Nip it in the bud (Lesson 10)

CHAPTER 10 : AN ISSUES - CRISIS PERSPECTIVE


This week's post will not focus on the theoretical steps to take in crisis management, but rather the spirit behind issues and crisis management.


To start off, one must first have a clear understanding of the difference between an issue and a crisis.
Crisis are unpredictable events that can impact an organisation's viability, credibility and reputation; and which causes and effects are unknown. Issues are the result of a gap between what a company does and the key public or audience expectations of the company's behavior.

Crisis usually starts off when there is a shift in public opinion due to certain unresolved issues. These opinions come from people who feel strongly on a given issue and are motivated to take action.
In the textbook, it states that 27 per cent of oranizations are identified to not be able to recover from a crisis, and majority remains unprepared. Let us look at some case studies to see how crisis is managed appropriately by PR practitioners.


News of the World Scandal
The News of the World is a national tabloid magazine published in the United States. It's phone tapping scandal started in 2004 and received another legal lawsuit in 2006. It hit the peak this year, forcing the organization to make a public apology to all victims involved.
One question: WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG TO APOLOGIZE?
If this issue was nipped in the bud earlier, they might not be in the current mess where some victims reject the apology and are persistent in filing a law suit e.g. Sienna Miller.




Coca-Cola's Belgium "mass hysteria" case
Crisis hit the Coca-Cola company (CCC) when there were consumer complaints about an irregular taste and smell in the bottled soft drinks following reports that more than 100 consumers had become ill.
The company took immediate steps to remedy the situation after identifying specific production and distribution problems such as the recalling of products. A week after the reported illnesses, CCC responded with its first public statement to assure consumers of their commitment to ensure safety and quality of their soft drinks. CCC spokesperson also express sincere apologies to consumers. 



The Coca-Cola Company’s highest priority is
the quality of our products. For 113 years our
success has been based on the trust that
consumers have in that quality. That trust is
sacred to us. I want to reassure our consumers,
customers, and government officials in Europe
that The Coca-Cola Company is taking all
necessary steps to ensure that all our products
meet the highest quality standards. Nothing less
is acceptable to us and we will not rest until we
ensure that this job is complete. We deeply
regret any problems encountered by our
European consumers in the past few days (KO
Now, 1999a)[1].



We respect the Ministry’s obligation to the
people in these times of deep sensitivity to public
health issues. Nothing is more important than
protecting the public’s health, and we have
worked very closely and intensively with the
Ministry, providing significant amounts of
information confirming complete confidence in
the safety of our products and packages.



Other than admitting their mistakes and taking steps to remedy their products, CCC launched and aggressive marketing campaign in an effort to regain consumer trust, confidence and market share. 
I guess the difference between the first case and the second is that CCC is proactive in trying to solve the crisis, whereas News of the World seeks to cover up their mistakes, worsening the situation.

Strategies and Tactics (Lesson 9)

Chapter 9: STRATEGIES TO PROACTIVELY MANAGE ACTIVITY

This post will effectively clear any confusion regarding difference between strategy and tactics. The first concept to understand is that tactics is the various methods implemented in order to fully unleash the intended strategy.

Strategy is a plan or method by which you are going to achieve a specific goal in a contested government. It should have a strategic intent of gaining some kind of competitive advantage. It may be to inform and engage with the community, build reputation, and to achieve positive working relationships.

As mentioned, a strategy is usually (always) implemented in a contested space.What is a contested space?
It refers to the presence of competition. For example, in the case of Feiyue, its obvious competitors are probably Converse, Vans,

There are two dimensions of contested space depending on the approach it is viewed in.

1. Transmission (functionalist) model
This approach assumes that if awareness of an issue is raised, this will automatically lead to the desired behaviour. Hence awareness raised through media platforms that can reach the masses for example print posters, online, social networking sites, TV or radio. These ways are the tactics used in order to reach the objective of the strategy employed.

