Ken Cuccinelli has done it now. The Virginia Attorney General made VCU students mad enough to hold a rally and march on the capitol after he sent a letter to Virginia public universities asking them to ban university policies giving equal treatment to people in the sexual orientation minority.

Human Rights Act Doesn’t Apply to All Humans
Cuccinelli thinks that the Virginia Human Rights Act does not cover people who chose to be with a same sex partner. And he’s right.  But VCU, like many other public universities in Virginia, does have a policy against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Oops.

Cuccinelli asked the universities to obey the General Assembly instead of protecting this new group, but most Virginia public universities don’t feel that the schools’ policies to protect the rights of people of a different sexual orientation is creating a new group. They are simply trying to prevent discrimination, period.

After the backlash from students Cuccinelli said that he was just giving accurate advice and that universities don’t have more authority than what the General Assembly gives them.  Oddly enough, he also said that he does not disagree that discrimination based on the grounds of sexual orientation violates the U.S. Constitution.

Political Confusion
Cuccinelli is either sending out mixed signals, or he really thinks that the public universities needed a spanking for ignoring the General Assembly’s unfair policy.

Oh and another interesting tidbit: the protected status of sexual orientation was voted down 5-3 on March 3rd. Five republicans on the House General Laws Committee’s subcommittee voted to table a bill banning the discrimination of state employees based on sexual orientation and three democrats voted in favor of the bill.

Sometimes you just have to wonder how politicians can keep a straight face. So you mean to tell me, Cuccinelli, that you think it is illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation, but you are just doing your duty by informing the universities to take back their non-illegal policies because they are illegal?

Time for Change
Personally, I think its high time for new political parties to step up to the plate, as the republicans and democrats have become two noble families fighting for the sake of fighting, instead of for the sake of the people they should be fighting for. Either that or legalese has become too hard for even attorney generals to decipher.

I do believe that any form of giving that benefits the needy party is ethical, even if it also benefits the giver. It is rare enough to see people give, let alone to give freely.  I agree with the above quotation because a needy person usually is not going to say “I don’t want this free gift because it makes your company look good!”

An example of strategic giving is the Home Depot Volunteers that use materials from the stores to build homes for Habitat for Humanity. This gift benefits the needy, but it also helps Home Depot look good, and may help encourage a potential customer to switch over to Home Depot from another company like Lowes. All other things being equal, an organization that shows an interest in the community it inhabits will gain a more positive reputation.

A quieter example of strategic giving is Exxon/Mobile’s donations to protect tigers and their environments. Considering that if their logo goes extinct they will have to change it and that consumers may even note the irony of a gasoline company losing its logo to extinction, this donation seems to be the smart move. The fact that this is not a well known fact among consumers can either be a good thing, in that consumers who do find out about it will respect the company for not trying to gain a lot of recognition for it. It can also be a bad thing, in that many consumers do not know about it, and so cannot applaud the donations.

Another company that engages in strategic giving is Starbucks Coffee. Among many other socially responsible activities, Starbucks also sells Ethos Water. Five percent of profits from Ethos Water goes to producing clean water for children in third world countries. This tactic both encourages monetary gain from Starbucks as well as providing an essential need for children in poorer countries. This tactic can also lead to consumers feeling good about themselves, knowing that they have helped someone in need with their purchase of the water.

Any donation or act of social responsibility will probably make the corporation look good, and so any argument for free giving is unfair. Corporations are always in the spotlight, and if the corporation that gives makes more because of it, then it is just able to give even more.

Creative What?

According to their website, Creative Commons is a “non-profit organization that works to increase the amount of creativity in “the commons” or the body of work that is available to the public for free and legal sharing, use, repurposing and remixing.”

In other words, this website allows users to get licenses to specify how their copy written work can be used. The site offers licenses from one that allows free use (which includes remixing and repurposing) as long as the work is attributed to licenses that only allow the work to be used non-commercially.

So What’s in it for Me?

Here are three reasons why PR people should use creative commons:

• Free publicity
• Cool Points
• The Random Factor

Free Publicity

One word: attribution. To use the content, the next person must attribute your creation of the original. This means that if someone creates a viral video using something from your campaign, they have to attribute it to you. People who see the video then have a chance of finding out about your business/org. Or, someone could see the viral video, want to learn more about it or where it came from, and stumbles upon your business/orgs website. The campaign would reach more people with less effort. The campaign could even be mentioned on the news if the viral video becomes newsworthy.

