I am still finding it hard to grasp the concept that this will be my eleventh and last blog of the semester! It seems like just yesterday that I was brain storming ideas for the focus of my blog and now here I am with ten down and one to go. However, I have a strong feeling that it’s the fact I have just finished my first semester as a junior in college that I am really not coming to terms with. I mean who here is actually upset that this is our last blog, just kidding! This blog really has helped me become even more informed on NBC New Publicity and the company in general. Considering my perfect world consists of becoming a NBC Page and eventually a future employee of this corporation, this was a great way to help keep my priorities in line. Now enough about being depressed that my life is flashing before my eyes, this week our assignment is to comment on two classmate’s blogs. Therefore, I have selected Caryn Lieberman’s post on the importance of technology and Roberta Soare’s post about an awesome experiment regarding environmental friendly fashion.
Caryn Lieberman’s post is about the importance of technology in the public relations field. In an article she found they made an interesting point regarding how the growth in social networking has been fueled by the transition from PC to mobile. I feel it is interesting to think that originally social media was created to be accessed from computers, but the tables have turned due to societies need and obsession for information at their hands. In the article researched it states that mobile users spend on average 3.1 hours per week on social networking sites compared to just 2.2 hours on email. In addition, researchers predict that consumers expect their use of social networking on mobiles to increase more than use through PC. I definitely agree with this prediction and even wonder what new ways social media will be appearing beyond mobile and PC devises.
When taking a look at Roberta Soare’s post, she has centered her blog on fashion which I have stated over and over is my biggest guilty pleasure besides the media. In this awesome article she found, it explains how a line called Bio Couture is being created and will be the first biodegradable clothing line. This experiment began in 2006 and has three completed garments up to date. In addition, the scientist Suzanne Lee and material scientist Dr. David Hepworth have created Lee Bio Jewelry which is a jewelry line that uses human bone cells. This jewelry line has received a lot of attention because of celebrities who have donated their bone cells to help make the jewelry. Just imagine being able to walk around with Tina Fey’s bone cells on your neck: creepy or just plain awesome? Whatever you answer may be, the fact is none of this could have even been possible without research which is why it is so important in not just public relations, but almost every work field.
So there you have it, my last two comments on my classmate’s post and my last blog of the semester. I have really enjoyed getting my thoughts buzzing each week and sharing with you my different findings and ideas regarding NBC and public relations in general. Now before I go back into my time is going too fast depression, I will let you all know that writing about NBC News Publicity and the media field has been a pleasure. I wish all of my classmates the best in their future public relations experiences! In addition, this blog has been an awesome experience and I will definitely be making one for my future journey next semester to Europe. Alright everyone that is all for now and I am sure at some point in time we will meet again, but until that day comes you are more than welcome to click here for the most up to date information about what is going on at NBC News PR.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Media Violence: Grounds for an Experiment?
This week’s blog theme is focused around the one and only experimental research. Experimental research is typically used for areas such as sociology and psychology, physics, chemistry, biology and more. Now I know for myself that when I hear of experimental research, my mind brings me back to my middle school days of setting up the independent and dependent variables in my science classes. Therefore, linking experimental research to the field of public relations seemed a bit strange to me at first. However, the more we learned about the importance of experimental research I was sure that it could be a key research tool in the world of public relations and the media! Here is a great website I found that really breaks down experimental research in a clear and concise matter if you’re curious.
Digging deeper into experimental research, I searched online for an example that I could relate to NBC Universal. Luckily, I found this awesome experiment that looked into media violence (which is relevant to all media corporations) that happened to be conducted by NBC along with other media companies like CBS. One experiment NBC did to explore this topic was done by presenting preadolescent and adolescent males in a security facility with a diet of aggressive or non-aggressive television programs over a six week period and measured their daily aggressive behavior. They found that the youngsters who watched the non-aggressive programs were more aggressive than the other group.
In addition, another experiment by NBC was conducted over a three year period from May 1970 to December 1973 in two cities, Fort Worth and Minneapolis. Interviews were conducted with samples of second- to sixth-grade boys and girls and a special sample of teenage boys. In the elementary school sample, the information on television viewing and measures of aggression was collected in six time periods over the three years.
Both these examples show that experimental research was needed because it was dealing with more of the sociology and psychology side of individuals. The topic of violence in the media is extremely important to media corporations and their public relations teams, who must work together to make sure their viewers are safe and no major crisis breaks out among the viewers.
Well that is all for now, I hope I have expanded your thoughts on the wide range of situations experimental research can be applied to! It’s hard to believe the semester is almost over and we are all getting down to our last few blog posts. See you next week : )
Digging deeper into experimental research, I searched online for an example that I could relate to NBC Universal. Luckily, I found this awesome experiment that looked into media violence (which is relevant to all media corporations) that happened to be conducted by NBC along with other media companies like CBS. One experiment NBC did to explore this topic was done by presenting preadolescent and adolescent males in a security facility with a diet of aggressive or non-aggressive television programs over a six week period and measured their daily aggressive behavior. They found that the youngsters who watched the non-aggressive programs were more aggressive than the other group.
