Yikes!

Crisis management is a fundamental part of public relations. Some professionals specialize in this area however, no public relations practitioner wants their client to be stuck in this predicament. Unfortunately, entertainment public relations agents often find themselves having to deal with the mistakes their clients make. Take Lindsey Lohan for example. She has had to hire a team of crisis management specialists in order to deal with all the negative publicity she’s faced in the past few months.

While going through my classmates blogs, I came across Lisa Perez’s blog. In it, she attaches a link to the "Lohan Rollercoaster" . This describes Lohan’s ups and downs over the past year. It’s almost a humorous link…well humorous to the mass public, not humorous if she is your client. No entertainment public relations practitioner wants their client to be the subject of such negativity.

Since Lohan has had the need for so much crisis management, Ashley’s blog deals with crisis management . In it, she attaches links and articles to help one learning the basics of crisis management and the best ways to deal with certain situations. Ashley blog assists those in need of the proper guidance of what to do, when a crisis hits.

All entertainment public relations professionals must know how to deal with crisis management. Lisa and Ashley both give prime examples of a client undergoing scrutiny, and then how it should be handled.

If You've Got It, I want It.

If You’ve Got It, I Want It.

It’s no secret that we all look up to celebrities. We follow the trends they make popular. We want to dress like them, drive the cars they drive, and vacation at the same destinations as them. With this, so many companies have started to depend on paying celebrities to endorse their products. They know that the public seeks to be like them and if they can get a celebrity to endorse their product, they know the return will be large.

New products are especially ones which come out featuring various celebrities. When they are in the experimental phase, companies often pay celebrities to be photographed with them. Thus, the public sees them, and then wants it. Whether it is through a tabloid or a professional ad, all of us are suckers.

I found this article, to be extremely interesting with celebrities and endorsements. It breaks down advertisements and explains how companies know they take a risk when hiring a celebrity, but it is risk they are willing to take. Even when celebrities receive bad publicity, the products they endorse, still sell.

 Entertainment public relations professionals are usually the bridge between a company and their client. They are the hookup, getting their client’s face in the news as well as getting a product out into the publics mind. One of the main jobs an entertainment public relations practitioner does is to get the experimental products sold, by combining the company with the celebrity. Once the public sees the product with their favorite socialite, they have to have it.

The Naked Truth

The past few weeks in my international public relations class we have been discussing the importance of culture. Every nation has a culture specific to them. They have values and morals which they follow. Some countries may have opposite ones to others. Conflicting values occur often. This has allowed me to realize how important conducting research is.

Research is such a vital tool in the industry. We need to be able to understand the culture of the people in which we are pitching too. It is important to not offend anyone. In order to reach our goals and objectives, a public relations practitioner practicing in another country, should conduct as much research as possible.

This is where surveys can come in handy. After some prior research on the core values of a certain society, a survey can be distributed to groups of people in the area to find out their particular views on a subject. These ideas they give us can then further hone our researching skills, thus making our campaigns more of a success.

If you haven’t heard, Pamela Anderson is being slammed for donating her profits from her most recent Playboy Cover shoot to the disaster funds set up for the Tsunami in Indonesia. This is because the vast culture of Indonesia believe the nudity to be a form of defamation. They don’t agree with the way the money was earned, therefore they don’t want it. (http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/11/01/pam-andersons-playboy-donation-slammed-muslim-group-immoral/)

First of all, her public relations person should have looked into this. A culture which does not have a high tolerance for feminist rights to begin with, should have understood that the money would not be appreciated. Some simple research could have been conducted and easily avoided this catastrophe. Playboy isn’t necessarily frowned upon here, but that doesn’t mean all countries accept naked women and their charities.

For some thorough researching, a public relations agent could have gotten in contact with some people of the Indonesian society and distributed a simple survey asking on their views on general topics. I think that it would have been simple to gather this information with a survey, rather than go through the stresses Pam, Playboy and their public relations teams are dealing with now.

In Collaboration With...

