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The visual literacy explosion: a brief history, relevant cases and commonly accepted practices

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The visual literacy explosion: a brief history, relevant cases and commonly accepted practices

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THE VISUAL LITERACY EXPLOSION:

A BRIEF HISTORY, RELEVANT CASES
AND COMMONLY ACCEPTED PRACTICES

by

Meryl Press

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS)

August 2015

Copyright 2015 Meryl Press

ii

Dedication
This thesis would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my
family and friends. Thank you for all of your love, patience and words of encouragement
throughout this journey and graduate career. A special thank you to my loving parents,
Ellen and Howard Press, who have encouraged me to follow my dreams and who have
supported me through it all. To my brother, Matthew and my Zachary, who have been
constant sources of support and encouragement throughout the challenges of graduate
school and life. I hope I have made you all proud. My accomplishments would not be
possible without you.

iii

Acknowledgements
This project would not have been possible without the support of many people. I
would like to express my gratitude to everyone who supported me throughout the course
of this project. I am thankful for their aspiring guidance, invaluable constructive criticism
and friendly advice during the course of my thesis work. I am sincerely grateful to them
for sharing their truthful and illuminating views on a number of issues related to the
project.
Many thanks to my committee chair and mentor, Matthew LeVeque, for his
guidance and support. I am so appreciative of his guidance during this process and during
my graduate career at USC. I would also like to thank my committee members Jennifer
Floto and Burghardt Tenderich for their much appreciated feedback and direction
throughout this process. In addition, I would like to thank my interview sources for
providing me with their time and wealth of knowledge for my research.

iv

Table of Contents

Dedication ii

Acknowledgements iii

Table of Contents iv

List of Figures vi

Abstract vii

Preface viii

Introduction 1

Chapter One: Welcome to the Visual and Social Web 4

Chapter Two: The Role of Technology and Social Media in Visual Literacy 7
A. The Role of Mobile Devices in Visual Literacy 7
B. The Roles of Web 2.0 and Social Media in Visual Literacy 9

Chapter Three: Engaging Audiences with Visuals 13
A. Informativeness 15
B. Conciseness 16
C. Connecting Emotionally 17
D. Shareability 18
E. Timeliness 19

Chapter Four: Visual Literacy Today In Media Outreach & PR Campaigns 20
A. Photos 20
B. Videos 21
C. Infographics 22
D. Visual Social Real Estate 23

Chapter Five: The BuzzFeed Phenomenon & New Media 36
A. The Growth of BuzzFeed and Its Blueprint for Virality 36
B. BuzzFeed Listicals and Images 37
C. BuzzFeed’s “Cool” Factor and Unobtrusive Advertising 39
D. Can old methods work with new media? 41

v
Chapter Six: Los Angeles Department of Public Health’s
“Sugar Pack” Campaign 43
A. Background 43
B. Business Goal 44
C. The Challenge 44
D. Campaign Development and Research 45
E. Implementation 46
F. Conclusion/Analysis 48
G. Key Takeaways From the Campaign 49

Chapter Seven: Shoo The Flu Campaign 51
A. Background 51
B. Communication Goal 51
C. The Challenge 52
D. Campaign Development and Research 53
E. Campaign Implementation 54
F. Conclusion/Analysis 55

Chapter Eight: Commonly Accepted Practices
for PR Practitioners in the Visual Age 57
A. Commonly Accepted Practices 57
B. Pitfalls to Avoid 60

Chapter Nine: Conclusions 63

Bibliography 65
Appendices 69
Appendix A: Industry Interviews 69

vi
List of Figures

Figure 1: The Evolution of Cell Phones 7

Figure 2: Marketers Agree Visual Content is Key 10

Figure 3: Our Brains and Visuals 13

Figure 4: Dove Real Beauty Sketches 14

Figure 5: Engaging Audiences with Visuals 15

Figure 6: The Value of an Infographic 23

Figure 7: Screenshot of Oreo Facebook Post 25

Figure 8: Screenshot of McDonald’s Twitter Content 27

Figure 9: Screenshot of Procter & Gamble’s LinkedIn Content 29

Figure 10: Screenshot of American Express Instagram Post 31

Figure 11: Screenshot of Whole Foods Market Pinterest Boards 32

Figure 12: Screenshot of GE Vine Content 34

Figure 13: BuzzFeed Listical 38

Figure 14: BuzzFeed News Story 38

Figure 15: BuzzFeed Sponsored Content 40

Figure 16: Sugar Pack Campaign Visual Content 48

Figure 17: Shoo the Flu Visual Content 53

Figure 18: Shoo the Flu Website Homepage 54

Figure 19: McDonald’s Sponsored Post on Instagram 61

vii
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to gain an in-depth understanding of the role the
visual literacy explosion has played and will continue to play in public relations
campaigns and communications. This paper chronicles how the visual literacy explosion
has emerged in the age of social and mobile communication, and how some organizations
have taken full advantage of this phenomenon through establishing commonly accepted
practices that may be adopted by other companies. This study not only investigates the
visual literacy explosion during the growth of social media and mobile communication,
but it also explores how it has made an impact on the public relations and news industry
as a whole. The key issues explored in this paper include the origins of the visual literacy
explosion, the factors that lead to its rise, the characteristics of a generation that craves
visual information, case studies in visual communications and commonly accepted
practices for public relations practitioners. The results of this research suggest that social
media and new technology have driven the visual literacy and communications disruption
as a means to quickly and emotionally connect with audiences in an age of brevity in
communication. In conclusion, this thesis argues that visual content in communication is
not only a current trend in public relations, but it is also the new standard in
communications.

viii
Preface
Research Methodology
The researcher conducted both primary and secondary research. Initial primary
research included a series of interviews with industry experts and public relations
professionals for preliminary instruction and understanding. All interviewees are fluent in
the visual communications space. This qualitative data derived from interviews with
Stefan Pollack, President and Chief Financial Officer of The Pollack PR Marketing
Group and Matthew LeVeque, Associate Professor at the University of Southern
California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and founder of The
Rogers Group’s Digital Strategies Group, now Rogers Finn Partners. Interviewees
provided insight into the current landscape of visual literacy and visual elements in
communication and projected where the space is headed. Following one-on-one
interviews with industry professionals, the writer conducted secondary research including
desktop research on preexisting studies, news articles, social outlets and books.

Visual Literacy and Public Relations

To understand visual literacy and its role in public relations, one must first
understand the concept of visual literacy.
According to Merriam-Webster online, the term “visual literacy” refers to “the
ability to recognize and understand ideas conveyed through visible actions or images (as
pictures).”
1

1
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, s.v. "visual literacy."
ix
Technology and its impact on the human experience will only continue to increase
exponentially. Processes and information are continuously being digitized. According to
Science Daily in May 2013, 90% of all the data in the world had been generated online
between 2011 and 2013.
2
SINTEF, a research organization based in Scandinavia states,
“Each and every one of us is constantly producing and releasing data about ourselves. We
do this either by moving around passively -- our behaviour being registered by cameras
or card usage -- or by logging onto our PCs and surfing the net.”
3
As more and more
content is digitized based on our interaction with the online world, communication as we
know it becomes disrupted.
In a 2015 CES keynote address, Salim Ismail, one of the founding executive
directors spoke about this disruption in relation to visual content. “With film photography
you are operating from a material substrate – the image on the film on a chemical basis,
and you’re operating from a scarcity model, meaning that you can only carry so much
film around, it costs about $1 per photograph […] there’s a long feedback loop between
taking the photograph and getting the image,” he said. “When you shift the substrate to a
digital substrate, two or three interesting things happen. The first is that the marginal cost
of an extra photograph goes to zero. […] As a result of that, the domain explodes. We
had about a billion film photographs processed in the U.S. about 20 years ago, and today
per day, we are uploading a billion photographs to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.”
4

2
SINTEF. "Big Data, for better or worse: 90% of world's data generated over last two
years." ScienceDaily. Accessed February 9, 2015.
3
Ibid.
4
Ismail, Salim. "OMD Oasis: Keynote Address." Keynote Speech, Consumer Electronics
Show (CES), Las Vegas, January 6, 2015.
x
Technological disruptions in the way humans communicate and obtain
information have greatly impacted the visual literacy explosion, and given Internet users
unlimited access to information. “We have instant access to the entirety of human
knowledge at our fingertips and with so much information coming from so many sources
we necessarily need visuals to quickly assimilate information and move on,” said Stefan
Pollack, President and CEO of The Pollack PR Marketing Group.
5
As the landscape of
human communication and information changes, the media will continue to change
therefore disrupting the way that public relations practitioners have traditionally
communicated with both the media and audiences.

5
Stefan Pollack, Interview with Meryl Press, Personal interview, October 29, 2014.

1
Introduction
Imagery plays a critical role in the field of public relations. Though visual content
in public relations has become an adopted practice due to ever-evolving technologies and
emerging social media platforms, visuals have a long history of connecting humans
through sensory information that draw deeply upon an emotional connection.
How did we come to a point where imagery is as important as the written word?
When did we find we must explain ourselves in 140 characters or less? How did society
begin yearning for news in listicle form instead of 1,000-word thought pieces? Before we
can begin to understand and answer these questions, we must first acknowledge two
concepts: the power of visual imagery and the visual literacy explosion.
Imagery has the power to be very persuasive. There are multiple theories on how
and why imagery can be so persuasive and how it can have such a major impact on
human emotions. Paul Messaris, the Lev Kuleshov Professor of Communication at the
University of Pennsylvania, explains his theory and the role of visual images in
communication in his book “Visual Persuasion: The Role of Images in Advertising.”
Messaris develops the theory that we see the powerfulness of imagery through three
defining properties: an image’s “iconicity,” “indexicality,” and its lack of propositional
syntax.
6

Messaris explains that “iconicity” refers to the ability of images to reproduce the
appearance of reality; “indexicality” refers to the fact that images are physical imprints of
visual reality; visual images are not able to express an argument.
7
These three factors all

6
Messaris, Paul, Visual Persuasion: The Role of Images in Advertising (Los Angeles:
Sage, 1997).
7
Ibid.
2
play a role in visual content’s ability to persuade audiences, evoke emotions and persuade
audiences toward a purchase decision or an action.
The visual literacy explosion and visual elements in communication have
emerged at the intersection of online communication and mobility, disrupting traditional
methods of communication as we know it.
Visual literacy has grown tremendously over the past decade, and it has yet to
reach its pinnacle in the modern world of communication and public relations.
Historically, we have never had as much information available to us as we today. The
reality of communication and information today is astonishing: Instant access of
information is no longer a privilege; it’s a right. With ever-evolving technologies and
means of communication, it has become faster and easier for humans to obtain mass
amounts of information through the channels that he or she chooses.
The consumer drive for mobile technologies has opened the door to a quickly
evolving market for personal communication devices, and it has also created a need for
organization, personalization, quick perception and understanding of information for on-
the-go consumption. According to Pollack, “Humans are very good at processing
information, but our minds utilize shortcuts in order to process large amounts of
information. We need visuals to instantly communicate complex ideas, something that
cannot be done with words, so that we process more information much more quickly.”
8

With the growth of mobile technologies and social media platforms, there has
been a remarkable shift in the way consumers seek information – from a want for text-
based information in long and short form to a desire for easy-to-understand and

8
Stefan Pollack, Interview with Meryl Press, Personal interview, October 29, 2014.
3
entertaining visual components. Visuals are critical in today’s public relations campaigns
to better connect with audiences and to create more interactive and engaging campaigns
for target audiences.

