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Doing the hard work: including diversity and inclusion in your public relations tool kit to build stakeholder relationships

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Doing the hard work: including diversity and inclusion in your public relations tool kit to build stakeholder relationships

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Content DOING THE HARD WORK: INCLUDING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN YOUR PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOL KIT TO BUILD STAKEHOLDER RELATIONSHIPS By Kelly McConville A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS (STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS) May 2021 ii Table of Contents List of Tables ..........................................................................................................................................iii List of Figures .........................................................................................................................................iv Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... v Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1 Defining Public Relations and Diversity and Inclusion ......................................................................... 2 Melding the Two and What We’re Missing .......................................................................................... . 3 Through the Lens of Entertainment ...................................................................................................... 6 Addressing the Internal Structures ....................................................................................................... 7 Tactic: Strong Voice and Consistent Messaging ...................................................................................... 8 CASE STUDY: NETFLIX’S STRONG BLACK LEAD .....................................................................11 Tactic: Influencer Campaigns .................................................................................................................13 CASE STUDY: DOTE’S COACHELLA INFLUENCER CAMPAIGN ............................................. 15 CASE STUDY: HBO’S EUPHORIA ................................................................................................. 16 CASE STUDY: TIKTOK’S BLACK CREATORS SUMMIT ............................................................ 18 Tactic: Events ........................................................................................................................................ 19 CASE STUDY: AMAZON STUDIO’S BLACK WOMEN IN ENTERTAINMENT PANEL (BWE) 20 CASE STUDY: HBO’S OUR STORIES CAMPAIGN ...................................................................... 22 Tactic: Employee Advocacy .................................................................................................................. 24 CASE STUDY: AMAZON STUDIOS’ AFFINITY GROUPS ........................................................... 25 The Dissenters ....................................................................................................................................... 27 Reversing the Flow: Recruitment and Retention .................................................................................... 29 Messaging and Recruitment ............................................................................................................... 30 Influencer Relations on Recruitment and Retention ............................................................................ 31 Removing Barriers to Success............................................................................................................. 34 Data, Goals and KPIs .......................................................................................................................... 35 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 37 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................... 39 Appendix A ........................................................................................................................................... 44 Appendix B ........................................................................................................................................... 46 iii List of Tables Table 1: Racial Groups in the U.S. PR Workforce vs. the General U.S. Population……………………. 28 iv List of Figures Figure 1: “Importance of Communicating Organizational Diversity Values”…………………………….3 Figure 2: “Tactics Used to Communicate Diversity Values”………………………………………….......4 Figure 3: PEW Research “Use of Social Media Platforms by Demographic Groups.…………………......9 Figure 4: @JasmynBeKnowing, Twitter……………………………………...………………………….11 Figure 5: @strongblacklead, Twitter……………………………………….....………………………….11 Figure 6: @diet_prada, Instagram……..……………………………………...………………………….13 Figure 7: Daniella Perkins, Youtube….……………………………………...…………………………...15 Figure 8: @hunterschafer, Instagram……………………………………...……………………………..17 Figure 9: Founding of BEN…………..……………………………………...……………….…………..25 v Abstract Creating campaigns that speak to diverse constituents is a necessary skill for the modern public relations practitioner. Diverse and authentic campaigns build consumer trust and how that trust influences factors like customer loyalty and retention. This thesis explores the tactics that public relations practitioners can use when creating diverse campaigns: messaging, social media influencer campaigns, events, and employee advocacy. Case studies for each specific tactic are examined to show how they have been successfully applied in real campaigns. Public relations is further hindered by its homogenous workforce. To better equip practitioners on how to diversify the workspace, the final portion of this thesis reviews how the same tactics can be used in recruitment. 1 Introduction Here is a small list of actual excuses that have been said to my face during my short time in public relations. 1. “That story just won’t work for a larger audience,” referring to my idea on pitching a certain story to a national print magazine instead of the magazines dedicated to marginalized identities they had selected. 2. “We just don’t have time for that,” said in response to a diverse hiring initiative, after begging employees to think of a way to hire more people of color. 3. “Don’t you think that message is a little…aggressive?” said about any message that isn’t placating. And the fact of the matter is: they are excuses. They tell me and the people around you that you aren’t willing to do the hard work, that you want to take the path of least resistance. Before embarking on this research, I couldn’t understand why so many public relations professionals found diversity and inclusion a mythical topic, one that was shrouded in mystery and separate from the real-world tactics they use every day. And then I tried to find legitimate research on the topic and realized there is a dearth of information out there. There is plenty of research on diversity initiatives on hiring within PR companies, the attitudes and practices that effect PR professionals, and messaging strategies to reach “multicultural audiences.” And we will touch on all this important research in this paper, but none of them tell a PR practitioner how to apply PR to the world of Diversity and Inclusion. Maybe it’s obvious to some practitioners, but to others I would argue it’s a well-needed lesson. Who can forget Dolce & Gabbana’s racist gaffe when they released a video of a Chinese 2 model attempting to eat her Italian food with chopsticks (Rivas)? The backlash was swift, calling for boycotts of the brand, models abruptly pulling out of their fashion shows, and panicked retailers taking D&G products off their shelves. Perhaps if they had viewed Diversity and Inclusion as an integral part of their PR campaigns, this mistake could have been avoided and millions of dollars would not have been lost. The following paper is a discussion that moves the needle on Diversity and Inclusion in Public Relations dialogue beyond the initiative of hiring diverse professionals and into the realm of communicating to internal and external stakeholders. (The author fully acknowledges that many companies have not even met this basic bar, but also believes that the following tactics can be employed in concert with internal diversity efforts.) Defining Public Relations and Diversity and Inclusion But first, we need to agree on a few basics. Ask any ten people what public relations practitioners actually do, and you’ll likely get 10 different answers. However, for the purposes of this paper, we can agree on some melding of current definitions. The Public Relations Society of America defines public relations as the “strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics” (PRSA). But, as Erica Ciszek argues, this is purely a functional definition (E. L. Ciszek). Instead, she turns to Edward Lee for a sociocultural definition: Public relations is the flow of purposive communication produced on behalf of individuals, formally constituted and informally constituted groups, through their continuous trans-actions with other social entities. It has social, cultural, political, and economic effects at local, national and global levels. 