[105] Perceptions Philippines

PERCEPTIONS VOLUME 27 | FEBRUARY 14 2015

P H I L I P P I N E S

UP CLOSE:

THE ENGINEER OF PERCEPTION ON BEING A PR PROFESSIONAL

MIKKHAIL GUIOGUIO

THE BEST SAVES & WORST STINTS

THOUGHTS ON PUBLIC RELATIONS

PR CAMPAIGNS GONE WRONG AND GOOD CASE PRACTICES

T E S T I M O N I A L S B Y O R C O M U N D E R G R A D S A N D P R P R O F E S S I O N A L S

Also inside: PR

JARGON YOU NEED TO KNOW!

HOW THE PROS DO IT! P R S P G O F O R P R O G R A N D F I N A L I S T S TALK ABOUT THEIR JOURNEY TO VICTORY

TOP TEN PR COMPANIES IN THE USA WEISSCOMM GROUP SITS AT NUMBER ONE WITH GRAYLING AT A CLOSE NUMBER TWO

editor’s message

Dear Readers, Like in everything else, every great thing in this world starts with a vision. PERCEPTIONS Philippines is an epitome of that simple vision. Two years ago, all of these were just plans written on scratch—roughly constructed, and almost impossible, at the very least. 2015 comes and here we are, with our 27th issue. Truly, none of these would be possible if it weren’t for you; and the whole team wants to thank you for that. As a magazine that specializes on all things Public Relations (PR), we strive to provide you, our avid readers, the latest buzz and trends in the world of PR. Nothing short of ordinary, nothing too snazzy; just the right kind of right you are looking for. For this month’s issue, we interviewed Mr. Mikkhail O. Guioguio, an Organizational Communication alumnus. Having graduated from the University of the Philippines Manila in 2012, Mr. Guioguio has a lot to share about his life and work as a PR Professional. We hope that his story could inspire you, as much as it inspired us. PR has its glorious days, and in some, crises happen. PERCEPTIONS Philippines wants to let you experience everything there is to know about PR—whether it be good or bad. Public Relations in 360 degrees—fiascoes and successes, all in one magazine. This issue also includes testimonials from OrCom undergrads and professionals. Read on as they share their fulfilling experiences and know why they love PR. These are just some of the things we have in store for you in the February 2015 issue of PERCEPTIONS Philippines. I hope that you would enjoy and appreciate the beauty of PR through this magazine, as much as we enjoyed the experience we had while working on it. Happy reading! Until our next,

Marwell EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

meet meet

tom catli!COPY EDITOR [email protected]

reanne medina!CREATIVE DIRECTOR

[email protected]

aldrin palma!EXECUTIVE EDITOR

[email protected]

clark galapin!MANAGING EDITOR [email protected]

team the the team

behind perceptions!

marwell eblacas!EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

[email protected]

table of contents

table of contents

i // editor’s message ii // meet the team 01 // top ten companies 03 // how the PRos do it 07 // crash course on jargon 09 // best & worst campaigns 13 // meet mikko: the engineer of

perception 24 // ad wisely 28 // ten thoughts on PR

PERCEPTIONS FEBRUARY 2015

From Illinois to New York, Public Relations has indeed proved to be one of the most sought after professions across the globe. Not only is it big in the Philippines, but PR is most definitely at its peak of glory in the United States. Meet 10 Best PR’s list of the top performing Public Relations firms across America. 1. WEISSCOMM GROUP (SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA) Want your campaigns to be contemporary and culturally relevant? Do you want to work with PR Pros that are “detail- oriented, customer-centered, and results-driven?” Well, look no more for WeissComm Group’s PR practitioners best fit these descriptions. To stay cutting edge, their PR Pros keep their research trends up-to-date so their clients remain “in the know” and “in tune.” A firm that envisions a progressive and productive PR company, and has outstanding strategies that optimize your public image, there is no doubt that WeissComm Group ranked first for the month of February. Crisis management, media relations, public affairs are some of the services they offer. 2. GRAYLING (NEW YORK, NEW YORK) Grayling is a global communications Firm that has offices in over 26 countries, operates in 54 offices, and employs more than 200 specialists in Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East. With exceptional reach in the fields of sustainability, environment, CSR and digital, it is recognized worldwide for its ability to provide integrated communications services across all major markets. Having ranked second, Grayling is an International Powerhouse that offers services in public relations, crisis management, and government affairs, to name a few.

3. BEAUTIFUL PLANNING (NEW YORK, NEW YORK) Beautiful planning is a state-of-the- art PR company that leverages on online channels to ensure that their clients can maximize their sphere of influence. Savvy, comprehensive, and contemporary marketing services helps them in their A-game. Beautiful planning recognizes that in the world of branding, image is everything. They specialize in graphic designs, and utilize a plethora of PR strategies such as: media training, crisis management, and media relations, among others. 4. PIERPONT COMMUNICATIONS (HOUSTON, TEXAS) A PR agency that is based in Texas, Pierpont sees to it that they are always present when in need. Having offices in the cities of Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston, professionals make sure that their clients see them in person. Armed with experience, knowledge, and exuberance, Pierpont PR practitioners certainly can communicate effectively whether using digital or traditional media. When faced with a PR fiasco, they are the ones to call. 5. PMK*BNC (LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA) Looking for a PR company that is all about Optimization and enhancement? Still searching for the right people to take your brand to new heights? Look no more for PMK*BNC prides itself on helping clients cultivate a powerful, positive, online presence that generates outstanding conversion rates and perpetual expansion. They think big and get great results!

TOP TEN COMPANIES I N T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S

PUBLIC RELATIONS

A S O F F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5

B Y M A R W E L L L E I G H E B L A C A S

01 PERCEPTIONS / FEBRUARY 2015

6. MOTION PR (CHICAGO, ILLINOIS) Motion PR is a public relations company that thrives on helping clients attain the relevant, powerful, positive image necessary to increase conversion rates and expand your sphere of influence. end result is a bigger audience and a positive public persona. When you're ready to grow, let Motion PR help you! 7. LANDIS COMMUNICATIONS, INC. (SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA) Founded in 1990 by David Landis. LCI is able to globally serve clients through its network with PRGN associated offices. Landis has won many awards, including the national Bulldog Award for both social media and best education/public service campaign. 8. 20 K GROUP (HOUSTON, TEXAS) Want a PR firm that works with dedication and diligence to optimize and boost your brand? Want PR Pros who stays up-to- date with the latest trends in the market? Look no more for

20 K Group is a high quality PR company that adopts a very cutting edge approach to the advertising process. Plus, they know social media like the back of their hands. Engaged. Interactive. Innovative. What more could you ask for? 9. CRENSHAW COMMUNICATIONS (NEW YORK, NEW YORK) Looking for a PR company that helps clients accomplish their corporate vision with style and class? A company who defines your values, goals, and business vision? Then the PR pros at Crenshaw Communications are your guys! They believe that the collaborative approach to PR is best that is why they strive to develop professional relationships with their clients. When looking for the best that the world of public relations has to offer, Crenshaw Communications is the real deal! 10. DKC (CHICAGO, ILLINOIS) Want a marketing campaign that’s interactive as possible? At DKC, they understand that engaging your audience is the key to continual growth and expansion. A PR company that is customer-oriented, they will make sure that their clients maintain a positive online presence. Their services include: public affairs, integrated marketing, and crisis management, among others. -

