To stay competitive, firms need to build great products but they also need to lend these products to the uses and misuses of their customers and learn extensively from them. This is the first book to explore the idea that allowing customers to adapt features in online products or services to suit their needs is the key to viral growth.

Organizations in the Face of Crisis offers a new approach to the treatment of threats to an organization, the brand, and the stakeholders. Case studies and diagnostic tools are used to demonstrate the effects of a crisis and to provide insight and strategies on managing the crisis at hand as well as the long-term effects.

This volume applies postmodern theory to public relations, providing an alternative lens to public relations theory and practice and developing public relations theory within the context of postmodernism. Author Derina Holtzhausen focuses on two key issues and their application to public relations theory and practice: the postmodernization of society, and the possibilities postmodern theories offer to explain and understand public relations practice in today's changing society. Holtzhausen's argument is that existing theory should be evaluated from a postmodern perspective to determine its applicability to postmodernity. Utilizing practitioner perspectives throughout the volume, she explores the practice of public relations as a form of activism. The volume is intended for scholars and students in public relations. It may be used as a supplemental text in advanced courses on public relations theory, PR management, organizational communication, and related areas.

Tribal branding allows marketers to benefit from greatly enhanced levels of consumer devotion to brands. Richardson incorporates the approach of ethno-marketing to expertly explain the opportunities for marketing and branding professionals to co-create brands with, and develop new ways of marketing to, tribal groups and brand communities.

The Social Media Manifesto is a handbook to enable leaders across the business to understand how social technology can be incorporated into their company. Including case studies from Google, IBM, Spotify, Unilever, and Coca-Cola, it provides insight and practical advice for managers to implement their own social business plans.

In most organizations, errors - although common and unavoidable - are rarely mentioned bottom-up. Using this example of the high risk aviation industry this book assess how active error management can work and lead to success. Using academic research and 10 actual aviation accidents cases, this book will provide compelling and informative reading.

From Chinese Brand Culture to Global Brands examines branding from the Chinese perspective, and predicts that China's greatest brands are poised for global dominance.

Investigates how and to what extent the self-employed and micro-enterprise workers can be represented in the social arena. A cross-sector approach to responsibility for government as well as private businesses.

Providing the necessary background information and hands-on tools to build compelling business cases, this book will increase the reader's capability to champion new business development ideas, take them to senior management, and facilitate the decision process by understanding the key theories and practices of finance and corporate investments.

Corporate communications are now hugely important in the success of companies and organisations. Using cases and examples from companies such as The Body Shop, Texaco, Johnson & Johnson, BP Oil & British Airways the authors introduce the framework necessary to analyse corporate communications strategies and provide clear practical guidelines for successful implementation. A must for anyone involved in corporate communications, public relations or public affairs, especially those working in multi-national or global organisations.

This insightful practical guide argues that the traditional business plan may not be appropriate for many new ventures and presents an alternative, effectual approach that encourages flexibility and development through exploration and experience. 10 principles demonstrate how to respond better to uncertainty during the business development process.

Combining creative biblical interpretation, Christian moral reflection, and business expertise, Finding Meaning in Business is a thoughtful and thought-provoking look at how business leaders, professionals, and students can integrate a sense of calling into their careers and into the business world as a whole.

Companies and agencies spend vast amounts of money to advertise and brand products and music has been an important part of this. This book assesses how from selecting sound and music for individual products and adverts many large companies have moved to develop a music strategy to align their brand and create emotional impact.

Since September 11, 2001, long-standing debates over the nature and proper extent of executive power have assumed a fresh urgency. In this book eleven leading scholars of American politics and political theory address the idea of executive power.

Key practitioners and researchers explore how people routinely and at particular sites are discursively constructed as deficient in ways that may affect their life chances. The book offers examples of how adopting multiple perspectives on research can provide a rich explanatory analysis of the construct of 'deficit' in a range of domains.

