Critical Analysis on American Cancer Societys Relay for Life Event - Case Study Example

Critical Analysis on American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life Event Introduction American Cancer Society (ACS) is a large health organization that projected October as the month for Breast Cancer Awareness. Just in recent times, the charitable group has organized advertising and fundraising campaign called Relay for Life on October 2 where above 400 people participated to cheer on to breast cancer survivors (Tanori). Additionally, this movement was prearranged by the use of the internet system. ACS with the support of other voluntary organizations uses the raised money for the development of drugs and medication to cure breast cancer. The funds as well are used for serving impoverished cancer patients to meet the expense of mammography and other treatments. These types of public relations campaigns are frequently used by ACS to spread information and make the public aware of cancer as life threatening. As ACS uses technology such as the online community, the people certainly gain awareness of the matter. This article is an analytical investigation of ACS Relay for Life Events on the subject of public relations methods and techniques, tools and tactics. The Organization’s Background American Cancer Society is presently in commission with thirteen divisions all through the United States and Puerto Rico. In a study presented in one of the issues of the Chronicle of Philanthropy in 1996 to determine the 100 popular charities in the United States, ACS ranked 10th since almost 40% of American teenagers and adults favor the organization ("The Charities Americans" 01D). ACS aspires to save the lives of cancer patients by means of extensive assistance. Thus, they promote cancer elimination and healthy lifestyles for the people. Furthermore the voluntary organization is very reachable as their services become available through Cancer Information Service Centers. National Cancer Information Center makes sure to impart a round-the-clock service through the ACS community website and Customer Service. It was in the year 1913 that ACS formerly called ASCC was founded by fifteen doctors in New Your City. ASCC stands for American Society for the Control of Cancer. In 1945, the organization’s name has been changed to ACS. For the duration of the construction of the group, they were represented by a symbol of sword with two serpents as the handle. It is said that the designer of the symbol George Durant believed that the mission of the organization is to control cancer through medicine (ACS “ACS History"). Relay for Life Campaign Relay for Life recurrently called Relay is the major cancer event of ACS to accumulate finances. Despite the fact that it started in America, the Relay campaign is also being practiced now by more than twenty different countries. As reports say, these charity-driven events are mostly successful and profitable. In line of the public relations, campaigns are vital tool that requires high-quality management. That is why ACS has carefully planned the campaign before they came up with the theme to ensure that they would meet its intention. Relay events are usually carried on communities and universities. There is also called Virtual Relay, a fundraising event on online communities. Comprehensive Examination of Relay for Life PR Campaign Relay for Life as a PR campaign is long-term and ongoing movement. That is why the evaluation below includes many Relay activities. The campaign cannot just be calculated at the end of one Relay activity. Relay Campaign Objectives Relays vary and feature many activities such as dinner, ceremonies, pledging and more. Though events may differ, they have parallel objectives. Relay for Life is intended for two points - to raise money for assisting cancer patients and for further cancer research, and to uphold better understanding of cancer among people. Apparently, the first objective is successful due to the fact that more than three billion dollars has been generated by the Relay events (“Relay For Life of Mountainview”). In Loyola College of Maryland, the Relay event participated by many university students has accumulated 165,000 dollars in 2008. Nonetheless, the biggest record of raised funds so far is the Rosebud Miners with around one million dollars (ACS "Rosebud Miners"). Nonetheless, it was in the year 2004 as well that Relay for Life of Second Life event participated by people via internet has raised 700,000 dollars. It is understandable that Relay’s principal purpose has been met as the figures address. Thus, the second objective is equally attained. At this moment, many people have gained cancer awareness as Relay for Life Statistics say that volunteers are about “almost 3.5 million participants with 500 cancer survivors, 250 event, committee and team leaders, and 200 team captains” ("Relay for Life Facts and Figures 2010" 3-4). In fact, 21 countries including Asian