COMMUNITY RELATIONS- The AT&T Foundation

AT&T prides themselves on over 135 years of caring about people. They believe that people matter to their communities, to each other, and to their company. This always has been and always will be one of AT&T's core values, which continues their success year after year. Good community relations is a key aspect to a company's success and AT&T does a phenomenal job of caring for their community.

AT&T created their philanthropy, the AT&T Foundation to help them support all of the different causes they wish to fund. They invest in resources to advance education, improve lives, and strengthen communities. In 2010, the AT&T Foundation contributed more than $148 million to different giving programs.

A specific program that the AT&T Foundation created for the advancement of education, AT&T Aspire; was launched in 2008. Historically AT&T has focused more directly on issues of education in different communities, therefore this program has been one of the most highlighted. AT&T Aspire focuses on confronting the high school dropout crisis and ensures that children to graduate in order to continue on in the workforce which is essential for our nation, and for AT&T's future company. AT&T Aspire works by identifying programs that work for students and bringing them to scale. They work to support their educators and to get the students excited to not only set goals, but to achieve them. AT&T Aspire is the nation's biggest and most significant education program  and one of the biggest commitments of any corporation of it's kind.

Another community that AT&T supports through their foundation is the military. AT&T has worked to support active military members, their families, and veterans for the past 85 years. They use charitable contributions, program and event sponsorships, and maintaining policies that support reservists when the soldiers are called to duty. They use different tactics to support our troops by donating prepaid phone cards, their Cell Phones for Soldiers campaign, and volunteering their time through another program, the AT&T Pioneers to collect cell phones and send care packages to our troops overseas. They also greet soldiers at airports as they arrive home and host different events to recognize the sacrifice of the soldiers and their families.

AT&T does not just think locally, they act globally. They use their foundation to help with international causes, such as supporting countries going through disasters and communicating during disaster relief, investing in future leaders, stimulating safety and hope, and creating their Peace through Business program which empowers and educates women to help build stable democracies all over the world. Thinking on a global scale is something that is admirable and creates a good brand awareness for AT&T.

Aside from our external community, AT&T builds strong relationships with their internal community as well. Their employees are always their main priority. They show this by engaging their employees, using diversity management, workforce inclusion, offering good wages and good benefits, good corporate governance, and more. A company's success begins with the happiness of their employees.



AT&T has a variety of different methods to show community support as you can see. Through various programs they support a wide range of communities that are in need of assistance. Although there does not seem to be a single focus in their efforts, there is a main theme of helping the people in our communities that need it most. AT&T plays a huge role in our communities by putting on programs and donating money to less-fortunate areas and people and places of need. AT&T's mission is that the people and consumers come first, and I think that their community relations programs definitely support this mission. They use their foundation and their services in as many ways that they can to benefit the people. Many of thier causes are supported by the foundation financially, however in their "Cell Phones for Soldiers" campaign, they take advantage of their platform in the cell phone category and promote through that.


I believe that AT&T's community relations is exceptional for it's public relations. AT&T is known for their amazing public relations, and I truly believe this is why. Keeping a good relationship with the community and consumers is a way to put a company's name out in the public in a positive light. Without doing anything, AT&T already has a positive image in the eyes of consumers because of all of the great things they do for the people; aside from their renowned products and services. This will make more people more likely to want to use AT&T products or services because they know that they are not just a company that cares about making money, that they care about their people too; and that is a company that people want to support. I do not think that there is anything more that AT&T could be doing.

AT&T and their MEDIA

AT&T uses new media and social media effectively in order to maintain the outstanding public relations that they pride themselves on. Their use of Facebook, Twitter, and their corporate website assists them with not only promoting their company, but also by helping them to sustain relationships with their consumers.

Their Twitter page, for example, does a great job of communicating with prospective and current consumers. They utilize this outlet by replying to customer inquires, posting links and updates to news and products, and by serving consumers with a separate Twitter page that is used specifically for customer service. Customers can tweet any issues or concerns by mentioning "@ATTCustomerCare" and an AT&T representitive will tweet back with assistance to their needs. This opens up great two-way communication and is an excellent example of efficient public relations.

