Entrepreneurship: Innovation & Creativity

Andrea Walker, CEO of W Social Marketing LLC visted our JMC 492 class last Friday. Andrea Graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. While there she majored in communication. She got an early start in journalism as a 19 year old working at NBC13.

Here are a few things that I learned during the time spent with Andrea Walker:

• Show potential employers that you are initiative, and volunteer you time to learning. Andrea did this at a very young age even though she was very busy as a full time college student working three jobs. However, she got a job in broadcasting at the age of 19 because of her extra efforts.
• “You will get called out if something goes wrong with your show,” says Walker. She was referring to her experience as a producer at CBS. Because of this you have to get used to extra criticism and should always be working hard to improve every project you begin.
• When you come in with fresh new ideas it can be difficult. Figure out how to bring your ideas to the table without alienating your colleagues. Engage in conversations with fellow employees. Always ask, “How can we make each other’s jobs easier?”
• Always tell everyone thank you for their hard work. It can go a long way.
• Millennials are almost defined by their innovation. People both applaud and fear our generation.
• Risks make a person an Entrepreneur. It is about taking something from scratch, building it up and seeing your ideas and goals come to fruition.
• You will meet a lot of people in this business.
• Innovation is unavoidable in this work force.

Hunting Ducks

Kara Kennedy, director of external affairs at Samford University’s Brock School of Business visited our JMC 492 class last Friday. Kennedy shared helpful tips on building relationships for marketing campaigns as well as tips on building our brands.

Kennedy stressed the point, ” Hunt ducks where ducks are.”  She explained that this statement meant targeting customers who are going to respond. She encouraged us to build relationships with these customers and recommended that we always work toward strengthening the relationships we have.

Here are some important points I gained from Kara Kennedy:

Go back to the basics:

• Conduct a SWOT Analysis.
• Be choosy about where to spend what little advertising dollars you may have.

Engage Customers:

• Have you reconnected with your constituency? (It’s all about  relationships)
• Stay true to your mission.
• Tell the story to your constituents

Make sure you know how others see you:

• Be upfront.
• Be honest.
• Be Smart.
• Be innovative.
• Be factual (Never tell a lie).

Be very careful when your using the publics money to further your mission:

• Money is allotted to different places
• Tell your story every day

Media:

• Build a relationship with the media. They will get your voice out there.
• They are not always out to get you.

Relationships are built by engaging customers in conversations.

Variety on the Job

Stacey Hood, marketing director of Stewart Perry visited our JMC 492 class. Hood is a fun loving guy who is helping make the Stewart Perry company a huge success. Hood learned many of his skills on the job, skills such as: SEO, content development, social media strategies, public relations and business consulting. While at Samford, Stacey Hood shared some advice with the class. Here are a few things that stuck out.

• Content development is crucial! You have to give users/visitors a reason to come back. Leave a message that touches both the mind and heart.
• “The more you write, the more you will see opportunities.” Keep eyes and ears open because everything is an opportunity.
• Our influence is an opportunity because we have gained influence and variety from our backgrounds. Use individuality to get our ideals out there.
• Google is a friend.
• Gain certain skills now: Read blogs, Twitter and solid grammar.
• “There is never a stupid question. You’re stupid for not asking a question.” (Learn on the job.)
• Engagement with everyone is very important: blogs, Twitter and Facebook.
• Variety is good. Try putting it into practice.

Guy’s Guide to Marketing to Women

Brittany Bookout , Account Services Supervisor from Holland + Holland Advertising visited our JMC 492 class. Holland + Holland Advertising brands themselves with the phrase “Marketing to Women… She-conomy style.”

Here are just a few things that I learned from the time spent with Ms. Bookout:

-85% of all brand purchases are made by women.

-The Purchase Process :

1. Woman has idea to have a vacation (kick-off)

2.Research

3. Purchase (Man shows up)

4.Ownership

5.Word-of-mouth (Tell our friends)

*Women control 4 of the 5 stages.

-Distinguish the differences between men and women:

1.Men buy. Women shop.

