In order to effectively evaluate whether PR activity has been successful is by weighing up the effort put into something with the results that comes out of it. The output is what comes out of the work you've done and the outcome is what happens next/how the PR has changed awareness, opinion and behaviour of the publics involved.
There are numerous ways to measure and evaluate the success of a PR campaign:
1. Column inches- This is used to measure how much space you have for your PR content, it measures the amount of same you take up in the publication and then the cost of the space used is compared with the predicted impact it has had on the audience and this is seen as a way to evaluate success. A disadvantage of this is that it doesn't measure whether the coverage received is positive or negative and therefore it doesn't measure how the public will react.
2. Advertising Value Equivalency- AVE involves comparing the cost of the coverage with how much it would have cost to place an advert there instead. e.g. compare the cost of a press release in a magazine with how much it would have cost to have placed an advert in the same place. However, the same disadvantage applies to AVE in that you can't measure how the publics will respond to it or if they'll even react. Also, it is only measuring the cost of placing something in the press and not the VALUE of placing it there. Therefore this will be less useful in actually representing how effective the PR actions were.
3. Hits on Sites: The number of hits on a website can be recorded and reviewed as an evaluation tool. Although, yet again this doesn't prove audience reaction. A huge number of people could visit an organisations website but they could still not agree with the content or not react in the way the organisation would want them to. For example, people could all follow a link and visit a certain website but they could still not sign the petition the website is asking people to sign. Therefore this method of evaluation has its flaws.
4. Return on Investment: How much money back from the money they put in.
5. How many journalists/bloggers you've met with: Ineffective as you don't know whether they will even write about you and if so whether what they say will be accurate and positive.
More effective things to investigate in reference to measuring the success of PR:
-Exposure
-Engagement: how, when, who actively engaged
-Influence: on perceptions/attitudes
-Action: any action taken
-Conversion Rates: For example, if you speak to 32 bloggers and 8 of them write about you then you have a conversion rate of 25%. Many PR campaigns will aim to increase organisational conversion rates.
Smart objectives allow an organisation to measure the outcome of their PR campaigns and stunts and therefore whether these are worthwhile.
S- Specific
M- Measurable
A- Achieveable/Agreed
R- Realistic/Relevant
T- Time
Overall, I think that conversion rates are the most effective way to measure success as this separates the actual participation from the publics from general activity that may not even be relevant.
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Quick Photography
This weeks seminar involved an interactive activity where we had to take our own photos of other students in our seminar group and test out different techniques, angles and lighting in order to get the best looking photograph without requiring professional equipment or an expensive professional photographer. It was recommended that if we were ever given a brief where we had to use photography to promote certain brand products, then it would be best to use a professional photographer as it will make the products look much more appealing and of a better quality. However, learning how to take quick photographs would be useful for briefs that don't require product photos and that can include less professional photos but will still be persuasive and effective. Quick photographs can be useful in giving an organisations publics a basic idea about certain elements of the company, for example knowing how to take an effective photograph of a person would be useful if displaying an image of the organisational CEO on a brand website or in a feature article. Also, quick photography can be used for research or for social networking posts as these don't always require professional images to prove the point that they are trying to make e.g. sometimes social media posts can be designed with the purpose of creating a buzz and gaining shares from the public and therefore the most important thing is that the photography involved is interesting and represents what the organisation is trying to achieve, not that the photography is completely professional and angled perfectly.
A good technique for getting effective photographs is to have the subject tilt their shoulders in a 45 degree angle. This is to prevent the outline of the figure looking too block like, because if their shoulders are facing the camera straight on there will be a lot of large shapes to look at and the photograph will look intense. Alternatively instructing the subject to turn their shoulders slightly and tilt their head, this looks softer and less intense and makes the person seem more appealing. This works for both selfies and pictures you are taking of other people. Psychological research has shown that having human flesh in a photograph has more of an impact and can be more persuasive in
In terms of group pictures a commonly used and apparently successful trick for capturing a good image is the triangle technique involving the group being positioned in a triangle or inverted triangle shape instead of just a long straight line as this is boring and looks less appealing.
