Everyone
is thrilled by the idea
of taking a vacation
or embarking on a new adventure. How about a cruise to some exotic island
somewhere around the Pacific, the Caribbean, South America, or Central America? Imagine docking at the shores of Aruba, Fiji,
the Hawaiian Islands, or the coast of Africa.
In today’s high-tech world, to prepare for that cruise one can immediately
jump online, from a home or office desktop/laptop or from a smartphone, iPhone,
or tablet to view and research various travel agencies’ websites or Facebook
pages to see what kind cruise packages are out there. Once on a site, like Carnival Cruise Lines, one
would be confronted with lots and lots of pictures of couples enjoying a fruity
exotic drink while sun bathing on the open-deck at sea, or a family with
children running and playing at the beach, as well as a couple holding hands
while strolling along the white sandy shores of the Carnival’s land excursion. Also, displayed are beautiful vivid pictures
of sun-sets hovering over the gorgeous blue waters with palm trees nestled in
the backdrop, dolphins dancing, sting rays and exotic fish floating around the
coral reefs, exotic birds minding their business while travelers marvel at
their splendor and beauty. What has just
been describe is to entice the viewer - to help them envision their self on that
cruise, that island, and to bring them to the close – to book and purchase the cruise.
The above describes one of the many ways public relations
(PR) professionals persuade and/or entice, the public to buy or partake of their
company’s or organization’s products, services, or mission. No matter if the company or organization is a
for-profit or non-profit, the public relations practitioner’s duty to the profession
is to help promote the goals and objectives of their organization. One may think a non-profit organization’s PR
department does not have to work as hard promoting the organization’s purpose like
a for-profit organization; but on the contrary, a non-profit organization has
to be just as meticulous about its public relations strategies just as much as,
if not more, than a for-profit organization does – “Nonprofit organizations
must also be concerned with convincing individuals and companies that they are
worthy of contributions” (Seitel, 2015).
For this reason, a non-profit entity has to diligently show that their
cause and/or mission is worthy of the financial support and backing they are
asking from the public – “[To help] position the nonprofit as a worthy
recipients of contributions is [the] front-line responsibilities of a public
relations writer” (Seitel, 2015). In an article,
Managing
Public Relations in Nonprofit Organization, an investigation was conducted regarding the public relations strategies
and responsibilities of the nonprofit organization. The authors wanted to point to the fact - “One
of the largest differences is that the budget is usually smaller in the
nonprofit sector, meaning nonprofit public relations practitioners "do a
lot with a little” and “Money is a crucial component of any organization,
especially nonprofit” (Dyer,
Buell, Harrison, Weber, 2002). The
understanding here is, the non-profit
organization needs money and support from the public.
Going back to
that cruise; Carnival is the “world’s most
popular cruise line” that offers
a wide array of quality cruises, and they pride themselves on delivering
memorable vacations to their guests (Carnival Cruise Line, 2015) . Now consider a non-profit cruise line of a different nature. A cruise line that sails to various parts of
the world delivering memorable experiences as well, but the main purpose of the
cruise is to bring charitable assistance and relief to a hurting people: Mercy
Ships. Mercy Ships is a sailing
hospital. Their call is to bring hope and healing to the people of rural,
poverty-stricken, impoverished nations that have limited or no ability to
provide medical attention for their people - "Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to transform lives and serve nations
one at a time" (Mercy Ships,
2014) .
Mercy Ships was founded by
Don Stephens in 1978. With a vision and
a heart to help the unfortunate, Don purchased the Victoria then renamed it the Anastasis,
to become his first floating hospital.
Anastasis has traveled the coastal shores for 29 years bringing medical
relief in the form of surgeries, therapy, dental and vision care, as well as leadership,
medical, and agricultural education to those in desperate need. His next ship was the Good Samaritan. It traveled to various ports within the Caribbean,
Central America, and South America.
Later after some massive renovations, Good Samaritan was renamed the Island
Mercy that served the South Pacific.
After that, came the Caribbean
Mercy which served the the regions of Central America and the Caribbean
basin. All the fore-mentioned ships (two
were previously cruise liners and the other a ferry) are now retired. The current and “largest non-governmental hospital ship in
the world, effectively more than doubling the annual medical capacity of her
predecessors” (2014) is the Africa Mercy who serves the African nations of the Republic of Congo and Madagascar. For the past 35 years, Don Stephens’ fleets
of floating hospitals have impacted 2.5 million children and families with
medical efforts and resources valued over $1 billion. Mercy Ships has answered the call to “bringing hope and healing to the world’s
poor” (2014).
Mercy Ships has built its humanitarian efforts around a ship – a floating hospital
which is their unique selling position or brand - the only civilian sailing
hospital in the world (2014). It is
visually seen that Mercy Ships’ PR team has put forth the efforts to utilize social
media to effectively communicate and promote the cause of their organization. Immediately upon entering their website,
there is a group picture of silly, happy, and excited staff members and
volunteers hanging on and around the Africa
Mercy as those very words are
displayed. Right below this group picture,
is the words “bringing
hope and healing to the world’s poor for over 35 years” along with more clear
and simplistic words and sentences that state their – mission, vision, and values - "Writing
is one of the foundations of a successful public relations…and the ability to
communicate messages clearly and concisely is one of [the] differentiating
skills" (Wise, 2005). Off to the right is another photo
of a woman, presumably a nurse, with an ecstatic little African boy on crutches
and a cast on his right foot/leg sending a message comparable to - Thanks to Mercy Ships efforts, I have received
my healing and deliverance.
