PRSA: Accreditation, Advocacy, and the People Behind It

Whether you are talking about Coca-Cola’s new campaign or Pantene’s hair donation campaign you are talking about a Communications Effort. More so now, on year of elections one word keeps showing up…communication. That’s only because branding (of products, companies, politician’s, ideals or individuals) has so much to do with public perception and reputation, and you only get this if people in fact are talking about your brand. Oddly enough the people that work behind a brand to drive a positive perception of it, have a bad reputation themselves. I’m talking about Public Relations practitioners and how public perception is not the best around the profession, but efforts are being made to change this. One of the changes, that both benefit the PR brand and also sets a standard of practice, is the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR).

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) recognizes and fosters the Accreditation Program as a means to bring positive light to the profession. It is stated in their website that, “through their high professional and ethical standards, Accredited professionals contribute to greater understanding of public relations as a vital management function, and undermine those who would refer to our craft as spin, our professionals as flacks, and our currency as misrepresentation and disinformation.”

The Accreditation Program was established on 1964 and since then it has been the only national post-graduate certification program. It promotes continuing education and reflects a commitment to the profession. If you are a PR professional you want to learn what the industry has to offer and what successful peers have done.  Two of the most notable APR’s are Harold Burson and Daniel J. Edelman, leaders of two of the biggest PR Firms in the world. Even though the APR is voluntary and you can still work without it, I think it’s the best way to advance in such a competitive career. It sets you apart from the pack and it provides a means to continue educating yourself. This last one is crucial in an industry that revolves around people and communications, which are ever changing and so should the education.

APR is a big step towards changing public perception of the profession that so well does it itself.  It betters the practice and strives to achieve excellence within the industry.

“Accreditation assures that a certain standard of quality is met. In a profession where licensure is not required and many people practice public relations without knowing key competencies and appropriate ethical guidelines for decision-making, earning the APR credential communicates that you have the requisite knowledge for principled public relations expertise and proficiency. This mark of excellence demonstrates to employers that you truly know what it means to be a high-performing, effective and ethical public relations professional.”

—Holly Byars, APR



Source: www.prsa.org 

Social Media Stardom

This article is about Kony 2012. In doing so, I’m doing my part to make him famous.

Whether you donate or not, whether you think is a scam or not, you now know who Joseph Kony is. Even if you didn’t watch the video you’ve seen the posters or even the “memes”. The idea behind the campaign was to make Kony famous so awareness could be raised of his actions and lead to his incarceration, and so they did. All through the use of a viral video, and millions of people around the world. The question is, how did this video went viral so quickly? And, what was the planning behind it?

Sometimes the success of a video is mainly because it’s funny, disgusting, short, or mindless; and many times, all of them together. So, what makes a thirty-minute video so popular? The very first second of the video can tell you why. It’s the planning behind it. That first line says: “Nothing is more powerful than an idea”. The Kony 2012 video, besides being a well produced one, is a call for a movement.

It starts by stating the problem, it continues with a compelling story the viewers can relate to, and finally it gives easy ways to help out without leaving your comfort zone. Now, Invisible Children (the organization behind the video) knew that this wasn’t enough to get massive attention. So the branding began.

The way to make a movement massive is to make a brand out of it. Feminists, Nazis, and Occupy Wall Street, more recently, all share this quality. William Yardley states in his article The Branding Of The Occupy Movement for the New York Times, that the Occupy Movement branding started with Kalle Lasn, a Twitter hashtag #occupywallstreet and a simple poster. Lasn is the editor of the anticonsumerist magazine Adbusters. Yardley says, “For some people they were just words and images. For Mr. Lasn, they were tools to begin remodeling the “mental environment,” to create a new “meme”.” This is exactly the trend that Invisible Children took notice of and wanted to accomplish with Kony 2012. The creation of the poster (to the left), making their own video instead of seeking attention from the news and entering with a such a bold statement, “Let’s make Joseph Kony famous” quickly caught the attention of young Internet navigators. Getting most views from mobile devices than any other source/site.

The team did plenty of outreach to its followers, calling on them to show support by sharing the video on social media and posting a banner on their own Facebook and Tumblr pages. The video accumulated more views from Facebook, than Youtube itself. This show the power of the “digital-word-of-mouth”. The next step in the plan, which the video itself states, was to target US “culture makers”. It targeted political figures that could make the arrangements and celebrities that could influence public opinion. And that’s when things got interesting. As soon as Rihanna, Diddy, Oprah, Bieber, and other celebrities that’s when views skyrocketed and support became evident. Third party endorsements always add value to a brand (or a cause).

So even if you think the movement is a scam and choose not to support it, you still know what it is. You recognize the symbols, you even get the meme jokes. All this is possible to a good strategic branding plan behind the movement. Kony 2012 may or may not accomplish its ultimate goal of incarcerating Joseph Kony, but it definitely made him famous. 

 

Sources: 

• Yardley W. (November 27, 2011). The Branding of the Occupy Movement. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/business/media/the-branding-of-the-occupy-movement.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all 
• Daye D. (February 27, 2012). Launching a Brand Movement. the Blake Project. Retieved from:  http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2012/02/launching-a-brand-movement.html