Public Relations-True Love

You may know what you want for Valentine’s Day. But perhaps what you want is not what you need. As the holiday known for chocolate and flowers arrives in the next few weeks, for some, making the right match may be difficult. But apparently, with the help of the new eHarmony Labs and a series of questions, true love may be more accessible than you think.The New York Times features an article titled HittingIt Off, Thanks to Algorithms of Love, by John Tierney. According to this article, matchmaking and scientific research plays an important role in finding love. Other outlets such as a young person’s hormones and matchmakers have been used in the past in order to satisfy this search for compatibility. However, as online services make way, it seems that this methodology is no longer acceptable in our society today. The internet offers a simpler way. eHarmony was founded by Dr. Neil Clark Warren, a clinical psychologist. Dr. Warren’s company has helped millions of singles find true love through a questionnaire in order to determine a correct match.Commercials depicting happy couples who fell in love over the internet are one of the publicity tactics eHarmony uses to persuade its viewers. Despite these tactics, many consumers want to know if these methods are reliable. In public relations, marketing communication is also imperative. It has worked well for eHarmony in the past years. Cutlip stated, “Public relations is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on which its success or failure depends” (Cutlip et., 2000) In this case, this statement is true. The success of eHarmony relies on the satisfaction of its customers. For instance, in a national Harris survey, it shows that eHarmony is responsible for 2 percent of marriages in America in 2007.eHarmony’s public relations firm has done a job well done in promoting the companies compatibility and matchmaking abilities via online and through commercials. Both advertising and public relations are present in this article. The company uses advertising because it is promoting the service through television and other media outlets. However, additional methods of advertisements such as billboards and newspapers are scarce. Perhaps eHarmony should advertise in more public areas such as college campuses or hold special events that encourage its service. The use of public relations is apparent because the entire organization is being promoted as well. As shown in the article, the company has established credibility. This can be seen through it statistics and the amount of matches that are currently together. Overall, this company uses media relations in order to target its audience. It is using the media in order to achieve its objective. Its’ objective is to encourage single people, regardless of age and race, that true love is waiting and is only a questionnaire and a click away.As discussed in class, this article is of human interest as well. Many single people, during this time of the year, and in general, are ready to enter into a new, long-lasting relationship. Online services such as eHarmony are offering people a chance.Through the use of its new labs and scientific methods, eHarmony not only targets a wide range of singles but is making a large profit as well.