Subtle Political Messages

Today presidential candidate, Barack Obama made a speech about patriotism in Independence, Missouri.

Last week, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, in their first public appearance together since Obama clinched the nomination made a speech about unity in Unity, New Hampshire.

Coincidence? I think not.

It's interesting that the campaign chose these specific locations that clearly connected with the topics of the speeches.

This way, if a person sitting at home watching the evening news, but not really paying attention happened to hear the name of the location (since the where of a story is important and will definitely be said by the reporter) the speech may resonate with them, or the important word: independence and unity, might stick out in their minds.

A Bad Survey

As I have mentioned before, I just returned last week from a 7- day Norwegian Cruise Line cruise to Bermuda.

A day or so after the cruise, I received an email in my inbox asking me to complete a survey about my cruising experience. I happily complied.

About 3 questions into it, I was a bit suspicious and then about 40 minutes into it, I was tired and glazing over.

One of the very first questions specifically asked if I was in a position dealing with PR or advertising. Hmmm...what are they trying to get at here?

Some errors I found with the survey:

• Way too long. It must have had over 200 questions. After question 30 I was skimming and not really paying close attention to the questions. If they wanted to get an accurate answer, they should have been more conscious of people's time.
• Many of the questions should have been open-ended or at least had an option of filling in a blank, but were forced into multiple-choice questions which were awkward to answer.
• One of the questions actually made me laugh out loud at its ridiculousness: "If you were president of NCL, what is the one thing you would suggest to improve the cruise experience of guests like yourself?" What? What does this even mean? I opted out of answering this question.

It's very important when creating a survey to be conscious of your audience while still achieving the desired results. This survey, I think, did a terrible job at getting the results they needed to see because of its length and poor questions.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup’s Quest for Popularity

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which has been fighting some negative publicity these days, is set to begin their $20-$30 million PR and advertising campaign soon.

High-fructose corn syrup is a manufactured sweetener that has come under great scrutiny for being a large factor in America’s growing weight problem. HFCS is used in many products such as soda, salad dressing, ketchup and breakfast cereals, to name a few.

As we “go green” and become more healthy these days, we are shunning our old favorites that we wouldn’t have thought twice about 5 years ago. As the organic grocery giant Whole Foods takes over the world, so have “au naturel” products.

The Wall Street Journal published “High Fructose Corn Syrup Mixes It Up” this week about the sweetener’s quest for popularity. Hired by the Corn Refiners Association, and at the helm of this campaign, is the Chicago office of Omnicom Group's DDB, a global leader in advertising and marketing campaigns. An executive vice president at DDB says, "The sweetener has been getting a bad rap, and a big reason is there has been no other information in the marketplace to counter the mistruths." DDB plans to change this with their new campaign.

The 18-month campaign will include three newspaper ads, TV spots that begin in September and online ads. The target audience? Moms. Another tactic used - “the trade group will also have its PR firm conduct phone and in-person conversations with influential mommy bloggers.”

One of three ads, featuring a stalk of corn, “carries the headline: ‘And Now a Little Food for Thought.’ The ad goes on to tell readers that lots of foods and beverages are sweetened with ‘sugars made from corn, such as high-fructose corn syrup’ and that it has the ‘same natural sweeteners as table sugar and honey.’”

So, what do you think? Is HFCS really not as bad as it’s hyped up to be? Can DDB tackle these negative perceptions and influence America to start fueling themselves with this “natural” sweetener? And most importantly, is it unethical for them to even try?

Managing Conflicts

This week, in The Firm Voice, I came across an article that dealt with leading teams and managing conflicts. Since we did a conflict resolution meeting at PRSSA, I thought this article was applicable to us as firm members and young professionals.

Dr. Nanda, a professor at Harvard University, says the worst thing to do when faced with a conflict is to ignore it. He offers firm managers three tips for trying to resolve a conflict, but the tips can be applied to anyone:

1. Be open

2. Be inclusive

3. Ask questions

"Professor Nanda says professionals are seeking fulfillment in three ways: performance, learning and having a sense of well-being. Well-functioning teams are, in a way, like a "three car garage" that possesses all three. The job of the team leaders meanwhile, is to be a mentor, performance leader and an adviser" (Shaw, 2008).

Even though we have been very lucky and have had no major conflicts thus far in our young firm, it's inevitable that it will happen. Even though these tips may seem silly, it's important to remember them when resolving a conflict.

Getting a Jump on the Press Release

A press release is essential in the world of PR. You want your client to get noticed (in a good way), and you want them noticed quickly. Here are some tips to get your press release started, before the event actually happens, so you can get it to the media ASAP:

-Put together a structured draft. You know what the story is going to be about, so get started on the details you can get down before it happens. You can definitely get the lead paragraph started. Make sure you get the who, what, were and when in there. If it's already a complicated or detailed story, you may need to put the why in another paragraph.

-For your quotes, get a general idea of what you want them to be about and where you want them placed in the release. Make sure you go to the event prepared with the questions you want to ask, and who you want answering them.

-For the paragraphs that have the specifics about the event, wait to write that. But, have the general idea and layout of what you want to write.

-Have a boiler plate ready to go with any additional information the reader needs to know about your client.

-Have the release laid out in a press release format, with the words FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE at the top and include your contact information.

-Once the event happens, you can go back and fill in the blanks. Don't forget to proofread and edit!

Even though I have yet to finish packing...

I’m going to Paris, France tomorrow!

I’ll be in Paris for a week and then I’m off to London, where I will be this summer until August 17th!

And… I will be blogging from abroad!

I’m taking classes in British Mass Media and British Film and Arts, with Temple University’s London Study Abroad Program. I’m sure I’ll have lots of interesting things to share with you, so stay tuned!

Au Revoir!

Beautiful Bermuda

I just arrived home from the gorgeous island of Bermuda yesterday,and have decided that at some point in my life, I must live there.

After making that decision, I thought, "Hmmm, where will I work? Well, I'm sure Bermuda has PR firms or the need for public relations professionals."

After a google search, I was surprised to see that only one PR Firm seems to exist in Bermuda.

The firm is called Troncossi Public Relations. The firm was founded by Elizabeth Tee in 2000 in Hamilton, Bermuda (pictured) Their client list is not featured on their website, but is available upon request. However, the website states that, "We work for a variety of clients in the consumer, corporate, financial and non-profit sector, many of whom have a high media profile. We also represent several private clients."

I would be interested to learn more about this firm, if I ever fulfill my dream of living in Bermuda.

It's so interesting to me to think that PR is such a global profession and can be practiced anywhere in the world!