Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations - Essay Example

? Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations Practice Reflective Essay What is Reflective Practice? Reflective practice was initially introduced by Donald Schon back in 1983. Reflective practice essentially seeks to help an individual reflect on certain given actions with the aim of helping them engage in a general process of continuous learning. This initial definition was further developed by a number of people such as Boud, Keogh and Walker (1985) who went on to define reflective practice as a generic term that encompasses the various affective and intellectual activities in which individuals engaged in with the aim of attempting to explore all their experiences with the aim of attempting to gain new appreciations and understandings. However, Boyd and Fales (1983), defined reflective practice as being the general process of exploring and internally examining a particular issue of concern, this process is usually seen to be triggered by an experience that results in one seeking to attempt and clarify new meaning to self and thereafter changing their own conceptual perspective. Some of my Strength and Weaknesses that would Appeal / not Appeal to a Potential Employer Based on My work This Semester During my studies this semester, I had the pleasure of discovering and developing a set of new attributes that will prove to be of innumerable benefit to my work life and would be quite appealing to a potential employer. Some of these benefits include: My Innate Ability to work under intense pressure while requiring little to almost no Supervision During my studies this semester, I found that I was able to sufficiently work on my own self without having any supervision. This ability came to the fore when circumstances necessitated that I spend a considerable amount of time away from school. I was worried about some upcoming examinations and took it upon myself to ensure that I sufficiently studied and performed a number of various exercises that would help me to perform well in the examination. Upon returning to school, I was able to write my paper very well and post very good results. This ability could prove very useful to my employers as I would be able to effectively perform my work duties without requiring any supervision. My ability to keep a level head while facing intense work pressure would also be of benefit to any employer (Greene, 2012). My Leadership Skills Growing up in a midsized family with a number of siblings, I have always had ample opportunity to gradually develop my leadership skills. This skills have further been honed as a result of my engagement in a number of club activities where I have been elected to several leadership positions. I have also had the opportunity of being involved in a number of academic group works that have required me to rally and encourage my team members towards striving to complete our assigns. I have always been able to effectively do this resulting in very good results. As such I feel that my leadership skills would prove to be an invaluable asset to any potential employer (2008). My Time Management Skills and Punctual Nature I have always been very punctual since my early childhood after I chanced to learn the values that are found to commonly be associated with punctuality the hard way. During my early childhood, I used to frequently exhibit signs of tardiness, this used to land me into a lot of trouble but despite my parents encouraging me to rectify this negative attribute before it got out of hand, I did not try to correct it. However, when I was nearly 10 years of age and schools were almost closing for the Christmas break, the accumulated number of days I had been late for school as a result of missing the bus caused me to receive poor comments from my teacher who attributed this aspect of my being to my low grades. On receiving my report card, my disappointed parents grounded me for the entire holiday and did not buy me the Christmas gift of a bicycle that I had for long been eying. Meanwhile my other siblings received very good gifts and encouragements from my parents and it dawned on me that my tardiness had caused me to miss out on the opportunity to finally get hold of the bicycle. I determined there and then to always ensure that I was punctual in all my various undertaking and to this day, I have always observed an impressive degree of punctuality. This attribute would prove to be of great benefit to any potential employer as they would constantly be assured of my keen and immediate attention to any work that I might happen to be assigned. My employer would also be assured of my timely delivery of all task assigned to me with little or no delay whatsoever (Forsyth, 2013). Team Playing Skills Upon joining my current institution of learning, I was almost immediately roped into joining the University’s football team. The team spirit of football helped me develop my skills as a team player as this is a vital aspect for the success of any football team. I have managed to effectively transfer this attribute to other areas of my life and by applying this attribute to my job, I would prove to be of value to any potential employer as I would be able to effectively as a team together with the other employees (Parker, 2011). Some of my Negative Attributes that would displease a Potential Employer Sadly, I have a number of attributes that I believe would potentially displease a potential employee key. Some of these negative traits include: My Distress on the Failure of a Project One of my negative qualities that would serve to greatly displease a potential employer is the fact that I become greatly disappointed if a project or undertaking that I happen to be working on ends up failing to meet its objectives. The negative emotions and feelings that result from this often have an impact on my colleagues a factor which results in a reducing of the entire team’s morale. To counter this, I have been attempting to perceive failures as learning opportunities that encourage me to work harder to ensure that they do not reoccur (James, 1998). Stubbornness and half-heartedness when I Perceive that Something is Incorrect One of my most annoying negative attributes is that I often stubbornly refuse to follow the leading of someone when I perceive that doing so would not be in my best interests. This trait has often caused me to clash with my fellow students when I refuse to follow their leading due to my opposition to their making a series of incorrect and unwise decisions that I perceive to be detrimental to the group. I often come across as rebellious when I point out their mistakes and in the event I am forced to follow their instructions, I often do so half-heartedly. This attribute would prove to be quite unappealing to a potential employer as it might cause division and a great degree of misunderstanding within a team. However I have been making efforts aimed at rectifying this trait by reading extensively on how to approach the matter in an appropriate manner. I have also been attending seminars with the view of correcting this trait. What did I learn from my Meeting with the Tutor (s) and / or STAMP Mentor (s) that I have applied in My Portfolio? After my initial attempts at developing a portfolio that did not happen to meet with very positive results, on meeting with my tutors receiving a number of possible recommendations, I was encouraged to try and use a number of graphics to help cause my portfolio to become more realistic and help me attain more marks on the project. I was also encouraged to ensure that I conducted sufficient research before commencing any work on my project. This was to ensure that I gained enough information and insight on how to effectively tackle the different segments of the portfolio. My tutor also encouraged me to try and ensure that I sufficiently addressed all the different sections of the reflective essay so as secure maximum points from each section. My tutor also made a number of key observations that helped in pointing me out on the direction in which my portfolio should take and was there to constantly act as a guide throughout the project. The feedback provided by the tutor was also instrumental in helping me recognize and immediately work on rectifying the areas of the project that the tutor deemed as having been inadequately covered. My STAMP mentor proved to be a most impressive source of information and knowledge on the advertising, public relations and marketing practices that were currently in use in the field. The information and insight that I gleaned from my mentor was relevant to my entire project as it was information that had resulted from years of active experience in the field. On reading my portfolio, my mentor made a number of key recommendations such as a number of possible amendments to my reflective essay. He also helped me in designing a proper brochure and in crafting a relevant letter. I ensured that I utilized all the recommendations and critically evaluated all the suggestions received from both my tutor and STAMP mentor as all these suggestions pertained to were an integral part of the project. It is primarily due to the selfless and tireless aid I received from my tutor and STAMP mentor that I was able to effectively tackle the project. What Could I have done differently to help me Gain More out of this Module? Although I have been able to gain a considerable amount of both skill and knowledge from tackling this module, there are however a number of gains I could have been able to make had I undertaken to do some things in a different manner. One of the things that I would have done differently so as to help me gain more from this module would have been to attempt to try and conduct more research on the subject matter before the start of the module. This would have helped me gain a deeper understanding of what the subject matter that was to be covered in the module generally entailed. This knowledge would have helped me quickly identify the potential problem areas of the module a factor that would have served to provide me with sufficient ample time to sufficiently tackle these problem areas in preparation for my assignments. Another thing that I would probably have chosen to do differently would have been to increase my engagement and participation in the various group work activities that were conducted in the course of the module. The group work activities would have served to provide me with more insight from my fellow students on different aspects of the module that I might have potentially happened to overlook. By taking the time to analyze these aspects, I would probably have gained a deeper understanding of the subject matter which would have helped me in broadening my perspective. Individual Items Deep Interview of Key Person A deep insight of both tutors and students would be conducted to help establish the thoughts of the university’s student populace on matters pertaining to the Library. The interviews would seek to establish what the interviewees though were the university’s positive and negative attributes. Advertisement The print advertisement that would be used to effectively run the project’s advertising campaign would be developed in the form of posters that would be displayed at various schools, cinemas, buses, and as posters on the street. The print advertisement would also be displayed on some of the smart phone advertisement applications (Blakeman, 2011). Media List for Public Relations Campaign Generally, there are a number of different forms that a public relations campaign can be arranged around. Some of these forms include the displaying of posters on buses as well as at the cinema, website promotions, school road shows and via smart phone applications. The Advertising Campaign’s Media Plan The media plan for the advertising campaign would serve to highlight some of the budgetary factors such as the amount to be spent on some of the advertising campaign’s key elements such as the television advertisement. The media plan would help the company generate increased awareness of the various services that it offered as well as help it gain considerable interest in their offering. A number of promotional events that would be designed to encompass the literature, music themes and environmental protection would be organized so as to effectively showcase the concepts and main features of the new library. Internet Advertising The advertising campaign’s related ads can be availed in different search engines, similar websites and on the social networking platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. The advertisements would also be keen to ensure that the key features of the new library would be well reflected (Scn Education B V, 2000). Letters Distributed to Student Groups The advertising campaign would also involve the distribution of letters to various university student groups encouraging them to visit and try the facilities on offer at the new library. The letter would also inform them of any promotions conducted by the library in a bid to try and encourage more students to visit the library. A number of brochures would also be distributed by the Library to create awareness on the library and provide information on the rates offered at the library. Leaflets Distributed to Relevant Groups A leaflet containing crucial information would be randomly distributed to student groups and tutors at different colleges to create awareness and provide information on the library. These leaflet would also be distributed to the general public to enhance aid in enhancing the university’s awareness. Bibliography .Forsyth, P. 2013. Successful Time Management. London : Kogan Page. Blakeman, R. 2012. Advertising Campaign Design: Just the Essentials. M.E. Sharpe. Boud, D. K., R. and Walker, D. 1985, Promoting reflection in learning: a model. New York: Nichols, 18-40, 1985 Evelyn M. Boyd and Ann W. Fales, 1983, Reflective Learning: Key to Learning from Experience. Journal of Humanistic Psychology SPRING 1983 vol. 23 no. 2 99-117 Greene, D. 2012. Performance Success: Performing Your Best Under Pressure. Routledge. James, L. D. 1998. Tragedy? disappointment? failure?, you can-- bounce back too. Horizon Books. Leatherman, D. 2008. Quality leadership skills : standards of leadership behavior. Amherst, Mass. : HRD Press. Parker, M. G., 2011. Team Players and Teamwork: New Strategies for Developing Successful Collaboration. John Wiley & Sons. Schon, D. 1983, The Reflective Practitioner, How Professionals Think In Action, Basic Books. Scn Education B V. 2000. Webvertising: The Ultimate Internet Advertising Guide. Springer. Read More