3 Personally, I prefer a blend of the two definitions. At its heart, public relations is the building of relationships between an organization and its publics, but Lee’s definition also places appropriate respect to its effect on society at large. In the past, public relations had been relegated to the communication of a business to its consumers, denying its role in activism and changing the social conversations (E. L. Ciszek). Furthermore, we denied organizations and even for-profit businesses can exist as vehicles for important social messages (Lee). But I think many readers who find this paper will have a passing definition of public relations and are instead looking for guidance on the topic of Diversity and Inclusion, henceforth referred to as D&I. Gallup defines diversity as “the full spectrum of human demographic differences -- race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status or physical disability.” When companies rely solely on diversity, we find things like a statistically diverse workforce, but said workers are trapped in lower tier positions, over worked and underpaid, and often have high turnover rates (Cross and Braswell). This is where inclusion comes in. Inclusion is achieved by creating a business culture that fosters belonging, through valuing and respecting employees (Washington and Patrick). To have a truly thriving workplace, the two must be intimately intertwined. Or, if you prefer simple metaphors, turn to diversity advocate Verna Myers, who eloquently stated, “Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance” (Cross and Braswell). Melding the Two and What We’re Missing Now that we have definitions out of the way, how do PR and D&I meet? Besides being represented by fancy acronyms? 4 To me, the relationship is clear. Public Relations is about building relationships with stakeholders, both internal and external, and D&I is about fostering diverse and representative relationships within an organization. D&I efforts need strong PR tactics to attract and retain employees. PR needs D&I tactics to build internal and external stakeholder confidence in its message. And yet what seems like a simple marriage of two similar fields has remained elusive for many practitioners. As a discipline, we understand the importance of D&I, but lack the knowledge on how to share the message. In 2015, 362 communication professionals were surveyed for not only their opinions on diversity in the PR field, but also their tactics (Mundy). Unsurprisingly, the survey found that more than half of the participants (74%) indicated that communicating an organization’s diversity efforts to external stakeholders was either extremely or somewhat important. Only 9% claimed it was extremely unimportant. However, when respondents were asked to indicate which common PR tactics they used to communicate the information they had deemed important, the results were disappointing. Figure 1 Data on how important communicating organization diversity values externally. Mundy, D. "From Principle to Policy to Practice? Diversity as a Driver of Multicultural, Stakeholder Engagement in Public Relations." 9(1) (2015): 1-20. 4 Figure 2 Data on which tactics are commonly used to communicate diversity. Mundy, D. "From Principle to Policy to Practice? Diversity as a Driver of Multicultural, Stakeholder Engagement in Public Relations." 9(1) (2015): 1-20. The third highest tactic was not at tactic at all, but “not applicable.” Beating out this non- tactic were organizational websites (48%) and employee recruitment materials (53%). Again, let me state that recruiting diverse talent and fostering their growth is an important part on the path forward to true D&I. The top two tactics are extremely valuable in that regard and should not be dismissed. But these tactics are static, requiring little action on behalf of the pr practitioner and barely standing out consumers and stakeholders alike. To illustrate my point, let’s evaluate these tactics, using the concept of “stickiness”. Stickiness is how well a brand connects with its audience or, in other words, “sticks” with them (Spenner and Freeman). How familiar a consumer is with your brand is one variable of stickiness, but their willingness to buy and tell their friends about it are other common factors (Spenner and Freeman). Now, let’s look at a hypothetical. In 2019 Stryker, a medical technologies firm in the United States, was ranked as the number one workplace for diversity in 2019 (Fortune). What if its PR department only used its website and recruiting materials to spread this message, the top two 5 tactics as indicated by the above survey? At best, only incoming employees and maybe a well- read website browser would know about this achievement, leaving current employees and other stakeholders in the dark. Not a very sticky message. What if Stryker applied common PR tactics to create a comprehensive communication plan that detailed its diversity achievements to key external stakeholders? In this new strategy, Stryker may roll out a social media campaign with employees talking about the positive benefits they’ve noticed by working in their diverse office or participate in a panel on the topic at a conference. These tactics are more active and engaging, resulting in a stickier message. It’s possible, that the next time a hospital administrator is looking to buy equipment, Stryker will stand out as a supplier because they included diversity in their communication plan, resulting in potential profit for Stryker, But it’s not just that companies are relying on static and outdated pr tactics for their messaging. In the same 2015, Mundy found that only 40% of respondents even included diversity-driven messaging in its strategy (Mundy). That means 60% of organizations are leaving money on the table and non-white audiences in the dust. What if I asked you to stop seeing your D&I communications plan as a statement of facts, but instead as a vehicle of building trust into your stakeholder relationships? The topic of trust in relationship building is an old tenant of PR. James Grunig, a pioneer in the field, found that trust is a vital aspect of the relationship between and organization and its publics (2000). In fact, he argued it is the only characteristic that allows an organization to exist (2000). Yes, you read that right, trust, an intangible concept, ranks above factors like product quality and clever copywrite. 6 Furthermore, companies that successfully build trusting relationships with their publics will reap benefits such as customer retention and loyalty (Coombs and Holiday). Now, let’s take into account that Millennials are the largest generation and the most powerful consumers (Hughes). Millennials are more likely to choose a brand that has “demonstrated inclusion and diversity in terms of its promotions” over one that hasn’t (Carufel). And they are closely followed by Gen Z, who are now the most racially diverse generation (edging out Millennials) and conscious of the topic (Carufel). It’s clear that the now and future consumers of America—and the world—will be looking at an organization not only for its stated purpose, but also for its commitment to D&I efforts. It is imperative that if a brand wants to remain competitive, it needs to be communicating its D&I efforts to all of its publics, not just its employees. Through the Lens of Entertainment While this paper may reference a wide array of fields, it will focus through the lens of entertainment public relations. The reasons for this are twofold. Entertainment, meaning films, TV programs, Broadway theater and everything in between, is a touchstone for many people. Because of this, it has been a flash point in the conversation on diversity and representation—both onscreen and offscreen. As Hollywood attempts to greenlight more diverse media and hire people of marginalized identities (whether it will successfully is a topic of another paper), its public relations practitioners will need to be savvy in successful PR tactics. To that end, I interviewed long-time entertainment PR professionals for their insights on the field. 7 The second reason is for coherency. Each of the tactics I highlight below will be accompanied by suggested ideas and case studies. In the end, it’s my hope that this paper will show the starting point of a successful D&I communications plan and pulling from disparate fields will distract from that message. However, as no field is completely perfect on the topic and we can all learn from each other, there will be cross-discipline references throughout to provide support. Addressing the Internal Structures A discussion on how Public Relations could be more inclusive as a field was not my original intention for this paper. However, through conversations around this paper and in my personal life, I found PR professionals still felt a need for some type of discussion on the topic. The final part of this paper addresses this need, not through regurgitating facts on why diversity is important, but by looking at recruitment and retention tactics through a PR framework. 