Changing The World With PR: Women's Week

In the early part of my internship, Sarah my supervisor gave me few the working calendar and task to do during my internship at Topdog Factory, and one of the special occasion that I was given to handle is the Women's Day!


First thing that came to mind was the perception on Muay Thai and MMA was something not for the faint hearted, and especially for women, society may look at it as being very testosterone-driven sports, harsh and brutal. After some discussion with my director and also my supervisor, the idea of depicting "strength & beauty" was a go, to incorporate that idea in a short video and also announce of a one week promotion for women that sign up within that week with will get free 1 month training when they sign up for the yearly membership fee.

That week, we had more than 10 new clients (all female) that signed up!

Was it a good publicity?

For a short video that didn't take much time and money, yes.

The idea of a woman opening up a martial arts training centre can be very amazing. This itself was newsworthy and definitely has helped out in terms of having a good reputation for being very open to the idea of women practicing martial arts and self-defence techniques. It has encouraged many women to take the risk and try out something out of the ordinary.


Topdog Factory- Women's Day 2016 from Joshua Hajok on Vimeo.


Then, to enforce the idea of our Women's Day/Week promotion, we took it to the newspapers!

I'm happy to say that I've wrote a news article, and it was proofread by my supervisor. I was ecstatic!




:)


The process of connecting with the media or journalists would be on how to approach them on your article that you would like them to publish and the fact that having a 'connection' plays a big role in dealing with the news publishers, disregard of which media platform they are from. My supervisor helped me a lot in this, and i am ever grateful for that. Its not as easy as just e-mailing them the article but approaching them even on e-mail and follow up with a phone call to make sure they've received the e-mail. Then there's the media monitoring process. You can do the normal check-every-news for the next one week, or if you have strong relations with them, you could just asked them to tell you if they submitted it to be published. Definitely a good learning experience for me.



Joshua Anthony Hajok
16342222

Stakeholder Relations 101

Hello There,

So in my previous post about my daily tasks as a Public Relations intern, I highlighted on the role of Public Relations personnel as communicators and mediators between an organization and its publics or stakeholders. It is safe to say that this role is the most important one as although all the individual tasks I encountered during my internship were vast and varied, they all collectively led back to serving this specific role.

The most common execution of this role can be seen when looking at how an organization relates to its community or the general public. During my internship, this manifested itself as the relationship between the Ministry of Energy and Minerals and the general Tanzanian public. As a Public Relations practitioner working for the Ministry, my primary role was to communicate important information to and fro the two parties. 

On one hand, this was done through the media releases that I would write on behalf of the Ministry, that would be relayed to the public through the media. Inversely, by summarizing the daily mentions of the Ministry and briefing it to the Ministry's officials and staff, I was communicating to the Ministry what was being said about it in the public. Furthermore, the media releases were put on the Ministry's official website and in its weekly news bulletin that is open to the public, to reach a wider audience, and so relay information to more people.  

Another important stakeholder relationship to highlight is that of the Ministry and its staff. Internal communications was executed through sending daily media briefs to all the Ministry's staff and not just the officials alone. This way, they were able to know the general news surrounding the Ministry, even with things they may not have been directly involved in. Similarly each week, a news bulletin highlighting the Ministry's latest happenings, including all the in-house media releases would be published and posted in all the Ministry's notice boards and emailed to all the staff and so this is serves as another way to keep the staff aware of the happenings of the organization they work for.

A new relationship I got to explore however, is that between the government and its partners; financial and otherwise. For the second half of my internship I was put in a team in charge of preparing an implementation report (more on this in my next post) on behalf of the Ministry to be submitted to one of its financial partners. Again, this is an example of the vital exchange of information between the organization and one of its stakeholders managed or facilitated by Public Relations personnel. 

Lastly but definitely not least, it is important to note the Ministry's relationship with the media. The Public Relations department was in charge of contacting all the media in case of any events as well as sending media releases to the media for publication, so once again we see that Public Relations people are responsible for maintaining and facilitating these relationships.

It was really interesting seeing a concept learnt in class play out in real life.