In addition, another experiment by NBC was conducted over a three year period from May 1970 to December 1973 in two cities, Fort Worth and Minneapolis. Interviews were conducted with samples of second- to sixth-grade boys and girls and a special sample of teenage boys. In the elementary school sample, the information on television viewing and measures of aggression was collected in six time periods over the three years.
Both these examples show that experimental research was needed because it was dealing with more of the sociology and psychology side of individuals. The topic of violence in the media is extremely important to media corporations and their public relations teams, who must work together to make sure their viewers are safe and no major crisis breaks out among the viewers.
Well that is all for now, I hope I have expanded your thoughts on the wide range of situations experimental research can be applied to! It’s hard to believe the semester is almost over and we are all getting down to our last few blog posts. See you next week : )
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Results Are In . . . .
Hello everyone! This week in class we are studying surveys and the importance they have in the public relations field. Overall, survey research is an excellent, effective and basic way to obtain information regarding a future or current product, obtaining customer feedback and much more. Now don’t get me wrong, every once in a while surveys can be an annoyance and not always the most entertaining thing to do. However, if a company is able to make their surveys short, sweet and to the point they will be sure to receive the information they are looking for!
So since last week I commented on two of classmate’s blogs, I thought it was time to bring the focus back to NBC Universal. I figured a huge corporation like NBC Universal must give out surveys considering they have dedicated so many departments to research. So as I was doing a little bit of my own research I stumbled upon this article titled: “Meredith/NBC Universal 'What Do Women Want?' Survey.” The article went on to describe a very unique partnership between two of the nation’s leading media companies, Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE). Basically, both companies teamed up to conduct a survey about what exactly woman want. This survey reached out to more than 3,000 women and covered a wide range of important topics to women, including marriage and family, health and fitness, safety, and financial matters.
The importance behind this survey is that between Meredith and NBC Universal their media brands include Ladies’ Home Journal, More, Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens, Fitness, Siempre Mujer and BHG.com , The Today Show, MSNBC, Bravo, Oxygen, Access Hollywood, Telemundo, and iVillage and more. Therefore, a survey looking into what woman want is perfect in understanding their target audience of woman!
After reading this article I then went on to find more specific survey results on the Meredith website. I was amazed to see how many finding these companies were able to pull from this survey. Something the survey found as a top concern of woman was health, which was then broken down into concerns such as, Diet/weight control (56%), Eating well/nutrition (36%), Allergies (27%), Aging process (26%), Mental health (25%) and more. I highly recommend reading all the findings because they were so interesting!
This just goes to show how important survey research can be in benefiting your company. Women are not the easiest humans to uncover (trust me I know). Therefore, media companies taking the time to really understand their audience shows that they are not only trying to benefit themselves but their viewers as well!
So since last week I commented on two of classmate’s blogs, I thought it was time to bring the focus back to NBC Universal. I figured a huge corporation like NBC Universal must give out surveys considering they have dedicated so many departments to research. So as I was doing a little bit of my own research I stumbled upon this article titled: “Meredith/NBC Universal 'What Do Women Want?' Survey.” The article went on to describe a very unique partnership between two of the nation’s leading media companies, Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE). Basically, both companies teamed up to conduct a survey about what exactly woman want. This survey reached out to more than 3,000 women and covered a wide range of important topics to women, including marriage and family, health and fitness, safety, and financial matters.
The importance behind this survey is that between Meredith and NBC Universal their media brands include Ladies’ Home Journal, More, Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens, Fitness, Siempre Mujer and BHG.com , The Today Show, MSNBC, Bravo, Oxygen, Access Hollywood, Telemundo, and iVillage and more. Therefore, a survey looking into what woman want is perfect in understanding their target audience of woman!
After reading this article I then went on to find more specific survey results on the Meredith website. I was amazed to see how many finding these companies were able to pull from this survey. Something the survey found as a top concern of woman was health, which was then broken down into concerns such as, Diet/weight control (56%), Eating well/nutrition (36%), Allergies (27%), Aging process (26%), Mental health (25%) and more. I highly recommend reading all the findings because they were so interesting!
This just goes to show how important survey research can be in benefiting your company. Women are not the easiest humans to uncover (trust me I know). Therefore, media companies taking the time to really understand their audience shows that they are not only trying to benefit themselves but their viewers as well!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Classmate's Post
Hello everyone! I am back again this week to comment on two of my classmate’s blogs. Now that we have just wrapped up our second test I thought it would be nice to reflect on some blogs that really highlighted what we have learned this semester.