Cool Points

Sharing freely with the world shows that a PR person knows what is going on around them. Allowing people the freedom to play with the work also shows a sense of fun. Someone may discover your material, and use it. They would then mention to their friends how cool it is that your organization or business is sharing online like this. Those friends may search online to find out more, and spread the word further. Never discredit the power of word of mouth advertising! Even if your particular campaign is not a triumph, the license will have given people a positive view of the overall organization, which can help in future campaigns.

The Random Factor

Someone may randomly take your idea and turn it into a phenomenon. No one can predict what is going to happen when you put free material out into the internet for public use. Someone may use that information to form a new scientific hypothesis, to write a hit song. The possibilities when dealing with random members of the public are endless!

Bottom Line

While some of these examples may seem far fetched, keep in mind that the potential benefits far outweigh the risks. Someone signing up for a creative commons license can always choose a license that prohibits derivative works or prevents other people from making money off the work. There are many different opportunities available, so check out their website. You just might find something worth sharing… 

5. Twitter

Twitter is a micro-blogging service in which a participant can send and receive short messages. This device can be very useful to a PR practitioner if the are an opinion leader, and are followed by other opinion leaders and by many people in general. People who share similar tastes as you, such as a desire for Greener living, would be more likely to follow you. This would help in the fact that the audience for what you are tweeting about do in fact care about the issue, versus, say, a tv commercial which reaches millions of people but only applies to a small segment of that audience.

The biggest problem with the site, as far as PR goes, is that the success of your tweets depends on people’s view of you. If you are known for attending fun events, more people will show up to an event you tweet about, but if you are known for advertising boring and corporate-agenda driven events, people will ignore the events you tweet about.  A PR practitioner must also keep in mind that the user retention rate of twitter is only 40%.

4. Facebook

Facebook is a social networking site in which friends find each other, share events, join groups, buy and sell items, post statuses, write notes and play games. The site is very popular and easy to use. A PR practitioner can use facebook to make a fan page, group or event. The user can then invite all of the people on their friend list to these events of groups. The plus side is that people who join a group are generally interested in the theme of the group, thus when they receive messages relating to the group, they are the more likely audience to respond and be interested in the event or company, versus a large general audience. The sharing nature of facebook also helps the chances of the group spreading to other people, who then invite people they know and so on. Considering that facebook is the most used social network by worldwide monthly active users, this tool can potentially reach many members, and is a little more casual than a blog or wikipedia entry. This casualness can allow for greater trust and credibility of the user, which can result in more people being influences.

3. Wikipedia

So where did I get most of the information I have presented to you so far? Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a go-to site for many people, due to the wide range of information it carries, and the easy to understand use of sources (simply click on the source number to be taken to the source of the information). Wikipedia is currently the “largest and most popular general reference work on the internet“. When someone has a question about something, many of them search for information on the internet, and many of those searches include Wikipedia. Simply having all of your companies most up-to-date information on Wikipedia is a must for any employed PR person. You can even have links to your website, latest events, and pictures. The important thing to remember is that the content can be edited by anyone, so if someone decides that your wikipedia article is more of an advertisement than information, they can submit a complaint which will be featured on the page, so make sure to write as objectively as possible, while still promoting the company in a positive light.

2. Youtube

Youtube is an often overlooked social media site with multiple uses. Due to billions of people having access to the site, a viral video could be seen by a potentially huge audience. Even news programs like CBS and BBC have partnerships with youtube to show news stories. Visual mediums speak to people more than writing can, and considering that it is free to upload a video, I am surprised that more companies have not put up their funny commercials, videos of some of their past events or video blogs about the company. The correct video could become a phenomenon to be talked about on the news, an accomplishment many youtube videos have already received. A youtube savvy PR person could easily land his or her video on the “most watched” list.

1. Blogger/Wordpress etc.

At number one, I have to put blogs. In the right hands, blogs can accomplish many different PR objectives, such as advertisement of events, dissemination of information, shifting public opinion, and creating positive images of the company.

Blogs have become a way for everyday people to share interesting information, create policy changes, and even become famous. A PR practitioner who has strong writing skills can turn a blog into a way for his or her company to communicate with their customers, promote his or her companies events by writing positive reviews, or even promote the companies agenda to the correct audience, such as a company’s support of clean energy in a blog about clean energy. The hard part of blogs is getting people to read them, and it can be a slow start, but persistence and an understanding of what makes a consistently interesting read can help.

