CSR: The Good, The Bad and The Laugh-Worthy

A wildly successful Saturday at the Temple University Invitational: A Taste of Philly PR left me with new knowledge, connections and inspiration. One particular session stuck with me and I'm hoping you'll see why. Scott Tattar, a local PR professional with over 30 years of experience including working for Ketchum, owning his own firm and most recently presiding over the PR department at LevLane Advertising, spoke to the group at the Invitational about corporate social responsibility.

Tattar defined CSR as "how you create love for a brand that creates a sustainable relationship between you and the community" and noted that a lot of people go right to thinking about eco-friendly and green initiatives when they hear corporate social responsibility. While we would never discourage being more kind to the environment, that's not exactly what a successful CSR program initiates.

Some essentials of CSR are:

• Empowering the customer
• Clarity of focus
• Targeting the buying community

Some good examples of CSR programs were mentioned during the conversation, including Target's Red Card program that allows customers to donate 1% of their total cost of purchase towards the school of their choice and Target will match it. This is a successful CSR initiative because it's empowering the customer as well as staying community-focused.

Poor examples of CSR initiatives were mentioned as well. Learn from the mistakes of others, right? Burger King has a program that donates proceeds to fighting childhood obesity. As good of a cause as it may be, that is just one big oxymoron and doesn't exactly empower the customer.

I came away from the session with a full understanding of corporate social responsibility that I didn't have before, and I hope you get the same from my post.

Can you think of any great (or terrible) examples of CSR programs? We want to hear from you!

Taco Bell's Clever Campaign

If I wasn't in public relations, I have a strong fascination in advertising and yesterday I saw a commercial that blew me away.

Recently Taco Bell has introduced a new breakfast menu to their chain's selections. In order to promote their new options, they released an ad campaign with real people's reactions after trying the breakfast choices. What makes this campaign so clever is that all of the people they used in the commercial are named Ronald McDonald.

It's no secret that Ronald McDonald is the mascot's name of fast food chain leader, McDonald's. It's also no secret that McDonald's has dominated the fast food breakfast field for decades. Taco Bell's new campaign is bold and direct statement to McDonald's without ever actually mentioning their competitor.

What as PR professionals can we learn from Taco Bell's brilliant commercial?

• Be creative. There's more than one way to communicate a message. The message Taco Bell is conveying is clear: that their breakfast options are just as good, if not better, than McDonald's trusted breakfast options. Using this tactic to present that message is a creative and engaging way to grab the audience's attention.
• Play with words. Language is a PR pro's bread and butter. We should be able to play to our strengths and have a bit more fun with how we frame our message. While one of the major differences between our messages and advertising messages is that we have to remain factual, that doesn't mean that we can't be entertaining as well.
• Think outside the box. No, this tip is not an intentional pun relating to Taco Bell's old slogan "Think outside the bun." However, innovative thinking has been a strength of Taco Bell's for years now. Words may be our strong suit, but PR pros should embrace other methods of relaying a message as well. Researching your audience and tailoring the way you choose to deliver a message to that audience will do wonders in an advertising or PR campaign.

What was your reaction to the Taco Bell commercial? We would love to hear your thoughts so comment below!

Tech Giants Let NSA Collect User Data

In a world where technology is king and data leak scandals are prevalent, we never truly know who could potentially collect our user data. We blindly put our trust into technology companies, whose privacy policies that we never actually read, without skipping a beat. 

That is why it should be no surprise that tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo knew of the existence of the Internet surveillance program PRISM.  According to the NSA's top lawyer, quoted in a recent Mashable article, these companies complied with the government order however they just didn't know it was called that. This revelation comes after months of repeated — and very similar —denials by the tech companies.

As it turned out, the NSA can't just press a button and read a target's emails. The NSA has to get a Section 702 order (which refers to the part of the law which serves as its legal basis) and then the companies comply with it, delivering the data in different ways.

To put this is a PR perspective, it’s a disturbing thought that something you post for a client on Facebook or something you search for on Google while at work could cause three SUVs to materialize in your front yard while six plainclothes police officers fan out to case the joint and ask you a few questions. Sensitive client information should only be used while in private web browsing mode. 

What is your opinion on this recent government scandal? We want to know!

Innovating Your Writing

Superior writing skills are a PR professional's bread and butter. Everything that we do stems from the ability to use and manage language. Whether it be writing a news release or designing content for a social media plan, strong writing skills can be found at the core of almost any assignment.

It is not uncommon to become comfortable in your writing. If you read over things that you've written, you may find that you commonly use the same phrases, adjectives or expressions. It isn't just PR pros who fall victim to this writing plateau, professional writers are susceptible as well. 

Breaking writing habits that have been heavily instilled and feel comfortable to us can be challenging. Nevertheless, stepping out of your writing comfort zone is the only way to produce not only the best work that you are capable of, but the work that your client is paying for and deserves. Take small steps every day that will help to enhance the bigger picture in your writing. Read newspapers, magazines, blogs or articles online that are written in a style that you aren't familiar with. Take bits and pieces of what you read, and see if you use them as additions to your own style.