4
Chapter One: Welcome to the Visual and Social Web
Visual literacy has become such a major part of the human experience, but how
did it develop? From the introduction of the Apple iPhone and other competing devices to
social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, communication has
transformed and has never before been as instant and visual as it is today.
According to eMarketer, “The Global smartphone audience surpassed the 1
billion mark in 2012” and was estimated to total 1.75 billion in 2014.
9
Not only are there
more ways to communicate than ever, but there is also more information available today
to Internet users than ever before. According to Website Magazine, as of 2014 Google
has indexed 200 Terabytes of data, which is only an estimated 0.004 percent of the total
Internet.
10
The abundance of information available online has created a world where
individuals expect instant communication and availability of information 24/7. In a world
of constant information, many Internet users seek quick and engaging ways to break
through the everyday clutter of the Internet through visual content, social channels and
Web 2.0, where users are the center of their online lives.
Over time, visuals in online and off-line communication have also evolved with
more immediate tools for user-created content, the enforcement of brevity in social posts
and through a desire to understand and sort through information in the most efficient
way.

9
Srivastava, Ashul. "2 Billion Smartphone Users By 2015: 83% of Internet Usage From
Mobiles [Study]." Daze Info. January 22, 2014. Accessed October 29, 2015.
10
Staff Writers. "Do You Know How Big the Internet Really Is? [Infographic]." Website
Magazine. July 22, 2014. Accessed December 4, 2015.

5
With continuously improving photography and video capabilities and a wide array
of photo and video apps, content creation has never been so easy and accessible for
online users. They are not only craving visual content, but they are also creating it.
According to the Pew Research Center in 2013, 54% of adult Internet users were posting
original photos or videos online that they themselves had created, up from 46% of
Internet users from the previous year. Meanwhile, 47% of adult Internet users take videos
that they have found online and repost them on sites designed for sharing images, up
from 41% in the previous year.
11
Evolving technology has greatly contributed to the
visual literacy explosion in that users can now have ownership of content online, and can
thus contribute content and feel included in a larger conversation.
The evolution of social media has shifted the way public relations practitioners
look at traditional media relations and the content shared with media. While many
practitioners agree that traditional media relations is still important to public relations
today, they also acknowledge the importance of effectively leveraging the social
platforms to deeply engage target audiences via branded social media platforms.
With the tremendous amount of information available to individuals online,
professionals must learn to adapt to new methods and mediums of media and become
more creative in terms of getting messages across to audiences. “Unless information can
be visualized, it will not be easily consumed by today’s audiences,” said Pollack. “Not
only do they not have the patience for words, it is not reasonable to expect audiences to

11
Duggan, Maeve. "Photo and Video Sharing Grow Online." Pew Research Centers.
October 27, 2013. Accessed October 31, 2014.
6
process the vast quantities of information they receive without visual hooks and
queues.”
12

Welcome to a visual and social web.

12
Stefan Pollack, Interview with Meryl Press, Personal interview, October 29, 2014.
7
Chapter Two: The Role of Technology and Social Media in Visual Literacy
A. The Role of Mobile Devices in Visual Literacy

Figure 1. The Evolution of Cell Phones from HerCampus.

The cell phone has become one of the most indispensable technologies of our
time. In 2013, the United States reported that 500 million devices in U.S. homes were
connected to the Internet, making the average number of devices per household 5.7.
13
Our
cell phones have become our keys to an increasingly interconnected world. Smartphones
today have gone far beyond basic communication by way of new technology that allows
users to pay for items using their devices, track health information and connect to other
smart devices in the home, among many other uses.
From the first cellphone call in 1973 to the launch of the first camera phone in
2000, the exchange of information began to change immensely. “You started to have the
beginnings of this type of viral collected information," said Scott Stein, a senior editor at
CNET in an interview with CBS News. “And that kind of kicked off the YouTube age,

13
Protalinski, Emil. “NPD: US homes now hold over 500m Internet-connected devices
with apps, at an average of 5.7 per household.” The Next Web. March 18, 2013.
Accessed February 9, 2015.
8
people capturing stuff quickly and being able to share it”
14
After the launch of the camera
phone, society began to crave visual communication and connectivity. Though IBM
launched the first smartphone in 1994, the smartphone trend did not catch on in the
United States until the late-1990s when cell phones were designed to be more compact,
portable and cost efficient.
15

With the growing the popularity of the cell phone came a newfound interest in
tablets, smaller and more portable computing devices. PDAs became very popular among
the tech-savvy crowd in the early-2000s, but Apple reinvigorated the tablet computer
market in 2010 with the introduction of the iPad.
16
With new technology and differing
screen sizes came the need for scaling websites and apps for readability and function, or
better explained as optimization. Today, new responsive designs have made visual
content easier to consume on tablets, smartphones and computers alike, which has made
visual content more sharable and more relatable for many technology users.
According to Pollack, the development of smartphones and tablets has directly
contributed to the rise of visual literacy, but not necessarily in the ways that we may
think. Though Pollack agrees that changing screen sizes and portability of new
technology have made visual media easier to consume with interactivity and responsive
designs, he stated, “The true impetus for increased visual literacy is a direct result of
unlimited access to unlimited information. Humans are very good at processing
information, but our minds utilize shortcuts in order to process large amounts of

14
Trowbridge, Alexander. "Evolution of the Phone: From the First Call to the next
Frontier." CBSNews. December 14, 2014. Accessed December 21, 2014.
15
Chowdhury, Rahul. “Evolution Of Mobile Phones: 1995 – 2012.” HongKiat.com.
Accessed March 3, 2015.
16
Trowbridge, Alexander. "Evolution of the Phone: From the First Call to the next
Frontier." CBSNews. December 14, 2014. Accessed December 21, 2014.
9
information. We need visuals to instantly communicate complex ideas, something that
cannot be done with words, so that we process more information much more quickly.”
17

The growing amount of information available to Internet users via their handheld
devices has transformed the Internet space immensely. Not only do modern applications
and technology make it easier to create graphics and visuals to organize and understand
information, but it has also led to a growing trend in social media: brevity.

B. The Roles of Web 2.0 and Social Media in Visual Literacy
Social media has been a dominant influence in the growth of visual imagery and
visual content in today’s messaging. Following the message boards of MySpace and the
unlimited-character status updates of early Facebook, Twitter made a bold move in 2006
to impose a limit on characters in tweet updates. Eight years later, 140 characters is the
standard on social media posts, and Twitter has become an online hub of information for
both personal and professional networks; it has also become one of the top websites that
Internet users go to for news updates and global connectivity.
Long before Twitter’s conception, the blog phenomenon was just beginning. In
the late 1990s, web-publishing tools made it more accessible for new Internet users to
create their own online content. While early blogs allowed Internet users to provide
personal commentary on certain subjects and update others on day-to-day lives, blogs
served as a social tool long before social networks existed. During the rise of blog
popularity, GIF images and motion graphics were emerging on early blogging websites
like Live Journal and Blogger.

17
Stefan Pollack, Interview with Meryl Press, Personal interview, October 29, 2014.
10

Figure 2. Marketers Agree Visual Content is Key from BWD inc.

During the second stage of development of the World Wide Web, or “Web 2.0” as
many refer to it, Internet users gained more control over content than ever before.
According to WebOpedia, “Web 2.0 is a term given to describe a second generation of
the World Wide Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and share
information online. Web 2.0 basically refers to the transition from static HTML Web
pages to a more dynamic Web that is mo
18
re organized and is based on serving Web
applications to users.”
In 2002, the photo sharing website Flickr was established, and it was purchased
by Yahoo in 2005. Online images snowballed in popularity and in just over a decade, the
website hit a major milestone: 8 billion photos hosted on their website in May 2013.

18
Beal, Vangie. “Web 2.0.” Webopedia.com. Accessed March 3, 2015.
11
Today image-hosting sites like Imgur curate images based on Internet popularity,
and have fostered communities of users. Since 2009, Imgur has shaped its online
community, and it has even launched its own content-creating tool, a meme generator.
According to Gizmodo, memes can be videos, gifs, four-panel comics, commercials,
image macros or photos that are used to explain the way that cultural information
spreads.
19

Though Web 2.0 has fostered and incubated the visual literacy explosion, social
media has also opened the door for visual literacy, and it has also significantly advanced
the visual literacy evolution through new social platforms that rely solely on visual
content.
Brevity in social media has played a major role in the visual literacy explosion,
and has led to the wide popularity of multi-media microblogs like Pinterest, Tumblr and
Instagram that many individuals, organizations and companies use to create content and
reach target audiences who share similar interests. The integration of social media and
visual literacy has led to a widely adopted practice in public relations called visual
storytelling or developing visual narratives, where an individual or organization can tells
their story using photography, illustration or video which can be enhanced with music,
graphics or other audio. New social platforms and easily accessible tools have made
content creation user-friendly with a personal touch.
Audiences are no longer influenced by the media’s opinion like they once were,
and are instead most influenced by other individuals or companies that are already in
their trusted network. Social media has played a major role in helping organizations to

19
Chan, Casey. “What Exactly Is a Meme?” Gizmodo. June 8, 2013. Accessed on March
3, 2015.
12
win back the trust of their consumers and target audiences. Through imagery and visual
storytelling, many organizations have successfully personified its brands with active and
consistent voice and content. The visual literacy explosion and social platforms have
given organizations the opportunity to engage their audience on a personal level with
visual content, and it has also helped organizations push out messages directly to their
audience through visual content that is easy to understand and retain.

13
Chapter Three: Engaging Audiences with Visuals
Visual content is critical to today’s public relations campaigns to best engage
audiences and media outlets in new and stimulating ways. According to The Next Web,
our brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text, and 40% of people respond
better to visuals than they do to text.
20
With attention spans growing shorter, reaching
audiences has become tougher, and public relations practitioners have had to find new
ways to stimulate audiences with old mediums, on a new playing field.

Figure 3. Our Brains and Visuals from Social Media Today.

Incorporating visual elements into communication campaigns can help leverage
target audiences as advocates of a message across social platforms, and visual elements
can deeply engage an audience with a company’s key messages. One example of a
successful campaign was in 2013 when the skincare company Dove released a video
titled “Real Beauty Sketches.”

20
More, Tom. "The Importance of Visual Content." The Next Web. May 24, 2014.
Accessed November 2, 2014.
14
With “Real Beauty Sketches” Dove wanted to generate an increase in sales by
investigating a trend in behavior of how women perceived themselves, and it came to a
single recognition: Women are their own worst critics. The company launched a
campaign that encouraged beauty as a source of confidence, and hired an FBI sketch
artist to draw real women demonstrating the fact women are their own worst critics. The
artist drew two portraits of the women without seeing their faces – one as described by
the subject of the portrait and another as described by an stranger to the subject who had
just met her.
The differences between the two were astonishing. While the portraits the subjects
described of themselves focused mostly on aspects of themselves that they may have
wanted to change, the portraits of the participants as described by a stranger made the
subjects appear to be much more warm and open (See Figure 4).

Figure 4. Dove Real Beauty Sketches.
15
For this campaign, the company distributed a press release, but also shared the
moving three-minute documentary, which gained attention through social media – 64.7M
YouTube views to date.
The video was shared across many social platforms and was picked up by many
media outlets because it was informative, concise, ease to share, timely and offered an
emotional draw and connection. When all of these factors come together within visual
content, there is a much higher level of engagement with audiences actively sharing or
promoting the message across their personal networks.

