This week I once again read my classmates blogs, and picked two entries that I thought were interesting and worth discussing! I read blogs that I normally didn't read or comment on as to get a different feel for what my peers are interested in and are writing about.
The first blog I read was Laura Valenti's blog about entertainment PR and its connection to social media. Her post titled 'You May Try This At Home', about conducting blind experiments. Laura developed on the idea that experiments do not always have to be formal and precise, and that sometimes we conduct experiments without being aware that we are doing so. Laura writes about how one might be looking at Lady Gaga's Facebook page, "How many followers does she have on each? Comments? Feedback? By figuring out which website seems to be more popular for her audience and fans, you are conducting experimental research -- a blind experiment to be exact". I thought this was very interesting, seeing as this is something most of us do on a daily basis. The different way that Laura approached experiments was intriguing- plus her blog was extremely fun to read.
The next blog I read was Jenn Quinlan's blog, which focuses on sports in the public relations industry. One of her most recent blog posts titled 'The Extra Jolt' was about athletes and their use of sports drinks and supplements and how public relations practitioners have to be aware if they are representing an athlete. Jenn knowledgeably referenced the recent steroid scandals of athelets like Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz, who had public relations teams that had to do major damage control when allegations of steroid abuse first became public, through press releases, press conferences and media interviews. Jenn talked about the ethics behind using these illegal substances and whether it was the duty of the athlete to confess- she (and I agree) that in most cases, it is ethical for the athlete to come clean if they are using and abusing to get ahead in the game. I though Jenn's blog was a great take on the public relations industry within the sports industry- it was refreshing to read a new perspective on the subject!
Well, it's hard to believe that this semester is about to end and this is (sadly!) my last blog post. I hope you all enjoyed reading about my blog and learned something new in the process. I have a had a lot of fun researching public relations in the retail corporation aspect, a field that I could possibly see myself getting involved with one day. Looking forward to reading all of your final blog entries!!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Blog Post #10
Whoops! Looks like this blog saved as a draft and never got posted! Here is the blog that was meant to be posted for week 10, experimental research!
I've made it no secret on this blog that I spent the summer working at a certain well known retail store. In fact, the specific store I was hired at was called the 'concept store', aka the main headquarter store for the corporate side of the comany. As the concept store, our location was the one to recieve every new collection months ahead of the other stores. For instance, when I was hired in May, we were already dressing the mannequins in down vests and scarves for fall. But being the concept store, we also were the first to try out new trends and to observe how they were percieved by our clients. Then, the corporate side of the company would take these results and see if the new procedures were to be implemented in the stores across the country.
One trend that kept popping up across our store was the new 'partnering' with other companies. Although I worked at a well known clothing company, many other brands were featured in our store as partnerships, and doing surprisingly well. Over the course of the summer, I saw several new brands featured in our store that one might not immediately associate with clothing. Essie became a partner, and released new nail polish colors to coordinate with every season. Bobbi Brown became a partner as well, with lipglosses sold at the register. Cosabellas appeared in the store too, which confused most shoppers. Partnerships were advertised within the fabrics of clothing, from the exclusive house that made the cashmere for the sweaters to the expensive leather of the ballet flats. I often wondered, how did these partnerships come about, and how did the company know if they were being successful or not?
This article I found talks about why it is beneficial for both the wholesale retailer and smaller company to partner up- basically, it creates more publicity and recognition for the smaller company, while promoting sales for the larger company and offering something new to clients. Working in the store, I often wondered how my store had become so successful at finding great partnerships and making them last- the conclusion I came to was experimentation. Partnerships were tested out in my store, and if they worked, were made national or available on specific coasts. If clients weren't responsive, the partnership was nixed and it was back to square one. Looking at the company's website, it's hard to find a shoe, piece of jewelery, or handbag that isn't designed by an outsider...
It's interesting to see experimentation happen on a daily basis in the workplace, whether one is aware of it happening or not. Experimentation happens in many forms, from on a large scale to the smaller experiments.
Talk to you next week!
I've made it no secret on this blog that I spent the summer working at a certain well known retail store. In fact, the specific store I was hired at was called the 'concept store', aka the main headquarter store for the corporate side of the comany. As the concept store, our location was the one to recieve every new collection months ahead of the other stores. For instance, when I was hired in May, we were already dressing the mannequins in down vests and scarves for fall. But being the concept store, we also were the first to try out new trends and to observe how they were percieved by our clients. Then, the corporate side of the company would take these results and see if the new procedures were to be implemented in the stores across the country.
