Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a worldwide growing trend. What started as fair trade groups and green peace movement groups has now grown to inspire companies to lower their carbon footprint as well. As the public becomes more and more informed, businesses get more pressure from consumers to be socially responsible. It is no longer just about the product that a company is supplying, but, now, it is about what they are doing for the local community and the environment. We had guest speaker Adam Garfunkel visit our class today to discuss his experience with Corporate Social Responsibility. In fact, he works with companies in order to improve their CSR. It was interesting and astonishing to hear some responses and attitudes of companies when dealing with CSR. Adam mentioned that companies a lot of time responded to other companies CSR plans with "Why are they getting so much credit for that?" What Adam's clients aren't understanding is that in CSR, a simple approach is the best approach. Naked Juice, a California based company, has succeed in its CSR efforts and mastered the simple theory that Adam spoke of in class. Instead of trying to reach out in every possible way, Naked has chosen to promote their company by sending the message that they the Naked product strives to have a low carbon footprint.

Naked's CSR tactics are easily found on their website and are broken down into the ways that they are lowering their carbon footprint. These things consist of Packaging, Manufacturing and suppliers. All sections give a break down into what they are doing and how it is helping the environment. Just as their tagline states "Nothing to Hide", Naked really is hiding nothing, which is resulting in a gain of trust by consumers as well as brand loyalty as consumer feel they are a environmentally friendly company.

Don't get discouraged when you don't get headline news!

A lot of companies are conducting similar campaigns and tactics, so in the media, there is a lot of noise right now on the subject. It is always nice to get a lot of coverage on positive things your company is completing, it is important for companies to remember a key point of public relations, which is third-party endorsements. In CSR third party endorsements are really going to help a company and eventually possibly gain local and/or national media attention. For example, a Naked Juice costumer may visit their website and notice that they are socially responsible. In turn, they will tell their friends who will tell more people and, in today's technology savvy world, people will blog about it or talk about it on social sites. All of these conversations will improve brand reputation all from their website.

Another quick point to make before I leave you to ponder the benefits of CSR, Naked also gave suggestions on how consumers can make a difference, which is a great idea, especially in today's market where consumers like to feel involved. It is a great call for action on the site and something that other companies can learn from.

Ever wonder how socially responsible you personally are or how much stress you are putting on the planet? Find out how big your ecological footprint is now by taking a short quiz!

PR in the Next Generation

Hey everyone! For those of you who have been reading my other blog this podcast will not be a surprise and will most likely be of interest to you. New Media is effecting the PR industry, especially the corporate sector who for years has tended to stay private with their information. As new media begins to increase, transperency of companies needs to as well, but it doesn't seem like corporate leaders are quite ready for that yet. Watch my podcast to find out more about the subject of Corporate PR and New Media. Enjoy!



Thanks for watching. Feel free to leave comments and make sure to stay tune for more issues in PR.

Check out my other blog as well! PR in the next Generation episode one is also there.

The ongoing debate... Women in PR

Women in PR is an issue that I feel like I hear at every corner. There is the constant debate that the PR industry is mostly made up of women, yet none of them actually run the industry. Well, my opinion, it has nothing to do with them being women. As a woman, I should maybe be a bit more sympathetic, but I'm not. A woman is just as powerful and able as any man and our societies see that today, so instead of sitting around whining about how unfair the world is, women need to put in the hard-work it takes to make it to the top. I can't help but think of the movie The Devil Wears Prada when talking about this subject. Yes, it's a bite cheesy, but watch this trailer and maybe you'll see what I mean...



What really needs to be taken into account is the last bit of the trailer were Meryl Streep says "People think that success just happens to you- it doesn't. Want this life? The decision is yours." It may be a movie, but she makes a valid point that can applied to the whole world. Success does not just happen to people. It comes from hard-work and dedication, which women seem to lack. Not all women, but some women seem to be a bit more concerned with their personal lives than with their jobs. This is also seen in the trailer when Ann Hathaway tells co-worker Stanley Tucci, "My personal life is hanging by a thread" and Tucci responds with "That's what happens when you start doing well at work. Let me know when your whole life goes up in smoke that means your up for a promotion."

I think that the previous quote has a lot of validity into the business world for women. Men will put in the extra effort. They will work extra hours and devote their lives to work. They will do what it takes to make it to the top. Women have that same opportunity, yet they choose to not do it. They would rather have lives.

So, what can we learn from this? The debates need to stop and women just need to become more aggressive in the workplace. Yes, people might talk about them, as they did Meryl Streep in the movie, and, yes, their personal lives might go down the drain, but, hey, if you want to be successful at work, that means that work is your life.

The Spotlight is on the PR Industry...

Public Relations and Ethics. It is an issue that is discussed on a daily basis or shall we say criticized. Public Relations is definitely a profession that is not known for it's good ethics, but instead, its lack of it. For some time now, I've done everything I could to defend the public relations industry, but lately even I have been questioning the validity of the profession. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to put down PR in any way, but it is amazing as to how dishonest and manipulating some PR practitioners can be.



