Another recap to cap the week off (see what I did there?), this time an overall focus on PR and diversity, both on the national and international scales.
From Chapter 11
Since not all audiences are the same, and due to the vast numbers of different cultural, ethnic, religious, and economic groups, PR initiatives must be planned carefully to appeal to each one in a different manner. With the case of the United States alone, it's estimated that by 2050 these varying minorities will make up the majority of the population. Yet thanks to recent technological and research innovations, these audiences can be divvied up in ways that can allow PR experts to understand their characteristics more intricately and thus communicate better with them, and help those same PR specialists become more culturally literate in the process.
Right now, the top three major ethnic groups living in the United States are Hispanic, African-American, and Asian-American, each with their own values that need to be understood greatly by the pros. These three groups, according to some studies, are very family-based and community-oriented. Their media outlets are greatly on the rise, evidenced, for example, by the number of Spanish-based media groups out there. Spanish, continuing the example, is thus the go-to language despite younger generations being more bilingual.
On the subject of generations, that idea constitutes the fact that because audiences are generational, their varying values, needs and interests need to be gauged accordingly. In addition to the great number of young people, PR experts need to deal with the great wave of soon-to-retire baby boomers and seniors, who tend to be more affluent (which is why travel and tourism tend to do such great business year-round). With figuring out the requirements of each side, the preferred media channels need to be determined; while young people are mostly online and on their cell phones, seniors still go for traditional newspaper and TV news as their mediums of choice.
Gender and lifestyle tend to complicate PR efforts even further. Since women are 50 percent of the workforce, spend the most disposable income of a family, and are more frequent on social media, they hold much more sway than any of the previously-mentioned groups combined. The LGBT community, being a bit more affluent and well-educated, are given much focus from PR and marketing programs. Religious groups are a tough fish to catch, since they straddle the line between conservative (greatly exemplified by the Christian Right) and liberal. The disability community is more the equivalent of walking on a frozen lake--it needs to be tread upon lightly, but with more sensitivity and well thought-out tactics.
From Chapters 20
In the modern globalized world of today, PR deals with all rungs on the ladder, from customers/employees/vendors to communities and governments. Due to this landscape's conditions, PR is very well-developed globally, particularly in China (with a reputation like theirs, they'd need all the PR they could get).
PR firms represent clients two ways: either for foreign interests in the United States, or for American corporations across the world. PR experts need to deal with the language and cultural barriers when practicing in another country, and sometimes even ethical issues. Much of the effort done for governments and companies involve lobbying, whether it be one nation's elected officials or government agencies big and small, for many different matters. Nations (like the aforementioned China) utilize PR on a global scale to bring their public image up and increase their influence over various international and regional groups or organizations. Nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) are seen as very credible on issues regarding health, the environment, and labor, in the eyes of the news media and the public that watches said media, due to the perception that they don't have the attitude of self-interest possessed by corporations and governments. It is because of those views that larger corporations are finding the courage to cooperate with NGO's to adopt policies that would make them seem more socially responsible.
In the governmental context, the goal is to greatly influence foreign policies of other nations and the opinions/actions of their respective peoples (such as tourism, trade policies, and foreign investment). United States-based PR firms are recruited to work for foreign governments in some cases, be it in peacetime or when conflict is going on between two nations (where PR is used by both sides to justify their actions). The US government, in its attempts to bolster its international information efforts, gave this approach an appropriate moniker: public diplomacy, the activities by which the goal is to promote the understanding of US culture while promoting US foreign policy objectives (one such example of this effort being the Voice of America radio broadcast programs).
Many skills have become required due to the expanding reach of PR across the world: language fluency, international relations, global marketing, socio-economic geography, and cross-cultural communication.
From Chapter 21
Things are greatly different for PR when it involves all things nonprofit, health, and education (and everything in-between).
In the nonprofit sector, organizations are tax-exempt because of their goals of bettering their members or the overall human condition. With fundraising, the PR muscles of these groups are greatly flexed (in the form of communications campaigns requiring a large, sometimes all-volunteer staff). Partnerships with other members are a must for the common goal, resulting in much competition between groups for donations. (Aggravated further by differing opinions held by each organization.)
In membership groups, the membership consists of people with common interests, and can be made up of labor unions, trade groups, chambers of commerce, and professional associations. Advocacy groups usually fight in the name of varying social causes, with methods such as lobbying, litigation, large mass demonstrations/boycotts, reconciliation efforts, and public education. Social service groups usually set out to develop public awareness, convincing people to use their services offered, making educational material, gathering volunteers, and of course raising funds.
Health organizations such as hospitals or certain agencies specialize in the health needs of the public at large, and employ PR specialists to spread the word about medical advances, availability, and potential health risks to be on the lookout for. Educational groups, especially on the college/university level, focus on, among other things, raising the reputation of the institution, aiming all efforts at alumni, students current and prospective, faculty/staff, the government, and the public at large.
On the subject of fundraising, this is of great focus as most nonprofits seek out large companies and individuals alike for contributions large and small. Recruiting volunteers is also pressing, and it allows the community to help the nonprofit reach its goals.
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