Jonesrac’s Weblog

Advertising through blogs seems effective when the blogs appeal to people in the field of marketing, public relations and advertising. But if you aren’t interested in any of these fields it doesn’t seem that you are likely to get responses simply by blogging. At this point blogs are only read by a small percentage of the population. This may change over time but unless your target audience is specifically those who read and post blogs advertising yourself or your product this way won’t work.

So as I’m nearing graduation I’ve been looking at the different aspects of PR and there are sooo many. Crisis communication really intrigues me. A fast paced industry is definitely for me but I wonder what it is really like to work in this field. I would assume that your ethics and integrity are challenged daily and I wonder if I am really up for that.

The 3 rules in the Tipping Point certainly apply to planning a campaign on the Internet. The site must be contagious. I think the best way to get someone to visit a site is to have some type of mystery or humor involved. Humor always seems to be contagious. I know personally if I visit a site that makes me laugh I’ll share it with my friends and family. Also, when advertising a website it’s a good tactic that some companies are using now by not revealing the product in their commercials; this gets people interested.

Gladwell believes that change happens all at once. This seems more true for the Internet than other media outlets. Sites like Facebook, Ebay, YouTube, Myspace, Amazon and Netflix blew up so quickly. I think it is important though that once your site does become popular that you are willing to make changes to improve it based on your audinces’ suggestions or another site will take over.

The final rule in the Tipping Pointis that little causes have big effects.  Reaching the right people, constructing a site that everyone wants to come to and making the appropriate changes all effect the success of your campaign. But even one small story or controversy about your site that gets people talking could be the best thing for your campaign.

Watts’s argument against Gladwell’s theory about influentials makes sense. The real issue here does not seem to be the way in a which a product is sold to the public but what product is being sold. We discussed in class last week “products that tip” and fashion and music were two of them. So when marketing in these fields Gladwell’s way seems best. When buying necessities like home appliances, food, and Internet service it still makes more sense to market to a mass audience as Watts suggests. Every product and service sorta falls on this continuum ranging from trend to necessities. Once you know where your company falls it should be easier to know what kind of campaign you should launch.

            I wasn’t aware of the huge impact a that one company closing could have on the entire city until our class discussion last week. Mercy Hospital’s closure effected those living in Detroit in a variety of ways. The obvious reason is that the city lost a hospital that was very much needed. People working at the hospital and living in the city were laid off . Then there were more members of community who weren’t able to pay taxes and those taxes are used to better the city.

          Mercy Hospital was wise with being open and honest with the public about their reasons for closing.   In my other public relations classes we have been told that we need to understand the public’s need in order to reach them. We have talked about launching a product and reaching the media but this issue with Mercy Hospital is a very sensitive subject and reaching people who’s lives are disrupted that drastically takes the role of  P.R professional to a whole other level.

    Marketing and P.R tend to get grouped together but I believe this case is a good example of how they differ. The image of the hospital as well as the emotinal well being of the public fell on the sholders of the P.R department… does not seem very likely in marketing.