TOP TEN C O M P A N I E S

SOURCE: http://www.10bestpr.com/companies/

how the pros do it!!BY NIKKO TOM CATLI

“GO FOR PRO!” – This is the catchy line of the winning pitch of four Organizational Communication students of the University of the Philippines - Manila in the year’s Public Relations Society of the Philippines’ (PRSP) Student Grand Prix competition, October 11-12. Team “Prism” under Coach Barry Barrientos bagged the top prize after having a high percentage score in the competition held in Colegio de San Juan de Letran. From 29 entries to 7 in the qualifying round, the competition ended with Team “Prism” leaping for a victorious finish. Working together to create the perfect presentation, and getting ready for the answers to the panel, the members of Team “Prism”: Abee Magallona, Jomar De Venecia, Paul Cenizal and Nicole Navea, gives us the story behind their victory. Abee Magallona, 20-year-old from Las Pinas tells us her feelings about their win, “It is an honor to win such a prestigious PR competition. It blows my mind that our team won the first championship for OrCom, and UP Manila for that matter. It also humbles me that we broke a lot of records, such as we were the only team in PRSP history to have only 4 members (as compared to the 10 members other teams have) and only 3 members to pitch the campaign in front of the judges.” Why do you think the PRSSP event is important for practitioners and students alike? “It is important for students and practitioners to join events and competitions like these to enhance PR skills, keep up-to-date with the best practices in the industry, and of course, train individuals of what the real PR industry has to offer. “ When asked about pre-competition rituals, Abee gave a straight answer, “Prayer.” Do you think Organizational Communication gave you the edge over your competitors? In what way? “Yes. OrCom students always have an edge when it comes to anything related to communication, and integrated marketing communication (IMC) for that matter because OrCom teaches holism, as the degree program itself

touches upon several aspects of the professional life students are eventually going to have. We have requirements in many of the OrCom classes, which simulates the tasks done in the corporate world, thus equipping us with the set of skills and expertise needed to excel as a practitioner. Our edge, I believe, is that we aren’t shocked upon the presentation of complex tasks, such as the creation of an IMC campaign for PRSP, because we have already been doing such in many of the classes.” What was your role in the team? How did you ready yourself for it? “I was basically in-charge of putting the team together. I manage the tasks they do, overseeing what has been done and what is left to do for the entire campaign. I was also part of the strategizing and writing of the campaign – carefully thinking of creative and unique strategies and tactics. In addition, I was included in the monitoring of our #GoForPRo social media accounts, specifically Twitter.” What can you say about your teammates? “They are the best reflection of what OrCom students should really be. Public speaking, writing, strategizing, graphic design skills -- all present in my teammates! No matter how taleneted and skilled they are, they never forget to stay on their feet. They inspire me to be a better student and OrCom/PR practitioner in the future.” Regarding her future career plans, she answered, “[In] terms of my career, I’m planning on teaching in UP parttime -- specifically teaching the likes of Comm 3, OrCom 107, SPCOM137, SPCOM136 and other speech/culture classes. I’m also planning to break into the PR industry fulltime. I want to work in the corporate world and teach what I’ve experienced to OrCom students. I want to be a practitioner and an educator, basically, because I believe in the power of theory and practice or better known as praxis. So, how's your thesis? Getting closer to data collection! Thank you for asking!


Short and simple, answers given by another member of Team “Prism”, Paul Cenizal, tells us what they needed to do for the competition, “An entirely new definition of the word ‘sacrifice’. I also had to learn how to better balance my time and adjust my priorities accordingly.” In what way has your course helped you in winning? It helped me in more ways than one. Besides the formal courses, the values that came with it were indispensable. Resourcefulness and creativity are just some of the skills that OrCom honed and proved crucial in the process. What part did you play in the presentation? I was one of the three who pitched and answered in the Q&A that followed. How did you practice for it? We did lots of run-throughs and made sure we could ‘pitch in our sleep.’ How do you feel now that you have won? That moment was a source of euphoria unlike any other. Anytime I go back to that moment is a foolproof way to fix any bad day. Paul also tells us how much he cherishes his teammates, They’re the ‘awesomest’, craziest ever, and the best ones for the job. Why do you think is this kind of event important for Practitioners and students like you? These kinds of events are important because they spur students and practitioners alike to challenge themselves and exceed their current capabilities. He also gives us a straightforward answer as to his career plans after college, “A career in PR is definitely a strong option. I am also considering pursuing a career in the academe, as well as in fashion.” So, how's your thesis? It’s going really well, and I’m two chapters away from finishing. Yay! The third member of the team, Nicole Navea, gives us the details of their preparation, “Even before Abee, Paul, Jomar, Mariz, and I went through the initial screening, the preparation phase was exhaustive and challenging right from the start. We aimed for the best so we had to give our best. For our campaign, our team brainstormed day after day to polish our PR plan. Aside from this, we also made sure that our plan was well-researched. We handed out two surveys to our target stakeholders. We also interviewed PR professionals for more insights. We wanted the whole plan – the objectives, strategies, and tactics – to be hinged heavily on what the data results showed. We wanted it to be deep-rooted in our insights, so that it will be tuhog, so to speak. We had a handful of overnight sessions in Abee’s place for these. For the competition proper, we trained thoroughly – by each other and by our coach, Prof. Barry Barrientos. We

would critique each other’s spiels and the way we deliver it. We even went to Unilab’s, Sir Barry’s workplace, to hold a full-blown presentation in front of him. He did not hesitate to say what appeared to be good and bad during our run-throughs. He would throw in possible questions that the judges may ask us during the event proper. He invited OrCom alumni to comment on our presentation as well. Individually, I ran my spiel through my head over and over again, mostly during my free time. We, OrCom students, are trained to see the bigger picture without sacrificing the importance of being detail-oriented. What parts were assigned to you by your team? We planned the whole campaign together – we worked on the details of the plan as a team. But we maximized the strength of each other on our individual tasks. Abee got the below-the-line strategies because she thought most of it and she’s great at it. Paul was the one assigned to the traditional strategies because he worked as an intern in Ogilvy. Jomar would work on the collaterals because he was an intern in Saatchi & Saatchi. And I was the one to work on the digital aspect of the campaign because I was an SEO (Search Engine Optimization)/PR intern in a small company. In the social media aspect of our campaign, I was the one who managed GoForPRo’s Facebook account. We decided that these individual assignments were what we would deliver during the final presentation. This was to ensure that we know our subjects in depth. I was also tasked to do the introduction of the presentation. It was a lot pressure because I needed to set the tone and the atmosphere to what we were going for in our campaign. How did you practice your parts? We all decided that we would write our own spiels individually, so that it would come out natural when we deliver it. True enough, it worked for all of us. For me, I practiced the spiel that I wrote a lot of times – in front of the mirror (ha!), in front of Sir Barry and a number of OrCom alumni, in front of 3rd year OrCom students, and many times, with Abee and Paul. I knew and memorized it by heart, but Sir Barry reminded us that we should not rely that much on memorization. Instead, he wanted us to be able to talk about it naturally, so that should there ever came a time that we got mental-blocks, we would be able to continue to speak.

“We are trained to see the bigger picture

without sacrificing the importance of being

detail-oriented.”

Nicole also expresses her feelings for being recognized for their work, “It was thrilling and humbling at the same time. Our team's hardwork and perfect chemistry and our individual strengths made us win. Our efforts finally paid off, and I’m grateful for everyone who had become a part of it. This win is theirs as much as it is ours. It feels good to know that we did not only bring home the medals for ourselves, but for the university's recognition as well.” “As for being the Best Speaker, I was not expecting that at all. It was the biggest surprise of the night. If I told you that I didn’t smile all night - that would be a downright lie.” How do you think has your teammates helped you in getting such achievement? “I wouldn't exactly say it's my achievement but rather, I'd like to think that we all worked hard for this. But, without the support and love of my teammates, plus the good advice of our coach, I wouldn't be able to put my best feet forward. Their constant encouragement and cheer never let me down. As cheesy as it sounds, they were my source of strength during those times. They brought out the best in me, so to speak.” So in what kind of career path do you see yourself in after college? “I’d like to see myself in the PR industry, hopefully. The competition set my sights clear. It made me realize the value and meaning PR can bring in any entity – whether it is for a single person or a whole organization. I think that this career path would definitely push me to be the best that I could be. She also showed her funny side with her answer when asked about her thesis, “Next question, please!” Jomar de Venecia, the final, but still as important member of the team, also tells us his ‘mixed-feelings’ about the thesis he’s working on, What things did you learn from your degree program that helped ready you for the competition?

