An invaluable experience

Before I started my internship, I was positive I wanted to work in-house PR. However, after my time at Go Communications in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia I have learned some important lessons about effective public relations, and I will definitely consider working in a consultancy when I graduate. 

Some things I learned from my internship in Kuala Lumpur;

1. Team work - Throughout my degree, almost every unit has included some kind of group work. I saw first hand the benefits this could have when at the Go Communications office, where my team often brainstormed ideas at lunch or called a team meeting to discuss ideas for a client or upcoming event. The reason this worked so well, was because in these meetings everyone was given an equal say, and everyone’s ideas were considered. PR is often about engaging with a large audience, so interacting with your team - who all have different views - will help you achieve this.

Image - Fradley Croft

2 - Thinking outside the box - One event required my team to get creative for a Halloween-theme launch. This taught me how to bring a little fun into public relations work.

Image - Growing Up With A Disability

3 - Don’t get overprotective of your work - I had more than one idea knocked back during my internship, and this helped me view my work impartially, and edit it without restraint. I think we all get a bit overprotective of our ideas and work, especially when we put a lot of time and effort into it. But to be an effective PR practitioner, I understood sometimes it’s better to step away and try something new sometimes.

Image - Libelty SEO

4 - Think about how your message could be received by a range of people - I think growing up in Australia I have a relatively good idea about how people might interpret a message. For example, when watching the news, I can see a headline and predict how a number of people will respond to it. I now know I definitely took this knowledge for granted, because interning in a different country, I understand you must thoroughly research the cultural values of an audience.

5 - Take advantage of your seniors - As I learned writing my first press release, even though you've done it countless times at university, doesn't mean you know everything. Ask your supervisors any questions you have (It's better to ask too much than make the mistake). They know so much more than you do, and they can help guide you in the right direction. 

Image - Muhsin budiono

6. Don't take tasks for granted - Not everything you're given is glamorous or a hard-hitting press release. That doesn't mean it's not equally as important, you can still take important lessons away from it. And if you do it well, it proves your commitment to the job. 

 Image - The Office, NBC

Image - Smshamma

 

7. Good Attitude - I can't stress enough how important it is to have a positive attitude to everything you do. This relates somewhat to the 6th point, but if you have a good attitude it will not only make the task easier, but it shows in the quality of your work. 

Image - Positively Present

And now I'm back in Perth, and it's almost time to start looking for jobs. I worked with some fantastic people at Go Communications, and I have a wide range of work to add to my portfolio. My internship has not only further honed my writing and communication skills, but it has allowed me to broaden my understanding of PR and how it relates to different countries and cultures. I would highly recommend future students to consider interning overseas. 

Whitney Slater

Curtin Bentley 

It's your values that stand out

Interning in a consultancy, I have had the opportunity to work on a range of projects with different clients. 

One client was a cosmetic surgery company, where I was asked to come up with an idea similar to the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. This was a campaign to challenge 'beauty stereotypes' and give women more confidence and self esteem. Women are one of Dove's key stakeholders, so they have positioned themselves as an advocate for women and women's issues - with a genuine interest in customers' and stakeholders' wellbeing. 

Photo - Kendra McGowan - Dove Real Beauty, PR in Practice 

Building community relationships should be a priority for any organisation, but it can be more complicated when the organisation deals in sensitive issues - such as the cosmetic surgery company. The basis behind this is to put your name behind a solid idea or conversation, which firstly benefits the community, and benefits for the organisation come later. This comes under the category of Corporate Social Responsibility - a topic I have come across countless times in my studies. Paul Portney defines it as:

"A consistent pattern, at the very least, of private firms doing more than they are required to do under applicable laws and regulations governing the environment, worker safety and health, and investments in the communities in which they operate," - The Not So New Corporate Social Responsibility: An Empirical Perspective. 2008. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 2008, Vol. 2(2), pp.261-275). 

My objective for this task was to;

• Define key stakeholders
• Work out what issues these stakeholders are facing
• Work out how to address these issues

I came up with two campaign ideas for the client - both centred around improving life for women in Malaysia. The actions called for in the [proposed] campaigns did not immediately benefit the client in any way - the only benefits they would get was from putting their name behind the cause. I also recommended using local celebrities and well known advocates on the issues to lend authority and publicity to the campaigns. 

Photo - Essential Kids

I based this approach on the BHP Billiton Iron Ore & West Coast Eagles partnership, where BHP funded a number of campaigns including 'Kicking Goals,' and 'Eagles Rock My School.' These engagements show BHP's commitment to supporting the communities they operate in (Giving West, WA Corporate Giving Index. December 2013). By engaging West Coast - who have a strong public profile and community ties - the campaign was better received and had more impact. And the benefits for BHP were that they built stronger ties with key stakeholders, allowing them to operate more efficiently and effectively. 

