Study Abroad for PR Students

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By: Jackie Sears

Studying abroad is a great way to understand how PR works across the world.  There are many opportunities that studying abroad will help with learning more about public relations, on an international scale.

Each country varies on how its communication is involved with the public and stakeholders but in the end, PR has a similar meaning across borders. The more a PR professional knows about other countries and cultures, they will be able to correctly do business or seek job opportunities outside of the United States. It is good to keep in mind that a lot of corporations are international, meaning that there are multiple locations that are planted throughout the world. With this said, it is important for PR professionals to research and understand a culture before releasing information and speaking with the public when it comes to two-way communication, crises and promotion.

It only means so much to learn cross-cultural PR, but if a student actually experiences living abroad for a certain amount of time, they can benefit in their career by learning to grow with public relations and networking across the world. Not only will it make someone a stronger communicator, it will give you a diverse personification of yourself whenever looking for jobs.

I get to experience this by studying abroad in Japan. In five weeks of time I will be able to pitch stories to media outlets, research a cultural topic and write a blog. These opportunities will allow me as a PR student to learn more about a culture and apply it to every day writing and grow my horizon as a journalist. The studies that will take place are cross-cultural reporting and international PR. These classes will help with further understanding how to communicate in Japan. By doing this experience, I feel that as a PR professional I will be able to differentiate myself.

Public relations is the factor that keeps loyal followers towards a brand. By having an international experience and learning how to adjust to a new culture will help any student learn how to communicate with new publics and from that be beneficial to a brand.

Sources Cited

CIS Abroad. (n.d.). Why Study Communication, IT and Design Abroad. Retrieved from http://www.cisabroad.com/study-in-your-major/study-in-communication-it-and-design

UNT Study Abroad. (n.d.). Mayborn in Japan. Retrieved from https://studyabroad.unt.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgram

Instagram, the Photo App that will change your PR Campaign.

By: Jackie Sears

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Instagram is an extremely useful social media platform that is either used correctly or is ignored for its potential to make powerful PR campaigns. Photography and graphics have become a great tool for drawing attention to campaigns and engaging more views to start more conversations. Here are angles to take when using Instagram:

Announcements. Instagram is the perfect platform to post on for upcoming events, milestones and awards and celebrations. Examples of this would be a grand opening of a store/firm, award for being a top company to work for or an event that the firm is sponsoring for a client. Develop a hashtag for a campaign and follow it through the event, so instagrammers can discuss and use the hashtag in conversations.

Raising Awareness. This is one of the most important things to do on social media and can be depicted beautifully. Raise awareness over the social causes and issues that your firm or organization supports. With this said, Instagram posts should show how your firm/brand or organization benefits local and national communities.

Highlight the Company's Culture. What better way of showing off the culture of the company than photos? Get creative with your company's voice to attract Instagram members and potential clients. With this, go behind the scenes and show what really goes on at the company- capture a moment, an interview or an educational post about your company.

Instagram has highlighted a guideline for PR campaigns on Instagram. If your organization builds a national or international campaign, it is important that reference Instagram. Once the press release is written for the Instagram campaign for your organization, the Instagram communication team responds and then your organization can release publicly what the campaign is. 

Make your Instagram unique and bring excitement to the instagrammers so they can look forward to your posts and support your organization.

Sources Cited: 
 
Feldman, E. (2015, January 27). 6 Ways to Use Instagram for PR | Cision. Retrieved from http://www.cision.com/us/2015/01/6-ways-to-use-instagram-for-pr/

Instagram. (2016). Instagram Help Center. Retrieved from https://help.instagram.com/155465357989685/

What impact does the lack of diversity have on the advertising industry?

By: Jackie Sears

Diversity in the advertising industry has been a topic of discussion for more than fifty years. Little progression has been made since many advertising agencies today continuously lack diversity among ranks in the job ladder (Vega, 2012). This lack of progression is also influenced by the low percentage of minorities currently working in the advertising industry (Vega, 2012).

The advertising industry is one that is available to directly communicate with consumers that come from diverse backgrounds. With this said, it will only benefit from building an inclusive environment that reflects a highly diverse group of people (Grillo, 2015). In 2014, the lack of diversity was implicated through the Bureau of Labor Statistics it stated “out of 582,000 Americans employed in the advertising industry, less than half were women, 6.6% were black, 5.7% were Asian and 10.5% were Hispanic” (Grillo, 2015).  This is a problem for the advertising industry because insight from all different backgrounds, genders and lifestyles are needed in order for advertising to evolve.

