Tuesday, January 21st - Issue Management
The concept from the readings this first week that stood out to me the most was from the Crable & Vibbert article (1985). It is called "the catalytic strategy." The authors explain that the past approaches used by public relations strategists (reactive, adaptive, dynamic) were mostly defensive. The premise of the catalytic strategy is to make active, intentional moves regardless of what stage your issue is in. I found this strategy to be pretty modern. This is because issues nowadays can be commented on by anybody due to the democratic features of the internet. Organizations and companies need to adopt the catalytic strategy in order to be prepared for how the public will publicly react to an issue, and how they should respond to people's statements.
However, some organizations have used the catalytic strategy long before this modern time period. One example that comes to mind is how my mother, a real estate agent, manages the issue of generating clientele. Real estate agents work independently to find clients who need to buy or sell a home. Their work is commission based, and they can be working with a multitude of clients or no clients at all. The determinant of getting business is how much an agent promotes themselves and networks their services within their community. This is definitely an issue, since it is ongoing and cannot be definitively solved but rather must be managed.
One way that my mother manages this tactic is by doing what she calls "pop-bys". She delivers these to her past clients once a month in order to keep in contact and also to remind them to refer her to anyone they know who needs real estate services. Depending on the time of year, she will buy appropriate small items and attach a cleverly-written note about the season, concluding by connecting it back to her business. For example, in the past month, she distributed Girl Scout cookies with a note saying "A referral from you is the best compli-mint you can give me!" attached to the box of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. This is an example of the catalytic strategy in application, since regardless of how much business she has (i.e. what stage her issue is in), she will always deliver pop-bys.
Crable, R. E., & Vibbert, S. L. (1985). Managing issues and influencing public policy. Public Relations Review, 11(2), 3-16.
However, some organizations have used the catalytic strategy long before this modern time period. One example that comes to mind is how my mother, a real estate agent, manages the issue of generating clientele. Real estate agents work independently to find clients who need to buy or sell a home. Their work is commission based, and they can be working with a multitude of clients or no clients at all. The determinant of getting business is how much an agent promotes themselves and networks their services within their community. This is definitely an issue, since it is ongoing and cannot be definitively solved but rather must be managed.
One way that my mother manages this tactic is by doing what she calls "pop-bys". She delivers these to her past clients once a month in order to keep in contact and also to remind them to refer her to anyone they know who needs real estate services. Depending on the time of year, she will buy appropriate small items and attach a cleverly-written note about the season, concluding by connecting it back to her business. For example, in the past month, she distributed Girl Scout cookies with a note saying "A referral from you is the best compli-mint you can give me!" attached to the box of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. This is an example of the catalytic strategy in application, since regardless of how much business she has (i.e. what stage her issue is in), she will always deliver pop-bys.
Crable, R. E., & Vibbert, S. L. (1985). Managing issues and influencing public policy. Public Relations Review, 11(2), 3-16.
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