Scroll down a little on the page and there is an embedded
three minute overview video of an inspiring day with Mercy Ships. This video contains footage of professional surgeons’
and nurses’ testimonials of the joy and happiness it brings them to volunteer
their time, skills, and efforts to an organization like Mercy Ships and it
patients. The video also display shots
of patients’ before and after surgery conditions. There are clippings of the surgeons and
nurses consulting with patients and family, as well as footage of the operating
rooms and surgeries. All of this is highlighted
by people dancing, hugging, kissing, crying, and laughing demonstrating the
anecdotes and real stories the PR professional used to sell this nonprofit
organization.
Further
down the page, are their hyper linked endorsements
and testimonials with a vivid picture of South Africa’s Anglican bishop
Desmond Tutu, a list of corporate partners
like Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, and Rolls-Royce, and their 2014 annual report. Following the endorsement and testimonial
page, there are written and verbal (video) testimonials from former United
States Presidents George W. Bush and Jimmie Carter, UK’s former Prime Minister
Tony Blair, former South Africa President Nelson Mandela, and other
distinguished personalities (earned media).
According to author and communication consultant, Fraser P. Seitel
(2015) “writing is showing rather
than telling…The stories you
tell about the people you help will ultimately mean more to the development and
success of the organization in any other aspect of your communications. He
further states that this is critical for the nonprofit writer. Mercy Ships PR team have taken strategic
public relation measures to include written and/or audible testimonials throughout
their website and blog. Their blog
includes general, real, and alumni stories, press releases, and pictures. Their Twitter page displays their mission and
purpose, has testimonials (like Desmond Tutu), reveals up-to-date organizational
news, as well as tweets/chats from Don Stephens, staff, visitors, and followers
- #Mercyships. There are plenty of links
available for donors to access the donor’s page to privately give, visit the
main website, and follow other relevant news.
Finally, Mercy Ship has a YouTube channel of videos of patient stories, stories of mercy, testimonials, general
stories, as well as their Mercy Ship overview video from the home website. As authors Kristen Lovejoy and Gregory Saxton
(2012) state, “The adoption of social media
appears to have engendered new paradigms of public engagement.” Author Victoria Geyer-Semple’s (2012) study of
a group of public relations college and graduate students showed “using
digital media in PR campaigns have less to do with the digital media tools
(Facebook, Twitter, and podcast) and more about knowing how to strategically
integrate the tools with traditional media and publics. Mercy ships PR
department has taken social media and strategically utilized it, just like the
for-profit Carnival Cruises, to promote and communicate its mission, vision,
and values to their audience.
Another way Mercy Ships have
utilized social media to further enhance their public’s awareness is in the
case of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Africa. Mercy Ships prepared a news release of their
decision on whether or not they will postpone their deployment to Benin,
Africa. The news release gave relevant
information pertaining to Mercy Ships and this crisis. Upon recommendations from the US Center for Disease Control, Mercy Ships ceased
travel to Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. Also, crew guests and day crew were restricted
from boarding the Mercy Ship for at least 21 days after visiting one of the
four affected countries. Founder and president, Don Stephens, was quoted that
“Africa is and remains our
priority, but crew safety drives every decision” (2014). He also asked for prayers for all those
individuals and families that are in the affected areas as well as prayers as
they (Mercy Ships) consider going to other unaffected areas. The news release ended with pertinent
information about Mercy Ships and what they do, along with contact information
of their Canada and International office to request an interview with Mercy
Ships’ spokesperson about West Africa contact.
In conclusion, organizations,
whether big or small, for-profit or non-profit, need PR practitioners to help
promote their businesses; to get their products, services, or mission out in
front of the public’s eye. There are
multiple mediums that the PR professional can use to accomplish this task. The
for-profit organization is commonly a self-reliant entity where financial
undertakings of such are not much of a concern. Whereas, the non-profit
organization may have more of a challenge than the for-profit to accomplish
their goals; for the non-profit needs donors to donate and support their
mission. The non-profit organization
needs their PR professionals to be just as skilled, talented, and strategic as
the for-profit organization’s PR in order to be found worthy to receive funding
and support from the public – monetary gifts and aid.
References
Carnival Cruise Line. (2015). About Us.
Retrieved from carnival.com:
http://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/about-us.aspx?icid=CC_Footer_103
Dye,
S., Buell, T., Harrison, M., & Weber, S. (2002). Managing Public Relations
in Nonprofit Organizations. Public
Relations Quarterly, 47(4),
13.
Geyer-Semple,
V. (2012). Through Classroom Walls: A Collaborative Publc Relations Education
for Creating Integrated, Digital Media Campaigns. Communication Teacher, 26(1), 37-44.
doi:10.1080/17404622.2011.625364
Lovejoy, K., & Saxton, G. D. (2012). Information, Community,
and Action: How Nonprofit Organizations Use Social Media*. Journal Of
Computer-Mediated Communication, 17(3), 337-353.
doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2012.01576.x
Mercy Ships. (2014). Who Are We.
Retrieved from mercyships.org: http://www.mercyships.org/who-we-are/
Mercy Ships. (2016, April 22). Mercy
Ships Overview. Retrieved from youtube.com:
https://www.youtube.com/user/mercyshipsvideos
tps://content.ashford.edu/ssologin?bookcode=AUCGD318.15.1
Wise, K. (2005). The Importance of Writing
Skills. Public Relations
Quarterly, 50(2),
37-48.
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