#internationalpr

Wow… I can’t believe that I am back in the States already.

As I am flipping through my pictures from my visit to South Korea I am currently having withdrawal symptoms. The past month that I have spent in Korea I have learned so much, it was really unique to get a taste of International and Sports PR from a hands on perspective. I have learned so much on this trip other than obtaining more knowledge in public relations; I have learned a whole new culture and being able to adjust to it, Korean etiquette, compromising with others. I have had the best experience of my life from studying abroad in Korea, but I couldn’t have had the greatest experience without my classmates and my two professors Dr. Woo and Dr. Kim.

A huge shout out goes to Dr. Woo and Dr. Kim for making this trip as memorable for all of us. As a class we all bond together and did majority of the activities with each other; we all hold a special bond from studying in Korea and I am so grateful that I am part of it.

Comments from a PR practitioner

After visiting many PR firms during my trip to Seoul, South Korea I can say that I am really glad that we visited Weber Shandwick. Weber Shankwich was founded in 2009 and is one of the top PR agency internationally; there are 125 offices in 81 markets, they handle with companies that we are familiar with like Ocean Spray, Burger King, P&G and Philips electronics. Unlike the other PR firms that my class and I have visited in Seoul that only covered only one specific area of Public Relations, we learned that Weber Shankwich is a full service company.

The way that Weber Shankwich formatted their meeting with us was that they gave a 10-minute PowerPoint and then gave us the opportunity to ask questions for 50 minutes. There were many great questions being discussed during the Q&A session.

Questions:

What kind of perspective do you need when working with digital media? - Someone needs to think outside of the box, very creative. The media is always changing you need to be able to adapt with what is to come, you don’t have to be good at many things you just have to be really good at just one thing and everything else will come along.

If you choose to go into digital media at Weber Shankwich, does a PR practitioner need to have IT background? - It is not necessary but if you choose to make videos then it would be good to have some IT background, but what really matters and values to us as a company is the story telling aspect of digital work. It is important to keep in mind when working with digital media is that what is HOT now may not be hot in a month or so.

How do you measure the effect of a campaign? Lucy Han never told us how Weber Shandwick measure the success of a campaign, the measurement of a campaign success is a secret for every company, that is not to be told. - We are able to measure the effects of a campaign by the number of articles that were covered, the impressions, the number of subscription and the number of repost on social media.

How to find the right channel in Korea? - There are a couple of factors you have to take into consideration like online influencers, the age group of those who follow the channel and the discussions the followers have. All of those components boils down to what is the right fit for the brand.

Lucy Han gave our class advice for those of us who wanted to pursue a career as a Public Relations Practitioner; she recommends that we all should do an internship before getting out into the real world, we should pick an industry that we are interested in and then build connections and work our way up if we like what we are doing in the internship. She told her to read A LOT from materials like the New York Times to Wall St. Journal. Lucy Han shared her experience with the cultural difference between Korea and the United States and the different phases of PR that Korea is in versus where PR is in the States; we all learned that Korea is not a huge user of SnapChat but instead they use Snow. Snow is basically the same app as SnapChat but is highly used and more known in Korea and the rest of Asia.

Lucy Han provided us with an article that was written by Andy Polansky who is the President of Weber Shankwich. The reading is a great read and provides tips for those who are planning to graduate this upcoming school year. Check out the link below!

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/everything-communicates-8-other-tips-college-andy-polansky

For more information, please contact: Senior Vice President Lucy Han [email protected] webershandwick.co/kr/en/ July 17, 2016

As my time in Seoul is almost over, I made a mental note to myself to get out there and explore more of what this wonderful city can offer. Last Wednesday Alison, Erin, Brittany and I went to Lotte World, for those of you who do not know what the brand Lotte is, it is South Korea’s eighth largest business conglomerate. They have a diverse industry ranging from candy manufacturing, beverages, hotels, retails, fast food, financial services and even electronics. Lotte World was so much fun; it’s been a while since a went to an amusement park so I was thrilled when I heard that we were going to Lotte World.

