Arguably,
the hardest thing when you work in a PR Agency is handling people. I am
deliberately broad when I use the term ‘people’. The people that you’d be ‘handling’
ranges from your colleagues, clients, media, various stakeholders and KOLs (Key
Opinion Leaders). I guess it’s not a challenge that is unique to a PR agency
but it is certainly something that is worth mentioning.
As
many of you would already know, PR works on endorsements. That’s why you spend
as much time working on your pitch letters as you do for your press releases.
It is also what differentiates us from Advertising – messages delivered through
paid spaces. Think of it this way, why would an oil and gas company use an F1
driver to endorse their new product which has X additives? As a consumer you
would think “He’s a champion F1 driver, he must know what he’s talking about.”
Now compare this to an advertisement featuring the driver, endorsing that same
product, with an interview of the driver extolling the great features of the
product. Which one would you believe more? I honestly believe that the latter
presents a more convincing case, don’t you agree?
That’s
the power of endorsement.
In
my first month as an intern, I was presented with an opportunity that was
beyond my own reckoning. I was asked by my Account Manager to help facilitate a
‘media-fam’ (media familiarisation) trip to Brisbane.
My
client was Livescape Asia and they intended to bring one of Australia’s
well-known music festivals to Asia – Future Music Festival. Unless they’ve
studied in Australia or are techno-music aficionados, most Malaysians wouldn’t
know what Future Music Festival is. To compound the problem, we had to somehow
persuade 30,000 people across Asia to attend. It was a tall order. Naturally,
one of our strategies to get the buzz going was to have KOLs talk about Future
Music Festival.
Thus,
we shortlisted a few candidates based on a few criterias that was agreed upon
with the client and we started to pitch to these KOLs and media about a
fam-trip to Future Music Festival in Brisbane as a preview of how Future Music
Festival Asia could be like. After a great deal of convincing, we’ve managed to
secure a few lifestyle writers, bloggers and a popular Malaysian DJ.
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| From left: Myself, JinnyBoy of Hitz.fm and Joyce Wong of KinkyBlueFairy. (All pictures courtesy of KinkyBlueFairy) |
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| From left: Dawn Yang of ClapBangKiss, Chris Le of Beat Magazine and Joyce Wong of KinkyBlueFairy. (All pictures courtesy of KinkyBlueFairy) |
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| Festival goers at Future Music Festival in Brisbane. (All pictures courtesy of KinkyBlueFairy) |
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| Jessie J on stage. (All pictures courtesy of KinkyBlueFairy) |
After
a gruelling two to three weeks of making arrangements and preparations, we were
off to Brisbane.
Now,
the most important thing to remember is that you are an enabler. If things were
to go wrong, you have to make it right. If some of them are unhappy about
certain things, you have to reassure them. Above all things, you have to be a
bastion of calm in the midst of all the chaos and uncertainties. Trust me,
things will go wrong.
If
you succeed in doing everything that I have mentioned before, then your KOLs
and media can enjoy the event or product, without worrying about the ‘peripheral
issues’ that might hamper the whole experience. The last thing you want is for
them to write about the problems that they’ve encountered on this trip (which
they didn’t because they’re heaven-sent!).
I
guess to summarize, an apt phrase to hold dear in these types of situations is “Keep
calm and carry on!”
Best,
Zahir Zaini
Curtin Miri
14575097
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