Figure 5. Engaging Audiences with Visuals made by Meryl Press.
A. Informativeness
Effectively engaging audiences with visual content is not an easy task. In addition
to design elements, visual content must also inform audiences of new and interesting
information while also drawing upon the audiences’ emotions. According to Hewlett
Packard’s report, “The Power of Visual Communication”:
Training materials that are used by the federal government cite studies indicating
that the retention of information three days after a meeting or other event is six
times greater when [the] information is presented by visual and oral means than
when the information is presented by the spoken word alone. This is important for
16
public relations practitioners to consider when creating content that will best
reach and resonate with a target audience.
21

The first step to creating engaging visual content is to refine the message and
information you wish to convey. The best messages for visual content are clear and
concise, and don’t overload audiences when they are looking for the simplest messages
within visual content. Complex messages are difficult to convey via visual content
because they can often confuse audiences and deter them from your content.

B. Conciseness
Today there is an acronym for content that looks like it will take too long to read.
It is: TLTR. Most often, people will see this on message boards and social networking
websites, and it stands for “Too Long To Read.” Though many might say this term is a
passing phase of the Internet age or the Millennial generation, the trend of skimming over
information to understand the core points of it has grown drastically over the past decade.
According to LeVeque, “It’s almost as if people are snacking online instead of
sitting down and consuming the entire meal. So if I can give the vast majority of people a
powerful message that they can consume in 15 minutes or less versus writing a 5,000-
word thought piece […] it will be much easier for them to consume […].”
22
The
phenomenon of “snacking” online has largely developed from the way humans wish to
obtain quick and concise information mixed with the growing ease of finding specific
information online.

21
"The Power of Visual Communication." Presentation, from Hewlett-Packard
Development Company, LP, 2004.
22
Matthew LeVeque, Interview with Meryl Press, Personal interview, October 28, 2014.
17
Conciseness is essential in engaging visual content because of the shortening
attention spans of individuals. In a vacuum of information of today’s online world,
consumers are looking for quick, precise and non-intrusive messaging to obtain
information in the easiest way possible.

C. Connecting Emotionally
A long-term emotional connection to a brand must be built over time through
consistent messaging, voice and tone.
It is important for communications and public relations practitioners to connect
emotionally with audiences in order to gain the trust of their audience, and to maintain
consistency in visual imagery as to not appear inconsistent and unreliable to consumers.
In order to take action and to make a purchase decision, an individual must feel a
connection to a cause or product.
In the case of Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches, audiences connected and related with
the fact that individuals are often more critical of themselves, and the way that an
individual describes him or herself is not necessarily the way that others may see them.
The video was taken in the point of view of several different women who all had the
same results, which validates the message and makes the message relatable to a diverse
audience.
An emotional connection is important in order to deeply engage audiences with a
message that they feel applies directly to themselves. This helps audiences retain
information better because they are relating the message to personal experiences, and the
audience is therefore more likely to understand and deeply engage with the content.
18

D. Shareablility
Today, great communicators must design campaigns with visual elements and
social sharing in mind. According to Pollack, “A good visual hooks an audience and
draws them into a course of action. That course of action may be to bring them into a
content piece or to re-share, but whatever it is, must be relevant and targeted and not
simply window dressing to complement text.”
23

Most personal communication today takes places online and via mobile devices.
According to The Atlantic, more than 90% of all Americans owned a cell phone as of
June 2013.
24
Of that number, Deseret News cites that 81% of cellphone users use their
phones to send and receive messages, and 73% of that number use their cell phones for
email or video chatting.
25

Today’s devices are not only used to communicate, but they are also used to
curate and share information. Many cell phones; tablets and social networking apps have
multimedia sharing features. Sharability is vital to the success of a visual element to
engage audiences on a deeper and more personal level. If a consumer feels so connected
to content that they choose to share it across personal networks, they become an engaged
audience member that is more likely to share similar content in the future.
The first step in creating visual content to be shared is getting to know your
audience. In order to create a deep connection on the level where they become brand

23
Stefan Pollack, Interview with Meryl Press, Personal interview, October 29, 2014.
24
Madrigal, Alexis. “More Than 90% of Adult Americans Have Cell Phones.” June 6,
2013. Accessed March 3, 2015.
25
Johnson, Chandra. "Face Time vs. Screen Time: The Technological Impact on
Communication." Deseret News. August 29, 2014. Accessed January 20, 2015.
19
champions, you must understand how your audience thinks, their behaviors, their
relationship with the brand and how they consume media. To create visual content that
followers feel compelled to share across personal networks, organizations must
understand the driving factors that lead these audiences to share content and to make
purchase decision.
Shareability comes from creating original content that is not only quick and
concise, but also optimized for various platforms. With so many ways to view images and
visual content today via personal devices, public relations practitioners must remember
that the most shared items can be viewed across a wide array of platforms.
An image’s shareability does not only rely on its optimization for a range of
devices, but it also relies on a call to action. Calls to action encourage users to interact
with the brand on a deeper level. According to Social Media Examiner’s Donna Moritz,
“As humans, we’re drawn to images and we naturally migrate to those in social news
feeds. If we can’t immediately discern the meaning of the image, we may look to the
description or post to find context, or we may move to the next interesting thing.”
26

E. Timeliness
In an online world where breaking news is as instant as live-tweet updates in a
Pakistan café during the Osama bin Laden raid, information and news can come and go in
a very short period of time. Timeliness is important to consider when creating engaging
visual content for a communications plan or campaign, because it is more likely to get
more traction if it is relevant to a current situation or trend or newsworthy.

26
Moritz, Donna. "5 Ways to Make Shareable Images That Drive Traffic." Social Media
Examiner. February 25, 2014. Accessed January 20, 2015.
20
Chapter Four: Visual Literacy Today In Media Outreach & PR Campaigns
Not only have visual communications and visual content become major forces of
the social experience online, but they have also played a transformative role in the way
individuals obtain news. Traditional ways of reading the news have gone by the wayside
with more and more readers craving visual, interactive and interesting content.
According to an interview with the Financial Times, BuzzFeed’s Founder and
CEO Jonah Peretti stated, “Traditional media has been upended by technology. The way
people consume media has dramatically shifted.”
27
This new thirst for visual content has
challenged the old ways of traditional media and has made way for new forms of
“tradigital” media. This is important to consider because of the role the media plays in the
public relations space. At this stage, the two are interconnected and if the media changes,
public relations does too.
Understanding visual literacy is vital to understanding the current media
landscape and creating strong public relations campaigns and brand profiles. There are
many different ways to communicate visually in communications campaigns – video,
photo, meme, infographic – and there are many different platforms to push content out on
the web.

A. Photos
The term “photo” today can also stretch to encompass graphic images and photos
with graphic overlay. With the accessibility cell phone users have to cameras, photos

27
Bond, Shannon. "Appetite for BuzzFeed Grows." Financial Times, August 12, 2014.
21
have quickly gone from a novelty of the past to a standard on today’s communication
devices.

B. Videos
Video is the recording, reproducing, or broadcasting of moving images. With
access to camera phones, individuals and brands today also have access to cameras that
record video content. With such a low barrier to entry, smartphone users and filmmakers
have the ability to create stunning HD content for a relatively low price. Today video
content can come in a variety of forms and is the dominant content of social platforms
like YouTube and Vine. According to Kristen Purcell of the PewResearch Internet
Project, a national survey conducted in July 2013 showed that the percent of American
adult Internet users who uploaded or posted videos online more than doubled in four
years from 14% in 2009 to 31% in October 2013.
28

Short-Form Videos: Over the past year, short-form video content has rapidly risen in
popularity. In January 2013, the app Vine launched as a six-second looping video
platform. About a year later, Instagram launched a video feature on the already-popular
image-sharing platform. According to Will Kassoy, CEO of AdColony, “Some of the
best examples of short-form mobile video content come from brands like Target and
Marc Jacobs who created unique, imaginative experiences for users. What they didn't do
is just trim their 30-second spots. Instead, they thought about what the typical mobile
video experience is like -- intimate, with short, but intense spurts of usage -- and came up

28
Purcell, Kristen. "Online Video 2013." Pew Research Centers Internet Project. October
9, 2013. Accessed January 20, 2015.
22
with ways to layer their message onto it.”
29
Often , organizations also amplify its
audience for content, and use it as a facilitator for further engagement.
30

Long-Form Videos: According to Forbes, long-form video is defined as video more than
10 minutes in length.
31
The recent growth of long-form video has largely come from the
accessibility of video content online and the availability of premium video content.
According to Jonathan Wilner, Ooyala’s Vice President, Product, “It wasn’t too long ago
that it was doubted that these long forms would be viable as an adjunct of TV, but what
we are finding that they are actually becoming equivalent to the TV in so many ways.”
32

In many ways, online video content has become a competitor with traditional forms of
media including television. While long-form video becomes easier to access, video
consumption across the board will continue to grow.

C. Infographics
An infographic is a visual representation of information or data that is intended to
present compound information quickly and clearly.
33
Infographics are used today by
many organizations to help visualize data, to compare and contrast information, to
explain how something works and to simplify complicated concepts.

29
Cassoy, Will. "How Short Form Video Will Fuel a New Creative Renaissance."
Advertising Age. March 21, 2014. Accessed January 20, 2015.
30
Ibid.
31
Seave, Ava. "Mobile Video Viewers Spend Majority Time Watching Long-Form
Content." Forbes. April 1, 2014. Accessed January 20, 2015.
32
Ibid.
33
Newsom, Doug, and Jim Haynes. Public Relations Writing: Form and Style. 2014.
236.
23

Figure 6. The Value of An Infographic by Anson Alexander.

D. Visual Social Real Estate
Although visual content is important both off-line and online, the most valuable
and continued space where visual content moves is online. Though Alexis Madrigal of
The Atlantic argues that 2013 is the year ‘the Stream’ crested, the idea of an online
“stream” of constantly flowing information that is obtainable and archievable will only
continue to grow as trends change and users are able to easily access archived
information.
34

The key to navigating this stream is to understand the role that social media plays
in the movement of visual content online. With so many social media platforms available
to content creators, it can become confusing to know what visual content will fit best for
each platform.

34
Madrigal, Alexis. 2013: The Year ‘the Stream’ Crested. The Atlantic. December 12,
2013. Accessed February 9, 2015.
24

Facebook
Background: According to its own public Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg founded the
company in February 2004, and the website’s mission is “to give people the power to
share and make the world more open and connected. People use Facebook to stay
connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share
and express what matters to them.”
35
With an estimated unique visitors monthly (UVM)
of 900,000,000 and over 1.2 billion users, Facebook is one of the largest social media
platforms today. The platform connects users to friends and family within personal
networks, and allows them to update text and image statuses, post photo albums, upload
video content and like pages that fit their interests.

User Demographics: Though in its early stages, Facebook’s primary user demographics
were college and high school students, Facebook’s users have gotten older. According to
iStrategyLabs, many teens have abandoned the social platform.
36
In the report, the
biggest growth of users came with adults over the age of 55, and according to the 2014
Facebook Demographic Report, 3.3 million American users ages 13 to 17 left Facebook
since 2011.
37

Winning Visual Content on Facebook: The cookie company Oreo is among one of the
best organizations on Facebook. With over 38 million “likes” on the social networking

35
"About Facebook." Facebook. January 1, 2015. Accessed January 20, 2015.
36
Saul, DJ. "3 Million Teens Leave Facebook In 3 Years: The 2014 Facebook
Demographic Report." IStrategyLabs. January 14, 2014. Accessed January 20, 2015.
37
Ibid.
25
platform, the company continues to engage fans through its content. One of the reasons
why Oreo has been so successful on Facebook is because the brand knows how to create
content that their fans want to share. When scrolling through Oreo’s Facebook content
and posts, users notice that most of the company’s posts are accompanied by engaging
and emotive visual content.

