Exam 18: Public Relations, Influencer Marketing, and Corporate Advertising

Scenario 18-2 A young man decides to become a mass producer of quality T-shirts.His small factory located in Oregon begins by promoting itself as hiring excellent seamstresses, offering a pleasant working environment, paying decent salaries, and, most importantly, giving the public an opportunity to buy clothing that is truly "made in America." The company eventually adds other clothing items, opens three brick-and-mortar retail stores in several large cities, and expands to online shopping.Over the years, the firm grows and prospers due to its reputation as an American manufacturer, a fair employer, and an opponent of the traditional view of "sweatshops." And along the way, it deals with a few public relations issues. -(Scenario 18-2) He feels he did a good job in his series of press releases about the positive aspects of his company.However, he is aware that press releases have their limitations.He knows that they

What term refers to the free media exposure that a firm receives about its activities or brands?

Compared to a proactive strategy, a reactive strategy is more difficult for public relations staff to organize and prepare.Why is this?

Among all the tools of public relations that a company might use, which one focuses specifically on employees?

Scenario 18-2 A young man decides to become a mass producer of quality T-shirts.His small factory located in Oregon begins by promoting itself as hiring excellent seamstresses, offering a pleasant working environment, paying decent salaries, and, most importantly, giving the public an opportunity to buy clothing that is truly "made in America." The company eventually adds other clothing items, opens three brick-and-mortar retail stores in several large cities, and expands to online shopping.Over the years, the firm grows and prospers due to its reputation as an American manufacturer, a fair employer, and an opponent of the traditional view of "sweatshops." And along the way, it deals with a few public relations issues. -(Scenario 18-2) Shortly after this young man launches his business, a local newspaper runs a series of investigative reports on crowded, dimly lit, and unventilated sweatshops along the West Coast that hire illegal immigrants.His business is mentioned, though only in a list of firms that employ seamstresses, not in the list of those accused of wrongdoing.Still, he feels the need to write a letter to the editor as well as put out press releases to clarify his position and describe his business ethics.In public relations terms, what is he doing?

A large metropolitan newspaper comes out with an investigative piece on unsafe baby cribs, and overnight, the manufacturer highlighted in the article finds itself in a crisis management situation.Which of the major tools of public relations is most likely to be immediately employed in a case like this?

An electronics company is about to launch a major technological advancement.Its public relations team focuses on a feature story rather than a press release.This is because a feature story

Scenario 18-4 In the summer of 2010, basketball star LeBron James found himself in the middle of a PR nightmare when he decided to turn his decision regarding his future team into an hour-long spot on ESPN, which interestingly enough was entitled, "The Decision." Almost immediately, fans and critics alike began to express their distaste for the way the multi-millionaire handled the situation. Many fans' opinions of the star were greatly altered and James' positive public image appeared to be shattered. Perhaps even worse than the damage to his image, the Lebron James "brand" began to take a hit when his jerseys were pulled from many retailers' stores and websites, and thousands of fans vowed they would never buy James' line of shoes ever again. Several months later, James began the process of repairing his public image. James, who endorses Nike products, came out with a controversial commercial some believe was intended to evoke sympathy. However, many others felt the commercial mocked the negative reaction expressed over "The Decision," and was intended to rebrand the star as a bit of a rebel. Either way, LeBron James appears to have a long way to go before he can once again be recognized as one of the most beloved players in the NBA. -(Scenario 18-4) There are six primary objectives of public relations. Which of the following objectives did LeBron James' management team apparently do ineffectively?

In general, press releases are preferred over other forms of public relations because it is an unwritten rule, widely accepted throughout the industry, that the news media will not edit them.

Scenario 18-4 In the summer of 2010, basketball star LeBron James found himself in the middle of a PR nightmare when he decided to turn his decision regarding his future team into an hour-long spot on ESPN, which interestingly enough was entitled, "The Decision." Almost immediately, fans and critics alike began to express their distaste for the way the multi-millionaire handled the situation. Many fans' opinions of the star were greatly altered and James' positive public image appeared to be shattered. Perhaps even worse than the damage to his image, the Lebron James "brand" began to take a hit when his jerseys were pulled from many retailers' stores and websites, and thousands of fans vowed they would never buy James' line of shoes ever again. Several months later, James began the process of repairing his public image. James, who endorses Nike products, came out with a controversial commercial some believe was intended to evoke sympathy. However, many others felt the commercial mocked the negative reaction expressed over "The Decision," and was intended to rebrand the star as a bit of a rebel. Either way, LeBron James appears to have a long way to go before he can once again be recognized as one of the most beloved players in the NBA. -(Scenario 18-4) One reason LeBron James and his team did not expect such negative backlash following "The Decision" was because he donated the $3 million generated by the television spot to a number of children's charities. Although it may not have been effective in this instance, fundraisers generally

