Hey everybody!!!
I’m continuing through my internship and have surpassed my halfway mark.
As usual, I had to do a number of magazine and newspaper PR calls based on specific briefs (as explained in my last blog post) to start the day off. My most exciting news is that I have helped in planning a big event for my company to launch the new spring/summer Miami collection! I have been researching information for which DJ we can have, catering and have started on the rather extensive guest list. We are also inviting a number of celebrities to the event and hoping that they come in return for free shoes. In doing research for the guest I learnt something new that I perhaps wouldn’t have learnt at uni. I have never really thought before how celebrities get invited to events. However, since I was working on the guest list a lot, I found that I had to research their publicist/management/agent and invite them through that.
Working on the event has been really eye opening. Peep Toe hasn’t really been around for that long (4 years) so this is one of their first big events where all divisions of media (journalists, publicists, magazine contributors), celebrities and designers have been invited to a big event hosted by our company. Like I’ve said before, Peep Toe doesn’t participate in any paid advertising, so I think that hosting an event this big for all those who have really helped the company grow and prosper is a way on building on important relationships as well as strengthening the lines of positive two way communication.
The past few weeks I’ve been doing a lot to help with the planning of the event! These are some of the things I’ve been working on in regards to the event:
- Researching information on which DJ we should have
- Ringing around about catering and props
- Working on the extensive guest list
- Helping with the invitations (they look amazing!)
- Writing a draft event plan and task list
- I have also been asked to start setting up/going through event plan with some of the other girls and the company owner the day before the event at the venue and I will be working a massive day on the day of the event at the venue (10am till 12pm).
We are hoping to invite around 500 guests with hopefully around 300 to attend on the night. My supervisor, Rosie, and the company owner, Nikki, say the more we people we invite the better, because obviously not everybody turns up on the night.
Working on the event has been great though. Peep Toe hasn’t really been around for that long (4 years) so this is their first big event where all divisions of media (journalists, publicists, magazine contributors), celebrities and designers have been invited to a big event. This event has been on the lips of everyone in the office! Like I’ve said before, Peep Toe doesn’t participate in any paid advertising, so I think that hosting an event this big for all those who have really helped the company grow and prosper is a way on building on important relationships as well as strengthening the lines of positive two way communication. I hope to use my last blog post to discuss the night itself (all PR aspects and the overall running of the night) as well as drawing my internship to a close. I’m a bit nervous about it as there is so much to do, but it should be lots of fun!
I have been writing draft media releases for my supervisor for the launch of the new Spring Summer shoe range (to be launched at the event) as well as media releases for the release of our brand in David Jones. I’m finding media releases so much easier to write now. I remember when I first started PR techniques, I didn’t quite get it, but now it comes a lot easier!
Lastly, I wanted to discuss the companies really good use of social media. I’ve found that Peep Toe have embraced popular social media such as Facebook, Twitter and an online blog and discussion board to embrace two way communication between the company and their customers. Focussing solely on their Facebook page, I’ve found;
- They have 40, 463 people who ‘Like’ Peeptoe Shoes (for anyone who doesn’t know what that means, it basically means they are fans).
- Peeptoe (i.e. the girls who run the website in the office) respond quickly to any questions or any random topics of conversation that Facebook ‘fans’ may have/post on their wall.
- For example, the regional manager, Sally-Jane posted this picture of her dog on the Peep Toe facebook page:
and it received 78 “likes” and almost 40 comments!
- Fans post up their own photos onto the page (i.e. a photo of a fans Peeptoe shoes collection)
- Peeptoe do regular status updates which receive an extensive amount of comments
- Peeptoe post very regular posts on everything happening for the company (i.e. pictures of new items sold in store, photos from events, photos from inside the store, photos of celebrities wearing Peeptoe heels).
Does anybody else's PR company use social media to create two way communication with an audience? It would be very interesting to get some feedback from everyone doing their PR internship!
That’s all for this week! I can’t believe my internship is almost coming to a close! I will give you all the updates from the event in my next post!
Signing off,
Siobhan Finley
4 comments:
I'm not interning at a PR company, but I think it is absolutley vital that companies and organisations use social media and most importantly UPDATE their pages! There are so many organisations that I know of that have social media pages, but don't update them for weeks, even months!
Peep Toe is doing a great job utilising social media. In fact, many of my facebook friends are fans and I found out about the company through facebook!
Agreed, it is hard to ignore social media, especially for new organisations and even those like Peeptoe whose target audience is typically young, users of such online media.
Using the Facebook page to their advantage is definitely ideal for the company. I like how it gives them a very personal touch - such as the cute pic with the puppy dog - as opposed to merely being a 'sell sell sell' type approach.
It is great to see that Peeptoe are always updating and responding to things on their Facebook page, I think this is where some companies fail, that is, they create the page then rarely interact with the people who become fans as if having the page is enough.
My internship was with Curtin and they too have a Facebook page and an event for Open Day, but unlike something that is a consumer good, it is hard to get lots of 'fans'. Curtin also uses a blog to update users of the Open Day website on what's happening on Open Day and what to expect and so on, but often it was hard to navigate this page and sometimes information was doubled up. Facebook would have also been a good avenue to use in this situation as for many young people, they are more than capable of navigating FB pages as opposed to foreign sites they've never visited before!
I think Peeptoe is effectively using Facebook! And the stuff you are working on for the event sounds really exciting! Best of luck!
I have learnt so much about the use of social media through my internship. I can see that it has really proven to be effective for Peeptoe especially considering that they don't use any paid advertising.
I did my placement at Corporate Sports Australia and worked on the media and marketing for the City to Surf. We started a facebook and twitter account this year. Facebook ran for approximately 3 months prior to the event and twitter only 1 month prior to the event. We definitely didn't capitalise on this communication channel and hope to start a lot earlier next year. The aim is to also keep our existing fans and followers from this year.
Social media is great as it does offer that two-way communication, which is what customers want! Like Jacinta said, the picture of the dog is great as it gives a sense of a personal relationship between Peeptoe and their customers.
Continuous updates and responses is crucial. I believe social media is the most effective communication channel if used properly!
You're placement sounds great, glad you're enjoying the experience!
Thanks to all of you for your interest in my post! I agree that social media is such a great (and free) way to gain attention from an audience- especially a younger audience.
I'm glad you all have also learnt how important social media can be through your own internships and if already using it at the company, how it can be used better!
I do agree with Jacinta in that I find some companies do create a social media page, but if it is not regularly updated or interacted with, then the target audience usually start to lose interest.
Bri- That's really great that you could use social media channels for the City to Surf and that flaws have been realised so that they can be improved on for next year!
Good luck with everyone's internships!
Siobhan
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