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