One trend that kept popping up across our store was the new 'partnering' with other companies. Although I worked at a well known clothing company, many other brands were featured in our store as partnerships, and doing surprisingly well. Over the course of the summer, I saw several new brands featured in our store that one might not immediately associate with clothing. Essie became a partner, and released new nail polish colors to coordinate with every season. Bobbi Brown became a partner as well, with lipglosses sold at the register. Cosabellas appeared in the store too, which confused most shoppers. Partnerships were advertised within the fabrics of clothing, from the exclusive house that made the cashmere for the sweaters to the expensive leather of the ballet flats. I often wondered, how did these partnerships come about, and how did the company know if they were being successful or not?
This article I found talks about why it is beneficial for both the wholesale retailer and smaller company to partner up- basically, it creates more publicity and recognition for the smaller company, while promoting sales for the larger company and offering something new to clients. Working in the store, I often wondered how my store had become so successful at finding great partnerships and making them last- the conclusion I came to was experimentation. Partnerships were tested out in my store, and if they worked, were made national or available on specific coasts. If clients weren't responsive, the partnership was nixed and it was back to square one. Looking at the company's website, it's hard to find a shoe, piece of jewelery, or handbag that isn't designed by an outsider...
It's interesting to see experimentation happen on a daily basis in the workplace, whether one is aware of it happening or not. Experimentation happens in many forms, from on a large scale to the smaller experiments.
Talk to you next week!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Week 9 Post: A Survey In Action
Through my personal experiences working in the retail industry, I have found that surveys are a popular and effective way of measuring the opinions and thoughts consumers may have. Surveys are often anonymous and as a result, let the customer express their true feelings without having any inhibitions. In fact, just the other day I was shopping at Urban Outfitters in New Haven. It was a particularily busy Saturday, and I found myself waiting in a long line of parents, students and shoppers at the register. While waiting at the cash wrap, I noticed that most people were filling out a survey about the store from Yale Properties, who rent the space to the corporation.
I took the minute to fill out the survey as well, which asked only a few basic questions. My age, which nearby university I attend, how often I shop in New Haven, my opinion of the store, etc. I was most interested by the survey because I immediately knew who was behind it- my best friend, Alex Forman, who is an intern at Yale Properties. For this blog post, I decided to interview him informally and find out why he likes using surveys in the field and how they are helpful to his company.
First I asked Alex why he chose to use survey as opposed to any other method. He concluded that through trial and error, survey was most successful. It was brief and anonymous, which made participants more willing to take the time to fill them out. Furthermore, he was able to reach a large amount of people in a relatively short amount of time- he recieved many more responses than he would have with holding a focus group or observation. Additionally, he was able to put copies of the survey in every store that Yale Properties oversees, which gained him even more feedback. Alex then went on to explain why surveys were his most preferred method of research- the ability to quickly calculate and evaluate the data. He described this process, which simply involved collecting the completed surveys and recording the data in a spreadsheet, which the company then looks at to determine what is effectively working for them or what needs to be changed.
I thought that this example was a great depiction of how, when used properly, surveys can be a very successful tool in research. When conducting a survey in a busy setting such as a retail store, it is obvious that one that is short and succinct will be the most successful!
Looking forward to reading all of your blogs and seeing what everyone else's thoughts on surveys are like! Good luck with classes this week!
I took the minute to fill out the survey as well, which asked only a few basic questions. My age, which nearby university I attend, how often I shop in New Haven, my opinion of the store, etc. I was most interested by the survey because I immediately knew who was behind it- my best friend, Alex Forman, who is an intern at Yale Properties. For this blog post, I decided to interview him informally and find out why he likes using surveys in the field and how they are helpful to his company.
First I asked Alex why he chose to use survey as opposed to any other method. He concluded that through trial and error, survey was most successful. It was brief and anonymous, which made participants more willing to take the time to fill them out. Furthermore, he was able to reach a large amount of people in a relatively short amount of time- he recieved many more responses than he would have with holding a focus group or observation. Additionally, he was able to put copies of the survey in every store that Yale Properties oversees, which gained him even more feedback. Alex then went on to explain why surveys were his most preferred method of research- the ability to quickly calculate and evaluate the data. He described this process, which simply involved collecting the completed surveys and recording the data in a spreadsheet, which the company then looks at to determine what is effectively working for them or what needs to be changed.
I thought that this example was a great depiction of how, when used properly, surveys can be a very successful tool in research. When conducting a survey in a busy setting such as a retail store, it is obvious that one that is short and succinct will be the most successful!