The first classmate’s blog I have selected is Kevin Mahoney’s titled: Social Media Breakfast: The Present and Future of Social Media. Not only did Kevin write about social media, which has been stressed repeatedly in the course, but it revolved around the one and only Quinnipiac University. I love this post because it shows that social media is an important part of the community in which our class belongs to. Basically, Quinnipiac held a Social Media Breakfast, which was lead by a Quinnipiac Graduate Communications Professor named Phil Simons. It involved a panel of professionals who highlighted topics such as social media and advertising, returns on social media campaign, what strategies can social media experts use to reach specific audiences and what’s in store for the future of social media. Obviously, these are all important topics in the field on public relations. My only question is: where was my invitation? But really, this seems awesome and something I would have loved to attend! Social media is such a fascinating topic, and it is only growing and enhancing every day.
Next, I of course had to find a post that fit my “media corporation” blog focus. So I would like to thank my classmate Blain for her post titled: Participant Observation In an online virtual world? Her post evolved how MTV (one of my personal favorites) uses participant observation to undertake an ethnographic exploration of brands in an online virtual world. In fact, Viacom’s MTV has invested $1.3 billion in virtual games by 2010. One of the most popular is the Virtual Hills/Laguna Beach game (which I would play in a heartbeat, who wouldn’t want to be LC for a day). I thought this was clever because MTV is one of the first media companies to invest in an online virtual world. Obviously social media is at the top of everyone’s list, but this is a different angle to the internet craze and I love it! They even had another one where players can create avatars.
So there you have it, I think I found two very awesome blogs this week. However all my peers have done a great job on their blogs, there is just so much interesting stuff out there that can fit into our futures in the public relations world. While this is all for now and I will be back next week with a new original post!
The first classmate’s blog I have selected is Kevin Mahoney’s titled: Social Media Breakfast: The Present and Future of Social Media. Not only did Kevin write about social media, which has been stressed repeatedly in the course, but it revolved around the one and only Quinnipiac University. I love this post because it shows that social media is an important part of the community in which our class belongs to. Basically, Quinnipiac held a Social Media Breakfast, which was lead by a Quinnipiac Graduate Communications Professor named Phil Simons. It involved a panel of professionals who highlighted topics such as social media and advertising, returns on social media campaign, what strategies can social media experts use to reach specific audiences and what’s in store for the future of social media. Obviously, these are all important topics in the field on public relations. My only question is: where was my invitation? But really, this seems awesome and something I would have loved to attend! Social media is such a fascinating topic, and it is only growing and enhancing every day.
Next, I of course had to find a post that fit my “media corporation” blog focus. So I would like to thank my classmate Blain for her post titled: Participant Observation In an online virtual world? Her post evolved how MTV (one of my personal favorites) uses participant observation to undertake an ethnographic exploration of brands in an online virtual world. In fact, Viacom’s MTV has invested $1.3 billion in virtual games by 2010. One of the most popular is the Virtual Hills/Laguna Beach game (which I would play in a heartbeat, who wouldn’t want to be LC for a day). I thought this was clever because MTV is one of the first media companies to invest in an online virtual world. Obviously social media is at the top of everyone’s list, but this is a different angle to the internet craze and I love it! They even had another one where players can create avatars.
So there you have it, I think I found two very awesome blogs this week. However all my peers have done a great job on their blogs, there is just so much interesting stuff out there that can fit into our futures in the public relations world. While this is all for now and I will be back next week with a new original post!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Qualitative Research: The Endless Possibilities
Society’s trust in the media is something that has steadily declined over the past few years. In fact, less than one-third of the population says they generally trust the media and its intentions. Now I know what you’re thinking, I interned for NBC News (hints this blogs focus) which would of course requires me to have partaken in this ongoing media battle. Well, part of my job was to listen to a hotline where viewers would call about their feelings towards our MSNBC programs. Now don’t get me wrong, we have our FAIR SHARE of crazies who would call everyday screaming on top of their lungs, trying to send us the perfect design to fix the oil spill. However, overall it was a great way to get feedback from the viewers.
With this being said, the last two weeks in class we have been heavily studying qualitative research, which is described as attempts to uncover information to provide a basis for future research as well as for communications insights and prompts. This includes observing what people say and do, their meaning, comprehension and progress. When I went through my textbook to learn more about the subject, I stumbled upon the previously discussed media trust issues along with how qualitative research is great way to explore media reliability. Therefore, I think it would be a great idea for NBC News to step up its game and research societies trust in the media!
With different ideas floating through my head about what types of qualitative research would best fit NBC; I decided to do a little research of my own. During the process I stumbled upon this little baby: “Universal Uses a Novel Qualitative Forecasting Technique to Predict Advertising Demand.” (make sure you then download the document) Although it was not my idea for qualitative research, I thought it would be cool to share with you a research project conducted by NBC. Basically, NBC research was created to estimate the demand for television commercial time during the upfront market. The upfront market is a brief period in late May when the television networks sell a majority of their on-air advertising inventory.
