PR campaigns and their potential to affect social norms and improve everyday life

So, it is time for that age – old question again, is public relations an evil force or a force for good? Many would rush to conclude that it is the latter keeping its early practitioners in mind, who were unafraid of calling it with the term “propaganda” before, of course, it gained a negative reputation. Yet, When millions of viewers first saw Procter & Gamble’s campaign video for Always, #LikeAGirl, during a Super Bowl advertisement slot, it seemed like the earth stood still for a few moments. Suddenly a collective epiphany occurred, as people who used the words “like a girl” to describe weakness or inadequacy realised that they were unconsciously putting down women. Indeed, considering the fact that a large percentage of women are too embarrassed to exercise in public due to a concern with how they look, this campaign against gender stereotypes is even more important. A wave of social media reactions followed, by women achieving high results in sport and tagging themselves on social media platforms with #LikeAGirl.

They were running, jumping, swimming and achieving higher than society expected and so actively worked to eradicate the stigma attached to being a woman in sport. What P&G achieved, with the help of Starcom Mediavest, was to create a PR campaign that was integrated with traditional as well as social media in order to empower consumers to choose to make society a better place together with the brand. A further innovative move by the company was to collaborate with TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design), which is becoming increasingly popular as a channel to spread innovative thinking and provocative ideas. Naturally, due to its positive message, the campaign became massively successful, gaining more than 59 million views of YouTube as well as great coverage on Twitter. The PR and advertising industries also recognised the significance of the campaign as P&G received the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Nevertheless, the biggest shift that occurred was that this success story showed that PR can become a greater force for the positive transformation of society and the encouragement of authentic corporate responsibility. Indeed there needs to be a balance between the benefits to business and society in order to achieve optimal results.

Politics is in the eye of the beholder

“Art should have political, spiritual, and surprising elements. It should try to find new language of communicating in order to give awareness to the public… Art with this kind of complexity has many lives where many societies can take something different at different times.” Marina Abramovic, Interview Magazine“

This is a blog which is very much centred on thirst for knowledge and curiosity with regard to the intersection points between politics, art, and the media and to some extent public relations. It originated from the idea that it might be insightful to focus on four countries in particular, the UK, Ireland, Bulgaria and Germany in order to map out their political and media systems and review them in the light of their art scenes.

In particular, these four countries have been chosen in the context of the European Union (EU), but also in consideration with the broader history of the European continent as arguably they represent an interesting sample. On the one hand, they vary in their attitudes towards membership in the European Union, with the UK on one end of the spectrum, as one of the most Eurosceptic countries at the present moment, Ireland located in the middle (due to their reluctance in accepting the Lisbon Treaty) and Germany and Bulgaria quite firmly on the pro-EU side. There are of course further reasons why these countries have been chosen, ranging from practical elements, such as the bloggers’ ability to speak their local languages to more abstract considerations such as their varying experiences of the Cold War, and what implications these might have on their politics and art.

Nevertheless, there is still considerable scope for development as well as criticism. Certainly, many may disagree with some (or all) opinions expressed in the pages that will follow, and perhaps this is part of the alluring beauty of the internet. Moreover, all countries deserve to be mentioned and included in this conversation, as a lot can be gained by viewing their art and politics in unison. Indeed, this project is very multidisciplinary and therefore cannot have clear boundaries, which may at times become intimidating. Nevertheless, it has the potential to stimulate discussion and grow into an intellectual journey which makes it worthwhile. So, shall we begin?

[Currently under construction]