When PR has a new definition

Hi,

Here is my last blog for the PR intership. It's finally the end and this what I had learn from my placement.

During my placement, Imagine Communication helped to get a better understanding and a clearer picture of the work of a PR practitioner. Throughout the whole placement, I grew into maturity and ready to take more responsibility in order to respond to the field’s requirements. Each task in the company was a step further in order to understand what the different clients’ need and know how this particular world functions. Throughout the communication sector, we came across various important actors of different industries and the knowledge acquired through the study course helped to deal with those situations and to give the best of each situation by being proactive to each client.

Regarding the company, itself, being the oldest PR Company in Mauritius, Imagine Communication had proved its efficiency in terms of media relations and media monitoring. Therefore, when dealing with media, the company identifies particular journalists who will be able to give maximum coverage to specific activities. This was the case for the conference of the Omnicane Republic Cup. For this particular event, journalists from the sport department were invited, as the company was sure that the event would get the amount of media coverage needed. Due to his experience in such field, the Company is well known in the industry and it brings different clients which we need to work with and need to perform many tasks with the help of different people. And those tasks are the duty of a PR practitioners.

At the end of the job placement, a new world was being discovered and it needs to have more in-depth knowledge. In the PR domain, each day is a new day as there are new issues which can occur at any time. Specialising in media relation, make the company and the practioner alienate themselves to the media thus making the company dependent of news concerning the different client as they need to be aware of any articles and radio broadcasts concerning the latters. However, media relations do not mean working specially with media. There are different aspects of PR like event management such as conferences, dealing with media releases and to responds in short delays to particular issues and always enhancing the reputation of the clients which need to be mastered in order to be called a real PR practitioner. In other words, practice make perfect.

Hope you enjoyed this last blog.

Cedric Amiran

How to write a blog when you don't understand the topic

This week I started writing my first blog post for the organisation, which we are hoping will lead into an upcoming feature article we have in the tech-savvy magazine – iStart. You can check it out here istart.com.au to see what it's all about!

I’ve written blogs before at my previous job, but I was quite excited to be provided with the opportunity to write one for UXC Eclipse.  However it suddenly dawned on me that I didn’t know much about what I was meant to be writing about. Sure I had read our recent White Paper on the topic, but that definitely didn’t make me an expert or thought leader.

However, as I reflect, this is a constant battle us ‘PRers’ have to face. 

Most days we are asked to research and write something, usually for someone else. Media releases with made up quotes that are later signed off, speeches. presentations, backgrounders, this list goes on!

When working for a consultancy, when a client wants something written (and usually written fast) you are suddenly required to write in a certain field. Be an expert if you will, in an industry you only touch base with occasionally, but the client expects you there to write about an organisation, a topic, a project like you’ve been there for the last 20 years.

For me now, even though I only work in the one industry – ERP/IT I have only been here for four months, and that’s definitely not enough time to be an expert.

I therefore have to research hard and fast, ask the right questions and just get on with the job. I usually first reach for what an organisation has done in the past and get a feel for the writing style and subject and then go from there.  As always Google is most definitely your friend to try and find out all the information that’s available out there and make sure what we’re writing is adding value to the conversation and not just more noise.

Sometimes it can be quite tricky, but if you persist, you can often get it. I’ll keep working on the customer-centricity blog this week and once its finished off,been looked over by my director and published online,  I will try and post up here so you can check it out.

In the meantime, the customer-centricty blog was sparked off by the back of an article which you can find here:

http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/how-woolies-and-david-jones-are-challenged-by-war-babies-and-millennials-20150429-1muvbh.html

Perfect timing as we have a current focus on the retail industry.

And although I knew this will be attributed to someone else, I’m just really glad to be provided with the opportunity.