Greetings! To round our the term, I will simply be reporting on a recent piece of PR news.
Sahil Patel from PR News reported recently that Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on large soft drinks in New York Cit is already a PR success.
Patel notes that, “…there’s no doubt the proposal has driven conversations connecting soft drinks to obesity and poor health.” While indeed a fantastic connection, it seems a little to early to deem the project a success. The story is less than a day old, and the proposed ban has already encountered opposition.
Coca-Cola and McDonald’s fought back against the mayor’s proposal. Coca-Cola stated, “New Yorkers expect and deserve better than this. They can make their own choices about the beverages they purchase.” McDonalds replied, “Public health issues cannot be effectively addressed through a narrowly focused and misguided ban.”
Patel tosses this aside, stating that it is “beside the point. If Bloomberg’s goal was to raise awareness of the connection between soft drinks and obesity, then he has hit his mark, whether or not the ban goes into effect.”
Yes, Bloomberg has raised awareness, but it has not yet translated into a successful public relations campaign. Thus, it is still to early to deem a success.
The short answer is yes, public relations can be ethical, an opinion shared by Jon Buckley. We both agree that the majority of public relations practitioners perform in an ethical manner. As with any profession, there are professionals who do not follow a code of ethics, and only wish to enhance the spin through manipulation.
It is hard to separate the “bad apple from the bunch,” as Buckley puts it. It takes very few on the side of “evil” to do harm to the many on the side of “good.” Recovering from such a tarnish is even harder. No matter the circumstances then, the public relations industry will generally be looked upon with scepticism by the public.
It’s time for another article rambling!
Last year, Bruce Buschel expressed his issues with the public relations profession. Six months before the opening of his new restaurant Southfork Kitchen, Buschel hired a local PR firm to help market the new business.
As Buschel puts it, “advertising was too complicated and daunting and expensive. Radio? Cable? Magazines? Newspapers? Which stations and which newspapers…the idea of advertising makes my head spin.”
While advertising is indeed all of the adjectives Buschel uses, public relations can be just as daunting. Often stuck with a much, much smaller budget than advertising campaigns, PR practitioners must think creatively in order to circumvent a limited cash supply. Creativity is also a necessity in advertising, don’t get me wrong, I am simply pointing out that PR requires more effort than Buschel gives it credit for.
Finally, Buschel presents his point: “What I have finally come to understand is that P.R. people are paid to twist reality into pretzels and convince you that they are fine croissants. At some point, they actually believe their own concoctions.”
This is a rather harsh review of what public relations practitioners do. We are not hell-bent on twisting the fabric of reality to our whim. We merely apply the cosmetics.
I figured that it would be helpful to see an example of what PR practitioners do in their day-to-day lives. Media relations manager Heather Huhman provides her typical daily schedule at the American Occupational Therapy Association to demonstrate exactly what the job may entail:
- 4:30 AM Wake up; get ready for the gym
- 5:30 AM Arrive at the gym and begin workout
- 6:30 AM Head home to shower and get ready for work
- 7:10 AM Catch the train; begin writing today’s Examiner.com article
- 7:30 AM Arrive at work; continue writing today’s Examiner.com article
- 8:00 AM Complete and post today’s Examiner.com article
- 8:05 AM Read the news; media clipping
- 9:00 AM Teleconference with The University of North Carolina PR rep re: autism and occupational therapy research press release
- 9:20 AM Review peer-reviewed journal article for newsworthy talking points
- 10:00 AM Begin writing press release
- 11:30 AM Print off press release and proof for boss’ review
- 11:47 AM Print off documents for boss’ review, including press release, trade press article and two fact sheets (I’ve been working from home the past two days—work has piled up!)
