This is the end... but not goodbye!

Hi everyone!

This is my last post to sum up the three months being an intern in CROWD PR Agency.  The internship had broadened my perception of Public Relations immensely.  I considered the three months as a defining moment to determine if public relations will be the career path for me. Alas, I’ve found my answer.

Nearing the end of my internship, I have accepted the full time position offered by my supervisor.  I believe I am up for the challenge to deal with demanding clients, having ideas turned down for the zillionth time and having quick lunch breaks that could barely fill my stomach. (Hey, just dramatising the life of a PR practioner.) On a positive note, I’ve figure that the challenging moments are also the most gratifying moments of the job. Given the test-run for 3 months, I believe that I fit the bill for this job.

A couple of days ago, I’ve chance upon an article from the PR Week discussing the traits of an ideal PR consultant. (Link) The writer believes that the ideal new generation PR professional should have 1) the right mind, language and behaviour, 2) Take initiative to network and 3) exert assertiveness.

I couldn’t agree more with the writer that apart from technical skills, these soft skills helps to make one a better consultant. It serves as a reminder to me that despite being “promoted”, I should remain grounded and possess the same determination and assertiveness as previously in my intern role.  

I hope that this article will inspire you just like how it did for me, and hopefully through this internship journey, you would find your answers too!

(My colleagues and I hanging out at our recreational area)

Ending my last post by sharing a quote by the famous Oscar Wilde. 

“There Is Only One Thing In The World Worse Than Being Talked About, And That Is Not Being Talked About." – Oscar Wilde

Cheers,

Candice

Building relationship with media friends

Hello Everyone!

This is my third post, which means my internship journey is nearing to the end.

Today I'll be sharing my thoughts on building strong relationship with our dear media friends. The media circle in Singapore is very small due to the limited number of local publishing house. You could even count the number of publishers with both hands!

With a small media circle, it is important to have media friends on "our side". Here are some observations that I have concluded on building good relationship with media.

• Make an effort to find out what type of story angels the media is looking for. It would be easier to fit in their shoes if news given are timely and appropriate for their magazine/newspaper column. 
• Apart from work, go the extra mile to mingle with media friends. When a common interest is found, a good rapport will be established
• With that, it makes negotiation easier, should there be tight timeline to rush or last minute changes given by the client. 
• The best part of having a close relationship would be the entitlement to their personal mobile number. This means that you do not have to get through the main line, which is often engaged.

Apart from the local media, it is also important to keep a good relationship with influencers. I'm speaking in the context of lifestyle products. In Singapore, Instagram and Facebook are two of the most popular social media tool. 

Therefore, to penetrate into the crowd, we often touch base with lifestyle influencers to share new products to their avid followers either via Facebook or Instagram. This is typically known to attract the younger age group varying from 17 - 28 years old. 

So much on bridging good retaliation shop paths it seems that a good PR practitioner requires a wide connection of media friends and reputable influencers. 

On a fun note, the crew from Channel News Asia popped by my office this week for a short filming session! My boss had agreed to an interview about companies that are open to flexible working hours during the World Cup period. This is to accommodate football fanatics that are up at the wee hours to catch the match.  It was an interesting role reversal as my boss used to be off screen prompting clients with their scripts instead of being filmed.

Overall, it was an interesting experience for me albeit participating in the background. I have also used this opportunity to extend my connection with the reporter and hopefully in time, this connection will come in handy. 

And by the way, I'm rooting for Germany this coming World Cup, what's yours?

Till then, 

Candice

Crisis Management: Being Ready 24/7

Hi Everyone!

This is my second blog contribution. Instead of pointing out my daily routine at work, let me share more on my thoughts on the topic: Crisis Mangement.

I've been working in CROWD (A boutique agency in Singapore) for more than two months now. Some days consist of routine deskwork, while other days gets a little more perked-up. 

