Commenting on two classmates' posts

This is my last blog post for my public relations research class. Ending on a positive note, this post is dedicated to recognizing the great job two of my peers did incorporating the use of experimental research into their topics.

My peer Roberta approached her topic of fashion with an experimental research mindset after reading an article about the development of an environmentally friendly clothing. Roberta blogged about the technique the designer/scientist, Suzanne Lee, and the material scientist, Dr. David Hepworth, used to test the materials that were to be used in the biodegradable clothing line. With the goal to be more eco-friendly, the clothes are made of all natural resources including vegetable and fruit composites. This Bio-Couture clothing line research started in 2006 and has produced three complete garments so far. This is great news for eco-friendly fashionistas!

Kayla, a fellow peer, also blogged about the use of experimental research in the fashion industry. Kayla wrote about retail testing being one experimental research method which many clothing stores use to test new clothing lines so that the stores can learn which lines the consumers react positively to and which ones consumers respond negatively to so that they are able to make informed decisions for their bulk clothing orders. This research method also provided information on what factors influence purchasing behavior in person and online. Kayla closed her blog by reinforcing the fact that all research methods are important to the fashion industry.  

Experimental Research

Companies have acknowledged the growing hype that surrounds social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and they are trying to capitalize on these popular sites. Companies such as VitaminWater have made drastic changes to their advertising approaches using experimental research methods.

Experimental research is a method that enables researchers to test their ideas and get real feedback. VitaminWater showed a great deal of faith in Facebook when they decided to get rid of their official website and rather make their Facebook page their official home site. Their objective was to fully engage with their consumers and establish a relationship with them by encouraging them to ‘like’ VitaminWater's page which is the equivalent to ‘friend-ing’ a company.

Through this experimental method, VitaminWater got priceless information from their consumers about their products, and VitaminWater developed their fan base exponentially in a personable manner. To generate buzz, VitaminWater created a Facebook application called the ‘Flavor Creator Lab’ which was a contest which challenged Facebook fans to create a new VitaminWater flavor named ‘Connect’ inspired by social media. The Facebook fan that inspired the new drink’s flavor, packaging and ingredients won the contest and won $5,000.

This ‘Flavor Creator Lab’ app raised the Facebook fan numbers from 400,000 to 981,000 in one month alone! The VitaminWater fan base has now reached almost 2 million Facebook users. To celebrate the launch of the winner’s drink, black cherry lime, VitaminWater gave away 100,000 free bottles of Connect to the first 100,000 fans who signed up for the coupon on the Facebook page. VitaminWater’s experimental social media campaign has very successful!

Survey Research

Social media is a hot topic at the moment – companies are realizing how the emergence of social media has empowered consumers. Companies know that the key to success is connecting with your target audience and allowing them to voice their opinions. A recent Burson-Marsteller survey analysis made an excellent point when they stated: “Social media has shifted control of the corporate message away from the organization and towards consumers and other stakeholders, and running away and hiding is no longer the safe option.”

The newest survey done by Burson-Marsteller reveals that eighty large organizations out of the top global 100 companies are engaged in social media. The Burson-Marsteller study also reveals that of these high powered companies, most have an average of 4.2 Twitter accounts, 2.1 Facebook pages and 1.6 YouTube channels.

Overall, Twitter was shown to be the social media outlet of choice - 65% of the global top 100 companies have active Twitter accounts. These companies are using the social media platforms to engage with their customers and build a relationship with them – tweeting companies are following an average of 731 people and they are responding to about 38% of people’s tweets.  Companies are also showing their social media savviness by re-tweeting 32% of user comments. This corporate interest in social media reveals to consumers that these companies value their opinions and want to connect to them; this is most definitely winning over customers.   

Commenting on my classmates' blogs

I always love being assigned  to analyze my peer's blogs. I enjoying seeing how they set out their ideas and the examples they choose to include to represent their key points.

I think my classmate Jordana Carideo did a great job of summarizing the multi-faceted definition and purposes of a survey. Jordana made very important points, such as: researchers need to protect the anonymity of respondents, and each questionnaire must be pre-tested to confirm the accuracy of the questioning format. I like how she set these points out as bullet points which made them easy to follow. Jordana did a great job focusing in on how her selected organization (the American Cancer Society) makes use of surveys; I never knew the American Cancer Society conducts a survey for every single cancer prevention study!     

