“The human world
is an interpretive experience. The world does not reveal itself; we formulate
it as interpretable through language and other symbols” (Mickey 1996)1.
“Sociodrama is a
language-based approach to public relations and as much is an interactional,
interpretive, and cultural perspective.” (Hansen-Horn et al. 2008)2
As public relations practitioners we want to know how to communicate with our
audiences, how to engage them and how we can create a lasting relationship with
them. If we want to successfully do this, we as PR professionals need to know
more about our audiences and how our audience “makes meaning” is a large part
of this. We, as public relations professionals, want to know how they feel
about us as an organization, what they like about our brand and what they want
to see and hear. Sociodrama for public relations was studied and written about
by Thomas Mickey.
Looking into
sociodrama you learn about how people “make meaning” with language, movements
and symbols and what those words, actions and symbols mean to them. When
individuals recognize a symbol or story and attach it with an organization what
is to happen if that organization merges with another. What drama is best used
in delivering the message of the merger? Using Mickey’s sociodrama theory, what
drama would be most effectively used in announcing a merger that will gain new
audiences, but still keep your previous relationships with your loyal
audiences?
“Language is a
way to explain and to create motives that lead to a certain kind of action.”
(Hansen-Horn et al. 2008)3 When communicating a merger to audiences
the ultimate goal is to retain previous audiences while gaining new audiences
and shareholders.
The study of
Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment Inc. merger and acquisition done by
Davis proved very interesting. Studying their public relations strategies, it
was looked into how they released the information to their publics and to what
audiences they released information to. “The company produced public relations
sample included a letter to stockholders about the proposed merger, a press
release about the stockholders approval of the merger, a press release about
the UK competition Commission granting clearance for the merger, a press
release about the U.S. Department of Justice granting clearance for the merger,
and the “About Us” information from Live Nation Entertainment Inc.’s website.”
(Davis 2010)4 The public relations strategies were simple, but
mostly geared towards justification of the merger and towards stockholders
rather than customers who purchased concert tickets regularly. In most of the
language they used strong words such as, “successful”, “innovative”,
“meaningful” and “multi-dimensional partnership”. The strategy was to structure
the merger as the first of its kind, but it was leaving a bad taste in
everyone’s mouth because they felt it was a monopoly and it wasn’t the “ingenious
creation” they were trying to make it seem like. Everyone felt that by the U.S.
Department of Justice giving them clearance for the merger, they were allowing
a monopoly to form.
In response to
their public relations tactics, they were met with anger by the media because
of their flawed and less than dramatic press releases. The narrow-minded
mistake of leaving the customers out of the merger communication was followed
by very dramatic words used in response. For example, “dominate”, “juggernaut”,
and “monopoly” were words used by the media to describe the magnitude of the
merger and how large it was. “But
other writers went as far as to point out not only the colossal merger, but the
“monopolistic” merger. This category, Monopolistic, was the largest group of
media responses to the merger (32.5%). Many of the writings suggested that the
Department of Justice was too easy on the music tycoons and should have taken
it to court or enforces greater concessions. One article recalled when Pearl
Jam attempted to boycott Ticketmaster, failing to do so because too many venues
had long term, exclusive contracts with Ticketmaster, making it impossible to
avoid using their services.” (Davis 2010)5 The merger showed poor
actions, language and symbols to communicate with audiences about their merger
and ignored a large majority of publics that should have been included.
“The language becomes the way to relate, not simply the mean
to talk about the problem.” (Hansen-Horn
et al. 2008)6 A main point in Mickey’s sociodrama theory is
to use language as a means to relate to your audience and gain common
understandings, which is what Ticketmaster failed to do when they were merged
with Live Nation. They excluded a large public and angered not only those who
bought tickets, but the artists performing to sell tickets to make Ticketmaster
and Live Nation profits. They weren’t trying to relate to the audience, merely
speaking of all the great benefits the merger would have for the investors, not
minding the consequences of everyone else involved in the merger. “What
distinguishes communication managers from other managers when they sit down at
the table is that they contribute special concern for broader societal issues
and approaches to problems.” (van Ruler & Vercic 2005)7 When the
decision of the merger and acquisition was made along with the public relations
plan on how the information would be released to the stakeholders and publics,
a PR practitioner needed to be included in the decision making process and
working alongside management and administration before it was a done deal. PR
professional can be used as the conscience of the organization and offer more
insight on the different publics and what their needs are from your
organization because “If we can identify ourselves with an organization, we
become a part of it.” (Hansen-Horn
et al. 2008)8 Bowen thought PR should be the conscience of an
organization, “Public relations professionals are often best suited to the
role of ethical conscience in an organization, because other management
functions (such as finance, legal and operations) often do not stop to consider
how a decision will be perceived by many publics outside the organization.”