Well, I wouldn't exactly say meeting a crisis is exciting for account managers, it is however an eye opener for me. I’d be sharing three cases of crisis management from various incidents:

The first crisis ignited by a protest from an activist group, whom publicly displayed their unhappiness towards our client for supporting animal cruelty. The activist group involved was PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), known for their strong believe in animal rights. I will not divulge too much information due to sensitivity issue. But in a nut shell, PETA did managed to get it's message thru to the media. As a result, the news featured had reflected negatively on our client's reputation. I recalled having a discussion once during International Public Relation 340 module, that activists group have obtained a higher power of influence to the public than before. Therefore, it is important for companies to work with activists group rather than going against the tides.

The second crisis happened during a sports competition. The roof of the event venue was reported leaking due to heavy downpour and poor maintenance of the infrastructure. The leakage had delayed the match schedules, as the slippery floor needed constant cleaning. This issue had caused some displeasure amongst top-notch athletes and reflected badly on the event venue. The crisis did not directly affect our agency as we were not representing the event venue. However, our agency do have to give an official statement considering that we are the media liaison for the event. During such times, it is important to draw a clear line of whose responsibilities should it be, to refrain from getting  unwanted complains. 

Last (and hopefully the least), was an internal management crisis happened just yesterday. An athlete from the Singapore's team had abruptly announced his/her departure from the team prior to an upcoming international competition. As a result, the players list needs to be restructured in order to replace the athlete's position in the competition. The athlete's departure was based on his/ her own accord, thus I would say that our client, the sports organisation, was being "blind-sided".

These three crisis that I've mentioned above might be familiar to some. There may even be some resemblance to scenarios given in previous exam papers. Through this series of unfortunate events, I've observed and learnt how to handle such sticky situations.

• It came to my realisation that crisis can never be anticipated. We are however, able to get ourselves prepared with a contingency plan. 
• In times of chaos, we need to stay calm and resilient. 

• As client's representative, we must always ensure  that our client approved the official statement given to the media. 

• High efficiency in delivering official statement to the media would reflect well on the client's reputation.

• Account manager needs to brief their client clearly on the boundaries of information being divulged to the media. 

• Lastly, committing to the job meant committing to a silent agreement to be contactable at any time of the day. This meant sacrificing your personal time even on a weekend. When crisis occurs and the call arrives, you need to be on your way.  

Well, are you up for such commitments?

Till my next post,
Candice

Just Say "I Do"...

Hello Everybody!

Let me introduce myself, I'm Hafeez Jefri from Curtin Singapore, I am currently interning with a bridal boutique here in Singapore. BONITO by Bob is among one of the leading bridal boutiques in the local Malay community. The creative director, Mr. Ahmad Mubarak (Bob Mubarak) is a friend of mine, we were introduced back in 2010. Bob Mubarak did an amazing job for my sister's engagement party(a pre-wedding celebration to introduce the couple to both families).

Basically I "proposed" and he said "I Do" when I applied to intern with his bridal boutique. BONITO by Bob is armed with seven years of experience in the bridal industry. Bob Mubarak extends the most immaculate services to his clients. He is excellent in providing bridal gift trays, bridal decor and a professional makeup artist. The Bonito team consists of a three man team with him as the creative designer. 

Why did I choose to intern with a bridal boutique instead of a public relations agency? As we all know, Public Relations, is about building relationships between an organization/company and its stakeholders. I strongly believe that relationship relates well with the bridal industry. Some of us can relate as we have been involved in a way or another with someone's wedding, family or friend. We are so "connected" or "mesmerized" by a certain wedding service provider that we recommend them to our soon-to-be bride/groom. Currently, Bob Mubarak and myself, are discussing the necessary PR related work that he expects from me as an intern. Besides doing public relations, I am elated that Bob Mubarak allows me to be part of his creative team by assisting in decor. This is an amazing experience for myself as someone who is intrigued by arts and crafts. I would share pictures of the work I will be doing for Bonito in my later posts but before that I will share a recent work of Bonito by Bob.

