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Hi everyone

The Retirement Village Association (RVA) is running a promotion (advertising campaign) in WA with the aim of working on increasing the penetration rate of retirement villages. This is because within the over 55 market in Australia, 5% are living in retirement villages. There is an untapped market of 95% that have opted to stay in their home or choose another alternative to senior housing options.

The ‘Retire in Style’ magazine is a lift out that is distributed in community newspaper group. For this project to be viable, more advertising dollars need to be raised to support this project. My final task was to draft a letter to companies that cater products and services to seniors and convince them that this is an opportunity they do not want to miss out on and then record a list of the companies approached.

The challenge I faced in this task was the high volume of companies that could be targeted. Although this is preferable, as it means there is a greater chance in gaining advertising for the lift out, I had limited time to develop the list of companies that should be targeted. Because of this I prioritised what companies should be targeted.

This is the second year the lift out is being published. Next time to overcome the limited amount of time to approach these companies, the list that was developed this time should be referred back to and added upon for next year.

Encouraging companies to advertise so that the magazine can be functional confirms to me that companies place a small proportion of their budget into promotional efforts. To be successful in running an effective campaign requires a Public Relation practitioner to adopt effective strategies and tactics.

If there is one unit all degrees should have as compulsory, it would be to do an internship! Not only has it allowed me to apply my theoretical with my practical skills but it looks fantastic on my resume! Since the beginning of my placement, I have been provided with an opportunity to use many public relations tools and to add my own personality whilst doing it.

I hope you all have enjoyed your placement.

See you, or like the Italians say ‘ciao!’