- 11:49 AM Begin editing and updating last year’s Occupational Therapy Month materials, including Ten Things You Can Do to Celebrate OT Month, OT Month Sample Press Release, Public Service Commercial Radio Announcements, Public Service Public Radio/TV Announcements, Tips on Reaching the Media and Tips on Talking to the Public
- 1:30 PM Stomach is growling—heading to the kitchen to heat up lunch
- 1:50 PM Ok, back to work on OT Month materials
- 2:00 PM It’s the budgeting time of year for us, so I jump on a teleconference with a potential vendor
- 2:26 PM Again, back to work on OT Month materials
- 2:45 PM Call from a member’s PR rep wanting more information about OT Month
- 3:00 PM Turned in first round of OT Month materials to my boss for review; scheduled a meeting with the policy team for tomorrow to discuss autism and OT legislative issues for a one-pager
- 3:15 PM Prepping for a meeting with my boss
- 3:30 PM Meeting with my boss
- 4:00 PM Returned a member call re: information to include in a press release
- 4:36 PM “Finalized” press release for researcher review based on my boss’ feedback
- 4:41 PM Interview with a staff expert to respond to a media inquiry
- 5:01 PM E-mailed a response to the reporter; heading out to work from home
- 5:36 PM Arrived home; checking e-mail and sending responses
- 6:30 PM Time to call it quits for the day!
Clearly, Huhman keeps extremely busy. The job is not for the lazy, and requires a ton of drive and effort to succeed. At the same time, for those who strive on deadlines and pressure, it is an ideal career choice.
According to author Jacqueline Akbarian, “PR plays a more significant role [in music artist’s careers] than people realize.” Akbarian proceeds to argue that, “an artist’s PR team can make or break them. Case in point? Look at the careers of superstars like Madonna or Britney Spears.”
To this, I present a slightly more modern example: Wiz Khalifa. Once just another face in a sea of endless rappers from Pittsburgh, Khalifa managed to break through and is now a pop superstar. Wiz rose to prominence entirely through his own hustle and self-promotion, putting out an insane amount of mixtapes in a similarly ridiculous amount of time. Music blogs liked and posted his music, and eventually Wiz became a trending topic on Twitter after relentlessly promoting his cult-hit tape “Kush & Orange Juice.”
Khalifa’s rise to fame highlights social media’s huge importance in the self-publicity many artists attempt. Arguably, Wiz was able to become a multi-millionaire through drive and self-promotion, and Twitter was the tool that helped him the most. “Kush & OJ” represents a turning point in his career, and it was all thanks to Twitter (and the guy’s music, of course). Wiz Khalifa remains one of my top examples of how to succeed in the self-promotion and internet-focused approach of today’s music industry.
I recently stumbled across an article in Platform Magazine that provided an overview of how small-time and local musicians are creating their own PR “buzz.”
The article first outlines the challenges many artists face when trying to drum up their own PR. Among the biggest is “Building a fan base and breaking into the industry.” Key notes include the notion that while friends are usually willing to check out a fellow friend’s band, they will eventually grow tired. This is when PR becomes important, as it will allow you to keep your current fanbase while simultaneously expanding it.
In order to expand, bands must network. Then network some more, and maybe when they have some down time they can network. It is a necessity in a world where it’s not what you know but who you know (cliché intended), budding bands need to get to know managers at local venues and establish personal relationships with fans. Twitter has proven to be a fantastic tool for accomplishing the latter, as many underground artists break through via Twitter/blog promotion.
The most important thing of all is to simply play…a lot. Adam Morrow, co-founder of indie rock band “Callooh! Callay!” notes, “…for bands just starting out, the hardest part is realizing that no one cares about your music. They really, honestly, genuinely don’t.” While a bit of a downer, Morrow’s point rings true. There is such an oversaturation of artists in the industry that it is difficult for one to stand out over another, making the art of simply play a ton of gigs increasingly important.
The story of music publicist Amy Meyer is a fascinating one. At just nineteen years old, Meyer began her career in the music industry when she became in intern at Interscope Records. From there it is almost a blur. From working with some of the leading executives in the industry at Interscope to creating her own firm in 2002, Meyer Public Relations. She works with artists from hip hop artist Sam Adams to the band Oh Darling. In the linked article, Meyer discusses what it is that PR practitioners in the music industry do.
