Is Valentine's Day Over Yet?

It’s Valentine’s Day, just incase you’re the one person on the face of the planet that hasn’t been bombarded with pink, red, flowers and talk of love today. Every store and business joins in the love fest, so it’s almost impossible to escape from. People either love this holiday, or completely hate it. If you’re like me, you love to hate it. It’s also one of the few days of the year that public relations professionals can get away with promoting love and sentimental things since many people are especially vulnerable on this particular day.

It seems like some public relations professionals take part in leveraging a product, event or service with Valentine’s Day, even if it has absolutely nothing to do with the holiday. I read an article on PRNewser earlier today about the worst press releases and public relation stunts dedicated to last year’s Valentine’s Day, and it was some of the weirdest things that I had ever seen.

IKEA was one of the companies who targeted the single people on Valentine’s Day. If a single customer came into the store, they were to tell the cashier they were single and they could get free sodas and cake. And if the awkward encounter led to scoring a phone number, you could even get 50 percent off of a couch IKEA was promoting.

As if being single on Valentine’s isn’t embarrassing enough. Who would actually want to go to IKEA to celebrate the fact that they’re single on the most romantic night of the year? I’m not sure if IKEA was attempting to promote a couch or the fact that it catered to single people on Valentine’s, but the whole thing was very odd.

After that disaster of a public relations move, IKEA decided to step it up for the following year. The company placed an ad in an Australian newspaper providing coupons for a free crib for all babies born on November 14, exactly nine months after Valentine’s Day. All the parents needed to provide to receive the crib was a birth certificate and coupon.

Instead of throwing Valentine’s Day, or lack there of, in the customer’s face, IKEA promoted something that its target audience would actually enjoy. The company received publicity from the promotional tactic and many people became customers at IKEA because they simply fulfilled customer needs. At the end of the day, isn’t gaining customers and satisfying existing ones the main goal of a public relations professional?

Whether or not one hates Valentine’s Day, everyone can agree that it is part of the job of public relations professionals to promote products, services or events during a holiday, but it needs to be done in a dignified way and with some class. Not every company will benefit by using Valentine’s Day as a promotional method. It is up to the public relations department to decide if it works for your business or company.

I could definitely be on board for the Pizza Hut $10,000 proposal package, though. The insane Valentine’s Day package promoted in 2012, provided a ruby engagement ring, limousine, flowers, fireworks, photographer and of course pizza. Not entirely convinced I would want Pizza Hut involved in my engagement, but I guess it’s the thought that counts.

Sources:

• Stampler, L. (2013, February 14). Ikea's Brilliant Ad Offers Crib To Babies Born 9 Months After Tonight. In Business Insider. Retrieved February 14, 2014, from http://www.businessinsider.com/ikea-valentines-day-coupon-for-free-crib-2013-2
•  Coffee, P. (2013, February 14). The 18 Best, Worst and Weirdest Valentine's Day PR Stunts. In PRNewser. Retrieved February 14, 2014, from http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/the-18-best-worst-and-weirdest-valentines-day-pr-stunts_b57583
• Pizza Hut offering $10,010 proposal packages (2012, February 9). In FoxNews.com. Retrieved February 14, 2014, from http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/02/09/pizza-hut-offering-10000-proposal-packages/

Building Your Brand as a PR Student

By Kelcey Blanks

This week I thought about public relations in general and what it means to me. I’m rounding out my last semester of college in May and I feel as though it’s really important to take as much out of these last few months as possible. Finding a job after college is a scary thought and I want to be as prepared as possible. But in a room full of 10 to 15 qualified public relations graduates, how am I going to differentiate myself?

In my time as a PR student, I have learned that a company’s brand sets them a part from competition and is perceived in various ways in the minds of consumers. Branding makes one company more unique than another. It solidifies the position of one company over another. When purchasing new shoes, I always have that one brand that is more prominent in my head compared to the rest. I want to be that shoe brand that sticks out to employers. I want to be the last one on their minds after a dozen interviews for a job position.

As public relations students, it is important to build our own brand professionally and personally before we are able to start a career in helping companies build their own. It is important to start thinking of yourself as a brand so that you can set yourself a part from future job competition. It is predicted that the public relations industry will experience major growth in the next few years, so stand out in a group of public relations students.

Don’t leave your image to chance. After all, we are public relations students. We should know how to manage a brand. I started thinking, if I were a brand, how would people perceive me? How would the “Kelcey Blanks brand” stand out in a group of 100 other graduates all vying for the same job?

Manage your presence on social media websites: And no, this doesn’t consist of updating your Facebook status to tell the world about the bar you went to last night. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are all there for you to network and build relationships. Don’t just be on social media – engage in it. I started Twitter last year and frequently use it to communicate with public relations professionals. In the social media age that we currently live in, it is almost guaranteed that a future employer will look at your social media pages. Stand out from your competition by posting information that is relevant to a career in public relations.

Using social media as part of your branding strategy

Start a blog: Show employers that you are passionate about something. Update and post to your blog as often as possible so that you can stay ahead of the game professionally. This shows employers your writing skills and that you are capable of forming an opinion about a topic. Blogging can allow you to network with other professionals and can even lead to a career.

Develop your brand statement: So this may sound a little cheesy, but you need to think about how you see yourself before anything else. Come up with some adjectives and incorporate your career field. The Kelcey Blanks brand statement would be a “funny, fashionable and hardworking public relations student.”

Create a portfolio: I started creating my portfolio last year, and not only is it a reference for me to be able to look back on one day, it is something employers will be able remember you by. Emphasize the work that you believe will impress an employer. By simply updating your portfolio with present work and accomplishments, you already have a leg up on other competition that didn’t show up to the job interview with one. This will also show employers that you are organized and well managed.

In developing yourself as a brand, you have to decide what is most important and relevant to you and your career. What is valuable to me may not work for someone else. Branding is about finding out what works for you and what you believe will make you stand out in a sea full of other graduates. Make a list of your brand essentials and continue to update it when professional situations arise. Always remember to stand out.