Creating a Public Relations and Marketing Campaign for

Your Chapter

Brother Bennie Harris, Ph.D.Serious Sigma Conference

August 11, 2012

Consider these statistics:

48%

The Number of U.S. Presidents who have been Greek

30%

The number of U.S. Congressmen/women who

are Greek

42%

The number of U.S. Senators who are Greek

40%

• The number of all U.S. Supreme Court Justices who have been Greek

30%

The number of Fortune 500 Executives who are Greek

... Greeks make up only 3% of the U.S. Population

PR Challenges

• In recent years, Greek organizations have been connected to such negative issues as – alcohol abuse, – sexual assault, – racism, – sexism, and – anti-intellectualism-to name just a few. Stories

of fraternity chapters and members involved in unacceptable behavior fill the media.

90/10 View of Public Relations

90/10

What is Public Relations?

• Public relations involves all relationships among people, from how a letter is written, to the manner a guest is greeted, to how a social event is hosted.

• Everything an individual or group is, does and says is public relations.

• If an individual is a member of a Greek organization, his or her behavior affects the image of all Greeks. Thus, each member has a role in Greek public relations.

Survey Says

• The message is clear: It’s time to clean up our act! A survey of more than 100 Greek advisors, fraternity and sorority leaders, and students from across the continent reveals:

• When asked,

"How does the college or university perceive the Greek system?”

• 86% Favorably

• 1% Unfavorably

• 13% No Opinion

"How do non-Greeks perceive the Greek system?”

• 40% Favorably

• 38% Unfavorably

• 22% No Opinion

"How does the community perceive the Greek system?”

• 32% Favorably

• 48% Unfavorably

• 20% No Opinion

Implication

• These results indicate the need to focus the public relations effort on non-Greeks and communities.

• Non-Greeks are media, students, parents, etc., while the community is neighbors living near fraternity and sorority houses.

Marketing

• Marketing is an exchange in which value is offered for value.

Necessary Marketing Tools

• Fraternity’s Branding Materials

• Chapter’s Branding Materials

• A Message

• Launch Points – vehicles to use for final production (usually visual)

Branding Materials

• Already available and easily accessible

• www.pbs1914.org/media/graphics

• has detailed electronic images, discussed graphics vocabulary, and provided FREE versions of all CORRECT Fraternity graphic images

The fraternity conducted its first initiation on May 4, 1914, using a temporary manual formulated by Charles I. Brown. Abraham M. Walker was the first of fourteen candidates to be initiated. Alpha Chapter was then organized. Because recognition was granted by the Howard University Board of Deans only six weeks before the close of the school year, the members decided not to elect any new officers, but to finish out the few remaining weeks under the direction of the officers of the organizing committee: A. Langston Taylor, Chairman; Charles I. Brown, Vice-Chairman; and Leonard F. Morse, Secretary-Treasurer.

When the 1914-1915 session of Howard University opened, all returning members assembled and elected A. Langston Taylor the first President of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. Brother I.L. Scruggs was elected Vice President and Leonard F. Morse was elected as Secretary-Treasurer. Brother Scruggs became Sigma’s second President the following year. Through the heroic efforts of Brother Scruggs during the summer of 1914, Phi Beta Sigma was able to move into the largest fraternity house in Washington only five months after its charter of organization was granted. To win friends and wield influence among the faculty, the chapter decided to invite to membership certain outstanding teachers. They were Dr. Edward Porter Davis, Dr. Thomas W. Turner, T. Montgomery Gregory and Dr. Alain Leroy Locke. These professors were spared the more rigorous features of initiation.

On March 4, 1915, Professor Herbert L. Stevens, a teacher at Wiley College, Marshall Texas, was admitted as a graduate member by a special decree of the General Board; subsequently, in October 1915, Professor Stevens presented the temporary organization to the General Board. The General Board approved the temporary organization on November 13, 1915, and Beta chapter was established. The establishment of Beta chapter at Wiley College gave Phi Beta Sigma the distinction of being the first college fraternity among African-Americans to operate south of Virginia. In November 1916, Gamma Chapter at Morgan College, Baltimore, Maryland, was established. The General Board commissioned Brother I.L. Scruggs to organize the chapter at Morgan.

How to do the greatest PR campaign in the world

• Make a list of the top 25 most influential, non-affiliated (with your organization), undergraduate student leaders on your campus.

• Make another list of the top 10 faculty/staff members who are best positioned to help your cause but don’t yet do so.

How to do the greatest PR campaign in the world

• Take those 35 people out to coffee, lunch, breakfast, dinner, or just for a one-on-one meeting with you.

• Next, just ask questions.  Listen.  Ask more questions.  Listen carefully.  Say thank you.

Questions to ask during the campaign

• “I’m trying to learn from the most influential people on campus.  I want to make my group better, and I deeply respect you.  I want to learn from you. The more honest your answers the better I’ll be able to improve my group.  I really trust your opinion.  Can I ask you some questions?”

How to do the greatest PR campaign in the world

• What do you really think of our fraternity- deep down?

• If sigma didn’t exist, how much would that matter to you? to this campus?

• If you were in charge of our organization, what would you do differently?

• How did you first learn of Phi Beta Sigma?

How to do the greatest PR campaign in the world

• Why have you never joined our fraternity?

• What could we have done differently to have attracted someone like you to our fraternity?

• If you were part of a group with a mission that read “Culture for Service and Service for Humanity,” how would you lead it?

How to do the greatest PR campaign in the world

• What type of people should we be seeking out that we aren’t already?  How do we find them?

• What are the groups on campus that you respect the most?  What makes them great in your mind?

• Would you be willing to meet with some of my fellow leaders to share this point of view?

• If I wanted to find other people who think like you, who are 5 other people you’d recommend I call?

Dynamic Recruitment

Dynamic Recruitment

• People Join People• Quantity Drives Quality• Interpersonal Skills Development• Product Knowledge• Behaviors of the Best• Audience Understanding• Names List• Values-Based Selection• Horses vs. Mules

Launch Points

• TV/Radio– Interviews– News Segments– PSA’s– Advertising

Launch Points

• Print Media– The Press Release– PSA’s– Feature Article– Advertising– Chapter Letterhead– Chapter Photos

Launch Points

• Most Accessible – THE COMPUTER– Web Sites– List Serves– Blogs– Emails– Evites, Constant Contact– Social Network Media

REMEMBER

• You represent a national organization

• Represent ’s ideals

• Respect and honor ’s rules of representation

• Short and to the point

• Review and revise

• Balanced use of technologies=best mix

REMEMBER

• Is your information relevant? Newsworthy? Dated?

• Start lead-ins STRONG, POWERFUL

• Write for the media

• Stick to facts (unless a feature)

REMEMBER

• Pick an angle and voice from which to speak and remain consistent

• Active, not passive voice• Word economy (K.I.S.S. – keep it short,

stupid)• Minimize jargon, frat talk• DO NOT USE UPPER CASE

EXCLUSIVELY