Valley PR Blog

Charles C. Says:
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:21 am

I think that the damage has been done – a PR campaign is not going to change peoples’ political views if it hasn’t already. I think that if the people of Arizona knew they were going to spend that kind of money on a PR campaign once it was passed they would have not suppported it. Education really could use our funding. My only thought is the people who passed it could use a boost in PR – but this is something they should have thought about before passage and should spend their own campaign funds on it. Using tax revenue seems a bit trite. Polls show most of the nation supports the law. It just seems unnecessary.

Barry Kluger Says:
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:27 am

Change the name of the state to something like Serenity and fool people into thinking it’s not Arizona.

Jackie Wright Says:
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:44 am

Forget PR! This disaster has gone far beyond the point where straight PR can help change people’s perceptions. As long as we have crazy right-wing racists running the show, a PR campaign will be a waste of money. However, advertising might be able to take the sting out of this whole mess. I would suggest running a similar campaign to that of Michigan. Inundate consumers with positive messages about Arizona and maybe they’ll forget about all the bad stuff.

Linda VandeVrede Says:
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:55 pm

PR can’t be turned on and off like a faucet. I wouldn’t take on this kind of project myself because the relationship-building should have started long, long ago. I hate to see all my friends in tourism/hospitality so affected by this bill, but I doubt there is much damage control that can be accomplished through PR at this stage. Then again, Americans have short-term memories…

Jeanene Fowler Says:
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:14 pm

Not sure I would want to take on this daunting task!

One strategy may be to bring it down to the “common man.” There are a lot of good, sane people here (I hope) who don’t agree with where our state is going, but will be punished and may even have to leave due to these boycotts. Highlight those real people who are being affected.

Cynde C Says:
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:27 pm

It isn’t just the state this bill is hitched to…it is the Governor. And, it doesn’t look like she is going to be reined in anytime soon. A new Governor can bring change and a new perspective on the state. A new face could turn it around. The good thing the Governor did was provide this remedy by aligning herself so closely with the engagement of the bill. If she had sloughed it off on the legislature and taken a back seat…the future fix could be more difficult.

Paula Hubbs Cohen Says:
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:04 pm

What could you possibly say? Come here and see our beautiful state parks. Uh, no, a lot of them are closed. Come here and send your kids to one of our properly funded schools. Uh, no, no further comment needed. Come here and enjoy driving around the state. Uh, no because if you have to use the facilities, there very likely aren’t any open facilities to use. Come here and be embarrassed by many of the folks who run the state. Uh, yes.

Rachel Pearson Says:
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:42 pm

Charlotte, thanks for this post! While there’s no easy answer and we won’t ever agree with all the decisions our legislators make, there is one thing each of us can do to help – show pride in our state.

We choose to live here because we love it here. We can show the rest of the country and the world that we are proud of our state, our community, our citizens. So instead of focusing all of our attention on one divisive policy, let’s pay a bit more attention to what brought us here or keeps us hear, what makes us choose to raise our families here, and what makes visitors choose to vacation here. We live in an amazing state and have much to be proud of.

~From an AZ native, born and raised

Marketing Sociologist Says:
July 2nd, 2010 at 3:58 pm

Check MarketingSociologist.blogspot.com I’ve been blogging on this for more than a month, offering ideas that have been ignored by Arizona’s business and government community.

Jan Brewer and company hid their head in the sand.

What happens when you do that? According to Brewer, your head gets chopped off.

Arizona is done for the next 30 years economically. They’ll be teacher jobs, government jobs, increasing taxes to pay for those government jobs, but no real private sector jobs in Arizona. We should be thanking companies that are staying.

It’s so bad, Miley Cyrus will probably cancel on her fall tour before she even announces her fall tour.

Jim Veihdeffer Says:
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:30 pm

I’m curious about exactly which polls show that “most of the nation supports the law.” My sense, from afar, is that most of the nation thinks that while there is an immigration problem, the Arizona solution is extreme and harmful. From the land between the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, it’s a less nuanced story, at least from what I can tell from the expat community in the Middle East. Here, when you say you’re from Arizona, people say (in effect), “Oh yeah, that’s the place that hates Mexicans.”

Paula Hubbs Cohen Says:
July 3rd, 2010 at 6:54 am

My husband just went back East (NY/CT) for a family wedding – as expected, he spent a good part of his free time catching up w/old friends and relatives. First topic of conversation from pretty much everyone to him was “how are your kids doing?” Second topic of conversation: “is everyone in Arizona a racist nut-job who carries a concealed weapon?”