The Fun and Excitement of Safari

The 2011 Australasian Safari has come and gone, and I got to witness the crazy excitement from Safari HQ. It was so exciting to meet people I had only emailed or talked to on the phone, and see such a large-scale event come together.

Safari HQ was based out at Hillarys, so I was out there in our little media centre helping out as much as I could. I was part media liaison, part writer, part phone operator. We had accredited media arriving, and I assisted to help them fill out forms, set up their wi-fi and collect media kits. I updated an event alert I had written previously and sent that out to the relevant media, and I made numerous phone calls for the media call we had. This was my biggest task, and unfortunately wasn't as rewarding as I'd hoped. It’s amazing how many journalists or newsrooms you talk to – once you actually get through to them – that say they will send someone, and then don’t. Unfortunately it’s the nature of the beast, as you never know if something bigger and better is going to happen and steal the medias attention. Even so, our media call went great! We had some of our competitors, such as Craig Lowndes, Cyril Despres and Annie Seel, lined up with their vehicles for the media to take photos and have a chat too.

Me, in front of our media call at Whitfords Nodes.

Event Director Justin Hunt addressing the media with our competitors.

Later in the day we had our ceremonial start, which I had been sending out event listings and media alerts for in the weeks leading up to it.. We had a great turnout, which felt really rewarding. Knowing that the event was only promoted through PR practices such as media releases, event alerts and partnerships is a great thing to be aware of. 

Crowd shot at the Ceremonial Start at Hillarys Boat Harbour.

The final car takes off amidst the crowd.

There were no major incidents throughout the two days except for a small problem with our run sheet (we were missing a page). It just enforced the idea that you need to double check everything, as in the rush and confusion of events things can be overlooked or lost. But we adapted and the show went on without a worry.

Over the two days it was great to be involved and see how much effort went into the entire event. After the start at Hillarys the competitors and crew took off on the 8-day adventure and finished up just last Friday. It’s a shame I couldn’t tag along (I blame uni work), so hopefully in the years to come I get to be more involved with the events I work on.

Hope the report writing is coming along well, we're so close to the end now!

Lauren.

Peep Toe- First Quarter Update

Hey everybody!
I hope all of your internships are running along smoothly!

I thought I would write a little about my time at the Peep Toe Shoes Head Office in Alexandria Sydney. I live in Sydney now and am doing most of my final units externally through Curtin and Open Universities which has made life extremely stressful! I think I will have to give a bit of background into my company before explaining everything I’ve been doing.

I have been interning at Peep Toe Shoes, which has an almost ‘cult’ following, especially over east. Some loyal customers have upwards of 15 pairs of these shoes. I thought this company would be great to intern for and an excellent company to write my final report on because the owner has basically expanded and succeeded purely through the extremely good use of Public Relations. It’s not just an ordinary Retail store selling shoes. It is an Australian brand that can charge an average of (around) 300 dollars for a pair of heels, yet, the company has never used advertising to sell its brand which I think is just amazing. The owner Nikki was only 26 when she opened her first store in the very trendy suburb of Paddington and now at 30 she has 4 stores, is stocked in David Jones and is soon to be opening yet another store in the CBD.

Peep Toe has really made a name for itself in the fashion retail market. The fact that Peep Toe have never advertised their product emphasises how successful and effective their PR has been. They have certainly built relationships with the media (stylists, events, media releases, sending items for magazines and newspapers) and they also have a big celebrity following.

Anyway, I will get back to my first five days at Peep Toe.
The Peep Toe Head Office has a large conference-like room called a ‘showroom’. This showroom is for important meetings with clients such as:

- Potential wholesale opportunities/clients (Peep Toe has a number of stockist around Australia)
- Current wholesale clients (mainly who come in to look at the new season stock)
- Models (perhaps for a photoshoot or to obtain free shoes)
- Stylists (to borrow product for magazine shoots either on models or done using flat lay photography)
- Celebrities
- Internal meetings between the employees in the office
- Journalists

The room is filled with beautiful cabinets and displays to exhibit various products (jewellery, bags, heels). The other side of the room is where the PR products are. It is basically an area where Peep Toe products (numerous shoes, bags, accessories) are kept purely for Public Relations purposes. I deal with this area a lot.

I complete around 3-5 PR calls every day. The magazine/newspaper or whatever medium it may be (mainly through stylists or stylists assistants) send the brief of what theme they are looking for with some inspirational photos and I have to choose the appropriate product, pack and send off (via courier that same day) for them to borrow. This will then be pictured in (for example) an upcoming magazine. The stylist/company using the product are then meant to send back the product in a reasonable amount of time , however, if it is not sent back, I give them a friendly call and follow up email to let them know the product that is overdue and to ask if they could send the items back as soon as possible. When these items are returned, they can be sent out again to yet another communications medium and the process repeats itself.