My studies on the "uncertain consumer" began with a research project c- ducted by the Dr. Rainer Wild-Stiftung - Foundation for healthy nutrition - on the negative image of processed food. Ever since then I have been asked whether or not growing consumer uncertainty is linked to information po- cies of the food sector and if so, how. Intensive three-year research showed that industrial methods of food production are predestined to result in wayward fears and worry over its healthiness. This is due to the fact that during the process of industrialisation, we gradually passed responsibility for the quality of food into the producers' hands. This, in turn, has resulted in information gaps that we, as the addressees of diverse, often overwhelming and contrad- tory information supplied by varying sources, feel today. We exchanged the daily search for food for the daily search for information long ago. Con- quently, a practical concept for public relations stands at the end of my - search into the uncertain consumer. It accounts for uncertainty regarding processed food as a point of reference for public relations targeted towards various groups. Public relations oriented towards the future calls for the sharing of expert information with all interested consumers. It is the goal of businesses to actively build up trust among the consumers in order to be prepared for new causes for uncertainty appearing periodically. To this day the issue of consumer uncertainty has not lost its topicality.

Competence encompasses or overlaps with notions of efficiency, success, accountability, excellence and self-justification. This collection explores ways in which individuals, teams or groups in organizations discursively present themselves as competent to perform tasks or functions, possibly at a superior level.

PR is an important part of running any successful business, yet many people are unaware of its potential and therefore unable to exploit it to the full. Effective PR: Be Your Own Expert covers all aspects of the field, including PR campaigns, media liaisons, communicating with your audience, sponsorship, entertainment, crisis management and using PR professionals. Current trends and technologies are also included to ensure that this book is current and relevant to all types of business. Spin, careers in PR and media relations are covered in detail. Topics include: - Planning a PR campaign - Media relations - Audience communication - Sponsorship - Entertaining and corporate hospitality - Internal PR - Specialist PR - Evaluating success Useful addresses and further reading are also included to enable you to take your campaigns in a number of directions. NOT GOT MUCH TIME? One and five-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. AUTHOR INSIGHTS Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience. TEST YOURSELF Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress. EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE Extra online articles to give you a richer understanding of PR. THINGS TO REMEMBER Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts. TRY THIS Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.

Competency based which matches the recently revised accreditation in public relations examination (APR), the launching in the certificate of principles in public relations, the efforts by the Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication to build an ethics curriculum, the on Commission on Public Relations Education and the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations. Practically focused to help students learn what they need based on the specific sector in which they plan to work. Each chapter is written by well-versed and respected PR professionals with relevant experience in the industry they're writing on. Along with the subject matter experts, each chapter will have an interview from a professional in the field for students to review. The competency chapters will have professionals addressing the role and need for that competency among practitioners while the practice based chapters will focus on daily realities and tips on entering the sector.

Employing a discourse analytical approach this book focuses on the under-researched strategy of humour to illustrate how discursive performances of leadership are influenced by gender and workplace culture. Far from being a superfluous strategy that distracts from business, humour performs a myriad of important functions in the workplace context.

Public Relations and Social Theory: Key Figures, Concepts and Developments broadens the theoretical scope of public relations studies by applying the work of a group of prominent social theorists to make sense of the practice. The volume focuses on the work of key social theorists, including Max Weber, Karl Marx, John Dewey, Jürgen Habermas, Niklas Luhmann, Michel Foucault, Ulrich Beck, Pierre Bourdieu, Anthony Giddens, Robert Putnam, Erving Goffman, Peter L. Berger, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Bruno Latour, Dorothy Smith, Zygmunt Bauman, Harrison White, John W. Meyer, Luc Boltanski and Chantal Mouffe. Each chapter is devoted to an individual theorist, providing an overview of that theorist’s key concepts and contributions, and exploring how these can be applied to public relations as a practice. Each chapter also includes a box giving a short and concise presentation of the theorist, along with recommendation of key works and secondary literature.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables

Preface

1. Introduction: Public Relations and Social Theory; Magnus Fredriksson & Øyvind Ihlen

SOCIAL CHANGES

2. On Weber: Legitimacy and Legitimation in Public Relations; Arild Wæraas

3. On Luhmann: Reframing Public Relations as Part of Society’s Evolutionary Learning Processes; Susanne Holmstrøm

4. On Bauman: Power, Ethics and Social Hermeneutics; Magda Piezcka

5. On Beck: Public Relations and Quests for Responsibility; Magnus Fredriksson

6. On Latour: Actor-Networks, Modes of Existence and Public Relations; Piet Verhoeven

SOCIAL FORCES

7. On Bourdieu: Public Relations, Positions and Resources; Øyvind Ihlen

8. On Harrison White: Rethinking Relations in Public Relations; Peter Winkler & Stefan Wehmeier

9. On Meyer: Public Relations in a Context of World Society, Soft Actors and Rationalized De-coupling; Josef Pallas & Emilia Kvarnström