There have been multiple instances where the industry tries to encourage diversity but there is still more to be done. By encouraging diversity, the industry needs to focus on consequentialism theory. This is because the end result justifies the mean, meaning that by encouraging diversity and creating an environment that works with all backgrounds, the end result in this case would be the diversity of talent will continue to retain in the industry.

The problem that the advertising industry currently has is that it has not been reaching a diverse amount of people. Without having a diverse team, groupthink and ethical mishaps can be prevented. Research has discovered that diversity stirs constructive conflict around the task at hand (Stanford GSB Staff, 1999). By including diversity in people and thought, brings new expression from different backgrounds and if properly implemented will generate more income for the advertising industry (Vaux). Ogilvy & Mather is a great example of an advertising group that values diversity in their corporate culture and have won multiple industry awards.  The solution that allows this agency to excel in their values is the environment that they have created that allows employees of all race, color, religion or gender identity among others (Ogilvy & Mather). Ogilvy & Mather state that a diverse workforce generates benefits in customer understanding and creates a rich consumer insight and understanding (Ogilvy & Mather).

The advertising industry has a long way to go to continue the progression of diversity, but if done right, the workplace for advertising will become rich with information and be able to reach diverse demographics through advertisements.

Works Cited

Grillo, G. (2015, April 23). The Advertising Industry Needs Diverse Leadership to Thrive. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/agency-viewpoint/advertising-industry-diverse-leadership-thrive/297998/

Ogilvy & Mather. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ogilvy.com/About/Diversity-and-Inclusion/Diversity-and-Inclusion.aspx

Stanford GSB Staff. (1999, November 1). Diversity and Work Group Performance. Retrieved from https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/diversity-work-group-performance

Vaux, R. (n.d.). How Does Diversity Affect the Workplace? Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/diversity-affect-workplace-10510.html

Vega, T. (2012, September 03). With Diversity Still Lacking, Industry Focuses on Retention. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/business/media/with-diversity-still-lacking-industry-focuses-on-retention.html?_r=0

Pinning, the Future of PR

 By: Jackie Sears

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Public relations is a process underlining two-way communication for clients and their public. What better way to have an organized and thought out messages to be sent directly to the public by an instant share, save and open communication? The best social media platform to fit this description is Pinterest. Pinterest has been a website since 2010 and has become a tool that reaches audiences all over the world. To benefit from Pinterest in a PR perspective, take advantage of the influences it has to offer.

Creating boards targeted at your company's mission statement, theme and what the company stands for. Information on these boards need to be appealing, visually and mentally intriguing to the public and potential followers of the company's Pinterest. As the advertising and PR world becomes more and more visual with content shared, it is important to stay prominent on clear and eye-catching photos that will link to articles, websites and blogs that improve your solidity as a company.  Take advantage of the foot traffic Pinterest offers by linking back to your company's website and blogs, this is a subtle way to get your message across. Within the mix of promoting your company's personal website and features, it is important to also post about important causes that relate to your company on a board to keep a "personal" feel to your postings. 

Once your company's Pinterest is live and gained a following from your public, it is a good idea to promote events and what is going on in your company's world. This way, people are updated with newsworthy events, will pin and promote what is going on since the post is directed at the public to attend and read about the event.  

A great feature on Pinterest that can be used for PR professionals is the collaborative secret boards. This feature allows your company to share ideas and links to articles, brainstorm ideas and create mock-up posts for the boards on your Pinterest. After all, it is important to do research on other  companies and competitors to gain ideas on posts and how to perfect your Pinterest.

Analytics are always important when it comes to posting on social media. Pinterest offers analytics that allow you to see the impressions and success of each pin. Hashtags are a feature used on Pinterest as well as Facebook and Twitter. It is important to consider posting hashtags to pins, but do not overdo it, Pinterest is not Twitter and you want to avoid looking spammy. 

Pinterest is the up and coming social media for PR, use it. 

Works Cited


Conlin, B. (2015, February 03). The Why & How of Using Pinterest for PR | Cision. Retrieved from http://www.cision.com/us/2015/02/jennifer-cario-pinterest-for-pr-webinar-recap/

Idugboe, D. (2012). How to Use Pinterest for Public Relations. Retrieved from http://www.smedio.com/how-to-use-pinterest-for-public-relations/

Solms, A. (2014). 7 Things about Pinterest Every PR Pro Needs to Know - CommPRO.biz. Retrieved from http://www.commpro.biz/social-media/social-media-pr-social-media/pinterest-for-public-relations/