Click here for more information on online services and tools. Now go out and work that social media!

The three most important things a PR practitioner can do during a crisis are:

1. Be completely honest
2. Act quickly
3. Show what the company is doing to resolve the crisis

Honest is the best policy

Once again, being honest about a mistake can really make the business or organization nervous, but it is the easiest way to gain public approval. Recent studies in the health care field have shown that honest apologies reduce litigations. People seem to respect an honest admission of a mistake. This respect means that even though the crisis has occurred, people can still trust this organization.

Acting quickly goes hand in hand with honesty. Not only must the company or organization be honest in what has occurred, but they must reveal the truth as soon as possible. This alacrity decreases the chance that the affected public will believe that the company or organization was trying to cover the situation up. It also prevents further wrong doing from attempts to fix the problem before it comes under public scrutiny: attempts that may make the situation worse or more seedy. 

Act now!

The other aspect of acting quickly deals with the action taken to resolve the crisis. This action must occur as soon as possible, whether it is an apology or an actual physical act like cleaning up spilled oil from the ocean.

What are you doing about that?

This point brings me to the third most important thing: showing what the company or organization is doing to resolve the crisis. While it is not the PR person’s job to resolve the crisis, it is his or her role to display and promote heavily the company’s efforts to make things right. Reports written for the news, a conflict resolution website, hiring a famous spokesperson, all of these are ways in which the PR person can help get the news out to the affected publics.

Whose Responsibility?

As shown by these three important duties, it is not the PR practitioner’s responsibility to resolve the crisis, but simply to control what the effects of this crisis will be on the affected publics. The masses should get a sense that although a mistake was made, the corporation or organization is willing to admit to that mistake and act quickly to fix the crisis.

Crisis as good PR

In fact, a crisis can sometimes be good for an organization. For example in the tampered Tylenol crisis that Johnson and Johnson faced, the quick action taken by the company, their honesty and integrity in figuring out what happened, and the company’s resolution to prevent the problem for occurring again, all allowed Johnson and Johnson to retain high marks in public approval. Possibly even more important than this, the company’s action led to triple sealed medicine packages, a safety procedure picked up by other companies. The likelihood of a situation like this ever occurring again has been lessoned due to the actions of one company. Another benefit was that the company then created a public affairs department, so that they would be more aware of issues with Johnson and Johnson products in the future.

Overall, the PR practitioner working with a company during a crisis has that company’s fate in his or her hands. Accurately using information, empathy and PR tactics, this practioner can turn a crisis into a lesson, instead of a big legal mess.

In the Agenda-Setting Hypothesis:

• most media outlets carry the same top stories
• audience led to consider what is “most important”
• audience is not led to a specific opinion about that important issue

Whereas in the Uses and Gratifications Theory:

• grants power to individual audience members
• audience chooses which messages will be received an acted upon
• audience has influence on media

Basically, the agenda-setting hypothesis is where the media chooses the topics for the audience to care about, whereas in the uses and gratifications theory the audience chooses the topics for the media to cover. They are almost exact opposite beliefs, but it is possible that they are both true. Perhaps some people choose what to discuss based on what is in the news. Other people may wonder what is going on in the world and so tune into world news or search on the internet or in the newspaper for international news. With the internet, firms can now track which news stories are most popular, and try to find other stories that are similar. Thus, the audience will have influenced what stories are picked up by the media.

The relationship between the theory and hypothesis may be that they can lead into one another. A person searching for specific news may run into headlines that catch his or her attention. A person watching the news may become interested in learning what else is happening in their region and so search for local information.

In both of these theories, PR practitioners can play exciting roles. In the Agenda-setting hypothesis, a PR practitioner with a good campaign could influence the media that their new product or service is newsworthy in some way. The audience will then find out about the product, and may look into it. This is what happened with Apple ipods, when the news reported on how hot the item was. Some viewers who heard that the ipod was a new craze went out and bought one.
However, in the uses and gratification theory, PR practitioners must work a little harder. Utilizing social media and bzz marketing may be the best hope for getting the target public to come to you. Also, having a campaign that proves what a great product or service is being touted may cause word-of-mouth or opinion leaders to direct the audience to information about the product or service.

