A Change of Tide

Corporate responsibility defines the business ethics within the culture of a company. Each company, after setting their own agenda, has a responsibility to uphold to the public, their shareholders and the industry. Potential and current costumers, clients and consumers are influenced by a company’s corporate responsibilities and how they carry them out. Major investors are more likely to invest in a company that shows corporate responsibility. When a company does not follow through or live up to their responsibilities it can lead to penalties and the loss of respect it has with the public.

Tide, a Procter & Gamble company, has shown a corporate responsibility ethically and environmentally. One of the ways Tide works to give back to people in need is with their Loads of Hope program. Tide has worked to reduce their footprint on the world through packaging, production and by producing an energy efficient product. By finding ways to be socially and environmentally responsible, Tide has created a great presence of corporate responsibility in the business world.

Loads of Hope is a relief effort that provides victims of natural disasters with a way to have clean clothes. Tide offers two ways for victims to receive clean clothes: a) they wash and dry clothes with their Loads of Hope truck and b) by handing out free bottles of laundry detergent. One Loads of Hope truck has 32 energy-efficient washers and dryers. The truck has the capability of producing 300 loads of laundry a day, which is about the average number of loads that an American family produces in a year. Tide washes, dries and folds all of the clothes for the victims for free. To raise money to provide these efforts Tide sells vintage Tide t-shirts and special ‘yellow cap’ bottles of laundry detergent. In the last three months, Tide has also has raised a total of $410,000 for Haiti with the sales of their vintage t-shirts.

The relief program began four weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Since then Loads of Hope has teamed up with Feeding America to offer relief to a variety of locations across America. So far, Loads of Hope has supplied relief to 6 locations in America ranging all the way from Fargo, ND to New Orleans, LA. As a way to reach out further to their consumers, Tide has uploaded videos of Loads of Hope in action, which is a great way to boast the public relations and media coverage on their relief efforts. From a social media standpoint, Tide has created a ‘tidal wave’ of interest on the internet with a presence on Facebook, Twitter and consumer blogs. The word of this relief effort was spread very quickly across the several social media channels. One of the quickest and most efficient ways to boast a company’s reputation is by word of mouth, and Tide achieved just that with the Loads of Hope campaign.

Tide also has joined forces with Frigidaire who has helped to provide the energy-efficient washers and dryers for the Loads of Hope truck. Not only is this relief effort helping people, but it is also helping the environment because these energy-efficient machines use 70% less water then a regular washer. The Frigidaire washers also kill 99.9% of bacteria while washing the clothes. By offering clean clothes to victims in an energy efficient way, not only is Tide showing corporate responsibility ethically, but also environmentally.

Another way Tide has shown responsibility toward the environment is with their product. Tide Cold Water is a laundry detergent that is specially made to wash clothes in cold water, which saves both money and energy. Consumers can save money and energy because they will not have to pay for the energy that it would take to heat the water. The detergent also incorporates ingredients that are safe for the environment and Tide Cold Water is the first laundry detergent to earn the Green Good Housekeeping Seal.

Tide also is contributing to helping the environment by using 80% less water in their liquid detergent. By creating a more concentrated formula, Tide is able to use less plastic in their packaging. The environment is not the only thing that Tide is looking out for; the company has created a great line of detergents with the consumer in mind. Tide HE, combined with high efficiency washers, gives consumers more loads of laundry while using less water and detergent. Tide Pure Essentials uses baking soda and other natural ingredients for consumers that want a more natural detergent that gentle on their clothes. Tide has also come up with a detergent without using dyes and perfumes for consumers with sensitive skin.

Tide has found a way to become more then just a reliable detergent. Through the Loads of Hope program, smarter ingredients and better packaging, Tide has incorporated a strong corporate reasonability into their company culture. So far, they have won an award for taking responsibility in helping the environment, and found ways to channel wanted help for victims in needs. With strong foundations in corporate responsibility, Tide will soar to new heights in finding ways to help those in need and the environment.

Digital Bridges Open House

This video is proof that our group was able to pull through a successful campaign, even though we had a rocky start!

Our PR assignment for this semester was to create a campaign for a new community technology center, Digital Bridges. My class was divided into four groups that each had a different target market for the program. Back in January my group was assigned the Access Milledgeville target market. This was a special program that focused on giving out special internet accounts for those who could not afford the internet. This seemed like a wonderful, exciting and challenging campaign because we would get the opportunity to help those in need. However our campaign slowly began to unravel as the name of the program changed, and the accounts would not be available in time for our group to market with a campaign.