Figure 7. Screenshot of Oreo Facebook Post from April 30, 2014.

Twitter
Background: Twitter is a social networking service that allows users to post updates, or
“tweet,” in 140 characters or less. Twitter was created in March 2006 and was officially
launched in July 2006. According to its website, Twitter currently engages 284 million
26
monthly active users and there are 500 million tweets sent per day.
38
Though Twitter is
an organization that is founded and headquartered in the United States, the social
networking platform also engages quite a large international audience. Its website claims
that 77% of all Twitter accounts are located outside the United States, and the website
also supports more than 35 languages.
39

User Demographics: In an October 2014 article by Business 2 Community’s Warren
Knight, Knight states that 18% of Internet users have a Twitter account, and 19% of
Twitter users earn more than $75,000+.
40
Though the most prominent group on Twitter is
young adults, Twitter has grown across all age groups over the past two years. According
to eMarketer.com, “Between November 2010 and May 2013, the percentage of Internet
users on Twitter more than doubled for every adult age group except those ages 65 and
older. The increase was most pronounced among those between 30 and 49 years old, who
saw penetration rise 142.9%, to reach 17%.” Though Twitter has a large demographic of
active users, it is important for public relations practitioners and social media
professionals to remember that Twitter is not about posting tweets into a vacuum of
conversation, but rather about creating a communities online to further engage target
audiences through a platform designed for open dialogue, easy audience behavior
research and engagement through company announcements and promotions.

38
"About Twitter, Inc." Twitter. January 1, 2015. Accessed January 20, 2015.
39
Ibid.
40
Knight, Warren. "The World of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn 2014: User
Demographics." Business 2 Community. October 29, 2014. Accessed January 20, 2015.
27
Companies With A Winning Presence On Twitter: McDonald’s Twitter account has
over 2.7 million followers. The company engages its users online with visual content that
engages and entertains with both food-related posts and seemingly random-but-engaging
short form videos (See Figure 7). McDonald’s has been rated one of the best brands to
follow by Business Insider because the brand uses its Twitter account to promote new
products and in-store events and as a platform to give away prizes that encourage
follower interaction.
41
What’s interesting about McDonald’s account is that organic
tweets and updates from the brand do not come without visual content. Every original
tweet posted is accompanied by a graphic, short form video or image created by the
brand. In addition, McDonald’s is very active in responding to its fans, and reinforcing
positive comments through @replies.

Figure 8. Screenshot of McDonald’s Twitter Content from January 18, 2015.
LinkedIn

41
Thrasher, Michael. "The 50 Best Brands To Follow On Twitter." Business Insider.
September 6, 2013. Accessed January 20, 2015.
28
Background: LinkedIn was founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003. The
social networking site’s main purpose is for professional network, and according to its
website, in Q3 2014 75% of new members came to LinkedIn from outside the United
States.
42
Over the years, the site has grown at a rapid rate. Within the first month of
launch, LinkedIn had a total of 4,500 registered users.
43
Today, there are over 332 million
registered members. It serves as an online professional network where users can receive
industry news and connect with personal and professional connections.

User Demographics: LinkedIn is primarily used for career networking unlike personal
networking sites like Facebook. Because of its employment-focused platform, LinkedIn’s
users make up about 22% of all Internet users. Of this group, 24% are male and 19% are
female.
44
LinkedIn is also known to have some of the oldest social networking users with
37% of its users in the age bracket of 50-65+.

Winning Companies on LinkedIn: Procter & Gamble was nominated one of the best
companies on LinkedIn in 2014 by the social network itself. According to LinkedIn’s
blog, Procter & Gamble has utilized the social networking site to create a “Showcase
Page” for its Secret Deodorant brand, allowing them to engage and share relevant content
with their two target audiences.”
45
The company’s profile page is dedicated to

42
"About Us LinkedIn." LinkedIn. January 1, 2015. Accessed January 20, 2015.
43
Ibid.
44
Ahmad, Ifran. "#SocialMedia 2014: User Demographics For Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and Pinterest." Digital Information World. October 14, 2014. Accessed
January 20, 2015.
45
Manahan, Carra. "Announcing LinkedIn's Best of Company Pages 2014." LinkedIn
Official Blog. December 9, 2014. Accessed January 20, 2015.
29
programming, shareholder information, recent awards and research reports released by
the company. Similar to the McDonald’s Twitter account and Oreo’s Facebook page, the
Procter & Gamble LinkedIn page’s updates are accompanied by eye-catching visuals to
promote user engagement and recognition.

Figure 9. Screenshot of P&G LinkedIn Content from November 2014.
Instagram
Background: Instagram is an online photo- and video-sharing social networking service
that confines user content to square-shaped images and video, and allows users to edit
their photos with various filters designed by the platform. Instagram launched in October
2010, and has grown exponentially over the past four years. Within the first two months
of launch alone, the social platform grew to 1 million users.
46
By March 2014, the photo
and video-sharing platform grew to over 200 million users. Though Instagram remains a
separate entity, Facebook acquired the service in April 2012.

User Demographics: Instagram currently has over 300 million monthly active users, and
take up a 13% share of all mobile device users. According to MarketingCharts, “20% of

46
Constine, Josh. "Instagram Hits 300 Million Monthly Users To Surpass Twitter, Keeps
It Real With Verified Badges." TechCrunch. December 10, 2014. Accessed January 20,
2015.
30
female cell phone users aged 18 and up used the Instagram application, compared to 16%
of males.”
47
One of the biggest gaps in the Instagram user demographic comes when
sorting users by age. MarketingCharts cites that 43% of 18-29 year old cell phone users
report using Instagram, and that number is likely to grow over time due to a recent report
that “Instagram is now the second-most important social network to American teens, tied
with Facebook and Twitter.”
48

Winning Companies on Instagram: American Express was voted by Business Insider
as one of the 20 brands that has mastered the use of Instagram because “this financial
company provides its [now 46,000] followers with backstage access to AmEx-sponsored
events, such as concerts, fashion shoes, and the U.S. Open.”
49
One of the reasons
American Express’ corporate Instagram account has become so successful is because it
engages users with exclusive photos of relevant events, ties in travel tips and promotional
events and features special services available to American Express cardholders. It also
engages its followers in a conversation around the brand and its benefits (See Figure 9).

47
"The Demographics of Instagram and Snapchat Users." MarketingCharts. October 29,
2013. Accessed January 20, 2015.
48
Ibid.
49
Austin, Christina. "These 20 Brands Have Mastered The Use Of Instagram." Business
Insider. January 10, 2013. Accessed January 20, 2015.
31

Figure 10. Screenshot of American Express Instagram Post from October 2014.

Pinterest
Background: Pinterest was created in March 2010 as a way for users to organize online
content in visual mood and inspiration boards. Groups of individual pins, or boards, can
be organized in any way the user sees fit. For example, pins can be used for ideas for
recipes, birthday parities, weddings, etc. Pins can be curated from pre-existing links on
Pinterest or from anywhere else on the Internet.

User Demographics: In a January 2014 article by Business 2 Community, in 2014
Pinterest had about 70 million users registered, and of the 20 million active users
32
worldwide, 79% were from the United States.
50
Pinterest attracts a demographic of
primarily women in the age bracket of 35-54. According to Business 2 Community,83%
of Pinterest users are women with 45% of those users in the 35-54 age range, and 32% of
users ages 18-34.
51

Winning Companies on Pinterest: Whole Foods was rated one of the top 20 companies
on Pinterest by Social Media Delivered because the company uses its Pinterest account to
promote its products and feature seasonal recipes, favorite cookbooks, various wine
choices, among others. Whole Foods features a collection boards that are of niche
interests and are also interactive. While Whole Foods features their products as staples on
Pinterest, the grocery company also invites other Pinterest users to contribute to their
boards.

Figure 11. Screenshot of Whole Foods Market Pinterest Boards taken January 2015.

50
Aslam, Salman. "30 Reasons to Market Your Business on Pinterest in 2014." Business
2 Community. January 31, 2014. Accessed January 20, 2015.
51
Ibid.
33

Vine
Background: One of the newest popular social media platforms, Vine was founded in
June 2012, and officially launched in January 2013 just after Twitter acquired it in
October 2012. The social networking service allows users to record, edit or upload 6-
second looped video clips. Vine videos can be liked and “revined” by other users. An
April 2014 AdWeek Social Times article includes an infographic by Tamba, which looks
closely at the rise of Vine. In this infographic, it states that as of that month, five vines
were tweeted every second, and “if every Vine user recorded a vine video, they would
create more than 2,334 hours of footage.”
52

User Demographics: According to the same AdWeek article, 57% of all Vine users are
female, and the largest age group among Vine users is 18-20 years old. Vine is growing
rapidly globally with teens ages 16-18. From Q1 to Q3 2013, Vine usage among teens
globally grew by 639%.
53

Winning Companies on Vine: In 2014, General Electric (GE) won the 2014 Shorty
Award for the Best Brand on Vine. According to the Shorty Awards website, “GE was
one of the first brands on Vine, launching just one day after the platform was released to
the public. Since then, GE has made Vine a staple of its monthly content strategy, posting
a total of 80 original vines ranging from DIY science projects to behind the scenes testing

52
Bennett, Shea. "The Rise Of Vine." SocialTimes. April 18, 2014. Accessed January 20,
2015.
53
Smith, Craig. "By The Numbers: 22 Amazing Vine Statistics." Digital Marketing
Ramblings. January 2, 2015. Accessed January 20, 2015.
34
in the lab.”
54
In addition, GE has leveraged Vine for user-submitted contests such as the
#6SecondScience Fair, where fans show their own experiments. At the end of one week,
the content had over 600 submissions and “increased its Vine account following by 40k,
a 281% growth.”
55

Figure 12. Screenshot of GE Vine Content from February 2013.

As visual literacy has become a widespread online phenomenon, companies big
and small have created successful visual communications campaigns and have
transitioned their online content to be optimized for various platforms. We see this in
media companies like BuzzFeed, which will be discussed later, and also with the
transition of traditional media businesses like the Los Angeles Times and the New York

54
"GE on Vine." Shorty Awards. April 1, 2014. Accessed January 20, 2015.
55
Ibid.
35
Times online. Today these companies are posting more visual content on their websites
and social channels than ever, and will only continue to do so in the future.
The visual literacy explosion and brevity in communication has greatly impacted
the way public relations practitioners interact and connect with media and directly with
audiences. According to research by Social Media Today, press releases and blog posts
containing visuals have significantly higher open and read rate rather than content with
just text.
56

In order for organizations and public relations practitioners to be successful in
reaching and engaging audiences, visual content must tell a compelling story, showcase
the brand and be distributed widely. Additionally, public relations practitioners and social
media professionals must acknowledge that the same content cannot be used across
different platforms due to different demographics and audiences on each platform.
It is important for practitioners to also remember that visual elements are just as
important when conducting media outreach. According to Leveque, traditional media
relations remain a driving force for news, but in new spaces. “Traditional media relations
is important to me, but less so because of what they are putting in their print edition or on
their website, and more so because their content is being amplified on their social
channels.”
57

56
Wilson, Patricia. "Visual Content Widens the Branding and PR Gap." Visual Content
Widens the Branding and PR Gap. July 29, 2014. Accessed January 20, 2015.
57
Matthew LeVeque, Interview with Meryl Press, Personal interview, October 28, 2014.
36
Chapter Five: The BuzzFeed Phenomenon & New Media
A. The Growth of BuzzFeed and Its Blueprint For Virality
BuzzFeed is largely known as the online news media company that has taken our
Facebook and Twitter newsfeeds by storm. Many Internet users today have either seen,
read or know about a BuzzFeed article. Since the company’s founding in 2006, it has
grown exponentially. According to T Magazine, viewers have spent the number of hours
as approximately 42,972 years on BuzzFeed since it was first launched in 2006.
58
What
started out as BuzzFeed Labs, an organization dedicated to testing, tracking and creating
viral content, soon grew into a daily content creation site dedicated to hard news, soft
“fluff” pieces, video content and community-created content.
BuzzFeed succeeds on creating viral content, and they have the numbers to prove
it. With 75 percent of BuzzFeed’s traffic coming from social media, the tradigital media
giant has fully developed and perfected the formula for virality.
59
According to
BuzzFeed’s editor-in-chief Ben Smith, the formula is simple: it’s all about giving
consumers the content they want to read and the opportunity to spark conversation about
that content within their personal networks.
“Virality” is a term that has risen to popularity within the past twenty years. It can
be used to describe what is important, interesting, funny, timely, gossip-worthy or all of
the above. According to Mick O’Leary of Information Today, “Going viral is a crowd
phenomenon, and BuzzFeed has a skilled and successful method for detecting and

58
Oloizia, Jeff. "15 Crazy Facts about BuzzFeed That Will Totally Blow Your Mind." T
Magazine, June 9, 2014.
59
Ibid.
37
promoting virality. It's a clever blend of curation and crowdsourcing.”
60
Though many
websites use member promotion to highlight appealing content, BuzzFeed has gotten
particularly good at it through its organization of trending posts of the moment and
trending posts of the week.