Looking forward to reading all of your blogs and seeing what everyone else's thoughts on surveys are like! Good luck with classes this week!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Blog Post #8
This week we are to once again look at our classmates blogs and comment on what they have been writing and their opinions. I look forward to this assignment because I enjoy reading what my peers have been writing about, as their interests often differ from mine, and can give a new perspective on research and Public Relations, among various other topics.
The first blog I looked at was Charlie Niland's, which focuses on healthcare and medical public relations. Last week, Charlie wrote about how qualitative research is becoming more prominent in healthcare. After defining what qualitative research is, Charlie went on to describe how the use of qualitative research is controversial. He wrote, "Clinical experience, based on personal observation, reflection, and judgment, seems to be needed in order to translate scientific results into treatment of individual patients. Personal experience is often characterized as being anecdotal and a poor basis for making scientific decisions". With this statement, Charlie is saying that people often overlook personal experiences and believe them to be based on situational experiences only. However, he notes that observation of people in certain sitatuions can be very helpful when trying to assist someone who is in need in the medical field.
The second blog I read was Roberta Soares' blog, which is titled 'PR For the Fashionable'. Roberta's blog has a similar focus as mine but looks more broadly to all of the fashion industry, as opposed to mine which focuses mainly on research in fashion corporations. In her most recent entry, 'To Observe is to Dress... Or is it?', Roberta wrote about important observation is in correlation with success in the fashion industry. In her blog post, Roberta covered every angle, from how designers observe others, which influences their designs, to how consumers observe celebrities and media, which tells the majority of people how to dress. I never thought of unobtrustive research in this way before, and it really interested me. The fact that Roberta was focusing on unintentional observation was an aspect of unobtrusive research that isn't covered often, but is a huge part of everyone's daily lives. No matter how you want to phrase it, people spend much of their time observing each other and every thing around them. This was something Roberta touched on in her entry, but really made me think further.
To both PRR 332 sections and all of my peers, keep up the great work in your blogs- more than halfway done with the semester!! I look forward to reading more of your entries in the future!!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is a type of primary research done through various methods, most commonly focus groups and interviews. Qualitative research is utilized often by major fashion corporations who are looking to hear feedback from their clients and learn what their needs and wants are, what they like about the company and what they'd like to change. Also, corporations use qualitative research to determine how successful their employees are being in relation to their customers. Are they helpful and attentive? Do they listen to the requests of their clients and do their best to fulfill them? These are all questions that could be evaluated with qualitative research.
In the book titled "Doing Research in Fashion and Dress", by Yuni Kawamura, the author looks into how companies use qualitative research to determine how successful they are being with their various endeavours. The author describes their book as "Using case studies, the author outlines the major issues and methodological strategies that researchers employ, and examines the range of approaches in the field. Fashion, the author demonstrates, can be treated as a material object, an abstract idea, a social phenomenon, a system, a cultural value or an attitude among many other approaches". I found this to be very interesting, because I never really thought about how research is used in these situations. I was interested to learn more about qualitative research in fashion, and how companies take their feedback and apply it to their businesses.
Overall, I would like to learn more. It would be interesting to actually sit in on a focus group and see what kind of questions are being asked, and how they are being answered by the consumers. Qualitative research has proven very useful to companies over and over again!!
In the book titled "Doing Research in Fashion and Dress", by Yuni Kawamura, the author looks into how companies use qualitative research to determine how successful they are being with their various endeavours. The author describes their book as "Using case studies, the author outlines the major issues and methodological strategies that researchers employ, and examines the range of approaches in the field. Fashion, the author demonstrates, can be treated as a material object, an abstract idea, a social phenomenon, a system, a cultural value or an attitude among many other approaches". I found this to be very interesting, because I never really thought about how research is used in these situations. I was interested to learn more about qualitative research in fashion, and how companies take their feedback and apply it to their businesses.
Overall, I would like to learn more. It would be interesting to actually sit in on a focus group and see what kind of questions are being asked, and how they are being answered by the consumers. Qualitative research has proven very useful to companies over and over again!!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Blog Post #5
This week, I looked at some of my classmates' blogs to see what they wrote about inobtrusive research, since it has been such a topic in our class discussions lately. First, I looked at Paige Weiners' blog, which is about fashion PR. Her blog post about unobtrusive research focused on how designers use observation to put styles together and create collections based on what people are wearing, without knowing they are being observed. Paige wrote, "Perhaps they would be sure to match it perfectly with their pants, or wear certain under-garments to make it more flattering or even make sure that the item of clothing is ironed so that they look neat. In reality, the designer most likely wants to see the shirt when they dont really think about it." I thought this was an interesting point to make, and I had never really looked at this from that perspective so far.
