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04.08.2015

Any Politician Always Makes Up A Story About Themselves

Olena Derevianko, Vice-President of the Ukrainian PR League, in an interview with 112.ua spoke about what PR strategies to expect in the upcoming elections, the latest trends in the Public Relations industry, and dispelled the most popular myths about her profession.

Elections are coming soon. Olena, in your opinion, is it possible to promote a new political party from scratch in a short time?

It depends on what we mean by promotion, tools, and short term. If we are talking only about PR communications, then it is possible to achieve high recognition even in a few months of the election campaign. Another question is how much recognition is converted into voting results. Because other variables are included– the resources available to the party (financial, personnel, organizational, including the notorious administrative), the balance of power in the political arena, the local and global situation in the information space. Therefore, of course, it is much more reasonable not to catch up with recognition at an emergency pace, but to systematically prepare for the elections in the inter-election period. Moreover, this period is getting shorter. But it is not in the tradition of our politicians to think about the future and spend money. Therefore, our elections are held in a sprint manner, and then the society disentangles their consequences.

Do politicians need to make up some kind of a story about themselves: a difficult childhood, or a dysfunctional family? Does it affect voter choice? What legend is most in demand in Ukraine now?

Any politician always makes up a story about themselves. Actually, as any person. Because no one is ready to appear before the outside world in all their not always dazzling spiritual beauty. And this story is the foundation for designing the image, MessageBoxA, media, event, and digital activities. The primary criterion for its effectiveness is persuasiveness and attractiveness for the target electorate. Everything else is individual. For some, there are scandals and pitchforks (Translator's note: Ukrainian politician used pitchforks as a symbol of struggle); for others, they are categorically contraindicated due to the peculiarities of their reputational potential. As for the demand for stories, today, unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of voters are just as greedy for beautiful empty words and noticeable meaningless gestures as before. And, as the mid-term elections show, “giving buckwheat” in the conditions of the economic crisis can still increase, at least, the recognition of a candidate (Translator's note: Ukrainian voters are regularly offered free food, medicine, haircuts, and concerts in exchange for their loyalty at the ballot box). Generally, people always need peace, work, money, and sense of security. The one who can convince the electorate that they know the way to meet these needs hits the jackpot.

Olena, tell us please about the latest trends in the Ukrainian PR industry. 

 The Ukrainian PR industry, firstly, is developing in the context of global trends (see slide). And, secondly, it has individual country specifics. At the macro level, we can talk about a general trend for the entire economy of the rotation of market operators (strong agencies strengthen their positions, weak ones wind down operations, ambitious newcomers try their hand) due to crisis phenomena. As a result, the mobility of full-time PR specialists is growing: some companies are cutting back, while others, on the contrary, see public communications as a driver for increasing efficiency.

At the level of communication models, unfortunately, we can state a decrease in ethical standards (a good example is a fake epidemic). And a rollback to the subject-object information impact, the extreme version of which at the state level is frontal propaganda.

And at the instrumental-technological level, a shift in emphasis towards personalized communication is obvious. Hence the boom in the popularity of blogs and social media accounts and the exponential growth in the number of experts (who, alas, are not always experts). The crisis of trust in society requires that any message has a “face”. But at the same time, this is paradoxically combined with the symptoms of mass psychosis caused by some collective post-traumatic (or even current-traumatic, since the situation in the country is far from prosperous) syndrome, which in turn is fertile ground for all sorts of manipulative activities that do not inherent in PR-work a priori but may be its property in a certain configuration.

Many PR specialists in our country do not have specialized education. Is it necessary to graduate from a specialized university or is it enough to get the necessary practice?

 You know the saying from a good old joke, “Do you need a limo or a lift?”. So, all employers are divided into two categories: for some, bells and whistles in the form of diplomas, credentials, lines in a resume are more important, and for some, real knowledge and skills are. And this is not an either-or dichotomy. There are enough specialists on the market with “limos” who “lift” at quite a decent speed. For me, though, a person is more important than their credentials. I am deeply convinced that the general breadth of knowledge, knowledge of the managing organizations logic, understanding of the modern configuration of the media space, interpersonal communication skills, emotional and social intelligence, and ingenuity are extremely significant for a PR specialist. And the rest is a matter of technique and skill development.

 In your opinion, what are the most common myths about PR?

As is wont, let's highlight the three most important.

First: good PR specialist can “promote” bad goods (product, service, person, company). In the short term, yes. And in politics – in part. Voters vote with a ballot, not a wallet, and are less demanding than consumers of goods and services. But in the long run there will be problems: people (except for individual voters) are not inclined to forgive deceived expectations and repeat mistakes.

Second: PR = mass media. The world outside the window is completely different than even a few years ago. And the media are different, and the information needs of the audience as well. Plus, a lack of trust and information overload. As a result, in many cases, the media cease to play a leading role in the PR mix.

And, finally, the third. PR is always about a manipulation. Not exactly this way. PR is just limited truthfulness, the desire to present oneself in the best possible light. True, one can argue about where the boundary of limitedness should be drawn. But this is already an ethical aspect, and not a conversation on the merits. Therefore, if you understand the essence, then manipulation in the classical sense assumes that the object (audience) is not aware that they are trying to influence it in a hidden way. But in the modern world, the vast majority of people understand that any source of a signal distributed in the information space has its own interests. And the addressee takes this into account when making decisions: either by ignoring the message, or by engaging in a kind of game with the addressee (“I know that you are not completely honest, but I am smart enough to beat you and turn the case in my favor”). The classic of the genre is “take everything what candidates give, but vote according to your conscience.”

Is it used by Ukrainian PR Storytelling, and what kind of tool is it?

It makes me laugh when some “experts” talk about storytelling as a new tool. Our agency has been using it in its work practice since its foundation, that is, for 12 years. And we only did what has proven its effectiveness for centuries. Successful opinion leaders of all times and peoples consciously or intuitively told the world an interesting, holistic, convincing, sometimes chaste, sometimes scandalous story about themselves and their deeds. Or it was done for them by their royal court counsellors and chroniclers. And the fact that business – global and Ukrainian – just realized that it works, and called this tool “storytelling”, this is just a matter of the intellectual limitations of corporate ideologists.

Recommend three books in the field of PR that have made a big impression on you to beginners.

These are not books about PR in the classical sense, but books that give an idea of the importance of public communications and their possibilities: Julius Caesar “Caesar's Gallic Wars essays”, George Orwell “1984”, Terry Pratchett “The Truth” and “Moving Pictures” (two intercomplementary books). I will not explain why. Those who have a talent for our work will easily guess the reasons for this choice and the diversity of the works.

Prepared by Dmitrii Duma and Liudmyla Koval

http://www.PR Service.com.ua/content/news/view/437


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