After doing a few of these PR calls, I had to print screen all the shots where Peep Toe Shoes (heels, boots and jewellery) appeared in the promo for Australia’s Next Top Model (ANTM) on Fox 8. Peep Toe is featured in the show and other things relating to the show (such as ANTM photoshoots in magazines). From what I gathered from my senior advisor and publicist, Rosie, Peep Toe have built a relationship with the show where by sending them free product to use they will be featured on the show and any other ANTM related media.

Peep Toe receives a lot of coverage throughout all forms of media (from magazines to radio to newspapers) and they like to keep all members of staff aware of this coverage should any customers, clients or celebrities request a certain heel/boot/accessory or bag that has appeared in the media or any upcoming product. This weekly email is sent to everyone within the company to show the products featured and in what magazine/newspaper/publication. This is an example of part of the newsletter I helped with:

Basically we scan every publication featuring our product and circle the product.

Well I can’t believe how long my first post is, I guess there is a lot to talk about in the first quarter of the internship!
I hope everyone else is having an amazing time!
Sincerely,

Siobhan Finley

A Whirlwind Week

Its been an exhausting week, probably the busiest since I started my internship at DDB PR eight weeks ago.

The good thing about working in a PR agency is that the work is never dull. We have to deal with many clients, often simultaneously, and attend events or meetings outside the office. The pressure, however, is intense - we're pressured by our bosses to perform, by our clients to deliver, and by the media if they don't publish our stories, or worse, publish them inaccurately!

Here's a rundown of my week:

Monday

We were at the launch of Citibank's "My Passion, My Rewards" contest at Menara Citibank. The clipping above was taken from The Star, January 23, 2010. Citibank credit card users can now win prizes in these four categories: dining, travel, fashion, and home furnishing. You can read the full story here.

Upon returning to the office, I immediately had to start a round of media calls to ask if journalists were coming to another event the next day, this time to launch the partnership of AirAsia and ExxonMobil's "Discover Travel @ Asia" promotion.

Now, the difficult part is that each media outlet has a different assignment deadline time. Newspapers, for instance, assign reporters for the next day's activities between 6-7pm. TV stations, on the other hand, do it after 8.30pm. Some stations told me to call back after 9pm, but when I did, they were already closed! To top it off, different newspapers (and different sections within the same paper) have their own assignment deadlines.

I left the office at 10pm.

Tuesday

We had to be up early in order to arrive at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) on time. As usual, we were in charge of the media registration and distribution of press kits. I met Fatiha, fellow intern and classmate, because she was interning with AirAsia.

It was not smooth running, however. The media and guests had to be checked and registered by the airport security before they could proceed to the event venue. It didn't help that the media started arriving in droves!

Alas, we were able to organise ourselves and made sure each media representative got his or her press kit and goodie bag. The funny thing was, an old man, probably a tourist, asked for a press kit! When we told him it only contained a press release, all he could say was, "Oh."

It was stressful, but we pulled it off. The clipping above was also taken from The Star, January 23, 2010. Click here for the story.

The rest of the week...

We are currently occupied with our pitch for a new client. Wish us luck!

Adios,
John.

The Dreaded... Media Calls!

I'd be lying if I said media calls was my favourite part of the job.

It is, in my opinion, one of the toughest aspects of working in PR. Let me tell you about a slightly traumatic encounter I had with a newspaper editor several weeks back. I was asked to call up all the editors to whom we had delivered press releases. The conversation went like this:

Me: Hello sir, this is John. I'm calling to ask if you received our press release.
Editor: Umm... I'll look out for it.
Me: Pardon?
Editor: I said I'll look out for it!! *slams phone*

I don't remember learning phone etiquette in class, but I guess its one of those things you pick up on the job. No matter how rude or inconsiderate the person on the other end may be, it is our job as PR professionals to be calm and rational. As Julie Andrews' character said in the Princess Diaries movie: "Manners matters".

Calling up the media is a fairly simple task - in theory! In execution, however, our task is complicated when the journalists or editors we are trying to reach are on leave, at lunch, in a meeting, or out on assignment. I've had to make three kinds of media calls so far: one, to ask if they will come to our events; two, if they received our press releases; and three, if they will publish the information we sent them.

I've noticed that magazine editors are not as tightly wound compared to newspaper editors, probably because they do not produce daily publications. One tip that my colleagues gave me about calling up newspapers is that the best time to contact them is between 11am and 12pm, which is after morning meetings and just before lunch break.

Adios,
John.