Since I have been studying International and Sports PR this summer in Korea; I definitely have a new perspective when it comes to looking through the lenses of PR. When some of my classmates and I went to Lotte World I saw many creative PR strategies and tactics that Lotte World used.

Lotte World shows creative PR by providing a customer service section in the amusement park. In the customer service section there are multiple employees who are there to help the visitors navigate through the park. Right next to the customer service there you can find a first aid and baby care location, this is great Public Relations for the visitors because if someone were to hurt themselves they would be able to go to the first aid and be treated rather than not receive any help and the baby care section is great for the visitors like the mothers and their babies when they need immediate attention.

When I was walking around the Lotte World amusement park I noticed that their trash-cans could be found all around the park. There were two types of trash-cans that I found, one of them being a trash-can only for waste and the other trash-can only for recycled products. I found this was a creative PR strategy because the trash-cans were designed in a unique way that fitted the theme of the park. And with the unique style that the trash-cans were designed, that attracted more of the visitors to follow the proper way to dispose trash. The trash-cans are another form of a PR strategy because sorting waste and recyclable products is good for the environment.

Another form of PR found in the park is the parade that Lotte World performed towards the end of the day, approximately an hour before the whole park closed down. I found that the parade was a form of PR tactic because it affects the employees who worked there and the visitors. During the parade many of the rides were closed down, this was beneficial to the employees because the parade gave them the opportunity to take a break and rest for a little until the parade was over. The parade was also beneficial towards the visitors because there was a sense of the organization giving back to the visitors by showing their performance.

For more information about Lotte World you can visit this website http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264152

The entertainment industry is huge over here in South Korea, with their K-wave which includes Korean drama and KPOP. My professors took my class and I to a K-Live performance and we watched a hologram performance of BIGBANG and it was awesome. I am a huge fan of BIGBANG and I would love to see them live one day, I am really glad I had the opportunity to see a hologram performance. Visiting K-live and looking at it through a PR perspective I was able to point out some interesting PR tactics that were used.

Once you enter K-live you are greeted with these human size KPOP star cardboard posters, I found some posters with BIGBANG, Wonder Girls, 2NE1 and other popular bands. Using these posters is a creative PR tactic because many fans like me get super excited when they see human size posters. This is a great way to engage the tourist to take pictures and feel super pumped for the hologram performance.

Once you entered the room to watch the hologram performance, there is so much going on with the screens being displayed to the audience. They are slideshows of other hologram performance from 2NE1, Wonder Girls and PSY who sings Gangnam Style; to the left of the main screen there were a showing of people in the audience faces on PSY’s body. I saw that the showing of people’s faces on PSY body a creative tactic because it motivated people to want to have their picture taken and that promote the more of PSY hologram showing. I also think that the slideshow of the different performance that were available for different KPOP stars also promoted the future showings for K-live.

After the performance many of my classmates wondered around K-live, I found myself looking through the gift store. Then I found a photo booth where you and other people are able to take pictures with some of the KPOP stars. My professor and some of my classmates took pictures with the BIGBANG members and it was hilarious how the pictures turned out. “Take Photos with a Star” photo booth is a great PR tactic; it helps K-live be active with their consumers and the consumers be responsive by using the photo booth.

I enjoyed my time in both Lotte World and K-live, and I am glad I was able to see it in a PR perspective and point out some of the tactics and strategies that both organizations used.

On Monday some of my classmates and I went on a trip to the Gyengbokgung Palace to watch the changing of the guard ceremony but due to the weather the ceremony was canceled. Even though the rain was heavy pouring that didn't stop us from exploring the Gyengbokgung Palace, luckily we were prepared with our umbrellas and rain jackets. Prior to this study abroad trip in Korea I didn’t do that much research about the tourist places to visit, like the Gyengbokgung Palace. Luckily there are official government agencies such as the Korean Organization or Seoul Metropolitan Government who make these websites available for the tourist in Korea. The purpose of these websites is to help promote the tourism in Korea and make it easier for the tourist to plan their activities.