B. BuzzFeed Listicles And Images
The most common articles on BuzzFeed.com are listicles. According to the
Oxford Dictionaries, a listicle is “an article on the Internet presented in the form of a
numbered or bullet-pointed list.”
61
Although listicles can be found on almost any website
today, BuzzFeed’s are among the best. Each item in BuzzFeed’s listicles is accompanied
by an image, a GIF or a video clip. Whether an article is about the cutest cats on the
Internet, a thought piece on Millennial life or a breaking news story, every single article
on BuzzFeed is accompanied by an image.

60
O’Leary, Mick. “BuzzFeed and the New Virality.” Information Today. April 2014.
61
listicle. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Accessed March 3, 2015.
38

Figure 13. BuzzFeed listical from June 2012. Figure 14. BuzzFeed news story from December 2011.

Visual content can make content so much more engaging. While words can set the
scene and give readers mental imagery, visuals can evoke emotion much more deeply.
According to a BuzzFeed article, in just one minute 208,300 photos are posted to
Facebook, 510,000 photos are liked on Instagram, and 100 hours of video are being
uploaded to YouTube.
62
Not only does this show just how important visuals are to
communication today, but engagement rates also make for a compelling business case.
According to Boston.com, posts with an album or photo drive up to 180% more
engagement than those without; viewers spend 100% more time on web pages with
videos and viewers are 85% more likely to purchase a product after watching a product
video.
63

62
“What Happens On The Internet In 60 Seconds,” YouTube video, 1:26, posted by
"BuzzFeedVideo," May 24, 2013. Accessed December 15, 2014.
63
O’Connor, Chad. “The power of visual storytelling,” Boston.com. March 8, 2014.
Accessed January 19, 2015.
39
In today’s world of information overload, the biggest challenge that media and
communications professionals face is not only writing about the news, but also the
challenge of engaging audiences to the point where they feel compelled to push the story
beyond their desktop, tablet or mobile device and to share the content within their
networks in the hope that this cycle will continue infinitely and possibly pick up in the
future with evergreen content. To further engage audiences, BuzzFeed uses wit, humor
and hard-hitting news to continuously create shareable content.

C. BuzzFeed’s “Cool” Factor And Unobtrusive Advertising
BuzzFeed is much more than just a curation of lists, memes and GIFs – it’s a
media giant that creates news, long-form features and videos too. BuzzFeed has set the
tone for the digital landscape today. While BuzzFeed can’t claim to have invented the
online quiz or the listicle, it can claim that it has significantly altered the digital landscape
and has become one of the trendiest forms of digital media to the Millennial generation.
Through the use of emotionally charged language, breaking the rules of the traditional
news sector, and identifying audience behaviors and catering to them, BuzzFeed has
continued to stay current and relevant in the changing media landscape.
BuzzFeed is known for challenging the norm and knowing what audiences want,
including advertising. While the organization is known for creating organic content, it
also creates branded content every day. According to Campaign magazine, even the
branded content has value because BuzzFeed’s more than 150 million unique users
40
appear to have no problem with it.
64
Though BuzzFeed’s pay-for-play sector is
continuously growing, the organization has integrated brand messaging into its
environment so effortlessly that it feels as though it is a part of the user experience. This
content has the opportunity to be just as, if not more, powerful than organic content.
Though native advertising has been tried across various platforms such Facebook,
Instagram and Twitter, and in tradigital media such as the Los Angeles Times Online,
none have been quite as successful. According to Forbes, Buzzfeed’s sponsored content
is rumored to have brought in $60 million in 2013 and $100 million in 2014.
65
BuzzFeed
does this by creating editorial content for brands that is shareable and is fail-safe. As
Director of BuzzFeed’s Creative Department, Melissa Rosenthal says that if the program
is not getting major traction, BuzzFeed is unique in its ability to make adjustments.
“While we may think that something can hit, if we see that it is not performing, we have
tools on our end to optimize the content, the thumbnail, or the headlines – to adjust as
needed,” Rosenthal explained to Forbes. “We never let a thing we see not doing well
continue to fail.”
66

Figure 15. BuzzFeed Sponsored Content by Taco Bell from January 2013.

64
Frampton, Paul. “Media: The BuzzFeed investment shows our industry needs to get to
grips with native,” Campaign, August 22, 2014.
65
Seave, Ava. “BuzzFeed’s Native Ads: Working Toward A Fail-Safe Performance,”
Forbes, November 27, 2013. Accessed December 1, 2014.
66
Ibid.
41

D. Can old methods work with new media?
As media evolves in the digital space, several questions continue to be asked
across the board including, how does the digital landscape relate to traditional media
relations?
Media relations can no longer be the only answer for public relations
professionals. In an interview with Nieman Reports, BuzzFeed’s Editor in Chief Ben
Smith spoke candidly on his unenthusiastic outlook of traditional media relations
methods. “One challenge is figuring out what replaces the wire story […] because no one
reads wire stories, no one shares wire stories,” he said. “It’s a very wooden form. One
thing we think about a lot is what replaces that. I think it’s something more visual, more
emotionally driven […]. Certainly something that pulls in all the media that you’re
talking about – images, videos, and, increasingly, tweets and status updates that are part
of the story.”
67
The next generation of public relations practitioners must understand the
changing media landscape and adapt to new methods and models of communication.
It wasn’t long ago when public relations existed entirely in the “earned” media
space, where the practice solely relied on media relations to get information out about a
brand in the hope that the information would generate enough interest to be put in a news
story.
In this realm, the advertising department handled “paid” media placements
including ad buys, and the marketing department handled “owned” media including
websites.

67
Banikarim, Susie. “The Joy of Scrolling,” Neiman Reports, Vol. 68, Issue 2, April
2014.
42
Traditionally the lines between paid, earned and owned media were defined and
distinct, yet their relationship was symbiotic in the nature of communication.
As the traditional lines between paid, earned, shared and owned spaces begin to
blur with evolving methods of communication in the digital world, modern-day public
relations practitioners must shift to adopt different, non-traditional public relations
models such as the PESO model. The PESO model shows exactly where these media
spaces overlap and where there is authority in optimized, shareable and engaging content.
Gini Dietrich, CEO of Arment Dietrich, a Chicago-based integrated marketing and
communications firm, developed the PESO model to combat the “old paradigm” of
traditional media relations practices and to help public relations professionals “push a
fully integrated program that delivers real organizational results”.
68

As the media continues to evolve, professionals must evolve with it to incorporate
more visual and emotionally stimulating content in their media relations practices and
outreach to best intrigue and engage audiences.

68
Iliff, Rebekah. “Why PR is embracing the PESO model,” Mashable. December 4,
2014. Accessed March 22, 2015.
43
Chapter Six: Los Angeles Department of Public Health’s
“Sugar Pack” Campaign
A. Background
According to its website, the Los Angeles Department of Public Health (LADPH)
“protects public health, prevents disease and promotes health and well-being for all
persons in Los Angeles County.”
69
LADPH conducts its activities through a network of
public health professionals, and provides residents with a wide array of resources that
they need to stay healthy. In addition to providing educational information and resources,
LADPH has also created campaigns to educate the public on various topics and to
increase awareness of certain public health issues.
In fall 2011, the LADPH launched a strategic plan to educate the public on excess
caloric intake from sweetened beverages. Widely known as the “Sugar Pack” marketing
campaign, it was carried out in three stages to provide consumers with the shocking facts
behind soda and other flavored beverages. LADPH launched the program across paid
platforms (both online and outdoor) and on social media. According to the Health
Promotion Practice, the Sugar Pack campaign “reached broadly into targeted
communities, resulting in more than 515 million impressions” through its length from
October 2011 through December 2012.
70
These impressions came from strategic
placement, through paid media placements and opportunities, through augmentation on
the Choose Health LA website, a microsite that was created for the campaign, and on
social media through organic content.

69
“About Us,” Los Angeles Department of Public Health, Accessed December 20, 2014,
70
Barragan, Noel C., et al., “The ‘Sugar Pack’ Health Marketing Campaign in Los
Angeles County, 2011-2012,” Society for Public Health Education (2013): 208-16.
Accessed December 16, 2014.
44

B. Business Goal
The primary business goal of the Sugar Pack campaign was to educate Los
Angeles County residents about the sugar content in popular drinks through an
informational and educational communications plan. This effort was designed to change
social norms and focused directly on the prevention and control of chronic diseases in the
county through the promotion of physical activity, save neighborhoods and healthy
eating.
71

C. The Challenge
To understand the results of the LADPH’s Sugar Pack plan, one must understand
the challenge it faced. According to a press release, at the time of the program launch,
more than 58 percent of adults in Los Angeles County were overweight or obese and
almost 23 percent of county children in fifth, seventh and ninth grade.
72
The LADPH
sought to take on the challenge of educating underserved communities in Los Angeles
County that have high rates of obesity by educating them on the amount of sugar in
popular soft drinks in order to change social norms and purchase decisions. In addition to
an oversaturated media market, LADPH was going up against the major companies in the
beverage industry; companies that had greater budgets and a predisposed audience.

