Recession-proof? Well, almost.

Today on Twitter, I stumbled upon an article from the New York Times entitled “Life is O.K., If You Went to College.” Hurrah! Since exactly one week from today I will be lining up at my college commencement ceremony, I was intrigued and they sucked me in with that hopeful title and I excitingly read on.

The bottom line is that “the unemployment rate for college graduates in April was a mere 3.9 percent, compared to 7.5 percent for everyone else.”

Those with degrees have taken all the available jobs during the country’s recession because even though business may suffer, they would rather hire someone who has obviously dedicated themselves (and been successful) enough to the task of higher education.

Even if these jobs aren’t the dream career, we all have to start somewhere and the college grad is more likely to get a promotion than someone who is less educated.

When I was reading this article I though back to my dad talking to me about how important a degree actually is; not only is it a certification of knowledge, it shows that you’re disciplined, hard-working, determined and can finish what you’ve started. Maybe he’s right, especially considering he has fired and hired his fair share of people in his career.

While those with a degree are experiencing about a 9 percent rise in employment, those without one are experiencing a 9 percent decline in employment. Needless to say that even though college has been tough and stressful, it’s an honor to be part of the lucky 9 percent.

It will be comforting to know that when I walk into an interview with my portfolio in-hand, that I can be confident in knowing I deserve that job and have a higher chance of getting it.

 

More money, less problems

American Airlines is trying out new ways to cater to airport customers. They are offering treatment for these VIPs that includes curbside pickup (by name), boarding pass delivery and an escort to the front of the security line. Delta is even offering transportation in a Porsche between airplanes so that the VIPs won’t even have to go into a terminal.

Once these fancy folks board the plane, airlines offer smooth sailing with last-second boarding; passengers avoid the hustle and bustle and can easily place their luggage in reserved overhead storage.

According to the Star-Telegram, “There is a lot of money on the line. At big airlines like American, 70 percent of the revenue comes from 20 percent of its customers.” Yikes.

Airlines have found a great niche for these extreme customer service outlets. Celebrities, athletes and anyone with extra funds will gladly shell out more money if they can get through the airport faster and with less stress—I know I would do it if I could. That is the key point here: anyone can take part in this program if they’ve got the money.

“American's program, called Five Star Service, costs $125 to $275 for the first passenger, depending on the airport. Each additional adult costs $75; children cost $50 extra. These fees are in addition to the price of a ticket.”

I think this is a great marketing plan on American’s part—offer great services at a price, which has always been the motto for any company that wants to profit.

America's Sweetheart

Ever since the Kanye West and Taylor Swift debacle at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, TSwift has been cast as the young, pretty and respectable female icon for today's youth. Unlike some other used-to-be teen starlets, TSwift exudes a sense of innocence. This is not the kind of innocence that's dipped in "I'm so sweet, why don't you come turn me bad?" She's for real; a genuine good girl.

This could either be a PR nightmare or a PR gift only bestowed upon someone as lucky as her publicist, Paula Erickson.

After Tina Fey and Amy Poehler cracked a seemingly casual joke at the Golden Globes in Jan. 2013 about Swift's romantic life, Swift came back with a quote from Madeleine Albright saying "There's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women."

Anybody who's aware of Fey and Poehler's humor knows that if anything, a joke coming from them is out of pure fun- no cattiness implied. From a PR standpoint everybody seems to agree with the idea that Swift should have replied perhaps with a smile and a laugh rather than a defensive poke at Fey and Poehler.

The last thing Swift needs is to lose her place in the celebrity world as the cute and fun sweetheart.

Matt Ragas, an assistant communications professor at DePaul University said, “part of PR is words and messaging, but a huge part of is also actions and behaviors."

Although the comment offended Swift, the words were based on truth (whether she wants to believe that or not). Obviously, she seems to be doing pretty well with her "breakup song" theme and she should continue doing so; don't try to change your image because frankly, you're the one who created it.

TSwift just needs to brush it off and move on without trying to make a big deal out of it- just portray the confident, female attitude she's been giving off the whole time.

Quality not quantity

I remember back in the days of MySpace when all that mattered was the coolness of your background and the cuteness of your profile picture. There was even an unspoken service where you could add someone who guaranteed they could get you more friends. More online friends equals a better experience, right?

Being somewhat new to Twitter, one of the things I love most about the medium is that it simply does not matter how many followers you have, or how many people you are following. With Twitter it’s the quality, not the quantity which shows the great potential that it has to be a tool for the professional world.