2.Men are hunters. Women are gathers.

3.Men use internet to transact. Women use internet to connect.

– We must look at women’s life stages, not ages. It is important to realize that not all women are moms. The prime time to target women is when they are between the ages of 50-64, because this is generally when women are the wealthiest.

-Try to understand her. Details are very important to women. It is also very important to form relationships with women. Brands need to meet the needs of the women they are marketing to.

*Three out of four women will recommend a brand that supports a cause.

-Reach out to her. You can reach out with customer service, word of mouth (authenticity and transparency) and internet (2-way conversation)

Increase the Volume

John Richardson of The Forté Marketing Group visited our JMC 492 class Friday.  Richardson is a Samford graduate. Our class learned many things from Richardson, but here are a few of the main points I got from the experience:

• In the public relations arena you have to be aware of modern advertising. Web 2.0 changed everything. All the projects we do as pr practitioners will need to reach the 2.0 audience. Applications are becoming a huge part of our lives because of smart phones. Apps are a perfect way to get our word out there.
• We must always increase the volume of our client. Our goal everyday should be to get our client as much positive publicity as possible. We do this in a variety of different ways. Richardson gave a list of different tasks he does every day: strategy, research, custom designs, mobile development, search engine optimization, creative direction, blogging, art direction, writing,  public relations, video production, monitoring, agency, doing new and coolest first and doing whatever it takes for results. It is definitely a lot of work, but it is necessary in order to give the client the best results possible.
• Public relations and social media are pretty much the same thing. We can no longer have one without the other. Social media is crucial to good pr.
• We can reach almost anyone if you target your posts correctly.
• We must always be asking ourselves, “How can I do what hasn’t been done?” Creative unique ideas are a big part of grabbing an audience’s attention.
• When considering possible jobs in the public relations field it is probably best to consider what environment we work best in. Perhaps the best option for someone who likes working with big groups would be a large agency. Whereas, someone looking for an intimate setting with few people would probably do better at a boutique agency.
• Finally, We have our tips for what to do now and right after we graduate:

– Always try to make your name seen with the company your trying to get to hire you.

1. Network (Meet people and make relationships.)
2. Strengthen these relationships.
3. Blog and join relevant groups.
4. Promote ourselves(Get our names out there.)
5. Watch for trends ( What is happening in the industry?)
6. 3 B’s : 1) Be human. 2) Be humane. 3) Be honest.
7. Know our tools and technology.

 

Home of Opportunities

I was asked to create a PR plan to recruit new students to attend Samford and Major in Journalism. I was asked to choose from a list of strategic planning options. I will conduct by planning as follows:

9 Basic Steps to MBO

1 ) Client/Employer Objectives: To make students aware of the opportunities they could have if they chose to be a Journalism Major at Samford. Let them know exactly why Samford stands out from the rest.

2 ) Audience/Publics: We will be aiming our plan at graduating high school seniors. Surveys and polls can will be helpful to see what our audience is interested in. This will help us discover what type of student generally looks at Samford as a college choice. After acknowledging their likes and dislikes, we can use this knowledge to connect which certain attributes the students are looking for.

3 ) Audience Objectives: These students want to know why they should choose Samford. They expect to find out exactly why majoring in Journalism would be the best decision for them.  We need a message that will promote our college and answer these questions.

4 ) Media Channels: We can use media outlets such as: Facebook, Twitter, and blogging to connect with this particular demographic. We can also send e-mails and brochures that are visually appealing to the typical prospective student.

5 ) Media Channel Objectives: Our main angle in using Facebook and Twitter is giving each student a voice. This provides us with ample feedback and helps make the students feel included. Our goal with e-mails and brochures is to get our information out to our audience in an appealing way. We want the information to get out there abruptly but we also want to cover all of the positive attributes that Samford has to offer.

6 ) Sources and Questions: We are going to need to use interviews with current students, alumni, and professors. Positive views from former and current students will boost our standing. Accurate information from professors is needed to boost our credibility. We will need to include Samfords rankings and areas that we excel in within the Journalism department. We need to mention the success of  the program as well as the opportunities it offers each incoming freshman.

