Press Release SMCCV

PRESS RELEASE
January 27, 2010
For Immediate Release


Preston Parker
President Social Media Club of Cache Valley
851 N Main St., Logan UT 84321
661-772-7537



Social Media Club of Cache Valley Seeks Members
Organization offers connections on online networks

LOGAN, UTAH- The Social Media Club of Cache Valley, a club dedicated to educating and encouraging people in the use of social media is seeking members in Cache Valley. Membership is free and all are invited to attend.

Meetings are held once a month at local businesses and center around learning more about the rapidly growing

“We really want to create a place where people can come together in a comfortable environment and learn more about social media,” said Preston Parker, club president.

United Airlines Breaks Dave's Guitar

In the spring of 2008, United Airlines was accused of damaging a customer's guitar. The guitar belonged to Dave Carroll, the lead singer of the band Sons of Maxwell. Carroll saw United employees mishandling his guitar while loading luggage onto the plane. Upon further inspection Carroll found the guitar severely damaged. He then attempted to receive compensation by the airline for the damage to his $3,500 Taylor guitar.

Each employee that Carroll talked to did not deny the Airline's guilt in damaging Carroll's guitar, but refused to accept responsibility and passed him on to another employee for compensation. Eventually, United refused to compensate Carroll for his loss. Carroll decided to express his frustration by making a music video which recounts his experience with United. The video, which was released on YouTube, became very popular and has been viewed over 7 million times. The video which cost Carroll $150 to produce has cost United millions in the stock market and damaged their public image. In efforts to repair their damaged image United offered to pay Carroll $1,200 for guitar repairs along with some flight vouchers which Carroll refused.

In hindsight I’m sure both parties may have handled things differently, especially United. Things have been difficult for airlines lately, everybody gets that. I’m sure they have had to make cuts to stay afloat, but it seems like all of their cutbacks are in the area of customer service. You don’t get complimentary drinks and snacks on short flights, and longer flights often don’t offer meals. Each bag is charged between 50 to 100 dollars to fly with you, and as Carroll’s incident shows that extra money spent to check an item doesn’t mean it is getting any kind of extra care.

Customer service has everything to do with solid PR. The companies that I will always buy from Apple, Nixon, and Netflix to name a few, have bent over backwards to make sure that I am happy with their products. Gaining long term loyal customers isn’t that difficult it is as simple as this: Be honest and fair. There it is United, in layman’s terms stop treating your customers like another bag that is being checked and start treating them like people.

United, if another customer ever calls with a broken guitar here is how you handle it. Apologize for the damage and inconvenience (people know your company isn’t perfect they’ll accept an occasional mistake). Then thank them for flying with you and look up the retail price of their damaged belonging. Finally, offer them a fair compensation for the item along with a travel voucher for a free flight. Initially, it will cost you some money but in the end it will pay off. Just think if Carroll’s situation would have been handled this way. You would create a loyal customer whose profession requires extensive travel. Not only does he travel, his band members and everyone that is associated with them is also traveling. Because you treated Carroll so well they all will fly with you. Then eventually if the band becomes well known you could have celebrities will vouch for you and still fly with you because you earned their loyalty. The initial investment will pay for itself in the end.

The only fear I have for Dave Carroll and the Sons of Maxwell is what they will always be known for. Carroll has already said that “United Breaks Guitars” is the band’s most requested song. It could be tough for the band to break away from their YouTube fame. I’m sure the band wants to be well known country music artists, and being the guys that did that YouTube video might be hard to overcome. It’s still possible for them to become a mainstream band, I just worry that it will be difficult and frustrating process.

What do Public Relations Professionals do?

The following is a letter I wrote to my cousin Jake giving him some information on the profession of Public Relations.


Jake,

Hope all is well. I wanted to share some useful information about public relations. You mentioned that you didn't know much about the profession. This letter should give you a general background. There are three areas that public relations professionals focus on: improving communication between the organization they represent and the public, producing quality written materials for their organizations, and building relationships.

Public relations professionals are paid to represent an organization. Any organization can be represented including businesses, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. The goal of all work done by a public relations professional is to improve the image of the organization they represent in the eyes of all relevant publics (groups of people that an organization has some kind of contact with). By being honest in their communication, and by openly sharing company information the public relations professional helps build an organization's image. Image is also built by showing an interest in different public and community goals then working actively to help these groups achieve them. In summary, a public relations professional works as a bridge between an organization and its publics. The bridge allows a free flow of information back and forth. Without this bridge messages could be misrepresented and could lead to damaged relationships.

Writing is a second area of focus in public relations. By writing messages that are clear, concise, and accurate PR professionals can improve an organization's image. These written messages focus on bringing attention to organization successes, or minimize organization failures. Though the public relations messages tend to favor the organization being represented they should never lie or mislead in any way. Good public relations writing does not deny an organization's shortcomings and failures, but focuses on how the organization handles its shortcomings openly and responsibly. Public Relations writing often targets media members. Because of this messages should be concise and accurate. When messages are to the point and focus on the most important information they are more likely to be well received and used as intended. Some of the frequent tools that public relations professionals use to send messages are: press releases, newsletters, annual reports, and use of websites and social networks.

