Week 8

I think the two key points to remember from this week's readings were the need to look at the feasibility of tactics used in marketing and the need to keep up with development of PR in the world of business.

The chapters basically tell us about the events that require the utmost attention and specialisation from PR practitioners from internal (mostly corporate) to external (mostly community) events. Such events have gathered more demands ever since the use of technology has helped to propel quality and quantity of a particular task/product/etc.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that annual reports may sound like the most boring thing on earth to an average person but in the business world, it almost defines a company's reputation. Looking at the amount of effort that PR managers have to put in to publish an annual report, it seems clear that each company now strives to maintain a healthy reputation by being transparent to the publics. Annual reports make up an example for corporate events. Community events are the more worrying ordeals that PR practitioners have to face. A company does not want to be seen as being philantrophic for a quick publicity stunt. Rather, the company would like to be seen as a trusted agency within the community itself. Whichever event in hand, solid strategising is put in place in order to optimise the effectiveness of the tactics used. Promotional materials create a huge impact on the audience unwittingly because they paint an image of the company. This form of image may also be seen as branding. Just how would the company want to be seen as by the community? Classy? Family-oriented? Fun? In any case, the image adopted must be well-aligned with the company's mission and vision statements. We can't have McDonald's looking like a posh restaurant to dine in now, can we? The kids will definitely not be able to enjoy their happy meals in such a serious place.

And I want my happy meal and be happy with it.