Theory N' Practice » Uncategorized

Know your Target Audience OR In which the President Didn’t know His

B.G. Smith — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:48:16 +0000

My kids asked me if they could listen to Obama’s speech about education. I had nothing wrong with it, remembering the classic speech from Ronald Reagan to the nation’s children after the Challenger blew up.

After the fact, though, it turns out that this was nothing like “The Great Communicator’s” speech, as complaints labeling it “propaganda” and “brainwashing” seem to be the common reaction.

My complaints don’t necessarily fall on political lines, however. No. My biggest problem with Obama’s speech is that he missed his target:

He gave a “don’t quit school” speech to kids who aren’t old enough to realize that quitting is an option.

I’m not worried about my kids, they’ve got two teachers as parents…but we should probably be worried how horribly off the mark Obama was in this regard.

From a communication perspective, it shows that 1) to make a great speech, you have to know your audience and 2) Even the president can get so wrapped up in good intentions, that he can fail rule number 1 in public speaking.

Compare Obama’s speech to Reagans, and I think the picture becomes clearer:

(de)Humanizing an Organization

B.G. Smith — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:05:41 +0000

I’ve been intrigued by the recent crisis facing American Airlines. By now, this is probably old news, but, in a flight this past week from Port-au-Prince to JFK Int’l, Carine Desir died, because, according to family members, flight attendants would not provide necessary medical attention, including providing her air when she said she could not breathe. American Airlines denies the family’s account, but beyond what may or may not have happened, I find it intriguing how AA is handling this.

Frankly, I wonder how, from a PR perspective, the organization’s response could possibly fair well in the end. Sure, the organization claims that it is not at fault and that all procedures were maintained in their strictest standards, but what the organization is not saying is what could doom this whole situation.

Let’s say that after an investigation, it is discovered that organization took all the necessary precautions, and something still went wrong, but was no fault of the organization. Who will the public blame? The organization. At the very least, you’d think that the public relations arm of the organization would encourage spokespeople to buy the company a little time before coming out and absolving all fault in this. Knee-jerk reactions never fair well in the end, even if you aren’t at fault.

Furthermore, there’s one other thing that the airline isn’t saying: I’m Sorry. Maybe I’ve missed it, but AA has decided to ignore offering any type of condolences to the family. This is a traumatic time for the family, and you’d think the least AA would do is try to act…I don’t know…maybe a little…HUMAN.

This is the way it usually goes:

Big Organiztaion = Insensitive/Uncaring Entity

And AA is only reinforcing that image. I offered this up to my undergraduate classes in Public Relations I teach, asking them what they would do. After 5 minutes of discussions, here’s what they came up with: Say I’m sorry and assure the public that, though it is not at fault, it would be conducting extensive research into what exactly went wrong.

It seems to me, if 18-20 year old college students can figure this out, why can’t AA?

Learn a Word, End World Hunger

B.G. Smith — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:22:59 +0000

Not since I was studying for the GRE has learning new vocabulary that you’ll never use been this fun, or made you feel so morally responsible.

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

Here’s hoping they actually donate the food to the hungry…

News: Smith Wins IPR Ketchum Award

B.G. Smith — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:44:24 +0000

It’s good to see hard work pay off.

http://www.comm.umd.edu/news3.html