Their Facebook page also does a great job of representing their company. By frequent status updates and pictures of products, liking this page is defintely a good way to keep up to date with what is going on with AT&T. Their page also includes advertisements, graphics, videos, as well as a separate page that highlights the risks of texting and driving with their "It Can Wait" campaign. Connecting with consumers and showing concern for their safety is a great way to demonstrate effective public relations.

Their website is also an excellent way to find out about AT&T's products and services. Although more informative than their social media sites, they still maintain two-way communication with consumers by creating awareness for their different Twitter accounts, Facebook, and Youtube account right on their home page. This makes consumers feel like AT&T cares about them as individuals. It creates an outlet for them to interact with AT&T and feel more apart of their brand. Using their website as a way to advertise these different media outlets is an excellent way to create awareness.

In my opinion, I believe that AT&T is using new media and social media exceptionally in order to maintain public relations that connects with the public and appeals to consumers in a way that is very unique. A good company is not just about a good product, but creating lasting relationships with consumers is what sustains a company in the long run. AT&T keeps all outlets of communication open with consumers in order to makes sure that all of their needs are fulfilled to the best of their ability. I think that there is nothing more that AT&T could do at this point to use social media. They have covered all of the bases of popular social media today, and by utilizing the popularity of these sites they are gaining awareness for their company. If I were the PR person for AT&T, I would consider creating a blog for the company, however Facebook and Twitter are quick and easy ways for individuals to learn about their products and services so I don't think a blog is completely necessary. In the future it may be a good idea once blogging becomes more prevalent in the social media industry.

Why should you choose AT&T wireless?

AT&T is a well known and respected Fortune-500 company that cares just as much about their clients as it does their products and services. But why exactly should a customer choose AT&T for their wireless needs? During the next few months, I will be utilizing this blog to exemplify to consumers and readers alike just what is so special about this company.

For the past century, AT&T has made it their mission and passion to provide the most high-quality, inventive, and reliable products and services. But not only do they pride themselves on just these benefits, they strive to provide only the best customer service and care. Their mission is "to connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, and do it better than anyone else". They turn this vision into a reality by consistently upgrading and changing their innovations so that they are the best in the entertainment and communications industry.

AT&T is recognized around the world for being one of the leading providers of IP-based communications services to businesses. They take much pride in the fact that they have the nations fastest mobile broadband network and the nations largest Wi-Fi network. To even top that, AT&T offers the largest international coverage, meaning that with AT&T you can go almost anywhere and be able to contact almost anyone at any time.

AT&T has also been recently ranked #1 in a customer service survey. Customer service is a huge part of what keeps consumers loyal to a certain company, and keeping them happy and satisfied is a way to stay successful. For the second consecutive quarter, AT&T has been ranked the highest in customer service satisfaction according to the National Customer Service Survey (NCSS) by Vocalabs. These rankings included high ranked customer service calls, customer service representatives, and even the infamous automatated part of the customer service call.This alone is a reason to chose AT&T over any other company.

This company has an excellent reputation not only for their exceptional products, services, and customer care, but they maintain and support this already positive outlook by their community relations. They offer a variety of different campaigns that support different causes such as education issues, military support, diversity management and much more. All of these different programs are listed on their website, with tons of information, additional videos, and links that can show customers exactly what they do and why they do it. This is what takes this company above and beyond by showing consumers that they care about not just the future of their company, but the future of the world around them. This is something that makes a company stick out among the rest.
The only challenges that I see for the future of AT&T are that I believe that their concern with our community needs to be highlighted more by their PR professionals. When thinking about AT&T one would never realize that this company does so much more than just sell cell phones and Internet services. It is important to maintain and build their reputation in a positive manner and this can be done so greatly by putting more focus onto this aspect of the company.I think that more people would be much more willing to buy an AT&T product or service if they knew all of the great community relations that this company has. It is refreshing and attractive to see a company that is so concerned with our world and that alone is a reason to support this company. If their PR professionals could highlight their different campaigns I think that the success for this company would grow even greater.