10. On Giddens: Interpreting Public Relations through Anthony Giddens’s

Structuration and Late Modernity Theories; Jesper Falkheimer

SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

11. On Putnam: Bowling Together – Applying Robert Putnam’s Theories of Community and Social Capital to Public Relations; Vilma Luoma-aho

12. On Berger: If Peter Berger were doing Public Relations – A Social Constructionist Perspective on Crisis Communication; Mats Heide

13. On Boltanski: The Sociology of Critique and Public Relations; Lee Edwards

14. On Goffman: Researching Relations with Erving Goffman as Pathfinder; Catrin Johansson

15. On Habermas: Communication and Understanding – Key Concepts for Public Relations; Roland Burkart

POWER

16. On Marx: Capitalism and Public Relations; Kay Weaver

17. On Dewey: Public Relations and its Eclipse of the Public; Lana Rakow

18. On Foucault: Engaging with Foucault’s Critical Theory and Methods; Judy Motion & Shirley Leitch

19. On Dorothy Smith: Public Relations and Feminist Theory at the Crossroads; Lana Rakow & Diana Iulia Nastasia

20. On Spivak: Theorizing Resistance in Public Relations; Mohan Jyoti Dutta

21. On Mouffe: Radical Pluralism and Public Relations; Scott Davidson & Judy Motion

22. Conclusions on the Compass, Context, Concepts, Concerns and Empirical Avenues for Public Relations; Øyvind Ihlen, Piet Verhoeven & Magnus Fredriksson

　

Author Bios/

Die Markenkommunikation befindet sich in einem fundamentalen Wandel. Neue Formen der Live Communication erganzen bzw. ersetzen die bisherigen Instrumente im Kommunikations-Mix. Dadurch erlangt die systematische Planung, Umsetzung und Kontrolle von Messen, Events, Roadshows, Showrooms und Brand Lands einen herausragenden Stellenwert.
Die Autoren prasentieren fundierte Losungsansatze und zeigen besondere Anforderungen fur einzelne Prozessschritte auf von der konzeptionellen Vorbereitung bis hin zur wirkungsvollen Umsetzung und Erfolgskontrolle. Interviews mit hochkaratigen Expertenvertretern und konkrete Case-Beschreibungen verdeutlichen die Vorgehensweisen und Resultate. Erganzend liefern verschiedene empirische Untersuchungen u. a. die seit 2003 jahrlich durchgefuhrten, branchenubergreifenden LiveTrend-Studien interessante Benchmark-Informationen. Abschliessend werden die Potenziale der Live Communication analysiert und Handlungsoptionen zum optimalen Einsatz der LiveCom-Instrumente konkretisiert."

Narrative Brand Planning - wie Marken zu echten Helden werden Das digitale Zeitalter hat die gute alte Werbewelt gehoerig auf den Kopf gestellt. Mediennutzer haben sich vom passiven Konsumenten hin zu aktiven Produzenten von Medieninhalten entwickelt - und das jederzeit und uberall! Leider hat das konventionelle Marketing die Menschen schon seit langem aus den Augen verloren. Als Reaktion verhangen wir Menschen immer haufiger die Hoechststrafe: vollkommenes Desinteresse an Marken und ihren Versprechen. Was die digitale Welt aus Menschen, Medien und Marken jedoch nach wie vor braucht wie die Luft zum Atmen, sind echte Geschichten! Werbung muss weg von fiktiven Erzahlungen innerhalb einzelner Werbemassnahmen, hin zu realen Handlungen auf Markenebene! Das erzeugt spannende, transmediale und vor allem glaubwurdige Geschichten, die sich Menschen gut und gerne erzahlen. Frank Otto Dietrich und Ralf Schmidt-Bleeker entwerfen mit Narrative Brand Planning einen Ansatz, wie man im digitalen Zeitalter Relevanz fur Geschaftsmodelle, fur Markenstrategien und Markenkommunikation erzeugen kann. Oder kurz: wie man Marken Schritt fur Schritt zu echten Helden macht.