Both theories are valid, and their is no rule saying one can exist without the other. A good PR practitioner should be prepared to dive into a campaign that can handle both methods of information distribution.

My goal is to increase the standing and trustworthiness of the PR profession within the US. Two methods that I hope to use to accomplish this are:

1. Increase awareness of the PR accreditation program among corporations and non-PR professionals within six months
2. Increase awareness of the existence of PRSA and IABC among media viewers within three months

To accomplish the first objective, we must:

• send fact sheets to all corporations utilizing outside PR firms
• hold special events at high schools around the US with speakers to explain the goal of a PR firm or professional and what role PR plays in the media
• create a scholarship for students who agree to take accreditation when they are eligible
• send informational letters to as many homes as possible in each state

To obtain the second objective, we must:

• create a blog, twitter account and Facebook group for PRSA and IABC
• hold a news conference about the state of the credibility of the PR profession, mentioning what accreditation is
• conduct interview with news outlets about the PR credibility crisis and how PRSA hopes to resolve the issue
• run public service announcements about what PR accreditation is and that PRSA offers it

This plan will be successful because it covers a lot of ground. Various publics will be reached through traditional media, social media, and community efforts. By having this plan enacted in these different areas, we may succeed in reaching a larger public than by traditional media alone.

When viewers find out what accreditation is, how PRSA takes eithics and responsibility seriously and how this information is important to their daily life, they will be more informed about the integrity of the PR profession. As stated in G.I. Joe: ” knowing is half the battle!”

The other half will be proving, something that PRSA hopes to acheive by making sure that every PR professional’s goal is to become accredited.

Why should PR practitioners want to get accredited? After all, many organizations will still hire non-APR certified PR people and the average person likely does not even know that the accreditation exists.  However, as Heathere Evans-Keenan, CEO of Keenan PR, states in this video, accreditation may prove to be essential for the validity and long term growth of this profession.

Good PR for PR

One argument for the accreditation of more PR people is that being certified as having a commitment to the profession and the ethical practice of the profession will lend more credibility to what PR people do. Stereotypes depicting PR practitioners as ruthless liars and spin masters are still around (the opening lines for the trailer of the movie Thank You For Smoking is a good example), and the PR trade could really do with some… well… good PR.

The way for PRSA

Considering that many younger people are unaware of the accreditation process, PRSA’s job should be to increase awareness of the process. PRSA needs to:

• Create better incentives for becoming accredited
• Work with other PR firms to make hiring APR certified PR practitioners more of a priority
• Create a PR campaign for accreditation

Creating better incentives can be as easy as a rebate on the price paid for the accreditation and free seminars with high ranking PR officials or as difficult as partnering with various business and organizations to ensure that they only want to hire APR certified PR practitioners. Convincing more businesses to put more stock in the certification may be costly at first, but the increase in the number of people trying to become accredited, and therefore paying for the process, should eventually offset the monetary loss. The gain of good PR for both the Public Relations trade and the PRSA will also be worth it.

Convincing PR firms to hire more APR certified employees so that the entire industry will benefit may or may not be a challenge. The debate between PR professionals about whether freedom of speech or proof of integrity is more important is still raging. For example, one blogger who is against accreditation asked ”does a law degree convince us that lawyers are honest?” On the other hand, another blogger noted that “public relations needs to be professionalized.” Surveys and proof of increased salary and decreased unethical behavior in various organizations could be the much needed proof to win over those firms on the fence.

PRSA’s mission is to build demand and global understanding for public relations. They have over 22,000 members. 22,000 PR practitioners can surely generate a positive and effective campaign to promote accreditation… and if not then one might question their credentials.

The first was Senior Publicist for American Rebel PR. This job not only requires PR experience, but also an interest or background in fashion, art and music. The position also demands that the applicant have “strong fashion editor and stylist contacts,” which made me realize that my love of the arts could actually have a place in my PR future.

The next job was Corporate Communications Manager for Verisign. Although this job used the title “corporate communications manager,” the rest of the job description used the word “PR.” This position requested someone who could be “diplomatically aggressive,” a phrase I have never heard before. It also required someone who could be a mentor, team player, and have knowledge of blogs.

The final job I checked out was Public Relations/Account Executive for an unnamed “luxury goods/fashion & lifestyle PR firm” in Beverly Hills, California. This job asked for the same things as the other two jobs, except without needing the managerial skills.