The past few weeks have been an overload with qualitative research. It has been discussed everywhere! Not only have I been learning about it in Public Relations Research with Professor Laskin, but also my Consumer Behavior (Marketing) class has had a few lectures on it. Until now, I was unaware of how many different fields qualitative research was necessary in. Through reading my classmates blogs, I have found it interesting how much the fashion and design industry utilizes qualitative research.

 

Sam Greitzer talks about how much designer Tommy Hilfiger depends on qualitative research. (http://mediacloset-samgreitzer.blogspot.com/2010/10/qualitative-research.html)%20It Hilfiger looks around and finds inspiration from, "movies, music celebrities and art and uses them to thread together different signature looks." It is important for him to design clothing that the average person wants to wear.

 

Paige Weiners also discusses how important qualitative research is to designers. (http://paigequpr.blogspot.com/2010/10/qualitative-research.html). "When thinking of what new styles to create for the season, designers need to think of if their target market is actually going to wear the new trends." Focusing on the correct target market is vital for the success of any public relations campaign. The agent needs to make sure that all of their efforts are being segmented in the right place.

 

With all the celebrity clients I may have as an entertainment public relations agent, I can help out with the designers in creating their looks. I can help a designer team up with my client to design a line, "in collaboration with." It's a positive way to get my clients name out for media impressions but also good for the designer to team up. I would definitely have to use qualitative research to make sure that I team up the correct client with an appropriate designer.

What do YOU want?

  I’m not going to lie, this has been one of the more difficult blogs to write. I understand what Qualitative Research is, but how can I explain it? How can I relate it back to Entertainment Public Relations? I’ve been sitting here thinking about it for a good amount of time and realize how important focus groups can be for an Entertainment Public Relations specialist.

    A focus group is a way to reach out to consumers and customers in order to get feedback. (http://www.cse.lehigh.edu/~glennb/mm/FocusGroups.htm). In the entertainment world, feedback is necessary. It helps the industry in seeing trends and uncovering what it is audiences enjoy. Studio heads with their public relations agents, can sit down with groups of people and ask them questions about the latest television shows and other entertainment areas. They can then draw conclusions on how to market and who the best target market segments would be.

    I also found this YouTube video on tips for conducting a focus group to be helpful. Business Tips for Conducting Focus Groups explained in less than 3 minutes some good ideas for a focus group.  It explains how important it is to get the consent from all the participants, whether it is verbal or written documentation, you need to make sure everyone has a general understanding of what it is they are getting themselves into.

     Another tip the video stressed was the need for a game plan. It is important when conducting a focus group that you have the questions you want answered and not to stray away from them. Otherwise, it could be considered a waste of time and money if we don’t uncover what we were set out to do.

    Focus groups are definitely necessary in the world of Public Relations when conducting research. We learn the likes and dislikes of our most valuable audiences. Entertainment professionals need to know what their consumers want to see. The in class presentations we have had over the past few weeks have clarified this and the different type of research methods.

Social Media's Importance

     Social media is a phenomenon which has become part of our everyday lives. It’s unbelievable how rapidly it has taken over. Our day to day activities include updating our twitters and checking our Facebooks. It’s a trend which looks like it’s going to stick. With social media, it becomes easy for researchers to participate in unobtrusive research. They can see the likes and interests of the various demographics it is researching.

     I never realized how much of an asset social media could be to researchers until reading Katie Warner’s blog (http://katiewarnersblogforprresearch.blogspot.com/2010/10/non-profits-facebook-and-unobtrusive.html?spref=bl) and Katerina Torres’s blog (http://socialmediaforpr.blogspot.com/2010/10/social-media-great-outlet-for.html), both regarding social media, unobtrusive research and the benefits to the public relations world.

       Katie focuses on social media in relation to non-profit organizations. Using unobtrusive research is beneficial for a non-profit because it is not very costly. Non-profits strive to donate as much money as they can to their various charities so the fact that they use social media to target their specific audiences I find beneficial.

     I enjoyed how Katerina gave positives and negatives of social media in public relations. It made it more comprehensible to see where social media techniques flourish and where they are lacking. Katerina explains how research can be biased when she says, “Because of the influence society has on us, sometimes unobtrusive research could be the best way to retrieve real raw information without it being biased by an outside influence.” This is how I began to realize how vital unobtrusive research can be to researchers.