“ In the ‘Creat ives ’ perspect ive , Organizat ional Communication have required me a lot of designs and videos that really developed my skills. Aside from that, the program instilled in me the sense of “tuhog” or being aligned with the key message, and be consistent with it.”

Why do you think such events like PRSP are needed? “This is to prepare the next generation of PR practitioners. PRSP has the country’s PR legends and through events like these, they can impart the learning they acquired through the years so that young and aspiring PR practitioners can have a clear view on what is waiting for them after school.” There is no denying that winning the PRSP made you stars of your respective degree programs, how does it feel? “First, I prefer to be called “inspiration” and not a “star” because I want the next OrCom contestants of the PRSP Grand Prix to continue what we have started. Let’s build an OrCom dynasty in Grand Prix! On the other hand, because of this win, I felt very thankful to all those who supported us along the way. It was also a way of giving back to my degree program. For OrCom!” How did your teammates help you in the whole duration of the competition? “More than the copy for my designs, my teammates helped me maintain my morale because preparing for this competition required a lot of all-nighters and long hours that I sometimes set aside my academics. I was about to quit. Back then, I think I was a part-time student, and full-time Grand Prix contestant. Haha! But my teammates did not quit and filled every minute with study and work. So if they were not giving up, I won’t as well.” What was your part in the presentation and preparation of your entry? How did you practice for it? “I was the creatives guy in the group so all of the collaterals, logo, deck, AVP, etc were on me. During the competition, I was operating the computer for the deck so basically I did not need much practice. I just have to memorize when will I press the “next” button so that it will be synced to the pitch.” Do you think you're ready for your future career? And in what career path would that be? “With all of the learning that OrCom has given me, coupled with this Grand Prix experience, I would like to think that I am ready for the outside world. My career preference would be advertising and/or PR, and hopefully be the next big name in the creatives industry. But if this doesn’t work-out, I would like to venture into business and law.” Surely their journey in their respective careers is still yet to come, but as of this moment, they have given pride to their school, their degree program, and proven themselves, a ‘PRO’ in their own right.

From Abee Magallona’s Facebook account

“Our team’s hardwork, perfect chemistry and our individual strengths made us win. Our

efforts finally paid off.” 05 PERCEPTIONS / FEBRUARY 2015

Above the line Advertising that is 'talking at you', e.g. television, radio, posters.

Below the line Advertising that is 'talking to you', e.g. direct mail, point of purchase, leaflets.

Blog Is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

Brand A product or service that has been refined and given a registered name to distinguish it from other products/services.

Brief The outline of what needs to be done on a project. B2B - Business to Business) Publ i c re la t ions market ing communication dedicated to providing information resources between businesses. Includes professional services, training, human resources and office supplies.

Community Relations: C o r p o r a t e s o c i a l o u t r e a c h programmes designed to build relations and foster understanding of the role of the business to neighbours in the local community Consultancy Externally hired public relations services, either an individual consultant or a public relations consultancy.

Corporate identity The ways in which companies identify and brand themselves. This can be through logos, house style and uniforms.

CORPORATE COMMUNICA- TIONS Public relations for a corporation integrated as part of the company's strategic objectives. Corporate Social Responsibility - CSR): Borne from the belief that trade brings obligations, CSR makes companies responsible for their u s e o f r e s o u r c e s , b o t h environmentally and socially. The

role of public relations in CSR strategies is to communicate effectively to build corporate accountability and transparency. CRISIS MANAGEMENT Having a plan in place that can be effectively actioned when something goes wrong for an organisation.

Embargo In international commerce and polit ics, an embargo is the exclusion of commerce (division of trade) and trade with a certain country, in order to isolate it and to put its government into a difficult internal situation, given that the effects of the embargo are often able to make its e c o n o m y s u f f e r f r o m t h e initiative. The embargo is usually used as a political punishment for some previous disagreed policies or acts, but its economic nature frequently raises doubts about the real interests that the prohibition serves.

Environmental Communications P R s e c t o r s p e c i a l i z i n g i n communication on sustainable use of resources, environmental impact of business and corporate social responsibility. Fundraising/Sponsorship Looking for partners to provide financial support or support 'in kind' for an event or activity where both parties will benefit.

pr A crash course on


MARKETING COMMUNICA- TIONS / MARCOMMS Are messages and related media used to communicate with a market. Marketing communications focuses on product or service as opposed to a corporate communication.

Media/Presentation Training Training to help when dealing with the var ious med ia ( inc lud ing television and radio), with journalists and when making a p i tch to prospective clients.

Media Monitoring Monitoring a company's coverage in the press, on TV and radio, and on the internet.

Media Relations Dealing with and building up good working relationships with journalists from the broadcast and print media.

Pitch A presentation of a recommended pub l i c re la t ions programme, generally carefully researched, which can take up to four weeks to prepare and for which some consultancies reserve the right to charge a fee if not subsequently appointed.

Podcast: A podcast is a series of digital computer files, usually either digital audio or video that is released periodically and made available for download

Press Release (also known as

a News Release) Statement describing an event or item which is considered to be of sufficient interest to readers/viewers/listeners for an editor to publish reference to it.

Print Production The process of producing printed material such as brochures, posters and leaflets with its key messages.

Public Affairs/Lobbying Those aspects of public relations communication involving relations with governmental or statutory bod ies or the i r semi -offic ia l organizations through sophisticated use of political intelligence and pressure.

PUBLIC RELATIONS The determined, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics. Also understood as reputation management.

Publics: A u d i e n c e s i m p o r t a n t t o t h e organization.

Spokesperson: The PR person authorized to speak on behalf of an organization/individual.

Stakeholders: Can also be referred to as publics; a u d i e n c e s i m p o r t a n t t o t h e organization.

TARGET MARKET: The audience(s) the organization has chosen to whom to communicate its key messages.

jargon

SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GNOSISARTS.COM/

INDEX.PHP?TITLE=PR_DICTIONARY

PERCEPTIONS / FEBRUARY 2015 08

B E S T & W O R S T

PR CAMPAIGNS PR campaigns are supposed to be tools to minimize the damage in a company’s reputation during a crisis. B u t p o o r l y t h o u g h t o u t P R campaigns can do exactly the opposite of what it’s intended to do. From fashion related crises to apathetic company CEOs, we’ve scoured through dozens of PR blunders listed on the internet and picked five of our favorite most cringe-worthy PR crisis management campaigns. 5. ABERCROMBIE & FITCH FINDS ITSELF IN A BAD SITUATION Apparently, A&F isn’t thrilled that a lot of its customers are party girls and boys, or those who are part of the MTV generation. A&F executives then offered to pay Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino of MTV's "Jersey Shore" to stop wearing their clothes. Insulting one of their market’s most famous icons proved to be a bad idea when its stock fell by 15% throughout

this PR disaster. The cherry on top is the lawsuit filed by The Situation for infringement by selling t-shirts with his trademarked catchphrases “GTL… You Know The Deal” and “The Fitchuation.” 4. LULEMON’S SEE-THROUGH YOGA PANTS Lulemon, a popular athletic apparel retailer recalled its yoga pants line after customers complained that the fabric used were too thin, making the yoga pants t ransparent when stretched. The company’s founder, Chip Wilson, ag reed to an i n te rv i ew w i th Bloomberg TV to address the yoga pants situation, which is a wise decision because it signifies that the company really cares about its customers. However, the interview received backlash from the public w h e n C h i p a t t r i b u t e d t h e transparency issue to “individual

differences in women’s’ bodies”. This statement made it seem like Wilson attempted to shift the blame to its customers instead of admitting the poor quality of fabric used for the yoga pants. 3. BP OIL SPILL CRISIS The Gulf of Mexico Spill or BP Oil Spill is considered one of the world’s worst accidental oil spills in history. The tragedy claimed 11 lives and heavily damaged the marine wildlife of the gulf and its surrounding bodies of water. The way the company handled the crisis also didn’t help in healing the metaphorical wounds of the people affected by it. Former BP’s CEO, Tony Haywood, apathetic response in an interview where he infamously said, “I’d like my life back,” was not received well by the public; and to top it off the company also offered potential