(Hansen-Horn et al. 2008)9
Sociodrama is more than just language, but how we feel about
ourselves, how we define ourselves and what makes us relate to others. “Since
our society is one that is moved by simulacra or a sign, if an organization or
a cause does not create a sign, it is not heard. This is a democratic society.
Once those signs are out there, it is difficult for a counter-sign to have any
influence.” (Mickey 1997)10 Mickey says it would become difficult to
counteract a sign once it is already out there. With this in mind, when
organizations merge, you wonder what is most beneficial for the organization on
keeping or merging their “sign”.
A study using a sample of
216 larger mergers in the United States between 1997-2006 was done and they
found; Firms
using the more expedient and cheaper acquisition and business-as-usual branding
strategies underperform firms choosing the more sophisticated and expensive
fusion branding. Fusion-branded mergers do not experience negative market
reaction at the time of the merger announcement, and the researchers find no
systematic negative future-term adjustment in the valuation of these firms.”
(Mizik et al. 2010)11 Business-as-usual branding strategies would
fall under those mergers done where both “merge” but continue to do business as
they had before and not changing names, “signs”/logos or anything they had done
before. This eventually negatively impacts the organization according to this
study. “Only the business-as-usual branded mergers experience a significant
post-merger negative adjustment in valuation: for them, the initial negative
reaction to the merger announcement is compounded by further negative
adjustment in the subsequent years. These findings suggest that investors
appreciate the clarity of the acquisition and fusion strategies and are able to
accurately impound their value impact. But they initially have difficulty in
properly pricing (i.e., they over-value) the business-as-usual branded
mergers.” (Mizik et al. 2010)12
Symbols are also language and are an important part in
society’s daily lives. We use symbols routinely to find places, communicate
with one another, explain ourselves and define ourselves. We define ourselves
with the way we dress; tattoos, piercings and symbolic t-shirts exist now too.
We use symbols to communicate how we are feeling; a sad face, a peace sign, a
tornado and so much more. Think of all of the various brands you know and love
and have been around for years; Coke, Nike, Sears, and so many more. They are
symbols that tell an entire story and have you relating to them
instantaneously.
Coke
is a prime example in how they’ve effectively used storytelling to brand
themselves to their audiences and created a long-lasting relationship with
their audiences that have them loyal to Coke, never to drink a Pepsi!
“Persona-focused storytelling is essential to branding. When it comes to
creating a powerful brand narrative, the persona- the articulated form of the
brand’s character and personality- comes first, and all other elements unfold
from there.” (Herskovitz and Crystal 2010)13 Coke has created a
persona that is so recognizable that audiences worldwide know Coca-Cola and
feel so close to the brand they are unwilling to accept any amount of change to
the product or brand.
There was just a recent reminder of this loyalty and how
symbols do affect audiences; Coke had a new can of soda released this past
Christmas of 2011 that was white with polar bears to help raise awareness for
the world’s polar bears. Coke was met with outcry from audiences because the
can looked too similar to the Diet Coke can and it had audiences believing it
made the soda taste different. Symbols are an effective means of communicating
to others and when it’s changed it can have a drastic impact on audiences.
When mergers are discussed, there is little information to
be found on how symbols impact mergers, but when looking into Mickey’s theory it
would be hard to believe that a merger wouldn’t impact an organization’s
reputation and affect the audience’s relationship with the organization if it
wasn’t communicated in a relatable language.
Mickey’s sociodrama theory is broken into three levels of
sociodrama;
1. The
behind the scene: Involves the actors in an organization making a decision
regarding the message to be used. The actors could be the public relations
director and the writer, who choose not only the content but also the form.
2. Onstage:
Involves an audience paying attention to our message. The recipients of the
message, either viewers or readers, hear or see the message and attach meaning
to it.
