We Go Public: A Public Information Campaign - Report Example

Running head: we go public 22nd February Introduction We Go Public is an educational non profitcampaign that is focused at generating stronger awareness of the independent public schools at the State of Texas. Additionally, the objective of the campaign is to inform the public about the exciting and life changing activities that occurs in the public schools. The campaign is co-chaired by three leaders. These include Major General Joe Robles the president and the CEO of USAA, Chris Nielsen the president of the Toyota manufacturing Company based in Texas and Kim Bowers the chairperson and the president of CST Brands Incorporation. The three leaders have played a vital role in the expansion of campaign strategies. We Go Public campaign inspires members of the society across the state of Texas on the positive and sustainable impact that the public schools have on their lives. Having being established in 2013, the campaign also aimed at supporting public education. According to Karabel (1989) the strong US economy has been significantly improved through educating all the people irrespective of their socioeconomic status, race, religion and class. On their part, public schools are entitled by the public to undertake more responsibilities that include reducing their budget, feeding the hungry and assisting the sick members of the public among other duties. On the part of the government, there has been criticism from the wealth individuals due to reduction in public schools budget. The campaign is therefore a kind of counter attack by the public on the government budget cut. Public schools emulate the campaign as a way of informing the public on their efforts to fulfill the responsibilities bestowed on them by the members of the society. A public Information Campaign (PIC) entails coordinated strategies in order to inform the society about a given program. This includes several components that are brought together by the organizers of the campaign in order to effectively communicate the message. For a PIC to be successful, it must include six major aspects. First, there must be a commitment. This implies that the organizers must be focused at attaining their objectives by committing their time, resources and ideas. Secondly, the organization must be informed. This entails informing the directors all the way to the receptionist about the plans of the campaign. Thirdly, is the identification of the target audience. This includes knowing who wants to receive the message and what action is needed to be taken by the audience. Statt (1977) depicts that by targeting the right audience, a campaign enjoys the support of the public an aspect that lead to its success. Fourthly, is focusing the message. This entails keeping the message simple and avoiding technical language. In this way, it will be easier for the members of the public to understand the objectives of the PIC. Fifthly is planning one activity. This entails planning and implementing one activity up to the end and then adding another activity. Sixthly is effective use of available resources including man power, time and finance. We Go Public campaign will take three years. The major mediums of advertising includes television, radio, face book and you tube. The first advertisement through the radio and the television run in January 2014. In addition to the use of digital as well as social media in its advertisement strategies, We Go Public campaign adopts its website where it extensively covers the public schools within the state of Texas. Based on the increased use of social media Koc (2002) stipulates that majority of organizations in the local and international markets have turned to use digital means of advertisement. Similarly, the improved household income has made majority of consumers can easily access televisions. As a result, most of the companies have turned into using televisions to create strong customer awareness. With this realization, We Go Public has adopted the two mediums as major strategies of advertising their services. The success of the campaign as well as the advertisement strategies have been successful as the result of the support that the campaign has received from the organizations such as Toyota, USAA, Rast Iron Works, Royce Groff Oil Company, Persyn Engineering, Jane Macon, Frost Bank, Kencon and Firstmark Credit Union among others. Federal and state funds are the main source of funds for the public schools in Texas. However, despite the high revenue that is collected in the form of taxes from the local residents, the government has taken the initiative of cutting down funding of public schools. For example, in 2011 the public education budget was cut down by $5.4 billion through the efforts of the state law makers (Panebianco, 1988). Even though a portion of the funds were restored after the intervention of the local leaders, the supporters of the public schools maintains that the funding is not enough to cover for the education of approximately 5 million students in the region. This has led to extensive resistance from the philanthropic foundations who have taken various strategies to expand the campaign through the use of television advertisements and social media. The school districts that are involved in the campaign have boosted the initiative by contributing $138,000 each. The funds are used to buy TV airtime as well as other forms of creating public awareness. We Go Public campaign audience includes the local communities, the leaders, the government and the public in general. The campaign audiences have the opportunity of visiting the website in case they want to support the campaign. The website provides information such as a link that the donors need to click as a way of supporting the campaign. Supporters can also sign a pledge as well as share the information with their friends on face book, twitter and you tube. The campaign message to local leaders is for them to support public schools by putting in effective legislation that will ensure that their budget is increased. As indicated by Paquette (2006) on his studies on Campaign Strategy leaders should talk about the public schools and the things that they do well. In this way, members of the public will be reasonably notified of the importance of public schools in the development of the country. To the government, the campaign message is very clear public schools need more funds to educate the increasing number of students. One of the major end goals of the campaign is to create strong communities. For a long time, public schools have significantly contributed to the economy and political growth of the US. The schools are viewed as bases through which communities are brought together during such occasions as football and PTA meetings among others. Public schools are focused at providing the necessary skills and confidence that the children want in order to be successful in future. Thus, the campaign will greatly assist the public schools in rising adequate funds to cater for the education of the local students. Another goal of the campaign is to increase the number of donors and create strong awareness among the audience who will join the campaign through social media. This is the major reason as to why the campaign organizers are using digital methods of advertising. As more people are reached by the campaign Steven (2003) argues that more funds will be generated thus making it possible to undertake various activities within the state of Texas. Another notable goal of the campaign is to come up with a rich diversity in the public schools. By providing an opportunity through which kids from different races intermingle, they are made to appreciate others an aspect that contributes to their social growth. We Go Public campaign aims at reaching students from all the countries in the world. Within the 15 districts, the major races include Hispanic, African-American, Asian, Native America and Hawaiian. It is vital to note that one of the methods of addressing unity and peace challenges at the international level is by enhancing diversity in the public schools and in the universities. Conclusion We Go Public campaign is a major event that will bring a sustainable change in the public schools within the state of Texas. Using the social media and television as its major methods of advertisement, We Go Public campaign is focused at creating strong awareness among its audience that includes local community, students, government and local readers. One of the notable factors that triggered the formation of We Go Public campaign was the cut on the public schools budget by the state. The support that the campaign is getting will ultimately make it to achieve its goals that include creating strong communities, enhancing strong awareness and advocating for diversity in the public schools. References Karabel, J. 1989. The Diverted Dream: Community colleges and the promise of educational opportunity in America, 1900–1985. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Koc, E. 2002. Impact of gender in marketing communications: the role of cognitive and affective cues. Journal of Marketing Communications 8 (3): 258. Panebianco, A. 1988. Political Parties: Organization and Power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Paquette, L. 2006. Campaign Strategy. New York: Nova. Statt, D. 1977. Understanding the Consumer – A Psychological Approach. London: Macmillan Press. Steven, S .2003. Economics: Principles in action. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. We Go Public campaign. http://www.wegopublic.com/about-us/. Retrieved February 21, 2014. Read More