BY ALDRIN PALMA


plaintiffs 5000USD to not issue lawsuits against them. What a way to cover salt on people’s wounds. 2. PHILIP MORRIS’ DEATH BY SMOKING IS GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY CAMPAIGN It is no secret that the Tobacco industry is constantly facing negative PR mainly due to studies indicating the harmful effects of smoking on both people and nature. Logically speaking, a company would address this in order to not lose sales and in turn, profit. But nobody expected Philip Morris, one of the leading tobacco companies, to respond in quite an odd manner. I n r e s p o n s e t o t h e C z e c h government’s argument that tobacco smoking’s costs far outweighs the benefits, Philip Morris conducted a study which concludes that death by smoking is actually beneficial to the Czech government by producing a net gain of around $147 million, “including saving "between 943 million and 1.2 billion korunas (about $24 million-to-$30 million) in health-care, pension and public-housing costs due to the early deaths of smokers.” The study and the company, of course, faced public backlash after the release of the study. Philip Morris then cancel led simi lar studies involving other countries. 1. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE LOW FLYING PLANE ON MANHATTAN The offender in this case is the US Government and their apparent lack of foresight to see the consequences

of photo their Air Force One photo-op. Citizens of New York City were mortified when they saw a plane flying unusually low and being “chased” by a fighter jet on the skies of Manhattan. The photo-op, which to the inhabitants of New York seemed like another 9/11, caused mass panic in the city. People in office buildings evacuated and countless of reports were filed to the police. Former Army Secretary Louis Caldera, the person in charge of the -op, forgot to inform not only the citizens of New York but also President Obama himself wasn’t informed, which is something the President didn’t take lightly. But of course, well executed PR campaigns can save companies even in the direst situations. Here are our “Top 5 PR Saves.” 5. RED CROSS #GETTNGSLIZZERD TWEET One of the handlers of Red Cross’ social media account accidentally sent a tweet meant for her private account while still using Red Cross’ twitter account. The tweet stayed up for about an hour before one Red Cross’ social media director noticed it. Wendy Harman, Red Cross’ social media director followed up with a humorous tweet acknowledging the mistake made. Dogfish Head also e m b r a c e d t h e h a s h t a g a n d encouraged its followers to donate to Red Cross.

In addition, the rogue tweet and Harman’s follow up actually went viral in twitter and turned the supposedly embarrassing tweet into positive PR for the organization. 4. TACO BELL “SEASONED BEEF” LAWSUIT Yum! Brand, the parent company of Taco Bel l , was sued for false advertising on its “seasoned beef”. The plaintiff claimed that Taco Bell’s “seasoned beef” contains only 35% beef, far from its advertisement which states that it contains 88% beef and 12% secret recipe. Taco Bell responded by explicitly declaring that the allegations were false and by sharing its secret recipes on different media platforms, heavily focusing on social media namely: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. . The campaign was well received by the public and in four months the lawsuits were dropped.


3. JUSTIN BIEBER’S LOVE CHILD It is quite known that celebrity fans – especially pop stars’ -- act crazy from time to time due to their immense adoration of their icons. However, someone took crazy to the next level when one teenager filed a lawsuit against pop idol, Justin Bieber, claiming that he is the father of her child. Unfazed, the teen pop idol, calmly denied the fan’s claim in an episode of The Today Show. “I know that I’m going to be a target, but I’m never going to be a victim” said Bieber in the show. He then filed a countersuit and took a paternity test to show “that the kid is not his son” (pun intended). 2. JC PENNEY SPOKESPERSON ELLEN AND THE ONE MILLION MOMS’ BOYCOTT JC Penney’s reputation, even before the boycott, was already suffering due to shady deals and radical changes in its retail stores. One of the changes in JC Penney was a new spokesperson. Ellen DeGeneres, famous comedian and TV host, was chosen by JC Penney to undertake this role. This decision, however, wasn’t appreciated by One Million Moms, an organization composed of conservative mothers, who claimed that she wasn’t fit to be the face of JC Penney s ince most of i ts customers are families holding “traditional” values. JC Penney was then stuck in a dilemma. Firing Ellen

as the i r spokesperson wou ld probably anger Ellen’s enormous fan base but keeping her wouldn’t go well with the One Million Moms. The executives of JC Penney then decided to keep Ellen as their spokesperson because they thought that Ellen is far more famous than the One Million Moms. Also, they decided to let her do the talking instead, and they made the correct decision. In one of Ellen’s show, after a series of humorous one liners about the issue, she hit the final nail in the coffin by explaining her definition of traditional values, "Here are the values I stand for: I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you'd want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values. That's what I stand for". The boycott ended quickly afterwards. 1. ODWALLA’S E. COLI CRISIS Odwalla is on the top of our list since it is about a food company’s PR department’s worst nightmare: death caused by one of its product. An investigation by Washington State confirmed that Odwalla had an outbreak of E. Coli bacteria in its unpasteurized apple juice. One child died and more than 60 people became sick, prompting more than 20 lawsuits. The company’s CEO, Stephen Williamson, recalled all of its apple juice from stores, a decision that cost him 65 million dollars. Next, he a p o l o g i z e d a n d a c c e p t e d responsibility, then promised that he would pay the medical bills of those who were affected by the outbreak. Odwalla also issued newspaper ads and a website to explain the situation a n d wa r n t h e p u b l i c o f t h e contaminated products. Odwalla pled guilty to the lawsuits and was fined with 1.5 million dollars

by the FDA. Although the company suffered huge losses from this ordeal, Odwalla was still standing and has focused on customer relations since the outbreak to regain the public’s trust. The crisis that should have ended with the company’s demise was then averted thanks to its well thought out PR plan.

SOURCES: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-biggest-corporate-pr-disasters-of-the-decade-2009-12?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/pr-disasters-crisis-management-2011-5?op=1#ixzz3Qgt2R0eJ http://www.bridgeny.com/blog/bid/365456/The-Worst-PR-Crisis-Situations-of-2013 http://crenshawcomm.com/pr-disaster-averted-7-cases-of-good-crisis-management/#.VNhqUPmUdDI http://listverse.com/2013/01/07/10-totally-ridiculous-pr-disasters/ http://pha-media.com/insights/crisis-reputation-management/top-ten-worst-reputation-management-disasters/


PERCEPTION BY: MARWELL LEIGH EBLACAS, REANNE PAULA MEDINA, CLARK TYRONE GALAPIN

After graduating from the University of the Philippines Manila under the Organizational Communication program in 2012, following a series of jobs that didn’t seem to fit his calling, a new world seemed to have opened up for “The Engineer,” Mikkhail O. Guioguio. Perhaps, new world is a bit of an exaggeration for he had a glimpse of this, even long before he pursued his dream job. Like everyone else, you might wonder why he refers to himself as The Engineer. No, he doesn’t design railways and tunnels. Nor does he build gigantic stadiums or multi-storey car parks. Train stations and tall buildings aren’t on his list, either. He is an Engineer. An Engineer of PERCEPTION. Striking and intriguing as it may seem, Mikko believes that this term, when understood the right way, fully encompasses the definition of an Organizational Communication student. “’Engineers of Perception’ was coined by my classmates and my professor in a subject called OrCom 142. In that class, we were discussing about the capabilities of Organizational Communication majors.” Being an OrCom graduate gives you the freedom to choose from a wide array of choices. Mikko, himself, had a job as a Business Development Assistant at Woodfields Consultants before he finally found his dream job—pursuing Public Relations at PHINMA Properties for 5 months. Mikko said that he was technically already doing PR activities in his previous work, so he’s a practicing PR Pro for two years now. That’s what got him in his second job: the experience. “The problem is, most companies want people with experience. PR is not exactly an entry level job most of the time. Well, unless you’re in a social media manager positions.”

