This blog is dedicated to discussing some of the tasks I have been helping with in preparation for the 2013 season launch- and there are some great concerts to look forward to!
I sat in on a strategic marketing meeting for the 2013 season a few weeks back and it was interesting to see how ideas for promotion originate. Topics covered included social media, advertising and how to better engage with each target market. This is especially relevant as WASO has so many different types of concerts (for example, there is special popular events such as the Pirates of the Caribbean full feature film being played with live soundtrack accompaniment by WASO, as well as standard classic concerts featuring the works of Mozart, chamber music, kids concerts and more) I got to understand better how dynamic and targeted the marketing strategy for each concert series has to be.
A task that I recently undertook was putting together media kits consisting of a press release, season brochure, and media kit brochure. As media kits and press releases were a large focus of both the PR Media and Techniques units of my degree this task definitely was a reflection of university teaching and it was good to see how it is used in the real world effectively.
Putting together 130 kits in two hours to make it for that day’s mail was a bit challenging (including during this time remembering how to put together the always tricky mail merge) but we got them all out on time! As I had also sat in on the media kit meeting between WASO’s Public Relations Coordinator and the Executive Manager, Artistic Planning (who heads the department which put together all the repertoire and artists for each concert) about how best to promote the 2013 season to the media a few weeks earlier, it was great to see the complete product and know prominent journalists around Perth would be receiving this to write their stories (such as The West’s seen here).
I also helped proof read the season brochure and seeing that finished product is really nice. You can view it online here if you are interested. After working from the draft copy and using the pdf version as a reference when putting appropriate hyperlinks throughout the website in preparation for the online launch of the season it was lovely to see the brochure in print- nothing beats a hard copy!
Vanessa Costanzo.
2 comments:
Hey Vanessa,
Sounds like you are having a really good time on your internship and it seems pretty hands on which is fantastic. I really enjoyed reading your post, it must of been really great to be able to see the follow up from the meetings. I had a similar experience with one of the clients at my internship where I went to an initial brainstorm and then attended another meeting a few weeks later to see the development of the initial ideas into concepts. I completely agree with you that it is very interesting getting to see how ideas are developed out in the workplace.
Also great to see that you have gotten to use the skills from PR Techniques to develop the press kits and they look really great, particularly the brochure! I can see WASO have quite a lot going on so it must be so interesting to be a part of promoting their upcoming 2013 season, and they also seem to have a really broad range of entertainment for all ages. I've also gotten to apply a bit of PR Techniques throughout my internship at Linc Integrated (they are a large marketing and communications consultancy), but mostly through the development of media releases.
I've noticed from the work I have done, particularly being a consultancy, that the media release itself is quite different from how I have learnt it in PR units. Of course they still follow the inverted pyramid structure but I've found PR practitioners themselves have their own sort of style that they like it to be written in and they are very focused on it reflecting the client (or organisation). For example I did a media release for one of their NFP clients and this release was quite focused on demonstrating the benefits from the work the organisation provides, rather than emphasising their name. In comparison when I did one for Karrinyup Shopping Centre the release was more focus on promoting the organisation throughout the release no matter the topic.
Have you noticed much difference between doing press kits at uni and doing press kits for WASO? Apart from the obvious time factors, I have found that the first pars need to be a lot more succinct then our assessment releases and some of the clients I have worked on have required me to be more factual then creative. Would love to hear if you have had any similar experiences?
Best wishes for the rest of your internship and the rest of semester.
Laura Tirli
Hey Laura,
Great to hear that you are also got a lot of benefit from seeing the brainstorm to implementation process!
From what you've said about media releases I have to agree, I have seen different PR practitioners write slightly altered versions and I suppose as long as you follow the pyramid structure, write concisely and include a newsworthy angle with interesting quotes you should be all right!
As I've been in-house I haven't had the experience that I'm sure a consultancy brings by seeing what different clients want from each media release. I suppose it comes down to their main objectives, for example Karrinyup sounds as if they are big on their brand name and I guess its rightfully justified when you are such a well known and trusted organisation.
In answer to your question, I have actually noticed some differences in media kits between what I learned in Techniques and what is done at WASO.
At WASO instead of compiling only individual documents such as a media release, fact sheet, backgrounder and so on, the PR Coordinator actually developed an additional 'media kit' pamphlet that included all the information about the 2013 season (except for the media release which you can see in the picture still stands alone). It looks great and the inside contains excerpts from the CEO and Principal Conductor interspersed with highlights of the main concerts to look forward to which are accompanied by pictures for each event.
It's much more fun to read and look at than a simple backgrounder or fact sheet! Hope that helps answer your query.
All the best on the rest of your internship too!
Vanessa.
Post a Comment