In this course, we're going to talk of things working with the media. Before we jump in, we need to lay some groundwork. We will begin by talking about brands, and this is some real-life homework for you. Think about the brands that you encounter every day; your cell phone, your car, your apartment community, the city in which you reside, or the state. Thinking that for Colorado, tourism is the main economic driver. As a brand, the state is consistently promoting tourism. Think about the brands of the foods that you eat or the different brands you encounter in the bathroom when you are getting ready each morning. Why do you use those brands? Do you decide about some brands differently than others? For instance, I don't care what brand of ketchup is in the refrigerator, but I do care about the brand of Manny's. I care about the brand of toothpaste, but I don't have a preference on brand for shower gel. Why is that? Be critical consumers of media. Think about what brands are advertising? What stories they're telling consumers? Analyze their social media and think about why they are posting the content that they are. Think about how consumers engage with the message and what the word of mouth is about the brand. We will talk about brands, including what makes a brand a brand, and the mission and core values that should guide brand storytelling. We'll pause to talk about your own personal brand and consider ways in which to reposition your brand for new opportunities. We will talk about PR's unique contribution to branding. This is really where public relations shines, and you'll begin to see the limitations of advertising. Advertising is only a communication tactic, but public relations is a management function. This leads us to issues and crisis management. When PR is used as a management function, PR practitioners can counsel and guide the brand management or the C-suite, so as to avoid risky situations and prosper in times of opportunity. If PR is only turned to as a fixer, like Olivia Pope in ABC, Scandal, then we really are reducing public relations to a tactic. PR should be used to look ahead of the brand for potential issues. We want to manage those issues before they become crisis. We will talk about a crisis communication plan and what to do post-crisis. We will then make a slight turn to talk about theory, but in doing so, we will talk about audiences and how to find the right audience at the right time with the right platform. We'll talk about how news is made, and in that needs making process, we will carve out where PR hangs out and where PR becomes part of the news. Yes, I said that. If we make our pit successfully, then yes, PR will be part of the news story. We'll talk about that in this module and look at some tools you can use in practice. Lastly, we will focus on media relations and how to work with journalists to produce news. I will also talk to you about how to build media contact lists and how to write a press release. We will also work on crafting a pitch for that press release that may be used with one of your media contacts that you identify in your homework. Closing out, we will talk about going and doing, or the actual pitching of the journalist. I like to think of a pitch as a carrot, we are dangling out in front of the journalist. "Here, journalists, journalists, journalists, come get my story." If I make the story appealing enough, that journalist is going to bite, no doubt. Journalists are hungry right now because resources are scarce. Anything PR practitioners can do to make journalists lives easier, yeah, you better bet, it's going to make a difference. Let's get started. Shall we?
