I commend Gap Inc. for the actions they took in response to the child labor crisis. After reading the article “Gap’s crisis team tackles child labor controversy” from PR week I realized Gap had a great crisis plan and communication team. Gap responded quickly to the crisis getting their key message to all media holding nothing back. There was just one problem even though everything Gap was saying sounded good this type of crisis has happened to them before. So I think instead of just verbally putting things out some other action needs to be taken. These code of vendor conducts do not seem to be enough.
Gap needs to have some type of personel with the job of monitoring the outside vendors and factories works. If this was done they would know what was going on at all times, and they wouldn’t be blind-sided by this type of crisis. I agree with Gene Grabowski, SVP at Levick Strategic Communications when he says in crises like these, consumers want to see concrete action, not words.
In the recent article “FEMA under fire for fake news briefing” taken from PR Week it just showing how ignorant some people can be. Why on Earth would they hold a press conference knowing the media could not be there during that scheduled time frame. The only solution for that was to reschedule.
It’s hilarious to me. FEMA playing the media and themselves asking questions and everything. Those idiots really thought it would work. As if they didn’t have enough heat on them as it is from previous disasters where they didn’t come through. This was just a wake up called for all parties involved. Its external communications director needed to get fired letting this mockery go on. FEMA is losing all focus of what they are supposed to be doing. Its main task is to manage emergenicies and when time contraints are there just wait. People would rather have accurate information a little late that false information immediate.
In the recent article, “Chrysler’s social-media site helps to drive comms in wake of strike” read in PR Week talks about how Chrysler’s own in-house social media site saved them from a massive crisis. Before Chrysler could even admit publicly to media that in fact it was a crisis it had been resolved. I will say that Chrysler’s Crisis Plan was in tip top shape. Over 40,000 employees had taken a stand against the company due to problems with health benefit issues and labor outsourcing. Chrysler knew they had to work fast and they relied on their social media site to help.
The site kept constant updates on the situation for other employees, media and the public to see. Chrysler let them know about the walkout, why it was happening and what was being to done to resolve it. There was a crisis team working the whole time including Chrysler’s vice chairman and president Tom LaSorda. Having this social media site set up so efficiently gave Chrylser the chance to spread news quickly and effectively. Within six hours the company had come to an agreement with the employees and the social media site allowed them to spread it to all involved and affected parties. A company having it’s own social media website is a great asset. It definitely saved Chrysler’s day.
According to the article, “Coalition launches Web video captioning effort” found in PR Week it discusses how several Web-based video providers are forming a coalition with Boston public television to make online videos accessible to people with hearing problems.
This is something that should have been done a long time ago seeing how the world revolves around the computer and the Web now. For those individuals who have those deficiences this gives them the opportunity to stay in the loop.
A forum called the Internet Captioning Forum (ICF)is what they’ve formed, and this forum will address the technical issues of captioning for online video. Video providers like AOL, Yahoo, and Google are apart of this forum just to name a few. The efforts of this forum will focus on ways providers can implement closed-caption technology online. The ICF is not only targeting those with hearing problems but those who need the text translated into other languages and those that try to watch videos in noisy areas.
I think this was a great idea and will show great success.
In the recent article “Hilfiger contest targets leaders of style” from PR Week it talks about how Tommy Hilfiger is partnering with By Kids For Kids (BKFK) for the “Signature Style Challenge,” trying to find the next generation of America’s fashionistas and style experts. I think this is an excellent contest to get teens all around the world involved for something positive, but I also think this is just another means for Hilfiger to gain publicity.
I can’t down what he’s doing though because it’s so positive. This is just a good day for him. By doing this Hilfiger shows the world that he has a passion for what he does and wants young people to follow in his footsteps. This is also a good day for BKFK because this is only one of many contests they plan to have so they are gaining publicity as well. They’re a positive organization planning to do many positive things for the world’s youth.
This contest was just an all around good idea for all parties involved.
In the recent article “SEIU tour takes on Sallie Mae” from PR Week it talks about how Sallie Mae is on it’s annual Sallie Mae Fund Paying for College Bus Tour. The tour goes to 65 US cities to reach 35,000 parents and students with information on scholarships and financial aid. I think this is a good thing because Sallie Mae does open the doors for a lot of students to go to school but there are a lot of hidden things that they don’t talk about on these tours.
This is where I agree with what SEIU is doing. The SEIU plans to visit eight campuses to caution minority groups about Sallie Mae’s loan interest rates, collection policies, and other issues. The way I see it is that borrowers should know all the hidden extras because only giving the up side of things makes Sallie Mae look bad. When borrowers find out what they’ve really gotten themselves in it’s too late.
Sallie Mae should give the pros and the cons of getting involved with them. Going to college is the main goal for a lot of young people, but they don’t want to spend the rest of their lives repaying student loans.
In the recent article “Risk comes with social media’s rewards” found in PR Week it discussed how the benefits of social media also come with risks. The areas of social media they focused on were Facebook and Myspace two of the most used today. The problem is not with these networks and companies shouldn’t be afraid to get involved with them. The problem is that these networks let to many “anybodies” on the site that create all these unnecessary things.
PR people for Myspace say individuals online aren’t creating these groups to hurt these companies instead the companies should be worried about the probity of their own actions.
I say these networks should have better membership options and security options. There’s too much freedom on these sites. With companies getting involved there needs to be boundaries to how far individuals can go. These sites should not be a place to broadcast certain feelings and opinions or to protest against things going on in the world that one might be disagreeing with.
As the upcoming faces in the world of PR we are pretty well off because we are getting the latest knowledge needed to get these top jobs. We are learning about the world of social media and online communication. Things that those before us didn’t get and now need but as read in this blog we need to be able to use knowledge effectively.
We have to be able to take this knowledge in the company and pass it on. By doing so will only make the company more up-to-date. We have to be able to teach and be taught in effective ways. Hands on experience is key rather than just listening to someone talk.
As new employees, we are the fresh faces and those with tenure are eager to hear what we have to say. We just have to make sure we know what we’re talking about.
         After reading the article from Randi Schmelzer in PR Week about Iraq War-themed movies pushing politics all I have to say is here we go again. I think regardless of your stance on the whole issue of war keep it to yourself if your not guaranteed to make a difference. I don’t think these movies are all bad because they open a door to an unseen world for many of us but when your dealing with close-minded people that sprouts the problem.
         By big name directors making these so-called fictional movies it only creates unneeded controversy whether intended or not. Of course they have their opinions about the war but assure viewers and other critics that they don’t leak them into the film making. However, they have access to millions of people around the world and this is their chance to get their opinions out in an indirect way without fingers being pointed.
        Then there’s the worry of alienating audiences. I look at it this way, whether an individual goes to see the movie or not he or she will still hear about it. Either a friend will tell them about it or they’ll see enough previews to get the idea of what’s going on. So it’s really no way around it.
          I think that directors should be able to make the movies of their choice but make them for the right reasons to entertain an audience and have them leaving the theatres with a sense of enjoyment. Don’t make movies as publicity stunts and have viewers leaving wondering why they put themselves through that.
Watch video from Geek Squad’s CEO here. Robert Stephens created the Greek Squad and he created it well. He had vision and made it a reality. He didn’t just want to create a company he wanted to create a brand, a brand that was remembered. His main focus was always his customers. He made sure his employees shared the same focus.
I like the fact that he was not arrogant or all about money. He expressed how he valued his customers time rather than their money. He was humble about the whole thing explaining how he started without any money and know has this global company. Stephens was very creative with his ideas which ultimately made his company stand out. He built his company from the ground up and made his brand real.
