Halfway Point

Greetings, how are things going for all of you? I’m having a great time at work, though it is a little tedious having to sit in the office staring at the laptop screen for 9 hours straight. But, all in all, I have great colleagues to talk to and seek advice from. So, it makes life in office a little better.

This is my third blog post and also my halfway point through my internship period. 15 days have gone by and in these 15 days, I have learnt a lot about PR in the hospitality industry.

So, what exactly is PR?

Public relations defined:

“Public relations is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation (or individual) and its (or their) publics. It's the key to effective communication in all sectors of business, government, academic and not-for-profit.”- Public Relations Institute of Australia

To find out more on public relations, please visit this website.

The broad definition above may explain why the field of Public Relations is often hard to be categorized and to understand. In this blog post, PR is defined as the subset of marketing communications that shapes attitudes and perceptions, help establish and reinforce corporate and brand values and image and influences customer, associate and investor behavior.

Public Relations can be your most effective communications technique for two reasons:

• Public Relations usually involve the “third party” editorial endorsement of the media, thereby making your message more credible in the public’s mind.

• Sustained PR efforts result in enhanced awareness and attitudes among consumers. Once positive attitudes and beliefs are firmly embedded, it is much harder for a competitor to change those perceptions.

Public Relations practitioners use the following strategies to achieve their objectives:

Media Relations: Interaction between PR and the news media that results in positive publicity or media coverage that builds a favorable image and understanding of your establishment. Tactics include establishing media relationships, distribution of press releases or other materials, planning press events and property visits, even communication with media in a crisis.

Special Events: Events that attract media attention and generate news or feature coverage. These include press conferences, new openings and press visits to your establishment.

Internal Relations: Communication with fellow associates, strengthening both morale and loyalty by informing them, motivating them and their families and responding to their concerns.

Community Relations (Spirit to Serve): Involvement with special causes that are of concern to the community that builds goodwill for your hotel and its “neighborhood”, including fundraising, volunteer work, disaster relief and/or donations to special community projects- your community relations efforts.

Issues Management: Implementation of proactive communications to address and shape public concerns or interests. By following the news, you will be in a position to provide key counsel to your executive committee about consumer trends or potential threats that may impact the establishment.

External Relations: Communications and interaction with other organization that aid or impact your establishment or your industry as a whole, such as NGOs , associations and interest groups, tourism offices, major local attractions and art museums, etc.

Crisis Management: Communications activities during a disaster or a challenge to your establishment’s integrity. A sound crisis communications management plan is essential to any marketing plan because presence of negative communications during a crisis can have long-lasting, damaging consequences from which you or your establishment may never recover.

"Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am looking forward to what’s in store for me for my next 5 days in the office.

That's all for my third blog post. Stay tuned for my next post. 

Till then, happy working!

Jasmine Alyssa Epui
Miri Campus
Curtin Sarawak University

17143743

The Beginning - PR in the Real World

I am Rebecca and I am currently working for an ATM company in a marketing and public relations role, gaining experience in dealing with a wide variety of stakeholders. The company is called Ezeatm and offers generic, non-bank ATMs to small business owners around Australia. Our most important customers would be small business owners in rural areas, particularly rural and remote New South Wales and Queensland.

Communication is key

I am currently working for the Managing Director of the company who wanted me on board to assist in the development of the company website and company communications directed towards key customers and organisations we work alongside. Ezeatm works in conjunction with two large organisations in order to provide reliable and efficient products to their customers.

Crisis Management

Dealing with technology on a regular basis can cause a variety of operational issues, customer dissatisfaction and tension between collaborating organisations. Crisis management is of great importance within a company like this. I have worked with the Managing Director to devise effective plans to combat or prevent a crisis from occurring.

Internal Relations

The internal set up of the organisation is challenging also as there are three offices, the Head Office being in Perth and two others in Sydney and Brisbane. The company operates largely as a team where each department relies on each other in order to carry out their individual duties. It is important that internal relations are maintained and effective communication between the three offices is maintained at all times. This often fails in busy periods, which is something the Managing Director has asked me to help with.

In my first week I had a meeting with an outsourced website design consultancy who trained me to use a program which involves sending email "blasts" to our key stakeholder groups. We send them to staff (internally) and customers (externally). We also constantly communication with organisations we collaborate with to ensure the smooth delivery of our product and our service.

I hope this first blog posts provides an insight into how the organisation works. My future blog posts will focus on the key areas I have briefly touched on in this first blog post. Stay tuned for more interesting experiences!

Rebecca