ON PUBLIC RELATIONS “Wikipedia would say that Public Relations is basically an endeavor designed to make the general public or persons of interest have a desired opinion or perception about you or your company. Okay. That’s what they would say. I have a different definition, though. Well, sort of personal. They say that we are people, who with communications, want to create, propagate, and standardize desired opinions. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this before, but have you heard of the term, ‘Engineers of Perception’?

MIKKO: ENGINEER

work, life, and public relations through his black-rimmed glasses:

Meet

the of

Back then we just used to say, we, OrCom students are Engineers of Perception. So, what is that? Engineers, what do engineers do? They design, they construct, they make, basically. What is perception? It’s the feeling. Your feeling of what something means, your understanding of what something is. It’s your subjective understanding of things. When you are an Engineer of Perception what does that make you? It is someone who, by profession and trade, can influence opinions thereby being opinion leaders. They are responsible for the transmission of information and managing that process so that certain desired reactions are achieved. Because you control what people get to understand, they’ll react, and believe in a way you like. You will be something like a Mind Sculptor (subtle nod to my hobby), or a charismatic leader. Your words will matter so much that you will be worth believing. In our field, we just have desired opinions. We create those; we do not coerce people to believe them. We give them a choice what to believe in. We give them alternatives—those alternatives are opinions that benefit us, the people we work for, and ideally everybody else.”

ON BEING A PR PROFESSIONAL “I can describe my work as PR professional as, basically two things. First, we are stewards of truth. Why? As I said, communication - that’s our primary tool. As much as you’d like to believe it, not everybody is very good with communicating. Ideally what we do is that we have the truth. Not everybody can just handle the truth, just for example, you have a family member who’s about to pass away. You’re the only one who knows it. How do you break that truth to your family? The truth is that a family member is about to die and you have to turn that truth into a message. How do you do that? Basically, you package it right? You package the message. That’s what we do. We take the truth, we make it, turn it into a message, and then we package it. Not everybody can do this. That’s when PR professionals come in—that’s when I come in. That’s why we become stewards of truth: we are the ones who deliver the truth as messages. People, especially people from the white colleges and others, have an inkling to assume that what we do is easy. The truth is, we are not just communicating. We are actually not just giving messages, we are creating, and we are forming. If these people say what they want to say, we are what we want to say. We are also the means by how it gets to the people. We are also the gatekeepers how much gets out, what gets out, and in what way does it get out. We are more than just communicators, and we have to remember that. For example, you have a message, how do you say that to someone who thinks you’re lying? How do you say it to someone who does not believe you? How do you say it to someone who believes in something else? These are some of the problems you’ll face as PR professionals or even just as OrCom students. Second point, what are PR professionals? We are photographers, figuratively. Why? You have the message. What do you do with it? You do not just give it out to people just because you need to give it out to people. There’s always a purpose. You filter it. Why? Do you want it to become friendly? Do you want to have good relations with public? But, then again, why? It’s because you want a perception. That perception is an image. You want an image to form around yourself. You want an image to form around your company. We are photographers because we create images—that is what people see. People will see the image. It is all about what people associate with you. For example you work for SM, what kind of image do you want for SM? Do you want it to be seen as the chain of supermalls in the company? That’s the image. You create that. You are the PR professional and you create that. Remember image is about seeing

about seeing but perception is more than just seeing, its feeling. That’s what you want to feel when you hear a name, a brand, or a person. You want people to feel something out of it. It all depends on how you frame the message. How you take the picture. How you get the people to feel—that’s a PR professional.” ON HIS MOTIVATIONS FOR PURSUING PR “When you’re in OrCom they say you can pursue any course—and that’s mostly correct. I know people who took the LAE, pursued a pre-med course after OrCom, among others. Basically, it’s varied. You don’t know what to choose—that’s the problem with having so many choices. The problem with freedom is when you can’t choose anything at all. So, PR. Why PR? It’s because they said, it’s one of the paths open to you as an OrCom major. And the person who impressed that most upon me is Sir Barry. He was my professor in OrCom 105 and just seeing him in that profession being the way he is, he’s cool, teaches so many useful things—so many concrete things that you know you will be able to use in life. The thing is, it was then and there that I knew where I could use my skills. I know how to write, I know how to speak, I know how to do messages—PR does all those. PR gave me a direction for my skills. If you're a flowing river of skill, of untapped potential, PR was the hose hat gave direction and focus to my skills. That’s the very reason I went into PR. It was where I felt most that I’d be able to apply the things I learned in OrCom. Although nowadays, all I see are blurred lines. When you’re working, you don’t get to choose what you do. At the end of the day, what matters most is you get results—you get the perception you want.” ON HIS WORK AS A PR ASSISTANT “I’ll describe it as happy. In my work, I basically write. Everything. I talk to people who will use what I write and try to get them out to as many people as possible. So, it’s writing, talking, and its persuading—that summarizes my entire professional career. Even though that doesn’t sound a lot, there’s so much in it, so many challenges, so much awesomeness, so much pain—but that’s PR—you talk, you write, and you propagate. Six months after Yolanda, I had to go to Tacloban, Guian, Palo, and all those Western Visayas places. Before, I worked in an engineering company but I had a lot of experience doing PR even if I wasn’t their PR guy. I talked to local government officials, ask them the damage they sustained, infrastructure they need, what kind of help they expect to receive from NGOs, to name a few. I interviewed government officials, people, hospital workers, regular people, and sidewalk vendors. As much as it was an awesome experience, it was a very stressful and saddening—that was just six months after Yolanda, and yet you can see, you know, everything’s still there—everything’s still wrecked. Everything’s open air—it’s a ghost town! Everything’s bare concrete, like nothing was even built there. These kind of things are PR jobs. You go to places like those, and you talk to people. I learned to enjoy what food they had. In PR you do that, you adapt, you talk to these people, and you have to be very tactful. My work is stressful, yes; but, at the same time, I’m very glad it happened.” ON PR’S SURPRISES “First of all it’s everything you thought it was, and more. You usually don’t get that with what you think about most jobs. Everything you ever expected in PR, it is like that, except it’s just more than that—way more than that, because you’re in it. How do you force people to have a paradigm shift in a single message? You don’t. You can’t.

“Take the truth, turn it into a message, and then package it. Not everybody can do this. That’s when PR professionals come in—that’s when I come in.”

That’s why PR is not just one endeavor; that’s a campaign, continuous—and that’s what surprised me the most. I remember we all tried to sell something in my company. PR concerns are basically packaging messages so they are more palatable to convince you to buy, to spend money. Remember, packaging messages, having preplanned activities, having scripts—those are not in itself dishonest. Rather, when you have a message you want to say, preparing it makes it that much better to say. People will believe you more if you have a well-constructed message, rather than if you have a message that’s from the heart but all you could make out of it are all “uhms and ahs.” ON HIS TYPICAL DAYS AS A PR PRACTITIONER “One of the days that may happen to me, is I get to meet a journalist, dress smartly, treat him to lunch, and engage in small talk. I suggest, increase your stock knowledge—always be updated with current and foreign events. Be always aware of the industry you’re in. For example, I work in a condo industry, you need to know that there’s a report in the papers that there is a study that land prices in Las Pinas, Paranaque, and Cavite


{ mikkhail } ON PR’S CHANGES THROUGH THE YEARS “To be honest, to answer that question sufficiently, I need to have decade’s worth of experience or at least five. PR, nowadays, is less about convincing people, and more of building up a brand that people will associate with something they want. What comes to mind when you say the word, ‘toothpaste?’ Colgate. ‘Mouthwash?’ ‘Listerine.’ ‘Iced tea?’ ‘Nestea.’ The thing is, it’s less of convincing people to buy, and more of making yourself buyable. People are very brand-conscious.”