8 Tactic: Strong Voice and Consistent Messaging Messaging is the bedrock on which all other communication tactics rest. A weak or inconsistent message results in confused stakeholders, unsure of what the organization’s intentions are and what their call to action is. First, you must establish who your audience is. I urge you to not fall in the trap of viewing your audience as one monolithic race, but instead see them as racially diverse as the workforce you’re trying to build. In fact, long-time USC Professor Jennifer Floto urges students and colleagues alike to dig out from the “one-size-fits-all” mentality that still plagues most PR campaigns. We need to free ourselves of the age/gender/geography myth and truly look at our intended audiences. After you’ve established the audience, then you need to create the content of your message. While some practitioners would caution against long, cumbersome messages, I instead leave you with this piece of advice from Joseph Stiglitz at a recent World Congress on Communication for Development, that “information is part of communication and not vice versa” (Mefalopulos). That is, pure, dry information cannot be the sole content of the message and instead it needs to be massaged by the communication professional. Anyone who has read a particularly dull engineering text will know the reason why. A purely informational message cannot be guaranteed to be understood by the reader or that they will buy in to the sentiment (Mefalopulos). Then you need to determine how and where you’ll connect with them (Salzman). How you will achieve that can be conceived as your voice, which can run the gamut from authoritative to education to fun. Then find the medium where you will connect best with your audience. YouTube dominates the social media landscape in the United States across nearly all 9 demographics, but Black and Hispanic users make up the majority of Instagram’s user base (91%) and nearly half of Twitter’s (49%) (Perrin and Anderson). For the latest social media app, TikTok, Chinese users accounted for 80% of the total time spent on the app in 2019 and users from India made up 42% of their new sign ups (Omnicore). . This is the moment when your diverse hiring tactics (that I know you’ve been doing because I’ve mentioned it three times already) will shine. Creating an authentic message will, in turn, create a strong message. An authentic message is possible when the voice of who you’re representing is also represented at the table creating the message (Coy). And because we are engaging in sometimes fraught subjects, organizations should not be afraid of engaging in contested rhetoric. Let’s look at Ben and Jerry’s 2016 statement on Black Lives Matter: “Black Lives Matter. Choosing to be silent in the face of such injustice is not an option. Why Black Lives Matter. Systemic racism is the most defining civil rights and social justice issue of our time. We ask you to join us in not being complicit in the face of this injustice” (Ben & Jerry's). Figure 3 Demographics on usage of various social media platforms. Perrin, Andrew and Monica Anderson. "Share of U.S. adults using social media, including Facebook, is mostly unchanged since 2018." 10 April 2019. Pew Research. <https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/10/share-of- u-s-adults-using-social-media-including-facebook-is-mostly-unchanged-since-2018/>. 10 A simple concise statement and a deliberate call to action is all this statement consists of (Ciszek and Logan). This simple post went on to generate thousands of comments of support and vehement anger, with commentators denouncing their once beloved brand and others calling for a boycott (Ciszek and Logan). Don’t be afraid to take a stand. But, how? For entertainment professionals, one of the most common duties is to create a set of talking points or key messages. Talking points are created with the voice of the speaker and the goals of the campaign combined. These points are then, hopefully, internalized by the talent of the film (actors, writers, directors, etc.) who are being interviewed throughout the lengthy promotional campaign. When interviewers ask talent questions (whether in isolated and controlled interviews or on chaotic red carpets) the talent is usually trained on how to answer in a way that is both authentic and on message. Joy Fehily, a PR practitioner of over 25 years and founder of Joy Fehily Management + Consulting, advised that when a person is interviewed about the diversity and representation of a film, to “pivot to the project itself” (Fehily). The goal is to connect both the speaker and the audience to the project, allowing it to speak for itself. 11 CASE STUDY: NETFLIX’S STRONG BLACK LEAD Take, for example, Netflix’s Strong Black Lead, a team comprised of Black executives dedicated to promoting the service to BIPOC audiences. Jasmyn Lawson, the head of Brand and Editorial for the team, tweeted about watch party for Homecoming in March 2020, nearly a full year after its release and was supported by Strong Black Lead’s own Twitter account. Her tweet also received the honor of being Beyoncé’s first retweet since she joined the service in 2009 (Gore). The moment had the film trending number one worldwide on Twitter within the hour and generated over 500,000 tweets in the next twenty-four (Cowen). It’s credited with creating a communal experience and making the wide world of the internet feel small, like we were all friends sitting down to watch a movie together (Ohanele). And all of these good feelings and memories are associated with the Netflix brand. Figure 4 Tweets from @JasmynBeKnowing. @JasmynBeKnowing. “Alright, let’s do this thing! How’s Wednesday at 6 PM PST (9EST)??? We can use the hashtag #HOMEcoming.” Twitter, 16 Mar. 2020, 4:36 p.m., https://twitter.com/jasmynbeknowing/status/1239697115527315457 Figure 5 Tweet from @strongblacklead. @strongblacklead. “Seriously though, this was a top 3 night in history and it ain’t 3. Thank ALL of you for this much needed moment. I sincerely love y’all so much!! #HOMEcoming”, Twitter, 18 Mar. 2020, 8:19 p.m., https://twitter.com/strongblacklead/status/1240477917898924032 1 2 Through a combination of acquisition, original content, and their Strong Black Lead team, Netflix is becoming a leader in the industry. Director Ava DuVernay, a content parent with Netflix, said, “Netflix doesn’t have to trot out the one or two things, but it has a library that’s a wide cross section of taste and content that speaks to the understating of that audience (Smith). She was, of course, referring to Netflix’s ability to offer a “Black Lives Matter” collection of 56 pieces of media, while many other studios can only look to a few titles to represent their commitment to Black voices (Smith). The efforts have paid off. In 2015, they saw Black households made up only 5% of their total subscribers and now see an (undisclosed) number that is more reflective of the United States (12.1%) (Smith). 1 3 Tactic: Influencer Campaigns In the age of social media, most D&I communication campaigns would be remiss to not take advantage of influencers. But many influencer campaigns miss the mark, selecting a nearly lily-white cast of influencers to represent their brand. Let’s look at fashion brand Etro’s recent campaign. Of the 24 influencers chosen, only one was a person of color. This choice seemed especially egregious to viewers in the wake of Black Lives Matters protests of 2020 and the recent discussion—once again—on why representation matters. As someone who has created the initial list of influencers to reach out to, I know how easy it is to fall into this trap. You start by recalling the people you’ve seen in your own social media feeds or who you’ve seen recently in digital campaigns. But that’s the first mistake because, as a white woman, the first ten people to come to mind are more likely to be white than any other race. And even if I didn’t have that innate bias, the influencers I’m most likely to see in my day-to-day scrolling are more likely to be white women due to white privilege. Figure 6 Instagram account @diet_prada on Etro's recent influencer campaign. @diet_prada. “diversity”, Instagram, 15 Jul. 2020, https://www.instagram.com/p/CCrOS9EnzIc 1 4 This is why the first step in creating a diverse influencer campaign is to let go of internal biases—easier said than done—and just start researching. Be open to the idea of micro- influencers too (less than 100,000 followers), where we see greater diversity and representation. In an interview with Ariel Rezazadeh, founder of the influencer management company Bloom XO, we discussed the history of influencer campaigns. Four years ago, when she started her business, she said, “it was completely about the numbers. Companies did not look at the personality or story of the influencer.” She also says the onus on what a final campaign looks like lies with the brand. “Unfortunately, you can put in all the work, do everything right, but the decision makers can change it all” (Rezazadeh). For example, the influencer management company can compile a diverse list of influencers that match all the parameters of the campaign, but if the brand is limited by their budget, they may prioritize only the top five influencers on the list. And, based on the fact that influencers of color tend to have lower follower counts than their white counterparts, they will be the first to be eliminated. The COO of Heartbeat, an influencer marketplace, encourages her clients to work across many perspectives, from ethnicities to genders to sizes. “We are on the front lines of showing brands the value of working with diverse, everyday people who are actually the brand's consumers. Millennials and Gen Z are actively looking for brands to represent people who look like them and share their values, and this is a major shift in how "influence" is perceived. […] Plus, the data in terms of our campaign results speaks for itself” (Talbot). Rezazadeh notes that the conversation is changing for the better. Now when they begin initial discussions, there is a focus on matching influencers who share the same values of the 15 brand. There is less of a focus on the hard numbers, such as follower counts, and instead on “stories that connect with people” (Rezazadeh). CASE STUDY: DOTE’S COACHELLA INFLUENCER CAMPAIGN The influencer industry isn’t all rosy. A fashion app, Dote, claiming to be the “Gen Z’s dream mall” came face to face with accusations of racism in 2019 when the brand hosted an influencer brand trip to Coachella (Richards). Fashion youtuber Daniella Perkins, uploaded footage of herself crying in her vlog, entitled “the truth about coachella ft. mental breakdown.”