NBC developed qualitative models based on historical data to predict demand for NBCU. In addition, they collected data on advertising spending by industry, company, advertising media type (television, print, radio, billboards, etc.), broadcast network, and advertising agency, gathering this data from several sources including media intelligence. In addition, they also collected historical data on several leading economic indicators that are believed to influence advertising spending, such as employment in manufacturing industries, inventory to sales ratios, housing starts, and capacity utilization in durable and nondurable manufacturing.
Well it seems to me that NBC uses qualitative research all the time in order better their company and viewers. Maybe someone out their will read this very post and attempt my idea of investigating the current problem with media reliability! This is all I got for this week everyone, I hope you learned a little bit about qualitative research and how it applies to the media world.
With this being said, the last two weeks in class we have been heavily studying qualitative research, which is described as attempts to uncover information to provide a basis for future research as well as for communications insights and prompts. This includes observing what people say and do, their meaning, comprehension and progress. When I went through my textbook to learn more about the subject, I stumbled upon the previously discussed media trust issues along with how qualitative research is great way to explore media reliability. Therefore, I think it would be a great idea for NBC News to step up its game and research societies trust in the media!
With different ideas floating through my head about what types of qualitative research would best fit NBC; I decided to do a little research of my own. During the process I stumbled upon this little baby: “Universal Uses a Novel Qualitative Forecasting Technique to Predict Advertising Demand.” (make sure you then download the document) Although it was not my idea for qualitative research, I thought it would be cool to share with you a research project conducted by NBC. Basically, NBC research was created to estimate the demand for television commercial time during the upfront market. The upfront market is a brief period in late May when the television networks sell a majority of their on-air advertising inventory.
NBC developed qualitative models based on historical data to predict demand for NBCU. In addition, they collected data on advertising spending by industry, company, advertising media type (television, print, radio, billboards, etc.), broadcast network, and advertising agency, gathering this data from several sources including media intelligence. In addition, they also collected historical data on several leading economic indicators that are believed to influence advertising spending, such as employment in manufacturing industries, inventory to sales ratios, housing starts, and capacity utilization in durable and nondurable manufacturing.
Well it seems to me that NBC uses qualitative research all the time in order better their company and viewers. Maybe someone out their will read this very post and attempt my idea of investigating the current problem with media reliability! This is all I got for this week everyone, I hope you learned a little bit about qualitative research and how it applies to the media world.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Whats everyone talking about?
I won’t lie, as I currently creep around on facebook while people watching (instead of actually doing my homework) I can’t help but note that I am somehow partaking in unobtrusive research. In fact, I’m pretty sure I could get a Ph.D in unobtrusive research after all the observations I do in a day. Therefore, this week I will be taking a look at two of my classmates blog post that are centered on unobtrusive research.
First we are going to take a look at my classmate Sam Roman’s blog post on unobtrusive research. I have commented on Sam’s blog previously because I love the fashion theme and she seems to always find interesting articles or angels. Her post linked unobtrusive research to shoplifting, which is something I never considered using unobtrusive research for. Sam discussed that at her time working at a retail store she never once was allowed to go up to someone who she suspected was shoplifting. In fact, she then went onto find research that states 1 in every 11 people are shoplifters in the United States. You might be wondering how this relates to my PR class (besides the fact that at least 2 people in the class are statically shop lifters). Well the blog went on to explain a study where researchers observed customers in a store that had various shop lifters. The study found that shoplifters always walked away without a problem and if another shopper witnessed the theft, they almost never said anything to the offender or store personnel. I believe this topic was a perfect way to use unobtrusive research, and really backs up the fact that the U.S. lost $15 BILLION to shoplifters last year.
Another out of the ordinary blog post I found was written by Alyssa Chianese titled “Unobtrusive Research: Keeping it Natural.” Alyssa’s blog is focused around food, which is probably another one of my favorite things in the WORLD. Therefore, I was very excited that she has found a way to link high calorie fast food to unobtrusive research. Basically, Alyssa found a study which was being conducted on if consumers of fast food would select low-calorie meals if they wanted to. Therefore, researches sat inside a certain fast food store and recorded the types of wrappers that were left on each try after customers were done eating. In the end they found that most people still consumed the high calorie unhealthy meals rather than the healthy ones (which we have all been guilty of doing). I thought that this was a really neat study in terms of looking at individuals wrappers to discover what they actually ate.
So there you have it, a few examples of some interesting takes on conducting unobtrusive research. I’m sure throughout your week you will notice how you take part in unobtrusive research every day. Or who knows, maybe your actually being observed yourself (creepy if you really think about it, right?) However, no matter how strange it might seem sometimes, there is no doubt that this method of research is extremely important in the PR world and there are so many fascinating studies that are worth looking into!