Print:

The above print poster, for example, is a campaign to raise the awareness of the dangers of drink driving. The strategy used here might be to deter drink drink driving by highlighting the consequences, resulting some sort of fear to reside in the publics. The tactic used is the placement of print posters.

TV:

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/unicef_celebrity_tap_selena

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/sonoma_international_film_festival_2011_tipsy

The tactic used is tv advertisements. the first being the endorsement of celebrities, while the second video is the use of animation and music.

2. Constructionist model

This approach opposes the transmission model as it states that communication involves not only the sender, but also the intended and unintended audiences, publics and communities who construct their own meaning from a range of outputs.The range of outputs refer to the tactics adopted. 

The constructionist model is more inclined towards experiential marketing as it allows interaction with a focused audience, and thus personal interaction. 

Digital Graffiti Wall for Converse

I personally LOVE this campaign because it simply looks fun to do! I feel that this campaign gives converse a fun and 'artsy' image which cause potential consumers to have this 'feel good' factor towards the brand.

Fei Yue Launch Party

This event invites artists and art fanatics in Singapore to a launch party that showcases reinventions of Fei Yue shoes by renowned local artists. Their focused group is small since the event is by invitation only, and not widely publicized by the media. The above video depicts the process of reinventions by the various artists. 

Miss Tanya mentioned that the more focuses your target audience is, the better is the tactic in supporting the strategy. This is because it is better to impact and change the perspectives of a selected community than simple 'announce' to a big group of people and yet achieving nothing as behavior is not altered.

In conclusion, an integrated strategy and tactic would be the most effective in a PR campaign. 

I've been talking a lot about Fei Yue in this post because of the need to research for the final PR plan. Stay tuned for more Fei Yue in the weeks to come!

Image VS. Reputation? (Lesson 8)

CHAPTER 8: REPUTATION MANAGEMENT: A DRIVING FORCE FOR ACTION


Reputation is a commonly held opinion of an entity. Corporate reputation can be affect based on six aspects:

1. Social responsibility
2. environmental responsibility
3. leadership
4. quality of products or services
5. financial performance
6. treatment of staff

We will look at examples that accurately represent some of the above.

Treatment of staff & quality of service

The reality show Tabatha's Salon Takeover helps the salon Brownes & Co. and discovers that the problem lies with its owner Nikki Mallon, who is a tyrant when treating her staff. She has a negative attitude and is an imperious diva who supervises her employees with remote camera. This results in low morale from staff as they are frustrated with the constant demeaning attitude of Nikki and hence they treat customers in an unfriendly manner which drives away customers eventually. 

"If Nikki doesn't respect or support her staff, she may as well close her doors right now," Tabatha says.

The first part of the episode shows a preview of how the staff are treated. After this episode of Tabatha's Salon Takeover, many viewers posted negative comments on Brownes & Co. facebook and Yelps page. As described, reputation of the company was adversely affected as the result of a bad image by Nikki Mallon. 

Social Responsibility

Starbucks understands the importance of being socially responsible and ethical in its operations hence a compromise is made with Ethiopia's farmers, their coffee beans supplier, for mutual benefits even at the expense of profits. Starbucks releases a corporate responsibility report each year which outlines and discusses the company's behavior in relation to its corporate responsibility objectives. The company also has a message board which addresses any current rumors about Starbucks and confronts any rumors firsthand. Its commitment to improvement and resolution of responsibility issues demonstrates an 

element of social responsibility found in few companies.

Environmental Responsibility

Platte Chemical formulates insecticides, herbicides and fungicides for agriculture use. In 2001, a leak from a caustic tank at Platte caused a fish kill. Two months after that, a defect in a chemical reaction resulted in an evacuation of all residents near the area. 

The company's inability to fulfill society's expectations for environment responsibility caused the company's reputation to suffer. Many lawsuits against Platte was filed. 


These case studies show the importance of reputation management to a company. However, reputation management do not imply only the up-keeping of corporate image, more than that, it is an unwritten code of ethics that should be adhered to. Public relations practitioners should advise clients and companies to show the highest standards of responsibility in the above mentioned aspects by highlighting the benefits of doing so. 