.In the video, she says she felt “so uncomfortable” being in the Dote influencer house and that it felt like “I don’t belong” (Chen). The reason for Perkins completely warranted emotional distress? Dote had sectioned the four influencers of color into their own wing of the house and provided them with subpar conditions compared to the other white influencers, relegating them to pull out couches while their white counterparts had kind-size beds (Chen). Perkins went on to say that during the photo shoots, Dote shot “all the white girls together and then all the minorities together” (Chen). Figure 7 Screencap of Youtuber's Daniella Perkins vlog "the truth about coachella ft. mental breakdown" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-dlcP2mZOE&ab_channel=DaniellaPerkins 16 Glossy reported that a few months later, in early 2020, the app was shut down and blamed its racist “missteps” as one of the factors (Richards). A different influencer, Ria Michelle, speaking on the community-at-large said, “I’ve been very much the only one—the token kind of person. It’s something we [as Black influencers] are very cognizant of ” (Flora). If the goal is to create trusting relationships with your constituents, Dote is not the path to follow. Social media users, especially Gen Z, respond to what they believe are authentic stories and authenticity is often found when they see their own reality reflected in the social media story being told (Graham). CASE STUDY: HBO’S EUPHORIA Now I’m going to let you in on what is probably a poorly kept secret: The best influencers for your entertainment campaign? Your own talent. I know, I know, crazy. But remember, if you’ve been doing the work of hiring diverse talent above and below the line, you’ll have a gold mine of influencers ready to post for you. “Euphoria” was HBO’s summer hit, depicting a group of high schoolers as they experiment with drugs, sex, identity, and just growing up (HBO). Producers casted Zendaya, a well-known biracial actress, in the lead role. Actors of color and those who identified as LGBT, filled out many of the remaining roles. Most notable might be Hunter Schafer, a transgender actress, who made her acting debut. The show immediately capitalized on the already present social media followings of its top cast, like Zendaya and Jacob Elordi. They focused on a first person, friendly voice (remember that from earlier?) and tagged the cast in Q&A sessions on Instagram for the 17 premiere (Shorty Awards). For their newly minted YouTube account, they featured behind the scenes looks at the casts and featured actors discussing the tough topics on the show (Shorty Awards). Their Instagram ballooned to 700,000 followers in the eight weeks the show ran, and their video content saw over 57 million views (Shorty Awards). Was the effort worth it? HBO self-reported that the social media campaign “built deep connections and trust with our fanbase” (Shorty Awards). And I didn’t even have to put those words in their mouth! They also reported that the show was HBO’s most social series, second only to the international phenomena “Game of Thrones.” Figure 8 Instagram post from actor Hunter Schafer, showing a video with over 2 million views. @hunterschafer. “the finale of @euphoria is tonight”, Instagram, 4 Aug. 2019, https://www.instagram.com/p/B0wFSZAgV24/?hl=en 18 CASE STUDY: TIKTOK’S BLACK CREATORS SUMMIT Instead of an organization leveraging influencers on a social media app, let’s instead look at a social media app leveraging its influencers in real life. To celebrate Black History Month, TikTok held its first-ever Black Creators Summit. The summit invited over one hundred of its Black content creators to the 2-day summit in Los Angeles. Director of Creator Community, Kudzi Chikumbu, wrote that: It's always important to us to recognize, uplift and invest in those on our platform who are driving culture and creativity. […] We recognize that for many users, TikTok allows them to showcase their creativity and reach new heights, and it's important to us that we are celebrating the diverse voices that exist on the platform (). Throughout the event, familiar icons of the entertainment industry spoke such as Tyra Banks, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Nick Cannon spoke on themes relevant to Black entrepreneurs. But key thought leaders from behind the scenes, like BET’s VP of Talent and Casting, Robi Reed, and TikTok’s Artist Relations Manager, Isabel Quinteros, also made appearances, giving the audience a peek at careers on the other side of the curtain. The themes of living their authentic lives and the importance of reaching goals were repeated throughout the event (Chikumbu). The event was hailed by Paper Magazine for being “about time” that social platform celebrated its Black content creators and gave them tools for growth (Wetmore). While TikTok did not release any numbers on the event, it’s easy to believe that where marginalized content creators are ignored or diminished on other social media platforms, they see a home for themselves on TikTok. 19 Tactic: Events Hey, let me ask you a quick question? What’s a really easy way to get a bunch of reporters interested in your project that doesn’t require the same old, boring press release or conference? If you answered “an event,” you’re right on the money. If you answered anything else, please share with the class. But in reality, events are more powerful than you think. Christian Kelly, the Special Events and Publicity Manager for Amazon Studios, referred to events as a major part of any entertainment publicity campaign. “Sometimes the red carpet photos from a movie premiere are the only things to gain widespread coverage for a movie” (Kelly). This is on top of the tastemaker screenings, press junkets, and dinners during the awards campaign. (Yes, all of those fall under the helm of “events;” don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.) The power of adding an event strategy doesn’t lie in just the potential media coverage; it goes back to the core tenant of public relations: relationship building. AdWeek surveyed 300 senior marketing executives and found that 53% said that events were the discipline that best accelerated and deepened relationships with target audiences (Trapani). When asked on the return on investment, 26% marked events as the highest generator. Events allow you to engage with your target audience in ways that print media and social media can’t—face to face. They allow for the profound two-way communication that is inherent to the public relations model take place in real time. Events also allow your organization to break through the digital noise and immerse all five of their senses in your message. Hearst, the major 20 publishing brand, found that 74% of attendees walked away with a more positive opinion of the […] brand or product being prompted” (Fox Communications). Let’s refer back to trust as the key to successful relationships. Trust is built on the secondary characteristics of integrity, dependability, and competence (Brunner). Events allow brands to build on these secondary qualities, further building trust between the individual and the brand. CASE STUDY: AMAZON STUDIO’S BLACK WOMEN IN ENTERTAINMENT PANEL (BWE) Take Amazon Studios’ annual Black Women in Entertainment panel. All of the following observations were made by me during my time assisting the event and thus I accept all bias that might give me. Each year, Amazon Studios selects three to five Black women in the entertainment field to be interviewed by a moderator. The event is free to all and specifically promoted to Black entertainment professionals in Los Angeles. The 2020 event was attended by employees from Netflix, Warner Brothers, Hulu, and more. Following the informative panel is an after party where attendees can mingle and network. It sounds like a simple enough set up and perhaps one that has little ROI. But let’s examine it through the three traits that build trust. Integrity. BWE’s mission is to celebrate Black women’s contributions to entertainment while also providing meaningful discourse on the battles they face every day. The discussions held by the panel are honest and forthright, tackling difficult topics like verbal abuse from directors and the trauma endured from years of discrimination. By not shying away from these 21 difficult conversations, Amazon shows a vested interest in the Black community’s future in entertainment spaces. Dependability. By creating this event, Amazon Studios is establishing itself as a thought leader in the industry for discussions on diversity and supporting its talent, both on and