The Last Blog

This week is sadly the last week blogging for PR research.  Through the last eleven weeks I have been able to learn and relate the different topics discussed in class to fashion and entertainment concepts and blog about them.  For our last week we have been asked to comment on two other blogs. 

The first blog that caught my attention was Kayla’s blog on surveys.  Her blog discussed the different ways the fashion industry uses surveys through questionnaire or interviews.  She goes into specific examples of how online surveys are used to distinguish popular fashion opinions and how the surveys can help fashion companies see what their consumers are thinking and how to make their shopping experiences better.  The example she used about the “jeggings” question was interesting to me because I would have immediately assumed that everyone knows what jeggings are.  That specific survey did a great job in making sure that everyone understood the question and gave equal opportunities for a response.   Another example used was the way Macy’s and Aldo have online surveys for their customers in hopes to see the positive and negative aspects of their products.   When researching for this specific concept I was amazed by the vast amounts of surveys available to the public. 

The Following week we had to discuss experimental research.  In these blogs I found Fran’s which discusses a potential experiment done on social media.  This concept was interesting because as we know, there is a fast growing interest for social media and companies are always looking for new and inventive ways to ensure their companies success.  Fran talks about measuring how effective social media is in getting a company name out to the public and different benefits of the experiment.  She also posted a graph showing the drastic change companies made in their usage of social media from 2007-2008.  It was fascinating to see how many companies decided to use social media. 

Through the past eleven weeks it has been extremely interesting to see the different ways research is used in our everyday lives.  We are constantly observing and adapting our lives to new information which is what research is all about. 

Experimental Fashion

Experimenting with fashion is always risky business.  There is always the concern of…will this look work? Or how will people react to this new product?  Designers today have a new outlook on fashion and have started to experiment with different influences, fabrics and design cuts to make new and embellished creations for upcoming seasons. 

Fashion is an extremely powerful aspect and lately it is doing a lot more than just making statements.  As one of the largest industries in the world, it greatly relies on agriculture and is one of the most heavily featured aspects in the media.  Because of this the fashion industry has taken it upon themselves to become more socially and environmentally responsible.  It has come to some peoples attention that transgression is huge in fashion through their use of sweatshops, hazardous working conditions, unfair wages for workers and on the ecological end, uses high amount of toxic chemicals, pesticides and water wastage. 

These conditions did not stand well for people in the fashion business and for consumers buying the products.  With that said the organization called Global Action Through Fashion came along and changed the way you can wear and buy fashion in a ethical and conventional way.   The people at GATF are taking it upon themselves to educate both the fashion industry and the consumers of the different ways fashion could actually be hurting our environment.  Designers such as Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs and Versace took interest in this experiment and recently made this year’s New York fashion week into a showcase of one of a kind designs made from recyclable, sustainable and earth-friendly materials. 

Because fashion is so powerful, this fashion friendly experiment did extremely well with the public expanding to other well known designers and stores.  Although  this experiment may not have had a control group, the different variable are seen in two different groups of people: The people who are informed and change the way they shop and the people who are informed and still chose to buy from manufacturers using inhumane sweatshops and toxic chemicals.  It may not be easy to escape all the conditions of unethical fashion, but there are definitely ways to go about ecological shopping. 

Everywhere you look recently there are reminders on how to keep the earth green and planet clean.  It is important that an industry as influential as fashion takes their stand on the environment, and they did so by experimenting with eco friendly fabrics and new and improved ways on advertising and reusing their products. 

Surveying the Public

When typing in entertainment surveys into Google I was overwhelmed by the response that came up.  As one of the most popular and used research methods in the PR industry, surveying is a cheap and easy way to get examples on experiences and actions people feel strongly about.  In the world of entertainment and fashion surveys are taken daily to see which brand is more well liked, which shoes are the new “it” trend and which new celebrity bachelor has taken our hearts this week. 

When looking through the different survey sites, it was fascinating to see the different topics and results.  There were surveys on music, movies, fashion, television and so much more.  It is important that we take these surveys into consideration when doing research because if done properly, they are a extremely helpful and factual way of gaining incite on a certain topic. 