countries have held more than 50,000 Relay Events (ACS “International Relay for Life”). Without a doubt, even students have gained awareness of cancer as almost 500 universities have active chapters. Therefore, the comprehensive objectives of the organization at this time have been achieved at the end of the PR activities. Apparently, the achievement was made possible because the objectives are calculable and attainable. Research Methods and Techniques One of the targets of the American Cancer Society is to provide funds for further cancer research to help in the development of medicine that can rescue cancer patients. This plan positively led to the success of many cancer studies and statistics as a key to promote cancer awareness. In the Relay Library, archives since the conception of the organization has been compiled and made available online. Research methods such as survey questionnaire were used by ACS to evaluate their performance and effectiveness. Thus, they have a nationwide feedback form that is used for improvement of their next campaigns as they try to find out how “fulfilling” the event is for participants (ACS “Event Evaluation”). Primary Research Methods that have been used by ACS to arrive with Relays include Survey Questionnaire, Blogs and Online Interviews. The numerous studies that ACS has carried out clearly define the condition that Relay campaign aims to work out. Regarding their first objective which is to raise funds, ACS has evaluated the progress of its organization, and how it is observed by the people. Going back to the Relay campaigns, The Relay for Life Website provides opportunity for participants to publish their opinions and recommendations regarding the campaigns. This only means that ACS ensures that they are aware of the internal and external matters of their events as they examine their activities’ strengths and weaknesses. Publics Identification Every year, the Relay for Life releases the figures that were brought up to date. Furthermore, the organization always incorporates in their statistics the number of the participants. They recognize the participants as the cancer survivors, event leaders, team captains, university students, and working citizens. According to James Grunig, “public” as one of the key words in the expression “public relations” refer to the mass population (3-7). Grunig came up with the Situational Theory of Publics which confirms that “involvement increases information seeking” (Heath 779b). In relation to the Relay for Life events, it is a part of the planning process to identify the different publics so as to achieve their goal to spread cancer awareness. This was made essential to make certain that the organization’s key messages are competently delivered to the people. Key Messages In the second edition of Public Relation for Dummies, there is information regarding the significance of coming up with a creative and inspiring key message points for making PR campaigns work well. In fact, it says that when publicity does not contain the key message is almost ineffective (Yaverbaum 291). As the researcher has observed, every Relay campaign of ACS sets messages that form the main purpose of the event. American Cancer Society has been titled “The Official Sponsor of Birthdays.” This entails that the organization aims to extend the lives of cancer patients and promote healthy lifestyles so as to have more birthdays. The word birthday also illustrates a happy event as ACS celebrates for cancer survivors. Thus, this simple key message creates the attitude of the organization and it demonstrates the effectiveness of the Relay events. Public Relations Strategies Relay for Life Library puts forward lots of preparation articles to assist event managers to come up with efficient Relays. The library endorses continuous review of the plan so as to ensure the movement’s success. In fact, event organizers have started to put in order next year’s events and they look forward to having more people to sign up. One good case is the event organizers for the Crestview Relay in April 2011 are already preparing for the event to top the 53 teams that participated this year (Stewart). Thus, this strategy is very reliable. There will be enough time to plan the actions carefully as well as to find proper solutions to possible problems. This strategy as the researcher suggests should be placed on top as it has a great impact on the operation of tactics to meet the event goals. Relay Tactics Reaching the public is the main way to spread cancer awareness. Thus, ACS created much effective publicity. More recently ACS uses technology to convey their messages. Information regarding the organization, relay events and relative are found mainly on RelayforLife website as well as the organization’s main domain Cancer.org. To target the audience, these websites have been created along with social network accounts, organization reviews and blogs. Aside from the fact that information is widely available