I hope this was an interesting read.

Until next time.

Latifah Mzee Hamis Salim Boma
17223946/ 7E3A1749

Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia

Media Pitch - Scored!

This should most probably be my last post on this blog.

To end it off, I'm gonna post my best (by far) working experience at Ogilvy PR.

I was kind of rambling on about my love-hate relationship with media calls in my previous post. This time round, I got to do a little more than media call downs.

This week, half of my team were on leave. With that, my supervisor and I had to take on some of their job scope, one of which includes media pitching for a client. Although they may sound the same, the difference between media call downs and media pitching was quite big for me. When I did media call downs, all I had to do was to confirm if the media had received the email sent to them earlier.

My supervisor gave me the task to draft the email pitch for the media. Just when I thought the pitch was over, she told me to do the pitch calls for media. You could say I turned blue in the face almost immediately. I think at that point of time, only thing that was running through my head was, "What if I screwed this up?" It was a really important pitch.

So, practice makes perfect. My supervisor got me to draft out what I would say to the media on the phone and had me practice the pitch with her quite a number of times. With much encouragement and practice, I dare say I delivered the media pitching quite well.

Then came the email from a television broadcast station saying they were interesting in interviewing our client for their news program. Boy was I elated!

Okay, to cut the long story short, I became the media liaison between the client and the broadcast station, which was quite an experience for me.

Where does school comes into place in this situation? Media relations 250 definitely!

Apart from learning the importance of maintaining a relationship with the media, what else came in handy was the lessons from the interview assignment where we had to prepare an interview brief for the client as well as the "Do's and Don'ts" during an interview.

The client was invited to do a live television interview and my supervisor had to prepare the briefing documents for him and was asking around for some "Do's and Don'ts". Luckily for her,  I still had some notes from the lesson and could share it with her.

The 4 key things to note during an interview are:




1. Make the Point you want to make
2. Back that point up with a Reason
3. Provide an Example to illustrate your point
4. Restate your main Point again to make it really clear

A very great reminder!

And with that, this post marks the last entry of my PR393 Reflective Blog for internship at Ogilvy PR. The past two months has been eventful, and I hope the blog posts has been insightful and helpful to all of you!

Have an awesome internship everyone!

Overcoming a fear of telephones

Growing up in the digital age has seen a reliance on emails for communication. Rather than picking up the phone and talking to a stranger, I would much prefer to send them an email and just cross my finger that they reply. However when I started in the PR industry I realised this had to change. Don’t get me wrong, emails are still important and can be a good communication tool, but when it comes to establishing relationships, face-to-face or over the phone conversations are much more effective.

This idea is particularly important when pitching to the media. Journalists are flooded with press releases and event reminders from public relations teams every day. If you can make the effort to make a quick phone call and really sell your story, the chances of success are much greater. In saying that I have found times where using email is actually superior to phoning. Some journalists prefer you to contact them via email and rarely answer their phones. When dealing with journalists in the Eastern States or overseas, time differences may mean email is the only option. I also find that sometimes an email works best because I have time to compose my thoughts and write the most enticing pitch possible, rather than getting nervous and bumbling my way through a phone pitch. Working out whether to phone or email pitch is quite an art that develops over time as you get to know the journalists and their individual styles.

Overcoming my fear of the telephone pitch has been very important. I used to get stressed over the fear of rejection and worry that journalists would be rude to me. But then I realised that if they say no it’s really nothing personal. Also, if a journalist doesn’t like your email pitch they just won’t reply. This leaves you wondering if they got the email or if maybe they opened it and liked it but then forgot to reply. I used to spend time worrying and waiting for their reply, then I realised it would be quicker and a lot less painful if I just rang them and found out yes or no. So my words of wisdom for today would be, don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and chat to someone. If you’re pitching an idea, the worst they can say is no.

Verity

Of media releases and campaigns.

Hi everyone!

So my journey began mid of last month, and I am glad to say that I am halfway there. Two weeks of being in the Corporate Communications office has taught me some of the things every intern working in a corporate communications department needs to know.

