PR and the Internet

With Internet communication technologies becoming increasingly pertinent to today’s society, the implications of such technology still remains to be seen. With increasing reliance on the Internet, acting unethically can be tempting to PR pros. This however, undermines the profession and should be avoided at all costs.

A recent example is the YouTube video clip slamming Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s run for presidency. Raising a buzz online and in mainstream media, the clip is not necessarily controversial because of its content. What’s more controversial is the fact that whoever created the clip remains anonymous. In fact, the clip leads viewers to believe that Senator Barack Obama was behind it (this was denied)!

The line is fuzzy as to whether this technology belongs to marketers or PR practitioners, but both currently seem to have their hands in it. It may, eventually, belong to both. For that matter, it could have been Obama’s PR or marketing team that put up the video clip.

Last year, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) issued a statement that left Internet communications unregulated. According to The LA Times, The FEC wrote, "The vast majority of Internet communications are, and will remain, free from campaign finance regulation," the commission added that it was "affirming that Internet activities by individuals and groups of individuals face almost no regulatory burdens under the Federal Election Campaign Act." Although the FEC didn’t regulate Internet technology, it does not give PR professionals the right to act unethically.

In the meantime, a clip slamming the Obama run for presidency is supposedly underway.

Will these communication technologies become a major force behind swaying the public in the 2008 presidential campaigns? If so, what are the implications of outlets such as YouTube? Will it matter that the information is opinion and not necessarily fact? What will the public relations role be?

Twittering

In PR, professionals seem to be paying a lot more attention to technology. This is because technology offers more efficient, sometimes even cheaper, ways of getting a message out. While the latest trends in PR technology have been blogs, RSS feeds and podcasts, another technology is emerging – twittering.

To twitter is a way to broadcast short text messages to large groups of people posted via SMS, IM or Browser. It’s basically a short statement posted immediately or, micro-blogging at lightning speed. Twitter allows a “global community of friends and strangers to answer one simple question: What are you doing.”

While this may seem like the next big fad, the population of users is growing about 20% a week. In its seven-month existence Twitter has over 60,000 members. Marketwatch.com, Reuters and even John Edwards often use Twitter to post links or share short tidbits of info.

The San Francisco Chronicle recently published an in-depth article about twittering. It goes on about the good, bad and the ugly side of this technology, as well as attempting to pinpoint where this technology may be used.

A business model has not yet been formed for twittering. However, Robert Scoble of Scobleizer blog said, "The world has taught me, if you have an audience, a business model will show up. Google demonstrated that. It was in business for four years before it found a business model, and now it's a multibillion-dollar company.”

March Madness

In celebrating the March Madness season, The LA Times recently published an article relating basketball to the ever-changing workplace. It has an interesting take on the “tolerant” workforce.

The “tolerant” workforce is a move for employers to allow employees more personal time at work, including Web use, watching T.V. and making phone calls. This has been said to increase productivity and retention, and create positive relationships (most of the time).

The article highlights a mortgage-banking firm that for the second year in a row is allowing the March Madness games to be displayed on the office big-screens during work hours. The firm does this even though it knows sales will plunge during the NCAA basketball tournaments.

Why? "I want to have a good, fun, upbeat atmosphere," said Brooke Pfautz from his office in Hunt Valley, Md. "You spend more of your waking hours at work, so you might as well enjoy it."

There were many ways I could relate the article to life at Eisbrenner. It may not be as extreme as some of the companies within the article, but you are allowed to bring in your dog, play pool and wear jeans on Friday. Friday is actually my personal favorite, because it also happens to be bagel day. Furthermore, random Koosh ball fights tend to break out around the office, which really helps to break up the day!

Does your office incorporate any unique or sometimes random ways of building relationships within the organization?

Blogging for Money

With 175,000 blogs being created daily it’s no wonder that critics are calling online ethics into question. I recently found an interesting article about blog ethics on the Los Angeles Times website.

The article remained relatively neutral when describing “blogging for money.” Web sites like www.blogkits.com and www.TheBloggingCashMachine.com facilitate the offering of money from companies to bloggers, in order to create a “buzz” about its product in order to achieve what seems like a naturally occurring, word-of-mouth marketing.

