The holidays
With the Christmas just ahead there are many business that use simple public relation tactics to market their products to shoppers. Many stores send out discount coupons that reduce prices or give away free gifts depending how much money is spent. Nonprofit organizations send out holiday cards to the sponsors and donors that support their cause. The greater the savings the more people will buy and shop. Many marketing people must ‘pr’ to figure out what will bring the consumers in.
I was in the sandwich shop the other day and every 25 person that entered got a free meal. That seemed like a great way to get people to come into a store. Pr is every where!
Black Friday
So usually the day after thanksgiving I avoid all shopping places or spots where large mobs of angry Christmas may be. This year I couldn’t weasel my way out of the opportunity, instead I was stuck in the thick of it working the grave yard shift in an outlet store.
The coach factory outlet store in Branson Missouri was a hot spot Thanksgiving night. I was scheduled to work from 11:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. the next day. The doors were to open at midnight and the best bargains at all shops in the outlet were going to be given to the early birds. When I arrived at work the line outside the door was around 150 deep and more were flocking in! Luckily I arrived a little early because the manager decided to open the doors an hour early and the job given to me was crowd control. Since only 40 people could be allowed in the store at a time I had my hands full. The night just kept getting better.
Thank goodness I was in high spirits and had some knowledge in public relations. Along with some candy, Christmas songs, dancing and jokes I kept that crowd happy. I pranced around outside for around five hours but had a fun time overall minus the cold temperature. Finally I moved inside and by the end of my 11 hour shift I was beat. It was definitely an experience I’ll remember!
The Trot
With Thanksgiving just around the corner I was thinking about the fun traditions of my family thanksgivings and how that could tie into public relations. Each year my sisters and I run in the Thanksgiving Day turkey trot in Springfield Missouri. The trot is a 5K race that is run early on thanksgiving morning and raises money for community organizations: Ozarks Food Harvest, Developmental Center of the Ozarks and the Springfield-Greene County Park Board’s Scholarship Fund.
The turkey trot is a huge race, over 4,000 people participated. Over 3,000 lbs. of canned food was brought in to help people in the Springfield area. Websites, flyers, advertisements in the newspaper, and word of mouth are all ways the event is advertised. The money that is raised goes to some great causes and getting some exercise before a big Thanksgiving feast isn’t a bad idea.
To find out more about the turkey trot visit: http://www.dcoonline.com/turkey_trot.asp
Twilight
So the big news this week is the new movie Twilight based on a series of books written by Stephenie Meyer. The movie opens Thursday but many places are hosting midnight premiers because has been such an anticipated movie. There has been a lot of media advertising the coming of the movie. Talk shows host the actors and actresses and clips from the movie are shown on television to give the public something to look forward too.
I normally don’t get too excited for movies but I absolutely loved the book. Now, I know I shouldn’t get my hopes us because a movie never comes close to being as good as the book. Since it has gotten a lot of media attention, I’m crossing my fingers that it’ll be decent. Public Relations plays a big part in this because this is something that will make a lot of money and by doing a good job of advertising and hosting special events it should bring in the revenue that movie companies are hoping for.
Books and PR
I’ve been reading Jodi Picoult’s book The Tenth Circle and so far it’s been pretty good. Lots of authors who are well known have to publicize each time a new book comes out so the public will know when to go by it. Another way Jodi and many other authors share their work is through the internet. On Picoult’s website she has links to podcasts, movie trailers, summaries on all her books, and news on upcoming novels.
Many “big time” authors like Stephen King, John Grisham, and Picoult have public relations help to get their work out so the public will be aware and then go purchase them. They set up book signings and get them on television talk shows to let the audience know about new books. The print media also helps writers because they publicize their thoughts about books in the news paper with reviews and awards like the “New York Times Best Selling Author.”
The work of writers is a tough profession but enjoyed by all. I have read most all of Jodi Picoult’s books and strongly suggest reading them; if you have any interest check out her website at http://www.jodipicoult.com/
Concert Time!
Last weekend I hit up the Dashboard Confessional concert and boy did I have a great time! Along with the amazing music and fun group of people I went with, there were some educational public relation tips I picked up.
Before the concert started the bands had autograph signings which is a cool way to be public friendly and say ‘thank you’ to the fans that came. Different company sponsors had free t-shirt give-aways (I got a really neat Pepsi one). One really nice form of advertisement during the concert was the larger bands (Panic at the Disco and Dashboard) promoted the smaller bands (The Cab and Plain White T’s) and encouraged people to buy their music along with their own. The group that hosted the concert had fun activities between the bands that kept the atmosphere alive and excited. When the show was over and we were walking back to our car, rising bands were grouped outside, passing out cds with their music on it, promoting their talents. The event seemed to be a success. It was a good time and through the loud music and dancing I did learn some.
Fashion Night!!
Fashion night was amazing! Top designers from all over the St. Louis area were all a glow Friday night. The event was held at the Limier Place, which is a hotel/casino located right next to the Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis. Before the fashion show guests had the opportunity of walking around and visiting sponsor’s booths where many stations had free giveaway promotions. Having companies promoting their product at such a fun event was great media relations because there were television stations and magazines covering the show.
Before the show started we found our assigned seats and on each chair was a large bag full of special gifts from the companies who sponsored the show. Some of the gifts were amazing; we got a clutch designed by Jones New York and bottles of water from Borba. The runway show fashions were for Dillard’s and their fall line of fashion. Surprisingly all of the designs were cute and something an average person would by. The experience was truly great and I felt I learned a lot about different types of pr through fashion night!
Airheads?
Finally, the most anticipated week all fall has come… fashion week! This Friday I will be attending the run way show in St. Louis of the world’s top designers. This whole fashion thing is totally not me. So I have a feeling that this will be a growing experience.
I just read a book about a model called Airhead. Typically that is what most people think about fashion/models. Reading the book made me realize that that is not the case. There is a lot of work that goes into photo shoots and runway shows. Models have to be very patient people because of long photo shoots, doing exactly what the company they are promoting wants them to do, and posing the proper way to capture a great picture.
Fashion employs millions of people; think of all the clothing stores and magazine companies. Some may find it a silly profession but after reading the book I’ve found a new respect for the fashion industry. Hopefully that will keep growing as the week goes on. This coming Friday is going to be great, can’t wait to tell you all about it!
Students on the Watch
So I was searching the web last week and I came across an interesting blog that deals with Missouri Southern and issues around campus. There is a group of students who have their own web blog that keeps other students updated on what happens around campus.
This is a great for of public relations because most college students are familiar with the internet and it’s a great tool to get messages out to the intended audience. Some issues that are written are very opinionated which some could read it as giving Southern a bad reputation. On the other hand their ideas are honest and have good points from a student’s perspective which gives the blog readers things to think about.
http://southernwatch.wordpress.com/ is the website to check out. I’ve spent a few afternoons reading the post and laughing and questioning things our school does. Though the people writing it are not public relation professionals, their means of communication for who they are writing for and what they are writing about serve the public in a way most practicions in large corporations do.
PR and Food
My parents came down to visit this weekend and my mother brought me a cook book. I laughed when she gave it to me, knowing good and well that I would never use it. It did make me think about how food is used in public relations.
Food brings people together. Who doesn’t like free food? So many major events that are put on entice people with the idea of food. College events usually have free food to get students to come while people attend baseball game for the great hot dogs and peanuts. People attend movies for entertainment and the popcorn.
Food is a major part of everyone’s life and it brings people together. Who doesn’t like to eat!
