This blog is part of my Advanced Communication Skills class at Southern Methodist University. It will be used to explore trends in today's cutting-edge communication practices and to consider the impact of those trends on the corporate communications and public relations fields.
My travels took me to Kansas City over the weekend and I must say I'm impressed. I wasn't expecting much from the little town in the Midwest, but it sure proved me wrong. The Country Club Plaza offers beautiful Spanish architecture and even boasts a replica of the Giralda Tower from Seville, Spain. Walking around the shop and cafe lined streets feels just like a walk through a quintessential European town. And the steak, some of the best in the country, speaks for itself. I would go back just for the steak alone!
But the best part awaited me at the Nelson-Atkins Museum. This neoclassical building contains masterpieces inside and out. The new Bloch Building, pictured above, was just named Time Magazine's #1 Architectural Marvel. The building stands in stark contrast with the neoclassical style, but adds a new dimension to the establishment.
I just wish KC received a little more credit. I never expected such great things, but I will definitely recommend it to any traveler looking for an up-and-coming kind of place.
“Technology has re-shaped the PR landscape and changed the way we communicate”: It sounds excellent and looks great on paper (or the computer screen), but without a practical application and real world example, the phenomenon is as obscure as the Loch Ness monster. And since I wouldn’t lead my readers to believe in mythical beasts, I won’t force them to believe my faith in technology without substantial proof, either.
LEGO, the toy company known for its colorful building bricks, has always been associated with creativity and imagination. Boys and girls have played with them for decades and developed important skills in the process. However, by 2004, the company was losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year to the high-paced excitement of computers and video games. But after hiring a new CEO and reorganizing the company, the people behind LEGO decided they would need more than just a company clean-up to get back in the game.
LEGO hired 360PR, a firm specializing in the use of online tools, to create a platform that would bring back the thrill of Lego toys amidst the constantly evolving world of iPods and game consoles. Together they came up with the “LEGO Builders of Tomorrow” campaign targeted at parents of the hi-tech robo-tots; it was used to remind parents that successful adults were cultivated with the help of creativity, and not the kind that gets your kid to the next level of Halo the fastest. After conducting the research, it became obvious that kids were not the only techno-savvy generation out there: parents were using the Internet for everything from diagnosing a runny nose to purchasing a playground set. So the best outlet to reach the web-surfing parents? Online technology, of course.
With that in mind, 360PR designed three devices to establish discourse with parents about the importance of imaginative play: a website used to deliver tips and stories from real parents, a LEGO Playtime Podcast and a blog. The site came complete with stories about “Builders of Tomorrow,” or the high profile fans of LEGO, ways for kids to become a “Builder of Tomorrow,” a scholarship contest, play tips for parents and links to the podcast and blog. Through this campaign, LEGO was not only able to boost its sales, but also spread a positive message to young kids and their parents everywhere.
So now that everyone’s convinced that emerging technology is not just some phantom of the communication world, I’ll leave you with this: the word Lego (leg godt) means “play well” in Danish, so I guess the campaign comes pre-packaged right in the toy.
And just for fun - while keeping with the theme - here is a video of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” made entirely of Lego’s.
In my Finance Relations class, we have been talking about stock exchanges all over the world and how they are becoming more global with recent technology. The technology, Electronic Communications Networks, allows trading to be conducted electronically, and therefore, more quickly. The New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ have both acquired ECN's and have become publicly held companies in the process.
This innovation, as well as many others, has taken stock exchanges to a new level. No one wants to trade on a single continent anymore, but across oceans and beyond. In regards to this, I want to mention that Borse Dubai, of the United Arab Emirates, has recently acquired a 28% stake in the London Stock Exchange and Quatar Investment Authority has acquired another 20% stake. That means almost 50% of the LSE is owned by Middle Eastern investors! The Middle East does not always come up in conversations about stock exchanges, so I think it's great that the world has embraced it and has been able to come together in a whole new arena.
After searching many similar blogs (and reviewing my own), I noticed that Facebook, YouTube and MySpace are the most common communication tools outlined. It almost seems that they are the only ones making an impact in social media. I knew there had to be devices somewhere on the Internet that were either too fresh or just forgotten. And then it dawned on me – Skype!
Skype (part of the eBay group) was founded in 2003 as a communication device used to make free phone calls from your computer to anywhere in the world. All it takes is downloading some (free) software and you're set. It’s free to call anyone with Skype and extremely cheap to call land lines and cell phones anywhere in the world. Sending text messages, setting up a voicemail and forwarding calls to your cell phone have recently emerged as new features. You can even get an online number so people can call your computer from their regular phones. There’s even an added bonus for those who love face-to-face: free video calls straight from your webcam. And the newest craze for 2008?The ability to use Skype with the Sony PSP Slim &Lite .
