PAN Communications prSPEAK

Recent technological advances have provided us with unlimited access to information and the opportunity to communicate with anyone at any time. The Internet, instant messaging programs, and smartphones have revolutionized our culture and the way our society interacts. However, the question remains as to whether our social skills have been enhanced, or harmed by the innovations of the information age.

Much of what makes us human- our gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, enunciation, etc.- are often lost or misunderstood through electronic communication. With the sense of anonymity we feel typing onto a screen, our words become depersonalized, misrepresented, and they can easily be misconstrued. We create virtual personalities that are often more recognizable to our peers than our true personality.

We can essentially live out our lives sitting in front of a computer screen; we can order our groceries online, communicate with friends, stay updated on world issues, sustain a job, learn a language, and virtually satisfy a dream by creating a Second Life. While the prevalence of these advances certainly has benefits, is it ever truly as genuine as the real thing? Where has face-to-face human interaction gone?

Even our emotions have become compilations of punctuation signs – , <3 , >:-(

How long before our soul, the core of what makes us distinctively human, becomes misplaced in a binary world of 0’s and 1’s?

The month of May used to have such a warm and lovely connotation in my mind, this year for college seniors, including myself that is not the case. The dark cloud of graduation is scarier, darker, and far more threatening this year than any other (at least that a 22 year old can remember).

The stress of attaining a job in the “real world” is seen on the faces of students everywhere on campus. No one feels like they are doing enough, learning enough or getting enough experience and those that are doing those things are afraid to be just like everyone else. Seniors are opting out of their spring break plans “in case” they have interviews and staying in on weekends to send out their resumes. I have even decided to take my first 8 a.m. to ensure that I am learning the absolute most that I can each day.            

Then I started thinking (on my cold walks to class at 7:45), that maybe this isn’t such a bad thing. Maybe this economy has made us stronger candidates, more competitive and more eager than we would have been if we had graduated four years earlier. Sure I’m pretty upset that I don’t get to fall into a “senior slump” and party all day and night, but in the end the class of 2009 will be better for it.

I was fortunate to attend a presentation by Lindsey Pollack in the fall of this year and her book Getting From College to Career has been very helpful to me in the stressful time (www.gettingfromcollegetocareer.com). The book has everything from cover letter writing advice to job search websites and is great for anybody who is at a transitioning point in there careers. Maybe if recruiters recognize the drive from the class of 2009 and we do happen to get jobs, we’ll look back and be grateful that we graduated in tougher times.

There have been many articles on PRWeek that have discussed the important of blogging and general social media outlets influencing the decisions made by consumers.  One article in particular, “Study finds social media equally influential to conventional outlets” (http://www.prweekus.com/Study-finds-social-media-equally-influential-to-conventional-outlets/article/126482/) written by Aarti Shah, talks about how user-generated sites hold equal importance to traditional media sources when considering technology purchases. Now that the internet-driven world is inherent, companies are making sure that they are reaching out to their audiences in ways that they weren’t even thinking about before.  This new way of targeting audiences, buying consumer products and even getting familiar with the messages that the companies are trying to sell proves that it is important to be aware of what is going on in society since ideas are constantly being created.  With blogging and social media websites being “in” right now, I wonder if the hype will still be as rampant five years from now or if a whole new kind of service that reaches out to the public will replace it. I guess only time will tell. 

If at the end of the day, the slightest role of public relations & advertising is to make a potential consumer smile, laugh and feel immersed in utter joy for a solid two-and-a-half minutes, then Saatchi & Saatchi’s “T-Mobile Dance” has taken the art of interactive pr & advertising to the next level. More importantly, they’ve inspired me to continue to pursue my creative pr career path despite the circumstances.

Amidst the onset of last week’s “Bloody Monday” with a reported 65,400 job losses haunting national headlines, and Macy’s announcement this week to cut 7,000 positions, the word “surrender” should’ve been tattooed on the whites of my desperate job seeker’s eyes.

I represent one of the thousands of public relations seniors who (despite years of preparation at our prestigious communications schools) exhaustedly anticipate to graduate and (fingers-crossed) land any sort of ‘communications’ job in the statistically worst economy since the end of WWII. In five months, my hopeful, idealist self has been molded into a cynical realist, as distant thoughts of success have left me feeling discouraged and ready to abandon communications as a discipline altogether.