online, Relays also use surveys that are a good system to facilitate essential statistics. As shown in Facts and Figures gathered about the participants of Relay for Life events, the idea is definitely to attract more participants. Undoubtedly, most people prefer to participate in organizations that show development. That is why American Cancer Society makes sure to release updated statistics every year to show that the organization positively meets their stated objectives. Nonetheless, Advertising is a strong tool that is being used by ACS to reach the public. Popular publications such as New York Times, Fortune Magazine, CNN, and others have featured Relay for Life events. These promotional tools are contrasted with the publicity of Relays due to the fact that it is mostly not paid to be reported in the news. However, the researcher believes that advertising is used by Relay for Life to entirely have power over the key messages. Unlike publicity, which is more on persuasion, advertisement is preferred by several people as they desire to gain information. Budget As known to all, budget allocation is something to be well-considered when campaigning. This is necessary to find out what an organization is capable and incapable to do. In August of 2005, ACS has reportedly allocated 70% of its funds for supporting cancer research, cancer prevention and patient support. The remaining funds were used for fundraising and administration of the organization ("ACS Meets the BBB"). Thus, an accumulated 40% of the finances are purposely spent to support cancer patients as well as to prevent people from becoming a victim. Undoubtedly, the allocation of budget is properly executed by ACS to achieve their main goal that is to support the cancer patients. The ACS also never fails to release summary of the operation costs of their activities. Summary and Conclusion The comprehensive objectives of the organization have been achieved at the end of the PR activities. This simply implies that the Relay for Life has planned and executed effective PR campaigns. The first objective which is to raise funds is seemingly accomplished as three billion dollars has been generated since the creation of first Relay. Nonetheless, the second objective which is to uphold better understanding of cancer among people is equally achieved as 3.5 million participants have included themselves in Relay events. The PR Campaign includes recognition of cancer survivors, event leaders, team captains, university students, and working citizens as the participants. Also, key messages are used to efficiently deliver the message of ACS. Primary Research Methods that have been used include Survey Questionnaire, Blogs and Online Interviews. To spread cancer awareness, however, reaching the public is the main way. Thus, ACS created much effective publicity as it currently uses the online world. Every year, the Relay for Life releases the figures that were brought up to date as well. Facts and figures gathered about the participants of Relay for Life events have been used to attract more participants. Works Cited American Cancer Society (ACS). "ACS History." American Cancer Society. ACS Inc., 02 Oct 2006. Web. 15 Oct 2010. . American Cancer Society. "Event Evaluation - Extended Version." Relay for Life Library. ACS Inc., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2010.  . American Cancer Society. "International Relay For Life: One World - One Hope!" Cancer.org. ACS, Inc., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. . American Cancer Society. "Rosebud Miners Become First Million-Dollar Relay For Life Team in the Nation for the American Cancer Society." Relay for Life American Cancer Society. American Cancer Society, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2010. . "American Cancer Society Meets the BBB Wise Giving Alliances Standards for Charity Accountability." Better Business Bureau. Better Business Bureau, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. . Grunig, James. A Situational Theory of Publics: Conceptual History, Recent Challenges, And New Research. Boston: International Thomson Business Press, 1997. Print. Heath, Robert. Situational Theory of Publics. 1st ed. United States of America: Saga Publications, Inc., 2005. Print. “Relay for Life Facts and Figures 2010.” No.0704.45. Relayforlife.org, 2010. 3-4. Print. "Relay For Life of Mountain View, CA." VolunteerMatch. Volunteer Match, n.d. Web. 13 Oct 2010. . Stewart, Michael. "American Cancer Society kicks off Relay for Life." Crestview Bulletin. Crestview News Bulletin, 03 Oct. 2010. Web. 17 Oct. 2010. . Tanori, Bianka. "Relay for Life Gives HOPE to Cancer Survivors And Families." Douglas Dispatch. Douglas Dispatch, 06 Oct. 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. . "The Charities Americans Like Most And Least." Chronicle of Philanthropy 20 Dec. 1994: 01D. Print. Yaverbaum, Eric. Public Relations for Dummies. 2nd ed. Canada: Wiley Publishing Inc., 2006. Print. Read More