ICT and Digital Media in Public Relations Campaigns - Assignment Example

ICT and Digital Media in Public Relations Campaigns Abstract This report shows the current state of Information and communication technology and how it has made impact on the PR industry. It examines the future advancements of how ICT will help the business in stepping ahead of its competitors. The discussion focuses on advantages and limitations of adapting to state of the art technology. Introduction to ICT in this Era This report will show how and why the current state of the firm can be improved by ICT and to briefly discuss predicted advancements in the field of public relations. Before moving ahead it is essential to understand the concept of information and communications technology. As an accounts executive of a PR consultancy, I would like to stress upon the fact that Public Relation trends have been experiencing serious changes and technological advancements. ICT has grown inevitably throughout the past few years. It has seeped into other industries other than the field of information technology. ICT is one of the sectors driving the new economy and also the public relations sector. It is also one of the sectors most directly affected by the recent trends in globalization. The rapid growth in Internet usage and rapid growth of mobile usage with broadband networks all point towards the fact that this technology is impacting every moment of our day to day lives and businesses. But how precisely does ICT affect economic growth and the efficiency of firms? In many studies and recent surveys it has been proved that even in this recession, ICT has kept a steady growth and has no doubt contributed to the GDP and economic growth. ICT and Public relations The introduction ICT to small medium enterprises has allowed them to compete with larger competitors. ICT is a very dynamic area. The tools and frameworks of ICT expand and advance continuously; these expansions demonstrate the usage and improvements. If we take a broader look at advanced technologies, satellites, mobile phones video news releases etc are the latest tools of ICT that are used by PR agencies and influence public relations policies and practices. Twitter, mash-up media and blogging are the publics eyes and ears nowadays, this latest trend has created more implications and has definitely raised the bar for public relations. In other words, it has raised the bar for public relation practitioners. The Internet and World Wide Web have created mediums for the public to accesses information, whether in the form of blogs, podcasts or videos from YouTube. The traditional role of media is constantly changing with regular upgrading. If we take a quick briefing of the traditional trends of Public relations, we can see that focus was given on press releases, conferences, social media engagement, crisis communication and building rapport. These conventional methods of PR have not lost their importance, but instead ICT has entered this field and improved the industry. Many researches and studies have been carried out that show how ICT helps boost productivity businesses. A recent survey among 200 major PR companies, by Research & intelligence agency, learned that 75% of the companies use an external PR agency for their PR work. Those external PR agencies use ICT. The survey also showed that ICT firms will do more PR work in the future. All PR companies see advertising and ICT as the marketing tools. Most PR companies see ICT as the most important instrument that creates credibility and also helps brand recognition to be created within the market. ICT Tools and framework ICT are a key component for innovation in businesses that are a part of the service industry. Many technologies have evolved and made there impact on public relations. Digital technology includes networked computers, Wireless technology, computer based systems which that can access any corner of the globe via Internet and World Wide Web. ICT tools that are designed to carry out specific functions are expected to contribute tremendously in business application. These function specific tools can be observed by there effects in three major areas; PR officials are affected by digital technology; technology has affected how messages are created and delivered; the effects of technology on organizational culture, the management structure in the firm and the management itself; Lastly, technology has also affected relationships in organizations between members and also publics. Benefits of ICT to our Agency With the recession in the world economy, many of our competitors in the PR industry are looking for ways to bring down their expenses to stay in business. It is obvious that in this fierce environment ,PR agencies have to keep up with latest technology and trends of the public, and for those who fail to discuss and plan new techniques and innovative ideas are unlikely to survive in this industry. With regular innovation and growth in this field, the level of competition will keep on growing. The new environment is creating opportunities for businesses on every step. We should wisely consider a balance of using both traditional and new public relations skills when considering on how to plan different PR programmes for our clients. Customers being represented by other public relations agencies have knowledge latest techniques used by competitors and will expect to be offered the same or at least similar media PR in their programmes. The public's awareness regarding new methods used in media PR is constantly growing. Our focus should be on making most appropriate media choices to suit individual client’s needs. Advantages of ICT can be pointed out as: Computer-based technologies are highly cost-effective. The profit in the long run is no match for short run expenses. Through this technology, not only can we track news media coverage but also asses media agenda. Monitoring new media coverage through networked computers is much feasible. Computer based systems automatically keep a track of topics, organizations and also individuals that are being covered. Twitter, Face book are all communication tools that are accessed by the public, by creativity and innovation, we can create ways to combine these with conventional services provided by PR. By adapting new media techniques will help define our organization and encourage our PR agency to have an edge over our competitors. We can benefit ourselves from two way communication via World Wide Web. By implementing balanced communication we can become more effective and cost efficient. Communication will become faster and efficient between our agencies and public. Through Digital communications the management of organizational communications can be managed efficiently, internally and externally. This means that the transparency of our organization will increase; we can provide much better facilities to and among groups. We can master the key component of time management, and deal with distance constraints through digital communications. Online technologies have become more reliable and powerful in this era. Flexibility of the staff will increase due to flattening of the hierarchal system in the business. Decision making will become more flexible and less time consuming. In this era of digital technology, organizations must become virtual and becoming virtual means becoming more real. Thousand of people use and access the internet, they spend majority of their time indulged in them. This creates online environments which can help us in strategy development. Responding effectively and correctly with the appropriate combination of ICT, such as transparency and clarity, will enable us to succeed and be ahead of the competition. Latest PR trend is doing online surveys. It has become a common practice. As public uses the internet, it has allowed them to gain knowledge and information regarding any organization the public is also well informed about digital technology available. PR agencies must make sure they are up to date with the public. Monitoring such online sources can be very helpful for PR practices. Improved service and service quality will lead to higher profit margins in the long run. Carefully planned investment in ICT tools can eliminate unnecessary costs to our business. Allows effective strategy planning and much more organized used of resources and less wastage of resources. Recommendations It is hard to find any modern PR agency that hasn’t yet implemented Digital technology in their practices. Almost ever PR agency is researching or is already using digital PR ,including search engines, blogging/blogger relations and social media. Technological improvements are being made constantly and almost every Public Relations practitioner is adjusting to the newly created opportunities presented by shifts in both consumer and journalist behavior. So the above mentioned advantages of ICT in our firm will definitely give us an edge over our competitors. Carefully planned investment in ICT will help financially; amount of investment in fixed capital is bound to reap profits in the long run and short run. Being side by side with latest information and communications technology will keep us ahead of the curve, with the ability to keep up with constantly changing need of our individual clients. Many training programs are available on the field of ICT. This will help in refreshing the current staff on how to blend ICT with firm’s current objectives. They can become more skilled at Strategy development and implementation. It will also create awareness regarding the PR agencies using the same tools and frameworks. We must be updated online, as it is a medium from people can access information about out agency. Therefore we must regularly update our website. We have to anticipate needs and concerns of publics, we must look towards there interests and involve people. We can optimize searches and be available all the time, especially in times of crisis and risk. The website of the firm has to be regularly updated; consumer trends can be picked up from online blogs and can be used for effective strategy planning. References Tom Watson and Paul Noble, 2007, Evaluating Public Relations: A Best Practice Guide to Public Relations. Springer London,2009, Innovating in Product/Process Development. www.Digitechnology.net Read More