I really enjoyed reading my classmate Steph Ferris’s blog on qualitative research. Her blog post pointed out that blogging is a “new and exciting frontier for social research” which should be embraced. Her comparison between blogs and diaries was thought-provoking– it is amazing to think about the progression people have made from pouring their hearts out into physical, locked diaries that are kept secret towards rather spewing their feelings out across the blogosphere for all to read. This evolution has been great for qualitative researchers who are now more easily able to gain great depth and insight from individuals by reading their blogs. I thought it was great how Steph concluded her blog post by saying “blogging and qualitative research are a match made in cyberspace heaven.”  

Qualitative Research & Social Media

Qualitative research is executed to gain insights into people’s motivations and behaviors. Focus groups are a great way to understand people’s lives, and social media platforms have created the opportunity for the largest focus groups in the world! The social web has re-shaped how people communicate, both personally and professionally, with others. One great advantage of observing online social interactions is that they are automatically and permanently archived while traditional interactions are lost in a fleeting moment; these permanent data records make in-depth data collection and data analysis a lot easier!

Nowadays, consumers are highly involved with online mediums which allow them to express their opinions and learn more about products and services. This is why we have seen a drastic increase in online advertising over traditional print adverting. Virtual communities provide forums for consumers to deliberate with other consumers the worth of brands, products and services. No wonder companies are tapping into these forums that are rich with ideas which could improve their products, reveal emerging trends, enhance marketing strategies and discover new product ideas.

Recently the DelMonte Foods group has harnessed this rich social media data community by creating an online community called ‘I Love My Dog’ which consisted of 400 individuals they chose to collect input from about their preferences for breakfast treats for their dogs. The consensus was that people wanted to give their dogs a breakfast treat that had a bacon and egg flavor which was enriched with vitamins and minerals – and so Del Monte’s Snausages Breakfast Bites were born! Del Monte's senior manager of consumer insights, Gala Amoroso, told The Wall Street Journal, "It is not just a focus group that you see for three hours; you are developing a relationship with these pet parents."

While traditional focus groups might not yet be dead, online social communities are showing a tremendous amount of value in cultivating rich commercially valuable ideas.

My Public Relations classmates’ ideas on Unobtrusive Research…

My classmate Steph Ferris blogged that “unobtrusive research goes on everyday, and sometimes we are conducting this research without even knowing” which I completely agree with – before I even knew what unobtrusive research meant, I was conducting it to gain information for behavioral protocol at my workplace, the dress code for college classes and fun things to do on the weekend through listening to people’s conversations, flipping through people’s facebook albums and people watching. The QU Chronicle writer Steph wrote about walked up and down dorm road watching people to gather information on the different fashion choices people from different states make. Steph brought up a valid point when she said bloggers often use unobtrusive research as inspiration for their own blog posts; for example, my roommate is an avid blogger about couponing and tips for saving money – she unknowingly conducts unobtrusive research by surfing other blogs to see what coupons and deals other coupon-ers are taking advantage of, then she writes about the most popular coupons of the moment (without the other bloggers knowing she obtained that information from them).

The execution of unobtrusive research has become a lot easier with the invention of the internet because people are able to gather information from people without those people’s knowledge which provides a great foundation for unobtrusive research to occur.  Another classmate, Katerina Torres, brought up some very thought provoking insights about the information you can draw from social media sources. Katerina wrote about the ability to uncover raw, open information about people from their social media sites, that they may not have shared with you in person because their facebook or twitter page is a place they feel comfortable expressing themselves freely; for example, if you ask John why he looks upset in person, he might just shrug it off and tell you he’s just having a bad day, however on his twitter page, he may reveal that he is grieving on the anniversary of his mother’s death. Katerina also brings up the opposing truth which can also exist with social media – the fact that people can be more self conscious about the image of themselves that they are projecting online and therefore they chose to conceal more information online about themselves than they would in person.  For example, Betsy may not choose to ‘like’ the Tv show ‘Hoarders’ on her facebook profile because she does not want people to judge her by it (even though she watches the show religiously in real life).        