off camera. In turn, those who attend the event—or read about it in subsequent press coverage— associate Amazon Studios as brand they can depend on in future situations on the topic. Competence. To put on an event the scale of BWE, it requires a certain amount of skill. The event itself necessitates a studio that is connected with high-level Black talent in order to fill out a high caliber panel. The panel itself needs to show a level of authenticity that can only come from a thoughtful moderation, which is curated by the Amazon Studios team. And, of course, there are all the small touches of an event (music, décor, etc.) that immerse the guest in an experience that separates it and sets it above other events of its ilk. Each detail ensures that attendees feel like they are in the midst of an organization that knows what it’s doing and is a leader, not a follower. Taken altogether, the Black Women in Entertainment panel moves from a simple event into a relationship building tool. The talent that attends the panel view Amazon Studios’ as a partner in diversity and inclusion, making them more likely to choose the studio over others in future decisions. The same goes for other talent that hear about the event through word of mouth or press. Of the 300 attendees, Amazon Studios has either strengthened relationships with its own employees or fostered them with other Black entertainment professionals in the Los Angeles area. And finally, other external stakeholders that engage in any post-event media will begin to build these emotional ties with the studio. 2 2 CASE STUDY: HBO’S OUR STORIES CAMPAIGN But maybe you want to hear it from someone who’s been in the business longer than I. Let’s turn to Jackie Gagne, SVP of Multicultural Marketing at WarnerMedia to hear her opinion on the topic. Gagne shared that events are a key aspect in their communications plan because “experiences play a large role in the work we do because the cultural resonance it has when it comes to engaging with multicultural audiences.” For HBO, events are an opportunity to “create community and harness relationships” with their audiences, while also creating content for their social media (Gagne) HBO started the Our Stories initiative in November 2019, with their first pop-up experience. Previous multicultural events had been tied to specific shows, but Our Stories was their chance to expand the scope (Gagne). Instead of tying the event to a specific project, the three-day event instead featured different projects on the HBO platform like “Insecure” and “The Black Lady Sketch Show” (Hoffman). Throughout the weekend Black creatives and entrepreneurs were able to attend panel discussions with HBO talent, network with each other during co-working hours and sponsored brunches and engage their mind and body with game night and a guided workout (Hoffman). The goal of this space was to “ensure that our audience felt seen and could authentically connect with the experience we created” (Hoffman). This space also allowed HBO to engage with emerging talent that could become future partners with HBO on their creative endeavors (Willis). The program then grew into a larger experience at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. This time HBO partnered with other WarnerMedia brands, including TNT and TBS, and the space 2 3 was designed to engage a wider range of audiences, including African American, Asian American, LGBTQ+, and Latinx audiences (Ramos). Like the Amazon’s Black Women in Entertainment panel, a special portion of the event was spent honoring HBO talent, with an exclusive dinner honoring Black Women in Hollywood. Again, efforts like this go a long way toward fostering talent relations that ultimately benefit the good of the studio’s creative projects. 24 Tactic: Employee Advocacy I may have led you to believe that social media was the only way organizations could be influential, but don’t be fooled. You currently have the best influencers right in the office with you—employees. According to Edelman’s Trust Barometer study, consumers not only trust employees over a random celebrity, they trust them more than the CEO (Edelman). And Cisco found that a post from an employee can provide eight times the engagement of a post on the brand’s own handle (Bailey). The impressive numbers don’t stop there. The average employee already has ten times the followers of her/his corporate networks (Bailey). Employee advocacy goes back to the principle of relationship building. By building an authentic relationship with internal stakeholders (employees) they are then able to leverage their own relationships (we call them friends outside of business jargon) to promote the brand. It starts with the message you cultivated at the beginning of your plan. Just as you would create materials and plans to disseminate this information to external stakeholders, you also must train your employees in the message. An employee trained in the messages of the company can advocate both on the floor and in their personal lives, if they so wish to. In the realm of D&I, one of the important ways of developing employee advocates is by supporting their growth within the company. The standout tactic for this is employee resource groups, which are groups dedicated to a specific commonality among the group members who can support each other (Gaudiano). For T-Mobile, they found employee retention rates were significantly higher amongst those who participated in their employee resource groups (Gaudiano). In a 2016 study of Asian American public relations practitioners’ perspectives on the industry, an anonymous commentator said, “If any benefits exist, I would have to say that the 25 tight-knit cross-cultural community that is created within minority communities in public relations is one of them. In my experience, minorities in public relations tend to support each other, as they understand the common hardships and difficulties that must be navigated to obtain success in the industry. CASE STUDY: AMAZON STUDIOS’ AFFINITY GROUPS Amazon championed the idea of employee resource groups in 2005. Or should I say, employee Gino White asked Jeff Bezos why there wasn’t one for Black employees and he responded, “You should start one!” and thus Amazon’s first affinity group was formed, according to company lore (Sheridan). The group became known as BEN, the Black Employee Network. Since then Amazon has grown to house 12 affinity groups, ranging from “Amazon People with Disabilities” and “Indigenous@Amazon” The stated purpose of these groups is to “bring employees together across businesses and locations around the world” (Amazon). Each group promises to provide support the careers of its members and provide community building resources for them. For the Glamazon affinity group, “the group mentors employees (LGBTQ and allies) and promotes diversity and visibility in recruiting and throughout Amazon” (Amazon). How are the groups also a form of effective public relations tactics? Well, to tie everything together so nicely, BEN-LA is the affinity group that plans and executes the Black Figure 9 Picture of whiteboard when BEN was founded. Sheridan, Danny. "Amazon’s First Affinity Group (& Jeff B’s Response)." 17 January 2020. Medium. <https://medium.com/fact-of-the-day- 1/amazons-first-affinity-group-jeff-b-s-response- 9d41655670d6>. 26 Women in Entertainment Panel. We’ve already discussed all the ways BWE is a benefit to a D&I communications campaign, so I am going to focus on facet, employee recruitment and retention. Not only was BEN-LA the planner of the event, but many of the attendees came from this affinity group and other Amazon groups. The event also allowed for these employees to relax and build relationships with each other in a setting outside work, in an atmosphere the supported discussions both meaningful and frivolous. The other major group of attendees was professionals in the field from outside the Amazon Studios network, allowing them a glimpse into the life of its employees. Through interacting with Amazon Studios’ employees, who have been empowered by Amazon’s employee advocacy training, they also represent potential future recruits. 27 The Dissenters Is there a case against diversity and inclusion in PR? No, but I’ll entertain their complaints long enough to refute them here for you. Affirmative action and recruitment of a diverse workforce are often cited as harming white applicants. Abigail Noel Fisher brought this argument to the forefront of American politics again in the early 2010s with her lawsuit against the University of Texas, claiming its affirmative action policy had resulted in discrimination against her, a white student, and her subsequent rejection (Newkirk). Even in 2019, a Microsoft employee posted this message on an internal message board, “Does Microsoft have any plans to end the current policy that financially incentivizes discriminatory hiring practices? To be clear, I am referring to the fact that senior leadership is awarded more money if they discriminate against Asians and white men” (Guynn) Other than existing on a different planet where Black men are not murdered by the police, what else is wrong with the above statements? Does it not acknowledge the reality many minorities live with, such as Black women are paid the 61% less than their white male counterparts are and frequently face being fired for not conforming to Eurocentric ideals on body image, such as if their hair (American Association of University Women)? For one, we have not reached racial parity in the public relations workforce, thus it’s hard to believe any white counterpart has truly lost out on opportunity that can’t be found elsewhere. In 2018, a survey found that the U.S. public relations workforce was 87.9% white, 8.3% Black, 5.7% Hispanic-American, and 2.6% Asian-American (Srikant Ramaswami). In comparison, the American Community Survey found the U.S. was 73% white, 17.6% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Black, and 5.4% Asian. Until the Public Relations workforce reflects the same makeup as the American population, racial parity has not been reached. 