ON ‘LESS CONVINCING’ AND ‘MORE BRAND BUILDING’ “PR is concerned with distributing the message. Marketing is the one who’s going to make the product marketable. Advertising is for the ads—let them know you. As a PR professional, I don’t get to choose what I do. In my company right now, I’m the PR assistant, but I am assistant to no one. I am the only PR guy there. And while I’m an assistant, I’m not actually anyone’s assistant. I’m the only one who does the PR for the whole company. For what it’s worth, my position should be called PR overlord, or Vice President for PR. PR Officer is nice too. I am the PR assistant, I am under the Marketing Department, who is under the Director for Sales in Marketing, who does the ad placements, and all the rest. My company did a big umbrella of marketing, PR is under one of them, advertising is one of them, marketing effort is one of them, sales is one of them. That’s why if you want a product to be successful, you cannot separate PR from the marketing, nor from the advertising anymore—it’s not a concentrated effort—it’s a varied effort. We do it all at once. That’s why you have PR companies that don’t just PR. They also do the marketing, and the advertising. For production companies, and if you want commercials, they do that. They have all those. PR is not just effective on its own. It’s a facet, one of the facets of having a campaign that will sell—a campaign that will work.”

“PR, nowadays, is less about convincing people, and more of building up a brand that people will associate with

something they want.”

increase by so and so. In the next 5 years—as a PR professional, it’s a need to know if you need things to talk about. You can’t always just ask, ‘How’s your family? How’s your child?’ if you’ve just met that person one or two times. It’s just like saying, ‘It’s our first date, can I kiss you?’ The feel, remember, the feel. Always remember the feel. Have you ever heard of the onion model of communication? Remember, layers? It’s like that—layer by layer. On my typical day, there’s need to small talk, and a need for a good restaurant—yes, part of the job—is finding restaurants, making sure it's a conducive place for conversations, and managing your money—that’s one of my days. On my other regular days, I go to the office, read 2 newspapers a day because I need to update myself on everything: articles, advertisements that might pertain to our industry. Next, I write everything they want me to write: text blast, tagline, email. There was an experience that in one week I had to make three executive speeches and one program script for this one huge corporate event that we were going to do. This happened a few weeks ago—last January—for one whole week. There was this one other time when I made a speech about inclusive business to be presented to the UN in New York. How long did it take me to make a ten minute speech that’s presentable to the rest of the world? 3 weeks—that many changes, that many practices with my boss—it’s not just a speech! That’s what it’s like for me: writing all day, every day.”


ON PROJECTS HE’S PROUD OF “Two projects actually. One is when I went to Tacloban because first of all, I was more responsible than my boss, and number two, that’s when I learned how to talk to and engage with people—not just with executives, not just with presidents, with foreigners, I got to talk to people—Filipinos—regular, normal Filipinos, who just experienced tragedy. I’m proud of my work there—I talked to a lot of people, interviewed a lot, got a report done, which was well-received by my German partners. I was able to package the report very well and they were able to work with it. Second, was about the speech I made for UN where PNoy attended. It’s in line with condos and yet I was able to create a very good speech for it. Presentable not only to my boss, but to the United Nations in New York—that was on my first three weeks in the job. I’m most proud of that.”

ON THE WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED ON HIS JOB “Nothing really bad. But, I have experienced this: I was ‘courting’ this one journalist, and was like, ‘Sir, baka pwedeng tignan niyo ‘to, this is very news-worthy, it is of public interest.’ But, he didn’t publish it. It was actually about the appearance of my boss in UN. I was saying, ‘Could you write us an article? Somewhere in the front page.’ He said yes. So, I went to check the progress a week later. He said he wrote and gave it to the editor. Week after week, there was still no progress—that’s when my company’s President already asked me. Three months later and still, there was no progress. The president doesn’t normally directly coordinate with regular staff members. It’s a very big deal and I was his point person for that. Anyway, what would you feel towards the journalist? Will you feel hatred? Anger? No. Because you’re afraid that your relationship with the journalist will be damaged. After all, he’s still an important contact. How do you fix it then? Be tactful. To make up for it, he gave us half an entire page of a newspaper in the business section. You know how much half a page costs for an ad? Almost a hundred thousand pesos. I got that for free.”

ON HIS FAVORITE PART ABOUT HIS JOB “First favorite part is that my primary job is writing. The reason I went to OrCom is because I’m very good at writing. I know in myself, and I know in my heart, that I am very good at this—this is what I do every day. So, for all intents and purposes, I am in my dream job.”

ON THE CHALLENGES OF WORK “The part I find most challenging is that it’s very hard to talk to journalists. Number one, you don’t have anything in common with them. Number two, they’re twice my age or more—usually more—and you’re asking for something that’s free. How do you ask for something free? You build up a relationship. I have only a few contacts but I do have some in the top 3: Bulletin, Inquirer, and Star. Even though I’ve met with them several times, it does not make it any easier for me as this person, who wants to get something free from them. I just try to play it to my advantage. I try to play it out with a facade of innocence, since I’m only two years on the job, just to eliminate the awkwardness so that there’s a reason for it—it helps you talk.

ON CRISIS MANAGEMENT “It’s actually kind of timely, because something of that sort happened, although I wasn’t the one who handled it. Ramon Tulfo, on their show, talked about one of our previous projects. Apparently, there were structural defects—cracks along the walls—as if an earthquake happened. That’s really bad press! If I were the one who handled that, first and foremost, you have to address the problem, you have to admit that there’s a problem, then I would make a message campaign on our social media accounts. I’ll try to get out an article—a press release and I’ll address the problem, but as we speak it is being fixed,

“I am in my dream job.”

Personally I’m an introvert and yet I’m in PR—that’s the thing. You need to talk to these people, you need to be very extroverted with them, you need to be very talkative, you need to make sense—you need to know what you’re talking about, even though you don’t.”

ON HIS PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS “Right now, I have none but I do plan to join the Public Relations Society of the Philippines. Back in college, I was one of the founding members of the PRSSP-UPM. Now, I want join the actual adult society. Sir Barry told us about how public relations professionals have certification. You need to be certi-

plus you can add acronyms to your names. How cool is that?” ON UNDERSTANDING THE COMPANY’S BUSINESS IN THE MARKETPLACE “Very important. When I got this job, I had little knowledge of the real estate industry. One of the hardest things I had to learn, first and foremost, what are the kinds of words you use to market a condo. Affordable luxury—that’s just one of the terms I had to learn. I have a list of adjectives to choose from whenever I write ads because there are some words that you can only use in condos, some you cannot. You really need a list of handy words—not just the words, but how to use those words. Yes, you do have to know your market, you need to know your industry.”

fied as a public relations professional and only then you get to be a member of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines. Why is that important? It gives you credibility. It makes you legit,

one who makes the message—that’s what I would do. But, what happened was, design and planning took care of it. Since structural designs and planning were concerned, they said that if they need any kind of press release about it, they’ll tell me. But if it was up to me, that’s what I would do. You need to admit that there’s a problem. You have to tell them how you’re fixing it.”

ON MEASURING SUCCESS IN THE FIELD “I would like to say that I have an empirical data. I would like to say that I have a quantitative analysis of how I can say I’m successful. I would like to say that I can base it off our sales records, but, not really. Truth be told, success in PR depends largely on, again, perception—and it’s very vague. Perception

rest assured that our track record’s ISO quality certified. The truth is, you have to act first, and fast. You must not let word of mouth do the story for you. You need to be the

of the people around you—if they perceive that something about the current paradigm is changing. For example, I told you I write all of the ads stuff, right? Then does that mean that more people are inclined to buy because of my ads, messages, and flyers? If they say that a lot went to open houses, that many inquired, then, I can say that that is success for me. There is no real way to prove it, aside from seeing for yourself the changes are happening. It’s not empirical—it’s more phenomenological—you experience it, you see it, you hear it. So if people start seeing the same photograph that you created, that’s when I can say, we’re successful. Since it’s very hard to do that, you’re never sure. It’s a continuous process. Success is not just one point in your life, its every endeavor, step by step.”