Unobtrusive Research

Unobtrusive research allows researchers to analyze things from a distance which allows the process to be uninfluenced by the researchers themselves. This minimizes the number of threats to the validity of the researched information. Analyzing available information, records, behaviors, characteristics and events is a common act of unobtrusive research. Social media provide us with the unique ability to gain great insight into peoples’ lives without prodding them for information through constant questioning. According to the nielson wire, social media platforms dominate Americans’ time spent online, which proves its popularity and the great importance Americans place on social media. With Americans spending roughly a third of their time online communicating across social networks, don’t you think we should take notice of what they’re saying?!

Through viewing peoples’ social media profiles, for example someone’s facebook profile, we can gauge many things about them – their birthdays (and therefore their age), their gender, their education level (if stated, which it most often is), their religion and their relationship status. Not only do we learn these basic statistics about people, we also gain insight into their thoughts and actions. For example, one of my facebook friends Morgan* updated her status to say “its fine York Hill shuttle. I don't have a job or homework or any sort of life I have to get on with. Actually, I like waiting at the shuttle stop all day” expressing her frustration over the York Hill shuttle situation. If I was researching information on the successfulness of the Quinnipiac shuttle system, I would most definitely take this information into account (with Morgan being completely unaware of my withdrawal of information from her).

Through viewing someone’s profile on a social media platform we gain a slice of their life, without them even knowing. We are able to gather information on a wide variety of issues without actually speaking to anyone. For example, if I am looking to buy a car, if one of my facebook friends posts that they are having trouble with their car (brand X), I will use that information and most likely not buy brand X car. If I see Meredith* just updated her status to say, “just discovered that changing in a car isn't nearly as easy as changing in an SUV. I sold my explorer but took for granted my tinted windows and how high off the ground it was” I will keep in mind these factors when I purchase a car (tinted windows =’s practical!)

Commenting on Peer's Posts

I really enjoyed reading Sam Greitzer’s blog post ‘VMA’s 2010.’ I too watched the VMA’s this year from a public relations standpoint and was very impressed by the variety of performers MTV selected, their use of special effects and the smooth transitions between the presenters, the performers and the video clips. I agree with Sam that MTV did a fantastic job of utilizing social media, such as facebook and twitter, to advertise the show, as well as pacing out their press releases to maintain consist buzz about the show. The 2010 VMA’s was a huge success and had over 11,000,000 views which is proof of MTV’s faultless implementation of public relations strategies, particularly in using social media.          

Caryn Lieberman’s blog post on ‘Online Advertising Trends’ was very thought provoking – as an iPhone user myself, her example of the iPhone piqued my interest. With the smorgasbord of apps available to us at the tip of our fingertips and the internet being readily accessible, our standards of how advanced technology should be are raised. In order for products and services to catch our attention in this day and age, the advertisements need to break through the clutter of ads that use mediocre technology to get their point across to audiences. Nowadays, in order for an ad to catch the attention of viewers, it must flash, be able to show video footage of its capabilities and/or display views at different angles – a basic print ad is no longer enough. Social media is a great platform for expected new technologically advanced ads, for example, the flashing animated banners that appear on facebook are proven to attract a 25% increase in the number of response rates, according to Steve Hall, a social media enthusiast.    

         

Social Media Research Results

Social media is no longer being seen as merely a way for individuals to stay connected for social purposes, now it is also being utilized as a way for journalists to gather information when researching their stories. A survey conducted nationwide by Cision and George Washington University’s Don Bates, discovered that the bulk of journalists rely on social media outlets for information during their research process. Eight-nine percent of journalists surveyed use blogs for story research, sixty-five percent use social media sites such as MySpace and Facebook and more than half of journalists use microblogging services like Twitter. For example, if you watch a newscast of ‘E! News’, for at least every second story, the show’s presenters will say “…as confirmed by twitter” or “and the star tweeted....” A recent story broken via Twitter was the news that Kat Von D and Sandra Bullock’s ex-husband, Jesse James, are now dating. Kat tweeted “Yes, Jesse and I are dating” which was then re-tweeted by more than a hundred people and broadcasted in every major gossip column, celebrity magazine and celebrity entertainment news show. To check out the full news report, go to People.