First we are going to take a look at my classmate Sam Roman’s blog post on unobtrusive research. I have commented on Sam’s blog previously because I love the fashion theme and she seems to always find interesting articles or angels. Her post linked unobtrusive research to shoplifting, which is something I never considered using unobtrusive research for. Sam discussed that at her time working at a retail store she never once was allowed to go up to someone who she suspected was shoplifting. In fact, she then went onto find research that states 1 in every 11 people are shoplifters in the United States. You might be wondering how this relates to my PR class (besides the fact that at least 2 people in the class are statically shop lifters). Well the blog went on to explain a study where researchers observed customers in a store that had various shop lifters. The study found that shoplifters always walked away without a problem and if another shopper witnessed the theft, they almost never said anything to the offender or store personnel. I believe this topic was a perfect way to use unobtrusive research, and really backs up the fact that the U.S. lost $15 BILLION to shoplifters last year.
Another out of the ordinary blog post I found was written by Alyssa Chianese titled “Unobtrusive Research: Keeping it Natural.” Alyssa’s blog is focused around food, which is probably another one of my favorite things in the WORLD. Therefore, I was very excited that she has found a way to link high calorie fast food to unobtrusive research. Basically, Alyssa found a study which was being conducted on if consumers of fast food would select low-calorie meals if they wanted to. Therefore, researches sat inside a certain fast food store and recorded the types of wrappers that were left on each try after customers were done eating. In the end they found that most people still consumed the high calorie unhealthy meals rather than the healthy ones (which we have all been guilty of doing). I thought that this was a really neat study in terms of looking at individuals wrappers to discover what they actually ate.
So there you have it, a few examples of some interesting takes on conducting unobtrusive research. I’m sure throughout your week you will notice how you take part in unobtrusive research every day. Or who knows, maybe your actually being observed yourself (creepy if you really think about it, right?) However, no matter how strange it might seem sometimes, there is no doubt that this method of research is extremely important in the PR world and there are so many fascinating studies that are worth looking into!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Get Your Creep On!
This week in class we learned about unobtrusive research, which is methods of gathering data by means of obtaining information without the subjects actually knowing their being observed. I know right now this may not sounds like it relates to you in any way shape or form, but hear me out. As I got to thinking I realized that as I sat on a bench all summer outside 30 Rockefeller Plaza, staring at tourist as I sip on my third Dunkin Donuts ice coffee of the day, I was in some way, shape or form participating in unobtrusive research. Perhaps I could have researched what was the most popular tourist attraction between the Top of Rock, the TODAY show concerts or Rockefeller Plaza itself. However, no matter which way you put it we have all probably participated in some form of unobtrusive measures.
After going through all the different unobtrusive methods, I realized that content analysis is a vital part of the NBC News Publicly Department. If you really want to get in depth about content analysis, this article can really help you out. But basically the part of content analysis NBC concentrates on is word counting. Every morning, it is crucial to look through newspapers, magazines and online sources for mentions of our shows, talent and company. After that, the clips must be recorded, sent out and saved in order to keep employees in the loop as well as help monitor publicity. Basically, content analysis is a great way to keep record of your company’s publicity, plus who can complain about getting to read your favorite tabloids and newspapers everyday for free! (Jealous?!?)
In addition, another popular form of unobtrusive research is syndicated research, which provides information from media audiences, consumer being and culture trends. One of the most popular forms of syndicated research is the Neilson Ratings, which report the audience size and composition of television programming. Obviously it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Neilson Ratings are vital in the media field and really help corporations measure their performance. Here is an example of the ratings from last week, which of course includes MSNBC. Again, this is a great way for NBC to compare itself to its competitors and see where improvement is needed.
Who knew that I was indulging in so many forms of unobtrusive research all summer long without even realizing it? I honestly feel that it is a very unique way of collecting data, which definitely gives you a new prospective on a topic. Not to mention I am a total creep sometimes and to be able to use “unobtrusive research” is the excuse I have been waiting for. I hope this week I was able to teach you a little bit about unobtrusive research and I will be back next week to explore the world of NBC News Publicity!
After going through all the different unobtrusive methods, I realized that content analysis is a vital part of the NBC News Publicly Department. If you really want to get in depth about content analysis, this article can really help you out. But basically the part of content analysis NBC concentrates on is word counting. Every morning, it is crucial to look through newspapers, magazines and online sources for mentions of our shows, talent and company. After that, the clips must be recorded, sent out and saved in order to keep employees in the loop as well as help monitor publicity. Basically, content analysis is a great way to keep record of your company’s publicity, plus who can complain about getting to read your favorite tabloids and newspapers everyday for free! (Jealous?!?)
