When I was contemplating the important decision of where I would like to carry out my professional placement, I was determined to find a business where I could make the most of this opportunity and learn skills that perhaps couldn’t be taught at University.
Of course, I looked to good ole’ Google to get some expert advice- and after reading through PR forums, blogs and websites and it didn’t take long to realise that the recurring topic of interest was all about digital communication. It became increasingly obvious to me that if I wanted to have an overall broad knowledge of Public Relations by the time I graduate, I had to gain a stronger grasp of technology and new media which are vital to PR today, and in the future.
This video featured on the right I found to be really useful in underlining just how important digital communication is, from a range of the most successful PR professionals.
I think a really high level of aptitude around all of the new applications that are emerging...understand how you can fit those in with your PR programs,"
- Andy Lark, Dell.
- Andy Lark, Dell.
"You actually have to apply the internet and web 2.0 and social media to your life to be able to really understand how it can apply to your clients' life"
- John Bell, Ogilvy PR.
- John Bell, Ogilvy PR.
Before I knew it I was having a coffee with Stina from Precedent and discussing the possibilities of how I could help out the team, whilst learning from them as I go along. Precedent has only recently expanded office to Perth, with offices currently in London, Edinburgh and Cardiff. For this reason we established that my main role would include devising a PR plan focusing on building brand recognition and community relations in Australia, whilst also organising an upcoming event.
For the moment I have been focusing most of my attention on the upcoming event, which is a free breakfast seminar. Precedent uses seminars as a tool to display their expertise and professional knowledge to educate Marketing managers, CEO’s and Web professionals in digital, brand and print design.
It has been my task to find an appropriate venue for this seminar, so I have been doing lots of research to find the best venue in regard to capacity and atmosphere- whilst staying within budget! – I’ll show you my options in my next post and hopefully get some opinions on what choice I should make ☺
Throughout also working on my own projects I have been following the work of the Precedent Consultants, just through this I have learnt of a whole new practice, User Experience Design. Whilst this may not be a confined PR approach, it is interesting to see how the two relate. User Experience is an approach to the design of products, services and environments based on a holistic consideration of the users’ experience. Experience design is therefore driven by consideration of the ‘moments’ of engagement between people and brands, and the memories these moments create. (http://www.montparnas.com/articles/what-is-user-experience-design/)
What surprised me the most whilst learning about UX was the correlation that could be made with elements of Public Relations. There are obvious similarities of recognising and acknowledging your stakeholders/publics and customer knowledge however the importance of brand in each sector is so vital.
Both UX Design and PR work on building a better brand, far beyond just the stereotype of primarily focusing on a logo or promotional aesthetic.
A brand consists of the associations, both rational and emotional, that ordinary people make with the company. (Undercover User Experience Design, Cennydd Bowles, 2011)
It was beneficial to see UX work such as personas and wireframes which all seek to determine the target publics of web design- just as PR campaigns do. Both can strongly relate and both involve strategy.
Learning so much already, love it!
I’ll keep you posted,
Chantelle ☺
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