All three jobs used a lot of the same language and asked for the same skills, including the ability to multi-task, independence, and pitching ability. I also glanced at a few other jobs and saw the same requirements.

If I had to narrow it down to the five most essential skills or traits that a PR practitioner must have to succeed it would have to be:

• knowledge of social media and popular culture
• writing skills
• good communication skills
• independence
• ability to multi-task

With the current popularity of blogs, sites like Facebook and applications such as Twitter, a good PR practitioner must be social media savvy. This goes hand in hand with strong writing skills, although they may also be used for press releases, editorial or interest pieces and press kits.

Communication skills, also called people skills, are essential for any publicist or PR manager. The ability to pitch an idea, gain and retain clients, convincing newspapers or magazines to run your story, or even effectively communicate with your co-workers will either make or break a PR campaign.

The ability to multi-task is a given for a PR professional, especially the higher up the corporate ladder he or she is in that profession. A publicist needs to be creating press kits, writing blogs, sending tweets, and negotiating product placement that must all happen in the same time period, so that his or her client is in the public’s eye. Keeping track of your different clients’ tastes, customer needs and coworkers abilities could also be the difference between sealing a deal or losing trust.

Independence is a skill listed specifically on every job I looked at. I was not entirely sure why this trait was so necessary at first. However the more I thought about it, a leader in a PR profession would need to be able to trust in his or her own intuition and knowledge, because there would not be anyone else in his or her firm to turn to. Having to go to the board of supervisors every few days and ask what they think of your ideas probably would get annoying and make one look incompetent. Having a plan, seeing it through, and then bringing in the results would be more respected.

The final aspect of getting a job in PR was experience. All of the jobs I searched either mentioned at least one year of experience or required the applicant worked as an intern for a year before getting the actually job. This video has some great advice relating to how to gain experience for these high paying jobs

photo credit: Intersection Consulting

IMC

Integrated Marketing Communications. This acronym, meant to simplify the idea of a communication method, actually creates a strain between the three supposedly integrated disciplines.

IMC combines public relations, advertising and marketing to create one consistent message, but do these categories actually belong under the umbrella “marketing”? Some public relations and advertising people say no.

Different Strokes

While PR, marketing and advertising may seem very similar to an outsider, it is easy to see the differences between the three, with a big one being the ultimate goal of the disciplines.

PR:

• maintain accord and positive behaviors among social groupings
• responsible for building and maintaining a hospitable environment for the organization

Marketing:

• attract and satisfy customers on a long term basis to achieve the organizations economic objectives
• responsible for maintaining markets for products and services

Advertising

• communicate that product or service will benefit consumer
• responsible for creating and occasionally redefining brand image

Personal Touch vs. Buy a Bunch

Marketing and advertising campaigns are trying to sell or create a market for products and services, whereas a PR campaign is trying to create a great company image and build an environment that allows the customer to be reached by marketing and advertising. While marketing and advertising people tend to use words like “targets,” “customers,” and “consumers,” PR firms use the arguably more personal terms “audience”, “public”, and “stakeholders”.

Reach Out

These three also differ in who they try to reach. Consumer markets are the focus of marketing strategies, advertising strategies target consumers, but a PR strategy  is targeting many publics. PR campaigns want everyone to know about the product, marketing campaigns try to make sure target markets know that this is the product for them and advertising campaigns remind the consumers or potential consumers that they want to buy this product or service.

My Opinion

I do not believe that PR should be placed under marketing, but I also do not believe that it should be placed above marketing and advertising. I think a phrase that accurately describes an integration of the three systems, such as ISC (Integrated Strategic Communications) should be the acronym of choice. All three disciplines have different functions and different tasks but all three are needed for the company. PR should come first by creating an environment for responsive consumers, marketing next with information, and advertising third with reinforcement and reminders. All three should then be constantly reused in cycles, possibly with a different order as needed. Perhaps an advertising campaign accidentally generates a negative perception of the company. PR may have to go in and attempt to reconcile this issue, and renew public confidence. Or maybe a PR campaign is too vague or seems to lose the message behind the fun. It is up to advertising to be clear and visible or marketing to redefine the target market. All the while, these three disciplines should keep open communication and share a general theme. That’s the “integrated” in ISC.

Any company that lacks effective communication between these three departments may soon be left behind as social media and technology continue to open new doors for the enterprising business. As the borg might say to these disciplines: “you will be assimilated!”…or if not then you should be!