Supporters of the trend say getting paid to blog is ethical as long as there are disclaimers noting that compensation from marketers may influence entries, and posts may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content. Critics say the industry is polluting the blog world and misleading consumers by blurring the line between advertising and unbiased opinion.

With that said, there are many questions about blogs that need to be answered before I can pick a side. Should blogs be used as a marketing tactic? When bloggers get paid to speak of a product, do they always speak highly of a product or do they raise any buzz? Do Internet users see blogs as a form of advertisement, an online journal or absolute truth? If you have found any studies done on blogs or have your own opinions about the topic, please pass them along.

Museum for Public Relations

Years ago, toast and coffee was the typical American breakfast. Edward Bernay- an early public relations pioneer- helped convince the public that bacon and eggs, in fact, was the true American breakfast. Where do you find such random facts, you might ask?

After doing some research about the industry, I came across a museum for public relations. Founded in 1997, the Web site offers information about the early pioneers of PR and their strategies and tactics, many of which are still used today.

The Web site showcases Edward L. Bernays, the “father of public relations,” who began practicing during WWI; Moss Kendrix , the first African American to acquire major accounts and set the stage for the breakdown of ethnic and cultural stereotypes in advertising; Carl Byoir who worked in travel PR representing the Cuban government; and Chet Burger, a pioneer of modern PR practices, television and journalism.

The site also offers online exhibits, a reference library and exclusive online videos. Check it out and let me know what you think.

PR in Action

Want to see PR in action? I came across an interesting article about Wal-Mart’s efforts to calm a crisis situation. Apparently, a Wal-Mart technician was recording phone conversations between the company’s media relations staff and a reporter, Michael Barbaro, from the New York Times.

When news made way to Wal-Mart officials, an internal investigation took place. The technician was fired and disciplinary action was taken against two managers for “failure to carry out their management duties.” Wal-Mart then issued a release, strengthened its policies and scheduled a media conference call. In fact, when I “Googled” this incident, there were 471 articles!

The articles remained relatively neutral. Although they didn’t say anything extremely good or bad, the articles do question whether Wal-Mart has more information that they are not releasing. I’m sure the tone of the articles will change as more information is released.

According to the New York Times, The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are also assessing the actions of the employee and others inside Wal-Mart to determine whether federal and state laws were broken, according to spokesmen for the investigators’ offices.

Wal-Mart did not say what led the technician to make the recordings or why Michael Barbaro was the target, but the employee may have had access to internal company documents. Needless to say, this situation has not been taken lightly. Do you know of any strong PR campaigns in crisis scenarios?

On Becoming a Leader

My internship credit at University of Michigan-Dearborn depends on two factors: (1) performance at Eisbrenner (in terms of university guidelines) and (2) fulfilling the obligations of my co-op seminar. The seminar includes reading multiple texts, writing learning objectives, end-of-term essays and in-class participation.

One of these assigned books includes On Becoming a Leader (Warren Bennis). I highly recommend this because it offers internship/co-op students knowledge of the leadership characteristics they aim to acquire or may already possess. These are: the need for education -- both formal and informal; the need to unlearn so that you can learn (this is especially true for multiple intern/co-op students); the need to reflect on learning; the need to take risks, make mistakes; and for mastery at the task at hand. Bennis also goes on to say that ultimately becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself.

This cannot be gained in one internship, possibly not even in multiple internships, but I think it exemplifies the ultimate goal of any career-based person. Any student within an internship program is already taking steps to achieve competence in their field. Are there any reading materials you would recommend to someone just beginning their career?

Brainstorming

What do event planning, strategizing and media relations all have in common here at Eisbrenner? They all begin with a brainstorming session. I’ve been lucky enough to attend a few of these during my internship.

While brainstorming may seem trivial, it forms the basis of a successful outcome. It can help you identify problems, develop new ways of thinking and/or be aware of potential opportunities.

Although every organization may do it differently (if they brainstorm at all), at Eisbrenner, everyone from a particular team (and sometimes people from outside of a team) gather together and talk about thoughts, ideas, problems and opportunities. Everything gets written on a board, typed out and saved for future reference. From this, decisions are made for strategic plans and event ideas to the proper media targets

Does your company incorporate brainstorming and if so, do they have any particular procedures?