Photo - Giving West 2013

While I am not sure if either of these campaign ideas will go ahead, it gave me an invaluable opportunity to understand how to implement effective community relations. This brings me to an important point about CSR. Did you know a study by Reputation Institute shows your, "...willingness to buy, recommend, work for, and invest in a company is driven 60% by your perceptions of the company - or it's reputation, and only 40% by your perceptions of the products or services it sells," (Forbes). 

However I think it is important to note good CSR and PR strategies don't cover up bad business ethics. Freeman, Velamuri and Moriarty point out:

"Corporate social responsibility is often about seeming to “do good works.” And, while there is certainly nothing wrong with doing more good, there can be an implication that companies need 

to do good works because the underlying structure of business is not good, or morally neutral. This is a destructive idea—it fails to recognize the central role business plays globally in improving the 

well-being and prosperity of hundreds  of millions of people. And, it can cause companies to act in bad faith and get involved in matters where they have little expertise," Company Stakeholder Responsibility. 

Until next time, 

Whitney Slater

Curtin Bentley 

A fresh pair of eyes

Starting a new job is always incredibly daunting, especially when you’re in a different country and you don’t have much knowledge to fall back on. In my second week in, I was asked to seek out an appropriate venue for a media event, I was stumped. I wanted to find a unique venue, but I also had financial restrictions along with space, catering, and visual requirements to fulfil.

I wanted a venue which was more than your standard hotel events room:

• Where guests had space to move around (while still being close to the city, otherwise attendance would fall) 
• Different events of the day (catering, meeting area, greeting area) could be separately set up to save time and maintain a professional and organised image. 
• Room for media to interview guests away from the noise of the event

When I first got the task, I felt completely bewildered. I hadn’t seen much of Kuala Lumpur yet, and my research was hampered by language barriers (Google Translate can come up with some strange interpretations) and my own lack of experience in event management. 

However, I eventually started to use my lack of Malaysia-experience to my advantage. Not being a local, I was open to researching venues some may not consider. This led me to discovering a fantastic venue at the Bird Park - usually a tourist destination. 

Turns out, there was an ideal meeting room which met all the requirements, and as a bonus it had a great visual element to lend itself to photographs and an overall relaxed atmosphere.

Kuala Lumpur Bird Park

A few lessons I learned from this events experience:

• Research facilities - It is so important, especially in a big city, to ensure guests can easily get to the venue, there's ample parking, and furniture availability (in this case many tables were required in a specific set-up). 
• Catering - Does the venue allow outside catering, or can they provide it? How will catering work with the venue? E.g will the room be too small, making it awkward?
• Financials - don't let costs get out of hand. A few places I looked at had reasonable starting prices, then costs grew out of hand when other factors are considered (may charge for extra furniture, cleaning costs). 
• Look at reviews - If you can find them, it's good to get someone else's opinion. Sometimes a location looks great until you hear others experiences. 
• Time - research what else is happening on the day and time of your event. Is it school holidays, or a public holiday? Will traffic be bad? What will the weather be like? 
• Photo opportunities - Photo's make a story! It will make it more likely to be published a resonates more strongly with the audience. As this article explains, having good photos should not be underestimated. 

Adding a photo to your tweet makes it more effective 

Some more tips on basic event planning I found to be useful are here.

Until next time,

Whitney Slater

Curtin Bentley 

Operating in unfamiliar territory

Throughout my studies it has been highlighted that understanding your target audience and/or stakeholders is key to public relations success. In fact, Public Relations Institute of Australia includes it in their definition of PR;

‘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.’

So, when I touched down in Malaysia town to start my four week internship at Go Communications, I found myself having to research aspects of my work - cultural factors which I am attuned to at home in Perth. 

This opened my eyes to the importance of communicating with a multi-cultural audience, and truly checking how your message can be interpreted. Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia has a unique cultural landscape - there is no one dominant culture, in fact it is home to a large population of Indian, Chinese, Indonesian and Muslim people to name a few. 

Kuala Lumpur population by Ethnic Groups, 1980 - 2000

In my first week at Go I wrote my first press release, and I had to completely change my writing style. I have always written press releases in a hard news style - here in Perth it’s the recommended way to get published. As Even Peterson points out, PR is all about writing, so this was a chance for me to broaden my PR skill set. 

My team leaders explained the best way to write the release, and after reading past GO press releases and local newspapers, I understood my usual approach was not going to work. Most Malaysian media outlets write in a more colourful, descriptive style - where in Australia we’re basically 'banned' from any unnecessary detail and comment. So in my press release for the National Kidney Foundation I followed my team's advice, and took into account the fundamentals of a press release to make sure it was effective. Read up on 5 mistakes not to make in press releases here. 

In the end, my release got half a colour page in a newspaper. I should also note I read the local papers every morning, so this helped me understand the preferred style and content. 

By adapting my writing skills to suit a different audience, I was able to communicate the client's message more effectively. This task helped me to hone my writing skills - to write more succinctly and clearly. First week down, and this made me much more confident to tackle other tasks. 

Whitney Slater

Curtin University - Bentley