Scenario 18-5 An old adage states that all publicity is good publicity. However, Professors Jonah Berger of the Wharton School, and Alan Sorensen and Scott Rasmussen of Stanford found that there is such a thing as bad publicity. The colleagues studied the relationship between bad publicity and its impact on music albums, books, and movies.In 2010, they published their findings in an article in Marketing Science.After studying cases involving the late Michael Jackson, Russell Crowe, and various authors, the colleagues concluded that negative publicity can increase product sales. Michael Jackson sold more albums after receiving negative media attention, and films starring Russell Crowe received higher rankings following an incident in which he allegedly threw a cell phone at a hotel employee. These high-profile stars actually thrived after receiving substantial amounts of negative publicity. However, in many lower profile cases, negative publicity hurt sales and product reception. The three colleagues conducted an analysis of The New York Times' reviews and book sales and found that negative reviews hurt sales of books by well-established authors, but helped sales of books by relatively unknown authors. After conducting their study, the authors found that conventional wisdom is wrong: not all publicity is good publicity.But they did show that negative publicity can sometimes be positive; it all depends on existing-product awareness.(Ned Smith, "Can Bad Buzz Be Good?" Business News Daily, November 1, 2010) -(Scenario 18-5) One way to help firms implement a reactive public relations strategy and prepare for possible negative publicity is to

Scenario 18-3 For some years now, enterprising individuals have gotten their own ideas, forums, and entertainment programs out in front of the public with no help from big tech firms, media conglomerates, or ad agencies.They simply posted their creations on the Internet.It began with blogs, moved to podcasts, expanded to social networks, moved on to YouTube videos, and transferred to Twitter.And it just keeps going.Audience members can download these technological tidbits-text, visual, and audio formats-to their laptops as well as to cell phones, Blackberries, iPods, iPads, and every other mobile gadget that hits the market.Eventually, public relations companies started getting into the act. -(Scenario 18-3) A high-tech firm creates special effects and computer-generated content for Hollywood movies.Its PR people prepare intriguing 60-second videos about its role in three blockbuster action movies released this year and posts them on YouTube.The firm is using a type of ____ aimed at the movie trade as well as consumers.

A regional dairy products manufacturer wants to review its strengths and weaknesses to be better prepared for the future.Which public relations initiative will not only give the firm positive themes to project, but will also provide the current and accurate data that it will need to communicate in the event of an unforeseen problem or negative incident?

Which of the primary objectives of public relations involves dealing with government officials and pending legislation?

Scenario 18-1 The giant brewing companies of the U.S.love to use public relations to keep their company names in the minds of Americans and to promote their many brands of beer and ale.Both traditional and innovative public relations activities-using both traditional and innovative media-help to promote a positive public image, create brand awareness, highlight the product line, and act as cost-effective ways to enhance the overall IBP campaign.And these brewers use a variety of objectives and tools that support the field of public relations. -(Scenario 18-1) The brewing company with the interactive website full of facts and games is moving beyond the Web and into the community.It sends stories to media outlets announcing that all the fun on its website will continue at its beer gardens to be set up at summer and fall festivals around the country, featuring more games, puzzles, and trivia contests.Which two PR tools is the company using here?

Scenario 18-1 The giant brewing companies of the U.S.love to use public relations to keep their company names in the minds of Americans and to promote their many brands of beer and ale.Both traditional and innovative public relations activities-using both traditional and innovative media-help to promote a positive public image, create brand awareness, highlight the product line, and act as cost-effective ways to enhance the overall IBP campaign.And these brewers use a variety of objectives and tools that support the field of public relations. -(Scenario 18-1) A large brewing company has its public relations staff create an interactive website aimed at men and women in their 20s and early 30s.It offers interesting facts about the history of beer, the making of beer, the definition of various brewing terms, the difference between hops and malt, etc.It includes silly games like crossword puzzles, word jumbles, and trivia contests, all of course related to beer.The objective of these types of PR initiatives is to

A public relations plan is a common technique employed by organizations to search their departments, activities, and staff in order to identify the characteristics or elements that will be positive and newsworthy.

A well-known gun manufacturer runs an advertisement in a hunting magazine asking readers to contact their elected officials and urge them to vote against all gun control legislation.This is an example of advocacy advertising.

A company prepares a well-crafted, informative press release.However, two major drawbacks associated with press releases are that the news media decides if or when the item will run, and the news media might alter the meaning of the release.

Beyond its more positive aspects, public relations is strategically used for ____ when adversity strikes-and all organizations will have to face adversity at some point.