28 Table 1 Table depicting the percentages of racial groups in the United States of America vs. the United States Public Relations Workforce based on data from Srikant Ramaswami. There also seems to be a prevalent belief that by achieving racial parity, the organizations may be losing out on some type of output or intangible benefit. In fact, the opposite is true. Homogenous groups, regardless of their racial or gender makeup, are liable to narrow mindedness and to fall in the traps of groupthink (Galinsky and al.).This was due to overconfidence and a lack of dissenting voices. In comparison, diverse groups are often more innovative and make better decisions (Galinsky and al.). In fact, teams that had one or more members who represented the gender, ethnicity, or culture of the target audience were 158% more likely to innovate effectively for the end user (Hewlett, Marshall and Sherbin). 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 White Black Hispanic-Americans Asian-Americans The Percentage of Racial Groups in the U.S. PR Workforce vs. the General U.S. Population U.S. PR Workforce U.S. General Population 29 Reversing the Flow: Recruitment and Retention If it is true that public relations is benefitted by Diversity & Inclusion efforts, then is it not true that Diversity & Inclusion efforts can be benefitted by public relations tactics? My middle school math is a little rusty, but if I remember the Symmetric property is the theory that if a=b then b=a. At first, I was hesitant to write this section. It seemed like I would be redundant on years of research on the subject. But while conducting interviews for this topic, I was asked again and again, “How can we bring more diverse practitioners into the company? Where do we start?” And in my own professional life, this question was bounced around on various teams that I’ve worked on. And so, I’ve found myself looking not at the research as a simple matter of recruitment techniques, but how one could specifically apply PR tactics to the process. Look, I’m not going to lie to anyone who has made it this far. While the ideas are relatively simple, some of them are hard and all of them require your continued effort on the matter. This isn’t a project to pick up once a year along with updating your annual goals. This is work that requires you to be present every day, every week. It asks you to be aware of your own unconscious biases and to have humility when others point them out to you. It means that at the end of a long month of slogging through the worse campaign of your life, you still have to show up for people you’ve never met before. And this is work that no single race, gender, sexuality or any other identifier is absolved of. I’m sorry it’s hard, but I’d bet money you got where you are today because of your commitment and tenacity, so I am absolutely positive you have it in you. 3 0 Messaging and Recruitment Let’s bring ourselves all the way back to the beginning of this paper. I told you that 53% of PR practitioners used owned material like brochures and 48% used their websites to promote their D&I efforts and both tactics were aimed at employee recruitment (Mundy). But let’s take that one step further. We talked about how your messaging must be clear and concise. Now let’s talk about avoiding biased language in your job descriptions. Monster recommends avoiding using terms like “cultural fit” when listing ideal qualities of a candidate to avoid implicit racial bias (Monster). And research has shown that women are less likely to apply to jobs where the descriptions use terms like “aggressive” or “assertive” as they are strongly associated with men (Cavicchia). And, once again, having an authentic voice and a seat at the table still matters. When technology company Intel implemented diversity interview panels (requiring 2 or more women or underrepresented minorities on the panel), the company saw a 15% increase in their women and people of color employees (Deshmukh). And let’s think about the vehicles by which you share this message. If you had a coworker who only called the same three journalists for every pitch, you might think he was ineffective at his job. So then why do we turn to the same tired sources to post job openings or recruit applicants, especially if you’re looking for different results this time? Instead, your organization can look to agencies specifically designed to recruit BIPOC students, like Jopwell, or post your opening to groups like the National Black Public Relations Society (Cross and Braswell)? What about word-of-mouth recommendations for a role that hasn’t even been posted (as up to 70% of open jobs are never publicized) (Kaufman)? Believe me I understand. At least half 3 1 of the interviews I’ve received have been because of personal recommendations and I have also placed a higher value on candidates sent over by a colleague when making hiring decisions. But hear me out on this one guys, if you rely heavily on personal recommendations, maybe you should broaden your own personal network? Why not follow Intel’s lead of requiring a minimum of two women or underrepresented minorities on their interview panel. A diverse interview panel can lead to a more diverse applicant pool, as panelists will tap their own personal networks to find candidates. And if you don’t have friends or even colleagues to meet those requirements, oh boy, do you have a different problem to tackle right now. Please read this paper more closely and start hiring diverse talent, stat! Influencer Relations on Recruitment and Retention . In Qui and Muturi’s study on Asian American perceptions on Public Relations, respondents emphasized the need for the PR community to do a better job at promoting itself. Interviewees noted “people are unclear on what public relations is and why it is a good industry to be in” and “people know it exists, but they don’t know much about it and how successful the field is.” One even noted that it isn’t a field one thinks “of for a career or a major while in college” (Qui and Muturi). This is the same as if your target audience scratching their heads and saying, “Sure, I’d see that movie, but I’ve never heard of it before.” We are failing to reach our audience at critical points in their decision-making process. One of the PR tactics we would use in that situation is creating an influencer campaign, reaching out to the audience where they already are, through people they are more likely to trust. 3 2 The tables have turned and now you’re the influencer. You can also assume the title of role model, thought leader, or any other category that you think fits you. But the fact remains, it’s your voice that has the power to change perceptions. Agility PR recommends the following practices when building a student-professional mentorship: • Securing visible support from top leadership • Demonstrating professional behavior for mentees to model themselves after • Providing mentees with the opportunity to here authentic stories and hear transparent opinions on the field • Building credibility and trust, acknowledging that developing “these relationships on an interpersonal scale are critical to success, as the relationship itself is the channel through which lessons are learned rather than a step in the process.” Yes, it’s true. Trust is just a powerful indicator of successful relationships on a person to person level as it is on an organization to public’s level. But sometimes building a time and emotional intensive relationship like this is too much for one individual. Then it’s time you take the thought leader approach of speaking engagement, thought pieces, and a judicious use of social media. Speaking engagements can be held at any level and any location. It would behest you to focus on schools, both high school and college, that are not currently being served by the PR community. And, obviously, it’s best to start local, as it’s probably easiest on your resources, but travel and e-communication platforms like Zoom mean you can have a broad reach. Again, these 3 3 speaking engagements are not a vehicle to build yourself up, but to build the relationship of the student with the field of PR. Thought pieces are another avenue onto which you can direct you or your organization’s time. While not as personal as a face-to-face interaction, they do have the power of reaching more people in less time and living forever on the internet. Write pieces on why PR is a viable career and major choice and share them where students are seeking college major information. Or, better yet, like any good practitioner, we know that sometimes the best way to reach a child is through their parent. Target parents through resources like the U.S. News and World Report, one of the leading news sources for educational needs. Social media is the great democratizer. Barriers that previously existed between you and a high school student in the mid-West are breaking down. Establish your social media accounts as a welcoming place for curious students. Host weekly or monthly Q&A’s with students where you answer their questions on the field. Join monthly twitter hashtags like #PRStudChat to facilitate the conversation between students and professionals. If you’re open to the idea, you can even use your social media space as another venue to place to promote your open position, perhaps reaching potential hires in a way job boards can’t. For employees that have already been hired, we’ve already discussed the powerful role of employee resource groups on retention. But there is also an opportunity with reverse-mentorship programs. Instead of the one entrenched in the system for years, reverse mentoring allows the fresh outlooks to be brought to the table (Jolin). This method works with both age differences and with colleagues of different ethnic backgrounds. The benefits of reverse-mentoring programs are not just increased retention rates of vulnerable employee populations, but also a greater sharing of skills and increased innovation (Jordan and Sorell). 