It is important to use surveys in entertainment so you can have a feel and understanding of what the public is interested in.  As a whole, we tend to change our minds very quickly and surveys are an simple and quick way to get new information we are interested in.  One specific survey site that I found that was of interest to me surveyed different people on upcoming music albums, video gaming devices and new movie releases to gain insight on whether people were interested and intended to buy the product. 

In the world of fashion Elle Magazine goes above and beyond the call of surveying and took it upon them to question young adults on relationships, shoes, clothing and so much more.  Surveys like this are of interest to majority of females and are a great way for that demographic to learn new information and gain knowledge on new and up coming trends. 

Observing Other Observations

This week have to comment on other students blogs from the previous week.  It was interesting to see what my other fellow bloggers had to say about qualitative research and their interpretation of how it is used in everyday life…

One blog that caught my attention was Kayla’s Blog on fashion.  She discusses the different ways designers such as Michael Kors and department store Bloomingdales decide on what is going to be the “it fashion” for this season and how they determine what methods are best to reach consumers.  Kayla explains that through qualitative research fashion designers observe perceptions and attitudes of people in their natural environments.  It was interesting to read Kayla’s blog because it was very similar to the one I wrote about Tommy Hilfiger.  It is an attention-grabbing idea to think that the clothes, jewelry, shoes and accessories we wear were all brainstormed and designed through designers using their sensory intuitions and observations in how people shop and what they are shopping for.  Every season a new line of fashion merchandise appears on the floors of stores across the world.  Each of these products was carefully discussed and thought out as a result of qualitative research. 

The other blog I looked at was Brittany’s.  She had a very similar concept as Kayla in that fashion is extremely qualitative and is the result of designers observing what is around them and making them into beautiful cloth creations.  Brittany quotes “every element of fashion represents a certain attitude, period of time or personality.  Every day we observe these elements of fashion through street fashion.”    I really liked her connection to Elle Magazine and how they photograph “street chic” photos of woman everyday and then give comments and observations. As she mentioned, Elle is an extremely well reputable fashion magazine and the fact that they are using qualitative observation show how important and popular it is. This idea is very compelling because when working in Manhattan this past summer I was the one walking down the streets observing what the people on Park and Fifth Avenue were wearing and tried to make it my own by using their ideas.  Fashion is something that everyone observes and interprets for themselves, and whether they want to believe it or not is interpreted through qualitative observation.  Brittany also discusses how runway shows are now using street inspiration for their lines in hopes to relate with the consumer on a different level with hopes that their products will be more appealing and personal.  Just by making a few simple observations, you are gaining insight into those girls’ attitude, behavior, values, culture and lifestyle.

Qualitative Research

As one of today’s top designers in the world of fashion, Tommy Hilfiger has seen and done it all.   Celebrating 25 years of his namesake brand this fall, Hilfiger is currently marketing his 25 year celebration with a flashy show during Fashion Week including tailgate parties and anniversary products.  Although throwing a tailgate may been seen as unprofessional or somewhat obnoxious for someone of his age and fashion standing, Hilfiger has always been one to step outside the box and deliver on many different levels. 

When working in the world of fashion you must always be on top of your game and be one step ahead of the other designers.  Hilfiger is one designer that has always had that extra flare and edge which has made him one of the most well known designers today.  As a designer you are constantly taking ideas from your surroundings pulling what you see, hear, feel, taste and smell and turning it into the next “it” style.  This kind of research is called qualitative observation.  Whether he was aware of it or not Hilfiger has been using qualitative observation for years by using his senses and channeling them into works of clothing. 

  “I wanted to build a business around all this pop culture” said Hilfiger at his fashion show back in September.  To do this Hilfiger gets inspiration from movies, music, celebrities and art and uses them to thread together different signature looks.  These looks have evolved through hippy, preppy, Americana and glitzy glam.  Because he has been in the business for so long he has had influence from different pop icons such as The Beatles to Beyonce to work off of and use their zest and flare and use it in his fashion creations. 