7 ) Communication Strategies: A primary goal of our message should be to show prospective students what current and past students have done with the program. They need to know that the program is an ongoing success and see exactly why it is. We need to be ready to address any negative opinions and comments that people post on the internet. We need to be prepared to show how we try to avoid issues and show examples of success for these particular issues.

8 ) Essence of The Message: This message is not just to change opinions. Of course we want these students to think that Samford is an excellent choice. However, it is more than that. We must influence their opinion to the point that they make the behavioral decision to become a JMC student at Samford.

9 ) Nonverbal Support: We will use photographs of current students that are evidently happy with what they are doing. Pie charts and demographics are used to show our success rate as well as our rankings. Films and artwork can be used as forms of persuasion to get the students to join us in the JMC department.

Creating Communication

Friday, Samford graduate, Chris Davis came to visit Dr. Martin’s JMC 492 Class. Mr. Davis is the director of integrated communication for Fi-plan partners. Mr. Davis does a variety of things relating to public relations in his career. Mr. Davis shared many of these things with the class. He described his job as communication with a lot of people in a lot of different ways. This, I believe, is an essential concept to public relations.

Mr. Davis taught us many things that we can use in our future this past Friday. Here are just a few things that I learned:

– You should have a goal for all marketing campaigns. It is important to always make sure you’re meeting your goals during the campaign. A way to measure the effectiveness of your campaign and make sure you’re reaching your goals is a “Call to Action.” A “Call to Action,” or a “CTA,” measures how many responses and what feedback you are receiving from your campaign.

-SEO (Search Engine Optimization) SEO is so very important because most of what we write will end up online. We need to be familiar with SEO because we want a higher readership. We also need to be conscious of web rules in order to be a white hat SEO person rather than a black hat SEO.

-Put your most important information above the fold. “Above the fold” is the area that people will see when they visit your website without scrolling up or down. Customers will probably not scroll down the web page to read information below the fold.

-When making a  web page, use your key words in a story-telling fashion to be placed higher in the google search. A good idea is to make links out of your key words.

-Google will place your website higher if you have a Youtube video because they own Youtube.

Our class was very grateful for Mr. Davis’ visit. All of his tips will be very helpful in the future when we are trying to make a name for ourselves or the companies we work for.

To hear more from Chris Davis visit his blog at: http://dadcreates.com/

A Luckie Future

Luckie & Co. employee and professional, Lori Merricks visited Samford University Principles of PR class this previous Friday. Lori Merricks graduated from Samford in 2000. She has worked at Luckie for eleven years.

Luckie is a very successful public relations agency. They were founded in 1953. They are ranked as the 5th ad agency-owned pr operation in the U.S. They have had many clients that have given there name a big boost among popular ad agencies.

Ms. Merricks taught me a lot about public relations as an occupation, but here were the things that I believe will prove to be most beneficial in my future with public relations:

1) The objectives  that a good brand will achieve:

• Delivering the message clearly
• Confirming credibility ( leading and knowing what your company is aiming toward)
• Connecting with target prospects emotionally (Once they’ve tried your product they don’t want to try a different brand)
• Motivating the buyer
• Concreting user loyalty (Always  same quality. Quality that is good.)

2) Three types of Brand Alliances

• CoBrands- Two or more brands or once certain product
• Brand Licenses
• Cross Marketing an agreement for mutual promotion

3) Brand Protection

• Crisis Management
• Smoldering Crisis (Existing crisis)
• Sudden Crisis
• Internet Reputation Management (Monitoring what’s said online)

4) Personal Internet Management

• Make Facebook private ( Don’t post anything I wouldn’t want my grandmother to see)
• Open Twitter and LinkedIn to boost a positive image for myself.

5) Purpose (Identity)

• Message (Depends on audience)
• Audience
• Channel (Where do I need to send my message?)
• Timing (Only do it when it makes sense)

I think all of these attributes add up to make a very successful public relations practitioner.  I intend to remember them and apply them in all my future opportunities.