Chapter 1 and 2 to me seems like a conclusion as I am doing these chapters for the last post of my blog. Chapter 1 says about what the public relations do, what they have to do and in what ways to do so. Chapter 2 talks more about the environment of the public relations and the aspects that affect the way public relations practitioners carry out their activities. Both combined, it gives me a summary of what the entire textbook is about. These two chapters remind me of the content of the previous chapters which I have read and the content I know at this point of time are all considered theory to me as I did not have to do the full job scope as a public relations practitioners yet.
After reading all the chapters, I feel that public relations is a simple concept. However, it is complicated as the public relations practitioner may have to ‘fight two battle fronts’ at one go. It can be possible that the practitioner needs to solve a crisis that is occurring in the company and at the same time, the practitioner needs to promote the products of his or her company to the public using the campaign in which the practitioner has been planning and it is being accepted by the company already. Of course the priority goes to solving the crisis first. However, the public relations practitioner needs to cancel the plans for the campaign like calling up the sponsors and informing them about the cancellation of it. There can be a possibility of compensation in which the public relations practitioner needs to remain cool-headed about it to calm down the angry people involved in the event.
One important factor which public relations practitioner needs to be wary of would be time. As there are many roles to fulfill, it is very easy for the practitioner to get stressed out. He or she needs to have a scheduler to help to keep track of everything that is happening around. Also, it is crucial that there is planning for every event or activity so that the time management is easier and clearer for the practitioner. In other words, the practitioner needs to always stay focus and alert at any point of time in their work.
The video below is one which I would like to share with everybody (in case I bored you out even in my last post). It shows the future of public relations with the rise of new media. Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The West and Asia
Asia and the western countries have different ways of doing public relations. They have different theories and different ideologies which makes the way of doing public relations doing in the countries different. Thus, this means that there is a need to research on the country which the western countries are doing businesses with.
This chapter (Chapter 13 - Focus on Asian Public Relations shows us the different ways in which the Asia's countries do their businesses. The theory for the Asia's public relations is different and not fully developed unlike for the western countries.
The article, "Public Relations in Asia: The International Dimension", by Terence Fane-Saunders, it tells the different perspectives in comprehending the language between the Westerners and the Japanese. This article states that the Westerners tend to focus more on the words and the phrases which one speaks rather than the expression and the behaviour of one. It reminds the westerners to take note that the Asians way of doing business is different due to the language, cultural and many other differences and westerners need to be wary of these differences.
This article is like a summary to the book but it provides more real-life situations which can help one to relate to them better.
I did not think that far about how the differences between Asians and Westerners can affect public relations. Now, thinking about it, I realised that there are also movies being shown about the differences and how the actors or actresses overcome them. These movies include Old Dogs and Click. These movies portray the business deals between the Japanese and the Westerners. They show the way the Westerners tried to entertain them in a unique way, something which they will not do if they were doing businesses with Westerners instead.
In conclusion, as it can be seen from the media, there seems to be an increasing number of articles or any other form of advice for the Westerners to be able to adapt to the way Asians do businesses. Same for the public relations practitioners, they need to be aware of the country which they do business with so as to help them to be able to come up with strategies to suit that country.
Link to the article: http://www.chelgate.com/news-articles/public-relations-articles/chelgate-articles/asia/
This chapter (Chapter 13 - Focus on Asian Public Relations shows us the different ways in which the Asia's countries do their businesses. The theory for the Asia's public relations is different and not fully developed unlike for the western countries.
The article, "Public Relations in Asia: The International Dimension", by Terence Fane-Saunders, it tells the different perspectives in comprehending the language between the Westerners and the Japanese. This article states that the Westerners tend to focus more on the words and the phrases which one speaks rather than the expression and the behaviour of one. It reminds the westerners to take note that the Asians way of doing business is different due to the language, cultural and many other differences and westerners need to be wary of these differences.
This article is like a summary to the book but it provides more real-life situations which can help one to relate to them better.
I did not think that far about how the differences between Asians and Westerners can affect public relations. Now, thinking about it, I realised that there are also movies being shown about the differences and how the actors or actresses overcome them. These movies include Old Dogs and Click. These movies portray the business deals between the Japanese and the Westerners. They show the way the Westerners tried to entertain them in a unique way, something which they will not do if they were doing businesses with Westerners instead.
In conclusion, as it can be seen from the media, there seems to be an increasing number of articles or any other form of advice for the Westerners to be able to adapt to the way Asians do businesses. Same for the public relations practitioners, they need to be aware of the country which they do business with so as to help them to be able to come up with strategies to suit that country.
Link to the article: http://www.chelgate.com/news-articles/public-relations-articles/chelgate-articles/asia/
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
New media - Is it really that good?
The usefulness of new media to the public relations practitioners can be seen during the tutorials of the PR lesson whereby successful PR campaigns are being carried out using new media are shown to us. The recent debate on the topic whether blogs provide a also shown me that the increasing efficiency and the usefulness of new media to the public relations practitioners.