The cartoon above, sadly, explains what is happening within the industry. PR practitioners are doing their best to increase the reputation of their clients that they are putting their ethical standards on the line. The cartoon is classic:. "Make sure everything is done ethically, within reason, of course." PR Professionals will do everything in their power to come across ethical or show good judgement but when it comes down to protecting their clients or making a bigger paycheck, it can almost be guaranteed that a professional will step over the ethical line.

Isn't that kind of human nature though? As we discussed in class, ethics are based on personal values. The problem is, even people with really strong personal values, do not have the confidence to stand up to a boss or coworkers in the work place. Also, their values may get lost. When one things about it PR is about changing the opinions of the public. Making them like whoever your client is. Well, you may have extremely strong values, but when it comes down to the goal of your job, your values may get lost or forgotten about in the middle somewhere. Myron Curry, President and CEO of businesstrainingmedia.com, makes a terrific point in an article when saying:

Ethics are thought of by many people as something that is related to the private side of life and not to the business side. In many businesses, having ethics is frowned upon or thought of as a negative subject. This is because business is usually about doing what’s best for number one, not about what’s really the right thing to do. You probably are already feeling uneasy just reading this.

Curry brings up an exceptional point with that statement. Yes, people all have personal values, but don't most people tend to try to keep their personal lives separate from their work lives? Either way, this brings up another question...

How is PR different than any other profession??

So, as Curry is saying, it is not just a PR thing, but an overall trend in business to be unethical, so why is PR getting such a raft for it? Public Relations is an industry of power. We control communication, and let's face it, communication is what our world is made up of. PR professionals are in the center of all the controversy, therefore, our industry is getting a lot of the heat. In the end, everyone struggles with ethical decisions, they just might not work in industry that have so much power over communication and the thoughts of others.

As a closing thought, while I do think that PR professionals have it hard due to the extra spotlight, I do think that they should try to bring their personal values to work more often. I think they will find the public likes it and will result in stronger reputations for their clients. The public seems to be more sympathetic and reactive to the truth.

Interested in PR and Ethics? Check out Craig Miyamoto's website and Edelman's annual Trust Barometer.

Obama Brings Back Faith in Politicians

So many politicians work to win the trust of the public. For generations, politicians and their PR staff have work on slogans and schemes to make them seem more appealing to the public eye. As time has passed, citizens are becoming frustrated with broken promises and misled messages of who a candidate truly is. There is one man in all of this madness that has found the perfect message and the perfect balance in order to gain trust and support of his country. President Barack Obama's campaign was one to go down in history. You may ask what makes it so special? Unlike other candidates, Obama did his research and learned how to reach not just one public but a variety. The key thing to take away from his campaign is that he found a way to do it while also being consistent across all publics, which created a feeling of trust and motivation among Americans and, quite honestly, most of the world. So, how did Obama do this?

There are many factors that go into Obama's success, but the most important, in my mind, was the use of New Media. From a PR perspective, it was executed perfectly and will most likely change many PR professionals attitudes toward new media. Let's take a look into some of the key elements of Obama's New media campaign.

Website- http://www.barackobama.com/

• Obama's website was constructed by Chris Hughes, one of the creators of Facebook. This may be a small reason why it appealed to so much of the youth, but, needless to say, it worked wonderfully. The site gave insight into who Obama was, gave links to where else on the web you could find him, and allowed supports to download some pretty fun applications, which I'll discuss a little more below. All in all, Obama's website worked as a tool to get members of the same community together to work toward one common goal, which was getting Obama elected.

Social Networks- Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Youtube...

• Obama truly was EVERYWHERE. He was was on every social site from Facebook to LinkedIn. This made Obama extremely appealing to the youth of America by making him human. His Facebook page had things about him, things he liked to do, and most importantly over FIVE MILLION supporters. These social networks not connected Obama to his supporters and gave those who were unsure a place to feel him out, but it also allowed supporters to come together and speak with one another.

Targeting Cell Phones: genius move

• Barely anyone in this world is without a cell phone anymore. It is almost a little bit scary as to howobsessed people are with their phones. Well then, what better way to target people. Obama used this, as some say annoying habit of todays socities, to his advatnage by creating ring tones and phone applications. There is a ring tone for every person, no matter what his/her style is. This tactic not only inspired people, but it left people wondering what was going on and asking where they too can get an Obama ringtone, which just funneled more traffic to his website, and, as sad before, Obama's website is amazing enough to convert even the most doubtful voter.

Ending Thoughts

I could write pages and pages on Obama's campaign. There is so much to be said of it even just within the new media realm, but, for the sake of my readers sanity, I have attempted to keep it some what short. Feel free to comment or ask any questions about Obama's campaign. I'll do my best to get back to you with answers or my thoughts.