But the real question is how it’s impacting corporate communications. Well, it allows businesses to conduct meetings from all over the world, for free. In fact, Skype allows up to nine people to join in on a conference call or up to one hundred in a group chat. With our global village becoming smaller every day, companies are sending out employees to far corners of the world – and they don’t want to spend extra money just to stay updated. Sure, cell phones these days have international service, but you can’t always depend on them. Just last week, a close friend of mine was in Myanmar and couldn't get service on his cell phone, presumably because the government isn't too keen on outside contact. Had he been introduced to Skype, he would have remained connected. It's also great for students on a college budget whose roommates are studying abroad for the semester or for anyone who doesn't want to spend obnoxious amounts of money just to keep in touch. The ICT Professional Development for Wellesley College even recommends using it as a tool for the classroom; and Asterik VoIP calls it “one of the most fantastic internet applications ever built,” suggesting five of the most useful plugins for Skype.
So whether your anthropology team is off in Egypt or your multi-national PR firm has just opened offices in five European countries, you never have to miss a beat (or those extra dollars you’ve earned). It may not be the newest device out there, but one that connects us in a whole new way.
On February 10, 2008, the Grammy Awards celebrated their 50th year, honoring musical talent in a multitude of categories. Whether you agree with the winners or not, the Grammy's are widely regarded as the most prestigious musical award of its kind. Even amidst the writer's strike, the Awards were set to go on and were heavily advertised in all forms of media. But preliminary reports suggest that only 17.5 million people tuned in this year, compared with 20 million last year. That's the third least-watched edition of the Awards. With big performances from Amy Winehouse, Kanye West and even Tina Turner, I thought this year would definitely rope in extra viewers. And with all the promotion and publicity surrounding the 50th year anniversary, I'm just wondering what went wrong?
Public relations professionals have proved to be essential to any organization. No matter what the product, they’re the ones that get the word out. But how do PR people assure their clients that the product will get coverage? The most obvious way, to pay for an article or advertisement, lies in the realm of advertising departments. So when you’re looking for free exposure of your greatest product and PR gurus dominate your publicity work, look no further than this list of tips:
-Great press releases jump start the process. Knowing how to write effectively and concisely must be a pre-requisite. Without a clear-cut pitch, the release won’t even get a full read-through.
-Research, research, research. Making a targeted media list is imperative to pitch an idea to the correct medium – you never want to send a cooking product press release to a car parts publication. Getting the research done and having the list readily available will save time on any project. Even Misukanis & Odden and CR Ransom from Mosnar Communications recommend this as a preliminary task.
-Events and press tours. Publicizing a product doesn’t have to be a direct pitch to a publication or television station. Organizing an event in town can attract media on its own, and press tours take your pitch on the road. Even Rob Thomson, VP of Communications for Major League Soccer’s Kansas City Wizards arranges a media day to kick off the publicity for an upcoming soccer season.
-Might seem pretty simple, but.. Stay in constant contact with the media outlets that have chosen your pitches in the past. Get to know their style and adapt to it. Fact-check your stories every time and you’ll be known as a legitimate source. Keeping them happy will encourage them to choose your ideas in the future and it may soon turn in to a mutually beneficial relationship.
-Last, but not least: blogging! Yes, even this phenomenon that I have fully embraced for class assignments can be a fabulous tool for generating publicity. Blogs can be a great way to incorporate bells and whistles (who doesn’t love videos and graphics?) to any proposal. Send over a link to your favorite editor or producer and amaze them with your virtual abilities for an extra boost. And the added bonus? Competitors and potential clients can access the blog for free. Even the guys at 101 Public Relations consider this a hot new strategy.
These tips extend to any type of public relations work. Of course when dealing with a particular product or entity, public relations strategies can be extremely specified and go beyond these basics. But for now, hold on to this list – it doesn’t have an expiration date. And don’t forget to keep up with the latest technology and trends: find a new way to get their attention, and they’ll keep coming back for more.
Recently, my attention has been brought to an article on The New York Times website entitled "Target tells blogger to go away." This article outlines Target's response to criticism from a blog, saying among other things, "Target does not participate with nontraditional media outlets." Many people left comments at the end of the article, agreeing with Target's response and suggesting that blogs and other similar media should not have the same respect as traditional media sources. But is this the right way to think in our technological world? Should companies really ignore criticism just because it is coming from a source that has not been incorporated into our traditional paradigm?
It is true that some blogs merely show people's mindless opinions and do not have much relevance to large companies; it is also true that many blogs deal with and highlight issues that should be of top importance to corporations around the world. Customer service surveys have become a very common way for companies to get feedback from their customers - how are blogs any different? If a blogger takes the time to confront an issue, it should matter just as much as a survey or any of the recorded customer service calls that are reviewed.
Our world is constantly changing and technology is a big part of that change. Social media has taken over the way we communicate and I am not just talking about blogs - Facebook, MySpace and YouTube are some of the most popular destinations on the web. If you take a look at any of these sites, you will see large amounts of advertising lining the pages, and advertisers wouldn't waste their time or money if they weren't generating business. So if advertisers have jumped on the bandwagon and so have millions of people around the world, maybe corporations need to re-evaluate what a traditional media outlet really is. In fact, I hardly think that ten years ago Target was thinking of creating a website, but I'd like to see the figures on how much profit the executives have made from that very thing.
Running away from criticism has never advanced a company - no matter what outlet it comes from.
I am a senior Corporate Communications and Public Affairs major at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Upon graduation, I hope to figure out exactly what I want to do and start on my journey into the real world!
