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People fascinate me - especially what makes each of us unique. There are very few fates all human beings share, and death is one of them. My morbidity is something I do not like to think about, and I get very emotional whenever someone I love discusses their own mortality. Yet, and I feel it's almost macabre admitting it, I have an interest in learning about medically assisted suicide and am able to remain objective while doing so. Despite the morbid topic many documentaries on it like "The Suicide Tourist" and "Terry Pratchett - Choosing to Die" are tastefully done with themes of compassion, love, strength, and dignity. I'd have to say watching them has had a profound affect on me and dispelled many of my misconceptions I had about it. I highly recommend watching them both, as they have many similarities but provide slightly different perspectives.
I thought I may just be crazy creating a Strategic PR Plan in Support of Bill-52, as surely there were 'safer' topics to discuss. But such an attitude is likely an indirect cause of why it isn't legal today, and realizing that, I would be doing myself a great disservice choosing another topic.
At no point are my personal beliefs detailed because despite them I'm a proponent for choice and progress and do not want my belief system imposed on anyone else nor another on me. Regardless of whether the bill is passed it's important to create a dialogue and ongoing debate - death won't be going away any time soon.
It has been just under a year since I began studying public
relations – what started it all was a conversation with a co-workerabout career choices and she mentioned she
thought it would be a good fit for me.The
more research I did the more I thought she may be right.I discussed my original perceptions and misconceptions
of what I thought the essence of PR was in an earlier blog entry,
and (hopefully) I have come a long way since then.
Originally what interested me the most was persuading an
audience.To be perfectly honest I find it
quite amazing to discover that I have changed someone’s mind on a topic after a
debate or discussion. Beyond that, I still find it quite fascinating to think
about how delicate and malleable our perceptions are. After taking a few courses I discovered the
aspect of PR that interests me the most is that no two PR campaigns are ever
the same.There are obviously many with
similarities, but there will always be differences.This presents a huge advantage because you
enter every new campaign with fresh eyes, but great past experience.PR campaigns aren’t the only things that
change - communication channels and mediums do, too.There will be endless opportunities for
learning and growing as a PR professional, complacency will never be an option,
and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Studying PR has really given me the ability to compartmentalize
the art of persuasion.There is a formal
and logical process in shifting something as intangible as an opinion.This will be invaluable in my career path as
it’s a foundational skill.Taking the
few courses I have so far have really helped to polish my natural abilities (research,
objectivity, distancing myself from delicate issues to discuss them, writing
and speaking) and I look forward to the next year of studies ahead.At that time I may discover a new aspect
that interests me more.
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The majority of the
students in our class (as in 23 of 25) are full-time students and will be
receiving their PR Diploma from the University of Winnipeg within
a few weeks.It has been such a pleasure
meeting them, I wish them the best in their future endeavors and hope our
career paths cross in the future.
I think you really hit the nail on the head here, Jim, where having your errors pointed out to you so you can correct them can greatly reduce the prevalence of this issue.My sister and I were emailing back and forth a few years ago and she used ‘your’ when she should have used ‘you’re’. She is a teacher – I reminded her that she’s responsible for shaping young minds and should know better. She made it through five years of post-secondary studies without being corrected, and so have many of my peers.Social media has definitely had an impact on the way we communicate, there is absolutely no question, but not knowing you’re even making an error is a fundamental issue here.Taking a few grammar lessons in elementary school is not enough; the lessons need to be consistently reinforced (which I suspect isn’t done because some teachers may not know, either).Apologies for sounding rather melodramatic, but the future of the English language is dependent upon it.
Reading this article conjured up a rather unpleasant memory from when I first started working with the military.The jargon use was extreme and I was constantly referring back to an online guide to understand what the heck people were saying.There was one acronym I couldn’t find, “PA”, but it was rarely used and I never bothered to ask about it.Fast forward five years and it came up again, so I had to ask. You know what it means?!Put away…seriously. I still have no idea why someone thought it was necessary, or a good idea, to ‘acronym-ize’ it.The problem with Ћ is that there is nothing easy about it.Both “@ and &” can be written without lifting your pen off a piece of paper, so they do save time.Unless it has a dedicated key, Ctrl + X, or Shift + X would take longer to type than, “the” (never mind Alt + XXXX).It’s a bad idea almost any way you look at it, but if you must abbreviate it why not use the shorthand version?
