Competitor Analysis? Check!

I’m well over half way through my 20 day internship with The Hub Marketing Communications and have so far loved every minute! I have been given many different responsibilities, and each day brings new tasks and exciting projects! 

Just recently I was asked to construct a competitor analysis for a client who is looking at opening several food and beverage places in one location of the city. The client requested that we consult other food and beverage organisations operating within the CBD to see what they had to offer. This would then be the basis for the PR plan behind the unveiling of this new food and beverage destination. 

I looked at restaurants, including Cocos, The Royal, The Red Herring and The Old Brewery, as well as eating/drinking/entertainment destinations such as The Hyatt Hotel, Crown Perth and Elizabeth Quay. I selected 13 attributes to analyse, including whether they were fine dining restaurants, whether they offered entertainment and whether or not they opened on Sunday’s and/or served breakfast. 

The results indicated that only 6 of 23 restaurants did not offer that fine dining experience. 10 did not serve breakfast and nine did not open to the public on Sundays. The restaurants and drink destinations that provided entertainment were listed as ‘restaurant bars’ and included The Apple Daily, Print Hall and Crown Perth. All three of these destinations were offered the ‘complete experience’, rather than just a food and drinks menu. All results were fairly consistent with what I had assumed, and showed that each restaurant/bar had it’s own uniqueness and attribute that separated it from the rest. 

This assignment was very rewarding in that I was well educated on what the new client was hoping to achieve. I also learnt about the importance of ‘getting to know your competitors’ in order to stay a step ahead of the game and provide equal or better offerings. My research would aid the client’s plan objectives, and contribute to the development of the project (e.g. give them more direction on what to offer). 

I enjoyed this task as it was interesting researching into what Perth restaurants and eating locations have to offer. It gave me valuable knowledge that I would not have gained without conducting the specific research I did. I felt it was an area I excelled in as I am fairly tech-savvy and new exactly where to look for specific information. The task was also very ‘mouth-watering’ as I spent my day looking at the various menus on offer… It made me very hungry! 

I will definitely be putting my hand up to conduct any more competitor analysis’ in the future and I would be interested to know if any of my unit peers conducted a similar analysis and what they thought of the assignment.  

My first wedding!!!

Events can be exhausting!!!!

I can’t believe that time goes so by fast, I am almost done with my internship and also my degree at Curtin university! Although most of my time has been spent in the office and completing tasks that would be done within the organisation on a daily basis, I got the opportunity to help run a wedding recently and I jumped at the opportunity.

When I arrived at the venue I felt the anticipation in the air, staff were busy fixing last minute details and the events manager was ensuring everything looked perfect before the guests arrived. The venue looked amazing, there were flowers everywhere and candles that lit the room beautifully. The Breakwater is an award winning venue that is renowned for their weddings, the room over looks the harbour and you can see the sun setting which really sets the mood for the evening.

The event ran smoothly without any major problems, I really learnt the importance of keeping on top of what was going on through out the night especially being informed and aware of any problems in order to make sensible decisions before they escalate. Other important things to remember when organising and planning an event, especially in my organisation I completed my internship were:

• Agree the purpose- this will help inform everyone who is involved and give everyone clear objectives.
• Know your audience- be aware of who will be attending the event, any dietary requirements, underage guest and so on. This will help you target and meet your objectives.
• Plan- having a clear and concise plan of the event, everything leading up to the day will be well thought through and organised. On the specific night have a print out of the plan, which should include timings and the event lay out, this is essential to keep the event running smoothly.
• Consider timings- allow for time changes, sometimes certain aspects of the night such as speeches might run overtime. It is important to prepare for these and act accordingly such as informing the kitchen on any delays and change the plan if necessary.
• Co-ordinate- give staff specific roles, ensure everyone is briefed and ensure everyone who is involved is well informed and are given specific responsibilities and tasks. The event manager is the main member who is responsible for the overall event and therefore must remain professional and make any necessary arrangements and actions.

I really enjoyed participating in the wedding, I got to have a real hands on approach to organising an event and the type of requirements necessary for the PR professional who co-ordinates an event.

I think the main key I took away from this experience was not to expect the event to go perfectly and be open to changes to the plan, instead of worry about the problem it is better to act accordingly and work on fixing the issue being presented. Organisation is such an important element in being prepared as much as possible and hopefully create an event that is successful and beneficial to the organisation.

The Hectic Period...

Hello again fellow PR393 students,

Thus far, my internship with angelhands Inc is starting to get hectic! Since I am basically managing the whole 50K in 50 Days 2012 campaign, there are lots of things I need to get done before the event launches.

For example, some duties would be:

·      Complying a list of potential corporate clients

·      A generic email & thank-you letters for these corporate clients

·      Online media (i.e. facebook updates, youtube promotional video, twitter updates)

·      Include news about campaign in newsletter for angelhands members

·      Press releases

And many other tasks included in a timeline & a campaign brief that I have typed up myself and reviewed by the board members.

Most of all these tasks have to be accomplish before the launch date : November 5, 2012.

As for now, things seem to be going slow but smoothly and there are still lots to do. I hope with the task/timeline list that I have compiled, the backbone of setting up the campaign, will help me along the way to achieving the goal of the launch date that have been set.

On another note, about 2 weeks ago, as angelhands Inc have just recently moved into their new office, the community news reporters came to talk to my supervisor about how things were getting along since they moved. This let to a photo taking session to be included in the paper and me plus a few other 2 other volunteers on that day was asked to joined in the picture. Well I wasn’t really hoping to actually catch a glimpse of that article but my friends did and here it is! How exciting! I’m actually in the paper. :D

Thought I share that with all of you hehe.

Thanks for reading & I hope by the last blog entry, I could say I have completed quite a few tasks from above because it has been the biggest responsibility I’ve had at a work place and it would be quite satisfying if I do a good job; as this would also be good on my resume.

Till next time!

Deanna C.

13884271

Information overload!

Over my past few internship days I have been busy learning basic skills on Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and website maintenance – all vital skills for the business world! 

My supervisor asked me to use Adobe InDesign in order to create Bowls WA’s Handbook and Fixture Book. The Handbook is an A5 sized book sent to all clubs in WA to distribute to its members. The Handbook contains all information about Bowls WA and what they offer, general bowls field of play rules, an event calendar, plus metropolitan and country contacts for each club and zone. The Fixture book is a pocket sized book which is also sent to all clubs in WA to distribute to its members. This book is aimed for members to keep in their bowling bags or pockets, as it gives detailed descriptions on competition field of play rules, penalties and winnings. It also gives a more detailed calendar of events.

Each of these books are created and updated over a few months; as the information is only printed once a year, thorough editing is required! My role? Add EVERYTHING to the books and edit! After receiving a quick 10 minute lesson on InDesign my supervisor let me at it! I felt very proud being left with full responsibility, however after 7 hours at a computer, scrolling through pages and pages of writing, I was going cross eyed and couldn’t wait to get home to a glass of wine!  I then repeated this day 5 times over!

When I was asked to use Adobe Photoshop and update the company website, my first thoughts were, “But, I don’t know what to do!?” Once given another lesson from my supervisor, I found the process quite easy. Bowls WA uses an online program called Typo3 which allows you to easily upload photos and information to the website. I have uploaded photos, news stories, and club details. A nice easy change from the tiresome “book” work.

After getting a taste of these Adobe programs, I have only wanted to learn more! Hopefully I'll get a chance to learn more on these programs in the near future!

I hope everyone's still enjoying their internships! 

Kind regards, 

Lauren