Taking a global perspective & looking at industries of interest

Most PR research is conducted in the United States and it is argued that the PR discipline, especially in terms of media relations and social media, is more advanced than in the United Kingdom or Germany.  It would be interesting to take a look at the PR development in my country, knowing that in Germany PR has evolved from the propaganda regime of World War II. This could still depict a problem among customers relating PR with spin doctoring. A MA thesis approach then could be comparing German companies and their use of social media with the supposedly more advanced American ones (either proving that the US are still ahead or demonstrating that Germany has caught up). To narrow the field for research down a certain industry should be considered.

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Due to the recent crisis the financial sector is facing it could be an interesting industry to take a closer look at, especially in terms of regaining their costumers’ trust as well as re-establishing their reputation through social media engagement. However, the level of commitment and understanding of social media by the financial sector is argued to be relatively low compared to other corporate sectors (according to Cicero Group), which makes it an interesting field of investigation. The success of a financial company is based on its ability to build client relationships across the world and incorporate the latest technology to move ahead of the competition. All these qualities are essential when making the most of social media, which makes it a perfect fit for financial companies. Here my hometown Frankfurt could serve as the main point of investigation, given it is the biggest German banking district. The main focus would be on the use of social media by German banks (such as Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank) and to what extend they integrated online social networks into their overall PR Strategy. Those findings then could be compared with the banking sector in Manhattan, New York; looking at comparable American banks in terms of size and profit.

Frankfurt is also famous for the “Frankfurt International Airport” and with that is home to many German airlines, offering another interesting sector that could be examined, namely the air traffic industry. Big German airlines such as Lufthansa are facing immense pressure on their prices due to low budget competitors like Ryanair.  One could take a look at their long-term relationship building effectiveness through their use of social media in comparison to an American airline such as Delta. Low budget airlines are creating short -term relationships with their customers, which works for their business concept. However, I assume that Lufthansa needs to find a different approach in competing with them, which could be done by their overall PR strategy.

In this context it would also be interesting to look at the companies corporate reputation in terms of corporate communications and corporate branding. Unfortunately, that course won’t take place until next year. However, I will take it into consideration again once I’ve participated and learned more about theories and concepts regarding corporate communication.