And last Wednesday I get to draft my very first media release. My supervisor e-mailed me details of the release in the afternoon and I managed to get it done before I got off from work! Well, the media release is about the upcoming Go Bald event that will be held in campus on the 14th May. Go Bald is a campaign organized by Sarawak Children’s Cancer Society where members of the public are able to give their support to children suffering from cancer through donations and also showing their care by getting their hair shaved. But only the bold will do so and in the past years, I have witnessed girls getting their hair shaved too. Sarawak Children’s Cancer Society (SCCS) is a relief and care for childhood cancer and their annual event, the Go Bald campaign aims to raise enough money for the treatment and to help those children and their families.

As you guys know, this is the third year that Curtin Sarawak is involved in the Go Bald campaign held by SCCS. Curtin has been actively participating in the campaign to show support to all the young cancer patients. And I am glad to say that the event turned out pretty well. I remember asking my colleague the total number of students and staff that were going to shave their hair. But as the event was going on, more and more students decided to join in and get their hair shaved too. At first there only about thirty students and staffs but the number increased to almost double the initial number! Thanks to all the supportive students, the event turned out well and was better than we expected.

So a week before the event started, I was given the task to draft my very first media release. I only had about two hours to complete the given task and was glad that I managed to get it done on time. From this, I have also learned that drafting a media release was not easy. Although I have been taught different ways to draft a release, somehow, it is still different when you actually do it at work. And from the event, I have witnessed how the Corporate Communications manage the event, and how they ensure the reporters and guests from SCCS were taken care of. I saw the reporters took photos throughout the event and even got to interview some of the students who got their heads shaved.

The three brave ladies were first to go.

 Before & after.

Before I end my post, I want to highlight that media relations play a crucial part in Public Relations. And in this case, communicating with the media is a central area of activity in corporate communications. Some of the media relations techniques that have been used are press release and media monitoring. This is what I as an intern has observed throughout the event, and also for the past events as well.


Till then,
Vivian Lee
15442668
Curtin Miri

Camera Crew, Photographers, Reporters. No time to second guess myself.

Tuesday was the day I had my first interaction with official film and media crew. For me this is a big step in the PR world. There is only so much theory you can learn about how to deal with media, but my first hand’s on experience proved to be a worthwhile one.

Due to the birth of the new prince, as soon as we arrived at the office at 9am the phones were ringing. Initially it was Channel 7, requesting if we had a baby born around the same time or with any similar characteristics of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s new baby boy. One of the PR officers were placed in charge of dealing with this. We found one baby boy whom was born at a similar time as the prince, but with the exact same weight. After many calls back and forward between Channel 7 and the PR officer, it was established that yes, a story was going to be run on this newborn for the 6pm news. By this time the PR department has also been contacted by Channel 10, Woman’s Day and the West Australian all wanting similar stories. Personally I did not see the importance of the story, more the birth of this boy with similar features to the prince as a ‘fluff piece.’ But none the less this newborn baby was attracting quite a bit of media. It was my job to help control the situation and have the best outcome possible of the full shoot about to take place.  

I took this situation as a great opportunity for me to ask lots of questions to my supervisor. My first question was how the situation was handled. The lessons I learnt were as follows:

• The patient always comes first. It needs to be made clear that their comfort and wellbeing is our number one priority. We are doing the media a favour therefore they need to abide by this. Make clear to the patient that at any stage  they feel uncomfortable the interview can be stopped. We as a public relations officer are there to support the patient acting as a mediator if necessary.
• Usually hospitals do not give ‘exclusive interviews’ (the story to just one media outlet). This is only done by through the request of the patient. Even in that instance it is usually because the media station got in contact with the patient, telling them to request this. In my case, this did not happen. Due to the nature of the patient (just giving birth) we requested that only one film crew and one newspaper crew were to be present at the interview. Due to Channel 7 and the West Australian being the first to contact us, they were given the opportunity. All other media outlets were directed to them to gain footage. Phone interviews could be requested if required. When speaking to Channel 7 and The West, they were made aware that it was not an exclusive interview, and if requested by other stations they were to share the footage obtained.
• Media at no stage are allowed in the Hospital unattended. This is for security and patient confidentiality reasons.