After spending 3 months trying to stop our campaign from falling apart, Digital Bridges made the decision to assign us a different campaign for them. Our plan b was to plan a blue ribbon cutting ceremony for the official opening of Digital Bridges. With only three weeks out until the attentive date, the next problem came from the trouble with confirming and coordinating everything with 5 different organizations. This campaign ended up falling through because we did not have enough time to invite the right people to the ceremony and the paint on the outside of the building would not be done in time for the event.

So our group moved on to plan c. This time we created a campaign for that would bring awareness about Digital Bridges to the community. We planned, organized and executed an open house for Digital Bridges. This was a challenge because after all of our set backs with this semester we only had two weeks to plan it! The event was a display of everything that Digital Bridges has to offer to the community. Since we had a broad audience to target we used a combination of traditional, and social media as well as promotional incentives that included a Twitter contest, free food, and a free jump drive give-away to the first 100 people that filled out an entrance survey. We also had Z97 do a live remote at the event.

Our goal for this new event was to get a 100 people through the door. We met our and more with the final head count being 383! This event also generated business interest between Digital Bridges and local schools, businesses and restaurants. The traffic on Digital Bridges Facebook and Twitter page also increased due to the increased awareness.

Although our campaign started off to a rocky start with all the changes, it definitely ended with a successful, and memorable campaign!

MS&L Intern Challenge Day

Last friday I had the opportunity to attend the MS&L Intern Challenge Day in Atlanta.  This is an event that is put on by MS&L at their office locations in Atlanta, Chicago and New York.  The application process consists of a resume, 2 writing samples, 8 short answer questions, and an essay.  After reviewing the applications, ten lucky applicants are invited into one of these offices were they have a chance to compete for the top three coveted intern positions.  

I was fortunate enough to make it to the top ten where my next assignment was to create a video introduction of myself.  Following the video, the next step was to attend the event....and so my journey began...

When I first stepped off the elevator I was greeted by three people who already knew my name and where I was from.  They immediately took my picture and then escorted me through the maze of the colorful cubicles to a back 'lounge area' that overlooked downtown Atlanta.  The first portion of the morning was spend getting to know each other (including the other candidates and the employees).  Each candidate was asked to bring in an 'introduction item' that would tell something interesting about themselves.  I thought this was a very clever and fun way to get to know the competition.  I brought in the first purse that I ever made (which was created using a deck of cards and clear mailing tape).  I thought this would show something interesting about myself and show off a bit of my creativity. 

After the introduction part, we were escorted to the main conference room where we watched everyone's videos and voted on the best one.  Just like Donald Trump's Apprentice, there were prices for each competition, in this case MS&L gave out itunes gift cards to the winners. 

One of my favorite parts of the day was the headline writing competition.  We were given a brief on a new product that McDonald's is coming out with during the summer and then had about 2 minutes to write a creative headline, choose the best media outlet, and create a tweet.  This was fun for me because a) it challenged me to think fast and creatively on my feet and b) we got to work a product that no one knows about it yet!  

After the headline challenge we had lunch full of pizza, salad and Coke products (of course!).  Lunch was another great opportunity where we got to meet more employees and ask them questions about life at MS&L.  After lunch was the individual interviews where we were given a more formal one-on-one interview.  

The most challenging part of the day was the group challenge.  We were divided into groups and then given a two page creative brief about Porsche (I also learned how to pronounce it properly).  The challenge was we were only given 45 minutes to create a PR campaign that incorporated the objectives and reached the target market given on the brief.  The challenge was the time constraint that we were under because all of the groups had really good and unique ideas, but none of them where complete in terms of details. 

I throughly enjoyed MS&L Intern Challenge Day and I am very honored that I got the chance to compete with other top PR students.  It was a full day that was challenging yet fun.  When asked if I would do it again, most definitely! 

A couple days before spring break I found out that I was selected to attend Intern Challenge Day at MS&L Worldwide in Atlanta. The first challenge was to create a video about yourself to use as your introduction. The only limits for the video were to include your name and major, and it could only be 60-90 sec long. Everything else was up to your own creativity!

Over spring break I went to Disney World and decided that this would be the perfect setting for my video! This video incorporates my creativity, and personality.

I would like to thank everyone who helped with the video and I hope you enjoy!