Urban Outfitters Blog

As I was browsing the Urban Outfitters Web site this afternoon, in grave danger of spending money I don’t have, I came across an interesting fact. Urban Outfitters has a blog! Soon I discovered not only do they have one blog, but they have a collection of blogs written by people from different places around the world. There is a New York blog, one from San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and even London.

The blogs discuss new clothing lines at Urban Outfitters, upcoming artists, musicians, and other aspects of “urban” pop culture. The blogs have a hip and alternative image, which goes along nicely with the image of Urban Outfitters as a retailer. In addition to its collection of blogs, Urban Outfitters has a Flickr account, where anyone can add photos of themselves wearing clothing from Urban Outfitters.

Although I am surprised very many people actually read these blogs, I applaud Urban Outfitters for utilizing social media to their benefit. The fact that they are using social media also goes along with the hip, alternative, with-the-times image they seem to be promoting through their advertising.

What was most exciting about my recent discovery was that they have a Portland blog! Included in the Portland blog were posts on Powell’s Books, a new alternative dance troupe called “Woolly Mammoth Comes to Dinner,” and a piece on a Portland designer. I was also surprised to find out that a local jewelry designer was discovered on the Urban Outfitters blog! The designer is Stephanie Simek, an upcoming Portland designer who is now selling her jewelry through the Urban Outfitter’s blog. What a great way to spread the word about a new line! I wonder how Stephanie was able to have her jewelery featured on Urban Outfitters blog.

Getting Creative

In class this week, we are learning about creating and delivering interesting presentations. First, we looked at examples of very well-done presentations versus boring ones. Presentations given by Bill Gates were used as examples of dull, complicated and poorly executed presentations. For someone as successful and wealthy as Bill Gates, it is surprising that he is incapable of creating a better presentation. Although Bill Gates may lack creativity, I don’t see why he can’t use his resources to find someone else to create a stimulating presentation for him. Apple CEO Steve Jobs, on the other hand, made a very simple, visually appealing presentation for his MacWorld 2008 Keynote Address. The difference between these two computer superstars is amazing. This inspection of presentation-making made me start thinking about artistic design and its place in the public relations field.

As someone who has always been interested in art and design, I have always hoped that I will someday have a job in public relations that involves some level of creativity. So far, during my studies at the University of Oregon, I have mainly focused on writing skills. As a public relations major, I have been encouraged again and again to keep my writing concise. This has proved to be a difficult concept for me. I like language. I love descriptive, creative writing. The more adjectives the better, right? Apparently, this is not the way to succeed in public relations. However, there has got to be some room for creativity, if not in our writing, then somewhere else.

Learning about presentation-making this week has opened my eyes to a new vehicle for creativity in public relations. Presentations are all about using space, color and form to create a visually appealing expression of your main ideas. In presentations, you use text and spoken words along with visual images to deliver your message.

It looks like there might be a little room for art in public relations after all!

 

Glogster

Today I noticed an advertisement on my Facebook account for Glogster, something I had never heard about. I decided to click on the link and was immediately introduced to a new form of social media.

After bouncing around the Web site for a little while, I learned that a “glog” is a sort of virtual poster that can be made by anyone. Images, text and both audio and video clips can be added to a glog in order to make whatever statement the user wishes. Then, the glogs can be organized into categories, such as “music,” ”people,” or “journals and scrapbooks.”

After browsing through the site’s top ten glogs, I’ve decided a glog is like a scrapbook page that you can add audio, video, and interactive qualities to.

While I don’t believe glogging is as good of a public relations strategy as blogging, I think when used correctly, it could be another way to promote a company or person’s image. In my opinion, this social medium would make most sense to use for an individual, such as a singer or actor. That way, the individual person creates a glog that they feel best represents them and displays it to the public.

I’m curious to see if glogging catches on. Something tells me it won’t ever be as popular as blogging or the Facebook.