Once this had all been arranged, at 1:30 pm the interview was to take place. Myself and the other PR Officer caught a taxi over to Kaleeya Hospital (a part of the Fremantle Health Service) to meet with the patient and media crew. This was the time where we reassured the patient that we were there for them. At this time we also required forms to be signed stating they were happy to be interviewed and have their photos taken. After this we went downstairs to meet the media.

From there on the day ran smoothly. It was my job on the day to be in the room during interviews, but also accompany the media in and out of the buildings. During conduction of interviews, the PR officer does not do much, rather stand there and act as support if needed. This could be in relation to inappropriate questions asked or the patient getting tired and worn out (wanting to stop). It is the behind the scenes and preparation where a PR officer conducts the most work.

Overall I found this a very rewarding exercise I was allowed to take part in. When the footage was shown on Channel 7, 9 and 10 on the evening news, along with page 7 of the Wednesday 24 July West Australian. I had felt this sense of accomplishment. Despite not actually writing the article I felt very proud that as an Intern PR Officer I has help create this news story. It was not until the day had ended I realised how tired I was. I constantly had to be switched on, remembering the conducts and guidelines that needed to be abided by, acting friendly as possible, but also conducting myself in an assertive yet professional manner.

The hardest part of the day for me was not letting the media push me around. They wanted information and they wanted it fast. They took it upon themselves asking myself and the other PR officer personal questions about the patient before we had even got to their room. We were not allowed to disclose this information to them, so a firm foot needed to be put down, explaining were not allowed to release this. The lady from Woman’s Day was also quite rude due to the lack of time she was allowed with the patient. I pleasantly reminded her that 12 hours ago this woman had given birth, and due to that a small interview was all that was available. The patient needed rest and was doing the media a favour. After being reminded this she was not so pushy towards me and was grateful we provided her with any coverage of the story at all.

Overall from this experience I feel I have gained confidence. One month ago I would not have felt completely comfortable dealing with this level of media. Now I feel I am confident enough to be assertive, pleasant and knowledgeable enough to run a similar situation on my own. My PR perspectives on these situations have also changed. Previously I thought a PR Officer had a more dominant role. But rather it is my duty to act as a mediator in this situation. I allow the media to get the shots they need (if appropriate) whilst monitoring the situation. 

NO SUCH THING AS OFFICE HOURS

I was lucky enough to have a very flexible placement that allowed me to work the hours per week that the workload required and also allowed the ease of doing work from anywhere via laptop and mobile. This was amazing at first and meant no matter where I was or what I was doing I was able to keep tabs on what was happening. However, it took less then two weeks to realise as great as the flexibility was, it was a slight pain as there really is no such thing as office hours in PR.

Between the organisation, coordination of events, the media relations and social media management, it started to feel like my days never ended. You could wake up to a call at 7am in the morning and still be replying to emails at 11pm at night. It very quickly became exhausting trying to keep up with everyone’s constant demands and expectation that you were available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I decided pretty quickly that I needed to limit my work hours and times and devised a schedule of how many hours and what exact day I would spend working.

Needless to say, this did not last very long at all. I have the flexibility with my hours but there is no such flexibility in the responsibilities of your job title and description. As the Public Relations and Media Officer for this company I had the responsibility to be accountable no matter the times or day.

This included running stock around for photos shoots on a Sunday afternoon, 8am meetings and nights kept free for events. If you had told me this is what I was in for at the beginning I would have been a little unsure its what I wanted, yet now I realise it comes part of the package of working in public relations. You need to be available sometimes because you don’t always know when the next great opportunity for you brand to be represented will pop up and no good opportunity should be let to just pass by. You also will never know when a crisis may strike; you always need to be at the ready for what any given day may throw at you.

This is the true beauty of Public Relations. Every day truly is different, and you may have to be a little more available but with the sacrifice comes the reward of being able to do a job that you truly enjoy. 

Moriarty's concert- The work behind it!

