Author: WWPR

The Role of Public Relations in Politics is a monthly column written by WWPR member Margaret Mulvihill, examining the role of PR in politics from a historical and current point of view.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of Washington Women in Public Relations

Public Relations and Politics have gone hand in hand since Roman times, possibly dating as far back as Ancient Babylon in 1800 BC.  In Ancient Greece and Rome, the art of rhetoric was taught, with emphasis on “persuasive speaking.”

Political Public Relations Then

Andrew Jackson, who served as the seventh President of the United States from 1829 to 1837, famously used a former newspaper editor, Amos Kendall, as a close advisor. Many of the practices put in place by Kendall are still in use today – polls, speech writing, and article reprints.   President Grover Cleveland, a New Jerseyan who was both our 22^nd President (1885-1889) and our 24^th President, (1893 to 1897), availed himself of the services of another newspaper journalist, George F. Parker, to manage his public image and craft his message.  Parker was one of the first to circulate Cleveland’s speeches in advance, which earned him increased media share and approval ratings.

However, it was not until 1900, when The Publicity Bureau was founded, that Public Relations become a formal occupation.

Political Public Relations Now

Political messaging takes form and takes shape with the aid of a good public relations team.  The role of public relations in politics has changed greatly since the 1990’s, when there was a phenomenal growth in the field. Agencies have consolidated and become more professional, with improved messaging.  This in turn has led to a more sophisticated end product – the ultimate example being our current President, Barack Obama.

Messaging, or creating a consistent story, is essential in the world of politics today, as he and his team showed during both of his election campaigns, in 2008 and again in 2012.  Obama’s public relations team used a wide variety of mechanisms and social media platforms not only to disseminate his messaging, but also to engage with potential voters.

The team identified its target audience – a very basic technique employed in everyday public relations.  They tailored or segmented the message to appeal to a very broad demographic.  Potential voters became stakeholders, who were in turn deployed to get the message out in an ever widening circle.

Opposition Political Public Relations

Mitt Romney, who challenged Barack Obama for the Presidency last year, is also a skilled operative when it comes to excellence in public relations.  He and his team held their ground right up to the end of the 2012 presidential campaign, using every social media tool and platform available to them, to successfully get the candidates message out and shape Romney’s image.  He was doing well, until that memorable occasion where he spoke at a private event without benefit of the protection of his public relations team.  Romney was recorded by a hospitality worker telling his supporters that democrats (47%) would never vote for him.  He continued on to awkwardly describe the 47%.  The tape was a sensation when it was released by Mother Jones. I think we can all agree that video cost him the White House.  On Election Day, while candidate Romney did well in the vote-getting, Obama did better, and held the White House.

What can we learn from this?

From this brief introduction to the role of public relations in politics, we learn that:

• the structure and protection of a good public relations team is as essential in politics today as it was back in 1900 – and before
• once a political message has been crafted, it must be honed and polished until it outshines every other political message in the field
• once a political image has been defined, it must be protected and supported
• public relations in politics is an ever evolving process, becoming more polished and sophisticated as new media platforms and social messaging tools are created

This, then, is the role of Public Relations in Politics today.  What was it yesterday? What will it be tomorrow?

Stay tuned – there is much more to come!

Margaret Mulvihill is Director of Communications at Lawson Mulvihill in Washington, DC.  Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lawsonmulvihill

Trends of the Trade is a monthly column written by WWPR member Cory Churches exploring, well, trends in PR. Follow her @Coricita or reach her at Cory.Churches@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of Washington Women in Public Relations.

Are you reading this on a mobile device? Chances are that you, like millions of others, access information mostly via a mobile device.

Does your communications and marketing strategy include a plan for reaching your audience via mobile devices? If not, you’re likely missing out on a huge audience.

According to a December 2012 article in Forbes, 5 Eye-Opening Stats That Show The World Is Going Mobile, venture capitalist Mary Meeker presents trends in mobile usage and global penetration of mobile access. One of her top observations is that global mobile traffic now represents roughly 13% of Internet traffic.

That means that merely pushing existing web content to customers through social media sites, leading users back to your non-mobile website isn’t sufficient in the age of mobile device proliferation. Mobile devices are ubiquitous and are in many cases replacing desktop computers, laptops, and more traditional communication channels.

Just a glance at some statistics regarding how smart phone users access information gives you an idea of how quickly potential clients (or existing clients) expect a response from information providers.

For example, it takes 90 minutes for the average person to respond to an email. It takes 90 seconds for an average person to respond to a text message. On average, 74% of consumers will wait a mere 5 seconds for a webpage to load on their mobile device before abandoning the site.

A very informative graphic shows that there are 5 billion mobile phones worldwide but only 1.08 billion of those are smart phones.

Google has a great, short video that demonstrates the basics of the mobile expansion. Here are 5 trends and 5 ways to dive into the mobile environment.

Trends:

1. Mobile is entertaining us. Mobile users watch videos, play games, and connect with others everyday.

2. It is extremely local. One in 3 mobile searches have local intent.

3. Mobile is the ultimate shopping companion. 59% of mobile users visit a local store after searching it on their mobile device.

4. Enabling us to take immediate action. Priceline reports that 82% of hotel bookings are made on the day of arrival via mobile device vs 45% on a desktop.

5. People are searching for everything. 15% of finance and insurance searches are from mobile devices, 17% of auto searches are from mobile, and 30% of restaurant searches are from a mobile device.

Interestingly enough, 79% of large online advertisers do not have a mobile-optimized site.

Ways to engage:

1. Build a mobile site that’s relevant

2. Make it easy for people to take action

3. Create an experience that is useful and unique to mobile.

4. Learn from how your customers interact with your site and adapt accordingly.

5. Make mobile part of your marketing plan.

All of this information likely isn’t news to you but what you do with it to change how you’re making information available to customers and clients is important. Just as social media channels changed how we craft message and engage clients, attracting and engaging customers via mobile devices is a trend we can’t ignore.

Trends of the Trade is a monthly column written by WWPR member Cory Churches exploring, well, trends in PR. Follow her @Coricita or reach her at Cory.Churches@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of Washington Women in Public Relations

Globalization has taken root. We no longer speak to a narrow and local audience to communicate the value of our organization, highlight the differences between our companies and competitors, and assume business as usual is an acceptable way to conduct our operations.

Our markets have always been culturally diverse but recently, that trend is accelerated. According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau’s population projections, by 2060 nearly one in three U.S. residents will be Hispanic, and the Asian population will more than double from 15.9 million in 2012 to 34.4 million in 2060.

How do you modify and customize your message and delivery to reach younger and more culturally diverse audiences? Where do future customers find messages? Who are their influencers for decisions? How are they motivated to action? How do you make them care about your mission?

There is a library of research out there that analyzes demographics, parses audiences, and delineates action plans to engage these new markets and segments. This is not new. What is new is the shift to blending messages in which audiences see themselves reflected.

Organizations from Volkswagen to Home Depot and The Nature Conservancy to the Environmental Defense Fund are modifying their products and messages to appeal to and recruit younger and more culturally diverse audiences, buyers, employees, and members.

Volkswagen is appealing to younger drivers by offering more vehicles with features similar to smart phones and Home Depot is targeting a rapidly changing customer base by recruiting a more diverse workforce, among other things.

Rather than have two separate channels to appeal to a more diverse audience, communicators are now blending messages and adopting new design features to appeal universally rather than customize to each demographic. This is not to say that communicators should develop a “one size fits all” approach but one that looks at the reality of the population and create content that is appealing to a more multifaceted audience, one that may be simultaneously cross-cultural and multigenerational.