A good technique for getting effective photographs is to have the subject tilt their shoulders in a 45 degree angle. This is to prevent the outline of the figure looking too block like, because if their shoulders are facing the camera straight on there will be a lot of large shapes to look at and the photograph will look intense. Alternatively instructing the subject to turn their shoulders slightly and tilt their head, this looks softer and less intense and makes the person seem more appealing. This works for both selfies and pictures you are taking of other people. Psychological research has shown that having human flesh in a photograph has more of an impact and can be more persuasive in
In terms of group pictures a commonly used and apparently successful trick for capturing a good image is the triangle technique involving the group being positioned in a triangle or inverted triangle shape instead of just a long straight line as this is boring and looks less appealing.
Thursday, 19 November 2015
Feature Articles
A feature article is a longer and more in depth article, often they can be based on interviews. Many celebrities use them as positive PR for themselves or to promote something in particular. Unlike a media release, feature articles often use indirect headlines as a way of attracting an audience because if the headline is irrelevant or odd sounding it will make them want to read on and find out what actual content the article includes. This is where the sub-heading comes in as a way of explaining in more depth about what the article will actually be about and potentially its purpose. The by-line will come afterwards in order to inform the audience of who it was written by and who the interviewer was if relevant.
I found it difficult to think of a headline, I decided I wanted to use an indirect headline as it would provoke the reader to actually think for themselves about what the topic of the article could be. My feature article is based on the interview I conducted with another member of my PR seminar group: Anna. In the interview Anna described what it was like when she moved from Poland to Bournemouth to begin her university degree and how she felt about the whole transition. I originally couldn't think of an indirect headline that would catch the audiences attention and make them properly question what the article was about. However, eventually with help from my peers around me and after considering any quotes I had from the interview, I came up with the headline "In a Pickle." This headline was based on the part of the interview where Anna had spoken of what she missed about Poland and stated that although she enjoys a lot of the British food, she misses Poland's pickles. This quote is quite an odd one and many wouldn't automatically think of pickles when reading an article on an individuals experience of moving to a different country, therefore I felt this was an effective indirect headline as it doesn't give away much of the articles content.
The opening paragraph is currently something I'm finding difficult to write as I know that the common techniques to entice a reader to continue reading are to use either: a rhetorical question, a quote, a statement or a sentence describing different senses e.g. what the person could see/touch. However, it is hard to decide on which one to use as I have numerous quotes from the interview that would effectively open the article, however I need to focus it on a specific concept/topic and not just base them on the interview in general. Once I think up a specific topic to base my interview on e.g. what it is like to move to a complete new country or an article with the purpose of encouraging students to consider studying internationally etc, then it will be easier to write my paragraphs and to structure my feature article in an effective way. I am likely to focus my interview with the purpose of informing the reader and base it on the original concept of "what it is like to move to a different country by yourself/when you're a teenager/for a better education." If this fails then I may change my idea and place focus on the differences between Poland and England and the positives and negatives of both as described by Anna. I will work on a few opening sentences for both ideas and see which quotes from the interview fit most effectively with which concept and then I will decide on which would be more interesting as a feature article and go from there.
I found it difficult to think of a headline, I decided I wanted to use an indirect headline as it would provoke the reader to actually think for themselves about what the topic of the article could be. My feature article is based on the interview I conducted with another member of my PR seminar group: Anna. In the interview Anna described what it was like when she moved from Poland to Bournemouth to begin her university degree and how she felt about the whole transition. I originally couldn't think of an indirect headline that would catch the audiences attention and make them properly question what the article was about. However, eventually with help from my peers around me and after considering any quotes I had from the interview, I came up with the headline "In a Pickle." This headline was based on the part of the interview where Anna had spoken of what she missed about Poland and stated that although she enjoys a lot of the British food, she misses Poland's pickles. This quote is quite an odd one and many wouldn't automatically think of pickles when reading an article on an individuals experience of moving to a different country, therefore I felt this was an effective indirect headline as it doesn't give away much of the articles content.