Hello all,

In my third post I would like to talk about Immedia's first major event of 2013 which was Moriarty's concert in Mauritius. Immedia's team organised that concert mainly for 'melomanes' and also with the aim to enable Mauritian public discover and appreciate their music. I was happy to be part of the organisation of the event as I got the opportunity to learn a lot about the PR work behind it.

As I said in my first post, a press conference was held to inform the media and hence the public about the forthcoming event. Thereupon I was asked to write a media release which was to be sent t media outlets by mail as a form of follow-up. Moreover I collected news articles about the band's concert in Mauritius which we also used as a form to measure our communication strategy.

In less than two weeks almost all the tickets were sold out. My supervisor told me we also needed to distribute tickets to our sponsors as the agency promised to do so before all the tickets were announced 'sold out'. He added that as an agency we cannot beak our promise to them as it can damage the organisation's reputation and that of course, it is not ethical.

I also got the oppotunity to go to 'Conservatoire François Mitterand' of Quatres-Bornes, where the concert was to be held, two days before the 'jour-j' to see if the preparations were going on smoothly.

The tasks I undertook on the day of the event, just a few hours before the start of the concert were: assuring everything was okay with the technical preparations (lights,sound,effects...),getting to know the team working on the preparation of the concert (technicians, musicians,...), checking if all the seats were well numbered, installing Immedia's banderole with the team ( even if you're a PR person, you've got to have muscles! Since it is a small team, like my lecturer said in PR 220 class, no one else is going to do it for you!) and welcoming the guests.

All I have to say about the management of the event is that it was a wonderful experience. The concert ended up being a huge success and I was glad that the entire team's days and days of efforts were rewarded. Also, I attended one of the most beautiful concert in my entire life. That's how fantastic it is to be a PR person!

Divya G.

Facebook - A communication tool for PR practioners

Hello all,

One of the task I have enjoyed the most at Immedia was being the agency’s Facebook Analyst. Facebook is an important communication tool which the agency uses to promote its activities and reach its audience not only locally but also at international level. 

After each and every press conferences, we used Immedia’s Facebook page as a mean to publish media releases or to make announcements. The only difference between social media and traditional media releases is that the message is instantly delivered to the audience who in turn responds by liking or commenting on our posts. The disadvantage with press conferences is that at times not all invited press outlets assist the event and, on some occasions, some newspaper outlets do not publish our information. 

Social media, in our case Facebook, has allowed a two- way communication where our audience interact with the agency. Also our message can successfully get across to the targeted public. Social media has allowed the agency build a special bond with its public. As Kim Harrison (2011, 595) mentioned in his text when he talks about social media; it removes the tendency to market at people and instead naturally shapes a more honest, meaningful, and informative approach, to which I totally agree.

Moreover, as a Facebook analyst I used Immedia’s social media page as a tool to measure the effectiveness of our communication strategies. For example, after the publishing of Immedia’s articles in the newspapers or broadcasting  of the press conferences on television, the number of likes for Immedia's Facebook page would gradually increase which indicates that the message reached the public.

Facebook also allowed us see how many people saw our post, hence the number of people we have been able to reach via our social media page. The share and like options help reach a wider audience as the friends of the person who liked our post or commented on our pictures or videos get to see them as well.

Personally, I think Facebook is a ‘blessing’ (of course if used wisely and know how to respond to negative comments in times of crisis) and an effective communication tool which all PR practitioners should use.

Till then, keep well everyone.

Divya G.

My First Client

My First Client

My first client experience was somewhat daunting but very satisfying at the same time. I mentally prepared myself for what was my first attempt dealing one-on-one with an actual client. As I was placed in charge of the publicity campaign for this client, it was imperative that I addressed all objectives for the publicity campaign and asked relevant questions that would aid in my research.

I sat down at the local coffee shop with Public Relations Director Lauren to meet with our client. As we waited, I had a million thoughts floating through my head about whether I was prepared, had I thought through what I should say? Have I actually learned anything from my degree that I could put into practice? Will the client appreciate my ideas? As I contemplated all of this the meeting began.