Public Relations concerns, for sustrainability (Lesson 7)

CHAPTER 7: PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGEMENT IN ORGANISATIONS


This chapter allows me to better understand the various concerns public relations practitioners need to keep in mind when on the job. It is important to consider the publics; internal relations as well as external relations which directly or indirectly plays a part in deciding an organisation's actions. This is drawn upon based on the understanding of the systems theory. The systems theory in the context of an organisation, in short, means that an organization exists in an environment where many things involved affect on another and form a larger pattern which is different from their individual forms. In light of this, organizations have to then adjust and adapt to changed in the environment, and seek to maintain good relations with its environment in exchange for support, growth and ultimately sustainability. Examples of the entities that make up the environment are governments, competitors, neighbours, customers, employees, the media, and investors. Each part plays a certain role for organizations to be holistic in their operations and objectives.


This week's focus: REAL practice of public relations in organisations
PR practitioners have a role to in ensuring apt and sufficient communication between top management and internal/external publics. This is when boundary spanning shows its significance; it is concerned with detecting information in the environment the organisation operates. It includes representation, scanning and monitoring, protecting, information processing, gate-keeping, linking and coordinating, and transacting. 

• Publics and audiences
  All PR managers have to deal with a myriad of publics and audiences, internally and externally as they interact with or are affected by the organization in some way or another. Hence ongoing PR and communication has to be put in place to create better understanding and clearer clarity for the publics. Most of the time, these communication programs are long termed.
  
• Internal relations
  PR is responsible for communicating the organisation culture to members (employees), hence avoiding potential conflicts that may arise due to misalignment to expectations. This point made me realize the relevance of studying organizational behavior in the previous trimester. It is only when we as PR 'wannabes' understand the importance of sound communication in an organizations, then we can facilitate communication proactively and effectively. There is also a requirement to understand employees and their information needs. A point to note is that employees generalized, but treated as individuals who have different expectations. Operating an open system is important so that employees will feel respected with more opportunities for fulfilling Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Lastly, the right channel of communication (reliable and accurate) has to be adopted when conveying information to employees so as to maintain trust.
  
• External relations
  Corporate social responsibility (CSR): the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large. The term PUBLIC relations in itself already suggests that PR consults’ first loyalties should be to the public, and hence the importance of CSR. Furthermore, an organisation's sustainability is tied down to CSR as an increasing number of people are concerned about the environment and human rights. 
  Conflict has to be prevented as it will disrupt operational processes (publics and activists groups).
  
  COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (favorite topic of the chapter!)
  Community engagement, as it is termed, means that the community's perspective is considered before any decisions are made. It incorporates research, information sharing, consultation, and participation from the community involved.
  

A very detailed example of community engagement in a PR project is as follows.

http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/gta/?page=show&id=603

Public Relations as my future (Lesson 6)

CHAPTER 6: THEORY AND PRACTICE ON THE JOB

This chapter on theory and practice made me ponder on the type of PR I will like to do in the future, given the many types of organizations as options to work for.

Our actions as a PR practitioner are also guided by the nature of the organization; thus the importance of finding out the goals and values of the organization lest these clashes with our own personal goals and values. Public Relations practice also differ based on the culture of the country involved. Although there are indeed some values and ethical issues that are fixed on common grounds, it is undeniable that culture do play a significant part. From the text, it is noted that Public Relations in Asia, foe example, is more often influenced by Eastern theology and hierarchical principles, whereas the personal influence model appears to be relevant in India, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Greece. It may not be visible most of the time, but national culture do hold certain fundamental values that cannot be ignored consciously by organizations.

Picture by Yang Liu (east vs west: cultural differences)

A summary of the different types of organizations (that I can possibly work for in the future):

1. The not-for-profit sector

A PR practitioner working for NFP sector would mean that there will be less funds to work with, hence pushing creativity boundaries of the PR person. It requires strong personal convictions for ethics, to facilitate good governance and accountability to the public and such organizations exist for the public. Therefore, a good public image is also important in order to garner support. for whatever charitable objectives.