One of the key questions from the interview is, “What does your job entail?” Meyer replies, “I like that I can tailor my job to each campaign.” Meyer continues, “In helping an artist tell their story, I make sure they understand the elements they put together now will be the things journalists will always ask them…I see my job as helping the process of building an image and telling a story from the beginning…”
The role of a PR practitioner in the music industry is thus, according to Meyer, similar to that of a manager’s: It is as much about artist-building as it is publicity-inducing. This definitely appeals to me, as I have always had a huge passion for music. I see myself as an almost endless source of music, all garnered from hundreds of music blogs throughout the internet. Being able to have an actual hand in an artist’s development would be almost surreal, yet is something I strive to accomplish one day.
Pepsi recently signed a 52-week deal with Twitter, effectively creating a Twitter-exclusive campaign that will be coordinated with the company’s “Live for Now,” which is Pepsi’s current campaign for organizing pop concerts around the United States.
The story, written by Violeta-Loredana Pascal, explains that beginning towards the end of June, “pop concerts will be held in small venues in the US and will be announced on Twitter one to two weeks in advance. I think this is a fantastic idea. It benefits consumers, as they get a sort of “exclusive” access to concerts, while simultaneously benefiting Pepsi and Twitter, who get nothing but coverage and exposure. Twitter should especially benefit from the campaign, as it will be the only website that people can access these concerts through.
It’s really great to see some cooperation for once, instead of the usual onslaught of competition. As noted, both companies benefit, and even consumers gain something. Top all of that off with the fact that Pepsi will be streaming the concerts live as well as giving away free music downloads and you have the makings of a successful PR campaign.
Facebook’s recent IPO offering left some investors burned, reports Hibah Yousuf for CNN. Yousuf details the story of Carole Parker, who ended up with 400 shares too many when attempting to buy Facebook stock.
Parker place two 400-share orders about 15 minutes before Facebook made its debut, then cancelled one of the orders when she realized it was priced higher. However, Parker received no order confirmation, until realizing that both orders went through. Furious, she contacted Fidelity’s customer service and filed a dispute for both sets of purchases.
Parker’s situation is unfortunate, but it is not like every single person who bought Facebook shares has encountered a problem like hers. The story does note that “Parker is far from alone. Numerous investors are the unwitting victims of a domino effect that started with a trading glitch at the Nasdaq.”
Thus, the heart of the problem seems to lie in a glitch at Nasdaq, not necessarily Fidelity’s customer service. Yes, the company should have sent out an order confirmation for Parker letting her know that her two orders were placed, but the story makes it seems like most of her problem is to blame on a glitch, not customer service. The story also tries to blow up one person’s situation to make it seem like it is happening to everybody, which is not the case.
Telltale Games, an independent game developer, recently released the first episode in a short series of video games based on “The Walking Dead” comic books and TV show. Said episode recently passed the 1-million-sold mark after just two weeks on the market, according to PR Newswire.
For many games, even ones created with multi-million dollar budgets, selling a million copies is no easy task. Thus, to see a small, independent company achieve such success is amazing. It is not only impressive, but bolsters the spirit in a time of economic downturn.
Not only have gamers flocked to the game, but it has become a critical darling as well, garnering multiple “Editor’s Choice” awards from outlets such as IGN, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. The game has also been praised by The New York Times, saying of the storytelling, “…moments have more sadness and subtlety in them than other games muster in 40 hours.” The game has an 82 out of 100 aggregated rating on Metacritic.
Such praise and success doesn’t appear out of thin air. Telltale Games knows the series has a strong and loyal fanbase, and worked very well with that fact. The game’s graphics are reminiscent of a comic book, as a cell-shaded style coats the game world. Also, by setting the game in the same time frame and universe as the comics and show, Telltale is easily able to build upon an already established and acclaimed world.
Writing this sparked my interest enough that I purchased and downloaded the game. I am off to play it for a bit, and may return to post thoughts!
EDIT: Yep, it’s a pretty amazing game. I fully recommend it.
tfrobertsonj452 