    Specializing in entertainment public relations, I have realized that tracking my clients through social media is important. I can see what consumers believe and want to know about my clients. I can also see what fans like and their interests. I can then set up the appropriate campaign for my clients. I found it interesting realizing how much social media would affect my clients and their well-being.  

Um Thank UM You?

Today, I was responsible for presenting to the class, unobtrusive research methods, with a focus on content analysis. This meant, I had to do my own form of research in order to be able to speak about it for at least a half hour. What I learned was very interesting. Since I already presented, I will simply summarize my findings, clear and concisely.

    Unobtrusive research is when we don’t interfere with the day to day life of the subject we are studying. It helps the researcher to reduce bias and leads to more accurate results. Unobtrusive research is also extremely economical. When discussing unobtrusive research content analysis, I spoke to the class about how content analysis is analyzing the different forms of content that are presented before you. Word count is the most often used technique of content analysis. We can understand what the author stresses as the most important part of the work, through the use or words.

     After my presentation, Professor Laskin mentioned to the class a study that was done in which the Thank You Speeches of a prior Academy Award Ceremony were analyzed. The jist of the study explained how the use of parasite words, such as um and like, take away from the actual speech itself.

    Now, onto the Entertainment Public Relations part….

     Having good expression through oral communication is an intricate part of any person in the entertainment world. As a Entertainment Public Relations professional, it becomes essential that I work with my clients and set them up with the appropriate speech coaches. A client that can’t express themselves in a well mannered way, without the use of distracting words, is a harmful one. They are making themselves look bad in the public light. People lose sight of the fact that someone has just won an award, and zero in on them sounding ignorant.

    A study (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=97983&page=1 ) done by psychologist, published by ABC news, puts it simply as the uhs and the ums in a speech, “These phrases mean 'I need to make sure you realize I'm delaying because I'm having trouble.'" I find this very interesting.

    I would never want my client to look like they were having trouble when in the spotlight. That is why I think it is important for all in the entertainment business to practice public speaking. The way one delivers themselves can make or break their image. In this world, image is everything.

we all relate...

When first asked to compare and comment on two other classmates’ blogs, I thought it was an easy assignment. Little did I know, I was in for a surprise. I didn’t realize how many different areas of Public Relations our classes were focusing on. Each blog is full of different ideas, each one better than the next! Part of the assignment was to pick blogs with some sort of relation to your blog topic. I found myself so interested in what my other classmates were saying; I lost sight of the assignment! I was so intrigued; I completely forgot to pay attention specifically to ones which would benefit my blog. I also didn’t know how I was going to critique others. They all seem so interesting and are based off of individual perspectives.  Eventually though, I got back on track.

Steph Farris’s blog post is going to be my first comparison. (http://prrstephferris.blogspot.com/2010/09/research-results-in-blogging.html) In this post, she discusses television shows such as Top Chef and The Real Housewives, two of my favorites. She explains how research methods are important. In fact, Steph explains to us how those two televisions shows, both on Bravo, use blogging as a way of research. Being interested in Entertainment Public Relations, I found it interesting that the Bravo Television Cast Mates all have blogs. If I were practicing Entertainment Public Relations now, I would make sure that all my clients had a consistent blog, which all of their fans could view.

Sam Greitzer’s synopsis of Boardwalk Empire and other HBO shows is the other blog I found to be of interest. (http://mediacloset-samgreitzer.blogspot.com/2010/09/boardwalk-empire.html). I didn’t realize all of the statistics that Television shows have to deal with. It costs so much money, time and effort for all those involved. Being as interested in Entertainment Public Relations as I am, it is important I am in the know regarding what my celebrity clients are dealing with on a day to day basis. If a show is cancelled, I have to be ready to deal with that. If a show takes off overwhelmingly, chances are my client will as well.

It just came to me…this assignment directly relates to research. We were given an assignment and had to conduct our own research methods in order to complete it…

Interesting...