Customary for the Malays to decorate the bridal room and decorate the bridal gift trays that are exchanged between the bride and groom (items exchanged are usually daily necessities but now luxury items such as wallets or Gucci handbags are often seen)

Till next time......

Lots of Love (LOL)
Hafeez.J

How to stand out from the CROWD?

Good day everyone!

This is Candice from Curtin Singapore. I am very psyched to embark on this internship journey, which also marks the last semester of my studies. Personally, I felt that the internship program was appropriately designed which allows students to display what we have learnt in the classrooms, onto real life situations. Furthermore, to gain valuable insights from the Public Relations sector which was not taught in school. After much anticipation, this is the time to get our hands dirty!

I am currently interning in a boutique agency, named CROWD. Here's four things you should know about CROWD:

1) Our passionate team of PR professionals understands the importance of engaging audiences. Dynamic and cost-effective, but creative solutions are our mantra.

2) When we say something, we do it, and we do it well. We know the media and we know what they want. Simply put, we get results.

3) Let us over-deliver and overwhelm you with what can be achieved. The results speak for themselves.

4) Our services includes PR & Communications, Social Media management, Event management, Crisis management and Influencer Marketing.

(Source: CROWD Pte Ltd)

It has been a good one month working in CROWD. For my first post, I would like to share about my personal thoughts on three skills that I have picked up along the way.

Sending press releases to media
I remembered the first time I was tasked to send out a press release to our media friends. Even though I didn't had the chance to craft the press release, (Understanding that this is only the beginning of my internship), I was given the chance to craft the email message nonetheless! It was a mixed of excitement and nervousness. Thoughts running through my mind were "What I should write?", "How should I craft an eye-catching email subject?", and not forgetting, "Am I able to impress my supervisor with my writing skills?". I wonder have anyone felt the same way before?

Time also plays a crucial part in sending out press releases as it determines news worthiness. Therefore we need to be swift and precise when sending out press releases. To assure that information are accurate and timely. 

Media Valuations
Valuations.. Valuations... I have heard about valuations briefly from my lecturers but never came about to learning the formulas to calculate the magical sum. I have never thought that calculating valuations had to be so precise till the extend of measuring newspaper coverage with a ruler! I got hooked onto calculating valuations as I felt that it gives the agency a sense of achievement for the efforts they have put in to garner features for our clients.  Also, each valuation is one step nearer to our KPIs. 

Newspaper Summaries
To be honest, reading newspapers daily is my least favourite task during this internship period. However, looking on the bright side, this helps to train my patience and attentiveness in searching for news articles. Scrutinizing on every headlines to ensure that all possible features were not missed out. Thereafter, I would have to translate these articles into simplified pointers for our clients' easy reading.

I believed the three tasks mentioned above are some common duties of a PR intern. This marks a good beginning of discovery and learning the rightful skills to be a professional public relations practitioner.

Press on, my fellow comrades!

Till then,
Candice

So, What's Next?

So very quickly, it is 2014! I'll start by wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!

 I'm into my last month at Brand Incorporated as an intern and I just cannot believe just how quickly everything has been flying by!

This time round, I would like very much to share my experience on my first media event in Brand Inc.

Our client, Pioneer Seafood, is in the food business, so the event was a tasting session. 

There were 3 days dedicated for the tasting in mid November. Before the days arrive, there were quite a fair bit of things to prepare. My supervisor was the media liaison between the client and media so what I had to was to assist her and ensure that items for the media were all packed into what I then identified; a press kit. 

The items that went in the press kit included a press release, question & answer sheet, history of the business and a menu stating their signature dishes the media would be having for lunch/ dinner, depending on the timing of the tasting session. 

When that day arrived, I have to admit I was actually really excited. My role was really simple, registering the media when they arrived before joining the tasting session. There were two sessions; lunch and dinner. The lunch session was arranged for print media and the dinner one was for online media, mainly bloggers.

