research & evaluation, sponsorship and events!

This week's readings were fairly technical as compared to the other chapters, with much information and facts to digest, especially the chapter about research and evaluation.

It is quite interesting to find out there is so much involved in researching before the actual techniques can be carried out. The diagram that shows the rekationship between a model of a PR process and research is one such example. I certainly wouldn't have known there was so much to take into consideration. The diagram is very helpful in placing all the important points together and making it a clearer picture. Also, I found the number of different research techniques quite surprising, if not overwhelming, because there is such a wide variety to choose from. This chapter also covers what we study in Audience Studies with the various research techniques, so it definitely gives me more insight into these two subjects.

From the chapter about sponsorship and event management, I personally find the area on ambush marketing very interesting! It's my first time coming across that term or even that concept about sponsorship. It has never occurred to me that during an event, companies who do not have a sponsorship agreement with the event may seem to the target audiences as one of the sponsors. I feel that it is difficult to define a clear boundary in order not to give the target audience a wrong idea of who the real sponsors of an event is. This problem even brings into discussion about ethics, which sporting organisations and sponsorship advocates believe it to be. Marketing executives however, argue that it separates strong brands from the weak.

In conclusion, i think that the readings for the week was very informative and insightful, and i certainly learnt a lot about this area of public relations, some of which i had never known before.