TWEENS...What do they really want?

We have all been through those awkward in-between years otherwise known as the "tween" days. You are no longer considered a kid, but you're just not quite an adult yet. People in public relations and advertising have been trying to crack the code on this age group for years. What exactly does this age group want? 

Marketers and advertisers spend hours agonizing over what this highly sought after age category is into, especially the girls. These girls may seem young, but they are actually highly lucrative. They play a huge role on advertising, marketing and PR campaigns. Marketers are constantly attempting to decode the best way to reach these girls? 

Television? Phone? E-mail? Snail mail? Text? Facebook? Social media? What exactly are these girls into, and what exactly do they want? 

I found this article regarding the struggle among professionals to get inside these girl's minds. The author highly recommends that we stop trying to think about what these girls want, and just simply ask them. She goes on to write about how most "tween" girls are not as tech savvy as the general population. We must constantly be aware of this when trying to reach this target audience. Actually, the article said that only 84% of young girls even know what Twitter is, so forget tweeting them...

Overall these girls care about many topics that adults may not be aware of. A majority of them are much more aware of the world around them then we may assume. Marketers need to stop making assumptions about these girls, and start actually asking them what they want. 

My next career move?

I came across in article on the PRSA website about big career moves. Of course with the economy how it is right now most people are just attempting to keep their jobs. For a lot of people changing careers or climbling up the corporate ladder is something to think about for the future. Job retention is the main thing on everyone's mind right now. 

Some people may feel like "staying off the radar" is a good choice, but the article states the contrary. If your area in the business is slow, volunteer in other departments. Find something to help out with within the company, whether it is in your expertise or not. 

It seems like a simple concept, but this article really helped me put things into perspective. It really gave some great advice about broadening your career expertise. The author wrote about how vital it is to have a variety of skills when searching for a job, and how now is actually a great time to take advantage of that. 

I really like how this article puts a positive viewpoint on something that many people may consider to be a negative aspect of the business world right now. I will definitely take this article into consideration while working at my internship this summer. If my department is not exactly flourishing, I will do my best to make myself useful elsewhere. I want to get many different experience and skills in the field of Mass Communications as possible. The more areas of expertise I can gain the better off I will be when the real job search begins. 

Tipping Point: A Real Life Success Story

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell really helped me realize how little things can make such a big difference. Throughout the book Gladwell gives example after example of people who focused on what seemed like small details, but eventually evolved into huge success stories.

            The Tipping Point is that one moment in which an epidemic is born. It is the exact moment in which you realize something minor has turned into something major. A Tipping Point basically explains how things that were once just a thought in someone’s head develop into something huge. The Tipping Point is the climax of the story itself.

            Gladwell’s book addresses many key factors on reaching the Tipping Point. His theory is that every Tipping Point can be explained by three rules: the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor and the Power of Context. Each of these rules had a lot of great advice about reaching a Tipping Point.

            One thing that could help us with the Athletic Auction is the Law of the Few. It explains that if you relay your message to the right people it will inevitably spread. There are people Gladwell calls, “connectors.” These are the people we need to ensure are helping us spread the word about the auction. We need people that know people. Connectors are those people that seem like they know someone through everyone. The more connectors we have on board the more people we will have at the auction.

            The next law Gladwell goes on to explain is the Stickiness factor. In the book Gladwell uses the examples of two shows that are very sticky for pre-schoolers. Not only are these shows entertaining, but also educational. These shows didn’t just becoming successful overnight. Stickiness takes a lot of labor, tests and revision.

 For the Athletic Auction we need it to be sticky. This is not going to be an easy task, but I think our class can do it. I believe we already have a great theme. The theme is something people can relate too, and that is sticky. We must ensure that the guests feel like they are included and welcome that night from the moment they walk in. We should definitely go all out with the “Thunder Rolls” theme.  It is vital that everything goes along with our theme and everyone has a wonderful time. We want as much to go along with the theme as possible..  We want people to have a night to remember. We want the theme to stick, and we especially want people to come back next year.

            I would say that of the three types of people Gladwell describes, I would like to think I am a connector. The main characteristic of a connector is simply knowing a lot of people. I feel like I know a fairly good amount of people just by being involved in a lot of activities on campus. I keep myself busy, and try to remember the people I introduce myself to. I definitely love meeting new people, and introducing new friends to old ones. I like hooking people up with people they might have something in common with, and I enjoy seeing people make new friends. I feel like I am learning how to network a lot better as I get deeper into the field of PR as well.

            I could definitely see some correlations between Tipping Point and all of my new social applications. These things are just another way to spread the word, or to hear what others are saying. Facebook reminds me of Law of the Few because it compares to an electronic combination of a mavern and a connector in today’s society. If you put something up on Facebook I feel like your entire network of friends is aware of it within hours. People check Facebook, a lot. Putting something on Facebook is like telling something to a mavern who will in turn relay that message to a connector. The word will spread, and fast.

            I am not positive I have reached my own personal “tipping point” as far as social networking goes. I will continue to use these networking tools and keep you posted!

            

Shrinking News Hole and PR

As I was reading through some things on the PRSA website I found an article on the shrinking news hole in today's society. Although the diminishing demand for print newspapers is not new news to me, I found this article to be very interesting. 

One Newspaper in particular, The Rocky Mountain News, published it's last issue earlier this week. This was just the end for this publication to a very long bad string of events. The print side of media just continues to go downhill in this economy, and the future is not looking bright. This news is not just effecting the print side of the media, but the public relations side as well. The article addresses some new changes that all PR professionals must be aware of.