3. Outside
the theater: Here we view the relationship of the message recipients to the
larger social order. The actors interpret the message for their own needs and
then interpret it for others such as family, friends, neighborhoods, the city
and so on. They relate the message to themselves and to others, thus creating
sociodrama.
Writers and public relations professionals interact to
produce a message; readers and viewers interact with the communication form;
and viewers interact with their world of friends and associates. Sociodrama
proposes that communication forms human relationships on each level. Like all
good drama, they portray struggles between good and bad principles of social
order and we participate in that struggle.
(Hansen-Horn et al. 2008)14
With
Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s merger, they lacked the use of sociodrama in
their public relations strategies and forgot to relate with their audience and
gave them no meaning or connection to grasp. “If a relationship or group of
people have no meaning for us, like a failing marriage or a company we no
longer enjoy working for, it is because we do not identify ourselves as part of
the social order. We talk as if that person or group no longer means anything
to us, and, in that process, we become disconnected.” (Hansen-Horn et al. 2008)15 By forgetting to relate to
their audience, communicate directly to their audience or give them something
to relate to, they disconnected themselves from their audience. They meant for
their press releases to be framed in a certain light to make the merger look
beneficial and innovative and instead their press releases to the media were
heavily changed into public opinion on monopolistic decisions the company was
making.
Postmodern
views of public relations signs have changed because “Public relations
practitioners can manipulate the image because they know the importance people
place on signs and symbols in the culture.” (Mickey 1997)16 Signs,
such as photos used to describe situations can be used to manipulate audiences
are far different from the symbolic sign of a logo that is a brand sign or
image that audiences relate to and recognize. In unethical judgments made by
practitioners, signs can be used to manipulate audiences in portraying a story
through a sign to gain action from their audiences, such as donated money or
time. Mergers need to take this information into account before the merger is
completely communicated to the publics. Although previous research discussed
did state that business-as-usual mergers seemed to fair the worst because they
weren’t clear of the outcome or value, it has to be looked at in a case-to-case
basis because if one of the organizations merging has a loyal audience in a
smaller region, not worldwide, they may be even more unlikely to bond with a
new, larger company that may leave them feeling “cold”. The previous audience
may feel as if they are being taken over and forced to merge with a new company
that will change the way things have been. This is again circumstantial because
if most of your audience is crying for change from you, you may do better with
merging with an organization that does portray and embody the change your
audience wishes to see. Every person
interprets communication differently, and people will always read the same
message and gain a different understandings even a different interpretation
from what the writer of the message intended them to get out of the message. “A
handshake may provide a person with a sense of belonging. A memo, however, may
provide a sense of isolation. A person interprets each form in terms of his or
her relations to a particular social order.” (Hansen-Horn et al. 2008)17
When mergers are decided to be best for the organization,
it’s important to examine how your audiences feel about you, what they say
about you and how they identify themselves with you. From there, PR
practitioners need to use sociodrama to:
1. Create
a relationship with the organization you’re merging with, this is an important
function that most don’t realize the impact of, but when two organizations are
merging, it is vital that they feel connected and want the other to succeed. If
one feels less than or that they are the underdog, it won’t lead to successful
business ventures.
2. Once
you are “together” in the merger process, in this “behind the scenes” level you
will need to figure out what type of “persona” your organization will have,
this will be an important piece, because once you start to brand yourself with
the merger, if merging as one or if you are changing the organization name to
include the others name, you will need to know the new persona or how you want
to effectively change your current persona to include this merger. “These brand
personas will appear human to the extent that they possess recognizably human
traits such as imagination, persistence, or courage, which are tied to a clear
intention or purpose.” (Herskovitz and Crystal 2010)18 You’ll figure
out what strategies you’ll be employing, what persona and story you will be
telling so you are prepared because you want your internal audience to hear the
same story as the external audiences.
3. Communicate
the plan to your internal audiences so they don’t feel left out of the
information and feel as if they are the last to know about the merger and any
new organizational news. This will only create animosity in the workplace and
they will speak poorly of the organization in the community, rather than having
a firm, united front for the community and external audiences to see. This
falls into Mickey’s sociodrama level of behind the scenes, you are preparing
still and want to prepare your other actors who will be acting in a public
“stage” or “arena” where audiences, publics and media will see. If you are all
united together it’ll prove more beneficial to the merger than if people,
especially the employees at the organization are sour about the merger and
unwilling to work together.