ON ANSWERING THE ULTIMATE QUESTION “Financially stable? Yeah, very much. The kind of things we do as PR professionals, not everybody can do this. I already told you—a lot of people have stage fright, a lot of people are super mega introverts—talking to other people makes them nervous, gives them allergies. And for stuff that you can’t do, or most people don’t do that you can, you get paid a lot for it. Remember, we’re not just talking about JUST Public Relations. Even in my previous job, I was already talking about multi million peso deals. Right now, I’m selling—I’m not selling but the things I do are used to sell condos that are millions of pesos—these are high stakes. So you can expect that when I gain experience, when you gain experience, in our field, we’ll be highly valued. You can be prosperous here in PR and a good thing is, you can be entrepreneurs. How? Start your own PR consultancy—that’s how PR firms start, as PR consultancy. You can collaborate with advertisers, marketers, friends, and make your own company. Yes, you can be very rich as a PR professional. It just depends on you, depends on how you do it. Diskarte lang.”

ON STUDENTS’ PREPAREDNESS FOR THE REAL WORLD “I would have to say yes, partly. You already have experience. First and foremost, in your high school years, you guys are already being prepared—coordinating with so many kinds of people. You have your friends, you have the a-holes, you have teachers, then you have teachers you can talk to—they’re different. From there you already have your background, on how to adapt, how to be tactful. Then, you go to college, you get to the technical aspects of the PR, you get to do the writing. You get to do the message, you get to do the précis—you learn all these things. And, the thing is, that’s about almost everything you need at the job. Imagine you’re a carpenter, you

“The truth is, you have to act first,

and fast.”


Number four. Read: newspapers and current events. You need to know trends—social media trends. You have to read. Be avid readers, be voracious readers. Be interested in a lot of things—especially articles or news that you think people will care about, will generate buzz—public interest, that’s the term! Always be updated on public interest. I guess my last thing that I could say to you guys, one of those important. One word: TACT. T-A-C-T. You would think that it’s actually a very common, common-sense thing, right? The thing is, most people don’t know it and to be honest, you’ll have to go through a lifetime’s worth of shame and embarrassment in order to master it. What is tact? Saying the right things? But then, right is subjective. Appropriate. Measured adaptation. Remember, communication is our tool—your words. Aside from being just careful, you have to be aware, you have to adapt--that’s what tact is. It’s about making sure that your words promote goodwill—will generate good will; rather than the opposite. Never say anything that is tactless. Never be PNoy! I’m not the kind who goes into rallies, but as a PR professional, I would have to say that PNoy has the worst publicists! He’s a good example of how not to be. So, remember, tact. As PR professionals even just as OrCom students, even just as people, learn tact. Learn how to talk appropriately, learn how to adapt. ON WHERE HE IS NOW “So my life is now like this. I write everything and I meet people who help get me published. It’s almost everything I’ve ever expected in a PR job, and I guess, I’ve been subconsciously wanting a job like that, since it’s what I know. Now that I have it, I can’t believe how lucky I am. Back then, “Engineer of Perception”, was only JUST a term. Now though, I can finally say that I’m really an Engineer of Perception. There are still many challenges, to be sure. I don’t know a lot of things I’m supposed to be doing, and I’m just playing a lot of things by ear. Now that I’m an engineer of perception, I’ll learn better, do better, and think better. I’ll have a lot more things to share now, too.”

need a hammer. College gives you the hammer. When you get out in the real world you’ll find nails as big as this one [gestures as if nails are thrice as long and big as hammer] and your hammer doesn’t even compare to the size. Well, the point is, you have a hammer, right? It’s a varied experience, but you already have the tools you need. What you need now is the experience on how to use it. Yes, I do believe you are prepared. You have your social media, more than anything—social media is your advantage—your generation’s advantage. This is going to be the wave of the future. It’s like language: You have your native speakers, then you have your second language speakers. All of us who grew up without social media, are just learning this now. But, you grew up with it. You instinctively know how to do this, how to use it, all you need to do is just grow up, have a job. You already have all the tools. Yes, you are prepared. I just hope you are mentally prepared on how to use it properly.”

ON ADVICE TO STUDENTS WHO PLANS TO PURSUE PR “Number one. More than just trying to picture yourself as PR professionals, you guys need to be sure that you’re in the right place. I know you have doubts about probably…your college course, right? I do, I still do. But where am I now? I’m in my dream job because my course gave me the skills I needed. Don’t doubt your course—your course is good. Don’t doubt what you learn—what you learn is useful. Perhaps, what you’re doubting is your fit. And perhaps, it’s because you haven’t seen yet what’s the use of all these. But, I’m telling you right now, there is a use. If you can see the use, if you can experience the use, you’ll know you’re right. You’ll know this course is useful, you’ll know that it’s okay to be in OrCom—even though there are many times people ask me, ‘Anong course mo?’ sometimes I just say communications, corporate communications, and mass comm. I cannot deny the fact that OrCom gave me everything I have right now. Right now, maybe you can’t see how much it impacts your life. You’re still students. Once you get out there, you’ll realize that, maybe all you’ve learned are just the basics. But then, people don’t know the basics in the real world. The thing is you have to be sure. You need to mitigate your doubts. As much as you doubt where you are right now, you’re doubting yourselves. Doubting OrCom right now, where you are in, is doubting who you will be in the future—what you can do in the future. Remember you are engineers of perception. You are not just OrCom students, you are engineers of perception. You are engineers but not just any other engineer. You are engineers not of cement, not of steel, not of houses nor buildings. You are engineers of opinion, of paradigms, of belief, of culture. That’s you. Number two. Learn how to outline—outlines are very important. It’s part of planning. You need to make a lot of plans in this field of work, back up plans of back up plans. Outlines: learn it, love it, do it. Number three. PowerPoints. Remember to make it short, concise, brief, no glitters. No choochoo trains, no sound effects. Be practical. Pragmatic—always be pragmatic in presentations.

“You are engineers not of cement, not of steel, not of houses nor buildings, but of opinion, of paradigms, of belief, of culture.

M I K K H A I L G U I O G U I O

“Success is not just one point in your life; it’s every endeavor,

step by step.” MIKKO GUIOGUIO

NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS

Since we cannot change reality,

let us change the eyes which see

reality.

There's no denying that television is still one of the most influential and common media, when it comes to advertising. It encompasses social status, age brackets and language barriers altogether, and let's just face it, almost everyone has TV. Most people start their days with watching morning shows for news, those who are left at home and those taking breaks watch noontime shows while eating lunch and the moment workers get home, the primetime or their primetime is spent watching the 7:00 PM news all the way through the primetime drama shows. TV has become a pair of every task they do that even in front of laptops or mobile phones, the TV is playing in the background. Since TV is unarguably a necessitated home appliance, it is used by ad makers as the channel for most video ads they conceptualize. However, we must never forgot how costly it is to advertise on TV, so if you would create a half-assed or completely, pardon the term, senseless content, don't show it. Although it is still essential to gain attention the same way we need it with billboards or online ads, we must keep in mind a few things when we create these commercials: Most advertisers, nowadays, aim for making commercials that stick in the minds of people for a long time. These often times are funny videos, jingles, or just plain repetitive, there is just one problem they must try to address, what happens next? Advertisements must make use of all the TV-airtime they bought(with a lot of their savings of course) to not only be remembered but to sell their products or services or to simply gain something out of it. I am not saying that recall is not important, but, we must also keep in mind that it should not stop there. Again, I must restate that TV-Airtime is expensive, if we could not turn it into profit or if we could not have a return of our investment, we are in trouble.

AD W

ISELY

AD

WISE

LY

1 AIM FOR MORE THAN JUST BRAND-RECALL. BY:

NIKK

O TO

M CA

TLI

BY NIKKO TOM CATLI

3 "HOW IS THAT EVEN RELATED?" Sometimes, ad makers make commercials that are fun, engaging, plain awesome, there is just one major problem, how does it relate to their product? You can't really simply pose a sexy model and have her scream and then show your brand then that's it. People actually try to make sense of what they just watched and we don't really want to have them saying "Dafuq did I just watch?”.

4 DON'T GO RELYING ON STARS. The problem with commercials nowadays is that they just ride on with the fame of their brand endorsers. This is a practice we should try to slowly abolish for 1) no creative process whatsoever, 2) by doing so, we think of people as simply followers of stars not making their own choices and 3) it is an insult to what advertisers learned to do from school. If we would just have brand endorsers sell products for us, then we should just let them sell the brand!