In the Entertainment business, magazines are constantly being written and published promoting various celebrities, movies and events. Magazines generate publicity and fame for the client of an Entertainment PR firm. Before interning this past summer at a Public Relations firm, I didn’t realize that one of our main jobs as a Public Relations Practitioner was securing these placements. It was a bit of a reality check, being that I had already declared myself as a Public Relations Major, yet didn’t know what some of my duties would be. However, I found it cool and exciting that being in the PR world, you are responsible for the readings that get published nationally.

I researched the top ten Entertainment Magazines seen here, http://www.allyoucanread.com/top-10-entertainment-magazines/, and found it intriguing that only one of the ten was a gossip magazine. This is extremely beneficial to a PR person, because this means their clients are getting in the media as a result of their efforts. We want our clients in the media because of our hard work, not because of their not-so-smart decisions which catch the eyes of the tabloid writers.

I found it interesting researching Entertainment Magazines. We work so hard to shed a positive light on our clients and knowing that 9 out of 10 “real” magazines portray this. It’s very beneficial to our industry.

One of the main skills I feel necessary for being in the PR world, is to have strong people skills. It is important to build a relationship with those in the media, so that they will want to use your clients in their pieces.  I learned in my International Public Relations class that I am currently in, how this positive relationship with the media and the journalists helps all. First off, the person in the spot light gets a pleasant write up about them. Second, the account executive at the firm is noted as doing their job. And lastly, the public gets a strong view on the celebrity.

Interning has helped me to learn a lot about the PR industry, specifically the Entertainment PR industry. Research is key when completing any task. I find it interesting and favorable knowing that the majority of the public who choose an entertainment magazine, (which use the interview format on a client), would rather that than the gossip scribbled in the tabloids.  

Are you for real?

Ethics. They are the basis of everyday life. They influence our decisions. Before we participate in certain activities we wonder if they’re crossing any ethical boundaries. Well, most of us do anyway. Let’s take a look at the definition of ethics: a system of moral principles (www.dictionary.com). Okay, that’s easy enough to understand. Now for the definition of unethical: pertaining to or dealing with morals or the principles of morality (www.dictionary.com). A little more complicated, but still not impossible to understand. Yet, often it seems that more actions done are unethical, than ethical. At least they have more attention drawn to them.

Within one branch of Entertainment PR is to diffuse the unethical actions regarding our clients. They think for themselves and rarely take no for an answer. The clients of an Entertainment PR professional are constantly under scrutiny. This is one of the drawbacks of being in the public eye. Society watches them like a hawk, waiting for them to screw up.

Let’s take the ever so popular, Lindsay Lohan (as if she hasn’t been talked about enough!). Recently, she has been ALL over the news. Her PR team must be running on no sleep. It seems every other minute she is involved in another headline. I almost feel bad for her team, I bet that they had no idea what they were signing up for. Anyway, in her most recent court she was seen sporting this on her nails, Really Lindsay? . Wow. I cannot even imagine thinking about that when getting my nails done.

Of course the public was on her case wondering what she was thinking when she had that offensive phrase painted on to her nails. Did she have any ethics? Where were her moral principles? Did her team really advise her that that was a good choice in polish? Honestly, I bet they didn’t have a choice. Her Entertainment PR team had to take all the heat for this. Clearly, she only listens to herself. This is an example of a client acting unethical and the PR team having to pick up the slack and diffuse the situation.

PRR 332 B

It's everywhere. Whether we know it or not our lives are constantly surrounded and influenced by those in the entertainment industry. From celebrities to politicians, were all guilty of being interested in the lives of the famous. However, behind ever superstar is a team of professionals, dedicated to their clients. It can be dealing with positive or negative publicity, but either way the person in charge of their PR plays a role in their success. That is why I am focusing on Entertainment Public Relations.

I take an interest in this particular branch of PR because every day is different. Never knowing what a client is going to do or say keeps it fast paced. I think it is important to highlight their contributions to society as well as assist them when they make infamous mistakes. Every scandal is handled differently and this blog will help me to learn the different ways and techniques of PR professionals and their clients. I enjoy handling consumer relations and want to be the lifeline between the entertainment industry and the public.