Mass Media Campaigns - Essay Example

?Media Campaign Table of Contents Introduction 3 Thesis ment 4 Overview of the Media Campaign 4 The Most Pertinent Factors related with the Media Campaign 6 Significance of the Identified Influential Factors 10 Potential Disadvantages of Media Campaigns 12 Moral and Ethical Considerations 13 Conclusion 14 Works Cited 15 Introduction Previously, mass media campaigns were primarily organised by profit oriented companies to communicate with a large customer base and persuade them to consume the offered commodities. This restriction of mass media usage amid the profit oriented companies can be identified as fundamental effect of budgetary requirements where profit based concerns were able to invest a greater proportion of funds in the media campaigns in comparison to the non-profit concerns (Petty, Brinol and Joseph, “Mass Media Attitude Change: Implications of the Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion”). With the continuous technology advancements and subsequently altering as well as widening reach of mass media campaigns today, non-profit organisations have also taken a footstep ahead to use the communication tool for channelising their messages to the targeted audiences. In many instances, mass media campaigns have proved as beneficial in persuading the audiences to believe the message communicated and thereby alter their behaviours accordingly (Johnston, “Can Mass Media Change Behavior”). Contextually, there are various factors associated with a media campaign designed to promote a public service goal, which tend to impose significant influences in determining the success of the organisation in effectively conveying the intended message. Based on this particular learning, the discussion henceforth will focus on identifying, discussing and evaluating the influencing factors associated with a planned campaign intended towards the attainment of a public service goal of Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to “promote an educated and informed civil society through high-quality content and services delivered across multiple platforms” (CPB, “CPB's Goals and Objectives”). Thesis Statement The discussion will begin with a brief overview of the planned campaign moving forth towards the identification of the most important elements or factors associated with its overall designing, construction and execution. With this objective, the discussion will address the most pertinent factors associated with the planned campaign with adequate rationalisation on the basis of the role played by mass media. The potential disadvantages of using media campaigns, both from a generalised perspective and specific viewpoint in relation to the planned campaign will also be studied in the essay. Before concluding on the key specifications of the essay, moral and ethical considerations attached to the media campaign will also be elaborated in the discussion. Overview of the Media Campaign CPB is renowned internationally as a non-profit private organisation which was established in the year 1967 by Congress. Since then, it has been serving the worldwide communities with various services, rendering praiseworthy support to mitigate various issues. Stating precisely, the broadcasting organisation intends to ensure high-quality journalism and reporting transparency with the aim to aid contribution from the society in facilitating the overall growth of the economy and prosperity of the mankind. In its course of strategic executions, the organisation has been focusing on various objectives amongst which, one particular public service goal can be considered as quite crucial which focuses on the promotion of an educated, liberalised and adequately informed society based on multiple platforms for the applications of high-quality contents as well as services. The objectives determined by the organisation for the attainment of this particular goal further emphasises on satisfying the public needs for education and information, especially among the diversified cultural groups in particular, which can be attained with the effective utilisation of non-commercial services and contents with due regards to the high-quality standards. Hence, the organisation intends to support the various public media efforts, editorial independence of communication centres or media stations, with sole consideration towards the interests of the entire community which will make the population more informed, competitive and advanced (CPB, “CPB's Goals and Objectives”). With due regards to the determined objectives of the organisation, the planned media campaign will intend to make use of a varied cluster of media channels, targeting not only the common public of the society but also communicating to the allied service organisations who are associated with journalism, service content development and other similar services. The messages to be delivered through this media campaign would focus on specifying the duty of service content developers and communicators to maintain transparency and decipher adequate responsibilities towards the community. The campaign will also make use of various media options in delivering adequate understanding to the common public to evaluate the reliability of the contents served to them through social as well as commercial communication stations. It is in this context that various factors such as the issue of public acceptance, legal implications, social rigidity as well as ambiguity amid the society might have a noteworthy and inevitable influence over the efficiency of the planned campaign. There might be other factors, for example, the reluctance of service content developers and communicating stations to readily accept the changes intended to be caused through the media campaign, which might in turn create hesitation amid this particular group of audiences to abide by the instructions specified. Apart from these negatively affecting factors, various other encouraging elements can also be expected to influence the efficiency of the planned media campaign. For instance, globalisation and the increasing awareness amid the media audiences regarding technology uses as well as requirement of adequate information about the surrounding world can prove quite beneficial for the success of the media campaign. Additionally, legal specifications, encouraging society development and ethical business conduct, especially when it comes to journalism, can also act as an encouraging factor to promote the objective of the media campaign for the attainment of the fundamental public service goal. Besides, various other components of the media campaign, including the selected communication options such as print media, word-of-mouth, road-shows, audio-visual media stations and the budget allocated for the entire campaign may also impose significant impact on the efficiency of the planned campaign (Coffman, “Public Communication Campaign Evaluation”; Thornley and Marsh, “What Works in Social Marketing to Young People”). The Most Pertinent Factors related with the Media Campaign From the above description, it can be observed that there are various factors which tend to have a deep influence on the overall efficiency of the media campaign, especially when it is related with a public service goal, i.e. to promote a highly informed and educated society which can readily accept the continuous alterations happening in the external environment and simultaneously contribute a greater proportion to the overall development of mankind. As stated by McQuail (11-13), evidences from recent researches reveal that media campaign possesses a significant influence on the perceptions of the targeted audiences often causing alterations in their behaviour. However, such successes depend on various pertinent factors such as the identification of core targeted consumers, the reachability of the media options selected, the reluctance of the audiences to consider the conveyed message and lack of understanding to decode the actual information intended to be revealed through the channelised content. Facts also depict that media campaigns are mostly successful in the regions which preserve greater flow of personal information amid the targeted audiences with an encouraging interpersonal structure of communication. Hence, from a generalised perspective, it can be stated that societal structures also possess a significant impact on the success and efficiency of media campaigns (McQuail, “The Influence and Effects of Mass Media”). Based on a similar concern, Atkin also stated that there are fundamentally two elements due to which a media campaign might have to witness below expectation rewards and even failure. Foremostly, if the audiences are reluctant to make use of the information conveyed through the media campaign, and secondly, if the strategies developed for the deliverance of the intended message are inappropriate, the efficiency of the media campaign shall get reduced substantially, resulting in its ultimate failure. This particular affirmation makes it apparent that components considered in the media campaign also hold a major significance in determining the efficiency of the overall program not only in the short-run but also from a long-run perspective (Atkin, “Impact of Public Service Advertising: Research Evidence and Effective Strategies”). Similar concerns were also documented by McQuail (12-13) affirming that elements considered during the designing, construction and execution of the media campaign also hold immense significance in augmenting the efficiency of the entire program. It is in this context that the message intended to be delivered needs to be designed in an unambiguous and easily decodable way which shall further minimise the chances of misinterpretation from the audiences end; simultaneously, encouraging them to consider as well as make use of the information served by the media campaign. The trends in media campaign successes further reveal that messages, which tend to inform customers rather than persuading them for behavioural changes, happen to be more successful. This fundamental aspect reveals that it is quite essential to predetermine the aim of the message and construct its deliverance in a manner that would generate a feel of awareness amid the audiences rather than creating a pressure on their behavioural attributes with the intention to change those at a particular direction (Heckadon, “Critical Success Factors for Creating and Implementing Effective Social Media Marketing Campaigns”). From an in-depth perspective, McQuail (12-13) stated that messages which are not subjected to prior definitions and are based or rather focused on any ongoing phenomenon of current experiences among the audiences, have greater influence on the targeted population facilitating greater efficiency of the media campaign. Furthermore, campaigns which are observed to permit an immediate reaction from the end of the customers, such as abrupt verification of the information gathered in the considered media campaign for CPB, are likely to foster greater participation of the society making the overall process efficient enough to convey the intended information. Even the continuity of the media campaign has often been considered to impose significant impacts upon the efficiency of such programs, especially in the case of public service goals (Heckadon, “Critical Success Factors for Creating and Implementing Effective Social Media Marketing Campaigns”; McQuail, “The Influence and Effects of Mass Media”). Significance of the Identified Influential Factors In relation to the efficiency of the public media campaign, the aforementioned factors can be diagnosed to impose significant impacts owing to which these factors can be considered as pertinent to the intended communication program. In order to preserve comprehensiveness in identifying the significance of these influential factors, two classifications can be made in terms of external elements to the media campaign (which are mostly related to the construction and the execution of the program) and internal elements to the proposed media campaign (which tend to be associated with the designing and partially with the construction of the campaign) (Atkin, “Impact of Public Service Advertising: Research Evidence and Effective Strategies”; McQuail, “The Influence and Effects of Mass Media”). It is in this context that accumulatively, the external factors tend to ensure that the message is reaching a mass population of the intended audience group which in turn facilitates the efficiency of the overall media campaign. Consequently, wider reachability tends to ensure better flow of the information intended to be conveyed through the media campaign. For instance, if the social structure of the targeted population tends to preserve effective and incessant flow of information within the community members at various levels, it is quite likely that the limitations in terms of reachability to the audiences, to which, the selected media options fail to reach and subsequently create an influence, can be effectively mitigated. In relation to the proposed media campaign for CPB, it can be stated that reachability to a larger proportion of the targeted audience is likely to enhance the capability of the organisation to augment education and awareness amid the society by a greater extent. Hence, the intention of the campaign to reach a wider section of the society can be attained. In the similar context, the international factors such as the message content can be identified as one of the most crucial factors as it not only tends to determine the interests of the audiences to make use of the information gathered, but also assists in avoiding misinterpretation risks associated with the decoding of complex