71
Ibid.
72
"LA County Launches Sugar-Loaded Drinks Campaign." Marketwire. October 11,
2011. Accessed December 21, 2014.
45
D. Campaign Development and Research
The Los Angeles Department of Public Health conducted extensive research to
fully develop the ideas and strategies of the Sugar Pack campaign. Initial research was
conducted on previous media plans, and market research information was used from pre-
existing programs.
73

In addition to compiling research from previous outreach efforts, the LADPH also
conducted a series of focus groups to fully understand the needs of its target audience,
parents in selected communities. Six focus groups were held in three Los Angeles County
cities that were identified as having high rates of obesity, and of those six focus groups,
five were conducted in English and one was conducted in Spanish.
74
The results from the
focus group found that parents were able to identify the negative effects of sugary drinks,
but they did not believe that their children were at a direct risk. According to the LADPH,
visuals were presented to the focus groups, and the most effective were from New York
City’s “Pouring on the Pounds” campaign, which conveyed the message: “You wouldn’t
eat 22 packs of sugar, why are you drinking them?”
75

Following the initial focus groups, creative concepts and materials were printed in
both English and Spanish. The primary creative concepts were focused on delivering a

73
California Department of Public Health. 2013. Rethink your drink education campaign.
74
Barragan, Noel C., et al., “The ‘Sugar Pack’ Health Marketing Campaign in Los
Angeles County, 2011-2012,” Society for Public Health Education (2013): 208-16.
Accessed December 16, 2014.
75
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Office of Health Assessment and
Epidemiology. (2011). Los Angeles County Health Survey.
46
clear, novel message about the equivalent number of sugar packs in sodas and other
sugary drinks, and the supplemental resources were created on Choose Health LA.
76

After the creative concepts for the Sugar Pack campaign were created, there were
additional tests on how effective the materials were on the intended audience. LeVeque
was the creative lead on this campaign during his time at Rogers Finn Partners. “We had
a variety of concepts that we were testing – different communication strategies, different
look and feel, different imagery, different messaging,” LeVeque recalled in an interview.
“They were all tested to determine which one worked best. We were really testing for
parents—the food purchase decision makers within the household. It was [low socio-
economic status]-focused and we were looking for diversity of ethnicity. We did these in
Spanish language also. So we tested, got feedback, and modified the concept, test again
until we reached our final product.”
77

E. Implementation
The Sugar Pack campaign was launched at a press event in October 2011. In
attendance were partnering organizations and local community supporters from various
ethnic representations. At the same time, a series of shareable video elements were shared
through Choose Health LA’s web-based channels for audiences to share within their
networks of friends and family.
78

76
Barragan, Noel C., et al., “The ‘Sugar Pack’ Health Marketing Campaign in Los
Angeles County, 2011-2012,” Society for Public Health Education (2013): 208-16.
Accessed December 16, 2014.
77
Matthew LeVeque, Interview with Meryl Press, Personal interview, October 28, 2014.
78
Barragan, Noel C., et al., “The ‘Sugar Pack’ Health Marketing Campaign in Los
Angeles County, 2011-2012,” Society for Public Health Education (2013): 208-16.
Accessed December 16, 2014.
47
Additional grant resources in early 2012 enabled the Los Angeles Department of
Public Health to expand the campaign through paid media placements. The plan’s
creative visuals were selected for a broader distribution, and paid placement targeted the
highest-need areas of the community. “The ‘22 packs of sugar’ really started out as
something for a brochure,” LeVeque said. “Interestingly, something that is creative
usually starts as a TV ad or a video ad and then moves down, but we started at the
simplest and then moved our way up the chain of communication.”
79
What started out as
a brochure then worked its way into schools and community health clinic posters, then to
outdoor ad placements such as bus sides and interiors, and then moved into massive,
outdoor billboards. Later, the ad then developed into a shareable motion graphic that got
huge traction on Facebook and “tens of thousands of views on Facebook.
80

Throughout the campaign, the caption of “You wouldn’t eat 22 packs of sugar,
why are you drinking them?” was accompanied by a visual element, such as a photo of a
20-ounce soda. The campaign’s media placements ran for approximately 8 weeks in
various transit shelters, Metro stations and outdoor billboards.
Online, the Choose Health LA site was very active in supporting the campaign on
social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. In addition, the website was
utilized as a tool for individuals seeking more information about the campaign. Choose
Health LA created an online calculator that helped visitors estimate the total amount of

79
Matthew LeVeque, Interview with Meryl Press, Personal interview, October 28, 2014.
80
Ibid.
48
sugar they were drinking, and how much they were spending on sugary drinks over the
course of one week, one month, one year and/or five years.
81

In addition to testing the initial concepts and visuals, the LADPH also tested
recall to understand the impact on consumers in the campaign’s segmented audience.
“There were also some intercept surveys and larger data sets of research to test recall,”
LeVeque said. “This campaign has very positive feedback and had very high-level recall,
and people reported that it changed their behaviors after they had seen it.”
82

Figure 16. Sugar Pack campaign Visual Content.

F. Conclusion/Analysis
After the campaign concluded, an assessment was conducted in order to
understand the reach of the campaign, the impressions gained from the campaign and the

81
Barragan, Noel C., et al., “The ‘Sugar Pack’ Health Marketing Campaign in Los
Angeles County, 2011-2012,” Society for Public Health Education (2013): 208-16.
Accessed December 16, 2014.
82
Ibid.
49
effectiveness of the campaign. The assessment found that within a few weeks of the
kickoff press event, television news stories had reached nearly half a million, and
coverage of the campaign was extended to four local radio stations.
83
In addition to those
media placements, the press event secured 10 articles in print and online news, which
were published in both English and Spanish, and 13 print stories in Asian-language
newspapers.
Outdoor placements over the 8-week run generated an estimated total of 359
million impressions, and the second 4-week run in 2012 brought an estimated 158 million
impressions.
In addition to the earned and paid impressions, the social media impressions from
the campaign reached “more than 15,000 YouTube views, 1.5 million Twitter
impressions, and 63,000 interactions on Facebook, alongside 535,000 website hits. The
sugar calculator, which was exclusively promoted via Facebook and Twitter, received
nearly 60,000 ‘plays.’”
84

G. Key Takeaways From the Campaign
The Los Angeles Department of Public Health’s Sugar Pack campaign is an
example of how important visuals are to communications campaigns today. While a more
simplified campaign was necessary to reach the primary audiences, which were parents
of low education and socioeconomic status in preselected neighborhoods of Los Angeles
County, this campaign displays how the media and social networks can be engaged

83
Ibid.
84
Ibid.
50
through visual content and amplified through traditional, tradigital and social media
today.
In addition to the image’s successful movement online in 2012, the campaign is
still getting hits. “That wonderful thing called the Internet allows us to share and to
amplify digital content,” LeVeque said. “This campaign today still gets pinned on
Pinterest regularly. Every week I will see five new pins from an ad that we did four years
ago, so it is still delivering results.”
85

As the campaign images continue to be shared across social platforms, it raises
the question: Why was this campaign’s visual imagery so successful? In this case,
LeVeque says the answer is unexpectedness. “What makes viral campaigns? I don’t think
there is a standard formula for it, but you definitely want to give something that will have
that trigger or a little bit of unexpectedness,” he said. “I think everyone is working on
things that are going to get people engaged, motivated to consume, and move through
consumer’s personal networks.”
86

In today’s world of visual literacy, visual content is not only necessary in
communications campaigns to simplify and convey messages for ease of consumption,
but it is also necessary to encourage consumers to take action on their own terms. In a
campaign that seeks to stimulate consumers to consider a larger question like a purchase
decision or what they are consuming, visuals must be thought-provoking enough to push
consumers not only to change their purchase decision, but to also feel compelled enough
to amplify that message through their personal networks.

85
Matthew LeVeque, Interview with Meryl Press, Personal interview, October 28, 2014.
86
Ibid.
51
Chapter Seven: Shoo The Flu Campaign
A. Background
In December 2012, the flu was off to a slow start in the city of San Francisco, but
healthcare professionals warned that the flu outbreak was expected to be among the worst
in the decade. Shortly after, Bay Area hospitals reported “an uptick in people
complaining of flu-like symptoms,” and warned of the virus strain – influenza A.
87
The
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had reported that year that the strain was especially
nasty, with symptoms of whole body aches and fever.
That same month, Google’s Founder & CEO Larry Page decided to do something
about protecting San Francisco children and youths from the looming influenza. In late
2012, Larry Page, his wife Lucy and the Paige Family Foundation donated free flu shots
for children and youths ages 4-18 in the San Francisco Bay Area for the month of
December.
Page organized this project through TotalWellness, a vaccination partner with
Target Pharmacy based in Omaha, Nebraska. TotalWellness then reached out to a local
but powerful digital marketing and advertising agency, Bailey Lauerman, and tasked the
agency to spread the word about the free vaccinations to local San Francisco parents and
guardians.

B. Communications Goal
There were several communications goals for the Shoo The Flu Campaign.
According to PRSA News, some of the key communication goals for this campaign were:

87
Schaub, Jeffrey. "Bay Area Hospitals Confirm Uptick in Flu Symptoms, Warn of
Another Virus." CBS San Francisco. January 9, 2013. Accessed January 20, 2015.
52
• To reach and influence parents in the San Francisco Bay Area to allow
their children to receive a free flu shot.
• To turn those parents that have allowed their children to take part into
advocates for the program, with the hope that they will spread the word so
other parents follow suit.
88

In less than a month, Bailey Laureman needed to communicate key information
about the program and its benefits to parents and guardians to inspire a call to action.

C. The Challenge
One major challenge Bailey Lauerman faced at the initial launch of the campaign
was that a majority of parents who had decided to have their children vaccinated had
already gone in to get the shots. The agency’s goal was to inform parents that had not yet
taken their children to get vaccinated while also targeting parents who were not planning
on having their kids vaccinated at all.
Aside from an oversaturated media market in a large metropolitan area with a
very large Spanish-speaking population, Bailey Lauerman was tasked with developing
and launching the Shoo The Flu campaign in just one week.
According to Ragan’s PR Daily, the agency was also tasked with getting the
message out without any paid advertising, and the campaign needed to target news
outlets, parents and social influencers to spread the word.”
89

88
"Shoo the Flu – Bailey Lauerman." PRSA News. July 29, 2013. Accessed January 19,
2015.
89
"'Shoo the Flu' Campaign Gets More than 5,000 Children Vaccinated for Free." PR
Daily. January 1, 2013. Accessed January 20, 2015.
53
D. Campaign Development and Research
The first step in creating the Shoo The Flu campaign was creating a name for the
campaign and designing the look of the campaign to grab parents’ attention. The agency
decided on a brightly colored campaign with cartoon-like characters.

Figure 17. Shoo the Flu Visual Content.

A website was launched in December 2012, and social channels were also
developed for the campaign, including Google+ and Facebook. According to Bailey
Lauerman, the social platforms were designed to “educate, entertain and spread the word
without spreading the virus.”
90

The Shoo The Flu Facebook account was utilized as an information hub for
parents and guardians, and was updated daily with links to information and major

90
Shoo the Flu Case Study. Bailey Lauerman. 2014. Online video. Accessed January 19,
2015.
54
milestones throughout the campaign. According to the Shoo The Flu Facebook page, by
the time the campaign officially ended in February 2013, it had administered 4,865 shots.

Figure 18. Shoo The Flu Website Homepage.

E. Campaign Implementation
After the creation of the backbone and strategic plan for the Shoo The Flu
campaign, Bailey Lauerman conducted media outreach to top-tier news publications in
the San Francisco area and secured placements in traditional and tradigital media
including FOX, NPR, Univision, the San Francisco Chronicle, Observer.com, among
many others.
Shoo The Flu also partnered with the CDC to push out information to local
healthcare centers, clinics, schools and businesses in the San Francisco area.
91

In just two months, the Shoo The Flu website had more than 21,000 visitors, the
message reached 31,000 users via Facebook, and 5,000 flu shots were administered to
children in the area. Today, the Shoo The Flu Facebook page has over 2,000 likes.

