I'm taking a public relations class this fall - which I am very excited about - but it didn't start too good: I missed the first day of class. Which is kind of the most important one: the professor explains what the class is about, what to do, what to avoid, and... how to succeed! So in order to somehow 'make up' for the information I missed last week - I've been thinking about what exactly 'public relations' is. And in trying to define the term, some of the best and worst PR memories bubbled up... Remember the 'United Breaks Guitars' tragedy? A guy claimed United Airlines broke his guitar when it was put (or thrown?) on the airplane. After several dozen phonecalls, the airliner finally said they would not reimburse him. The guy turns out to be musician David Carroll, he told them he would 'be back' by making three YouTube videos about the situation. The first video was released in early 2009, and instantly turned into a YouTube hit. United Airlines immediately contacted Carroll, but he kept his promise, and released two more videos after that. Media reported on the YouTube hits, resulting in public relations humiliation for United. Here's the first video: Another thing I've noticed is that you will have a presence online, whether you contribute or not. Every business has an image online, whether it's bad reviews on Yelp, recommendations on blogs, pictures on Flickr, or through their own website. When BP was focussing on the oil spill, and not so much on Twitter - someone else did it for them. Fake Twitter account @BPGlobalPR mocks the company's PR efforts with tweets such as: "If Top Kill doesn't work, we're just gonna toss a giant 'Get Well Soon' card into the Gulf and hope for the best." The fake feed has almost 200,000 followers, compared to 18,000 followers of the official BP feed @BP_America. 
And one of the best campaigns I have ever seen: the Old Spice YouTube videos. With Isaiah Mustafa (even his name is powerful!) as "the man your man could smell like," this social media campaign is setting an example. The man, dressed in nothing but a towel, responded to videos, blogs, and tweets by posting videos on YouTube.
Here are some of the funniest ones: http://www.youtube.com/user/oldspice#p/u/73/_-fLV28SkZ8http://www.youtube.com/user/oldspice#p/u/9/Kx-78v6WLN8 http://www.youtube.com/user/oldspice#p/u/2/nFDqvKtPgZoThese are just a few examples of recent situations I could remember, I don't really know how to analyze them. As you can tell, I have a lot to learn in PR!
And one of the best campaigns I have ever seen: the Old Spice YouTube videos. With Isaiah Mustafa (even his name is powerful!) as "the man your man could smell like," this social media campaign is setting an example. The man, dressed in nothing but a towel, responded to videos, blogs, and tweets by posting videos on YouTube.Here are some of the funniest ones: http://www.youtube.com/user/oldspice#p/u/73/_-fLV28SkZ8http://www.youtube.com/user/oldspice#p/u/9/Kx-78v6WLN8 http://www.youtube.com/user/oldspice#p/u/2/nFDqvKtPgZoThese are just a few examples of recent situations I could remember, I don't really know how to analyze them. As you can tell, I have a lot to learn in PR!