This chapter (Chapter 12 – New Media and Public Relations) tells me the ways in which public relations practitioners can tap on using new media for their campaigns and the issues which new media can bring to public relations practitioners. The internet offers the practitioners in a cheap and easy way to reach out to a large number of people. It can be using a video to be uploaded on Youtube and if the video is interesting and creative enough, through the word of mouth, the links of this video can spread. A website can also be set up following the success of the video’s dissemination, providing an online forum for feedback for the video or the products purchase. It is convenient and fast. Anybody with a device which is able to access to the internet is able to access to it.
However, it is important to note that not everybody is able to access to internet. Not every part of the world has internet connection. So it depends on the targeted audience. The chosen medium needs to be appropriate to reach out to the right audience. If not, it will be a waste of resources and effort.
Besides, new media seems to be widely used by children, young adults and working adults but not the elderly. For example, majority of the elderly in Singapore do not really use the internet for entertainment, networking or any other purposes. According to IDA (2008), 3% of the elderly between the age of 50 and 59 years old use the internet for purchasing/ordering of goods. Only 1% of the age group between 60 and 69 use the internet for the same purpose. From these statistics, if the product is being targeted to the elderly in Singapore, it will be ineffective to use new media as the medium.
In conclusion, public relations practitioners have to be well-informed and conscientious with their research. They need to be wary of the new media’s usage among the people. It is not just the researching that is important but also choosing the way to reach out to the people has to be appropriate.
Link to statistics: http://www.larrylim.net/singapore-internet-usage-statistics.htm
This chapter (Chapter 12 – New Media and Public Relations) tells me the ways in which public relations practitioners can tap on using new media for their campaigns and the issues which new media can bring to public relations practitioners. The internet offers the practitioners in a cheap and easy way to reach out to a large number of people. It can be using a video to be uploaded on Youtube and if the video is interesting and creative enough, through the word of mouth, the links of this video can spread. A website can also be set up following the success of the video’s dissemination, providing an online forum for feedback for the video or the products purchase. It is convenient and fast. Anybody with a device which is able to access to the internet is able to access to it.
However, it is important to note that not everybody is able to access to internet. Not every part of the world has internet connection. So it depends on the targeted audience. The chosen medium needs to be appropriate to reach out to the right audience. If not, it will be a waste of resources and effort.
Besides, new media seems to be widely used by children, young adults and working adults but not the elderly. For example, majority of the elderly in Singapore do not really use the internet for entertainment, networking or any other purposes. According to IDA (2008), 3% of the elderly between the age of 50 and 59 years old use the internet for purchasing/ordering of goods. Only 1% of the age group between 60 and 69 use the internet for the same purpose. From these statistics, if the product is being targeted to the elderly in Singapore, it will be ineffective to use new media as the medium.
In conclusion, public relations practitioners have to be well-informed and conscientious with their research. They need to be wary of the new media’s usage among the people. It is not just the researching that is important but also choosing the way to reach out to the people has to be appropriate.
Link to statistics: http://www.larrylim.net/singapore-internet-usage-statistics.htm
Crisis and Issues
This chapter (Chapter 10 – An Issues-Crisis perspective) helps me to understand better on what the differences between an issue and a crisis. It gives us tips on how to identify issues, the stages of a crisis development and how to handle crisis.
It will be easier for the public relations practitioners once the crisis is spotted early and then they can start to find strategies to solve the crisis.
Crisis is a tougher problem for the practitioners as compared to an issue.
Given for example, the Jack Neo’s case again, that is a crisis for Neo. In my opinion, his case is already in between phase 3 and 4 stages.
For Tiger Woods, his would also be in between phases 3 and 4.
Link to the picture on the right:
http://blogs.smh.com.au/lostintransit/archives/2006/10/crisis_manageme_1.html
One example of a real-life crisis would be the Apple Corporation. During the 1990s, it was not as successful as now. The demand for their products was low. This was because it was targeting to a small audience. There were also reasons like Apple was not selling their products with the right points. Consumers find few or no reasons to buy a Mac.
Link: http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Q4.06/9FD12E37-8DC7-4AD1-872F-2021BEDE6D96.html
Apple bounced back later. With the software equipped in Mac itself, Apple used this as a selling point of this product. Its sales increased. The softwares include Final Cut, Garage Band and Aperture.
Link:http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Q4.06/8F4B780E-674F-4421-A44D-7B1EAE9C1BA6.html
So from this case, we can see that the role that the public relations practitioner is to find the right angle to face the crisis, only then it can be solved. With the wrong angle or method used, it can make matters worse and thus causing the crisis to escalate further.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Organisation and PR practitioner
This chapter (Chapter 8 – Reputation Management: A Driving Force for Action) basically covers about the organisation’s aspects that can affect the way public relations practitioner does his work. It is not always that plans can be accepted easily by the organisation. There are certain ‘ground rules’ for the practitioner to follow. I will talk about one of the aspects and that is stakeholders of the organisation.
A stakeholder seems to be another ‘boss’ to the public relations practitioner. Building good relations with the stakeholders will help the practitioner to be able to carry out strategies in ways which both parties can negotiate.