In addition, another popular form of unobtrusive research is syndicated research, which provides information from media audiences, consumer being and culture trends. One of the most popular forms of syndicated research is the Neilson Ratings, which report the audience size and composition of television programming. Obviously it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Neilson Ratings are vital in the media field and really help corporations measure their performance. Here is an example of the ratings from last week, which of course includes MSNBC. Again, this is a great way for NBC to compare itself to its competitors and see where improvement is needed.
Who knew that I was indulging in so many forms of unobtrusive research all summer long without even realizing it? I honestly feel that it is a very unique way of collecting data, which definitely gives you a new prospective on a topic. Not to mention I am a total creep sometimes and to be able to use “unobtrusive research” is the excuse I have been waiting for. I hope this week I was able to teach you a little bit about unobtrusive research and I will be back next week to explore the world of NBC News Publicity!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
A Look at Other Classmates Blogs
This week I am going to take a break from my usual focus on NBC News Publicity and take a look at some of my other classmate’s blogs. After our recent class lecture on how important social media and technology is becoming in the field of Public Relations, I decided that I wanted to evaluate some of my peers who have blogged on the importance of social media. Now although I’m sure many of my peers enrolled in PRR 332 have awesome blogs, I do not have time to read all of them and therefore will be evaluating two that I feel did a great job in discussing social media.
The first blog post I looked at was written by Sam Roman, who has decided to focus her blog on fashion PR tactics. I have always been interested in fashion, but I mean what girl isn’t? Therefore, I was very excited when I discovered this post was not only about fashion PR, but social media as well. It basically discussed how the clothing retailer Anne Taylor LOFT launched an ad campaign on silk cargo pants; however the ad only featured models that are a size two which made many consumers bitter. In response to the negative feedback consumers were posting on Facebook about the ad, Anne Taylor LOFT quickly posted pictures of their very own office workers in the cargo pants in order to show consumers that women of any size could wear them and look great. I thought this was such an amazing usage of social media because the whole consumer/store feedback was done through technology. Basically, Anne Taylor LOFT was able to discover there was a problem and fix it in under twenty four hours, which would have NEVER been possible ten years ago.
The next classmate I evaluated was Amy Hardman and her blog on social media. The title of the post that really caught my eye was,“Always be open, honest and direct! - Social Media Ethics.” Here Amy discusses that because social media is so new, there is not really one specific person or company that is laying down the lines of what is right and what is wrong. Although there are many companies, like the previously explained Anne Taylor LOFT, who has used social media in a positive light there are also many who do not. Yet the title of Amy’s blog says it all, just be open, honest and direct! As you can previously see in Sam’s blog post, that is exactly what Ann Taylor LOFT did. They saw a problem and they were then honest and direct in providing an answer for consumers. There was no need for them to try to tie in deception, because if they did I highly doubt they would have gotten such positive publicity!
With social media being so new to our society, it is important to start taking advantage of the amazing and FREE opportunities it has to offer. Although when dealing with anything new problems often arose, it is the way a company handles these problems that matters. Therefore, having honest, open and clear communication via social media is avoiding the shady line ethics creates, which no company wants to cross. We must keep in mind that as fast as good news travel through social media so does bad news. This is why establishing a bad reputation through social media is not using these new technologies to an advantage. Well I hope you enjoyed my peer’s blog posts on social media and have learned a thing or two. I will be back next week with a bright, new fresh post.
The first blog post I looked at was written by Sam Roman, who has decided to focus her blog on fashion PR tactics. I have always been interested in fashion, but I mean what girl isn’t? Therefore, I was very excited when I discovered this post was not only about fashion PR, but social media as well. It basically discussed how the clothing retailer Anne Taylor LOFT launched an ad campaign on silk cargo pants; however the ad only featured models that are a size two which made many consumers bitter. In response to the negative feedback consumers were posting on Facebook about the ad, Anne Taylor LOFT quickly posted pictures of their very own office workers in the cargo pants in order to show consumers that women of any size could wear them and look great. I thought this was such an amazing usage of social media because the whole consumer/store feedback was done through technology. Basically, Anne Taylor LOFT was able to discover there was a problem and fix it in under twenty four hours, which would have NEVER been possible ten years ago.
The next classmate I evaluated was Amy Hardman and her blog on social media. The title of the post that really caught my eye was,“Always be open, honest and direct! - Social Media Ethics.” Here Amy discusses that because social media is so new, there is not really one specific person or company that is laying down the lines of what is right and what is wrong. Although there are many companies, like the previously explained Anne Taylor LOFT, who has used social media in a positive light there are also many who do not. Yet the title of Amy’s blog says it all, just be open, honest and direct! As you can previously see in Sam’s blog post, that is exactly what Ann Taylor LOFT did. They saw a problem and they were then honest and direct in providing an answer for consumers. There was no need for them to try to tie in deception, because if they did I highly doubt they would have gotten such positive publicity!
