BUS 3500 April 14

There was no class on April 7, but I got to meet our instructor Daniel Allen at the USU Conference Center where I work. That was nice. Also had breakfast with Lisa from the class. We've become Facebook friends now too, thanks to this class, and I'm going to help her girl scout group with some social networking pointers.

Advertising and Public Relations is the topic of this week's class, and it's pretty special to me because I am a journalism and PR major with business marketing as part of my interdisciplinary degree. I had not really considered the difference needed in PR when looking at the stages of the product life cycle though. I'd be inclined to keep hitting that introductory stage over and over and I really should be considering the growth, maturity and decline stages. All PR strategies are not created equal - or they shouldn't be, anyway. I like the AIDA model - and it's a good concept to follow and keep in the forefront of campaign planning. Attention - okay, get their attention - but next, you have to keep them interested... then create a desire in them for the product, and finally, importantly - call them to action. This is something that I will use as I move forward in this field. It's good to look at National trends too, but also we have to look at local influences. Here in Logan we have a newspaper that is still widely read, unlike some larger cities. Newspaper advertising and PSA's may be more effective here than magazine ads would be. And now that the Valley Channel has moved to a less accessible station, the local TV ads there are not as effective as they used to be. But local radio is still a good vehicle here, if you choose the right station to advertise on, and the right time to place those ads. Local festivals too, like Summerfest and Cruise In, that involve the whole community are good sources for sponsorship exposure - the point is that there is no one "right" formula and each product and campaign takes some evaluation and selection before deciding on the advertising to use.