Practice Assignment - Pitch Letter

For a homework assignment, we were asked to write a pitch letter. I chose to write about how my tire company Travers Tires was donating large tires to Japanese Tsunami relief efforts. I figured that charity would generate hype for the company, and it is a story that deserves to be published because of the good intentions of a local company.

Here it is:

03-21-2011

Mr. Anthony Bratton
Features Editor
The Boston Globe
Boston, MA 02134

Dear Mr. Bratton,

With the death toll in Japan rising everyday, Americans are left wondering what they can do to help the Japanese recover from this disaster. Local company Travers Tires of Bristol, RI has set out to do their part.

75 Japanese rescue vehicles are now more equipped to help out.

Red Cross search and rescue has had a shortage of vehicles capable of driving over all the rubble left by the earthquake and tsunami. Travers Tires has decided to donate 300 of their largest XZL900 tires, usually used for agriculture and military, to be put on rescue cars. These tires are approximately 36.5” tall and feature deep grooves for gripping support off-roads.

We think that this local donation will inspire others to help out and will make a great story for your international news section.

I’ll be in touch soon.

Sincerely,

Lacey Cumming

Wag the Dog Movie Questions+

**questions assigned to answer after watching the movie Wag the Dog in class**

1. The key messages that the crisis counselor wants the public to know are that there is a suitcase bomb in Canada that Albanians are secretly trying to smuggle into the United States. The crisis counselor also wants the publics to see the staged footage from Albania.
2. The primary target audience is people voting for any party in the upcoming election. The secondary audience is all people living in the United States.
3. The motive behind this message is to take attention away from the sex scandal that the president is accused of being involved in.
4. The producer uses a newsbreak special report to show the fake recording of the Albanian girl. Another format is the song that Willie Nelson sings about American spirit. This is also shown on TV and uses a well-known icon to get attention.
5. The producer makes the message believable by embellishing the video. The use of a girl that viewers would pity, along with a kitten, a burning village and screaming sounds will generate attention. Another way they made it believable was by saying that the girl had family in Canada.
6. The president and other people representing his party benefit from the message.
7. Fact checking was a big missing part of the message. There are no nuclear devices in Albania and they are not in a time of war. The producers of the message also did not say where the footage came from.
8. No I do not agree with the message. It is untruthful and unethical.
9. This message can be verified as accurate by contacting Albania or fact checking. Finding the source of the video would also help verify it.
10. The PR technique deployed in the movie was unethical, they committed fraud and producing such a video could threaten the lives of Americans and even national security.

Media Alert For Press Kit

MEDIA ADVISORY

Tire Company Announces Layoffs

What: Press conference
Chief of Human Resources and Personnel Manager will address the recent layoff and field questions.

When: Thursday February 17, 2011 – 10:30 a.m.

Where: Travers Tires Headquarters (1019 Hope Street, Bristol RI)
Parking available in back lot

Who: Alexander Travers, Human Resources
Travers Tires
Mark Dolan, Personnel Manager
Travers Tires

Why: Travers Tires normally employs 1,000 workers but high production costs and a decline in market share requires the company to lay off 750 employees. Personnel Manager, Mark Dolan, is presenting his plan for the lay-off along with a schedule of seminars being offered for employees to attend.





For Immediate Release
Contact: Nina Travers, PR Associate
781-555-5555 or 339-555-5555

Practice Task # 2

*this exercise asked us to pretend like we had not already written the leaflet from practice task 1*
Questions:
1. How might practices likely to discredit your employer, and disseminating false or misleading information, even inadvertently, help you approach your writing task?
2. What steps might you take to satisfy yourself that the information you have about the expansion, and its impact on the local traffic, is accurate?