Writing a Letter to Shareholders: Target and Nordstrom

In class on Thursday, we learned about composing a shareholder letter. In order to start writing our own mock letter for the Chiquita company, we were asked to take a look of a few real shareholder letters put together by a company of our choice. I chose to take a look at Target and Nordstrom’s shareholder letters by visiting their Web sites. I chose Target because I have always admired their advertising, and assumed that they would have a good public relations department as well. I chose Nordstrom because I shop there often and also like the image they have maintained through their advertising and public relations.

Upon reading these two shareholder letters, I noticed some interesting and surprising flaws.

Target, whose annual report was well organized, clearly written and visually appealing, contained a shareholder letter that was full of jargon. The opening sentence was so long that I had to go back and read it three times to understand its meaning. It was inconsistent because the majority of the text throughout the rest of the annual report was clear and concise. This surprised me, especially coming from a company that has done so well and has the resources to write an exceptional shareholder letter.

Nordstrom’s annual report looked like a work of art. The graphics were unique, colorful and served as a nice way to break up the text in their annual report. The problem with Nordstrom’s shareholder letter was that it was the exact opposite of the images that went along with it. The letter was way too long, and completely lacked colorful language. It was dull, and very impersonal in tone.

I found it hard to believe that two highly successful, popular companies like Nordstrom and Target would have such large flaws in their annual reports! Luckily, the experience made me more aware of what to avoid when writing a shareholder letter. Let’s hope I can take this experience and use it to my advantage on this next big assignment!

Dress to Impress

After commenting on a fellow P.R. student’s blog about dressing professionally in your public relations career, I decided to look a little further into the subject and write my own post.

It seems that over the years, people have become more lax about what they wear to work. Maybe it has to do with fashion trends, such as the way jeans have become a staple in American fashion. It has become perfectly acceptable to wear jeans on the weekend, to school or even to a fancy restaurant, depending on what is worn up top. Celebrities have been seen wearing jeans to more “laid back” award shows, like the MTV Music Awards, for example.

This brings up the question: how much does appearance really matter? In addition, what is appropriate to wear to work?

According to Dawn Rosenberg McKay’s career planning blog, it’s human nature to “judge a book by it’s cover,” as they say. She points out that while a person wearing jeans may be as competent and as intelligent as a person dressed in a formal suit, it is most likely that these qualities will be assessed based on appearance.

Knowledge, preparation, and appearance are necessary to make a good impression.

I would also say that it is important to dress professionally, but also dress in a way that is appropriate to your specific field of work. Dress codes and norms will be different depending on the environment you work in. The safest bet is to be clean, neat and dressed in something classic without a lot of distracting frills. This doesn’t mean you can’t be stylish. It just means you should go with a more classic, less-revealing version of the latest styles.

For women, McKay suggests wearing a nice skirt and jacket. For men, she suggests dress trousers and a jacket. She also suggests avoiding large or glitzy jewelry, and frosted or glittery make-up. Hair should be neat and clean, and swept away from your face. 

By following these simple suggestions, McKay claims, you will project an image of professionalism and confidence that will allow you to shine in any career.

Clothing that Cares

As I was browsing through my blogroll today, I came across a post from the “Denimology” blog that sparked my interest. The post was about a denim company called Privacy Wear that donates a percentage of all its retail sales to breast cancer research.

What’s especially neat about this company is that it has become a popular brand in the fashion industry and has many celebrity clients. On their Web site, Privacy Wear uses a range of celebrities to promote their product. Virtually anyone in Hollywood, from Akon to Brooke Holgan, can be spotted in the company’s signature jeans, hoodies and t-shirts displaying the pink breast cancer awareness ribbon and the words, “United We Cure.”

In their mission statement, Privacy says, “The Privacy label is more than a fashion statement; it is a statement of values. The driving force of our organization is to bring breast cancer awareness to the fashion marketplace. We believe in quality, for our apparel and for human life. We pursue a ‘double bottom line’: people as well as profit. “

What Privacy calls a “generous” portion of their sales goes to providing free mammography screening for underprivileged women and funding for breast cancer education and clinical trials.

