PR POWER

As part of our MA degree, we were asked to make a 6 minute video with the title "PR may have a bad reputation, but society needs it". It was paramount that this wasn't to be a puff piece. We wanted to show the addiction and power of PR. The easiest way was to invent an addictive product that would parallel the dependency of PR.




"PR may have a bad reputation, but society needs it".

In 1917 Edward Bernays stumbled across a most rare and magical herb -- plantae iaceo, which literally means the lying plant - according to a street peddlar had the propensity to get the holder out of even the stickiest of situations using nothing more than rhetoric.

Upon his return to America, Bernays set to work, concocting a potent mixture of ale for confidence, pepper for dramatics and honey to soothe even the foulest of tempers. After weeks of deliberating, Bernays finally decided on a name - PR Power, not least because World War I was breaking out, and Bernay's knew how important it was to stay "on-message". In April 1917, it was finally ready. But how would Bernays sell it? How would he figure out who really deserved his magical drink?

Follow your hosts Sarah Walker & Alberto Pinosa as they take you on a journey into the vaults of PR Power, and understand the influence behind this rising social addiction.

"If you want transparency, drink water. If you want success, drink PR Power!"


Some Production shots to tickle your taste buds.

It's so diverse!

This weeks lecture focused on diversity. The speaker was Mavis Amankwah who is the founder of Rich Visions Corporate and Rich Visions small business (2002 & 2009 respectively).

She was an engaging and confident speaker, yet I must admit that at the beginning of the lecture when she felt the need to divulge her financial assets over a 15 minute period, a red flag appeared. She spoke mostly about her and her personal achievements including her net worth whilst plugging her book. Certain exaggerations into the opening statement of financial presence seemed ungrounded (the website appeared to be from Vistaprint). Such wonderful statements included "The costs of getting it wrong can be really costly"... hmm.

It seemed as if the lecture was the prerequisite for standard business practice not a sub-division of industry. Personally I think any practitioner should know who their audience is and what ways to target their niche, they shouldn't need to outsource this insight.

I actually found myself quite annoyed at this lecture. My peers had the opposite reaction, leaving inspired, motivated and eyes bulging at the prospect of making millions. Coming from a background understanding the financial logistics of mid-sized companies, I think the information given might have been sugar coated and her 'pitch' slightly misguiding. With regards to the case studies, there were 3 very basic local community campaigns. The lecture would have been far more plausible if the focus was on content and not on finances.

Nevertheless, I cannot be critical of the great insight into community engagement and focusing on generation to head campaigns. Her knowledge of communities was really perceptive and one cannot dismiss her achievements. In the UK, we are just at conception of diverse communications and this is a really interesting and sensitive area in PR. What Mavis Amankwah has achieved is indeed pioneering and this should be respected. But with the advent of web 2.0 and 'universal' language trending, does it already have a shelf life? Are sensitivities lessening? Naturally, culture has its vulnerabilities and these should absolutely be treated delicately, but can this sector sustain itself with the quick pace of society? One thing Mavis did touch upon that stood out was the 3 barriers to diverse relations - Culture, religion and language. Without these 3 pillars, society would have a very bland and soulless existence.

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Rich Visions
Mavis Amankwah


She noticed a gap in the market.
test research for 2 years.
3 barriers to reaching out to diverse culture - culture, religion and language
Here in the UK, we are still at conception.
Rich Visions corporate 2002.
Rich Visions small business 2009.
How to reach the unreachable?
The one size fits all is not the way forward
Cost of getting wrong can lead to disengagement.
Community engagement
Generation is very important and can lead very different campaigns
Focus groups are great for a sensitive message and for terms of translation
Focus groups are also an important qualitative tool for acquiring feedback
To convince, It's about the education.

Do's
Research your target audience
work towards dispelling any cultural myths of taboos
understand the demographics of the target audience you are trying to reach eg - generation
The one size fits all approach is not the way forward
Be aware of cultural sensitivities eg - eye contact
Engage more with your community leaders, opinion formers, faith leaders and specialist agencies
Familiarise yourself with niche media
when doing outreach think about the team

Don't
Hide your campaign success stories and testimonials
Use idioms and jargon
Stereotype
Just 'guess'
Always run campaigns during specific ethnic events



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This is a terribly basic example of a diverse culture infographic, but it makes its point.