Preparing For the Big World

by Elizabeth Lemuz

Information Security Buzz

It’s bittersweet to think that this is my last blog for my class. It surely isn’t the last blog I’ll write because I know that in my future career, there are many more to come!

I have learned many things this semester that I never thought I would be capable of learning. I have learned how to create a communication plan, a Gantt Timeline, a social media release, an infographic, and so much more. I struggled at the beginning with all of these things, but I have loved learning about how to become an effective strategic thinker and creator.

Learning more about what PR contains and really is only made me love this major even more. With the many blogs that I’ve written, I have definitely learned how to broaden my thinking of what PR is. I have defined PR before using the actual definition that PRSA gives in their website as “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics”, but I have learned how that exactly is done first hand.

Not only have I learned the “technical skills” of PR, but I have also learned how to build stronger relationships in all of my classes. I am graduating in a week and the most important thing that I learned this semester is how to build relationships with people. There were many of my classmates that I would have never talked to if I hadn’t been grouped with them to complete final projects. I believe I practiced how to “network” with people in all of my classes. I definitely stepped up and played the PR pro role while in school. I have always been told that networking with your classmates is important because you never know if you will be needing a job and they are in a position to help you get the job.

I have learned about the tactics that I need to be successful in my PR career, but I have also learned the importance of professional relationships. Getting to know what a person’s strengths and weaknesses are when working on a project is important for the current project, but also for any future assignments in the “working world”. I would say, for me at least, public relations is a strategic way of building strong relationships with everyone you come across with not just a client or the public. It’s all about being purposeful with everything.

Citations:

Stick Figures Image. Information Security Buzz. Information Security Buzz, Inc. 2015. Web. http://www.informationsecuritybuzz.com/understanding-risk-reward-building-relationships/

“What is Public Relations?” Public Relations Society of America. The Public Relations Society of America, 2015. Web. http://www.prsa.org/aboutprsa/publicrelationsdefined/#.VQ7xdkKpX8E

A Semester In Ethics

by Elizabeth Lemuz

Analyst Forum

There is so much content that I got from this class this semester. I know that I learned everything that I hoped to learn from the beginning. I think overall I really understood how to make ethical decisions in situations. Going over the case studies in class allowed me to view cases that have actually occurred in the past and realizing how to effectively solve the problem that rises in situations.

In my future PR career, I know that I am going to be faced with many situations like the ones that we reviewed in class. I now have a much more clear idea of what should be done in any crisis situation.

I’ve realized how many mistakes many PR professionals and advertisers actually make. We were shown in class many advertisements that made no sense as to how they were released to the public. One example that I have recently reviewed was the Bud Light bottle label that had the public blow up social media with the brand name in their responses. How the PR professionals for that company handled the situation is important.

Learning more about the laws of ethics was helpful. I am still pretty freaked when it comes to thinking about the copyright rules for information that is used from other sites, but I have definitely learned why it is important that we know these. I have learned to write blogs in my 4460 class, and how to properly use information as well as citing it correctly. It all seems like things that I am talking about, I learned when younger, but I now learned them more effectively specifically for a career in PR.

I believe that the PR field is very important. Advertising gets the product known to the world, but PR creates a good image for that product. When doing so, we need to remember to think of the public and the client in order to leave a good image for ourselves working behind the scenes of it all.

I’m glad that I had to take this class. I hope that I can take all that I was taught and really apply it. It is here that we can make a difference. It’s important to be ethical because the world is already so corrupt. I like that the world of PR needs to be ethical to succeed, because it makes the job fun and worth it!

Citation:

Ethics Image. Analyst Forum. Analyst Forum, 2015. Web. http://www.analystforum.com/article/cfa/3-factors-to-nailing-ethics

A Small Mistake For A Big Company

by Elizabeth Lemuz

PR is a good tool that all companies should use to help them grow. They also help them when they begin to fall apart. Bud Light recently had a small mishap with a new advertising bottle label. PR Daily brought up the situation but didn’t really discuss much about it in “Bud Light apologizes for label that promises to turn ‘no’ into ‘yes’”. What Bud Light is being mistaken here for is for making an inappropriate suggestion to the public.

PR Daily

The company has brought out a new campaign titled #UpForWhatever. One specific label made the public think of the company as supporting date-rape. The label on the bottle reads, “The perfect beer for removing “No” from your vocabulary for the night”. Things like this can be taken in different ways, but it is obvious which one the public understood first.

In an article titled, “At Bud Light, Plenty of ‘Yes’ Went Into the ‘No’ Label,” from The Wall Street Journal, it discusses how the campaign was created to spark a higher social media presence from beer drinkers. The article also writes how the label “started to generate anger and disbelief”.

The company clearly was trying to create a catchy ad that would become popular with a younger generation. There are many excuses in the articles that the company had for the reason that the label made it to public access. When dealing with a crisis it is important to be transparent to your public and staying in constant communication with them as well.

The public is what really makes or breaks a company. The consumers are purchasing what is advertised to them if is something that they enjoy. If a company pulls a stunt like what this company did, it tends to end badly. Bud Light did release a statement that is in the PR Daily article. They described the company as “missing the mark”, but companies can’t be “missing the mark”. I commend the company for releasing an apology to the public and making it clear as to what actually went wrong.

I believe that allowing the advertising team and the PR team to work together is a good idea. Sometimes creativity may get too involved in a situation and can prevent companies from thinking of what their general public will actually think of its product.

Citations:

“At Bud Light, Plenty of ‘Yes’ Went Into the ‘No’ Label”. The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 2015. Web. http://www.wsj.com/articles/anheuser-cans-controversial-bud-light-slogan-1430347201

“Bud Light apologizes for label that promises to turn ‘no’ into ‘yes’”. PR Daily. Ragan Communications, 2015. Web. http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/18567.aspx