Our client was amazing and the meeting was a breeze. Aside from learning valuable communication skills between client-consultancy relationship I also learned the importance of client confidentiality and the risks that are involved with this in the workplace that can be detrimental to your career. Finally, it dawned on me that confidentiality in the workplace holds great importance, something that I had never thought about in detail before this meeting. 

Communicating directly with clients through email and phone is also something I have had to adapt and learn to do confidently on my own. I soon realised how imperative it is to always keep the client happy and updated but to always maintain a strong and positive relationship with journalists and to have a sound understanding of the media world and its inner workings.

I am now well aware that the media relations industry is much more diverse than I initially thought and is quickly moving into a more complex and ambiguous world for public relations practitioners. 

Please see On Deadline Fourth Edition by Carole M.Howard and Wilma K.Mathews for more information. 

By Georgia. 

Traditional Public Relations - So much more satisfying!

Over the course of my internship at Corporate Sports Australia i've spent a significant amount of time completing tasks generally thought of as 'traditional public relations' - such as media release production and distribution.

After writing a number or media releases on the city to surf, i am a firm believer that tradtional PR tools still have a place in today digitalised society.

Of the last four media releases i've produced, two have generated some excellent free publicity in The Sunday Times! yay! and some were also featured on the City to Surf website. In my opionion seeing some recognition of your hard work in print in the newspaper is so much more exciting and satisfying that simply maintaining a presence of Facebook.

Except when i told my mum and she couldn't understand why name wasn't on the article. 'No mum, i didn't actually write the article, i wrote the media release. Which the journalist then decided to write an article based on.' She definitely did not share my excitement.

Corporate sports are very into championing the notions of 'tragedy and triumph' within media release content. As interns we were pushed to seek proactive stories that will connect with the wider Perth community, tapping into emotions through, inspiring stories of everyday people - like them! And then hopefully encouraging them to get off the couch and run a marathon!

Earlier in my placement i wrote a media release on the cutest couple ever. Now in their 70's they have run every single City to Surf to date! And they were probabaly the nicest people i've ever met, they even sent me loads of old photos and media clippings from marathons they've competed in around the world.It was nice to be able to recognise their acheievement and give them something back through getting the story published.

Writing media releases at my internship gave me an opportunity to showcase some of the skills i've picked up over the last three years of studying and i now have some great pieces of work to include with my CV.

I cannot stress the importance of research enough!

As mentioned in my previous post, my supervisor and I agreed that a few media relations activities will be beneficial for Wise Earth Pty Ltd’s architecture and urban design and solar education and information entities being Ecotect-Architects and Solar-e respectively. 

 

The main activity will be media releases issued to community and The West Australian newspapers regarding the outcome of a recent meeting with WA Premier Colin Barnett. The meeting was between Mr Baverstock and the Premier to discuss the environmental implications of the proposed Local Planning Scheme 3 for the Cottesloe beach foreshore redevelopment. 

I was given the task of equipping Mr Baverstock with more information regarding climate change, beachfront erosion, sea level rise and overshadowing of the beach. This brings me to the challenges and “real life” experience of the internship.  

Throughout my public relations education at university, I have read countless articles and books on perfecting the function of public relations within an organisation. One of the themes that is ever-present is given a lot of importance is research, thorough research. Knowing that I work at an environmentally sustainable enterprise, I had to conduct primary and secondary research into a number of things. Of course, I kick-started my researching by attempting to understand renewable energy and the advantages of energy efficient building design, all of which were central to the company. 

Come to think of it, did you know the largest wind turbine which is located in Hawaii is 20 stories tall and has blades the length of a football field, and solar passive home designs promote optimum living temperatures while being environmentally responsible? This information was stumbled upon while doing secondary research. 

And now for the fun part- primary research! Armed with an audio recorder and a couple of closed and open-ended questions I went to Cottesloe beach and asked questions to anyone and everyone who wanted to talk to me. The questions were mainly about their views about Cottesloe beach an whether or not they wanted the redevelopment to go ahead according to the proposed Local Planning Scheme 3.