The opening paragraph is currently something I'm finding difficult to write as I know that the common techniques to entice a reader to continue reading are to use either: a rhetorical question, a quote, a statement or a sentence describing different senses e.g. what the person could see/touch. However, it is hard to decide on which one to use as I have numerous quotes from the interview that would effectively open the article, however I need to focus it on a specific concept/topic and not just base them on the interview in general. Once I think up a specific topic to base my interview on e.g. what it is like to move to a complete new country or an article with the purpose of encouraging students to consider studying internationally etc, then it will be easier to write my paragraphs and to structure my feature article in an effective way. I am likely to focus my interview with the purpose of informing the reader and base it on the original concept of "what it is like to move to a different country by yourself/when you're a teenager/for a better education." If this fails then I may change my idea and place focus on the differences between Poland and England and the positives and negatives of both as described by Anna. I will work on a few opening sentences for both ideas and see which quotes from the interview fit most effectively with which concept and then I will decide on which would be more interesting as a feature article and go from there.
Thursday, 29 October 2015
Media Releases and Image Banks
This week we were set our media releases assignment after a seminar of identifying key techniques ensuring that media releases are effective and attract the intended audience. Media releases can be used to inform the public of a new campaign, product or launch that an organisation is involved with, it is almost like a fake news article that is designed to inform an audience of something. However, media releases don't just target an organisations publics such as consumers, they also target journalists who are interested in what the organisation is up to. These media releases provide the journalists with initial information and then often after the end of the release in the editors notes there's further details such as contact details that the journalist can read and use when writing their article or when investigating the subject of the media release further. Media releases aren't about being clever, they're about informing an organisations publics about something and therefore, clear and simple titles that get straight to the point and include relevant information about the story, are very important. Also, a tip in order to achieve a well structured press release is to aim to include Who, What, When, Where, Why and How within the title and the first paragraph. So the reader is instantly informed and has a clear understanding about what you're writing about and is therefore more likely to continue reading if it is something they are interested in. It is a good guideline to stick to usually one page, 2 pages maximum so nobody is bored by your release and therefore writing concisely is vital. I enjoyed learning about the most successful techniques used by PR practitioners when tasked with creating media releases for organisations and clients. After learning about these simple tips and going and researching different pre-existing media releases, it was clear to identify which ones had followed the general structure and were successful in informing their publics effectively of all the key information, and which had not followed the structure and were unclear and therefore less effective.
Our assignment involves creating our own media release for a local cafe, the cafe is relaunching and has a new interior and new menu but the same chef. The cafe also has a new special of cream teas. I've named the local cafe "Cream T Cafe" and have started to write a simple media release explaining about the brands relaunch and informing the local publics of this, whilst also bearing in mind that journalists could potentially read the release and use information from it in their own writing, and therefore the information has to be 100% clear and accurate, whilst conveying key brand messages and clearly portraying the brand in the way they wish to be portrayed (considering the audience they want to target). So far my title includes 3 of the key W's (who, what etc) and my first paragraph goes on to include more information and cover more W's. I have chosen to include basic information in the title and then use the first paragraph to explain it in more detail. The second paragraph goes on to explain the relaunch further and the third paragraph includes a quote from the head chef. This quote makes the release even more identifiable to the brand. I have specifically chosen a quote from the chef because they have worked at the cafe for 5 years and therefore will understand exactly what the brand is about and exactly the type of audience the organisation seeks to target, also for the pre-existing customers, the chef will be identifiable and trustworthy. So far this is all I have completed for my media release and I know I will need to analyse media releases further and edit a lot of what I have done. My next step is to finish the paragraphs and make sure I write the word "ENDS" so that the end of the release is clearly obvious and people will stop reading. Below this I will include information about when the cafe opened and the cafe's contact details. This extra information will be aimed at any journalists reading the release, the contact details are for if they require any further information about the relaunch or the company itself, these aren't included in the main text as this information isn't relevant to the majority of readers and doesn't directly link to the purpose of the media release which is to inform of the cafe relaunch and generate interest/hype about this.
In the second half of the week we learned about Image Banks. Image Banks are a reserve of photographs stored by a company. These are generally stored online under the "Media Centre" section of a website and can be used by the public or by journalists when they are wanting to use company images. Image Banks are useful as the company can control them and therefore chose the way they want to represent themselves. For example, they can display their products and services through photographs that they think are appealing or display their key messages in an effective way. Journalists for example are far more likely to use an image provided by the organisations image bank, than go and take primary photographs for themselves, therefore this allows the organisation slight control over the images they provide their publics with. Effective image banks offer a variety of well postioned photos all with key brand messages being shown and are easy to navigate around/locate. Often the most effective images show human flesh as many people identify with these images more e.g. a picture of the CEO of a company.