2. The corporate sector

The corporate sector main objective is to provide returns to their shareholders, and thus actions are entirely focused on improving and building the building the business to ensure future viability and ongoing profitability. The role of a PR practitioner is more defined in this case as compared to NFP sector. 

Here is what interests me the most. 

"... the corporate sector is looking for formal qualification in public relations, good written and verbal interpersonal communication skills, graphic design, and computer literacy, including the ability to produce PowerPoint presentations."

This is a list of tasks that are under the job scope of a PR practitioner in the corporate sector.

• Media relations
• Government relations
• Shareholder relations
• Public relations
• Publications management
• Liaison with head office
• Diplomatic officer
• Industry organizations
• Communication skills
• Reputation management

3. The public sector

Role of PR person in the public sector is to deliver government messages about programs, services, and initiatives. Practitioners have to align their goals to that of the government's.

The likely communication streams, or in simpler terms, my tasks and the channels in which to achieve goals if ever I were to work in the public sector are as follows:

• Internal communications
• Media relations
• Proactive media relations
• Events management
• Issues management
• Internet
• Marketing support
• Other communication functions (new media platforms e.g.YouTube)

4. The consultancy

Consultancies (agencies) are stand-alone businesses which provide public relations services to clients and satisfying those clients' needs. This form of public relations brings about the most challenging as clients' expectations are high and one has to be highly competent and flexible as projects tend to be wide-ranging. 

A dream; far, yet not entirely unattainable. In order to be able to work in a consultancy, a fresh graduate has to first and foremost stock up a few years of experience.

Starbucks tribute: A simple yet meaning Ad.

There's always a meaning behind every Ad, every campaign, every event. And this is what the PR practitioner have to find, apply, and impart this hidden meaning or knowledge. 

Research as Main Anchor of PR (Lesson 5)

CHAPTER 5: PUBLIC RELATIONS RESEARCH


This chapter discusses the importance of research and the different types of research that is crucial to the effectiveness of public relations.
An overview on the stages of research using a Mindmap.

(Click to view larger image)


This chapter also reminds me that public relations is about the public, and therefore research is important in assessing public opinions, and how to better serve their interests and needs.


An example of public relations campaign with impressive behind-the-scenes research is a campaign to raise public profile for PeakCare (QLD) and increase their influence on the government.


Campaign Title: Better Outcomes for Queensland Kids
As seen in the through the link, intensive research was being done following the three stages: plan, implement and evaluate.
Results based on the research done was clearly listed out in table form, and presented in such a way that is easy to understand for both clients and non-industry individuals.


Here is a brief overview of the research done for this campaign
SITUATION ANALYSIS : (Planning stage)


Identify problem --> 2004 internal review: found many members did not view PeakCare as a leader in the sector, and they felt the organisation did not use the media effectively to pressure the State Government for additional funding for service delivery. The sector overall suffered from lack of unity, poor relationships, competing agendas and a lack of data-sharing and broad-based research between key advocacy organisations.
By June 2004 there were more children and young people were at risk of abuse or neglect in Queensland, based on the Department’s own figures, than before the damning 2003 Crime and Misconduct Inquiry into child protection. Leading up to the first anniversary of the State Government’s Blueprint framework for improved child protection in Queensland, developed in response to the Inquiry, Synchronous identified an opportunity for PeakCare to claim the leadership role and kickstart a broader communication campaign.


GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: (Planning stage)
Clearly defined and specific



The overall goal of the Child Protection Summit was to secure improved policy and funding outcomes for children at risk of abuse and neglect in Queensland.

The objectives of the Child Protection Summit were to:

1. Establish PeakCare as a recognised leader in the child protection sector.
2. Enhance PeakCare’s credibility with and influence on Government.
3. Promote increased collaboration and information sharing across the child protection sector, to strengthen their case for policy decisions and/or funding.
4. Increase member satisfaction with PeakCare’s performance.

Set according to problem identified.

