Dissertation Proposal

Is the trend of using New Media PR tactics that focus on audience interaction replacing standard advertising in relation to television program promotions? In specifics, looking at E4’s SKINS and Shipwrecked.

Is the use of online new media promotions that stir up audience interaction becoming the key choice of promotional strategy for television programming targeted at Britain’s youth? Are programmes such as E4’s Skins that use social networking to get viewers to send in ideas, music and artwork for the show as well as offering them opportunities to attend “VIP Parties” a clever and revolutionary new way to reach your target audience by giving you the chance to bypass journalists altogether? Thus giving you 100% guarantee that your message gets through.

The use of new media promotions is a relatively new theory as the history of public relations is concerned. It has only been in the last decade that internet use has exploded into our proverbial “personal space” with Nielsen/NetRatings reporting that according to their research, there are around 450 million surfers around the world. In the UK alone, 57.2 percent of the entire population have access to the web and are deemed as regular users. PR practitioners and marketing executives have begun to realise the prospects of online promotions, as it is a way for them to get into their target audience’s homes for little or no money as it is the users themselves who seek out or are directed to the information. Tom Murphy, an online PR blogger, posted a blog concerning a PR survey taken in March 2004 (http://www.natterjackpr.com/) where PR executives were asked about their relationship with the Internet. Of those individuals, 65% of respondents believed that new media provided an opportunity for a better relationship with journalists. However, one PR individual quotes,

“The Internet allows us to address our publics directly, so we don’t have to solely rely on journalists. This disintermediation is a challenge to journalists and to those involved in media relations.”

As the subject is quite specific I will be relying to a substantial bit of qualitative research for my primary research, involving interviews with PR practitioners involved in the promotional aspect of my case studies and their thoughts on why they use that specific promotional mix, people who are part of their web target audience and their views on the shows and an interview with a subject of one of the shows and how she was used for promotions of that specific show online (which has already been set up). I will also be researching the vehicles for their promotions, such as Islandoo, the new social networking site created by E4 in order to find new contestants for their show, Shipwrecked and the Skins new idea of podcasts and audience music interaction.

Little has been written on such a specific question and as it is a new area of exploration most information will be based on primary research. However, one book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott in 2007 is a vital piece of work in this area of information. The book is heavy with case studies and the theory of how new media and technology is an incredible asset for any product or company. It specifically looks at blogs and viral marketing, which will be the key focus of my case studies of Skins and Shipwrecked. It also explains the ideas of private networks, the grouping together of common interests and how to push PR into those streams.

Broader literature on new media and PR would include PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences by Deirdre Breakenridge (2008) which looks at the direct-to-customer approach with social media. It also explains that traditional web communication is not suitable anymore, which is vital to my argument as I am opening up the idea that E4’s new wave of audience interactive promotions is taking over the old school web promotion mentality. It also looks at RSS feeds and blogs and online newsrooms as it has just been published it is truly up to date with web PR. Another book to look at will be On-line Public Relations (PR in Practice) by David Philips 2001.





Books Reviewed:

Scott, David Meerman. (2007) The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly . Canada: John Wiley & Sons.

Breakenridge, Deirdre (2008) PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences. USA: Financial Times/ Prentice Hall

Phillips, David (2001). On-line Public Relations (PR in Practice) London: Kogan Page Ltd.

Duhe, Sandra C. (2007) New Media And Public Relations. USA. Peter Lang Publishing

Witmer, Diane F. (2002) Spinning the Web: A Handbook for Public Relations on the Internet. New York: Allyn & Bacon

Websites reviewed:

http://www.natterjackpr.com/stories/2004/03/02/prOpinionsSurveyMarch2004HowIsTheInternetChangingPr.html

http://www.e-consultancy.com/news-blog/362863/why-online-pr-and-seo-go-hand-in-hand.html

http://www.e4.com/skins/

www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/S/shipwrecked/

www.islandoo.com/

http://www.myspace.com/e4skins