Habermas’ theory on Understanding and Public Relations

Digital Presentation written reflection

Applying Habermas’ theory on communicative action to the “uh oh” moment in strategic communication with the Division of Motor Vehicles taught me that the large State agency has failed to  understand the “public sphere” According to Habermas, “public sphere comes into existence when citizens communicate, either face to face or through letters, journals, and newspapers and other mass media in order to express their opinions about matters of general interest, and to subject these opinions to rational discussion” (Ihen, van Ruler, & Frederickson, 2009, p. 142). DMV’s public relations needs a little tweaking to keep the staff on all levels abreast of policy changes and new laws. The customer environment would improve greatly, when staff is aware of changes, and govern accordingly.

This assignment challenged me a little as regards to media production. I wanted to upload my PowerPoint presentation to SoundCloud, so presentation could open with one click on my WordPress blog. I am still working on how to perfect my digital uploads. However, I did have fun adding multimodal  and inserting videos. What I found most rewarding about trying to get this digital presentation together is that there is always a way to get things to come together, and even if the way that you think it should be does not work for whatever reason, there is always another way to get similar results. Digital communications presents its challenges, but as I present more presentations, I become more comfortable recording myself on video.

I had to push myself to understand what I needed my presentation to display. Since, I was not able to access recording my voice on my PowerPoint slide through my iPad, I had to switch to using my HP laptop. My laptop allowed me to record on my slides but adding a video directly from the PowerPoint video option was not an option, so I had to think about how to get a video over to my PowerPoint slide. YouTube was the only option that I could think of, so I attempted to record on YouTube and upload videos to my PowerPoint presentation. With a little technical difficulty, I managed to copy  both video’s URL and upload them to my presentation. I will continue to work on how to get my digital presentations working with on click. The challenge is understanding your devices limits. Apparently, Apple iPad is limited on what functions it can access, so when it comes to presentations, I must rely on my laptop.

Overall, I am pleased with the work that I have displayed with this assignment and will continue to explore new software that can help me deliver quality presentations. In addition, I will try to remember all the steps that I took to get projects together. Often, I forget what I did to make previous projects successfully, and of course that is when anxiety plaques my mind. After twelve graduate courses in the subject area of communication, I have learned that the process of putting information together will always be a focus for me since I did choose to continue my education in communication and digital media.

Written Reflection

Applying Putnam’s Theories of Community and Social Capital to Public Relations

As I thought about my social bonding and social bridging scenario, Putnam’s theory became so evident and easy for me to relate to my everyday life’s interactions. Of course, as I attended the social that I speak of in my oral presentation, I was not thinking about Putnam’s theory because at the time of the event, I did not know about Putnam’s theory.  However, what I have learned is that every interaction that we have with others can be related to Putnam’s theory of social capital. Communities cannot be socially successful without building bonds and bridges through collaborations. Putnam theory points out that “long term relations, such as associations and clubs, are able to generate the cohesion that brings societal benefits such as lower crime rates, increased health, happiness, and even economic prosperity” (Ihen, van Ruler, & Frederickson, 2009, p. 231). In my scenario Putnam’s theory showed the societal benefits of bringing diverse people together in the club house to generate the cohesion that produced social capital and happiness among the residents.

Media production helps me to relay my message to a larger audience. Although, I still struggle a little with orally presenting my thoughts and ideas, as I participate in more oral presentations, my voice is more relaxed, and my thoughts are clearer, and my words are more deliberate. I am far from delivering an oral presentation without flaws, but I must say that as I become more comfortable presenting, I can hear the improvement in my oral presentations. Moreover, I feel that once, I begin thinking about what I want to say, I start thinking about how to present my material, so others can easily understand and relate my topic to their own lives. Public relations is all about people relating to one another socially with hopes to continually build stronger bonds and bridges to develop effective communication amongst the masses.

Since, I am only three classes away from graduating, I cannot say that this assignment helped me to push myself beyond my previous skills in media production because, I have submitted many oral and digital presentations thus far. However, I can say that anxiety does arise, when I think of presenting an oral presentation for the world to hear.

References

Ihlen, Ø, van Ruler, B., & Fredriksson, M. (2011). Public Relations and Social Theory: Key

Figures and Concepts. New York, New York:  Routle

Introduction:

I will conduct an ideological analysis to explore how the world’s two largest sneaker companies have stayed loyal to their mission statement and company values by cultivating a large faithful customer following and high employee engagement and retention. Nike and Adidas’ mission statements demonstrate that both companies value their goals and beliefs and continue to achieve continued success in the marketplace. This analysis will demonstrate how organizational communication aids in helping organizations remain successful, by using the public relations and structuration theory.

