This blog is a reflection of my research done in the field of PR as a student pursuing Masters in Public Relations at the University of Westminster, London. The blog aims to highlight my learnings and thoughts on various aspects of the PR industry. The views expressed on this site are my own and do not reflect those of my university.Views and opinions expressed by all contributors belong to them and not the blog owner.
The Public Relations industry has been constantly evolving and adapting itself to the changing environment. The emergence and growth of social media has completely transformed the way businesses interact with their target audience and hence have made an impact on the public relations industry. As demand for social media increases, Public Relations practitioners need to educate their clients on social media. The video has been produced under the New Media module of my course. It is for academic purpose only. This video aims to introduce certain key aspects and issues regarding social media like what is social media, why is it called social media, what are the advantages and disadvantages of using social media, what are the sociological and cultural concepts behind social media and what is their relevance to PR and how social media can be used. Hope you find this video informative and please feel free to leave comments or email me at divyakapoor10@gmail.com. Enjoy!
Download answers to common questions on social media here
Social media has opened a plethora of opportunities in front of PR practitioners. The growth and development of social media has fundamentally transformed the way businesses are interacting with their stakeholders. Public Relations industry has been striving hard to deal with such fast-moving and dynamic developments. It is imperative for PR practitioners to be competent in using these new technologies in order to leverage current and future business opportunities. Therefore, with the help of two case studies, I would like to highlight the impact social media can have on a company’s policy and the need for businesses to understand that they need to adapt themselves with the changing environment.
Examples of the impact of social media on PR:
Case Study 1
Source: Public Relations handbook by Alison Theaker Brands: Greenpeace and Apple
The Story: Greenpeace established a sub-website ‘A Greener Apple’to challenge the company over its corporate social responsibility. Greenpeace wanted customers to campaign for a Green Apple, focusing on iPoison and iWaste to urge CEO Steve Jobs to prioritise environmental concerns. The site used social media with lots of ideas for how users could promote the campaign. As a result, in May 2007, Apple launched a new policy to talk more about its environmental activities.
Lesson learnt: Social media can have a deep impact on a company’s policy and companies need to respond quickly to the demands of the social media interactions.
Case study 2
Source: Public Relations handbook by Alison Theaker Brand: Avis The Story: In January 2007, Avis started a blog ‘We Try Harder’ with the aim of getting established before gaining media attention. Initially, the blogs did not have a human voice and appeared to be self-congratulatory in tone. Also, the company was too slow in responding to customer demands. However, gradually the company realised these shortcomings and changed its approach by responding to the bloggers feedback. As a result, it helped the company in developing a positive image of brand and has shown itself to be delivering on its brand message and corporate values.
Lesson learnt: If used in the right way, social media can be an effective tool for building brand image and reputation.
Conclusion
As PR practitioners we learn that in today’s world of social media, it is impossible for any brand to hide itself, in fact, social media provides an opportunity for brands to be open, vocal and transparent about their plans and policies and if their messages are communicated at the right time and at the right place, social media can enhance their brand image and value.
The public relations industry has evolved itself with changing times. The emergence of new media is a hot debate these days. According to a social media report by Josh Gordon, marketing consultant and president of Selling2.0 Marketing and PR are currently the leading business uses of social media. Although many public relations agencies claim to have joined the bandwagon; the question is how public relations as an industry is embracing the new media.
1.Code of conduct: Professional bodies like CIPR updated its 2007 guidelines for members and wider PR community to increase awareness as to how social media should be handled so that professionals can take informed and educated decisions about using the social media for their clients.
2.Integration: Clients are expecting PR agencies to have a good understanding of the new media. PR agencies are facing stiff competition from other digital or marketing agencies. These agencies claim that they are more proficient in handling new media. Therefore, PR agencies are launching branding and marketing arms to gain their share of the pie.
3.Emergence of specialist digital agencies: With social media trend on the rise, PR agencies are diversifying in to the new Digital domain. For example, Hotwire launched a specialist digital agency called 33Digital and Bullet PR, a PR agency specialising in the digital media was launched in Brighton in June 2009.
4.More investment in digital: PR agencies are investing heavily by training staff, hiring digital experts and bringing in external digital gurus. It is believed that the popularity of social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube could be one reason for the growing importance of digital PR. PR professionals are spending lot of time in running blogs, managing Twitter accounts, creating podcasts and vodcasts for their clients. For example, the website of Berkley PR, a technology public relations agency mentions that they are investing heavily in this growth area to ensure that they harness digital media to the best advantage of their clients.
5.Educating clients on new media: Since social media is a relatively new field, PR agencies are educating their clients about the potential benefits of using new media. This way client realise the value of new media and PR agencies are able to justify their budgets.
Can you think of any other ways through which PR agencies are embracing the new media?
My name is Divya Kapoor and I am pursuing Masters in Public Relations from the University of Westminster in London. I am also currently volunteering in the communications department of a charity called Sense which works for deafblind children and adults. Welcome to my blog! I hope you find it informative and please do feel free to leave your comments. Would love to hear from you.
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