R.A.C.E. Model, Brand Management and More

Tonight, we'll break into our four teams to begin our preliminary discussion about our client:  "Home Green Home" (HGH) and to look at how they are capitalizing on the good PR of the "Green/Organic" Movement." Since our first step is always RESEARCH, your teams will be tasked with examining the website, reviewing stories written about HGH and reporting out to the rest of the class, particularly how you feel your particular area (Research, Social Media, On-line Strategies, Community Affairs) can be used to best advantage in growing and further fortifying the "HGH" brand. Any student with a Park Card, without a laptop tonight will be able to use one of the computer labs, and you should be able to use Rooms 270 or 275 for computer access.

It's important to remember that PR practitioners typically use the R.A.C.E. model (Research, Action, Communication and Evaluation) in their campaign work. A lovely extension of this, the "Race with Grace" (TM)
model is a nice place to begin. Start talking with one another about R.A.C.E., working in teams, your own personal strengths and challenges, approaches and more.

After an icebreaker exercise, you'll elect:  a Team Captain (a liaison between your team, client and supervisor/professor), a note taker and a timekeeper. These are all important positions as they will ensure efficiency in the limited time busy people, students and professionals often have. You'll spend much of the class speaking to the issue of the "HGH" brand. After spending about half the class time on this important research, I'll ask each team to report out.

Some considerations:
As we've discussed previously, there's no such thing as a valid social media strategy without proper brand identity. As many of you know in working in your teams and with your three clients, you  must first have a clear understanding of what the business stands for- and overall, what the overall brand promise is.

Just as you wouldn't begin a print campaign without a clear statement and appropriate research, the same process holds true for any integrated marketing communication and/or PR strategy integration either in print, TV, radio or online publishing, advertising, etc. Consistent messaging between Facebook, tumblr, Twitter and the web are what your clients and their consumers expect. So, too, is understanding tone and logo usage across the spectrum of your marketing communications efforts.

As visitors discover what your business has to offer, they begin to explore your online presence (web, blog, Facebook, tweets, video, etc.)  It is hoped that after this exploration, they build affinity with your product and/or services. From this you work hard to ensure that this enjoyment leads to sales and opportunity for further engagement. From there you continue to build the brand promise through quality customer service and attention to detail.

Finally, take a look at this neat article on "12 Steps to Building a Successful PR Campaign."   between now and next week. And don't forget to try to stop in and see "HGH" on the Commons before we meet again, if possible.

Looking forward to tonight!

Professor Berry