The biggest problem with using social media publications as new sources is that their reliability is a big issue. Of all the journalists surveyed, eight-four percent recognized that social media information sources were either “slightly less” or “much less” reliable than traditional media sources. The real issue comes in when journalists use social media sources as their sole sources and they do not run a fact check on the information - journalists have become sloppy about information verification. Mike Wise, a well-known Washington Post writer did an experiment to illustrate this point which ended up getting him suspended for a month! He planted a false twitter post that stated that “Roethlisberger will get five games, I'm told.” This tweet was in reference to the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who faced a six-game suspension for a conduct violation. Wise’s post insinuated that the player’s suspension might be reduced. Wise was trying to prove how easily false information can be published online and then re-published as news without being fact checked.  In response to all the backlash Wise received, he exclaimed: “I was right about nobody checking facts or sourcing.”

The bottom line learnt here is that social media outlets can be used to find out information quickly and easily, however, the information must be verified by a credible source before it should be published as news or presented as the truth. Also, never risk your career to prove a general point to the world!

Always be open, honest and direct! - Social Media Ethics

Social media has exploded in recent years, fulfilling needs that previously went unrecognized. Social media consists of online platforms that are built on web 2.0 technologies which allow content to be published easily and quickly. The content is user-generated and highly accessible with the goal to connect with other people online, creating an online community. For example, Twitter is currently a very popular social media micro-blogging platform where users create their own personalized profiles and where all the content is user generated. A tweeter’s profile can display their posted name, their location, a short bio and their continuous stream of conversational tweets.  

The dictionary describes 'ethics' as: the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions. With regards to social media, anything goes! Arguably the greatest feature of social media is that it is an unrestricted platform for people to express themselves, you can set your own limitations and can decide for yourself what you consider 'right' or 'wrong.' This gives us a self-governing freedom that redefines the notion of ethics all together - we are creating the culture that once shaped us!  I can guarantee you will find people who will share your views and people that will disagree with your views, no matter what views you choose to broadcast on the internet – this challenges the conventional meanings of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.

One’s moral principles become evident through one’s blogs and tweets, for example Miley Cyrus, a Disney darling, made her views supporting gay marriage public through her twitter posts saying: “God’s greatest commandment is to love. And judging is not loving. Everyone deserves to love and be loved and most importantly smile” in response to a question about gay marriage. This leaves social media participants vulnerable to criticism of their ethics just like how people are vulnerable to criticism when expressing their values, beliefs and morals in person. This was evident with Miley Cyrus as she received very harsh criticism for her tweets supporting free love. However, the possibility of ensuing criticism after publishing should not deter social media enthusiasts from expressing their views – it is important to put down one’s own ethics in writing as it forces you to clarify them to yourself and gives your ethics solidarity – one of my favorite quotes of all time is, “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything,” having ethics is respectable.

The first day of my public relations 101 class, my professor taught us a mantra to use not only in our professional lives but also in our private lives; the mantra was “always be open, honest and direct.” This has stuck with me ever since. I strongly feel that if we live our lives in an honest and open way, it gives us a strong platform that not only gives our opinions worth and credibility, but also allows us to influence other members of the online social network community as people generally tend to respect and listen to those who seem to have solid, well thought out opinions of right and wrong.

Public relations professionals aim to help their clients make strategic decisions which are thought to be ‘good’ ethically and that will therefore help them look favorable in the public eye. If the public perceives a company to have an air of dishonesty, then the reputation of that company will go down. A prominent professional ethics controversy is the issue of whether or not ghost-blogging is seen as dishonest. On one hand, ghost-bloggers argue that they are trying to make an honest living by utilizing their writing talents to help companies promote their messages as business executives do not have the time to blog. On the other hand, people argue that writing under the name of someone else, such as using a business owner’s name, is misleading. This deception could jeopardize the company’s relationships with their customers and the general public. It is a slippery slope to go down.        

Blog Focus: Social Media

The focus of this blog will be about social media and its public relations implications.