I FINALLY chose a major but, didn’t know what it was

When first going into my Advertising and Public relations major I had only a general idea of what advertising is. I knew it had to do something with marketing and in the business world but that was about it. As far as public relations goes, the most I could understand was that it was in the business world and it had something to do with relationships. My real first insight into Public Relations came from watching a show on Netflix where one of the main characters works at a PR firm and eventually goes on to open her own. I feel like it gave me a general idea of what could possibly be some of the parts of a career in Public Relations. I realize it is a show and obviously it’s not going to be 100% correct but this was my first look into what it could even possibly mean. I would highly recommend this show if you’re looking for a good laugh click here for more information on it.

More specifically PR is special to me because it allows me to be in the business world but also have a large involvement with people through the clients. I have always enjoyed working with people through my various customer service positions and always wondered how I could do some of the same things but make a living doing it and going to college. I first started out as a business major but quickly realized it wasn’t as “people pleasing” and people involved as I would have liked it to be. I get joy from helping people and successfully solving their problem or issue to my best ability.

After research online I found that PR does not have a “real” definition for it. However, one of the many definitions I found was, public relations is a strategic way of communication that mutually benefits a relationship between a company and their key publics. PR is important to me because it puts the relationship and human aspect back into a money hungry business world. Public relations builds and maintains the relationships between companies and the public. I think it’s easy for big businesses especially, to lose these relationships with the public, or to have the public lose faith in them quickly and easily with one bad thing that comes out about a business.

A good example of building and keeping relationships with the public that comes to mind is the share a coke campaign. Coke is a well-known brand name that I would argue almost every single person would recognize. So, what does a company that is so well known do to keep up the excitement and relationships with its’ consumers? Share a coke was a campaign where they replaced the Coke label name on the bottle with 250 of the most popular names among teens and millennials. The campaign was a very successful personalized brand experience. I remember when this campaign first came out and everyone was talking about “finding” their name on a coke bottle, this came along with numerous pictures being posted on social media, and even people sharing where they found a specific name so other could go and find it as well.