessed January 27 2014].
Read more: http://apareferencing.ukessays.com/#ixzz2rdgRKOwQ

 

ALSC Blog (2013). The importance of research. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2013/10/the-importance-of-research/. [Last Accessed January 27 2014].
Read more: http://apareferencing.ukessays.com/#ixzz2rdgxvpp6

 

The Qualities of Blogging

I remember back before Myspace, in my early middle school years we had Xanga. Of course, I wanted to be just like all the older girls in school with the cool pages filled with crazy type that described their day. When we were first shown how to start this blogging the first day of class, I immediately had a flash back. Blogging has been growing for years, even as a 6^th grade girl in middle school I was blogging. Yes, it may have been about my crush at the time, or what I did that day with a friend, either way it was probably something so pointless, but I blogged.Now, crazily enough blogs have grown out of Xanga and Myspace and somewhat used in Facebook. Everyday people go on rants, speak their minds about what’s going on with the world, or even just talks about their days. Putting Facebook side, I can see that blogging is about anything you can think of. On Pinterest I always run across blogs that vary from food, do it yourself, fashion, and just about every other subject on there. Diana Raab states “A blog is a public and even communal forum of the diary or journal. It is a “web log,” which is where the term originates”, (Raab, D.,2013). So technically my dreadful Xanga page was a blog, even though it was painful to read.

The question now is whether or not I support blogging, or am I just doing it because it’s a grade for my class? The answer to that question is yes, I do support blogging and I enjoy reading blogs.After reading an online journal called “Who’s Blogging and Why? By Mairi MacLean, I was able to find more positive views towards the blogging world. It states that you are able to “ develop writing and editorial skills”, (MacLean, 2003). So, not only is blogging a fun and entertaining hobby, but it also develops qualities that would be great to have in life.

Brandon Suyeoka, a blogger for the Huffington Post Small Business section stated a lot of positive outcomes for blogging. According to the post, “blogging helps you write, communicate, and keep you organized”, (Suyeoka, 2013).

Now, there are so many statements that back up blogging as a good thing. Whether you are 16 and write about girly, pointless, embarrassing stories, or you’re a professional blogger for the popular Huffington Post, the blogging that is being typed out and posted on the internet is, in some way, helping people to become more advanced in academic purposes, which to me is pretty awesome.

MacLean, M. (2003, Mar 14). Who’s blogging and why. Edmonton Journal. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/docview/252981200?accountid=39473

Suyeoka, B. (2013, Sept 25). 6 Things That Blogging Can Do For You. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brandon-suyeoka/6-things-that-blogging-ca_b_3973092.html

Raab, D., (2013, Aug 02). Blogging vs. Journaling. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-m-raab/blogging-vs-journaling_b_3693279.html

Public Relation Reflection

My definition of public relations is a way to set an image of a brand or company through social media, print ads, famous people, ect. Coming from a Graphic Design major background, I take public relations as coming up with unique, clever ways to attract audiences just like creating designs.

I know that famous actors, singers, musicians, and more have such an impact on public relations theses days. For example, a recent celebrity endorsement is Jessica Simpson is helping with Weight Watchers, Pistachios always has various celebrities doing their commercials. I feel like other than social media the celebrity idea seems to work pretty well for Public Relations firms.

Now, using social media is a crazy way for PR firms to put out their brands. When I say crazy, I mean almost effortless. Celebrity endorsements for example are so helpful in the social media world because if the celebrity enjoys the brand or product and they take a photo of it, put it on Instagram, Twitter, or whatever they want and its easily used for Public Relations. So anytime anyone posts an image of the brand they want to share it’s a tactic in a way to show to the public. In my opinion I believe that social media is the best way to bring out a brand with the use of PR.

         So what am I getting myself into with this class? In all honesty, I don’t really know much about public relations other than what I stated above, if that’s even right. I know that there is obviously way more uses of public relations out there and that’s why I am interested in this class and interested to know more about it. I know that with this class I will be able to use my experience to become better in the field I am going into.