Where Worlds Collide: The Marketing & PR Overlap

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When I first started my PR & Marketing degree, I always imagined that these two majors would rarely overlap in the real world. How wrong I was! I'm currently completing my internship at my place of work - I work 30 hours a week as the Marketing Assistant at WA PCYC - and my role has really proven how much all communications roles are intertwined. Even though PR isn't even included in my job title, about 50% of my role could be considered PR-based activities.

For example...

• I manage 1 Twitter page and 3 Facebook pages, and then oversee another 19 Facebook pages that our individual centres also have access to.
• I write media releases regularly and liaise with (mostly local) media most weeks - we need to have a great relationship with local media as our centres are scattered all over the State.
• With the above also comes maintaining media distribution lists, tracking which stories were picked up and ensuring we have copies for our records, which I'm also responsible for.
• I'm accountable for producing WA PCYC's bi-monthly newsletter, Intervention (which I'm excited to say will be getting a fresh new look soon!).
• I am currently on a three-person planning team for WA PCYC's 75th Anniversary Gala Dinner, which involves working closely with our internal stakeholders and various suppliers.
• I'm also on a three-person planning team for the 2016 Youth and Community Justice Conference, which will be held in October. The Conference boasts speakers like WA Police Commissioner Dr Karl O'Callaghan, Chief Justice of WA Wayne Martin AC QC, ACIC CEO Chris Dawson APM and the 2IC of ASIO, so stakeholder management is essential.
• For the above two events, I'm responsible for creating and implementing a PR plan to maximise ticket sales and secure media coverage of the events. I've also designed the invitations and programs for both events.
• Even in the more marketing-type duties I do, my PR skills are so valuable - you're not taught how to write succinct yet engaging copy in your marketing degree.

Since the cross-over between disciplines and duties can be pretty large (especially when you're working in an in-house comms role), I think having extra skills can always be helpful and can even give you a bit of an edge in interviews! If there were 3 tips I could give first year PR students, they would be:

1. Learn your way around the Adobe Suite.
   Having a basic knowledge of InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator will help you so much! I know that we now have Canva for creating social media tiles, but I sometimes find some of my favourite fonts aren't supported by the platform - plus it's not a photo-editing software. Adobe offers a great deal on their student subscription, so it's worth checking out. There are heaps of free tutorials on Youtube to help you on your way.   
2. Learn how to read and code basic HTML.
   I'm not saying that you need to know how to code an entire website, but even knowing how to insert a picture or create bold text through code will put you in good stead. In fact, while formatting this post I had to go in to the HTML editor to override the rich-text "compose" mode, as it wasn't formatting the way I wanted it to look. Codecademy has some FREE basic courses you can take if you're unsure where to start.
3. Learn how to use different communications platforms.
   MailChimp, SurveyMonkey, PRWire and Hootsuite are just some of the platforms you'll encounter in your travels, and if you're a proficient user of them you'll be making your bosses life so much easier. Plus, if your boss hasn't used that specific platform before, you've now got a unique skill to bring to the table. Win-win! 

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I'm by no means professing to be an expert, so I'd love to learn from you!
What are your top three tips for PR students/graduates to help put them a step above their competition? 

'Til next time,
Jess.

It's Not Just a Post

Content creation is something we over look. Especially when you get bombarded with pictures, videos, graphics and so forth scrolling down your social media news feed. How often do you see a picture of smashed avocado on toast in a day? Or a flat lay usually consisting of a few products to create a feeling in the image #perthisok.

No matter who you are or how many followers you have, you actually create content every time you upload something. Of course as part of an organisation, your content is important to communicate and support ideas and activities surrounding a cause.

What I’ve learnt so far in my internship is using appropriate images to support up coming stories in the magazine that is yet to be released.

There’s more thought and consideration in these images then one would imagine. Like mentioned before, we see so many on the daily through our own social media feeds. An image is just an image. But when you’re creating social media content, your image has to be engaging, appealing and translate the message across.

You think about the time to post, how many posts to posts, what kind of filters you use to reflect the brand. Not to mention the consistent hash tags for association. I’ve also downloaded a range of apps that help with creating graphics. Not to undermine the laborious degree of smart graphic designers, but these apps (yes to technology!) can give anyone a very very short crash course in the simplest graphic design. If you can call it that.

One day, I spent 3 hours, walking around taking pictures for up- coming and future social media posts. Apart from the many weird glares and confused looked; I enjoyed scouting for content and thinking of how images could be posted.

This internship has taught me that you definitely have to get out of your comfort zone, even if it is walking up and down a street taking pictures! 

What have you done so far in your internship that has brought you out of your comfort zone?