91
Ibid.
55

F. Conclusion/Analysis
As a result of the Shoo The Flu campaign, Bailey Lauerman’s public relations
efforts stimulated 1,500 flu shots in the area, more that 20 times of the amount of flu
shots administered from December 2012 through February 2013 than during the same
time period in the previous year.
92

In addition, Baily Lauerman was awarded a Ragan’s PR Daily Award for Best
Social Media Campaign in 2013 for its innovative online campaign and social platform
usage. In addition, the agency also received two honorable mentions for Best Cause-
Related Campaign and Best Community Relations Campaign.
93

The Shoo The Flu campaign is an example of how successful a strategic online
and media relations campaign can be in such a short period of time. Though the agency
had no budget for paid media and needed to get the message out with a quick turnaround,
the team far surpassed its goals. With little time for planning, Bailey Lauerman looked
into alternative methods to getting information out to parents and legal guardians of the
San Francisco Bay Area and got the campaign running on the social networking sites that
parents and guardians frequent most.
Through creating appealing visual content that was informative and concise, that
connected emotionally to parents and presented a call to action, the agency more than
fulfilled its goal. This campaign also exemplifies how public relations practitioners can

92
"'Shoo the Flu' Campaign Gets More than 5,000 Children Vaccinated for Free." PR
Daily. January 1, 2013. Accessed January 20, 2015.
93
"Shoo the Flu – Bailey Lauerman." PRSA News. July 29, 2013. Accessed January 19,
2015.
56
use social media to their advantage and as a platform to reach audiences and leverage
those audiences as advocates for spreading a message through their personal networks.
The visual content of this campaign directly contributed to the campaign’s overall
success because of its simple and eye-catching imagery and clear message that draws in
their target audience at the very beginning.

57
Chapter Eight: Commonly Accepted Practices for
PR Practitioners in the Visual Age
The reality of public relations today is that it is constantly evolving. As public
relations practitioners, it is our duty to understand how communication changes on a day-
to-day basis and to update communications strategies to reflect current trends and
commonly accepted practices. In this case, this means knowing how to use visual content
to elevate campaigns in terms of reach, impression, retention and interception of purchase
decision.
To do this, public relations practitioners can reference these commonly accepted
practices and pitfalls to avoid when creating visual components for campaigns:

A. Commonly Accepted Practices:
1. Completely develop core messaging. It is crucial for the core message of the
visual content to be fully developed before creating the content itself. Before
designing the visuals for the Sugar Pack campaign, LADPH crafted wording and
heavily tested the messaging in focus groups to ensure the core messages would
resonate with audiences. The visual creative process will be much easier to
navigate if the core is completely developed before creating visuals.

2. Include novel information or an element of surprise. Interesting and novel
information is more likely to grab the attention of the audience and push them to
share the information within their networks. LADPH’s Sugar Pack campaign
included messaging that the public was not generally aware of – a “normal” 16
58
oz. bottle of soda has the sugar content equivalent to 22 packs of sugar. This
information surprised many individuals, and thus made those individuals think
twice when making a purchase decision to buy soda and sugar-loaded drinks.

3. Draw upon emotional value and human instincts. Creating an emotional tie to
the audience will draw the audience in and engage them within your message.
Professionals can see this effect in Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches campaign. The
emotional appeal of the short documentary resonated and engaged online users.
Emotional impacts can come from color, sound, texture, style, shapes and
readability. The right tone and emotional impact should be one of the first
considerations when designing a visual component. If visual elements also have a
universal emotional appeal, the content can live online as evergreen for future use.

4. Know your target audience and their social relationships. Knowing how your
target audience consumes information is critical for the success of visual
components. In order to reach an audience emotionally, you must know their
interests, habits and social relationships. Consumers live in an online world where
they are the center of their social networks. In order to encourage individuals to
consume and share content within their networks, the message must personally
affect them, therefore encouraging the user to share information with their friends
and family online and to retain social posts and messaging. Taco Bell is a
company that knows their audience on social media well. Taco Bell organized an
activation at the 2015 iHeartMusic Awards with Shawn Mendes and Max
59
Schneider, two artists that rose to fame on social media. The company primarily
markets to 18-34 year-olds, and creates fan-driven activations with artists and
celebrities that also engage their audience. The company also utilizes websites
popular with millennials like BuzzFeed for paid-integrations and native
advertisements.

5. Encourage audience participation and include call to action. Including a call
to action and encouraging audiences to participate in helping spread your
information is important to engage audiences on a deeper level. While this may
not directly relate to a re-tweet or sharing on Facebook, users spreading the
information in their community through word-of-mouth is just as important. In the
case of the Shoo the Flu campaign, Bailey Lauerman’s visuals and core
messaging encouraged parents to take information found on their website and use
it to physically enter a center to get their child vaccinated. Though the firm was
tasked with a big return in a small amount of time, Bailey Lauerman reached over
1,500 individuals through engaging social media and website posts and through
word-of-mouth communications and call to actions.

6. Shift mindset and goals from selling to engaging. Though sales are important
for any company, when creating visual content for a public relations campaign,
the goal of increasing sales must change to the goal of fully engaging an audience
online. Online impressions on social network are valuable because shared
information is often coming from a trusted source, and consumers are therefore
60
more willing to take the time to read and retain the information, which may effect
their purchase decisions.

7. Emphasize quality of visual content. Production value plays a major role in
today’s visual content. Not only is high resolution content important for today’s
online world because of its aesthetic, but it is also plays an equally important role
in scalability and sharability. With so many tools available to create compelling
content, quality of content has become a force that further elevates visual
elements to become more powerful, easier to retain and more likely to drive future
purchase decisions. Companies are now rethinking traditional advertisement spots
in exchange for completely online video campaigns on sites like YouTube. We
see this in campaigns like Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches where the short 3-minute
documentary was updated only on YouTube and was not pushed on through
television advertisements. While the amount of money spent on short-form video
campaigns is virtually the same as traditional cost of ad spots, companies are
competing for virality in a space where feature film-quality footage is highly
valued and travels much further online.

Pitfalls to Avoid:
1. Uninteresting/Non-engaging pay-for-play posts. With online platforms creating
ways for companies to get their messages in front of their target audience,
companies must be wary of the possible consequences of forcing their content
into the feeds of online users. One example of this is when Instagram recently
61
introduced paid advertisement or “Promoted Content” opportunities for
companies. In August 2014, McDonald’s took advantage of Instagram’s
advertisements and received backlash for its post. McDonald’s placed an ad to
promote its Bacon Clubhouse burger, and angered many users for intruding on
their feeds.

Figure 19. McDonald’s Sponsored Post on Instagram.

It is important to understand how audiences use platforms before taking
out ads. For example, McDonald’s might not have understand how personally
connected Instagram users feel to those they follow, and do not appreciate
sponsored content in their feeds. According to Lauren Johnson of AdWeek,
62
“While marketers see [Instagram’s ad] potential as red-hot, consumers aren’t
ready to see ads popping up in streams of photos yet.”
94

2. Non-transparent messaging and practices: Visual content must be transparent
and authentic to be the most effective and to resonate with target audiences.
According to Scott Monty of The Guardian, “Transparency gets your brand
attention; authenticity allows your message to be heard and believed.”
95
With
Millennials having historically low levels of trust of government and
corporations, organizations must be willing to be transparent about their
messaging at every level.

3. Treating all media channels as if they are the same. One mistake that many
organizations make when creating visual content for public relations campaigns is
that they treat all platforms as if they are the same platform. When disseminating
a message to a target audience, public relations practitioners must consider the
platform that the visuals are being released on. Often organizations will use their
social platforms as a megaphone, and not as a means for two-way communication.

94
Johnson, Lauren. "McDonald's Gets Super-Sized Backlash With Instagram Ads."
AdWeek. August 4, 2014. Accessed January 20, 2015.
95
Monty, Scott. "Why Transparency and Authenticity Wins in Business and in
Marketing." The Guardian. February 17, 2014. Accessed January 19, 2015.

63
Chapter Nine: Conclusions
The ever-evolving technologies of the present day have disrupted the way that
humans have traditionally communicated for centuries. Sending and receiving
information consumers used to crave in long form has dramatically changed to getting
information across with visual elements to process information as quickly as possible.
Consumers today are not looking for long pieces of information, but would rather have
all of the information broken down into smaller pieces that are easy to understand so that
they can move on to the next piece of information.
The visual literacy explosion has developed as a direct result of the information
age, where information is available to all who seek it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As a
result, it has transformed consumers to understand information in the fastest way
possible.
Today, consumers seek ways to organize, quickly understand and personalize the
information that he or she receives. Through this massive shift of information
consumption, many individuals and public relations practitioners alike have come to
understand the importance of visual elements in communications campaigns.
Visual components have evolved greatly over the past decade and have paved the
way for companies and individuals alike to create and own visual content. The
proliferation of visual media has greatly contributed to the major changes in the media
landscape. It has changed the way individuals communicate with each other, and it has
changed the way that media and public relations practitioners communicate with their
audiences. The emergence of visual literacy has lead to the rise of new media outlets like
BuzzFeed and Gawker, and has lead to fundamentally visual public relations campaigns
64
like the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Sugar Pack Campaign and
Bailey Lauerman’s Shoo The Flu campaign. In these cases, both organizations were
different in size and budget but both accomplished their primary goals through strategic
public relations campaigns that heavily relied on visual content to get their messages
across.
Visual literacy and visual elements in communications campaigns will only
continue to evolve as technology becomes even more integrated into our daily lives.
Today it is important to use visuals in communications campaigns to help audiences to
best retain key messages and to deepen connections with consumers on a personal level.
It is critical for public relations practitioners to invest in visual content now in order to
stay competitive in an ever-evolving market and to create the most effective, compelling
and engaging public relations campaigns.

65
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69
Appendix A: Industry Interviews

Industry Interview: Stefan Pollack, President & CFO, Pollack PR Marketing Group

Stefan Pollack is the President and CFO of the Pollack PR Marketing Group and author
of Disrupted, a book that provides insights on how companies can communicate to and
with iGen and GenY through strategic public relations and marketing.

Through his career, Pollack has managed a wide array of clients in various industry
sectors including the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business,
Brita Water Filters, Beverly Hills Chamber of Clients, Make-A-Wish Foundation among
many others.

Interview questions and answers:

In your opinion, how has visual literacy impacted public relations?
The impact of visual literacy in all forms of communications cannot be understated.

We have instant access to the entirety of human knowledge at our fingertips and with so
much information coming from so many sources we necessarily need visuals to quickly
assimilate information and move on. It is more effective, for instance, for an average
social media user to express his or her sentiments through a meme, than to write it out.

A single visual can emote far more than words and do so more quickly and effectively.
This movement has moved through all levels of communication, whether it be videos
(currently the most searched medium online), infographics, or editorial photos.

Unless information can be visualized, it will not be easily consumed by today’s
audiences. Not only do they not have the patience for words, it is not reasonable to expect
audiences to process the vast quantities of information they receive without visual hooks
and queues.

On a scale of 1-10, how important are visual elements in communications campaigns
today?
10. Visual elements are absolutely required in communication campaigns. If there are no
visual elements in communications to today’s audiences, the campaigns simply will never
register in their routine.

Clearly there are exceptions to this, particularly in targeted campaigns for niche
audiences that accept and vet textual communications with or without visual media,
however, even in those cases a visual can mean the difference between skipping a
headline and actually taking note.

On the consumer and influencer side, visuals help tell the story and provide the necessary
“glance-check” that effectively communications without taking time, but on the media
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side journalists increasingly require media not only for news stories, but also to support
the blogs and social media they are required to use.

It is critical that campaigns provide the tools needed for audiences to better receive
messages and for influencers to disseminate them.

What do you believe to be the greatest contributing factors in the rise of visual
literacy?
Without a doubt the explosion of smartphones and tablets directly contributed to the rise
of visual literacy, but not necessarily in the way you may think.