 The first point touched on in the article was that news is no longer a product, but a service. We as PR professionals must help our audience find information, react to it and use it. Next the author wrote about how news organizations and Websites are no longer final destinations, but more of a gateway to more information, which I feel is definitely true in today's world. People are always looking for more opinions and information on the subjects they are interested in. 

Another great point made was the narrowing in subject matter of the media. Last year,  more than 25 percent of the news was about the election and the war in Iraq. Issues like education, race and religion filled less than a single percent. This statistic was not a surprise to me. It seems like back in the fall the only news was about the election.

 The author's final point was the topic of the media moving from story to story very quickly. "Breaking news" tends to rush the media in to find out the details before the story can be fully developed. 

What does all this mean for us as PR people? The article claims that historically speaking public relations flourishes as changes like these. Despite the fall in the economy, hopefully public relations will not take as huge of a hit. However, we must be aware of the changes going on within the world of print media to adjust our PR tactics for the future to better help our audience. 

Real World PR!

I would definitely say that my experience last Friday at Real World PR was very beneficial. I had a really great time, but felt like I really learned a lot at the same time. 

The day started early when we all met over at Lauren's at 5:15. We piled into her car and headed to the conference center in Atlanta. Two short hours later we arrived to Real World. I really did not know what to expect, but I was pretty excited to get the day started. 

We began with breakfast and a question and answer session with three experts from CNN. It was awesome to see these three people who were extremely knowledgeable on the subject of social media and the evolving state of media in general. It was really neat to see these people so well educated on the things we learn about everyday in class. 

Next we moved into our first session. I picked a session on internships since I am currently in the process of looking for one. It was great to hear from people actually doing the interviews on the things that they find important. They gave some really helpful advice on interviews, resumes, portfolios and networking. I felt like they were very open and honest and really wanted to help us find an internship that was beneficial to us. 

The next session was on Non-Profit PR. Non-Profit PR is something I am considering so it was good to hear the pros and cons of the field. One of the women worked for Cox Communication, one for a children's museum and one for YMCA. All of these are very different branches of Non-Profit so we got to hear a lot of diverse information. 

I found the session after lunch to most beneficial for me personally. We got to sit down with a PR professional one on one and they helped to critique our resume. The lady that helped me actually was the CEO of a small PR firm and she really helped me change some things around on my resume. She told me the things I needed to focus on and some other things that could be left off. After we went over the resumes she just gave me a little advice about networking and applying to internships in general. I really enjoyed the little bit of time I got to spend with her. 

Finally I went to a session on event planning. I was really excited to go to this session because event planning is something I am definitely interested in right now. All three event coordinators stressed the importance of staying organized at all times and paying very close attention to all the details. I loved hearing them talk about their budgets of thousands of dollars that they have to work with for events. It was cool to see the similarities that their job has with what we do in class planning the Mass Comm mixer and the athletic auction. 

I would say the main thing that I took away from real World was to NETWORK. Every person I talked to emphasized the importance of making connections with others. When the day began I was not so sure about talking to strangers, but as the day progressed I slowly became much more conformable. I hope to soon be a pro networker! 

Kids and the Internet

I don't think I realized that kids on the Internet was becoming such a big deal. I can remember when we first got a computer I really had no interest in it until the say we got a game called "Rollar Coaster Tycoon" Has anyone ever played that? My sisters and I would race to the computer room to see who would be able to get on the computer first. About the time the newness of this incredible game started wearing off the days of AOL instant messenger began. I remember spending as much time as my parents would let me chatting online with my friends on AIM...

Tonight I was reading this article about kids and the Internet. It pointed out how the Internet is used much more for entertainment for kids than actually communicating which seems to change as we get older. According to the article, 71.1% of kids between the ages of 6-12 used the Internet within the last 30 days.  Most of these kids accessed the Internet from their home computer, followed by their school computers and then computers in bookstores and libraries. 

Most of these kids (81.2%)  said they used the Internet to play games. However this number did decrease with age as kids began using it for things like watching videos, homework and listening to music. 

Interestingly enough, the most popular sites for kids were television sites like Disneychannel.com, nick.com and cartoonnetwork.com. This shows how much kids are influenced by what they see on television. Most of these kids were driven by some sort of ad on television to go check out their favorite station's website. 

All of this really makes me more aware of the younger generation becoming even more technological than my generation. As PR people we need to be aware of this and how it effects our target audience. The younger generation is contributing to the evolvement of media as we know it today. More and more people are using the internet as their primary source of information, entertainment and communication. 

Another new social network!?!

As I was looking at PR Week online I noticed an article about another new social network. I think I am becoming more aware of all the social networks out there since I have been joining so many. The site is called the Daylight Network.

PR Week explained that the new network is political in nature. It allows users to follow governmental money, make predictions on the administration and suggest non-government responses to the economy. The creator of the site, Aaron Day, says his goal for the site is to help figure out a way to get out of economic crisis using a wide range of solutions. Day wants to attract people to his site who have been impacted by what's happening with the economy. He said,“People are turning to the Webs and blogs [in response to the failing economy]. There is this large mass of untapped energy with ideas for debate.” 

I support Day's new idea for a political blog about the economy. I think it is important for all of us to feel informed about what is going on with our government. I think sometimes the media tends to hype the problems of the economy which creates even more problems. It is vital for us to be accurately informed about what is going on in our economy so we can make wise decisions for ourselves. I think this website is a great tool for everyday people to network with other everyday people within our economy. This website could really be a great tool in helping the US get out of the economic crisis.