Chapter 4

A public is any group whose members have a common interest or common values in a particular situation. The word stakeholder often substitutes for the word public. Resource dependency theory is comprised of three beliefs: (1) To fulfill their values, organizations need resources, such as raw materials and people to work for the organization. (2) Some of those key resources are not controlled by the organization, so (3) to acquire those key resources; organizations must build productive relationships with the publics that control the resources. However it’s obvious that it’s darn near impossible to keep up with all of the publics that organizations have relationships, which is why categories are so important. Some of the categories include traditional and nontraditional, primary and secondary, and internal and external publics just to name a few.

Is this PR? (4) Eye Black...

It seems like it has become more of a fashion statement and a way of self-expression rather than a way to protect player’s eyes from the sun.

From Bible verses to family shoutouts, anything can be used to be promoted on Eye Black stickers. There is actually a website that specializes in creating messages on Eye Black whether for means of advertising or fundraising purposes. I feel it is only a matter of time before companies begin to pay NFL players to wear Eye Black with their company logo on it as means of PR. There is an endless gateway of opportunities for how this can be utilized.

Is this PR? (3) You down with OPP…

Ok if you have ever been to a Clemson University basketball game then you have probably noticed that at random times throughout the game, the in-house music will cue up “You down with OPP?” which is usually replied to in unison “Yeah you know me!” A lot of people have made that song synonymous with Clemson Basketball since our head basketball name is Oliver “OP” Purnell and apparently he has a Posse (hence the saying of you down with OPP – Oliver Purnell’s Posse). The constant playing of that song has inspired many people to go download the real version only to find out the real meaning of the song is not Oliver Purnell’s Posse (true story, I know a lot of people shocked to discover this) however that has not stopped the rap group responsible for the song, Naughty by Nature, from thriving on the interest of Clemson fans. Unless they are big time college basketball fans, I am pretty sure they are wondering why there is such a concentrated amount of Naughty by Nature fans in South Carolina when they are a West-Coast group. Either way, even though it was unintentional, because of our constant playing of the song we are essentially providing PR for Naughty by Nature.

Is this PR? (2) Shoes in songs...

Everyone in this generation has probably heard Air Force Ones by Nelly, and no doubt seen a few ihundred people wearing them as well probably as a result of it. It, however, was not the first song to include a popular shoe as the focus of the song. Once upon a time, Run DMC hit the hip-hop scene with their song called “My Adidas,” and even back then because Run DMC was so famous, many people went out and purchased a pair of Adidas similar to those of Run DMC. Adidas has been generous to the rap group (which recently got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) so much so that they have their own Run DMC pair of Adidas as well as using portions of their songs in one of their upcoming commercials.
Which raises the question, it is obvious that the songs produced PR for the rapper but did it make that much PR for the product? I would venture to say yes because since then, artists of every genre have given subtle shout outs in their songs that avid fans pay attention to and attempt to immolate. For example, not very many people where Reebok anymore ever since Kanye West has been dissing them in his songs. That’s also how music can affect your PR negatively as well.

PR History

I believe that public relations go far and beyond just the formal methods that we have come to know them as. I think the concept of public relations could be as simple as the spoken word in that people get good PR sometimes just by what is said. One example I feel compelled to point out is the unplanned PR that has come to the movie “Paranormal Activity.” On Twitter, they have a thing called Trending Topics and that is what people have been talking about the most and the top topic for the week and for the month of October was Paranormal Activity.
Looking back at the history of PR, Wikipedia quotes the father of public relations, Edward Louis Bernays, and his definition of PR by stating it as a management function which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interests of an organization... followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance" Public relations has come a long way from this humble beginning but I am still under the impression that the concept has remained the same, even if the methods have changed. Another example of how PR has changed is how people communicate across the internet. Back in middle school, if you an AOL instant messenger screen name then you were cool. That was the way people communicated across the internet back then but now, we have a whole new way of communicating and its thru Skype. Skype allows you to video conference from computer-to-computer or make calls to other phones as well for a small fee. In the comparison, 34% said they use neither (that is probably because they text) but 52% said they only use Skype whether with or without video.

Is this PR? (1) Eric Ber-rey, Eric Berry…

Before I start, let me hope on my soapbox and say what is it about athletes that think that they can rap. (I say that saracastically because I rap as well). Eric Berry plays linebacker for the University of Tennessee and has made a lot of noise on the football field individually, even if his team hasn’t. Most notably was his big game against Tim Tebow and the defending champion Florida Gators where he recorded 11 tackles and had one interception. Around that time, he was getting a miniscule amount of buzz for the Heisman. A couple weeks after his performance against Florida, a music video hit YouTube from Swiperboy a.k.a. Renaldo Woolridge from the University of Tennessee basketball team.

It was a remix to the song Halle Berry and it was called ERIC Berry, promoting his Heisman campaign. The video got over 160,000 hits in two months and it made Eric Berry’s name known worldwide. Despite him not being a finalist for the Heisman, I still consider this good PR because it brought a lot of publicity to Eric Berry Heisman campaign (even though he’s not a finalist, oh well join the club) and to Swiperboy’s music (because he did kill that remix).

PR Jobs

When I did my search on PR jobs, I came across many statistics that I did not expect to see associated with a job in Public Relations, for instance, according to All About Public Relations:

“There are more than 122,000 PR professionals working in the United States. About two-thirds of those work in service industries such as public relations firms, advertising agencies, health care organizations, educational institutions, and social service organizations. Others work for manufacturers, financial institutions, and government agencies. About 13,000 PR consultants are self-employed.”

So that actually got me curious as to what the qualifications are to get a job in one of those fields. After doing a Google search, it led me to CareerOverview.com and it mentions many qualifications that one is usually recommended to have to obtain a job in the PR field. It mentions how many colleges and universities have plans in place to set the student on a track for a job in Public Relations if they so desire one. Students can take internships which are often helpful in later acquiring a full-time job later on down the road. It says that “Some larger organizations have employees pass through official training programs while organizations with smaller staffs usually just entry-workers learn from their superiors.” The best thing that can help someone get a job in the PR field is how much experience that one has, preferably a degree in either public relations or communications along with a specialization area that could give an organization an edge.