Our assignment involves creating our own media release for a local cafe, the cafe is relaunching and has a new interior and new menu but the same chef. The cafe also has a new special of cream teas. I've named the local cafe "Cream T Cafe" and have started to write a simple media release explaining about the brands relaunch and informing the local publics of this, whilst also bearing in mind that journalists could potentially read the release and use information from it in their own writing, and therefore the information has to be 100% clear and accurate, whilst conveying key brand messages and clearly portraying the brand in the way they wish to be portrayed (considering the audience they want to target). So far my title includes 3 of the key W's (who, what etc) and my first paragraph goes on to include more information and cover more W's. I have chosen to include basic information in the title and then use the first paragraph to explain it in more detail. The second paragraph goes on to explain the relaunch further and the third paragraph includes a quote from the head chef. This quote makes the release even more identifiable to the brand. I have specifically chosen a quote from the chef because they have worked at the cafe for 5 years and therefore will understand exactly what the brand is about and exactly the type of audience the organisation seeks to target, also for the pre-existing customers, the chef will be identifiable and trustworthy. So far this is all I have completed for my media release and I know I will need to analyse media releases further and edit a lot of what I have done. My next step is to finish the paragraphs and make sure I write the word "ENDS" so that the end of the release is clearly obvious and people will stop reading. Below this I will include information about when the cafe opened and the cafe's contact details. This extra information will be aimed at any journalists reading the release, the contact details are for if they require any further information about the relaunch or the company itself, these aren't included in the main text as this information isn't relevant to the majority of readers and doesn't directly link to the purpose of the media release which is to inform of the cafe relaunch and generate interest/hype about this.
In the second half of the week we learned about Image Banks. Image Banks are a reserve of photographs stored by a company. These are generally stored online under the "Media Centre" section of a website and can be used by the public or by journalists when they are wanting to use company images. Image Banks are useful as the company can control them and therefore chose the way they want to represent themselves. For example, they can display their products and services through photographs that they think are appealing or display their key messages in an effective way. Journalists for example are far more likely to use an image provided by the organisations image bank, than go and take primary photographs for themselves, therefore this allows the organisation slight control over the images they provide their publics with. Effective image banks offer a variety of well postioned photos all with key brand messages being shown and are easy to navigate around/locate. Often the most effective images show human flesh as many people identify with these images more e.g. a picture of the CEO of a company.
Friday, 23 October 2015
Report Assignment: Initial Ideas
This week we were given our brief for our report assignment that is due in January. The task is to write a 1, 000 word report on the PR campaign launched surrounding the release of the new Apple Watch. After initial research using sources such as social media and online articles to try and identify how Apple went about introducing the Apple Watch to its audience, I collected a range of weblinks and have recorded all of these in an excel table so that I can reference them and refer back to them. Also the columns included in this table allow me to easily identify the author and the date the text was published. So far the research is going fairly well however I'm finding it quite difficult to locate certain information from reliable sources as the product/PR campaign was launched in April and therefore I have to search quite far back in order to find the relevant information for me to be able to record and analyse how effective the overall PR campaign was. Also, I must remember to only focus on the PR element of the product release as already I have come into contact with a lot of advertising centred around the product through online resources. From my initial research it seems that the product is targeting a wide audience, but mainly young adults due to the stylish, chic design. These young adults may have just started to earn quite a bit of their own money and therefore will be the ones in the appropriate financial situation to buy this product. Also many will live in urban areas such as large/capital cities where the latest and most advanced technology emerges, even from the campaigns you can see the clear focus on an urban audience, due to the locations filmed in and the hobbies displayed in a number of the campaigns.
