Lecture 5 (Week 6) - A remedy for compulsions

Ok, I know I should read ch. 4 on Ethics before today. But to find the book, or even the article has been a journey. The book is already sold in our Popular bookstore, but to tell you the truth, it's way too expensive for me. So my option now is to borrow the book from my friend, then copy it per chapter. It's cheaper, besides it'd be lighter, so I can carry it around and read it whenever I'm free.

Anyway, today's lecture is very interesting. Ms. Tanya brought a special guest to the class today, to help us in our final project: Ms. Jolyn Chua.
She's a self-confessed OCD (Obsessive-compulsive Disorder sufferer) who turn her weakness into her strength.
Jolyn is a very young woman to have started her own company and call it OCD: Organizing Chaos Daily (a smart pun). Well, to call it a "company" perhaps sounds too grand as she's doing everything alone, or, as she said it, it's a "one-woman show".

What she does is offering people an organizing service. NOT a cleaning service, an organizing service. To tidy up clutters in people's room, house, office, and/or store. And keep it that way by teaching the person how to organize their belongings.
I must say, I'm awed by her. It is a brilliant idea. I mean, my brother is an OCD, but all he does is throwing away my things and yell at me whenever I move his things by a centimeter. Maybe I should suggest him to apply for a job in Jolyn's OCD company.

Jolyn keept repeating the same word during her presentation: organizing.
The thesaurus to organize is put in order, sort out, classify. So I conclude, the key(word) to be neat is to have the ability to classify.
Now I know why I'm such a mess (yes, in both understandings).

Our task now is, to come out with a 1000-word PR communication plan which "meet the brief provided by the organisation" and include research and situational analysis (or SWOT), the goal, strategy, objectives, tactics, budget, and evaluation. We must also submit a media release (300-400 words) and a 1000-word academic essay.

Reading: Theoretial Contexts

Reading before week 5: Ch.3 Theoretical Contexts by Marianne D Sison

So, this week's reading talks mostly about the theories that surround Public Relations. Worth to note, though, the profile story at the beginning of the chapter is inspiring. I'd like to quote Richard Amos, when he describes PR as "a mega-exciting yet talent-light' industry". Talking about the roller coaster life ;)

Anyway, I notice that PR shares many theories of communication (at least I recognize the ones that we studied in our Communication Studies course), like the agenda setting, semiotics, transmission models, persuasion. But to think about it, of course PR practitioners must understand these concepts in order to understand the media audience, and in what way the media might influence its audience.

I'm a bit surprised that someone (sometwo?) has actually categorized PR practise. They who have succeeded in doing so were James Grunig and Todd Hunt, thus the model is called Grunig and Hunt's four models. They are:
1. Press Agentry: one-way communication, reflect publicity model, PR as publicity agent.
2. Public Information: one-way communication, sort of informational campaign.
3. Two-Way Asymmetric: use of scientific/factual information to persuade the audience.
4. Two -Way Symmetric: organization and its audience have equal power, for example, a dialog with community groups.

There are variations to these groups, however. Like personal influence (an influence depending on one's interpersonal communication skills) and mixed motive (PR practitioners see their organizational behaviours through the public's perspective).

But the one thing that captures me the most in this chapter is the Four Rooms model that was developed through VMIA (Victorian Managed Insurance Authority) and SHJ's (Scaffidi Hugh-Jones) Change Support Pack.
The Four Rooms model of change are the Contentment Room, the Denial Room, the Confusion Room, and the Renewal Room.

http://www.loosetooth.com/Viscom/gf/4rooms.htm

Lecture 4 (Week 5)- Experiential Marketing: Selling product by "selling" experience

Yup, we learnt about Experiential Marketing today. Well, not just that, but about every other ways we can advertise something, or influence the mass (don't understimate the power of blogs, people!). Again, very interesting. I love Public Relations topic more and more.
This subject is like psychology: you must understand humans first. Except that in psychology, you don't try to influence their thinking (to buy stuffs or worship a brand).

Okay, back to Experiential Marketing. It might sounds like a fancy word, especially if your mother-tongue isn't English. But it's simple (the explanation, I mean), I'm sure everyone of you have ever gotten in touch with it. When you walk around the mall, have you ever seen some product offers free massage? Free trial? That's Experiential Marketing.

The concept is, it should not be intrusive. Meaning, the customer would be free to try the product, without having to buy it. Or even, without even their noticing that you're selling them something.
(It's not so simple in Singapore, though, if you notice. The "agents" are savage, so it's dangerous if you try their product, but later buy it not)

There are many other creative marketing through PR, like:
~Integrated marketing.
~Guerilla marketing.
~Roach marketing.
Which according to WordSpy.com is "A marketing message delivered by an actor posing as a regular person with the intention of having that message passed along to many other people." NICE.
~Subviral marketing.
~And something about otaku, which is a Japanese word for a feeling between penchant and obsession.

A sidetrack story, my boyfriend is studying marketing. I must say he has a penchant for advertising (it gets annoying sometimes, esp. when he explain how a brand should've advertised its brand instead). After this lesson, I finally know something more than he does. And we'll have one hell of a conversation later.