The second blog I looked at was Francesca's blog, which focuses on celebrities and social media. Francesca made me look at social media in context to unobtrusive research much differently, in a way I had never previously thought of. In her blog post 'Keeping Up With Your Favorite Celebs", she wrote, "Essentially, when you take note of what your 'friends' are doing on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media websites, you are researching their preferences for certain things like their favorite restaurant or type of food, their current favorite song or artist, the hotels they prefer to stay at, etc. So... when you are keeping tabs on your friends and favorite celebs via Tweets and Status Updates, you are conducting unobtrusive research". I am an avid user of Twitter, but I had never thought that I was conducting research as I am simply looking at my timeline updates. I thought that was interesting and a great point to make about social media and unobtrusive research.
Unobtrusive research is clearly all around us- especially when we don't know it! Hope you guys are liking my blog, more again next week!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Post #5
For this week's blog, I am focusing on unobtrusive research in the fashion industry, specifically unobtrusive research conducted in a retail environment setting. This past summer, I was lucky enough to have my first retail employment experience working for a very well known clothing company, which had its positives and negatives. One of the first things we were trained on was 'loss prevention', aka, how to catch people stealing from the store, and how to prevent it. My store had a unique policy- even if someone was witnessed to have shoplifted, we were not allowed to confront them on it. Under ANY circumstances. The reasoning behind this was legal- if we had wrongly accused someone of taking from the store, there would definitely be a lawsuit in our future, and additionally, more work for the PR department to handle.
During training, we were given a statistic which I found interesting. There are 27 million shoplifters in the United States- 1 in every 11 people. The United States found $15 BILLION dollars in losses last year from shoplifting. Furthermore, my boss was quick to point out that if people think they aren't being watched, they WILL steal.
I often wondered, how do they know this? We often assume that the majority of people are good with a conscience, however, this knowledge must have been gained through unobtrusive research of some kind. In a study I found online, the researcher watches a store over a period of time, with various shoplifters. The shoplifters, if not being closely watched by the staff, always walked away without problem. Furthermore, if another shopper witnessed the theft, they almost never said anything to the offender or store personnel. This statistic astounded me.
In recent year, unobtrusive research has done a lot in prohibiting shoplifters. Store employees are trained to looks for suspicious people - not to judge on what they look like or wearing, but on their behavior. If they fail to make eye contact, barely look at any of the items for sale but take huge piles of clothing anyway, neglect to grab the proper sizes or constantly refuse help, they are showing blatant signs of possible shoplifting. The knowledge of all of these behavioral tactics was a direct result of the performance of unobtrusive research in retail stores.
Overall, shoplifting for retail corporations is a problem, but measures are being taken to ensure its prevention. It is definitive that anyone who works in a retail setting has been trained in loss prevention, and knows which behaviors and signs to look for in a customer. It can most definitely be said that this is all attributed to careful and important unobtrusive research!
During training, we were given a statistic which I found interesting. There are 27 million shoplifters in the United States- 1 in every 11 people. The United States found $15 BILLION dollars in losses last year from shoplifting. Furthermore, my boss was quick to point out that if people think they aren't being watched, they WILL steal.
I often wondered, how do they know this? We often assume that the majority of people are good with a conscience, however, this knowledge must have been gained through unobtrusive research of some kind. In a study I found online, the researcher watches a store over a period of time, with various shoplifters. The shoplifters, if not being closely watched by the staff, always walked away without problem. Furthermore, if another shopper witnessed the theft, they almost never said anything to the offender or store personnel. This statistic astounded me.
In recent year, unobtrusive research has done a lot in prohibiting shoplifters. Store employees are trained to looks for suspicious people - not to judge on what they look like or wearing, but on their behavior. If they fail to make eye contact, barely look at any of the items for sale but take huge piles of clothing anyway, neglect to grab the proper sizes or constantly refuse help, they are showing blatant signs of possible shoplifting. The knowledge of all of these behavioral tactics was a direct result of the performance of unobtrusive research in retail stores.
Overall, shoplifting for retail corporations is a problem, but measures are being taken to ensure its prevention. It is definitive that anyone who works in a retail setting has been trained in loss prevention, and knows which behaviors and signs to look for in a customer. It can most definitely be said that this is all attributed to careful and important unobtrusive research!
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