I have visited each of the 3 websites and found that they are helpful and informative but just like many other websites out there, there are some weaknesses and strengths that each of the websites by official government agencies contain.

The first website Imagine your Korea, is a great website for tourist who is visiting Korea there is a bunch of information given about popular attraction, traveling resources, the countless ways of transportation, accommodation, tasty types food, shopping and even general information about Korea. There are many strengths that goes hand in hand with this website, one of them being that the website is eye catching with the flipping pictures on the home page and the promotions they have available for someone who is trying to save money. The website is well organized and it is easy to maneuver around to find what you are looking for. In my opinion I don’t think that this website has any weaknesses other than that the website contains a lot of information and for someone who is uncertain about where they want to go may be overwhelm. Imagine your Korea is a website that I would definitely recommend to someone who is new to Korea and planning to visit.  

The website can be found here http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto

The second website on Gyeongbokgung Palace, is a website specifically made for the palace. A strength that this website have is that this website is dedicated to the royal palace; it is great that this website is made to be interactive with the user. When the user clicks on the building in the interactive section located on the home page the website takes the user to a new screen that provides them with more details about that specific building. This website would be great for a tourist who plan to visit the palace and wanted more information or for someone who is doing research on a topic relating to the Gyeongbokgung Palace. I definitely can see weaknesses in this website, the website looks very boring and it did not capture my attention. Another weakness found in this website is that there isn’t any other information available about Korea other than the information on the palace.

Visit the website here http://royalpalace.go.kr/html/eng/main/main.jsp

Visit Seoul Net is the third website that I visited, this website is great for a tourist to look at when coming to Korea specifically visiting Seoul. This website is similar to the first website that I visited “Imagine your Korea” there is information provided about maps, guidebooks, transportation, newsletter, top 10 lists and Frequent Asked Questions. The website provides visual aids that is appealing to people who are looking for popular attractions in Seoul. The weakness that I found from Visit Seoul Net is that this website is made specially for just the location of Seoul, there is no information about the other parts of Korea. I would recommend this website for someone who is looking for more information about Seoul, Korea.

Find the website here http://english.visitseoul.net/index

If I was a strategic communication specialist who have the opportunity to renovate one of the three websites, I would renovate the Gyeongbokgung Palace website. Like I mentioned earlier, the website is a great place for someone who were to do research specifically on the Gyenogbokgung Palace and wanted to obtain more information in this area in Korea. To make the website more attractive to the viewers I would change the whole format of the website, I would still keep the interactive section from the home page but I would format the webiste to look more like the websites “Imagine your Korea” and Visit Seoul Net” I would also add more general information like the prices of the tickets. Overall The website is very useful and informative but it definitely can use a help in the way it is displayed to the viewers.

Despite the monsoon weather we faced on Monday afternoon I enjoyed my time wondering around the Gyeongbokgung Palace. I found that it was interesting to see so many tourists from different parts of Asia like from China and Japan. While exploring the palace I was able to see many PR tactics and strategies, one of them being that many of the signs that were displayed for the visitors were in English, Korean, Chinese and Japanese. Another PR tactic I spotted while walking around the palace is that there was an art supply store located towards the front of the palace, having a store there is great for tourist to visit because they are able sit in the store if they were tired and didn’t want to walk around anymore and they are able to shop around for souvenirs. Another PR tactic that I found are the informative signs that were available to the tourist so they can read about the monument or statue.

Even with the crazy amount of rain that was pouring that day I don’t regret going to visit the Gyeongbokgung Palace!

That is all for my Gyeongbokgung Palace, thank you for reading!