I would have to agree, Shelley, that It is quite disconcerting how quickly many of her sponsors have jumped ship, especially after she helped make them household names (Smithfield, anyone?). The Paula Deen fiasco and Walmart slip-ups are/were handled very differently, and there is a very valuable PR lesson there.When people or brands mess up (usually) the best thing to do is to acknowledge the goof, sincerely apologize, attempt to make it right, and then lay low to regroup and move on.People know you can’t draw blood from stone, but until they feel there is some real sincerity in your apology they will relentlessly attack you to drain those last drops. Paula Deen acted against/without the advice of a publicist (she's hired Judy Smith now), and there was fallout.Guaranteed Walmart has an iron-clad PR team and they work well together. Having a strong PR team does not absolve horrible actions, but it does impact the time spent on the media firing range.
The article I responded to can be found here. I found this article through PR Daily, and find it very relevant for writers from all disciplines. And you definitely hit the nail on the head with simplicity being paramount (wish this study had been done when "The Communist Manifesto" was written). The results from the study are not surprising at all, but may be over-simplifying the issue. If writers keep some of the points below in mind before they hit send/print their audience shouldn't place their intelligence in question.
* Know your audience and consider your medium. If you are unsure of whom your full audience is then write for the ‘lowest common denominator.’
* Your reader’s time is valuable – no one wants to read fluff. People throw large words around when their content is lacking, and it doesn’t fool anyone. If you have great content throwing in a large (appropriate) word can really add value.
* Buried verbs, overuse of passive voice and incorrect agreement really make EVERYTHING difficult to read, and are usually the real culprits. Always double-check your grammar, and then check it again! According to Oxford Dictionary there are approximately two hundred and fifty thousand words in the English language – if you cannot flex your lexis bank while writing, where do you do it? Great article - thank you for sharing it!
When we were originally given carte blanche to choose a blog
topic this week, I was going to write about Paula Deen.It was a ‘textbook’ example of what not to do
after you find yourself caught in a PR nightmare.The day I was going to write the blog topic, I
was attending a farewell luncheon for a colleague and his wife was there with
their beautiful three month old daughter.I was sitting beside another colleague – early thirties, single father
of two school age boys, wearing a horrible shirt (bless him, but this will be
important later) and he said something rather strange to me, “That stroller is like
the Cadillac of strollers.”I look over and see it’s a Quinny have an ‘ah-ha’ moment and knew I had to change my topic.
When we had discussed the Quinny stroller in class it was
being positioned as a fashion accessory, which brings me to the bad shirt
comment.My colleague is not a
fashion-conscious consumer and the horrendous shirt (which he told me was very
expensive, sadly) was not one of his only wardrobe choices that lead me to that
conclusion.He didn’t have children that
were of stroller age when Quinny first made its 2007 debut in America, and he
had told me prior he had no desire to have children if he
were to remarry.I was fascinated about
what Quinny did to achieve the support of someone with no prior (or potentially
future) experience with the product/brand.
The Quinny is a completely fold-able and customisable
stroller for the active urban parent.The original target audience was parents living in densely populated cities, but has exploded in the North American market living mostly in suburbia.It has morphed into a consumer-propelled status symbol which equates
cost ($300-$600) to strength of love and care.“Become the ultimate parent with a Quinny stroller”, drives
that very point home.But my colleague likely
didn’t think that our departing friend was a better parent because of the
stroller, or that he had impeccable fashion sense. He thought our colleague had a lot of disposable income. Hmmm...
Much of North America equates personal value and perceived
success through objects (Why drive a Pinto if you have the means to drive a Porsche?), this is bad for humanity but great
for brands that have a high price point. How do we tie this back to the fashion symbol positioning? There are few brands that can 'get away' with overtly using status as a selling point, Quinny is no exception. Targeting a perceived elite segment of society under the guise of fashion Quinny was able to exploit the materialistic North American culture.
It’s fascinating how brands subtly shift perceptions by changing their message in different markets and then consumers perpetuate those ideas as their own—this is the epitome of PR.
When people hear, “We are
the 99%” they know that you’re referring to the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) Movement.I studied sociology in university and have a
keen interest in causes where social disparity is the main focus, so I followed
the rise (and eventual fall) of the OWS closely.We all have our ideas of why OWS was slowly
forgotten about after the last of the protests were broken up.I think it was the lack of organization and
concrete demands, along with the shift in public image from one of Robin Hood
public crusaders to fringe protesting lazy free-loaders (which even those
in vehement support of the movement would not want to be associated with).
