Where Is PR Today

If you were to ask a public relations professional who has practiced over the course of the last decade what they thought about the industry and how it has changed, they are likely to tell you PR has came a long way from when they started. Today the discussion is focused on societies advanced digital era. Everything is online, and in the palm of our hand.

Public relations 10 years ago would be thought of as this idea of a company gaining publicity through the use of “spin” or false information. Over the last decade there has been several crisis cases within many organizations. Today we still see those companies thriving, Toyota, Pepsi, BP, Taco Bell, and many others are all examples of how effective PR has kept them alive.  PR use to be solely traditional media, newspaper ads, TV interviews, and radio publicity. Today the media outlets are endless.

PR in 2015 and going forward is going to be a combination of Advertising, Marketing, and PR. I believe very soon we will stop seeing pure Marketing firms and PR firms. Soon both firms will integrate into one. The two industries need each other, marketing cannot survive without PR., and visa versa.

Today in the academic field classes are now being taught about the integration of marketing and communication. As a social society we realize we cannot drive sales by only having PR or Marketing, to be successful they both must be implemented. There will still be firms, companies try to do all of their work in house, which might work if they are small, but if they hope to grow the need to outsource will show.

Real-Time Marketing & PR Chapters 1-2

In chapter one of Real-Time Marketing & PR written by David Meerman Scott we see a PR problem involving United Airlines and a consumer David Carroll. David Carroll is a musician who had an unfortunate incident occur when United Airlines broke his Taylor guitar. The chapter shows that if the incident were addressed the right way would, it would be nothing more than a small transaction, but United Airlines instead received a bit of a PR problem. David Caroll spent a year over the incident going back and fourth with United Airlines, and the ultimate end result was quite creative and effective.

After United Airlines failed to compensate David Caroll for his broken guitar, he put his talents to use, and made a song and video about it. In the end Dave Carroll came out with three new songs on Itunes, Taylor Guitars showed the proper packing procedure for guitars when flying and Calton Cases, Inc. made a special case designed specifically for musicians who are traveling.

More often than not consumers go without compensation when a company providing a service is at fault. This is a great example for every PR practitioner to note, and make sure that you never underestimate someone. This song was all over the internet, and United Airlines debatably suffered from it.

ONU Goes Tobacco Free

            This bold move is not much of a surprise to many students and faculty walking the Ohio Northern campus. The college is known for its abundance of plants, wildlife, and its recent shift towards becoming a green campus. Will a smoke and tobacco free campus help improve the campus image? Many think so, but with any bold move there is sure to be controversy. One potential problem that comes to my mind is accordance and regulation.

            The tobacco free policy is effective starting on August 17^th.  The policy states,

“Any tobacco or tobacco-derived substance including but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, pipe tobacco, hooka tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco, bidis, blunts, clove cigarettes, e-cigarettes or any other tobacco preparation, nicotine containing product or product intended to mimic tobacco products other than those approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration for the purpose of treating tobacco or nicotine dependence.”

ONU is home to more than 3,500 students who come from all over the world representing 34 states and 25 different countries. I would argue that this new policy will receive a decent amount of rebel from those who smoke. The overall number of people who smoke in the US has been reduced over the last decade, but smoking on a college campus is still widely accepted, and practiced.

In theory the policy is great to those who do not partake in smoking, but to the ones who do smoke it is more of an annoyance than anything.  People are not going to walk or get in their car and drive off campus to take a drag. That almost sounds absurd. I am sure the numbers will drop, but I do not anticipate that everyone will obey this new policy.

The enforcement according to the policy statement is solely on the person committing the act and for those around to speak up. Right away I would assume there wont be too many people reporting people for smoking an e-cigarette.

Regardless of how the regulation and people respond to this new policy, the tobacco free campus is a trend we are starting to see around the Midwest. It is not much of a surprise after legislation prohibiting smoking in restaurants was so widely accepted in many states.

There will be always problems regulating people from smoking on campus, and we will probably never see a 100% smoke free campus. However, I feel for the image ONU is going for by joining the other campuses and going tobacco free will ultimately be a good move. I look forward to seeing how the 2015- 2016 academic year goes with this new policy in play.

What The Public Relations Student Society Of America Has To Offer

The Public Relations Student Society Of America is one of the largest pre-professional organizations in the world. Students from all over the nation join PRSSA with the notion they will be better prepared for the working world, but what they get is so much more.

 PRSSA gives students access to many professionals who are already working in the public relations, communications, and marketing industry.  Since joining my schools PRSSA chapter one year ago, I have had the opportunity to travel across the country, network with colleagues and professionals above me, and understand how important it is to invest in myself and market myself to future prospects.

We live in a time where we eat, sleep, and breath the term “networking.” PRSSA has showed me how to network in a way that goes further than adding someone on LinkedIn and simply calling him or her “a connection.” I now make a point to build a meaningful and mutually beneficial relationship with any professional I come across.

The whole idea of branding yourself is something most people get the overall concept of, but don’t act on. PRSSA has allowed me to find issues, organizations, and ideas that are important to me, along with providing me with the right tools to voice my opinion in a meaningful and effective way. Sometimes it is easy to just throw a label next to your name and say you are for it, PRSSA helps connect students to the causes they care about. An example of this for me would be politics. I have grown up around politics, and have always wanted to support the campaigns I felt sent the right message.  Through PRSSA I was able to connect with several people organizing campaigns and had the opportunity to help out with the upcoming presidential election.

Traveling while in college is not always the easy. Through PRSSA I have had the chance to travel across the country, and will continue traveling this year. The PRSSA national level host conferences, and assemblies throughout the academic year all over the US, and is open to all members. I was very fortunate to be selected as my chapter’s national delegate last year making the trip very affordable. That is an opportunity that any student has, they just have to go after it.

Besides traveling, branding yourself, and networking there are many more advantages to being a member of PRSSA, but the one that ultimately has had a substantial influence on me is the feeling that you are a part of something bigger than yourself. To me, meeting so many amazing young and motivated students from all walks of life is something I will always be grateful for. Through PRSSA I not only have connections from all over, but I have friends who I look forward to seeing and talking with every year. The relationships you build from your local chapter to meeting members at the national level is nothing shy of an amazing experience, and I would not only recommend PRSSA to every college student, but advise it. You will not regret the memories, and opportunities ahead of you.