4. Be
upfront and honest with your stakeholders and audiences. Don’t try to deny the
reasons you are merging, unless there are deeper issues that can’t be
discussed, but eventually truth will get out. This is an important step in
making a merger successful is preparing your “dramatic show” and how you will
act it out. If you act it out and lie to your audience on the reasons you
merged organizations, such as Live Nation and Ticketmaster, you only fail to
gain new audiences and lose past audiences. They will feel disconnected to your
organization and unable to relate to the “cause”. “Be wary of murky or
questionable corporate relationships and, at the very least, think through the
implications and risks of full public disclosure. As ever, avoid relationships
you would not like to have publicly scrutinized.” (Robins 2010)19
Each situation will be unique and need to be looked over to better process, but
still it’s important to remember truth is always the best guideline, audiences
will be curious and if they feel the relationship is questionable they will dig
deeper to expose the truth.
5. When
you put on your show, as sociodrama refers to it, you want to engage audiences
into relating to you, as the new organization you’ve become, merged as one.
Connected and immediately giving them the language that will get them to
identify themselves with you. “Audiences ‘know’ this brand because its persona
reflects the audience’s understanding of the brand’s values and behaviors.
(Herskovitz and Crystal 2010)20 When the audience feels connected to
you and able to relate to the story you are telling, that is when you create a
relationship. In the case of a merger, both organizations had past audiences,
you hope with your “show” you will continue to relate with your previous
audience, gain new audiences and make all of these relationships feel secure
and loyal, even with the new organization you’re merging with. Involving your
audience to participate is important too because they are engaged and feel
connected emotionally with the organization and will feel as if they are going
through the merger with you. This is a critical step because you want to make
sure you’ve communicate your story and information in terms your audience will
relate to because if it’s read wrong, it can be taken in a whole new direction
that will only lead to negative feedback and broken relationships.
6. Once
you’ve communicated the information to your audience, it is now the audiences
turn to communicate to their social environment through their own
interpretations. If you’ve effectively communicated and acted out your drama to
your audiences, their interpretations should be exactly what you were hoping
for and sociodrama should occur in the way it was intended by Thomas Mickey. If
audiences hear from other audiences their understandings of your organizations
story, about the merger and the new organization and they are feeling connected
to both, the person they are talking to will then feel a connection. This is
the basic principle of word-of-mouth. Most people know the effectiveness of
this principle and how easily it can be used for you or against you. Businesses
love to have referrals and even offer up discounts and incentives to those who
refer others back to their business. This creates a large ring of sociodrama by
having them communicate to their own social world who may have not been in the
business’ original audience they were communicating to and the message would
have been lost, but are now connected to them by someone else.
Thomas Mickey
concluded, “Communication, and public relations specifically, does not involve
giving someone a message, but instead involves identification with others
within a common drama.” (Hansen-Horn
et al. 2008)21 As a public relations theorist, he was onto something
with the sociodrama theory. Communicating is so much more than one message to
one person or to one audience. That narrow-minded thinking is what gets PR
practitioners fired or publicly hated with a poor reputation. You want to
encompass the real meaning of communication and language to speak to your
audience and engage them in a two-way conversation. This will help keep old
audience members and gain new audience members in cases of mergers, if you tell
your story well and your persona stays consistent. If you change your persona with
the merge, it has to stay consistent with the new persona and “no looking
back”. Acting it out is the crucial piece in all of your sociodrama because it
has to be relatable and familiar to audiences. Communicating is more than just
words, but it includes the signs we use, the words we choose and the movements
we have when interacting. During a merger for an organization, these pieces
need to be looked at and examined because they can affect your audience’s
relationship and loyalty towards you and can also ruin your reputation. This is
true in all public relations strategies, but as we’ve been discussing in terms
of an organizational merger, it’s imperative to look at how changing your brand
“sign” also known as a logo can affect your audiences if it’s seen as a
recognizable, comfortable symbol they associate themselves with. Once you’ve
decided how you want to change the organization you have to effectively
communicate the changes in your “play” by being consistent in the signs,
actions, movements and language you use. As the actor in the organization’s
play, you also must be a constant player in the show and stay consistent in the
communication you use on the organization’s behalf to encompass the realm of
sociodrama.
