I want to work there: how public relations agencies communicate organizational culture and identity on Instagram

Watkins, Brandi; Smith, Stephanie A.

doi:10.1108/jcom-01-2021-0005

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 46 publications

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“…Agencies are in a competitive market for the best talent and have had to continually adjust and improve their recruitment, benefits, mentoring practices and environments to demonstrate their worth to potential employees (e.g. Gallicano, 2013; Watkins and Smith, 2022). Social media has created a particularly complex environment for the dual challenges of (1) communicating ethically and transparently with employees and (2) the positive projection of the agency used in recruiting and other external messaging, sometimes leading to dissonance for the agency brand and for team members (Levenshus and Lemon, 2017).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Permanent scars, improvisation and new paths forward: communication agency leadership responses to COVID-19

Capizzo,

Nzau,

Oduolowu

et al. 2023

CCIJ

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide rich, qualitative insights around internal communication in strategic communication agencies, addressing the evolutions in expectations and best practices for agency leadership through COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachQualitative interview study with 18 US-based leaders of public relations and advertising agencies to examine their experiences of leading and managing strategic communication teams during COVID-19.FindingsSynthesized findings around changes in leadership values and important facets of ongoing internal crisis communication led to the development of the following five categories—Improvisation and Flexibility, Transparency and Trust, Ownership and Embodiment, Care and Empathy, Relationships and Resilience.Originality/valueUsing a high-value sample, the study is the first (to the best of the authors' knowledge) to focus on the crucial context of agencies and internal communication around COVID-19; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and other pandemic-era challenges. It provides theoretical implications around ongoing, internal crisis communication and practical implications for agency leaders in crisis.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Permanent scars, improvisation and new paths forward: communication agency leadership responses to COVID-19

Capizzo,

Nzau,

Oduolowu

et al. 2023

CCIJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Mapping the Field: A Content Analysis of Marketable NCAA Athletes’ Social Media Self-Presentation

Wanzer,

Pfender,

Travis

et al. 2024

Communication & Sport

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The following study applies the framework of self-presentation theory to examine one year of posts ( n = 1064) from the TikTok and Instagram accounts of 18 highly marketable NCAA athletes. A content analysis was used to examine differences by platform, gender, and content type following the approval of NIL compensation for collegiate athletes. Findings revealed significant differences between male and female athletes regarding the type of content posted, prevalent self-presentation themes, and engagement. Male athletes were found to post more frontstage athletic performance content and backstage marketable lifestyle content than female athletes. In contrast, female athletes posted more backstage content in the attractive appearance category, which also was the category with the highest engagement from audiences. Additionally frontstage content in athletic performance content categories was more prevalent on Instagram, while backstage content appeared more frequently on TikTok. These findings advance our understanding of athletes’ social media platform use and are in line with traditional media presentations of gender and sport.

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Affect, credibility, and solidarity: strategic narratives of NGOs’ relief and advocacy efforts for Gaza

Ziberi,

Lengel,

Limani

et al. 2024

Online Media and Global Communication

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Purpose This study explores an under-researched area: NGOs’ efforts to provide humanitarian relief during armed conflict. It examines visuals posted on the Instagram accounts of 14 NGOs whose mission is to support civilians impacted by the Gaza humanitarian crisis. Design/methodology/approach This preliminary, pilot study employs critical-cultural and rhetorical methodological approaches of textual analysis and visual rhetoric to analyze Instagram posts (n = 3,014) of 14 NGOs posted during the first 90 days of the crisis. Findings NGOs’ strategic communication through their Instagram accounts is situated in three key attributes: appeals to credibility, affect, and solidarity to appeal to stakeholders needed to enact advocative and relief efforts. NGOs frequently used a combination of these attributes, sometimes highlighting all three in a single image. The blending of appeals in this manner can help NGOs dislodge or construct messages that resist restriction by and within existing strategic narratives. The dataset evokes a pattern of intentional deliberative rhetoric tempered by some forensic tendencies within three motivating appeals: appeals to credibility, affect appeals, and appeals to solidarity. Practical implications Given this is one of the first studies on the humanitarian crisis, this study provides important understanding of it and how NGOs are responded to it. Social implications This study enhances understanding of the potential influence of NGOs’ strategic communication and potential for social media to produce a critically engaged perspective on conflict and humanitarian crises with international audiences. Originality/value This study gives a valuable insight into the Instagram posting practices of NGOs’ advocacy and humanitarian relief efforts, and to understand the challenges and, literal and figurative, roadblocks to conduct those efforts. Given the recency of the data set, this originality of the study is clear. It is likely the first study of its kind that analyzes NGOs’ strategic communication during the current humanitarian crisis. The study is of value to researchers in a wide range of interdisciplinary range from media and communication studies to political science to crisis management, and to strategic communication professionals, including NGO administration and volunteers, those conducting online content creation, social media campaign management, particularly for the crisis relief and management.

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I want to work there: how public relations agencies communicate organizational culture and identity on Instagram

Cited by 3 publications

References 46 publications

Permanent scars, improvisation and new paths forward: communication agency leadership responses to COVID-19

Permanent scars, improvisation and new paths forward: communication agency leadership responses to COVID-19

Mapping the Field: A Content Analysis of Marketable NCAA Athletes’ Social Media Self-Presentation

Affect, credibility, and solidarity: strategic narratives of NGOs’ relief and advocacy efforts for Gaza

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