Sunday, 18 October 2015
Case Studies and Interviews
This week we began to consider our initial case study ideas and started to research current launches, campaigns and crises to see if any of these interested us enough or were detailed enough for us to write about and analyse. To begin my research I looked at a number of social media sites to identify the recent trends and what people are/have been hyping over for the past few days. I looked on the 'Discover' page on twitter and on the 'popular' page on Instagram to see if anything caught my eye. However, most of the trends that day were more to do with celebrities and gossip and less to do with something I could actually report on and analyse. Therefore I moved onto looking at key news websites and identified a few ideas such as new technology product launches or the VW and Fifa (Sepp Blatter) crises. The issue with both the Fifa and the VW scandals is that they happened at a time before I even started my research and therefore the PR campaign set in place to control the crisis and criticism would be difficult to measure from the beginning. Therefore, I kept on researching current news stories and found numerous stories on the new Halloween Burger that Burger King were releasing as an October exclusive up until the end of the month. I then continued to search for news articles on the release of this burger and also looked on social media and websites such as YouTube to see how Burger King were using PR to promote their exclusive product. I decided that this was a campaign that interested me and consequently I began to gather a range of web links and videos and also begin to create a timeline of the campaign so I can see how it progresses and therefore analyse how effective it is for them in the end. I'm going to continue to research the PR surrounding this Black Whopper Burger and record the various articles, campaigns and feedback on this in a timeline to enable me to make a final judgement about how effective the entire campaign was and how this affected sales.
In our last seminar of the week we discussed the most effective ways of interviewing people and the best type of questions to ask a subject that we are interviewing. The key is to remember that the interview isn't about you. Also it's important to remember to endure silence during an interview or whist interviewing as it usually provokes the interviewee into talking in more detail and giving more information, which will make the interview more interesting. Varying question types from light-hearted to more intense questions is important and the best types of questions to ask are usually open ended questions that encourage the subject to express themselves more and allow variety in the answers they provide. Finally, always ensure that you tell the subject you are interviewing what you need from them e.g. "I need an emotional quote" therefore you will both be on the same page and will have a mutual understanding about the purpose of the interview and the interview question style.
Thursday, 8 October 2015
Key Messages (Continued) and Case Studies
This week we worked on how best to focus key messages on specific stakeholders and which channels to use to target them the most effectively. An organisation will have a range of stakeholders that all influence the company differently and are all very diverse in the way they receive information and how they communicate. As a result of this it is important to decide on the appropriate channels and language when giving different audiences different/the same message.
The task involved us writing our own key messages focusing on 3 different stakeholders that are personal to us and having to decide on the appropriate language and channels to communicate with each.
STAKEHOLDER: CHANNEL:
Friends Text
Extended Family Phone
Employer Email
Friends:
Guys, a water pipe burst in the flat below and our water is off so I get to spend 2 free nights in a hotel with the free food and alcohol!
Extended Family:
I'm staying in the Ramada Encore Hotel for tonight and tomorrow night because a water pipe burst in the flat below us and they had to turn the water off in order to fix it. We have a £25 food voucher to spend and the food is delicious.
Employer:
Unfortunately a waterpipe burst in the flat below mine in student halls and the water had to be turned off for days in order to fix it. However, the Unite Student Accommodation team handled the situation quickly and effectively and booked us all rooms in the Ramada Encore Hotel whilst the pipe was fixed. The rooms in the hotel were comfortable and spacious and the food was delicious so everything worked out well in the end and our water was running smoothly again by Friday evening.
The task involved us writing our own key messages focusing on 3 different stakeholders that are personal to us and having to decide on the appropriate language and channels to communicate with each.
STAKEHOLDER: CHANNEL:
Friends Text
Extended Family Phone
Employer Email
Friends:
Guys, a water pipe burst in the flat below and our water is off so I get to spend 2 free nights in a hotel with the free food and alcohol!
Extended Family:
I'm staying in the Ramada Encore Hotel for tonight and tomorrow night because a water pipe burst in the flat below us and they had to turn the water off in order to fix it. We have a £25 food voucher to spend and the food is delicious.
Employer:
Unfortunately a waterpipe burst in the flat below mine in student halls and the water had to be turned off for days in order to fix it. However, the Unite Student Accommodation team handled the situation quickly and effectively and booked us all rooms in the Ramada Encore Hotel whilst the pipe was fixed. The rooms in the hotel were comfortable and spacious and the food was delicious so everything worked out well in the end and our water was running smoothly again by Friday evening.
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