messages. Contextually, CPB will have to design its message in a structured and precise way which can be effectively and easily decoded by the audiences. Furthermore, with the sole intention of informing the audiences regarding the aim of the campaign preserving absolute unambiguity can also be signified as quite crucial owing to the fact that audiences are likely to get more involved and decipher instant response to the information conveyed when they feel the message transmitted is actually making them aware, with no intention of persuading their behavioural traits by creating a pressure on them. CPB might have to witness this particular limitation by a significant extent owing to the fact that in common phenomenon, audiences perceive that the information transmitted through media campaigns are intended to persuade them even though the intention of CPB’s media campaign will be to augment education and awareness amid the society. Hence, CPB should construct the message in a way which would deny the preconceived belief amid the audiences and create a fresh concept in their mindset. Additionally, when audiences are able to comfortably relate the messages with their current experiences, they tend to be highly influenced, confirming the efficiency of the media campaign which indicates that not only quality, but time also plays a crucial role in determining the efficiency of the program. Therefore, the message to be served to the community by CPB through this media campaign should be conveyed at a proper time in a repetitive manner, which would create a significant impact upon the audience group from a long-run perspective. Potential Disadvantages of Media Campaigns Where the common perception regarding media campaigns tend to emphasise largely upon the positive side of such programs, an in-depth perspective reveals that media campaigns can also lead to a wrong perception among the audiences regarding the organisation, i.e. CPB in this case, subjected to its execution procedure. It is in this context that even though the media campaign intends to inform its audiences regarding the value of reliable and authenticated service contents along with making them more educated and aware regarding current phenomena. It is fundamentally aimed at altering the behavioural traits of the audiences, making them more interested towards education and continuous gatheration of updated information. Hence, a potential disadvantage of rendering excessive significance towards media campaigning in the case of CPB can be identified in terms of misinterpretation of the message by the audiences. Additionally, media campaigns, especially those communicating a message reflecting negative consequences tend to impose various disadvantages when it fails to generate a belief amid the audiences that such negative impacts can be avoided by them taking into account the suggested methods (DeLamater and Myers 207). However, as the intended media campaign, in case of CPB does not tend to reflect upon any negative consequence, this particular limitation or disadvantage can be identified as irrelevant. Moral and Ethical Considerations Moral and ethical considerations are nowadays termed to be one of the most essential attributes of conducting any particular business function, especially when communicating. Hence, such considerations can also be termed as quite vital in ensuring the viability as well as dependability of the message conveyed through media campaigns. This particular fact can also be termed as quite crucial in the context of CPB’s media campaign where audiences are intended to be informed regarding the significance of education and continuous gatheration of updated information through reliable service content developers. Contextually, the media campaign should abide by the legal norms specified by broadcasting authority when designing and executing the campaigning programs. Apart from abiding by the legal specifications regarding the execution of a media campaign, CPB shall not be liable to satisfy any other moral or ethical requirements, owing to the fact that the message intended to be conveyed through this program does not intend to affect or create any negative influence on the perceptions or interests of the targeted audiences (Trevisan and Reilly, “Ethical Dilemmas in Researching Social Media Campaigns on Sensitive Personal Issues: Lessons from the Study of British Disability Dissent Networks”). Conclusion With reference to the above discussion, it becomes quite apparent that designing, constructing and likewise executing a media campaign is subjected to rigorous planning and evaluating phases which ensures that all the influencing factors have been taken into concern with the intention to develop the program as efficient enough to support the determined objective. It can be stated that there are various influencing factors identified in relation to the media campaign planned for CPB which play a vital role in determining its overall success such as the audiences’ behavioural traits, legal implications, message content as well as the timing, repetitiveness and quality of the transmitted information. Hence, to ensure that the media campaigns are effective enough to attain its predefined goal to develop an educated and adequately informed society, CPB should take all the aforementioned aspects into concern when designing, constructing as well as executing the media campaign. Works Cited Atkin, Charles. “Impact of Public Service Advertising: Research Evidence and Effective Strategies”. Michigan State University (2001). Print. Coffman, Julia. “Public Communication Campaign Evaluation”. Harvard Family Research Project (2002): 1-40. Print. CPB. CPB's Goals and Objectives, 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. DeLamater, John D. and Daniel J. Myers. Social Psychology. United States: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Heckadon, Diego A. “Critical Success Factors for Creating and Implementing Effective Social Media Marketing Campaigns”. New York University (2010): 1-43. Print. Johnston, Mescal. “Can Mass Media Change Behavior”? Journal of Extension (1982): 10-41. Print. McQuail, Dennis. “The Influence and Effects of Mass Media”. Mass Communication and Society (1979): 70-93. Print. Petty, Richard E., Pablo Brinol and Joseph R. Priester. “Mass Media Attitude Change: Implications of the Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion”. Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research (2009): 125-164. Print. Thornley, Louise and Kate Marsh. “What Works in Social Marketing to Young People”? Ministry of Youth Development (2010): 1-45. Print. Trevisan, Filippo and Paul Reilly. “Ethical Dilemmas in Researching Social Media Campaigns on Sensitive Personal Issues: Lessons from the Study of British Disability Dissent Networks”. European Communication Research and Education Association (2012). Print. Read More