Certainly the screens themselves make visual media easier to consume and, without a
doubt, the now-important “responsive” design that scales websites according to screen
size is necessarily more visual, however the true impetus for increased visual literacy is a
direct result of unlimited access to unlimited information.

Humans are very good at processing information, but our minds utilize shortcuts in order
to process large amounts of information. We need visuals to instantly communicate
complex ideas, something that cannot be done with words, so that we process more
information much more quickly.

As our capacity of information has increased, the speed in which we process information
is our most valuable currency. It is the role of public relations to embrace this in order to
effectively communicate to today’s audiences.

In the growing world of communications, how important do you believe are
traditional ways of media relations vs. word-of-mouth communications via social
channels?
Public Relations has always been about effectively communicating with audiences. In the
past that generally meant influencing third party endorsements from trusted media
sources for clients.

However, since the dramatic communications disruption of the past decade, audiences are
not influenced by the media like they once were. They are influenced by individuals or
organizations within their trust network.

So in today’s world, it is more important to capture the attention of those that influence
audiences, whether or not they are in the media. Influence occurs on all levels of
communication, including the media, word of mouth and social media. Our task is to
identify the trust networks for our audiences and work through the channels they use via
the people that influence them.

In your opinion, what are the elements that contribute to social sharing of an
image?
Studies have shown that relevance and humor are the most effective elements of a viral
image or video.
71

Sometimes humor can be a shortcut to relevance, because humor is the “great
equalizer”— and so while it may not necessary be relevant to a person they may share
simply because it was funny.

Without humor, relevance is key. It is critical that visuals both communicate a message
and also identify the target of that message.
A good visual hooks an audience and draws them into a course of action. That course of
action may be to bring them into a content piece or to re-share, but whatever it is, must be
relevant and targeted and not simply window dressing to compliment text.

What steps do you believe are necessary to create original, sharable and novel visual
content?
Firstly, identify the core message. This is perhaps the trickiest part to creating any form
of content. Understand the audience and isolate the specific message that will
communicate to them most effectively.

Next, find the right visual medium to communicate that message: photo, video, meme,
infographic. Every message is different and every audience is different, so it must be
catered specifically to the audience so that the content will resonate with them.

Finally, distribute the content—this can be done through the media, wire distribution,
influencers, bloggers, individually, word of mouth—whatever mechanism your target
audience will consume.

The bottom line is that thought must be put into both in identifying the audience and
identifying what works with that audience.

72
Industry Interview: Matthew LeVeque, Associate Professor, University of Southern
California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Matthew LeVeque is an Associate Professor at USC’s Annenberg School for
Communication and Journalism and founder of Rogers Ruder Finn Partners’ Digital
Strategies Group.

Through his career, LeVeque served as a strategic counselor to all the agency’s consumer
and public sector clients on digital strategies, social media and emerging media channels.
He has worked with clients such as the Los Angeles Auto Show, California Department
of Public Health, LA County Department of Public Health, Dole, among many others.

Interview questions and answers:

Which campaign do you think has been your most successful in terms of visuals and
sharability?
It really depends on what the delivery and execution of the campaign has been. So, if we
look at my anti-obesity, sugar-loaded drink campaign, which has very simple imagery,
clear messaging, and a bit of unexpectedness, the reasons it was impactful is that it’s very
easy to consume and people go, “What?” because there’s that twist. There’s a twist that
comes out of it that message: You wouldn’t eat 22 packs of sugar, why are you drinking
them? Everybody gets that one. There’s very brief, concise message on it.

I have other campaigns like one I just completed just in the past couple months where it’s
a group of children’s actors that go around to elementary schools in Los Angeles County
and they interface with a 30-minute show that is a combination of animation and live-
footage, graphics, it’s music-based, and that video took me almost a year to complete. I
am quite happy with it, and it is quite impactful with the children and the lesson that they
are learning about the environment, and the testing we have done on it has been quite
good.

I think it depends on what the medium is and who the consumers are. There’s a huge
difference between a static visual image when someone is passing by as a paid ad versus
a static image of a sugar drink that I turned into a motion graphic, but is then shareable on
social platforms.

In terms of social sharing, which campaign do you think has been most successful?
The portion control and sugar campaigns had the highest level of sharability on it. Both
because we did the images as photograph-style whether it was on Instagram, Pinterest,
Facebook or Twitter, etc. and then there were also motion-graphics and visual
components that complimented it but had a greater impact because of the sound
sculpting, music and the unexpectedness of the motion on it.

When we first did the sugar campaign, a lot of these platforms were lacking tracking on
them. I was sitting there saying, “How do I track every one of these images that moves on
Pinterest or on Tumblr?” Their API wasn’t open, there weren’t overlays like the Crimson
73
Hexagon or Salesforce Marketing Cloud or others, and we individually tracked on
Tumblr and we stopped after the sugar image was somewhere in the 20,000-range of
Tumblr shares. So, pretty nice numbers.

When did you launch the sugar campaign?
2010-2011. The development of the campaign was three months from here’s the mandate
that the client wanted us to do, the goal, the research, etc.

What was your first step for the campaign? What was the strategy behind it?
It really started off as we wanted to start grassroots collateral materials more classic
public relation community-based education materials.

The 22 packs of sugar really started out as something for a brochure. Interestingly,
something that is creative usually starts as a TV ad or a video ad and then moves down,
but we started at the simplest and then moved our way up the chain of communication.
So it started as that and then we said, “This would make a really great poster to go to
schools and community health clinics and other community-based organization.” And
then we realized that the image would make a really great outdoor ad because it was
fairly simple and easy to consume so that moved it to bus backs, bus sides, bus interiors,
transit ads, and then they got more money so we went into massive, outdoor billboards,
and after some time it developed into a shareable motion graphic that was originally done
as a “likegate” on Facebook. It got tens of thousands of views on Facebook. I think it was
over 100,000, and then it moved over from there to YouTube, and then it just started
getting shared on Twitter and other platforms. Then it moved from there to other
communities that placed it as a TV ad within their markets.

Who was your audience for this campaign?
The anti-obesity campaign within Los Angeles County was trying to target primarily
those that have the highest rates of overweight and obese individuals. Those tend to be
lower income, less educated, and certain heritages involving rural whites, Hispanic,
Latino or African American populations.

It’s trying to not only target them think and change, but also have the communities that
they live with think about what they’re doing. Whether that’s them thinking, “Wow,
should we really be having sodas in vending machines in our schools or in our city parks?
Should our schools be giving sodas and candy in the vending machines given the obesity
problem?” So while it’s a direct target to people and trying to get them to think about
their behavior, it also has a broader umbrella to try and impact the people that can make
broader-stroke policy changes.

Did you design this campaign for low-income, low-education specifically?
Yes, we had a variety of concepts that we were testing – different communication
strategies, different look and feel, different imagery, different messaging. Even on this
one with the pouring sugar into it. They were all tested to determine which one worked
best. My recollection is that we did six to 10 focus groups, and we were really testing for
74
parents, the food purchase decision makers within the household. It was a low SES and
we were looking for diversity of ethnicity, and we did these in Spanish language also. So
we tested, got feedback, and modified the concept, test again until we reached our final
product.

There were also some intercept surveys and larger data sets of research to test recall. This
campaign has very positive feedback and had very high-level recall, and people reported
that it changed their behaviors after they had seen it. It’s a code. You’re not necessarily
thinking, “Whoa, 22 packs of sugar. I didn’t realize that.”

Did you create this content with the goal to be shared?
Yes. Anything that is created is ultimately a digital file. Digital files ultimately can move
on the internet. Whether it comes out as a JPEG, PNG, PDF, .MOV, whatever the final
content is, that wonderful thing called the internet allows us to share and to amplify
digital content. This campaign today still gets pinned on Pinterest regularly. Every week I
will see five new pins from an ad that we did four years ago, so it is still delivering
results.

In your opinion, what are the elements that contribute to social sharing?
Is there an emotional, utility, financial, value or any other trigger within it that causes
people to want to want to republish and share it because of unexpectedness. Does it bring
humor? Does it have some visual element that people would enjoy? You’re always trying
to figure out what is going to give this maximum sharability?

I don’t know what makes viral campaigns because I don’t think there is a standard
formula for it, but you definitely want to give something that will have that trigger or a
little bit of unexpectedness. I think everyone is working on things that are going to get
people engaged, motivated to consume, and move through consumer’s personal
networks.

How has visual literacy impacted visual communications in public relations
campaigns?
The written and spoken word are still incredibly important, but the visual communication
elements – either video, infographic, photo, etc. – are becoming more and more important
elements of all aspects of public relations and communications campaigns.

It’s almost as if people are snacking online instead of sitting down and consuming the
entire meal. So if I can give the vast majority of people a powerful message that they can
consume in 15 minutes or less versus writing a 5,000-word thought piece on the problem
of sugar and obesity, it will be much easier for them to consume that especially if you are
dealing with a lower-educated population and non-college graduates. There’s a difference
between thoughtful and robust and getting someone’s attention quickly and getting them
to share it. It is the tiered strategy where you have your simplified images and video and
as people go to a call to action, it’s getting more and more robust for them.

75
In the growing world of social media, how important do you believe are traditional
media relations versus word-of-mouth communication via social channels?
It’s definitely changed over the past 10-15 years. Traditional media and media relations
today still remains an important aspect of it. It has diminished dramatically from what it
was 10 or 15 years ago. People are consuming content differently.

Traditional media relations is important to me, but less so because what they are putting
in their print edition or on their website and more so because their content is being
amplified on their social channels. So a story in the LA Times not only gets the print
edition which some people are still reading and the online edition that people will
consume, and the mass amount of Twitter followers or other curation aggregation sites
like Huffington Post or Upworthy that are helping to move that content even further.

Everything is social now. If it’s digital and online, everything is a potential social
amplification. Traditional media is still very important for that and they have a huge
bump within the social platforms. If you look at social platforms and you look at who the
top influencers are that are moving some of these stories, they typically are still
traditional media.

Do you think traditional media is threatened?
I think it’s evolving. I think that the modern public relations practitioner has to be a much
broader strategic and creative communicator then they used to have to be. The execution
of a visual element of your ongoing campaign requires the same level or even greater
level of understanding your audience, being strategic, and how you execute that is
ultimately how you will be successful or not. How we used to labor over the headline of a
press release or what’s our lead and what’s the news on it – we need to equally or greater
labor and train people how to execute on social channels. People need to be robust
multimedia content creators on behalf of their brands or organizations.

Do you create all of the visuals that you put out or do you hire an outside company
for that?
My team and myself create the graphics. Depending on the level, we may bring in some
outside designers and people that will do it. It depends on budget, time, level of
sophistication.

Besides unexpectedness, is there anything else you found to be successful factor?
Clarity of message for ease of consumption dependent on your audience.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Press, Meryl S. (author)

Core Title The visual literacy explosion: a brief history, relevant cases and commonly accepted practices

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Publication Date 06/18/2015

Defense Date 06/18/2015

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

Tag Communication,communications,GIF,image,journalism,media,OAI-PMH Harvest,public,Public Relations,relations,social media,trends,Video,visual,visual literacy,visuals

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor LeVeque, Matthew (committee chair), Floto, Jennifer D. (committee member), Tenderich, Burghardt (committee member)

Creator Email merylpre@usc.edu,merylpress@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-571827

Unique identifier UC11300406

Identifier etd-PressMeryl-3477.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-571827 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-PressMeryl-3477.pdf

Dmrecord 571827

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Press, Meryl S.

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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...

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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