The End..

Hi all,

This is my fourth and final blog entry for PR393.

I am actually sad that my placement is over, as it was such a great experience, with great people and supportive work environment.

My last few days at Hawaiian were spent helping with the finishing touches for the 'NBCF All Things Pink' breakfast hosted by Hawaiian at Parmelia House (one of the property group's corporate entities). This was good to be able to see more behind the scenes involved with event management, and I don't think I have seen so much pink in my entire life!

The PR and Marketing teams at Hawaiian and Carillon City were also lovely enough to take me out to lunch and gave me a little present to remember my time with them.

Overall, my placement opened the doors to gain experience with a mix of PR elements, from media kits, corporate communication reporting, media liasing, fashion shows, liasing with PR agencies, behind the scenes, and the girls even treated me to the Perth Fashion Festival VIP events and fashion shows, which I loved!

I really do think I struck it lucky being able to complete my placement with Hawaiian because I couldn't have asked for a nicer team to work with and learn from!

I hope everyone else enjoyed their experience just as much. Good with everything!

Cheers,
Amanda
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The Big Weekend!

Hi...

Again! (hopefully you all read my first blog entry which explained why my blogs are coming so soon after one another)

Perth Fashion Festival (PFF) came around fast after weeks of planning and I can gladly say that Hawaiian and Carillon City's Every Body Counts (EBC) campaign was a great success and such a fun weekend!

 So here's how it panned out..

FRIDAY 23RD SEPTEMBER

First up, the media launch. An early start to the day to complete the final set up and a quick chat with the top 14 before guests started arriving. This was a chance for the media to get some photo opportunites of the finalists as well as our three speakers, MC and Head of PR and Marketing at Hawaiian, Kata O'Hara, PFF's Mariella Harvey-Hanrahan and EBC's ambassador, Gemma Walsh.

Then it was back to the office for the quiet before the storm, and then a back to the venue for a quick change in the set up for the VIP after party and then we were off to the GPO building for the first parade. I was given the task of backstage photographer where I captured the nervous smiles of the 14 ladies, and a few shots of the lovely male models (sigh), who were taking to the catwalk with the ladies.

The Top 14 waiting backstage

The parade was a success with many cheers and applause from the crowd. The top 14 were abuzz with nerves and adrenaline, and most of all everyone was ready for a well deserved champagne!

Back at the party, the champagne flowed and music played, while a mix of Perth media, the 14 finalists, family and friends, the male models and other guests mingled. A great night, and I didn't mind enjoying the glamourous side of working in PR either!

SUNDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER

The second parade saw the girls being a lot calmer and ready to get out on the catwalk and have fun with the male models who seemed to love playing it up to the crowd, and between you and me, I don't think the crowd minded it either.

This parade didn't have such a glamorous ending as Friday, but more a tinge of saddness with the women saying they thought they would have withdrawals from all the adrenaline and pampering!

Overall, the weekend was really rewarding to watch unfold after the many weeks of preparation that went into this campaign. I definitely understand how the 2010 Every Body Counts won the 'Little/Mini Guns Best Enhancement of an Existing Campaign' award at the Shopping Centre News Australia & New Zealand Marketing Awards!

So I will leave you with a video that sums up the whole campaign, enjoy!

Every Body Counts Campaign

Amanda

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Our tutors weren't lying.. Planning is everything!

Hi everyone!

Here's my second (updated) instalment of my time with Hawaiian.

Now that the 14 gorgeous ladies (one finalist had to pull out for personal reasons) had been selected by our judges, things started progressing much faster with the team planning the parades with Perth Fashion Festival, the media launch for the Every Body Counts campaign and VIP after party.

Everything, from media liasing to goodie bags to catering to running sheets, was kept on top of with daily communication and fortnightly WIP meetings between the PR and Marketing team at Hawaiian, Carillon City and marketing consultants from Intersectcommunications. I found that the meetings were really good in the way that they were unstructured so encouraged more creativity in the discussions and brainstorming.

Seeing all of this from a 'behind the scenes' perspective was really interesting because there are so many finer details that require a lot of consideration and time that would more often than not be overlooked by the untrained eye. I know that we learn about this in our PR degree, but seeing it all in reality rather than plain theory allowed me to realise how important understanding these finer details is and the time allocation often required.

During these planning weeks, our 14 finalists were going through fittings, modelling workshops and being pampered on photoshoots! When I met up with some of the ladies for an interview with the West Australian, it sounded like so much fun, but here's a link to a behind the scenes video so you can see for yourself and meet some of the finalists!

Every Body Counts Behind The Scenes

Fast forward a few weeks and all this preparation and planning brought us up to the week of the parades, media launch and VIP after party. So until Blog #3...

Amanda
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