3 4 Removing Barriers to Success Internships. In PR, we are prepared for our message to be met with barriers and how to circumvent them. If the majority of your target audience speaks Spanish or is hearing disabled, you ensure that your message is translated into Spanish or filmed using ASL to reach your audience in the way that best suits them. We speak of digital noise, how there are so many other conflicting messages throughout the day that it’s hard for our singular message to be heard by the audience. Proper messaging requires us to be flexible, not collapsing in the face of barriers but reaching our audience despite them. The same mentality must be applied to recruitment and retention methods. Internships are the common entry method into a field and set a candidate up for future success (Hora). Students with internships on their resume were 14% more likely to receive an offer for an interview, have a 15% lower unemployment rate after graduation, and earn 6% more than their peers five years after graduation. Yet, the most common reason (60%) students do not take an internship if they will be forced to leave a paying job and 33% cited unpaid internships specifically (Hora). Faced with the opportunity of an unpaid internship, or worse one that’s for academic credit and requires them to pay more for tuition, the student will choose to continue with their unrelated job. And, in case you were wondering if there was anything in this paid internship thing for you, there’s good news. Companies that offered paid internships received three times the number of applicants to the role (greater potential for finding the right candidate), paid interns were more 35 likely to transition in to full-time hires, and those same full-time hires were more likely to stay with your company long term (Lucas). Still, some students are prevented from finding internships because of barriers like lack of transportation or having to care for a family member at home (Hora). In turn, The College Internship study is advocating for course-embedded projects or micro internships, which are short-term, paid professional assignments that reflect that same work that would be given to an intern or a new hire (Hora). Promotions. Many women and minority groups report that they are overwhelmingly stuck in low-level admin work once recruited (Williams and Multhaup). They are frequently passed over for promotions and denied wages that match their level of output (Williams and Multhaup). Women, LGBT individuals, and people of color all cite a general feeling of missed opportunity when speaking of blocked careers paths (Sherbin and Rashid). Because of this, 23% respondents to a Deloitte study said they left their previous organization for more inclusive ones (Deloitte). Because of inherent biases, clear policies on promotions and pay need to be outlined for the organization to follow (Slocum). It’s further recommended by Google to institute “consistent, structured feedback processes for performance and promotion reviews” to avoid manager bias in the forward movement of an individual. Data, Goals and KPIs If a public relations campaign finishes, but you didn’t establish your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) before and after, did it really happen? 36 We use KPIs to determine the effectiveness of a PR campaign, something that is often intangible and has minute monetary values attached to it. When measuring the positive perception of an organization after a crisis, you need to know where your starting and end values are. It’s a similar mindset for D&I initiatives. Except we have an advantage over many Big Data companies like Google or Facebook—we know the importance of intangible concepts, like employee satisfaction and perceptions. When working on your D&I goals, Google suggests you set goals for where you want to be in workforce numbers and track your numbers (Slocum). It is also advisable to track metrics on promotions in both name and wage to track for any biases (Cross and Braswell). Anonymous annual employee surveys can also track things like career optimist, satisfaction in their position, and other metrics. But why not take it one step further and apply one of PR’s favorite research methods and hold an employee focus group (Cross and Braswell)? Methods like this can collect qualitative data not seen other quantitative methods. 37 Conclusion Public relations can most easily be summed up as relationship building, but to do so denies its socio-culture power as a vehicle of communication in cultural and political situations. When creating public relations campaigns to support Diversity and Inclusion efforts, one of the most important elements to include is building trust between the publics and the organizations. Trust is supported by building the ideas of integrity, dependability, and competence. Each of the tactics detailed in this paper help to build said trust. Creating a clear message is the bedrock of any communications campaign that will be threaded through all the subsequent tactics. Influencer campaigns allow organizations to build a diverse network of ambassadors on social media platforms, though some need to be reminded that the mere inclusion of people of color does not stop you from being racist. Event strategies vary from influencer events to singular panels to entire weekends supporting Black creatives, but all drive the overarching goal of connecting the public to the brand in a tactile, unforgettable experience. Finally, employee advocacy moves employees off the retail floor or from behind the desk and into the realm of powerful influencers. But the reciprocal relationship between public relations and diversity and inclusion doesn’t only need to apply to the communications plan, it can also apply to the actual efforts the diversity and inclusion team is changing the internal structure of the organization. The same tactics of messaging and influencers can be turned on their head and applied to the PR practitioners themselves. But, by far, the largest barrier to creating a diverse workforce is not solved by simple message. 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Why did an event seem to be an appropriate tactic to support these efforts? How did you decide on Our Stories--a pop up over several days--as the final concept? Experiences play a large role in the work we do because the cultural resonance it has when it comes to engaging with multicultural audiences and the importance it plays with certain age groups. Shared experiences create community and harness relationships for our audiences, while age groups that tend to be more social media driven see events as content. Our Stories to Tell (OSTT) is an evolution of the work we’ve been doing in the multicultural audience engagement space. Prior to OSTT, we’d focus on creating moments that drive impact and community within our partnerships and specific campaigns. It seemed a natural step to engage with multicultural audiences outside of these moments as a continuance of the work we’ve been doing and have the ability to expand the scope. 2. I know the campaign was later expanded to be a part of WarnerMedia's Sundance program. Does that mean you found it successful? Yes, OSTT in LA was successful and provided us with the framework for what could be implemented at Sundance. 3. I know Our Stories is just one part of your events strategy. Were there any lessons from these events that you'll be carrying forward into future event strategy? Yes, particularly customization. For events that range in multi-day engagements and vary in offerings throughout the day we found customizing experiences to tailor to our curated audiences 45 and making choice part of the experience to be incredibly beneficial and is something we’ll be carrying forward with our events strategy. 46 Appendix B Standard Interview Questions 1. Can I have a quick summary of your role and duties, in your own words? 2. Do you include diversity-driven messaging in your public relations campaigns? 3. What do you find most difficult about including diversity-driven messaging? 4. How has the industry changed in the past 5 years? Where do you see it going?