5 PREVENT THE "HUH?!" MOMENT. Some commercials, try to censor themselves so much that, to simply put it, "feminine wash products are mistaken by some as something that makes flowers bloom in all their glory". I know we must keep in mind that some things (or body parts) are not supposed to be said, discussed or explored on TV, but, if the commercial would be composed only of "politically-correct terms" and "sensitive words", it could cause a lot of confusion. What advertisers should do is to find a way or another media, wherein they could freely "sell" their products to the specific target market.

6 DO GRAMMAR AND SPELL-CHECK. A lot of people would see your commercial, don't be wrong, they would talk about it for days.

2 DON'T MESS WITH HISTORY.

The problem with some commercials is that they try to make commercials that show a moment in History wherein their product or brand is present. Although it could be for some funny purpose, advertisers could really get in trouble for making one. Historians won't really just sit around while you try to place your diapers in a significant moment in time that, have changed the lives of many. And another thing, the majority of Television viewers aren't really toddlers, they actually go to school, learn History (or some of it) and can't simply be fooled or made fun of.


RELATIONS P U B L I C

ten thoughts on

T E S T I M O N I A L S

Whether it be drafting press releases, establishing relationships, building reputations, or designing a campaign,

Public Relations has proved to be so much more. It truly has helped both undergrads and professionals in many

more ways than one. PR is a profession both students and professionals have come to love. Know more about PR

as we explore how it impacts the lives and careers of these awesome OrCom people!

the

“It is through public relations

that images are established, improved, and rebuilt, to name just a few. Brands

and businesses would not be what they are at present, if not, in large

part, for PR. What I love about it is, used the right and responsible way, it

provides leverage that other management functions cannot even

dream of providing. It is also one of my key takeaways in my pursuit of a PR

career so far - PR is power. That realization has come full circle with

my participation and eventual victory shared with three awesome

teammates and one amazing mentor, and has manifested in the many ways

in which I have been able to use knowledge of PR to help real-life

organizations tap into their potentials so massive and previously

unrealized.”

PAUL CENIZAL, BATCH ‘15

“PR's core- being the creation and sustenance of mutually

beneficial relationships between stakeholders and an organization or

an individual - is definitely what made PR one of the most coveted

disciplines. Having an understanding of how PR works,

gives someone edge on both the organizational setting and the daily

life because. Public Relations (PR) has helped me become more

analytical and strategic. I've learned that if you're doing a research in

anything, you should never be contented in scratching only the

surface; rather, dig deeper and ask more questions. It made me realize

that we should always maintain goodwill to form well-grounded

relationships. And most importantly, the practice of PR showed me how

consistency should always be upheld.

“What I love about PR is that it builds relationships and connections. For me, the rest of the benefits PR may bring an entity is just icing on the cake. The mutual trust that PR forms between people and organizations through goodwill is what matters the most. Just late last year, I was blessed to experience PR on a whole different level when my team joined the PRSP’s Grand Prix 2014. True enough, as our team valued this concept of trust and translated it in our campaign, I can say that it was one of the biggest factors our team won.

“I'm a very practical person. I would always choose to learn concepts that I can apply in real life. What I can tell you is that learning PR allows you to go beyond the four walls of the classroom and into what really is out there--the corporate world. Without looking at real situations, real organizations, and real stakeholders, you won't get much out of studying PR. And although my career path is headed towards Marketing, I'm confident that I can still apply what I learned in PR, mainly: critical thinking, creativity, and attention to different perspectives.

ON WHY

PR fulfilling experiences,

undergrads

NICOLE LAO, BATCH ‘15

THEY LOVE

EDEN NAVAL, BATCH ‘15 MICHELLE ALI, BATCH ‘15

lot more. and a whole


the undergrads “Public relations

(PR) is not just about

organizations wanting to improve their position in the market or winning consumers by using creative strategies, it is also about the everyday things we don’t even notice. For instance, what clothes we choose in the morning is already PR in itself because it contributes to the way we want to be presented and be seen by various publics, which is, in its sense, image-building. The things that pulled me into falling in love with PR is by always thinking outside the box and rising above the clutter. In this day and age, it is no longer enough to be just floating by in organizations. It is constantly thinking of the next big move and the next creative tactic to leave a mark in people’s minds in spite of the hustle and bustle of their busy lives. I don’t think I can sum up everything I’ve learned in PR – both inside the classroom and outside the four walls of the campus. But, I can say that in PR, there’s ALWAYS something to learn and there’s ALWAYS room for improvement. If you think knowing how to do a PR plan is enough or if you think that you already know the nuts and bolts of a successful PR campaign, then think again. Today, the times are changing rapidly and so are the trends in the market. My advice is to always learn more – plug yourself in a PR organization, read articles and books, observe people’s behaviors, etc. to keep up-to-date with the changing world. I’ve had a lot of experiences, but it all started with Sir Barry’s PR class and his true-to-life training, which then lead to PRSP Grand Prix 2014. From there, I can say that the rest is history. Looking forward to being a PR practitioner and professor myself – God-willing.”

“Since I became a member, PRSSP-UPM has provided me with many opportunities to learn. I get to attend trainings and seminars with notable and successful PR practitioners in our country. I get to manage and handle events. I get to attend and be a part of projects and I get to learn from my Ates & Kuyas but PR is more than just “getting”. As I have learned from PRSSP-UPM’s founder Adrielle Reyes, Public Relations is about engaging and e m p o w e r i n g . P R S S P - U P M ’ s Service Workers Appreciation P r o g r a m t a u g h t m e a b o u t engagement and empowering. SWAP isn’t about promoting PRSSP-UPM rather it is about engaging with the UP Manila c o m m u n i t y a n d l e t t i n g employees know that they are valued, thus making them empowered. That, for me, is Public Relations.”

“The Public Relations

Student Society of the

Philippines-UP Manila (PRSSP)

allowed me to get my first peek into the world of PR. And I loved it. I love that PR means building and maintaining good relationships; establishing and managing a good reputation. I love that I got to meet many new, different kinds of people. I love that I learn a lot because of it as well as experience v a r i o u s t h i n g s , i n c l u d i n g organizing events and corporate social responsibility projects. I even love that there’s a lot of thinking and brainstorming to do. As an OrCom student, there may be a lot of different paths to choose from when it comes to l ife after graduation, but PR is definitely one that I’m seriously considering.”

STRIKE TOLEDO, BATCH ‘16 ABEE MAGALLONA, BATCH ‘15

SAM LABAO, BATCH 16


“I love PR because with PR, you can do a lot of things. You can help people, you can change others' perceptions of a

particular subject, you can motivate and persuade someone or in fact, everyone. You can do it for a good or bad cause, your choice. I believe that having a PR

subject in college made me a wiser student. I've learned how to research well, know the right audience and plan for the right actions/solutions. One of the most

fulfilling experiences I've had was when someone from my former high school chose and pursued OrCom because of the campaign we made.”

ADRIELLE REYES SALES AND MARKETING HEAD

PIK EVENTS AND SURPRISE INC. BATCH ‘12

“I think, PR is building a relationship

with your target market and making them love you. You have to be updated with the needs and wants of your target market in order to

persuade them.”

the professionals

PATRICIA JUIM SUICO MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE

PHILIPPINE AMERICAN LIFE AND GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY

BATCH ‘14

“The things I love about PR include writing, relations with the press, and meeting new and different kinds of people.

Life in the industry is very fast-paced and stressful, and not as glamorous as people think. In PR you will need: tough guts to swallow different kinds of people, a love for writing,

and a curiosity for everything. PR is all about the heart of the story and the passion to share it to the world.”

REGINE FRANCISCO

PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS SOLAR ENTERTAINMENT NEWS / 9TV

ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY BATCH ‘11


create.!propagate.!package.!

THIS IS THE PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSION.

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[105] Perceptions Philippines