Diversity in PR

Wednesday’s guest speaker was very interesting because I never knew that there was a field in PR that was specifically for helping create diversity in companies. I didn’t realize that these diverse PR agencies were developing strategies to help target certain ethic groups for businesses. For me, I just thought that companies are trying to be more socially responsible by representing different minorities in their campaigns or advertising. I was even more surprised that foreign companies are resisting to reach out to different minority groups or fully representing them in their campaigns. It is important for business/companies to mirror their diverse customers, so that they can feel like companies cares about them and recognize them.

In reading Managing Public Relations by J. Gruing and T. Hunt, they argue that it is vital that companies outreach to different minority groups. These authors state that most companies respond to different minorities groups by putting more “pictures of blacks and Hispanics in their advertising”. However, they argue that companies should: “conduct research to determine how the organisation is regarded in minority communities”, and target ethnic-orientated publications to fully reach diverse customers. Through these methods these authors state companies can fully embrace their diverse audience.

Coming from California which holds the largest Hispanic population, businesses are constantly outreaching to this ethic group. Hispanics are the largest minority group in the U.S, so companies make sure that they include them in their advertising or campaigns since they are a huge audience and/or potential consumers. Since Spanish is the second most spoken language in the U.S due to the Hispanic population, most companies provide their information to consumers in both English and Spanish. For example, Time Warner Cable the largest cable service in CA provides an option for English or Spanish language when you call them, get pamphlets or view their website. Therefore, Time Warner Cable is making sure that their public relations material targets their diverse audience.

I do feel it is important that companies reach out to their diverse cliental base. Companies including different ethnic groups in their campaigns will not only help in their sales but signal that they recognize different minority groups in society which is important.