PRWeek Magazine recently named Natasha Ratliff (B.A. Public Relations/Psychology, ’09, pictured) the 2009 Public Relations Student of the Year.
“With a combination of research, poise, and smarts, Ratliff was an easy choice for the 2009 Student of the Year Award,” according to the PRWeek article announcing Ratliff.
In winning the award, Ratliff crafted a hypothetical strategic PR campaign to boost adidas sales leading up the NBA All-Star Weekend. Conducting field studies, interviews with USC student-athletes and surveys with high school and college students, Ratliff discovered that 64 percent of consumers were not attuned to adidas’ relationship with the NBA and did not associate the words “basketball” or “leader” with the brand.
“A lot of my ideas were inspired by reading about campaigns in PRWeek and discussions I had in my PR classes about how people are engaging their audiences,” Ratliff said. “I also did a lot of research on the interests of teens and college students from organizations like Pew, which gave me some idea of the best avenues to use.”
Ratliff said she was able to apply what she learned in class to her campaign.
“I think my education at Annenberg really prepared me for each aspect of the campaign,” said Ratliff. “The research component was really big, and it was great because I was taking a research course at the same time so I had an opportunity to apply those lessons to my campaign. Also my ability to write and think strategically has really been honed by the courses I've taken. “
Ratliff's plan included a back-to-school sweepstakes, professional athlete mentor program for young athletes, concert featuring target audience-appropriate bands, multi-state youth skills competition, internet activism plan and a mock television show spoofing Making the Band. The humorous show, titled “Making the Team,” would feature comedians to create a fictional team.
"The judges really enjoyed Ratliff's suggestion that adidas create a Making the Band spoof called 'Making the Team,' whereby basketball-enthused celebrities like Will Ferrell and Jackie Chan tried to make a fictional team," according to PRWeek. "Adidas-sponsored athletes would also make an appearance, while a famous coach would serve as a judge."
"Ratliff also drew high marks for her crisis communications plan,” PRWeek explained. “Students were asked to react to news that a fictional spokesperson for adidas – who was to serve as the linchpin of an All-Star Weekend campaign – was caught in a cell-phone video disparaging the company and lauding a competitive brand. Ratliff suggested that while the brand was determining the veracity of the video, it should create strategies for either scenario – where the video was real or it was fake. Her suggestion, should the video be legitimate, would be to downplay that star's involvement and place higher prominence on another adidas spokesperson.”
“Natasha Ratliff put her campaign head and shoulders above the other Student of the Year candidates with a plan that was heavy on research,” according to PRWeek. “Judges were greatly impressed that Ratliff did real field studies, interviewing actual USC student-athletes, and surveying college and high school students.”
Said Ratliff: "It feels amazing to win this award and have the effort I put into this project recognized. It is a big encouragement to me, because I feel like I just might know what I'm doing after all and I'll be prepared when I step out into the professional world.”
USC Annenberg’s Public Relations program was also named a finalist for PRWeek’s Education Program of the Year award.
