REFLECTIONS

What media production interests you?

In this media project, I was very much interested in the competitive analysis. I was fascinated by the insights got from the research. 

Interpreting data and getting insights from the interpretation was the most interesting part of this media project. Also, drawing up strategies, objectives and tactics from the insights were overwhelming. 

What events are happening in the news which relate to you chosen topic

Non-profit organisations play significant roles in the society. For instance, the mental health charitable organisations render a huge support to NHS. With the increase in mental health issues amongst young adults, it is becoming necessary to pay more attention to that sector. This has also made the mental health sector become more competitive and most of mental health charitable organisations to adopt different strategies to gain relevance. 

The use of social media sites are increasing amongst non-profit organisations. This is because the social media has become a part of people's lives. The social media has given rise to online community where people share ideas, concepts, ideologies etc and interact in different ways (Boyd, 2008; Keller, 2012; Turkle, 2005; ).

The social media technologies have changed the way public relations is being done in traditional media. It has ushered in new ways where organisations can interact with their stakeholders (Hanna, Rohm and Crittenden (2011). According to Wyshynski (2009), social media  networks are more than websites, they are about experiences. Social media focuses on user-generated contents or bottom-up as against Up-bottom conversations or organisation-led contents. The reason being that the publics have become actively involved in brand building.

However, more and more non-profit organisations are beginning to adopt the use of social media networks as a way to build their brands. For instance, the research findings in the competitive analysis conducted for Act revealed that all the competitors AFC have social media account that are active. These organisations have formed brand communities through their social media sites. Brand communities are not built only on relationship between the publics and organisations but also between individuals that are connected within the same community (McAlexander, Schouten & Koenig, 2002). 

According to Aaker (1997), it is easier to build a strong brand personality on social media because the platform allows users to be more connected, engaged and attracted to the brand. It is also important for these relationships to be built on trust (Morgan & Hunt, 1994).

It is also evident that the non-profit organisations have adopted  public relations techniques on their social media platforms. These techniques are reflected in the type of contents that are regularly posted on these competitors' pages. Most of the contents of the analysed non-profit organisations feature brand missions, values, causes, events, milestones, achievements, advocacy etc.

Notes on, and insights you have gained from, your reading and research.

The research insights revealed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Act for Change. It also gave insights to the activities of the competitors and how non-profit organisations are using the public relations tool to create contents and increase brand awareness. However, some non-profit organisations are still struggling using public relations while some do not know the power of public relations and some non-profit organisations are using PR ignorantly.

A key finding of this research reveals that most non-profit organisations in the mental-health sector find it challenging to market themselves especially because of the sensitivity of mental health in children in the United Kingdom. Lack of funds is also a major obstacle. 

Engagement on meant different things on the different social media platforms. For instance, engagement on Facebook are seen as likes, comments, share while on twitter, it is translated as retweet, comments etc. The research findings also indicated that the type of post determines the rate of engagement. According to Saxton and Waters (2014), social media users are more likely to engage with visual posts than any other type of post. This was evident in the content analysis section of the competitive analysis report drawn for AFC.

Also, posts were not distributed evenly across the three social media platforms that were analysed. This is because some posts types do better on some social media platforms than others. For example, majority of posts used on twitter were link posts and that is because of the interface provided by twitter as well as the character limitation.

Reports and comments on discussions you have had with your peers and clients on your research topic

My team and I agreed that non-profit organisations engaged in marketing, however, they are very subtle in the use of it because they do not want to look like the profit-oriented organisations. With the increase in the use of social media platforms by these non-profit organisations and the intense competitions among the different organisations, one can see clearly how one non-profit organisation is trying to outshine another and get more public attention which translates to higher volunteers, investors or revenue.

It is with this mind set that we propose to our client the use of public relations to project its brand mission, visions and achievements as well as use its platform to advocate for change in the mental health sector for children and young adults.

Our Client agreed with the objectives and strategies but they did not agree that the strategies and tactics were drawn from public relations. It is interesting to note that non-profit organisations see public relations as lobbying and lacks integrity.

For Act for Change, their mere existence on social media was enough to provide them with engagement with their stakeholders. However, this is not right, providing a platform for communication is not the same as actually engaging your stakeholders (Waters and Lo, 2012). .

The dangers of having an inactive online presence to our client is that it sends a negative message about the brand to its stakeholders (Bortree and Seltzer, 2009). Walters and Lo (2012) stated that such an brand can loss its potential volunteers, clients and donors. 

Act for Change needs to be more strategic, intentional and active on its social media accounts in order to gain engagement and build its relationship with its stakeholders. AFC needs to learn how to leverage on engagement opportunities created on social media. 

Issues relating to the topic which you have found challenging

Creating strategic contents has been the most challenging aspect of this media project. Adopting public relations techniques needs to be strategically done. Also the use of social media to achieve the goal of public relations was also challenging. Public relations have been criticised as lacking credibility.

However, with the changes that social media has brought to public relations where contents or information is now directly between the organisations and the publics, it is possible that public relations can regain its credibility.

What you think you have learnt and How you have developed through this module?

During this media project, I have been able to improve my research and analytical skills. I have also been able to develop my creative skills as well as my social media skills. I have learnt how to strategically create content using the public relations and branding strategies to create and increase engagement.

I have also learnt how to think and put my client in perspective of whatever strategies or campaigns I propose. However, I have learnt how to manage a challenging client. In the process of working on this project, I had to work with in a team, I became more patient and listening to other team mates ideas. I tried not to enforce my ideas because I understand that we are all part of a system and must work as one to achieve our goals. I also developed my leadership skills. I knew I could self-motivate myself and that was the driving force through this project even when my team mates were tired and lost the energy, I had to motivate them to continue.

Even though, my team and I could not implement most of the ideas proposed because of the time wasted on the getting Ethical consent from our client, I must say that it was worth it.

Aspirations you might have for the future, e.g., has the module uncovered a career path or further study you would like to pursue?

I would really love to work with a non-profit organisation especially on such sensitive issue such as mental health. I believe that I would be able to use my skills and knowledge acquired during this media project for the success of any project relating to this. 

Public relations can be used to advocate for change in the society. This is what non-profit organisations should leverage on especially if they would want to use public relations as a communications tool. I see public relations as one of the most powerful tools of marketing communications.

What advice would you give anyone that would want to embark on a media project with a non-profit organisation?

I would advise anyone that would want to work with a non-profit organisation to be very patient, open-minded and very flexible with ideas. Also, non-profit organisations do not like to take risks because of how they are structured and that is why they do not embrace ideas quickly. With these in mind, I believe the person will succeed in this project if embarked upon.

My Gratitude

I am grateful to God for strength and wisdom to overcome the storms encountered during this project. My heartfelt thanks to my team for not giving up. To my tutors and Module supervisor, thank you so much for always intervening and providing guidance whenever we were stuck. To client, thank you for the opportunity to work with you and thank you for providing us with the support we needed for this project.