PR: The Real Deal

Hi all,

In my previous entry here, I shared about my dilemma in deciding whether I wanted to join a local boutique PR agency or an established international PR firm. Today, I'll be sharing snippets and pictures about real world PR from a greenhorn's perspective!

A Press Conference is not just a Press Conference

We learnt a lot about press releases and press conferences in school which is an integral part of PR. I was fortunate to be able to get involved in organising my first press conference in my first week! Held in conjunction with a regional futsal finals competition, I embarked on my first of many 'firsts' for sure - first press release, first media blast, packed my first media kit, printed my first CD labels and the list goes on for behind the scenes work. 

I even had to manage a media futsal team so as to ensure that they went for their sponsored gear fitting, attended the press conference eventually so that we could get coverage and was well enough to play a futsal match! This was when I realise that a press conference is really, not just a press conference. There are many details to plan and work through which goes a long way in making a press conference successful.

There are lots of Perks to the Job!

What they do not teach you in school, is that there are lots of perks to your job as a PR practitioner!

For an entire week, I was given a pressing (and delectable!) task of tasting the dishes of all the tenants of a F&B corporation and find out their business history. This was so as to put together a backgrounder which will accompany the main release for the new food atrium launch. While I got to interact with many tenants which deepened my appreciation for hawker food, I also got to binge on many local delights which made going to work extremely desirable.

In another event for a makeup brand, the client accorded a bag of cosmetic goodies to show their appreciation for our services rendered!

Getting Physical and Dirty is Inevitable

As a greenhorn, you must always be prepared to get physical (and dirty!) on the job. Think - lots of walking, carrying boxes of heavy stuff, etc. Part of my job requires me to do sourcing, set-up, packing of media kits and media drops which can get physically intensive. Coming from a boutique PR agency, there are resources constraints hence manpower will have to come from within. I find myself having to carry dozens of boxes, walking distances to source for a specific kind of jar, knocking on one too many doors to deliver media kits, peeling off price tags and labels till the fingers blister, etc.

The above are pictures of some of the media kits I have packed. Some media kit were fairly light but some came up to almost 5kg in weight! I had to deliver 40 boxes of those which came up to 200kg in weight!

PR Comes in Lots of Forms

PR really does encompass a variety of tasks and services. Here are some forms that I found out PR can take: 

 Media Presentations

 Product Launches (Media/ Bloggers Invite Only)

 Blogger Workshops

I have come to appreciate the dynamic qualities of the job. In fact, I find myself falling in love with the unpredictability of each day! I hope you are too!

Till the next,
Grace Ong
15230928
Curtin Singapore