By constantly changing, embellishing and flaring up his different clothing lines Hilfiger is continuously using qualitative observation for motivation and inspiration towards his new designs.  Because he is constantly observing the world he has a basic understanding of human nature which involves change and innovation.  By pulling what is going on in the world of music, movies, television and pop culture Hilfiger has been able to keep his brand well recognized and reputable. 

Unobtrusive Research In Everyday Life

Since we have learned about unobtrusive research it has been brought to my attention that it is more used that one might realize.  After looking through my classmates blogs it was interesting to see the different ways they came up with in which unobtrusive research is used in everyday life. 

When looking at Fran’s blog it opened up my eyes into realizing that we could use unobtrusive research through Facebook and Twitter almost every day if we wanted to.  Celebrities are constantly informing us of their whereabouts and their favorite places to be and favorite “it” designers.  Not only does this give you a small dose of what life would be in the fab lane, but it also allows you to gain a new level of knowledge of what celebrities are up to and what products they are using.  This kind of unobtrusive research is most interesting to me because it allows me to stalk my favorite celebrities while at the same time learning what the latest up to date trends are through constant updated research. 

The other blog I looked at was Brittany’s.  In her blog she discusses the unobtrusive research that Pandora uses to ensure satisfied listeners and fans.   When using Pandora you are able to have different artist and genre playlists and through unobtrusive research the website puts together a list of songs they think you would like off of the artist you chose to begin with.  Not only can Pandora put together lists of songs they things you would be interested in, but if you are connected to Facebook, Pandora can tell you which of your friends like a certain artist in hopes that it gains your interest as well.  This is the newest aspect of Pandora which also uses unobtrusive research. 

Little did we know when starting up with this subject, that it is used in almost all of our social media.   By just scrolling through Pandora, Twitter or Facebook you are able to gain so much research knowledge on your friends, celebrities and musical preferences. 

The Social Network

Being noted as the brilliant movie that defines the decade The Social Network is a new drama film that takes you on the journey about the founding of the internet social networking website Facebook.  Facebook is a worldwide phenomenon that is a quick and easy way to have instant communication, photos, videos and status updates with friends, peers, colleagues and family members.  The Social Network shows you how this popular social network came into action and the different highs and lows of friendship and money. 

After getting dumped by his girlfriend Mark Zuckerberg , a student at Harvard University comes up with an idea to make a website rating the attractiveness of female Harvard undergrads.  After hacking into the schools database of various dorms and using different algorithms he creates a page called FaceMash which is an instant hit with over 22,000 views in just 24 hours.   Zuckenberg is then approached with an idea to have a site for all of Harvard where you would be able to see a profile of information on other students.  To Zuckenberg, this idea is just a draft for his huge master plan. 

After careful research and analysis Zuckenberg realizes that as students we have a constant urge to feel connected and up-to-date with our friends.  Because he was able to see the instant success of FaceMash he used more complex algorithms to make it so you could see pictures, status updates, videos, background information and the ability to send a public message on a friend’s wall. 

The website exploded and currently has over 500 million users from all around the world. 

Facebook has met with some controversy along the way.  It has been blocked intermittently in several countries including Pakistan, Syria, The People’s Republic of China, Vietnam and North Korea.  There were also problems with the website with claims that Zuckerberg stole the idea from Harvard Crew rowers who had approached him with a similar idea a few weeks before Facebook launched. 

Although Zuckerberg did not realize it at the time he was using research in an unobtrusive way.  He took the concept of FaceMash and saw what a huge success it was and used its success as a way to drive another experiment.  He saw that people loved being able to see pictures and feeling connected with friends.  Each week Facebook would expand because of his unobtrusive research.  Without him asking other students he was able to amplify by adding different applications and fields.  Zuckerberg was not directly asking for advice and was not intruding on Facebook followers asking what they liked or did not like, he was able observe and expand his network by observations and indirect measures.  