Sometimes I see comments on celebrity feeds I shamelessly follow that practically spam the tweet with “follow me for 200 followers” copied and pasted a hundred times. Why? What’s the point of having so many followers? Chances are they don’t even offer any decent content, just a bunch of “this burrito is delicious #yummy” or “just brushed my teeth LOLZ #suds” tweets that would only take up scroll space on my feed.

One great analogy I read from this article from Aaron Gottlieb from PR Daily (who I follow on Twitter, in fact) is: “Michael Jordan wasn’t great because of the number of people who bought his jerseys. He earned greatness through his play. Everything else was a reward.” That makes perfect sense to me.

The bottom line is that if you make your Twitter input something that’s valuable to other people, eventually people will find you and see that you offer information from which they can benefit. I don’t follow CNN or my local news provider because I want to be cool, it’s because I enjoy reading the things they tweet and it makes me more aware of the world around me.

I think if Twitter members saw social media that way then we would all be a little less annoyed whenever we check in with the little blue bird.

No time to lag

Crisis planning is essential to any business, especially one whose customer satisfaction levels always seem to be on the high end. In a recent Tweetchat, the focus was on crisis communication, namely how to handle them and what qualifies as a crisis.

A company must make sure the people handling the crisis know the organization backward and forward so they can handle anything that comes up. Having that knowledge also ensures that if asked any question about the crisis they can answer quickly.

A crisis also tests the company’s reputation; it can’t just be an incident that can easily be blown off. Take for example, the current Burger King Twitter dilemma. Because of that brandjacking, BK gained 28,000 followers because of the faux hacking.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines not only scores high on customer satisfaction, ranking second of all low-cost carriers, but knows how to handle a crisis in a world where social media reigns supreme.

"’There's a lot of self-correcting and a lot of self-policing,’ Flaningan said. Sometimes, he said, it's better to simply let folks talk it out among themselves instead of stepping in.” (Wilson)

This was in response to a glitch when the company offered deeply discounted fares through their Facebook and the site got so much traffic that there were many technical difficulties. Some customers were charged up to 50 times for their purchase, but understood that the company was taking care of it.

Social media is key to any crisis and cannot be forgotten when combating something that has gone awry. People get their news updated by the second and, especially negative, news spreads like wildfire.

Clorox Reigns Supreme

From puke to pee to poop, Clorox does it all, but faced issues when it came to their sales (as in, they weren’t selling).

The company found a way to increase their “young parent” purchase power by using Twitter and other social media sites to gain some traffic.

“The campaign not only stemmed declining sales, but increased them by 2 percent during the 13-week campaign, which won top honors in the Best Digital PR Campaign category of PR Daily’s Digital PR & Social Media Awards” (Amire).

With the increase of Internet use and the term “Google it” getting tossed around like crazy, it’s no wonder parents are going to the Web for answers to various parenting issues. Clorox saw this as a way to get some brand awareness and re-vamp their marketing strategy.

They created the hashtag #BleachItAway in an attempt to get parents from all over to tweet their experiences and offer up solutions for any “accidents” their little ones may have had that day. Bleachitaway.com also took off as a place for parents to share stories as well.

The PR firm, Ketchum used viral videos , blogs, and Facebook/Twitter as media for the campaign too.

When it comes to the numbers, Clorox Bleach online conversation went up by 38 percent and there was a 72 percent click-through rate on Twitter that led to bleachitaway.com

Bethenny Frankel also took part as the celebrity head, getting mommy bloggers to upload videos of their own at-home messy moments.

No Room for the Boom

According to a recent poll, 49 percent of baby boomers (late 40s to mid 60s) believe that social media has a negative effect on the workplace. At the same time, however, they are the largest group of business owners in the U.S.

Herein lies the problem: with such a huge influence social media and online strategies have on business, what are the effects of such a frame of mind?

The same amount, nearly half, of baby boomers now work for a boss who is younger than they are.

It seems as though these stubborn boomers can either sink or swim in the online waters. Times are a' changing! Sometimes it is strange to think that my capstone PR class requires blogging, Tweeting and Linking In, but it obviously is vital to a career to be tech-savvy and ready to adapt to any social media changes that may occur.

For example, "Baby boomers' misgivings about modern technology are countered in the workplace by their younger-generation counterparts who grew up with technology and are eager and quick to adapt to innovations," author David Bray said.