The model above shows the different types of stakeholders. According to Mitchell, Agle and Wood (1997), power refers to the degree of control which the stakeholder has over the members in the organisation. Legitimacy refers to the amount of investment which the stakeholder has put in that can be used to have a say in certain decision. Urgency refers to the amount of time which can affect the relationship or a claim. It can also refer to the importance of the relationship or claim to the stakeholder. I added this model to help us to know more about the various types of stakeholders in today’s society that still exists. However, there could be more as this diagram was more than 10 years ago.
A stakeholder seems to be another ‘boss’ to the public relations practitioner. Building good relations with the stakeholders will help the practitioner to be able to carry out strategies in ways which both parties can negotiate.
The model above shows the different types of stakeholders. According to Mitchell, Agle and Wood (1997), power refers to the degree of control which the stakeholder has over the members in the organisation. Legitimacy refers to the amount of investment which the stakeholder has put in that can be used to have a say in certain decision. Urgency refers to the amount of time which can affect the relationship or a claim. It can also refer to the importance of the relationship or claim to the stakeholder. I added this model to help us to know more about the various types of stakeholders in today’s society that still exists. However, there could be more as this diagram was more than 10 years ago.
Past vs Present
The demand towards the public relations practitioner today has increased greatly. This chapter (Chapter 7 - Public Relations Management in Organisations) shows the contrast between public relations practitioners in the past and today. There were less responsibilities and roles, things were less complicated in the past (the environment does not change as rapidly as compared to now) and people are not so educated then. Standard of living was lower. Now, public relations practitioners need to continuously update themselves on the latest events, news and technology, they need to find different approaches to adapt to the environment and many more.
Besides, to have an open system, it is more costly and effort to keep up with it. In order to observe the way the environment changes, resources are required to report the findings to the public relations practitioner. These resources can be expensive. For example, the practitioner may have to pay to get the report and also to publish the results of the air pollution in a country. Despite being expensive, these results may be useful such as to help the practitioners with their initial research. As compared to the past, I think the system is closed. It is much simpler. The practitioners less work to do. They do not have to source for resources.
In conclusion, there is no turning back. Adaptation and mitigation are the keys to survival. Not just for the public relations practitioner, everybody will have to do these. Everybody have to find ways to do so. If one does not do so, he may be no longer in the “competing era”, he is “out of range”.
Besides, to have an open system, it is more costly and effort to keep up with it. In order to observe the way the environment changes, resources are required to report the findings to the public relations practitioner. These resources can be expensive. For example, the practitioner may have to pay to get the report and also to publish the results of the air pollution in a country. Despite being expensive, these results may be useful such as to help the practitioners with their initial research. As compared to the past, I think the system is closed. It is much simpler. The practitioners less work to do. They do not have to source for resources.
In conclusion, there is no turning back. Adaptation and mitigation are the keys to survival. Not just for the public relations practitioner, everybody will have to do these. Everybody have to find ways to do so. If one does not do so, he may be no longer in the “competing era”, he is “out of range”.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Strategy
Strategy was introduced during one of the lecture and I wrote a blog post earlier about it. Reading the chapter (Chapter 9 - Strategies to proactively manage activity) which goes into specifics on the strategy, I found that strategy seems standardized. Meaning that a PR strategy can be carried out through these ways and these methods can be used for any company, any PR practitioner. If so, then does this mean that every PR practitioner does his plan through these methods? So as long as I stick to these methods as indicated in the chapter, my plan will cover every aspect?
Given the Jack Neo’s case as an example, what PR tactics can actually help him to bounce back to what he was before? In my opinion, in the recent press conference, getting his wife to come with him was a terrible thing to do. Many people seem to sympathise with his wife and his wife was already suffering humiliation and unhappiness. This move will only encourage more people to sympathise with his wife and thus, putting him in a worse limelight. The point I want to make is that the strategy mentioned in the chapter depends much on anticipation. If the anticipated is not what is really occurring, then the strategy may not be able work successfully.
Okay, back to the PR strategy for Jack Neo’s situation. I think that it will be very difficult to help Jack Neo to gain back respect like it was before. Even if he does many charities, even if he apologizes many times, even if his wife forgives him, these just won’t do. It will take some time, probably years, to prove that he has changed and that he will not go back to his philandering ways. He needs to earn back trust from his wife and fans. Only then, he can be given more opportunities to get respected and fame again.
Given the Jack Neo’s case as an example, what PR tactics can actually help him to bounce back to what he was before? In my opinion, in the recent press conference, getting his wife to come with him was a terrible thing to do. Many people seem to sympathise with his wife and his wife was already suffering humiliation and unhappiness. This move will only encourage more people to sympathise with his wife and thus, putting him in a worse limelight. The point I want to make is that the strategy mentioned in the chapter depends much on anticipation. If the anticipated is not what is really occurring, then the strategy may not be able work successfully.
Okay, back to the PR strategy for Jack Neo’s situation. I think that it will be very difficult to help Jack Neo to gain back respect like it was before. Even if he does many charities, even if he apologizes many times, even if his wife forgives him, these just won’t do. It will take some time, probably years, to prove that he has changed and that he will not go back to his philandering ways. He needs to earn back trust from his wife and fans. Only then, he can be given more opportunities to get respected and fame again.
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