The media whom were present for lunch on the first day represented: The Business Times, Singapore's Child, Square Rooms, 8 days.

Knowing who was going to turn up, I was excited. It's mostly because I was curious about the kind of questions they were going to ask our client. The kind of questions only journalists/ editors would be capable of asking. 

The lunch proceeded smoothly, with our client, Mr Lee introducing every single dish very enthusiastically to the media. He was so excited about the media coming down that he gave each of them a fresh fish of their choice to bring back. That was a really funny moment. The media were very polite in trying to turn down as they were heading back to their respective offices after lunch but he didn't take no for an answer. 

This is Mr Lee holding a parrot fish. It is just 1 out of the many different breeds of fish available for customers to choose in the restaurant (that's the one he made sure each media packed back!).

At the end of the 3 days, we all were glad that everything went really well. Not only was our client happy, but the media were as well and nothing is more important than that! Up to date, clippings of our client have been featured in the respective platforms. We are still awaiting the feature on The Business Times as the editor cannot confirm the date she will publish it due to many other pending articles on her side.

Something that I have observed and learnt? The characteristics of the different media. Taking the print media as a comparison, representatives of the online media platforms are not as afraid to speak their minds. After every session, Mr Lee would open himself for feedback from the media. Bloggers would bluntly speak their mind as to how they feel regarding the different dishes without even polishing their words. Some bloggers try, but most are very straightforward, as they like to be as honest as possible to their readers in order to be able to relate to them. Editors on the other hand, are more conscious of how they speak, stringing words to sound as diplomatic as possible without offending another. 

Very interesting! 

Selecting An Agency to Intern In

Alright. Let me start off with introducing myself.

My name is Joanne and I'm currently a student finishing up my last semester in Curtin Singapore. I have chosen to do the module PR Internship on its own because I would like to ensure that I do not imperil my grades for other modules, especially after I saw how some of my classmates coped with internship and school.

Before I enrolled for my last module, I was a little apprehensive about actually looking for a company to intern in. The main concerns I had were:

• Not being able to apply what I learnt in school to work, and
• Not being tasked with work that was relevant to PR at all (since interns are usually exploited to do extremely irrelevant chores).

To minimise possibilities of the above happening to me, I bore in mind these questions when looking out for a company to do my internship in.

• Is it in-house or agency?
• Is it a boutique agency?
• Am I comfortable with the genre of work that the agency specialises in?

There are no definite answers to these questions. Before I share my opinions, I would like to make clear that this is solely what I feel. For me, I'm certain that I would like to enter an agency, therefore, the first answer has got to be agency. Secondly, whether or not it is a boutique agency, makes a lot of difference. I am not after the name of the company and how established it is. On the contrary, I am looking for a boutique agency because it is where I personally feel, that has more learning opportunities.

Why so?

Simple. At a smaller place, because of the limited number of staff available, a single staff has to deal with way more than a single staff in a big organisation where manpower isn't an issue. From media monitoring to pitching, there is a higher chance of being involve in the company's operations in a boutique agency. With this said, the smaller the company, the better. But if you don't enjoy dealing with stress and crazy deadlines, you may want to opt for a bigger organisation; better still, an MNC.

I found an internship with Brand Incorporated Singapore. Brand Inc specialises in the lifestyle sector and is a small agency with a team of 4, including my boss. I'm glad it is like how I expected internship to be; very relevant to what I had studied, instead of regular intern exploitation duties like buying coffee and lunch for everyone else and doing nothing but filing. I started on 1st November 2013 and until now, it has been a crazy ride. I met clients on my first day, along with my boss and was tasked with a mission that was due on my 2nd day. I have to admit that I was overwhelmed when I was done with work on my first day, but I really enjoyed it because at the end of the day, I was happy and looking forward to next day. 

Well, that is what I would like to share with others my experience when it comes to looking for a company to intern in. All the best for everyone else doing their internship too! 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! :)