Ken's Corner: The Final Post

First off, I would like to say thank you so much to anyone who has been reading my posts because this is the last submission for Ken’s Corner. This is also probably one of my last submissions as Agon’s president as well as I graduate in May and I need to direct my attention to the creation and promotion of the Agon magazine.

This week in my PR and Marketing class, we talked about the advantages and disadvantages of public relations. We have talked a lot about clutter and how it impacts the way that we engage with marketing in any form. Clutter really just means how we as consumers are constantly bombarded with advertisements which makes it harder for advertisers to stand out from the crowd. Everyone is trying so hard to be unique that it makes it even harder to catch the attention of viewers.

The biggest example I can think of this is the Superbowl. I am not a huge fan of football, so I do not really end up watching a lot of the game itself. However, I do watch two things relating to the Superbowl. This is the halftime show, and of course, the advertisements. Each company tries hard to get the attention of as many viewers as possible because this is the biggest platform to do so as a marketer. In class we even talked about one company that went broke trying to buy a slot for the Superbowl, so their commercial was extraordinarily simple compared to everyone else’s. As a result, their commercial received a lot of positive feedback and the company caught viewer’s attention.

However, PR is more than just advertising and marketing. There is also a large part of it that has to do with maintaining a public image. I think one of the most popular examples of this in my generation has to be the Pink Sauce controversy on Tik Tok. Now I will be the first to say, I do not know everything that happened because I was not on TikTok at the time of this controversy, so I would end up catching glimpses of what was going on through clips and memes on Instagram. From what I remember though, there was a huge negative following of the pink sauce and its brand that led a lot of people to question the background behind the sauce. This falls under public relations.

In my opinion, the most effective way the modern public relations team can handle their company’s PR is through the internet. Yes, the internet does have its downfalls, including the fact that anyone can say whatever they want on the internet and it is up to others on the internet to determine its credibility. However, the internet is also the fastest way to get your PR messaging to a large group of people. I remember I saw this really cute sustainable underwear brand on Instagram that looked like it was a smaller business. What I really liked about their company outside of their branding however is how they were able to communicate with their audience in the comments section. Overall PR teams need to make sure all their bases are covered if they are to represent and maintain the image of a company.