With a 50 million dollar budget The Social Network has gross over 24 million dollars in just one week of its release.  Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 97% of critics have given the film a positive review with an average score of 9.1 out of 10.  Back in January a study was done by Compete.com showing that Facebook was the number two most popular site in the United States under Yahoo.com

Looking At Other Blogs

This week we were asked to read and evaluate two different blogs from our PR research class.  This was an interesting assignment because it gave me a reason to sit down and read the different blogs of my peers.  I was fortunate enough to find two blogs that were in my area of interest that I feel I could expand and comment on…

The first blog I found was a blog by Steph.  In this blog Steph gives a brief description on her take of our celebrity driven world and the influence popular celebs have on our everyday life.  She discusses the impact celebrities have on the products we buy due to their current status or reputation.   The blog was very interesting but I felt that it was very bland and boring for a topic that is so huge.  As Steph mentioned, it is quite obvious that our culture is overly obsessed with the rich and famous.  Regular television has recently been taken over by celebrity reality shows, book stores are being filled with icon biographies and malls are now filled with everything from posters, t-shirts, pens and drinks all idolizing our favorite star.  As much as I enjoyed reading Steph’s blog I found it somewhat frustrating to read because there was so much she could have expanded on.   It would have been really interesting if Steph researched and found the way companies chose their celebrity of choice to promote their product.  Out of all the celebrities in Hollywood, why is Usher promoting Master Card? Or why is Sarah Jessica Parker, the fashion icon of NYC endorsing Garnier face products?  It is understandable that celebrities grab your attention and make you more likely to buy the product…but why that celebrity for that product. 

The second blog I read was Sammi’s.  I found her blog really interesting because it talked about and gave examples of different ways fashion companies are using social media to help both their product and their customers.   Sammi then goes into briefly discussing how research through surveys and social media feedback is extremely beneficial today.  As we can see on Facebook and Twitter, there are hundreds of companies who are advertising their products in hopes that followers and Tweeters grow some kind of interest in their merchandise.  In Steph’s blog she goes an extra step and gives an excellent example of how Anne Taylor LOFT is using Facebook to their benefit.  This past June photos were published of a new line of silk cargo pants, customers found this photo shoot controversial stating that the pants would only look good on a size two model.  In less than 24 hours Anne Taylor LOFT uploaded new pictures of employees from their office who are not a size two wearing the pants.  This instant reaction is just one way social media is helping companies.  As Steph discuses, “Anne Taylor gained even more publicity for using research and social media effectively, as they received positive coverage from various media outlets.”  This blog was extremely interesting to me because of the examples and reactions the fashion company made to ensure their product would sell. 

After reading both of these blogs I thought it would be interesting to see the different ways social media’s are being used within companies, here are some of the stats I found…

Boardwalk Empire

This past Sunday, America waited anxiously for the highly anticipated premier of HBO’s new series and without fail HBO delivered yet another successful series.  With over 4.8 million viewers Boardwalk Empire became HBO’s highest series launch in six years.  Taking place in 1920 during the Prohibition-era in Atlantic City, this series is suspected to be filled with drama, romance, actions and phenomenal sets and costumes making you feel as though you are part of this important time in history. 

After airing the first episode, HBO immediately signed on for a second season due to the extremely high number of viewers.  Boardwalk Empire’s premier cost an estimated $18 million to make and became an instant success.  With Martin Scorsese as the director, the public had huge hopes for this show as it took HBO’s other hit series True Blood.  Because HBO has become televisions must-see TV for Sunday nights, there were big shoes to fill, and Scorsese completely delivered.

HBO did their research in seeing that their Sunday night line-up is extremely popular.  These results come though in ratings, Emmy’s and viewer satisfaction.  With the series finale of True Blood and Entourage the week before HBO took full advantage with the fact that their Sunday line-up is so widely watched and replaced those time slots with Boardwalk Empire. 

Because the rating for the premier was so high HBO automatically signed on to another season, but was this the best idea?  Due to the fact that everyone was curious about the show and what it would be like, the ratings could have been higher this week than it will be in previous weeks.  After hearing mixed reviews from friends and peers, HBO may have jumped the gun green-lighting a second season.  HBO is also manipulating viewers into wanting to watch the new series because of the day and time slot it is in, and viewers probably think it good because of the immediate go for a second season. 