The last and perhaps the most important area in which public relations professionals focus their efforts is in building relationships. Relationships drive effort and change. Without effectively building relationships many efforts to further an organization's image may be ignored. People will work with and support those they can trust. This trust is built through honesty, respect and consistency. A public relations professional needs to be respectful of members of the media and to the organization's publics. Consistently delivering accurate information in a timely manner will positively build relationships.Once relationships are established a public relations professional should maintain those relationships and keep regular contact. By acting with integrity and never asking those they work with to compromise their standards a public relations professional can build many relationships that will benefit the organization, and also themselves.

This should give you what you need.

Sincerely,

Cam

JCOM 2300: Cause Marketing giving retailers the Holiday edge

Recent polls and studies have shown that people are still more likely to buy a particular brand or product if it is associated with a cause. With the recent downturn in the economy cause marketing has held relatively steady numbers and loyal consumers.
Smart companies are catching on and realizing that a great deal or product isn't enough to give them the competitive edge anymore. In order to gain market advantage companies have begun teaming up with worthy causes. Some examples of this are Macy's connection with the Make a Wish Foundation, and JC Penny teaming up with the Salvation Army.
The major reason that these campaigns are successful deals with the popularity of being involved with a cause movement. People love to be able to donate and participate in something good. By having it set up that your purchases will go go in part to help needy organizations it really gets people involved and interested. It is an easy way to donate which really attracts people to shopping at cause marketing stores during the Holiday season.

JCOM 2300: Tiger time to speak up

Tiger Woods is encountering a PR nightmare. On Friday night around 2:30 AM Woods was involved in an car accident. Woods reportedly backed his SUV into a tree and fire hydrant. The accident led to cuts around Woods mouth and loss of consciousness.
Since the accident occurred Woods has kept very quiet refusing to meet with police officers and discuss the cause of the accident. The only comment that was made was a brief statement posted on his website which stated that he was solely responsible for the accident and any rumors or speculation surrounding what happened or family member involvement was irresponsible.
News flash Tiger crashing your SUV into a tree and fire hydrant is a little irresponsible especially for a Stanford grad. Nothing is more unsettling to people than to make no comment. It leads the public to assume one of two things, you are either lying or covering up what really happened. Everyone makes mistakes. Most people get and except that. So when you are a prominent public figure that makes millions and in Tiger's case actually billions off of your image it is in your best interest to come clean and tell the truth.
I don't care what the cause of the accident was. I don't care if it was an argument with his wife, or if he was intoxicated or whatever I would just like to know what really happened. If a simple honest statement is made I will accept it and move on and so will almost everyone else. If you leave it to speculation that is exactly what you will get.

JCOM 2300: Max Hall What was he thinking?

Those of you who follow BYU or Utah football closely already know this story. After the BYU football game against Utah on Saturday Max Hall, BYU's senior quarterback made his feelings known about the Utah football team, their fans, and the school itself. Here is just a bit of what he said. 

"I think the whole university, their fans, and their organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year, and they did a whole bunch of nasty things, and I don't respect them, and they deserve to lose."

Pretty strong words. The next day Hall came out and apologized to the Utah's football team and university itself saying that the comments were directed more at the fans who mistreated his family. This is what I don't get. Why? You don't know who mistreated your family but you do know that it wasn't any of the Utah football players or the entire University of Utah. Why would you say anything like that? You can find the people who wronged you. You can't changed what happened. Obviously you need to consider what the ramifications will be in the future for things like this being said. As a result of Hall's comments, there will be more comments, more fighting, and sadly more and more beer throwing. 

From a PR perspective the best thing BYU can do is strongly discipline Hall or any of their athletes that say similar stupid things. The only way BYU can send the message that comments like Hall's do not represent the University is to suspend players for misplaced comments. In the end people will forget that Max Hall called the U classless but they will remember that a BYU player did and and the negative image will all fall on BYU. 

JCOM 2300: Fighting of Circulation

Several recent study polls have released the circulation numbers for newspapers. One poll has The Wall Street Journal overtaking USA Today as America's most circulated newspaper. The study included online subscriptions as well as print subscriptions. USA countered by showing a poll that shows that they are by far the largest print circulation newspaper in America. It is obvious with the way things have been going in the newspaper industry that it has become a point of pride for the newspaper companies.

A few things that PR pros said about the circulation debate really hit home with me. If you are USA Today don't focus on how many print copies of your paper you put out daily. That number is becoming more and more obsolete. Many people don't even pick up a print paper anymore. It is much easier to access things online at anytime from any computer or smart phone. USA Today would be better served if they focused on free access to the site and great features of their online newspaper. The Wall Street Journal charges online subscription fees which if framed right could be a huge advantage for USA Today and other papers that are free online. The focus for the future of newspapers is electronic. If they want to survive they need to be smarter and offer more features online than their competitors. The newspapers that beat the others to this are the ones that will be able to survive the next ten to twenty years as things become more and more electronic.