Rationale:

It is important for an organization to stay engaged in employee engagement to boost morale and increase employee’s interest in the organizations mission. When an organizations invest in their employees, their employees invest into the organization. Employee engagement helps employers better understand employees needs and wants, and this is essential to building strong teams that have individuals that are confident and happy. Organizational communication aids in helping organizations become and remain successful. Both Nike and Adidas represent the two largest athletic companies in the world; however, we cannot overlook that there is more to the organizations than sneaker and apparel sales. These two companies excel in providing an inviting and stimulating work environment and there is much that can be learned from them. My project will demonstrate how the human resources approach has aided Nike and Adidas in building a company culture that “stimulates innovation, team spirit, engagement and achievement” (Adidas. 2019)

• 

DMV is still using paper when the rest of the world is digital.

https://mycourses.queens.edu/learn/draftfile.php/645429/user/draft/768200840/LWilliams_Reflection%20Blog%20Post_January%2019%2C%202020.docx

• 

Hello my name is Leslie Williams and I am currently in my fourth semester and sixth course at Queens University of Charlotte, and I am looking forward to graduating in December 2020. My goal is develop my communication skills, so I can obtain a career in public relations, where I will communicate to the public on behalf of an organization.

I was born and raised in Brooklyn New York, and relocated to North Carolina in 2008. North Carolina has become my second home, but I do miss the big city living at times.

You can find me listening to jazz or R & B most days. In addition, I enjoy traveling, fine dining, and reading a great non-fiction book. Yes, I still love books, and frequent Barnes & Nobles quite a bit. There is nothing like a new book to hold and turn pages.

 

10 Best Practices for Communicating Organizational Identity and Brands

Brands become a part of our lives from the time that we realize that we need or want a product that the brand has to offer. Brands have a responsibility to their customers to keep the emotional attachment fulfilled by the continuance efforts to listen and inspire customers to desire the brand’s experience.

1. Know your customers

The brand Apple invests in marketing to customer’s by learning customer’s behavioral patterns.

2. Stay consistent

Nike is a feel good brand. Weather it be through innovation or inspiration, Nike brands makes their customers feel ready for whatever they may face as it relates to sports and or leisure activities. Nike speaks to the masses. “To sell products internationally, your brand has to speak to a lot of different languages” (Airey, p. 13).

 

3. Tell your story

Brands just tell customers why they should shop with them. What makes your brand so unique. What can customers experience at company that sets you apart from your competitors.

”Neither “the facts” nor our “experiences” come to us in discrete and disconnected packets which simply await the appropriate moral principle to be applied. Rather, they stand in need of some narrative which can bind the facts of our experience together into a coherent pattern and it is this in virtue of that narrative that our abstracted rules, principles, and notions gain their full intelligibility” (Fisher, p.3).

 

4. Emotionally engage your customer

Loyal branding engages customers in the experiences that they could not have imagined. When a company exceeds a customers expectation, the buying experience is elevated. “Emotional branding establishes itself as a critical factor in developing brand loyalty, which has been conceptualized as a long-term committed, and affect-laden partnership devised to characterize consumer-brand bonds (Fournier 1988). Increased loyalty driven by emotional branding, in turns, leads to higher sales” (Kim & Sullivan, p. 2).

5. Listen to your customer

Maclaen listened to its customers, and knows that the environmentally aware customers want a product that sets them apart from others. To shop Maclaren is an experience that is not found among other baby product brands. Maclaren customers are jet setters.

6. Stay Current

Customers want brands that keep them current. Companies have to keep their brands exciting, fresh, and new. Maclaren designed a fashionable stroller that will appeal to the younger mother that wants durability in a stroller without compromising the style.

 

7. Stay connected to your customers – invite feedback

Every company should stay connected to their customers, so they “Foster trust and form relationships, through open, honest utter actions over time -interactions that create positive experiences and outcomes, hearing ideas, and supporting them (when possible), and also amplifying praise” (Lea, 2012).

8. Innovate

 

9. Be compassionate

Let customers see the brand stands for something more than just gaining profits from sales. Brands should show that they care about the world around us. The Maclaren brand represents more than just strollers and baby products. The Maclaren brand  represents and stands behind environmental issues that impact our future. Maclaren stays relevant by thinking ahead.

10. Be reliable

Google is one the world’s leading reliable go to search engine for immediate information.

“Our Mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. (Google)

 

References

Airey, D. (2010). Logo Design Love: A guide to creating iconic brand identities. Berkeley,

CA: New Riders, Chapter 2 &3.

Fisher, W. R. (1984). Narration as human communication paradigm: The case of public

moral argument. Communication Monographs, 51, 1-22.

Gate 1 Travel (2019) Retrieved from https://www.gate1travel.com/cms/search

Google. (2019). About Google. Retrieved from https://about.google/intl/en_us/

Kim, Y. & Sullivan, P. (2019). Emotional branding speaks to consumers’ heart: the case

of Fashion brands. Fashion and Textiles, 6(2), 1-16. doi:10.1186/s40691-018-0164-y

Lea, W. (2012). The new rules of customer engagement. Inc. Retrieved by

https://www.inc.com/Wendy-lea/new-rules-of-customer-engagement.html

Maclaren (2019) Images  Retrieved from.

https://www.maclaren.us/blog/category/%23betterplanet?lang=_US

Nike. (2019) Images  Retrieved from https://about.nike.com