We younger people prefer to connect via online media and don't see much of a point in doing anything else. The boomers still rely on face-to-face meetings and even though this is essential, one must be able to reach their clients with a quick email or tweet.

With people being as busy as they are today there isn't an option for being disconnected. It's important to be able to balance personal and social in the workplace even when it comes to going digital.

Geographical distance is no longer worrisome for companies; you can reach anyone, anywhere, even in a different time zone. Boomers should see this as a beneficial shift from old to new and embrace the change. There is no end in sight for this social media craze and it will only get larger as time goes on.

Maybe a "tweet" won't even exist in five years and it will be something completely different, and I can't wait to be right in the middle of that new technology.

True Calling

Poking around some online PR sources, I found this gem: “53 signs you work in public relations.”

I see this not only as a glimpse into my future, but a checklist of things I should either be doing now, or learning to do. Here are a few of my favorites…

4. You constantly engage in “PR is dead” and “the press release doesn’t have a place in business” arguments.

I’m not sure HOW a press release would be irrelevant to a business’s plan. What would business owners do without PR? Would they just hire advertisers or marketing professionals? One can’t just cut out the medium between the people (stakeholders) and the company. PR…represent!

10. You know more about AP style than Microsoft Office. Because of this, you’re a regular in the IT department.

It is time for a confession. I am so very happy that AP style was so passionately engrained in our brains.

11. You proudly put “PR pro” in your Twitter bio, knowing it’s the one place you don’t have to explain your job.

I love this. Sometimes I feel like I’m being punished for choosing a career path that’s so specific. “What do you plan on doing with that when you graduate?” UGH. I plan on knowing exactly where to apply and marketing my specific skillset to anybody willing enough to pay me. What about you, business majors?

26. You check HootSuite in the morning before you get out of bed just to monitor what has been said about your clients overnight. (Source)

This is great advice! Always stay in the loop, especially when it pertains directly to your client. Nothing worse than saying, “wait, what happened?”

29. You're afraid to go more than 15 minutes (max) without checking Twitter/Facebook/news feeds to make sure you're not missing anything. (Source)

Being raised in the information age has been pretty beneficial. PR aside, I don’t know anyone my age who isn’t glued to their smartphones. We want to know what’s going on, with who and when it will happen. If only we could all take that awareness and apply it to current events which is my weakness.

45. Post-it notes are your lifeblood. (Source)

They are lifesavers; perfect for quick thoughts, ideas and anything else that deserves a scribble or two. Plus, you can stick them anywhere.

53. Something really bad happens and you're the first to announce, "We don't have problems; we have opportunities." (Source)

Problems and opportunities: the first category when analyzing any case. Instead of dwelling on the crisis, figure out how to deal with it and how to turn it into something beneficial.

 

 

To Be Frank...

As a student climbing my way to the top of the PR-education mountain, I find that the biggest themes of my schooling have been integrity, honesty and ethics. Even if you can't write, spell, report, or put together a news release, above all: be ethical. We've even got our own code of ethics (good luck finding a "CEO Code of Ethics").

Thankfully, the proof is in pudding; Baylor completed some research during which they interviewed 30 PR professionals who all had 27+ years of experience. Some said they left their jobs because they chose not to take part in an unethical practice, stating that they cannot lose their credibility because it's all they have. 

Once you're known for being dishonest, there's really no point in continuing on with being a PR "professional." 

Who will listen to someone who is supposed to represent their company that cannot be trusted?

The article also focuses on the importance of creating relationships with legal counsel and other "key decision makers" in order to ensure "fire prevention" versus "fire fighting." 

Find the article here 

Techno-Mickey

Walt Disney World will introduce a new, time-saving technology for its visitors this spring. Visitors will have a bracelet that stores information for their stay such as admission ticket, room key, credit card and personal identification info. Guests will also be able to make purchases with a tap of their new bracelets.

Enter: big brother. Is this too much? Should a theme park, no matter how whimsical, be able to track guest behavior and act accordingly?

From a marketing and PR standpoint, this is a fantastic move by Disney. Analyzing consumer behavior is the seed of all flourishing campaigns and this offers a cost-effective, simple and extremely swift way to profile guests.

The information stored on the MagicBand is completely up to the visitor; as a parent, if you don't want Cinderella to come say hello to your daughter on her birthday, that's up to your discretion.

MagicBand's addition to the park will keep them up to speed on new technology and *hopefully* avoid any future personal information pitfalls. I suggest the PR team come up with some preventative crisis management for this one...