Privacy’s success brings up an important point, which I believe is that promoting your company as being motivated by more than money can end up paying off more. Maybe if more companies followed Privacy’s lead and started to re-think their motivation for designing clothing, they would actually end up making more money. In short, giving money to a good cause always appeals to people.

Webinar?

As I was watching the Oprah show this afternoon, I learned about a concept I had never heard of: the webinar. According to Webopedia.com, a webinar is a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Internet. What makes Webinars different from webcasts are their interactive elements. Webinars allow participants to give, receive and discuss information, while webcasts are one-way transmissions of data without interaction between the presenter and the audience.

Apparently, Oprah Winfrey is planning to join with best-selling author Eckhart Tolle to host a webinar on her Web site every Monday night. The webinar, which will run for 10 weeks, will focus on the teachings of Tolle’s new book, “A New Earth, Awakening Your Life’s Purpose.” On her Web site, Oprah describes what participants will be able to do with the webinar:

• Watch and participate in the live classroom webcasts
• Ask Oprah and Eckhart Tolle questions before and during class
• Connect with others who are seeking to become more aware of themselves—and the world around them
• Download and save your thoughts in an exclusive workbook
• Access the classroom video archives

In order to participate in her webinar, viewers only need to be a member of Oprah.com and Oprah’s Book Club, which are both free of charge.

This got me thinking about what a great public relations strategy this is for both Oprah and Eckhart Tolle. Millions of people watch Oprah’s show everyday, drawing a huge crowd to her Web site as well. Having an interactive, online class once a week for free is a fool-proof way to attract more viewers and increase sales of Tolle’s book. Besides the financial gains, webcasting is another social media tool that allows broadcasters to effectively get their messages to the public. In Oprah’s case, Tolle’s philosophy and teachings seem like a subject she is very passionate about spreading to people. Webcasting is an excellent choice for her, especially since she has the ability to advertise her webinar and webcast on her television show. I might have to sign up for this webinar just to see what it’s like!

My Adventures in Podcasting

 

This week, our assignment in my Advanced Public Relations Writing class was to create our own audio podcast. Having never created my own podcast, and knowing absolutely nothing about the software we used to record our voices, this assignment proved to be a challenge for me. The whole experience was a nightmare. Nothing went according to plan. The good news is this podcast assignment got me thinking about how people in the real world use podcasts as part of real public relations strategies for their companies.

Some of you might be wondering, what exactly is a podcast? Well, let me try and explain it. An audio podcast is a digital audio broadcast in MP3 file format that can be downloaded and played on a portable MP3 player, a PC or burned onto a CD and played. Podcasts are also distributed through RSS feeds or may be downloaded directly. This allows anyone to listen to the podcast at anytime and virtually any place. One of the perks of using audio podcasts as part of your public relations plan is the fact that they are so inexpensive. It is easy to make an audio podcast for free, the way I did in my class. All you need is a computer, the ability to download and use a number of free audio-recording software, and a microphone. Low cost is only one of the many marketing benefits of podcasting. Here are some of the benefits of podcasting I learned about from the Advanced Media Productions Web site:

 

· Generates targeted web site traffic and boost brand-awareness.

· Creates a direct one-on-one communication channel with customers and partners.

· Easily accesses a global audience.

· Builds a loyal following by creating and engaging listener communities around niche topics, causes, products or brands.

· Virtually distributes audio content through social networking.

After my experience with podcasting, I realized what an excellent tool podcasts can be as part of a social media public relations plan. However, I believe it can be very challenging to come up with podcast content that is going to be interesting and valuable to listeners. My podcast was focused on how to write a strong resume when applying for internships in public relations. The target audience for my podcast was students majoring in public relations. Although I believe the content of my podcast was helpful, I’m not sure that students would take the time to listen to it. I know I wouldn’t! This brings up a key issue for public relations professionals. It raised the question, how do we come up with content for podcasts that is relevant and entertaining at the same time? How do we grab the attention of our target audiences? As I learn more about these different social media tools, I hope to find the answer to these questions.