Being the bridge for a bridge!

The fact that a public relations practitioner acts as a bridge between the organisation and its stakeholders isn't exactly new information. However did you know that you could be the bridge for another bridge?

A little confused? Well let me introduce you to the company I'm doing my internship with: FSB Marketing.  FSB Marketing is in the distribution industry and basically, it imports products from other countries, mainly Europe to make them available to Mauritians. However, it's job is not limited to simple re-selling. It is also responsible for the representation and marketing of these brands here in Mauritius. Think managing the image of one brand or company is easy? Well how about 30? That's the number of brands that FSB currently manages, in terms of sales, promotion and image-building. 

The company distributes products that are not only efficient but some of them are actually number 1 in the major markets of the world. It also already has a marketing department that manages the promotion and distribution amongst some of the biggest retailers in the country. So why would they need little me? Well it turns out that having a number of high-performing brands with efficient products at affordable prices does not really matter, if you cannot communicate the benefits of these brands.  So who could effectively communicate this information from FSB to the audience they are trying to reach? A PR practitioner which of course here acts as a bridge. The communication is not limited to reaching the target customers, the PR practitioner has to deal with other stakeholders in order to create and maintain the desired image of each brand and of the company itself. 

FSB Marketing Office at Trianon

I have to admit that I was quite worried at first that I would not have much PR to do at a company called FSB Marketing and that I would be swallowed up in marketing and only be lightly touching on PR. Well, I am happy to say that I was completely wrong! The great thing about PR is that it is present in more places than you think  and it might just not be called PR, but the practice remains the same. The company does not have a PR department, neither did they know exactly what PR meant and got it confused with customer relations. 

However after a small briefing session with my manager on my first day, I was put in charge of the company's Facebook page and of  one of its brands. I have also been asked to come up with communication suggestions and ideas for their other brands.

A week has gone by since, and I have already proceeded to making lists of NGOs we can work with, liaising with them and arranging meetings to discuss potential collaborations. Needless to say that this is all very exciting and that I'm finding myself doing a lot more PR than I originally thought. I now have the image of three brands to manage through all the communication procedures and yes, this is how I became the bridge for a bridge.

Before ending this post, I have a little piece of advice and it's to look for PR opportunities even if they do not appear clearly at first.

 "Just because you haven't seen something, doesn't mean it isn't there" - Epic (movie).

 PR is so varied and can be found in so many things. So if you are finding yourself short of work to do or wondering if what you are doing is really PR, try to see if you are managing the communication between the organisation and its publics.  

If you are, then guess what? You are doing PR!   Best of luck to everyone for your internships and I can't wait to read your experiences! 

Vaneeda C

The difference between Theory and Practice: Stepping into the 'Real' world.

The difference between Theory and Practice: Stepping into the 'Real' world.

    Throughout the course of our degree, we have been preparing for the 'real' world. The purpose of all those endless hours of academic readings and course work was to provide us with enough insight and broadmindedness to be able to tackle the numerous challenges we would face in the professional world.
    Now that we are at the door step of our careers, the hands-on experience we will acquire through our internship feels even more valuable as through it we will be able to connect the dots and draw the bigger picture of the Communications world in which we are about to step in.
     I have been fortunate enough to have landed my work placement in an industry that i have been passionate about for many years : The Music Industry. The recently created local music label 'Kabann Records' is producing its first big national scale project and I have been recruited to be at the head of the communications team.
    As opposed to what I had expected, there was no easing-in process and i jumped straight away to the heart of the matter in the first few days of the job. Major Brain-Storming sessions, writing the project plan, background research of the industry's requirements and competitors, recruiting the team and conducting the 'interview', drafting a communications plan; the list is endless. Through our general experience of life and our studies, we have acquired some background knowledge of various fields around us such as videography, photography, the media, the artistic world and so on. All this prior knowledge mostly falls under the theory aspect of these fields and its only when actually working in collaboration with professionals from these different areas that we actually get the real feel of how things are done in the real world.
   As a communications professional, in order to communicate efficiently, it is of utmost importance to fully understand the message to be passed on. So for the project that i am working on, the learning process is ever-present as i need to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Although I feel its going to be a bumpy ride, this internship has given me the opportunity of being part of a journey I am sure to come out of as ready as I can be to face the 'real' world.

Looking forward to this great experience...

Yashdith Bachwa
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