Since it has been two weeks that I have been staying in Seoul I rely heavily on the website TripAdvisor to help me find food places to eat, highly recommended shopping areas and tourist attractions. I visited TripAdviser to help me look for a great shopping area that had both Korean beauty products, great food and fashionable clothing store; TripAdvisor suggested that I checked out Myeongdong Shopping Street. I found that the post from TripAdvisor was very helpful because I am able to read other people’s review on a specific area and what they recommended as well. I am really glad that my classmate and I were able to check out Myeongdong Shopping Street because they had everything: delicious street food, beauty shops at every corner and different types of clothing stores.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294197-d553546-Reviews-Myeongdong_Shopping_Street-Seoul.html

Before coming to Korea I did most of my research on the beauty products that were popular in Korea. I know that the beauty industry here in Korea is more advance and well-known so therefore I wanted to see what products I should try and see what all the excitement was all about. I did a lot of my research online by reading other beauty blog post, reviews and watched a lot of YouTube videos. One of my favorite YouTubers is Korean and a lot of her content is all about beauty relating from products to styling pieces of clothing. She has visited Korea multiple times in the previous years and posted vlogs of her visits on her channel. One of the vlogs that she posted caught my attention because she showed her viewers the sites that she visited and places that she personally recommended.

Here is the YouTube video that I found really informative about my visit to Korea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmhQXW3DrXw

I chose to write about the TripAdvisor post of Myeongdong and Jenn Im YouTube video due to the reason that TripAdvisor was pretty accurate about their post on the Myengdong Shopping Street, since I ended going there with my classmates and not regretting it; and the other reason why I chose to include Jenn Im video when she went to Korea in 2015 is because many of the places that we have traveled to on our field trips Jenn has visited there as well according to her vlogs. TripAdvisor and YouTube can serve as a public relations function because many people trust TripAdvisor and Jenn Im’s channel on YouTube due to their reputation. Public relations practitioners for beauty companies can use these websites as a PR tactic especially YouTube, by looking at Jenn Im through a Public Relations perspective: a Public Relations Practitioner can see that Jenn Im as a trusted and well-known YouTuber. By building a mutual beneficial relationship with her, they can get their products and name out there through advertising through YouTube and YouTubers like Jenn are able to benefit from the companies by building relationship with them and their audience.

Jenn Im recommended the beauty brand SkinFood to her viewers and she shared her favorites with her viewers, that persuaded me to go find a SkinFood store and try out the products that were highly recommended not only by her but by other beauty bloggers as well. Here is my video post on my first impression of the Black Sugar Perfect Essential Scrub 2X.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the video!

On June 27, 2016 my class and I went to visit Naver Corporation; Naver is a search engine that is highly used in South Korea and it is similar to Google which is also a search engine that I use back in the States. I found that it was very interesting to see how the different sections of the building were structured, it seemed like there was a different theme on each floor based on the environment for the employees. Looking at Naver from public relations perspective I did notice many differences and similarities of PR practices between Korea and the United States.

One similarities that I notice is that Naver values employee relations in their company; as Hyun Chang Kuem, who held the Q&A session and welcomed us to visit Naver told us that the relationship they have with their employees is really important. Many companies back in the United States are successful due of the value employee relations. Although South Korea is more of a collectivist culture, which means the people work together like a family as a team and back in the United States we work more in an individualist culture but I can say that both countries value the importance of employee relations.

Even though there were many similarities that I saw when comparing public relations practices between Korea and the United States I saw many differences as well. One big difference I saw is that in Korea the concept of Public Relations has not developed to the “relationship building” stage yet. They are still in the media system stage where PR is the media relations, publics and special events. I noticed that in Naver, they do not have a PR team, instead they have a small PR team for each department in the company to deal with crisis management.

I learned that there isn’t a PR team in Naver because Naver tries to manipulate the agenda for the public, they do not value or want to build a beneficial relationship with other organizations and so therefore that is one of the many reason they do not have PR team within the company. The Public Relation back in the States has been developed to its fullest where PR is all about building relationships with other organizations. Another difference that I notice is that in Korea to build trust with the public you do not want to use the strategy of showing off that you are number 1 or “you have better service” because Koreans find that statement unappealing and untrustworthy. Back in the states PR practitioners find that the tactic is stating that “you are the best” and be able to show that to your consumers that you are number 1 is a strategic way to build trust with both consumers and stockholders.

I enjoyed my trip to Naver and one day I hope to work for a company that values employee relations as much as they did!