With social media being so new to our society, it is important to start taking advantage of the amazing and FREE opportunities it has to offer. Although when dealing with anything new problems often arose, it is the way a company handles these problems that matters. Therefore, having honest, open and clear communication via social media is avoiding the shady line ethics creates, which no company wants to cross. We must keep in mind that as fast as good news travel through social media so does bad news. This is why establishing a bad reputation through social media is not using these new technologies to an advantage. Well I hope you enjoyed my peer’s blog posts on social media and have learned a thing or two. I will be back next week with a bright, new fresh post.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Let The Research Begin!
It’s no surprise that research in an important part of public relations or else I would probably not be sitting here doing this assignment for my PRR 332 research class. Therefore, this week I will focus in on an important event that has required NBC to put their research skills to the test. I’ll give you a hint: Can you think of a specific period where every human in the world, regardless of country, is actually coming together to engage in the same activity? I know these days that question seems like something only someone in the Peace Corps would try to answer; however, this is not as hard as you think. Still can’t think of it? Allow me to tell you: The Olympics!
NBC has had the honor of sponsoring the Olympics on their channel, which certainly falls under this blogs focus of NBC News Publicity because we all know during this time every media station is covering this event. Even if you’re not into sports, the Olympics are an exciting time which allows for a feeling of unit that is hard to come by these days. Although the Olympics only come every two years, research for the event never stops.
Let’s start back in 2008 when the Olympics were taking place in Beijing. This article did a great job of breaking down different research methods that were used by NBC. During this time NBC decided to really focus in on the internet and how to use it to their advantage. According to the article, “The network is referring to the Olympics as a "billion-dollar research lab" and hopes that the data it compiles will help give it—and advertisers—a better idea of how we consume its content.” To help answer their question, NBC decided to post live video streams, blogs and games on their website NBCOlympics.com. In addition, NBC teamed up with Quantcast to help determine what kind of audience was viewing the site. Integrated Media Measurement Inc. also partnered with NBC to track how many people were tuned in via their “on the go” technologies. I’m sure everyone watching can agree that this was a great idea. I highly doubt the individuals participating in the first Olympics in Greece ever thought that the games could be seen through a television, yet alone the internet (not like they actually knew what that was).
However, what good is research if you can’t use it to help your corporation? (Besides a waste of time, money, and anxiety) After taking a look at an article that went on to describe the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, NBC predicted around 200 million viewers to tune into the winter events. The article states, “Mr. Wurtzel outlined new research methods to better understand how much Olympics people catch online or on smartphones, and why: is it to re-watch their favorite snowboarder taking a nasty tumble, or is it to skip TV entirely?” This shows that the research conducted back in 2008 opened the door to more questions about modern day technologies and how it can help monitor viewers.
Both these articles and NBC’s efforts are a great example of what we discussed the first week in class. Times are changing and if corporations are not going to adapt and change their research methods to fit modern technology they WILL fall far, far behind. In my opinion, if you’re not going to adjust you might as well find a time machine and zoom back to 8th century BC when the Olympic began, maybe then old and outdated research methods may actually seem up to date and accurate. I hope you all enjoyed this week’s post and will be just as excited as me to see what NBC will bring to the table for the 2012 Olympic Games in London!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Ethics, The Shade of Gray: How much is too much?
Although I normally enjoy fun and uplifting topics, this week I am going to focus in on the questionable and potentially dark side of public relations: ethics. Now I’m sure somewhere out there is a place where everyone has the same definition of ethics and follows those guidelines perfectly without questioning what it means to cross the line (haha yeah right, get real). If anyone out there can actually prove my last sentence to be true I will pay you a billion dollars and do your homework for the rest of the semester. Let’s face it; ethics is a sticky subject, especially in the media publicity world where millions of viewers are watching your every move.
Like I mentioned last week, the focus of my blog is the NBC News Publicity Department. Now within this department lies “NBC Dateline,” which consists of the popular series “To Catch a Predator.” The series involves trapping men who are believed to be trying to have sexual encounters over the internet with minors. I’m sure I speak for many when I say that each episode made me cringe at the fact that there are actually people out there who would attempt to perform these disturbing acts. Although this series had good intentions, one episode started a huge controversy that would end in court. In 2008, the case Conradt v. NBC Universal began when Patricia Conradt sued the show for $100 million alleging that “NBC Dateline” was responsible for her brother, Louis Conradt, suicide back in 2006. Louis, who was being featured on the show as a predator for soliciting sex from a minor on the Internet, took his own life after being unable to face the humiliation and public spectacle of the episode airing.
As a result of this case the main ethical question presented seemed to be: when do journalist and the media cross the line? There is no doubt that the show had good intentions, however people do have the right to privacy and evasion of this privacy can potentially lead to a danger zone. However, when a corporation finds itself in the midst of an ethical dilemma the way they handle it can say a lot. In this case, rather than going to trial NBC settled for an undisclosed sum. Personally, I believe this was a smart public relations move. Rather than letting this case progress and potentially catch the mainstream media’s eye, NBC took credit for their actions and rewarded the family. In addition, NBC has taught us all an important lesson: journalist and the media NEED to take caution when distinguishing the line between making news and reporting news.
