Editor’s note: In celebration of Black History Month in February, PRSA invited prominent black leaders in the public relations profession to offer their views and ideas for achieving greater racial and ethnic diversity in the profession. This is the fifth post in the series. A compilation of previous PRSA Black History Month blog posts can be found here.

Since the 2008 election of the first African-American president, there has been a constant drum beat about the emergence of a more tolerant and accepting societal construct where everyone is colorblind and the sophistications of race and background differences are just interesting side notes unworthy of further focus. Now if I had a nickel for each time I’ve heard someone say this, I would be a pretty wealthy guy.

While I would love nothing more than to live in a world that respectfully accepts individualism and uniqueness, I don’t think were completely there yet. That’s not to say we’re not making progress—we are. My trepidation, however, is if we buy into the notion that we’ve arrived at some magical “diversity” destination because we have a president that doesn’t look like those preceding him, it would be a disservice to those struggling and fighting to see themselves in boardrooms and halls of power. If anything, we’ve only just begun.

Continue reading " Diversity in the Age of Obama "

In lieu of the Social Media Week frenzy, it seems only appropriate to focus on social networks making the headlines, as well as the increasing pressure being put on companies to improve their social media engagement strategies in an attempt to create deeper engagement and attract more loyal customers.

PRSA’s “Friday Five” post — an analysis of the week’s biggest PR and business news and commentary — looks at the customer as the driving force behind growing social networks and the rise of mobile technology. In many cases, customer engagement, reaction and interest in a brand can be very telling of whether or not that brand will thrive. This week, we explore the growing need for brands to improve the customer experience as a way to build and fortify their consumer/member relationships. We also look at opportunities that some newer social networks, such as Google+ and Pinterest, offer to bridge the business to consumer gap.

Why User Experience Is Critical to Customer Relationships  (Fast Company)

Fast Company expert blogger, Brian Solis, discusses the importance of user experience (UX) when designing any new media strategy. This is part one of a limited series on the need for brands to employ UX in new media strategies to improve customer experiences and engagement. These days brand must consider more than just positioning themselves on the right channel to reach customer audiences and create richer relationships through engagement. Solis argues that brands competing for loyal customer attention must integrate UX into their new media strategy, with an end in mind where the means to that end is efficient and optimized for each channel.

Continue reading " Friday Five: Putting the Customer First "

Hot button issues thrive on opinion, opposition and influence. Opposition against new online data privacy policies has driven watchdogs to vie for higher standards of online privacy governance. Consumer influence is being driven by the Internet more than ever before. And commercial advertisements have reached an unforeseen level of influence and political scrutiny.

This week’s PRSA “Friday Five” post — an analysis of the week’s biggest PR and business news and commentary — explores the impact of advocacy and political influence in areas of online privacy laws, hot startup social networks and online ad content.

Why Should You Care about Data Privacy Day? (Edelman Digital)

Privacy is an issue that struck the online world and continues to circulate. With privacy concerns surrounding Facebook and Google, Internet users have become abundantly aware that personal information is easily shared across a number of social networks. This year marks the Fourth Annual Data Privacy Day (DPD), and in honor of that event, Edelman Digital examines the impact of data privacy awareness.

Continue reading " Friday Five: Opinion, Opposition and Influence "

Not unlike the past 200 or so weeks, social media was a big news story this week, both within the PR profession and beyond. The question on many pundits’ minds was how can the same sites that build brands, and strengthen business-to-consumer relationships, also dismantle the level of consumers’ online privacy?

Social networks like Twitter and Facebook still offer companies valuable brand-marketing strategies. But with interest in, and use of, Google+ rising and becoming more of a force, consumers are questioning: “What is the value of oversharing?”

PRSA’s “Friday Five” post — an analysis of the week’s biggest PR and business news and commentary — looks at the consequences that consumers could face as a result of new privacy changes to Google+ and explores the strategic requirements for businesses using Twitter.

Google’s no-opt-out privacy changes and the end of the anonymous Internet (ComPost / The Washington Post)

Reporter Alexandra Petri says that Google’s latest privacy changes have left many consumers asking, “Must you, Google?” This is in response to the search giant’s announcement this week of plans to integrate data from all its services with Google+ users’ profile information and status updates. Try searching yourself on Google, and you might be surprised by how much Google seems to know about you. The Washington Post examines how our online activity may soon cause real-world consequences.

Facebook, Twitter Call Out Google On Social Search Results (Digits / The Wall Street Journal)

The Wall Street Journal reports on cries of hypocrisy Facebook, Twitter and Myspace over Google’s decision to promote Google+ pages in search rankings. Known for providing users with the most relevant and objective search results and information, the argument, as The Journal reports, is that Google is forcing Google+ plus pages to the top of search results when Facebook profiles and Twitter pages may contain content that is more relevant. Google rushes into the social media arena late in the game but may pose unexpected competition.

Continue reading " Friday Five: Google+ Alters the Social Media Value Equation "

The burgeoning social media network offered by Google, Google+, recently rolled out the ability to create a presence for brands and organizations.

As this development gains traction among the public and, by extension, the business community, what does it mean for PR practitioners?

Implementation and Tips

There are a plethora of resources devoted to explaining the intricacies of the technology. Here are some specifics for PR practitioners:

• The impact of Google’s verification system. While there is a verification system within Google+, it appears that Google has delayed wide rollout of that verification. However, waiting for verification may not be advisable, and it can make sense simply to establish an unofficial presence if only to avoid pranks like this one played on Bank of America.
• Does your brand have the resource to properly manage Google+? The establishment of a presence on Google+ is the priority. Maximizing it may have to be sacrificed if it doesn’t fit into your strategic plans. Here is a skeletal setup guide from the invaluable Mashable to help you get started.

Continue reading " Google+ Brand Pages: What PR Pros Need to Know "