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Creating campaigns that speak to diverse constituents is a necessary skill for the modern public relations practitioner. Diverse and authentic campaigns build consumer trust and how that trust influences factors like customer loyalty and retention. This thesis explores the tactics that public relations practitioners can use when creating diverse campaigns: messaging, social media influencer campaigns, events, and employee advocacy. Case studies for each specific tactic are examined to show how they have been successfully applied in real campaigns. ❧ Public relations is further hindered by its homogenous workforce. To better equip practitioners on how to diversify the workspace, the final portion of this thesis reviews how the same tactics can be used in recruitment.

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Asset Metadata

Creator McConville, Kelly (author)

Core Title Doing the hard work: including diversity and inclusion in your public relations tool kit to build stakeholder relationships

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Publication Date 02/22/2021

Defense Date 02/22/2021

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Communications,diversity and inclusion,OAI-PMH Harvest,Public Relations,stakeholder relationships

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Floto, Jennifer (committee chair), Castaneda, Laura (committee member), Fehily, Joy (committee member)

Creator Email kellykmcconville@gmail.com,kmcconvi@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-420163

Unique identifier UC11667177

Identifier etd-McConville-9284.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-420163 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-McConville-9284.pdf

Dmrecord 420163

Document Type Thesis

Rights McConville, Kelly

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA