Marketing Communications and Truth in Advertising - Coursework Example

Here 12 December Marketing Communications and Truth in Advertising Take a look at the world around you and most will be able to attest to one simple truth - advertising is everywhere. From rotating billboards, product placement in media to promotional campaigns that combine upcoming social events such as the release of a new movie to a certain brand of item, consumers today are trapped in a vortex where they cannot escape advertising. Branching off of the umbrella of advertising, the realm of public relations is also developing into a major player within the media. In today’s world, the role of public relations is to create a persona for either an individual or organization that the public will find favorable. To further this concept, it is also the responsibility of public relations to smooth over any instances where public opinion may become less than desirable based on a particular event or scenario. While both advertising and public relations are viable and successful part of the communications and media world, these practices can come under fire for the notions that they are deceptive, untruthful and misleading. Although critics may not find either advertising or public relations worthwhile ventures, the truth of the matter is that without these two facets of the media, consumerism could face unfortunate consequences. With the positive aspects of increased public awareness, social involvement in consumerism and the demand for truth in both advertising and public relations, the aim of this essay is to establish why the preconceived negative notions about advertising and public relations are false. In order to demonstrate how advertising and public relations have positive effects on society, this paper will discuss the how advertising and public relations force businesses and organizations to constantly strive for improvement, the responsibilities of public relations in regard to crisis communication and how both advertising and public relations force the society to be more aware of the world around them. In developing the supporting information for this argument, the first necessary component is to discuss how advertising and public relations effectively force all businesses and organizations to continually strive to improve. Beginning with the advertising half of this component, Evans’ 2009 study on the effects of online advertising highlights the growing popularity of this form of advertising. According to the study, $34 billion was spent on online advertising over the span of the 2008 year. As this amount increases every year, the newspaper industry has had to take note of how to bolster their online publications in an effort to garner more opportunities for online advertising. If online advertising practices were concurrent with those of critics with it being an often unethical and misleading practice, one could argue that this type of advertising would not be so successful. This notion allows us to see that advertising practices must be generally ethical as newspapers and other media outlets would not place so much effort in creating dynamic web sites that consumers will flock to as an effort to attract more advertisers. With this understanding, it is clear that the success of advertising holds immense power over the work that businesses and organizations will do to continually improve for their client base. When looking for an example of this among society, consider the frenzy and flurry of the advertisements that bombard consumers around the epic day of Black Friday each November. As consumers decide where they want to spend their money, businesses must create incentives and offers that can match the tantalizing allure of sales that advertising creates among consumers. According to Forbes, the advertising campaigns surrounding Black Friday have moved to consumer to such a degree that the percentages of people arriving at shopping centers and stores for their opening at the stroke of midnight is rising drastically (Arthur, 2011). With the astounding success of this shopping day across the country, it is evident that advertising practices must be truthful for consumers. Imagine the pandemonium that would ensue if throngs of consumers realized that the advertisements they saw about a particular sale brought them to a store under false pretenses. While critics may feel that advertising practices promoting particular products can be misleading, the actuality of this notion is impossible in the fact that any business from a major chain to a small, local business would not endanger their relationship with customers by using advertising that contained false information. Shifting the focus to the ability of public relations to instill a sense of drive to organizations, it is first essential to discuss how this aspect of media has developed. With the initial purpose and goal of promoting a business or client, public relations has often focused more on getting results versus the practices that are garnering these outcomes. While at one point, critics may have been correct in their statements that public relations practices were unethical and misleading, there has been a paradigm shift to standardize the methods and practices of public relations. Since 2007, Michaelson and Stacks have been analyzing the market communication practices that have been implemented in varying forms of public relations. Upon the realization that there really is no set formula for how different public relations firms work to achieve their clients ideal outcome, Michaelson Starks completed a study based on the idea of developing a standardized set of guidelines for all within the public relations umbrella to use in their dealings with clients (2011). With this understanding, it is evident that while public relations may have mislead the public at times and even been considered unethical, the notion of following a standardized set of principles diminishes the idea that public relations as a whole is essentially immoral to society. In translating this notion to public relations dominating the decisions of businesses and organizations to continually strive for better ways of doing business and securing customer satisfaction, it is important for public relations people to create striking campaigns and personifications for the public to become transfixed with. While interviewing and analyzing the ethics of young public relations professionals, Curtain, Gallicano and Matthews discovered that the majority of new arrivals to the public relations working world entered it with a high degree of morals. Upon interviewing, the authors found that young people entering this field do not have the desire to work with a firm they feel is doing inappropriate or non-truthful business in order to gain attention for their client. While this notion dis-spells the idea that public relations has no sense of morals, it also demonstrates that people have a desire to have someone tell them what they want to hear, as this is the fundamental basis of public relations anyway. With the news of this statistic, it becomes rather difficult to dispute the hopeful intentions of public relations. While not every instance of it can be perfect, it is evident that the goal of public relations is to forward the successful business model of an organization. After discussing the first aspect of this argument, we can move forward to discussing the responsibilities of public relations in regard to crisis communication. For this second topic of discussion, the research is going to center primarily around public relations as advertising does not have a strong role in crisis communication. That being said, it is important to acknowledge the reasoning for doing this. In calling public relations unethical and misleading, there is a risk of damaging these practices, which can also be key components of crisis communication. The purpose of crisis communication is to safeguard stakeholders through an organizations crisis event as well as uphold the integrity of the organization throughout the pre-crisis, crisis and post crisis phases of an event (Coombs, 2012). When realizing this aspect of crisis communication, it is evident where public relations can fall under the same umbrella. As both of these communications practices are meant to keep the public informed and safe during times of danger, it is very apathetic to assume that public relations practices are often misleading. That being said, it is essential to acknowledge that instances have in fact taken place where bad public relations and crisis communication techniques have placed people in grave danger. Two epically terrible examples of this include the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and the 2005 natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina. Beginning with the ghastly massacre of Virginia Tech, public relations practices were not followed by the schools administration in regard to their crisis communication techniques on the day of the shooting. Upon news of the first double murders in West Ambler Johnson Hall that took place at 7:45 a.m., school officials chose to alert the students via email that there had been a homicide situation on campus that morning. The email, sent at 9:26 a.m., never mentioned the fact that the gunman was not apprehended or the fact that police were unsure about the motive of the crime. While the university administration did make an effort to begin proper public relations and crisis communication techniques, it was simply too late. At 9:45 a.m., the first 911 calls were made that the gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, opened fire on students and faculty in Norris Hall (Virginia Tech 2007). For both public relations and crisis communication, this chain of events is unacceptable. Upon review the Virginia Tech Review Panel established a crucial error in not alerting students and faculty more quickly about the horrific events surrounding the first murders at West Ambler Johnson Hall. According to Coombs, situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) calls for an organization to asses a crisis and determine the best SCCT model for both dealing with the situation and protecting the stakeholders involved (Coombs 2004). In the case of Virginia Tech, the public relations practices failed the students and faculty by not alerting them to the first shootings early enough to allow them to protect themselves. Another example where public relations techniques could have been utilized much better was in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. As the epic storm ripped across Americas southern coastlines, hundreds of thousands of people were nearly instantly left without homes. Upon the levee system failing in New Orleans, the city found itself virtually under water and in dire need of assistance from the American Red Cross in evacuating survivors as well as bringing first aid and supplies to the area (Carando 2007). According to Coombs SCCT theory, upon news of the hurricane all stakeholders, including the affected cities, the American Red Cross and the government themselves should have assessed the situation and utilized the victim cluster response in dealing with this event. Meant to deal with instances such as natural disasters, the victim response cluster for SCCT and public relations holds the least amount of responsibility for an organization (Coombs 2004). While this theory of crisis communication demands the least amount of accountability from an organization, the fact still remains that they are still responsibility for attempting to maintain the health and safety of the stakeholders around them. In the case of this natural disaster, the public relations and crisis communication should have focused more on stressing to people the inherent danger they were facing and the need to evacuate as quickly as possible. By reaching out to cut off people and communities more effectively, the American Red Cross could have done a better job of protecting people as well as their own reputation throughout this disaster. In discussing these two instances of public relations failures, we can see from the previous article by Michaelson and Starks that there is an inherent need to standardize public relations techniques. By creating guidelines that introduce expected situation procedures for public relations professionals to follow, there could eventually be an understanding within the field that certain behaviors are expected in the wake of crisis events. Through integrating more defined crisis management plans and techniques into public relations practices, the field would be able to demonstrate to critics how they seriously deal with protecting organizations and their stakeholders. By making a conscious effort to develop respectable crisis management plans, public relations can regain the confidence of critics by demonstrating the integrity and sincerity of their efforts. An example of this can be seen in how the company BP responded to the April 20, 2010 catastrophic event of the Deepwater Horizon accident. When a gas release caused an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, the subsequent oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico became a worldwide issue (BP 2011). As the company scrambled to assemble and deal with this disaster, their instincts as far as public relations and crisis communication were right on from the get go. By admitting fault to the public and committing themselves to resolving the environment and people affected by the oil spill, BP took the appropriate steps to make corrective actions and restore their image in the eyes of the public. This model of public relations should be followed by any business or organization who strives to maintain an excellent relationship with their customers and the public. Through practicing public relations in this manner, any business or organization can demonstrate that they are not misleading in any way but committed to operating with the public through maintaining relationships where the utmost degree of truth and respect is expected for the public. While the first two components of this paper discussing how advertising and public relations force businesses and organizations to continually strive for improvement and how public relations works alongside crisis communication to assist the public through crisis situations, the final section of this argument is going to discuss how the combination of advertising and public relations keeps the public aware of the world around them. Starting with advertising, the first point of discussion is the role that ads play into our daily lives. Whether in small talk at the office, a request from a child about a particular toy or even a suggestion about a movie someone wants to see, advertising affects nearly every aspect of our lives. The products and services we consume on a daily basis are all a result of the advertisements surrounding us. For examples of this notion in action, analyze these typical moments for a regular American family. While eating breakfast on a Friday morning, a child gets an idea of what they would like to do that evening based on the movie trailer commercial they saw that peaked their interest. During a round of running errands, a mom is driving her car and listening to the radio when she hears about a new type of yoga class being offered at her local gym and stops by to sign up on her way home. While watching a favorite television show with friends, a teenage girl turned to her computer to look up the shows web site to see if she can find a link about the wardrobe on that episode. She wants to get shoes like her favorite character. What these instances have in common is that they can all be directly attributed to advertising. As an explanation, these examples will be tied to how they connect people to current events in society. The movie trailer commercial alerted the child to the movie they wanted to see and in doing so, we can see how people can use commercials to learn about what is current in pop culture. The mother running errands was able to stay up to date on the latest workout techniques and methods just by having her radio on and the teenage girl who wanted to stay connected to the newest fashion trends was able to do so with the product placement within her favorite show. According to the Marketing Awareness Network (2010), the reason that these types of instances work is that the advertisements are done in such a way that it attracts at the interests of the people they are aiming for as their target audience. For example, the product placement of the shoes in the television show attracts teenage girls who are seeking to emulate their favorite Hollywood starlet. Another view of this notion can also be looked at in a reverse view. One can also argue that consumer trends may drive advertising itself. As trends develop and a particular item, show or entertainment venue suddenly becomes the latest fad item, it seems that all of society flocks to it and that advertisers find anyway to connect themselves to it and make any possible capitol off of the surge of popularity. The following is an example of this theory in action. After the November 2010 announcement of the engagement of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, it was the center of international news. Along with the news about the royal couple, there was mass interest in the ring that now adorned Catherines left hand. With William giving Catherine his late mother, Dianas sapphire engagement ring, the world was once again captivated with the style of that ring. Nearly instantly after the debut of Catherine wearing the ring, infomercials began flooding television waves offering replicas of the famous bauble. It is in this way that we can see how there are also instances where the a particular event or person can drive trends and dominate popular culture. Moving to the public relations aspect of this component, the first area to focus on is how proper public relations is meant to promote the most current goings on to the public. According to Tucker, it is essential for the public and public relations professionals to have an understanding of trust between themselves (2004). With this acknowledgment, the public can feel secure that the information they are receiving is valid and not going to be swaying them in any way. As public relations has faced scrutiny for only providing information that benefits the client. Professionals in this field have worked to combat this issue by being transparent in regard to their communications with the public. An example where we can see this idea demonstrated is with the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Upon this technical breakdown disaster on August 1, 2007, the state of Minnesota was faced with answering to the public including the families of those who were killed or wounded during this event. In an effort to maintain their image with the public as well as help people cope with and overcome this crisis event, the state of Minnesota chose to stay transparent with the public by letting them have access to all aspects of the recovery and investigation surrounding this disaster. Because of this event, the state of Minnesota enacted new legislation regarding bridge safety across the state. According to Hannah, this transparency is essential in overcoming potential issues of distrust between the public and an organization (2009). For the state of Minnesota, explaining how this bridge collapse and who was ultimately responsible for this event had to be done through transparent public relations. By releasing all aspects of their investigation as well as all of the findings, the state of Minnesota was able to demonstrate their commitment to overcoming this disaster. While this practice has obvious benefits for organizations and their relationships with consumers, Hannah warns there are some things that businesses and organizations need to be aware of that are also part of being so transparent. First, it is essential to understand that anything you say or do as an organization needs to be considered as on public record. For people in public relations, that means training your employees that they need to ensure all of their communications, conduct and work history will be accessible to anyone at anytime (Hannah 2009). By operating in this manner, public relations professionals will be able to bolster a work place environment where everyone understands the importance of maintaining professional conduct within the work place. With this continued practice, an organization should be able to create a persona of utmost professionalism and transparency with the public. The major benefit of working this way with the public is that in the event of a crisis or less than desirable situation, the public is a lot more likely to forgive an organization which they trust. Another way in which public relations can help keep the public aware about current events in society is through their field itself. What this notion means is that public relations professionals can become essential mediators between the public and current events. According to Geyer-Semple, this idea can include working with the public to breakdown stereotypes that may exist. In the past, men have traditionally set the tone for the public relations realm as well as with major events in society. With a clear knowledge and understanding of this field, women have been able to start diminishing these stereotypes and create a more aware public (Geyer-Semple 2011). In order to accomplish this task, Geyer-Semple states that it is necessary for women to identify their own leadership style, understand their abilities for commanding a situation and identify the inaccurate stereotypes that the feel they want to change (2011). An example where this was seen in popular culture is when supermodel and television show host, Tyra Banks, acted as her own public relations professional to combat unflattering photographs taken of her in a swimming suit. Upon the media frenzy that ensued around the publication of these photographs, Banks took to her stage in an effort to shed light on the stereotypes that women face in regard to body image. By commanding her stage as well as her audience, Banks proudly walked down her stage toward the camera dressed in the swimming suit that was causing such an issue in photographs. After leading a dialogue with the audience, Banks made no apologizes for her appearance in the bathing suit and then hosted a show based on body image in America. By so confidently leading her audience against the tirades that can accompany the stereotypes of a womans body image in America, Banks was able to use public relations to act as her own advocate and turn the situation in her favor. Because of this instance, she became someone who women could relate to. If a supermodel is attacked for her weight and can stand up for herself, imagine what some women felt they could then do for themselves. By proudly promoting the concepts of body awareness, Banks took charge of a negative public relations moment and turned it into something she wanted it to be. This type of manipulation of public relations allows people, who have the confidence to do so, the ability to determine how people are going to see them, not how society determines they are going to be seen. With the components of this argument completed, we can now review and conclude the argument against the idea that advertising and public relations are unethical and misleading to the public. Starting with the notion that advertising and public relations force businesses and organizations to continually strive for improvement, this paper discussed how the mere presence of advertising can cause pressure for businesses. In reviewing this notion, it is clear that if a business has a competitor who is marketing themselves as the best around, they are going to have to analyze their own business plan to see what improvements they could make in an effort to set them apart from the rest. This portion of the paper also discussed how public relations can cause businesses to strive for improvement as it is part of the purpose of public relations to promote what new ideas and practices a business or organization is undertaking. While critics have stated that advertising and public relations are done under unethical or misleading pretenses, it is evident that if this were true in all circumstances, consumers would begin to rebel against consumerism and this would lead to the eventual downfall of our society. The second component of this paper discussed the role of public relations in crisis communications. As part of keeping stakeholders safe and maintaining the reputation of an organization, public relations is a key part of crisis communications. Because of this fact, it is not a logical assumption to make that public relations are misleading. If a public relations firm or department was discovered to be misleading while trying to guide an organization through a crisis, the public backlash would be horrifically severe. This understanding is why public relations and crisis communication need to maintain working relationships with the public. The third component of this paper is notion of how advertising and public relations keep the public informed with current events. With the idea that people learn about what is going on from both advertising and public relations, it is evident that if these practices were misleading or unethical, it would be discovered quickly. By acknowledging how it is the goal of public relations to be transparent with the public, it is evident that the field is aiming to create trusting and meaningful relationships between organizations and the public. After establishing that neither advertising or public relations are unethical or misleading, a final thought to this notion is that the public needs these concepts just as much as advertising and public relations need the public. The relationship between these practices and the public are circular and without each other, both sides will fail. Works Cited Arthur, L. (2011). Dont Market the Leftovers: Three Key Take-Aways From Black Friday. Forbes. [Web]. Coombs, W. (2004). Impact of Past Crises on Current Crisis Communication: Insights From Situational Crisis Communication Theory. Journal of Business Communication. [online] 41 (265). Coombs, W. (2012). Ongoing Crisis Communication: Planning, Managing and Responding. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA. Curtain, P., Gallicano, T., & Matthews, K. (2011). Millennials Approach to Ethical Decision Making: A Survey of Young Public Relations Agency Employees. Public Relations Journal. [online] 5 (2): 1-22. Deepwater Horizon Accident: 2010. 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Public Relations Journal. [online] 5 (2): 1-22. Report of the Virginia Tech Review Panel: 2007. Virginia.gov. [online] Available at http://www.governor.virginia.gov/tempcontent/techpanelreport.cfm. Accessed on [13 Decembe 2011]. Tucker, A. (2004). The Role of Reflexive Trust in Modernizing Public Administrations. Public Performance and Management Review. [online] 28 (1): 53-74. Read More