When you edit your work, don't just look for format, style and grammar mistakes. Look for phrases that you use repetitiously and try to use different wording. Take a trip to the thesaurus and look for strong and engaging synonyms. Writing and editing are different from revising your work. When you're finished editing your work, it shouldn't be uncommon for paragraphs to be changed, language and wording to be enhanced and for the piece to look different than when you first drafted it. Always be willing to rewrite for the sake of innovative and strong writing.

Do you think that your writing is innovative? Have you been stuck in a writing rut? What do you do to better your writing abilities as a PR pro? Please share with us in the comments!

(photo via) 

Tips to Improve Event Social Media Coverage

Recently, I've had the pleasure of attending several events and covering them via social media. However, I've also had the displeasure of attending several events and covering them via social media.  While I enjoy my job, it can sometimes be difficult to keep up, keep track, and keep within your data limit. Here are a few quick tips that I've adopted to help me while I'm updating social networks during events.

• Keep Up | Sometimes the pace at which you have to send updates to social media can be pretty overwhelming. The best way to combat this is to use a scheduling application like Hootsuite or Buffer. They allow you have regular content posted during the event so you have an opportunity to actually enjoy being present. However, you should still continue to check each network to make sure that all updates are going up on time and without any grammatical errors. If something noteworthy happens that you didn't plan for, make sure to account for that and post content on that as well.
• Keep Track | A great way to know everything that has been posted to each social network is to develop a spreadsheet. A spreadsheet can serve as a visual aid to ensure accountability and make sure every necessary topic is covered. It helps to break it down by social network so you know exactly what needs to be posted on which platform. It eliminates confusion and checking tasks off your list makes live updates much less daunting.
• Keep Within Your Data Limit | Lately, I've been running into the problem of going over my monthly data allowance. During these events I'm expected to cover, I find myself in areas with either poor wifi service or none at all. The best thing to do is to arrive to the venue early to sort everything out ahead of time. If you discover the venue does not have wifi you have access to, take time to find a "safe place," like a nearby cafe, to plan all of your posts ahead of time as mentioned before. If that's not an option, you might just have to bite the bullet this time around. We're public relations students so we'll have to get used to it!

Have you had to create social media content during an event? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below!

#Selfies #Branding

The Oxford Dictionary’s 2013 international word of the year, selfie, is one of the most interesting social movements we have seen in a while. A selfie is a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website. This new form of self-expression is redefining the way people brand themselves.

Take a look at celebrities. Some of the most powerful and famous people in the world utilize selfies. When you look at these photos you can get an understanding of who these people are. For instance there’s Miley Cyrus, the queen of selfies. When you look through her Instagram selfies you understand her brand and what she wants to be seen as. Miley is all about fun, youth, craziness etc., and it is so easy to see this through her “self-portraits”. Another selfie queen is the oh so stunning Kim Kardashian - who can forget that post baby mirror pic?! Kim embodies sex-appeal and beauty through her selfies, which is the brand she has capitalized on throughout her career.

            Not only celebrities are jumping on the selfie train, anyone can do it. Considering there are currently 88 million photos on Instagram using the hashtag #selfie and more than seven billion other images shared on social media sites each month, I think the entire world is interested in participating in this phenomenon.

Selfies represent much more than a narcissistic craze. You are in control of how the public views you. You get to show your intimate and personal brand in a new light-hearted way, and that is something extremely special. There is definitely opportunity within the selfie trend, so utilize it the best you can!

            This is the generation of #selfienation, and it will be exciting to see how far it goes.

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Kelly Dougherty.

Free Tools to Create an Infographic

Long gone are the days of having to be a professional designer to create or design something visual. With the advancement of technology there are various free tools and methods to assist non professionals on creating something brilliant. Nowadays, people tend to gravitate more towards visuals rather than written items or articles. With that being said, infographics are a great foundation for anyone who is seeking to create visuals. 

Wondering how to create an infographic? Below are three free tools you can use to accomplish your goal:

1. Infogr.am- This website is free! Its the perfect platform for assistance when it comes to creating an infographic. Its easy and self explanatory and one major feature this website holds is you having the ability to make more than 3 different types of charts. Infogr.am also allows you to download files in PNG or PDF format. 

2. InfoActive- This website describes itself as Simple, Responsive and Interactive. InfoActive allows you to turn your data into an interactive story. InfoActive allows you to share your stories directly to your blog or any social network. 

3. Visualize-  This website allows you to visualize your resume in one click. You can connect through your linkedIn and make your resume more interactive. 

Tap in to your creativity and try creating an Infographic for one of your upcoming projects. Times are definitely changing and we are forced to stand out of the crowd so challenge yourself and create something memorable.