Rachel Todd: My Spin on PR

I have mentioned in an earlier post that my dissertation (the reason that I haven’t blogged for so long) topic is the contribution of PR to city branding. On my initial review of the literature back in February and March it was very hard to find sources that showed PR as anything more than a tactic in the support of marketing. In my most recent review of the literature not a lot has changed other than the ways in which I analyse and this is where my dissertation has really started to take shape.

Let me explain.

Having come from a marketing background I quite often didn’t get the big debate about whether PR was marketing, which was better or whether one was simply a spinoff of the other. I liked to think that as long as the companies that were utilising the tools were doing well what did it matter? Since completing the course however I do see a huge distinction between the two, but at the same time, without thinking one is better than the other. They both have their merits when used at the right time and for the right reason. This has meant that when looking at place and city branding I have been able to pick out tools, such as creating and managing perceptions and relationship building, as PR rather than accepting that they are marketing.

This part of the dissertation has been hugely revealing to me, not just in showing that there is a very real place for PR in city branding, but also in that I can see how much I have learnt over the last year about PR and also about not accepting everything I am told . It seems to me that if you push the boundaries a little it’s amazing what you can find.

 It is often, mistakenly, the case that a rise in profits is seen as a company on the up, but this is not always the case and not always so measurable. The rise in profits that BA has announced may be great for the last financial year but what does this year hold for them? Not only that but shouldn’t it be questioned that if a good reputation can mean high profits what will a bad reputation do?

This years 45% rise in profits is already being compared to what will happen next year, however BA seem reluctant to place emphasis on the fact that this may be due to T5. They see that this year will be tough due to rising fuel costs and the current economic situation. It may be a bit harsh but surely the T5 crisis will figure in how the profits will go next year. To some a rise in profits will indicate a fresh start for BA but it has to be remembered that a lot of the money would have been made before the crisis occurred.

A positive point is that BA don’t appear to be resting on this and want to turn things around but doesn’t this depend on how much damage has been done and whether the BA brand is strong enough to withstand a crisis.

There are so many questions surrounding the impact of this crisis and it will be interesting to follow this up this time next year to see just to what extent brands are financially affected by crises. You only have to look at the Northern Rock to see just what happens when your company image sees a shift, but how true is this for every brand; does it merely depend on the brand or on the nature of the crisis and how well it is handled?

I have finally had the chance to begin reading The Long Tail by Chris Anderson and I am finding it really interesting. I was most intrigued by the concept of the virtual water cooler. Those of us digital natives use these virtual water coolers everyday but I personally had never really thought of them in this way. 

Back in the day when there wasn’t as much choice as we have now there was box office hits and smash hit singles etc and this lead to the water cooler effect. Everyday people were all talking about the same programme that had been on the TV last night or the latest hit film and usually this was around the ‘water cooler’. 

So what happens now that the internet has opened up niche markets for products? There are no hits; in fact the hits are being challenged by the culmination of the niche markets. Therefore now that we have been given the choice we have found that we can use these choices to express ourselves and show that we have unique interests. This is where we find out that we are not similar to our close circle of friends and in fact we have little in common.

So where do we go to talk about our new found interests and passions? facebook, MySpace, blogs, fan sites and ever photo sharing sites. We join groups and fan bases to talk about what we are passionate about. For example I love Jimmy Nail, it’s been quite a long time sinc e he has done any work therefore it’s not always easy to find people who talk about him round the office, in fact in my last job I was ridiculed for my interest. So what do people do in this situation? They join the fan sites online. These are the virtual water coolers and what a great concept they are. They support the niche market world that we now live in and make communities out of them. It’s no wonder that these niches are putting up such a big fight against the hits.

My time at Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) is very nearly over, well the teaching time anyway, there is still a little matter of my dissertation to worry about. I had planned to go to Leeds Met for the last few years of my undergraduate degree because of the reputation of the PR courses, but did it do what it said on the tin?

In the prospectus the PR MA promises to use lectures, seminars and workshops to provide knowledge of public relations as well building practical skills. I can honestly say that the course has done all of these things, in this case the image and identity matched and the reputation of LMU is still intact in my eyes.