1. When approaching my writing task I would keep in mind what those who are unhappy with the expansion are concerned about. I would address every complaint that I heard, even those that are false or misleading, and show that the company is taking all of these concerns into consideration while planning the expansion. These complaints will be helpful because I will know what the key messages in my leaflet should be. Though deception and not giving the full truth seems like the easiest way to reassure the people this expansion will not have any negative affects, I will be sure to tell the truth because in the long run that will be best for the company’s reputation. The fear of unhappy citizens seeking legal action because of lies would be a major concern of mine, so I would want to write only truthful things in my leaflet. I would hope that the honestly in my leaflet would gain the company credibility, and that the citizens who live near the expanding factory will begin to trust us. The negative comments from the local activist will be helpful in determining what concerns to address in my leaflet. In this case, I would be sure to mention that the expansion will not lead to road closures and traffic redirections.
2. In order to ensure that the information I have about the expansion is accurate, I would take it upon myself to do first hand research. Though the company has stated facts about their plans in the expansion, they might be skewed. I would make sure that I knew everything about the expansion plans, and not trust just what the company has said. I would also do first hand research about the citizens that would be affected, and make sure that their concerns are justified. I would also research the local traffic trends to find out what times would be affected so that I could focus my research on that. Another step I would be sure to take would be taking information from multiple sources and making sure the information given matches up. I would fact check everything before finalizing my leaflet and I would make sure that everything being stated is accurate. Without all of this research, the company cannot inform their publics fully and provide accurate and credible information.

Practice Task # 1

For this assignment I had to: assume I work in the Public Relations team of Castex Industries, a manufacturing plant in Rhode Island. I was given the task to implement a controlled media communications strategy to reach a section of the local community which is mainly elderly, retired people. Below is a leaflet that I wrote to address the community's concerns about the expansion.

Dear Resident,
We are thrilled to announce the expansion of our Rhode Island plant! We want you to be just as excited as we are about our move to your neighborhood. Castex Industries is the leading creator of solar panels in New England, and we are establishing a new sustainable studies faculty that will require expanding our factory. We are aware our expansion into your area may feel like intrusion, so we have established a set of guidelines to ensure your safety and comfort during this process. Here is what we have planned to face those challenges.
- We are studying the trends of traffic in your neighborhood and will work to only run our delivery routes at off times as to not disrupt your daily commute.
- Our construction crew will work from 9:30am to 3pm only on weekdays so the noise disturbances will be minimal.
- We have employed a crossing guard who will assist pedestrians across the street safely.

Your feedback is important to us, so feel free to visit our website Castexsolar.com or call 1 (800) CAS-TEXS.
Sincerely,
Your new neighbors at Castex Industries.

Class Activity 1 : A Day of Respect

1. To me respect means showing another person you are mature and have manors by treating them in a polite and dignified way. If you respect someone, you will be treated with the same manors.

2. If someone is being disrespectful to me, it is something I notice right away. You feel bad about yourself when someone is treating you unfairly and when he or she is being rude. On the other hand, when someone is being respectful there is a level of mutual understanding and polite actions that take place. When you are respected and treated the way you expect to be treated, you feel good about yourself and feel valued.

3. When I am talking to someone I treat them the way that I like to be treated. Respect is a two way street and if you are rude to somebody they are more apt to be rude right back to you. If you respect them and are polite and honest, you will receive the same kind of things in return. If I am interacting with someone that I want to impress, I am sure to treat them with the most respect possible, so that they will feel admired and I will look mature.

4. Respectful actions in the workplace would be addressing those in positions above me appropriately, and not using casual words as I would with my friends. In the classroom, a respectful gesture to the teacher would be paying attention, and not for example, being on my cell phone while they are talking.

5. Disrespectful people are those who do not use manors, even the slightest rude gesture can come off as disrespectful, for example not saying excuse me if you bump into someone. A more important example of not being disrespectful is interrupting someone who is talking during a class or insisting someone is wrong without listening to their point of view.

6. Respect relates to Public Relations

- Professionalism

- Networking – in order to keep relationships

- Building healthy relationships

Why Writing Skills Are Important

Writing skills are important when going into a communications job because your ability to articulate yourself, who you represent and what the company stands for can make you a better employee. Having employees with strong writing capabilities can attract publics to your company, because a good writer can appeal to their target audience through any medium. Taking classes that help improve writing skills will be beneficial because you will learn how to write for these multiple mediums in order to best appeal to your target publics. Obtaining writing skills at the college level is crucial for a communications job because a firm will not teach you the skills; you will be expected to know them. A combination of research and writing skills can help any communications professional be more persuasive and informative. As a “communicator”, knowledge of how to write is the building blocks for success. Knowing how to write in the most appealing manor will give your company positive publicity and the respect that they desire.