If we were to look at this from a purely PR perspective it was missing the A
and E from the RACE
formula.The research and communication components
of the campaign were done very well.There was so much valid information the OWS movement
did a wonderful job of spreading to people all over North America and beyond.It became very difficult for anyone to ignore
the astronomical socioeconomic gap between the elite and the rest (majority)
of the population.During the original
protests the public was inundated, via all major communication channels, with
the movement’s message.
Let’s look at action and evaluation.
By bringing attention to the inequalities prevalent in capitalist societies
the OWS may have hoped their adversaries would freely change, but engaging your
adversaries is not often an effective PR strategy.There were no real demands or suggestions for
their supporters or neutrals.When the
current campaign stopped being effective the group didn’t do a complete
assessment and evaluation of what worked and what didn’t.And because of that they just continued on
with their failing approach.Although I
have complete adoration for the OWS’s message of equality, communication, love
and community I didn’t know what I could do to help make a difference, nor did
I see how camping out somewhere would bring about lasting change.
Ultimately, for a campaign to be successful you must employ the RACE
formula, and ensure you revisit it for the duration of your campaign because it
is cyclical.I believe to have the
movement continue there must be a shift from the original awareness campaign to
one of a call to action through specific demands/requests.They have already engaged their supporters
and persuaded neutrals to become proponents of the campaign.They now must regroup and reengage and tell
their audiences what to do–such as boycott products and services, change their
consumption habits (with specific examples), sign petitions, force their local
politicians into action, and debate.
When you see things the OWS movement was trying to prevent through their
protests occur, such as doubling federal student
loan rates, a new strategy must be implemented.Otherwise, the protests, arrests, and
awareness campaigns become nothing more than a wildly successful PR stunt of
the past.
When most of us think of persuasion we think it’s somewhat
devious or manipulative, which it certainly can be if it’s used to make people
harm themselves (luckily, PR has a very clear code of ethics), but it’s really a useful tool
to educate consumers and eliminate ignorant beliefs.Even studying PR I am not immune to external
influence and here are some of my experiences (public figure/brand, consumer
decision, and opinion) that have been shaped by the art of persuasion.
As a child I distinctly remember sitting in my hallway watching my mother’s
taped Oprah shows, and I only watched because I was waiting to get to the
episode of "Days of our Lives".My opinion of Oprah was always one of indifference
until I became news-literate and developed a new appreciation for her.For the last 20 years her message has been
complete and consistent.She has built
an empire through broadcasted messages of personal empowerment, invoked the support of
celebrities and other key influencers, and provided evidence it all works.Even when Kitty Kelley released an
unauthorized biography bashing Oprah, my opinion of her remained
unchanged.Her response with
acknowledgement, humor, and ultimately a ‘let’s move on’ attitude really
solidified my respect for her. If Oprah had not done such an amazing job of
developing her brand the biography could have caused some major damage.
I was looking for a savings account that would provide a lot of freedom yet
security in a relatively unsure economy, all with minimal fees.There were so many options on the market,
both available publically and privately, and I was really torn on what would
work best for me. I am definitely not an expert on the issue so I went to sources
I respected like Golden
Girl Finance and Gordon
Pape for their advice, and researched their suggested options.Their opinions on Tax Free Savings Accounts
were solely responsible in my savings account decision.
If you had asked my opinion on genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) a few years ago you would have received an earful
from me.A very good friend of mine
started working for a company that is considered an industry leader within the province
and during a friendly debate (albeit a heated one) provided a convincing
argument with some irrefutable proof of its benefits. Her word and argument
alone weren’t enough to sway me because I thought she was likely very biased,
but it was enough for me to want to look into it further.Now if you were to ask me about GMOs you
would get a different earful.
The majority of what you read online, watch on TV, or hear on the radio is deliberately
presented to you in an attempt to form your personal views and
opinions. Even seemingly unbiased items have seeds of persuasion embedded
in them. There are a myriad of sides to every person, product, brand, or issue. You don't need to be a pro to know when someone is trying to persuade you, or to try to persuade someone else. Questioning what you are told or read with thorough research
will ensure you're always correctly informed, and will also help you inform (and likely persuade) those around you.
