OCD

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder in which people have thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations (obsessions) or behaviors that make them feel driven to do something (compulsions). Catch an episode of Monk. You'll understand.



However, OCD (Organizing Chaos Daily) is also the name of an organization service in Singapore that we have the pleasure of working with for our final project. Cleverly named, the owner has an obsession (although not obsessive) for organizing which she put to fantastic use and opened a business selling the idea.

What I most liked about this company is how much they made use of PR to leverage the company's name, and it's a strong learning point for all of us. They made use of press releases to get coverage on magazines and newspapers, set up a user-friendly webpage to explain more about the services that they offer, and not forgetting a Facebook account to keep in touch with contacts and expand their network base. All with minimal and clever use of their limited resources.

It's a worthwhile lesson that this small enterprising company is teaching us: you don't need to be rich, to be clever.

Oh. And girl power. (:

Lord of the (f)lies

I believe there is no such thing as a corrupt-free society. Even when we strive for it. Because the people that run the society are only humans. And humans will always be motivated by personal gains.

This week our case study centered on ethics. According to my Oxford Mini Dictionary and Thesaurus:

ethic n. 1 a moral principle or framework. 2 (ethics) moral principles.

moral adj. concerned with right and wrong behaviour.

principle n. beliefs governing your actions and personal behaviour.

...which is flawed in its definition simply because different people have different definitions of what is right and wrong depending on their influences and how they have been brought up and exposed to society.

It's a pointless argument. There will always be unethical behavior as defined by each individual. And because of that there will always be corrupt practices. What should be the focus is covering up loopholes in which these people will always try to manipulate.

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet...

Press releases are clever and cunning, but a pain in the (insert word here) to write. Why? Because it requires explicit product understanding, and once you get that, it requires a careful understanding of your target audience. And then, there’s the framing. It’s like this:

ANGRYMAD @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ FRUSTRATION EVIL
VILE WARS @love flowers lollipops@ KILLINGS SUICIDES
BOMBINGS! @butterflies rainbows @ GEORGE W.BUSH ):
SUFFERING @icecream strawberry @ GLOBAL WARMING
POVERTYY! @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ RACIAL PREJUDICE

Only hear the good stuff, says Gold 90fm.

Which is interesting because a product can appeal to a variety of audience, but the presentation might not. Therefore how we angle the product plays a huge role in how well the product will sell to the desired target audience, even though they might have no immediate connection to the product.

Example: a G-shock watch.

Men are the obvious buyers because it's a "Man" kind of watch - rugged, functional, reliable. Therefore we focus on its reliability, functionality and outlook for this group.

But G-shock watches are renowned for their collector's item such as this limited edition Transformers piece. Therefore the angle slants a different way now: the focus is on its rarity.

And then there are the ladies who buy gifts for their (lucky) men. Another angle has to be played, but one that has no relation to the watch whatsoever: one that goes somewhere along the line of "Your man will love you even more for this". Mine did.

And how much of those are covered in my other classes?

Introduction to Professional Writing? Check.
Introduction to Communication Studies? Check.
Managing the Organisation? Check.

The practicality of the theory learnt is good and all, but it’s the realisation of how much of everything else is involved in PR is what gets me. Better start remembering what I learnt elsewhere.