HBO who is owned by the world’s second largest conglomerate, Time Warner has numerous hit TV series such as The Sopranos, Entourage, Big Love, True Blood, Sex and the City and Hung which were all huge hits and Emmy winners.

VMA's 2010

For the past 26 years there has been one award show that captures audiences everywhere.  It brings popular well-known singers, actors, television stars, and entertainment icons together to celebrate the world of music television.  The MTV Video Music Awards were held this past Sunday on September 12, 2010 with over 11,000,000 viewers.  The VMA’s have always been a show to grab my attention due to the different promotions, advertisements, and flashy publicity. 

As I continue learning the ins and outs of public relations it becomes almost a necessity to watch big award shows such as this to see the new and improved ways companies are using public relations to ensure that their product is seen and heard about.  Because I am currently learning about the different levels of evaluation I took a different level of appreciation for how much research and analysis must have been done to be able to reach as many viewers that it did.  Through different stages of press releases, media communications, targeting audiences and using the latest forms of technology such as Twitter, Facebook and online chats the VMA’s most defiantly did their research for a successful broadcast. 

While watching the show I was amazed by the fresh approach MTV took in order for everyone to stay fully connected before, during and after the show.  MTV had well known companies such as Yahoo!, and Verizon sponsoring the event along with constant coverage through Twitter and MTV.com.  With the help of Yahoo! A Verizon it was hard to escape the irresistible amount of television commercials, Facebook ads, magazine ads, radio announcements, and television buzz.  Because Yahoo! And Verizon reach such a large level of demographics they were able to really use all media outlets to ensure maximum amounts of viewers.

While the endless amounts of popular celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Eminem, Ke$sha, Drake and so many more it was an extremely entertaining show.  Many different blogs and newspapers applauded the show on its comedy and diversity of performances and appearances.  Every year this show goes above and beyond giving the audience what they want with entertaining comedy and outstanding musical performances.  With this year’s over we can only wait anxiously for what next year’s show will hold. 

Samantha Greitzer's Blog

Public Relations Research is one of the more difficult areas in public relations. With the amount of analyzing, evaluating, and communicating that must be done there are bound be to issues.


Today, social media surrounds us everywhere we go. Whether it is through billboards, brand advertisements, Youtube, Facebook, or Twitter there are endless outlets for media. In today’s culture we have become obsessed with instant gratification and keeping connected to who and what we are interested in. Celebrities, clothing, television shows and so much more surround us on a daily basis through endless means of communication.

My blog this semester is going to be on the different issues and conflicts pertaining to celebrity and fashion public relations. Because of the high demand of media entertainment there is now an even higher amount of mishaps and problems that occur. In my blog I will explore those problems and evaluate how they connect to public relations research.

An example of what I am going to blog would be the current issue of New York Fashion Week occurring during Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. This year many Jewish designers, fashion editors, fashion writers, and models must decided between runways vs. Rosh Hashanah. This brought up many problems for people in the business. New York Fashion Week is something designers work tiring hours for to ensure a successful and fabulous show. As one of the most populated areas for Jews outside of Israel, the Jewish people in this field are extremely frustrated that they must decide between work and religion. Well know designers such as Diane Von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs, Yigal Azrouel and the head of BCBG Max Azria are all Jewish designers who now have to miss one day of Fashion Week to observe this important holiday.

In a research PR perspective, this issue should not have been overlooked. When such a large amount of the contributors are Jewish, the event planners for this week should take full responsibility for their lack of research. When looking at a calendar to plan such a huge event one should have seen that it took place over the Jewish holiday. On the opposite side of things, a big fashion event would never been scheduled to happen during a huge Christian holiday. Because New York is such a largely populated Jewish area, one would think that events would be planned around holidays accordingly.



NY FASHION WEEK 2010

NY TIMES ARTICLE