But for me, the course, the university and the lecturers have gone further than the description in the prospectus, I have been offered numerous chances to attend professional lectures, giving me the chance to network with PR professionals and all of the lecturers that I have come across have done everything they can to  guide me in the right direction.

So yes, the course did everything it said on the tin and more, and I would imagine that the unfaltering reputation of the PR courses at LMU will be shown in the number of students who enrol on them every year.  In my eyes it’s a great starting post for a career in PR and a decision that you won’t regret.

Yesterday the PR MA students at Leed Metropolitan University were lucky enough to be invited to a CIPR talk, ‘PR and the Digital Frontier’ that was given by Rob Brown formerly of McCann Eriksson.

My classmates and I really enjoyed the talk, as it is always interesting to a different perspective on new media and it was especially interesting to see how the practitioners reacted to what they were being told. However I was particularly surprised at how much of the presentation had already been covered in our New Media module. The reason that I was surprised is that it was very apparent that as students and digital natives we were much more aware of social media and its uses, than some of the practitioners were.

As a student I am very aware of all of the practical learning that I still have ahead of me, so it was great to know that as a digital native I have new skills that I can bring to the profession. That’s not to say that there are not many practitioners and agencies that take social and new media onboard, some well known examples include webitpr and Shift Communications. It also appears that other practitioners are looking for these skills from their staff, for example Angie Moxham of 3 Monkeys told PR Week that she looks for these new media skills in graduates coming to her for a job.

New media to me, is a chance for students and young graduates to show their worth and make a mark in the profession. Its often hard to shine straight away in an industry where experience and skill is crucial and I see new media as a chance for us to spread our wings and fly.

Angie Moxham, founder of 3 Monkeys, told PR Week this week that the key to her success was in knowing her strengths and ’surrounding herself with people who excel’ in the places that she is weak. 

Although this concept is not new it is always inspiring to see someone who is successful to have put it into place. Angie likes to get stuck in with PR and knows that she isn’t strong in business management, understanding this and using it to her benefit is the key to her success. 

When written in black and white like that it makes sense doesn’t it? So why is it that so many people focus on their weaknesses rather than their strengths? Do people find it hard to admit where their weaknesses lie? I would like to bet that a lot of people find it even harder to really say what their strengths are. One of my biggest strengths is that I am prepared to work hard but this could also be seen as a weakness as I often get tunnel vision and don’t take time to look around and take stock. Evaluating yourself in this way is not always easy or straightforward and I would imagine you have to be pretty comfortable in your own shoes to do it successfully. 

I don’t mind admitting that I so desperately want to be good at everything, which is why I work so hard and why my mind is so busy, but having looked at the way Angie Moxham runs her career I think I am going to take a different view. There are some parts of my life that I excel in but there are others that I will never be good at because that’s the way it is and it probably won’t change.  So rather than beating myself up about it I will focus on my strengths.  

Now let’s see how far I get through the assessment period before I go back to my old way of thinking. If I have learnt anything about myself today hopefully I won’t.

Anyone who walks through a high street can’t help but fail to notice that McDonalds has changed its decor from the traditional red and yellow. Well McDonalds have now taken this a step further and introduced a designer look for their staff.

The brand claims it is to repay their staff for working so hard in a challenging job. This act has an element of CSR about it. But on the other hand surely the new uniforms also fit in with its branding and how it wants to be seen. Does this make it CSR?

CSR provokes many interesting debates. Are companies being ethical because they truly believe in the cause? i.e. Looking after and developing staff. Are companies being good to their staff because it makes them look better so they will encourage more custom? Or are companies trying to attract a better breed of staff? In any of these reasons it could be argued that McDonalds will benefit from the introduction of designer uniforms.

This is just a simple observation and does not cover all of the ins and outs of CSR. It could even be considered to be very sceptical about McDonald’s actions, but I often find it hard not to be sceptical with regards to some CSR policies. How many of you think that a good action is out of the goodness of a company’s heart or is there more to it?