            As the black, bold “MASSIVE JOB LOSSES” sans serif text glared at me through my CNN Money Homepage this week, impulses were many. Should I run to the counseling center to fill out last-minute applications to grad schools, thus giving the economy a chance to get its act together and prepare for my grand entrance into the workforce two years down the road?…perhaps. Did it cross my mind to take a job at the campus pub in order to sharpen my waitressing skills for a realistic future in the city? You betcha!

            Instead, I clicked through the hundreds of PR blogs and websites as part of my continued ‘job search’ until I came upon a post about the “T-Mobile Dance” and creative public relations.  As Lulu’s “Shout” song reverberated through the Liverpool Street Station and the 350 hired dancers transformed the English train station into a Broadway-esque interactive dance performance, I simply could not stop watching, laughing and sending the link of the T-Mobile stunt to anyone and everyone I knew. The responses from all who watched were contagious; we were inexorably ecstatic and wanting to uncover everything we possibly could about T-Mobile’s “Life is for Sharing” campaign.

            Now I have read feedback that’s referred to the pr stunt as ‘unoriginal’ and ‘done before’ but in my eyes, a new client, a new place and new consumers inevitably heed creativity and media awareness. Every idea stems from another and I can only give props to Saatchi & Saatchi’s work for T-Mobile, truly making the fun and connection of dance come alive within the Liverpool station. Public Relations is the art of awareness based on the principle of research, but in my opinion, the original action is what sets creative, successful public relations apart from the rest.

So what…other agencies have used dance and live production to stir buzz and gain publicity for a client. But guess what? It works!

PepsiCo’s Silver Anvil Award winning “Smart Spot Dance” for instance was rated one of the most successful campaigns by the PRSSA, engaging the public to move and share in fitness and fun together. It’s no secret that dance, spontaneity and public intervention, if executed efficiently, as T-Mobile’s surely was, will stir positive emotions for a company and create smiles and conversation weeks, even years after.

            It was after my eighth replay on YouTube that I realized, as hard as it is to find a job in communications with this economy, it’s worth a try to be able to express my creativity and passion for branding, non-traditional and social media as a part of my occupation, the way that the practitioners behind the “T-Mobile Dance” did so well, and to actually get paid for it.

Sure, it may be an uphill battle to find the type of creative communications position that I want in this desolate economy, but it’s worth persevering, no matter how discouraging, to reach what I want to pursue.

            So thank you, Saatchi and Saatchi. As critics must realize that results are what matter in creative campaigns, so I realize that the ability to create impact and follow my passion is what keeps me atop the pr bandwagon even through economic crises. Thank you, Saatchi for reminding me of why I’m even on this search to begin with. Someday, I myself will organize 350 dancers in an English Train Station, create trust and excitement in my own client’s brand, and spread smiles across the world for months & years to follow- all with the click of one YouTube “play” button.

Until then, jobs.com, mediabistro & prweek…Let’s Dance!

Over the past few weeks our class has engaged in several discussions about the rising impact of social media.  As many of us know, social media is more popular today than ever before. It is the home to an ever-growing and changing online community.  There are a variety of advantages to using social media.  For starters, it is a great way to receive a diverse amount of information.  Social media broadens horizons which the mainstream media have no control over.  For example, Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter are are open forums where people can express themselves and their opinions however they please.  Social media is also a great way to broaden one’s network and connect with a large amount of people.  For example, social media is a fantastic way to advertise to niche audiences as well as spread aware and create support around an issue.  A primary example of this was seen last week when AT&T utilized their Facebook pages to stream Lil Wayne’s new single.  AT&T was able to generate support through emails and text messages which created buzz and drove consumers to their Facebook pages.  The result was a success driving a younger audience, who was their target, to AT&T’s facebook page, connecting Lil’ Wayne to their brand.  Networking opportunities are also found through social media as well as the blossoming of relationships between people who may have never known each other. 

Although there are clearly many advantages to using and exploring social media, it is important to understand and be aware that there are also innumerable disadvantages of social media.  Many critics of social media argue that oftentimes, information can be misinterpreted and messages can be skewed.  Because anyone can take part in social media and post on a blog, Web sites and blogs will become cluttered with excesses of information which can be inaccurate and negative.  There is also a lack of security and protection on many social media Web sites so things can easily get out of control.  However, regardless of the positive or negative aspects of social media, one thing is for sure and that is that it is an increasingly popular and innovative industry.  Consequently, visitors to social media Web sites and blogs should be careful when reading and posting information.  Consumers and contributors should always be cautious because frequently mistakes and falsehoods are written in addition to the fact that once it’s up it is for everybody’s eyes, and this should not be taken lightly.