RESEARCH: (Planning stage)

Purpose:

• To develop a broad-based internal and external communication strategy
• To understand how key stakeholders perceived the organisation and what it would take to improve PeakCare’s reputation

Using: 

• Detailed review of Peak's existing discussion papers and policy documents
• Interview of seven key stakeholders

These findings, coupled with the forthcoming anniversary of the Blueprint, shaped Synchronous’ recommendation that PeakCare hold a high-profile industry event to kickstart a broader communication program to raise its profile, build credibility and improve the delivery of child protection services.

TARGET PUBLICS: (Planning Stage)

The target audiences are not baseless choices, but has a clear rationale behind them. These rationales are derived from the research done earlier in the planning stage and chosen in order to achieve the goals and objectives.

IMPLEMENTATION:

Synchronous worked closely with PeakCare during the whole implementation process in order to tell early signs of success of problems.

On Friday May 27 Synchronous Communication sent out a media alert warning of the lack of progress in child protection in Queensland since the 2003 CMC Inquiry, and inviting media to attend a media conference immediately following the summit. In order to get child protection, on to the news agenda for the day, PeakCare President Russell Bricknell gave an interview expressing his concerns to Brisbane’s Courier-Mail that appeared on the morning of the summit.

In the months following, the heads of the participating organisations consulted extensively with their membership on the six-point plan agreed at the summit, which later formed the basis of a major policy submission to the State Government.

EVALUATION:

Evaluation is done to...

• gauge the overall effectiveness of the campaign. 
• Satisfaction of clients
• Clear measure of positive/negative results. 
• Evaluate the reason behind success or failure

Ethical Dilemma (Lesson 4)

PUBLIC RELATIONS ETHICS

A topic that defines public relations and is even more important than the skills that equip PR practitioners. A brief summary of the chapter before heading to practical examples.

'Ethics is about standards of behaviour, specifically, concern for 'good' behaviour and consideration of how our behaviour, as an individual or an organization, affects the wellbeing of others or society as a whole.' - a definition worthy of regurgitation from the text.

The value of ethics can b challenged based on its subjectivity of it all, however, there are universal moral and ethical basis of guidelines to follow. Other than the ten values that Michael Josephson bought forth, being ethical has to be a natural, instinctual process inbuilt in all PR practitioners. In order to achieve this instinctual behaviour, one has to be willing and open to the concept of ethics, know and understand ethics, and develop the skill to behave ethically in all situations.

The ethics schools of thought proposes four theories:

1. Virtue ethics

It view ethical behaviour as one that is guided by an individual's personal values.

2. Deontology

Ethics as set by the law, codes of conduct and agreed principals or regulations set by the client or PR agency.

3. Consequentialism

Ethical or unethical decisions are based on the presumed consequences they will bring.

4. Ethics of inclusion

Decisions are made by consulting a third party's view or taking the perspective from another individual.

Here is a movie that shows an example of conglomerates behaving unethically for greater gain for themselves.

In 2000, Dick Harper (Jim Carrey) works for a company in Los Angeles called Globodyne. Dick is 'promoted' to Vice-President of Communications by company CEO Jack McCallister and company CFO Frank Bascombe. He is also asked to appear on the show Money Life. Watch the video below to see what happens after he appears on the show.

As seen, Dick was unknowingly used as the public face of this unethical behavior of forcing a company into bankruptcy in order for a bigger company to profit from it, ignoring welfare and needs of stakeholders. This shows the importance of PR practitioners' role of upholding honesty and integrity of their clients. Indeed, PUBLIC RELATIONS is termed so as its first priority and loyalty goes to the public. PR practitioners have to do adequate research in order not to commit the same mistake as did Dick. A wrong decision made will result in a snowballing effect and hence consequentialism school of thought and ethics of inclusion come into play.

What are other examples of unethical behaviour in view or public relations? Something that may not seem to have such a big effect as compared to the case of 'Fun with Dick and Jane' or its real-life counterpart 'Enron and Worldcom scandals'?