I personally feel that ethics is something learned over time and there are going to be moments where ones ethics are going to be questioned. However, it’s what you do once you believe that line was crossed that matters (as well as not making the same mistake twice). Like I mentioned before there is no such thing as an ideal ethical world, but PR practitioners should try their best to stay away from that line. What do you all think? Was “NBC Dateline” at fault for this incident? Did they cross the line? The thing is no two answers will be the same, which is why ethics has always been considered a “shade of gray.”
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The Real "30 Rock"
When my professor first told us we would have to create a blog for class, I won’t lie that I spent countless hours staring at my computer thinking of what I could actually write about to keep my attention span for the entire semester (just kidding, sort of). After realizing that the whole time I was attempting to write I was distracting myself by reading every article on The Huffington Post, it hit me that I should write something related to my guilty pleasures; media, politics and the news. Therefore, I decided to focus in on one of the best in the industry, The NBC News Publicity Department, which has been going strong since David Sarnoff founded the National Broadcast Company back in 1926.
This past summer, instead of lying by the pool, drinking lemonade and sunning myself, I spent the long summer days in the dark and dreary offices on the tenth floor, east wing of NBC News studios- just kidding, it was wonderful! I was able to see firsthand the powerful influence that the media has on society as well as how important, hectic (hectic doesn’t even begin to describe it!) and exciting the world of public relations at a major media corporation is. Not to mention I got to attend TODAY show concerts, meet talents from NBC and help with special events. There is no doubt that I was taught a lot this past summer, however, three months anywhere is nearly an introduction. Although I don’t know what my future holds, I hope to one day submerge myself into the field of media publicly which is why I would love to spend the semester digging deeper into what the real “30 Rock” (and by this I don’t mean the show) is all about.
Even during the first assignment in class, I saw myself quickly drawing links between the topics disgusted and NBC News PR. One of the major topics our first assignment brushed upon was the expansion of social media in society today and how many PR practitioners are finding it difficult to research as well as keep up with. During the readings I immediately thought of NBC News PR, because they really have hopped on the social media bandwagon, but I mean who hasn’t right? However, NBC has been one of the first in industry to create a director of social media within the department in order to design unique ways to use tools like twitter, facebook and YouTube (hard life). But really, this job position is crucial considering we are in the midst of a social media phenomenon and I must admit I totally didn’t mind offering a helping hand to the director considering my generation is the prodigy of this phenomenon. The following link can be used to read an interview with the director, Ryan Osborn, on how social media plays a huge role at NBC News.
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2010/06/nbcs-ryan-osborn-wants-to-use-social-media-for-storytelling155.html
There is no question that whether you are into the news and media or not that a corporation like NBC has certainly left a mark in not just the media publicly field but society in general. Hopefully I have got your minds thinking about the real "30 Rock" and we shall meet again next week!
This past summer, instead of lying by the pool, drinking lemonade and sunning myself, I spent the long summer days in the dark and dreary offices on the tenth floor, east wing of NBC News studios- just kidding, it was wonderful! I was able to see firsthand the powerful influence that the media has on society as well as how important, hectic (hectic doesn’t even begin to describe it!) and exciting the world of public relations at a major media corporation is. Not to mention I got to attend TODAY show concerts, meet talents from NBC and help with special events. There is no doubt that I was taught a lot this past summer, however, three months anywhere is nearly an introduction. Although I don’t know what my future holds, I hope to one day submerge myself into the field of media publicly which is why I would love to spend the semester digging deeper into what the real “30 Rock” (and by this I don’t mean the show) is all about.
Even during the first assignment in class, I saw myself quickly drawing links between the topics disgusted and NBC News PR. One of the major topics our first assignment brushed upon was the expansion of social media in society today and how many PR practitioners are finding it difficult to research as well as keep up with. During the readings I immediately thought of NBC News PR, because they really have hopped on the social media bandwagon, but I mean who hasn’t right? However, NBC has been one of the first in industry to create a director of social media within the department in order to design unique ways to use tools like twitter, facebook and YouTube (hard life). But really, this job position is crucial considering we are in the midst of a social media phenomenon and I must admit I totally didn’t mind offering a helping hand to the director considering my generation is the prodigy of this phenomenon. The following link can be used to read an interview with the director, Ryan Osborn, on how social media plays a huge role at NBC News.
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2010/06/nbcs-ryan-osborn-wants-to-use-social-media-for-storytelling155.html
There is no question that whether you are into the news and media or not that a corporation like NBC has certainly left a mark in not just the media publicly field but society in general. Hopefully I have got your minds thinking about the real "30 Rock" and we shall meet again next week!
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