The Power of Social Media

In today’s evolving and digitally connected society, people have become highly dependent on the use of social media. Social Media is a means to communicate with people around the world, or even if they are in the room next to you. Platforms that are frequently used include Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, all heavily influencing people and their engagement with friends and even brands and companies. For companies it is a method to engage with the younger audiences, who are regular users of social media. When it comes to social media they are ways in which a brand or company can successfully engage their fans by their posts. During my time interning, I had the opportunity of running the Facebook page, and managed to gain over 500 new likes to the page. Due to this I picked up on a few tips when creating posts on social media.

Keep it simple:Whatever you do, you don't want to overload the audience with information because lets be honest, they aren't going to read it all.

Know the audience: Knowing the audience and their interests is vital when creating posts on social media. This is easy to pick up on by seeing which posts receive the most engagements such as likes, comments and shares.

Timing is key: To effectively engage and receive the most exposure on your social media accounts it comes down to the time in which the posts are published. The times of the day that receive the most views and engagements tend to be first thing in the morning between 7am and 9am and after work between 5pm and 7pm. This is when people tend to be more active on social media, posting and scrolling through their feeds.

A photo speaks louder than words: This is the most effective way to easily grab the attention of a social media user. They don't have to read a single thing and everyone loves imagery. 

 

The Mercedes College Alumni Facebook page

What are you tips when using social media for a brand or company?

The rise of social media

As I told you all in my previous blog post, I began my internship at Devahasdin Public Relations after I worked there in 2010 and found my love for PR.

I've completed 15 days of my internship and after looking back at my time from 2010 and the past few weeks, there is one significant change I have noticed: The rise of social media.

Of course, I'm aware social media was around in 2010, but the ways in which it was used has now changed dramatically.  Although social media does not replace traditional media and the importance of a good media release or news coverage, I believe pairing traditional PR practices with new technologies and social media is the most powerful way to get a message across.

A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with my supervisor and we devised a social media plan for the month of May for their client Queens Riverside. You can view some of the things that I helped to plan here.
Here's a version of a previous social media plan done by Devahasdin so you understand what they look like, but I can't show you the one being currently used before the plan is carried out, sorry everyone!

A social media plan didn't even exist when I last worked in this office.  I was shocked at how much work is actually put in to posting on social media on behalf of a client.  Even though the tone used is conversational (number one rule when posting on social media!), the effort put into deciding exactly how to seem casual when communicating to the client's stakeholders is crucial.  You must include important events happening in Perth during the month but also making sure events used throughout the month aren't similar to one another.
For instance, Wicked The Musical is beginning to show at The Crown in May, which means that it would be best not to use any other theatre events in the rest of the plan.
It is incredibly important to make use of plenty of hashtags, most importantly the few that are essential to that certain client, and as I have stated, the tone in which you post is vital.
I learnt all of these things in Techniques and Media Relations, so it was nice to be able to put some of what I knew to good use.

The social media plan covers what should be posted on many platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Facebook post for Queens Riverside posted by Devahasdin.

Instagram was only established in 2010 and not even on anybody's radars when I last worked at Devahasdin, now, it is becoming one of the first ways in which clients can directly communicate with stakeholders.

We have discussed the rise of social media and its uses in PR many times during class, but seeing the social media plan mapped out in front of me for an entire month really did give a lot of insight to what we have been talking about for the past few years.

The use of social media allows for direct two-way communication and real-time feedback between an organisation and its stakeholders.  Through the use of these platforms, many of Devahasdin's clients have been able to develop a stronger relationship with their clients, as there is ongoing communication mapped out for each month.  Stakeholders involved with Queens Riverside are able to see ongoing updates of construction via pictures (the staff at Devahasdin, including myself are also in charge of taking these pictures) and posts on these platforms.

Ongoing construction at Queens Riverside taken by Lauren Sydoruk (Account Support) and myself

Although social media allows organisations to engage proactively with their publics and the speed of information has significantly increased, there is a negative to using social media and that is in the form of complaints etc which can be seen not only by the organisation itself, but by the general public as well which can severely effect an organisation's reputation.

As we are all aware by completing this part of the assessment, blogs are also a large part of PR practice nowadays.  While being at Devahasdin I have been asked to compile media distribution lists for a number of different clients.  Another thing I've noticed about the rise of social media is that blogs and different bloggers are now targets for PR practitioners when reaching out to the media.  This also wasn't a large occurrence the last time I worked for Devahasdin.

Has anyone else been highly involved with social media during your placement?
Were you shocked at the large amount of work that is involved to post on social media on behalf of a client?

Let me know guys! :)

Claudia x

The first week of my PR 393 Internship

Greetings everyone, 

I am Geetika Boyjoo and am currently undergoing my final semester at the Charles Telfair Institute (CTI), Mauritius,  majoring in a Bachelor of Commerce in Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management and Public Relations.

I started my internship at the Medine Limited last week on Monday 4th of February 2013. The first day I have to admit I was rather stressed but as I got to know my colleagues and more importantly my supervisor, I was able to adapt and understand what the internship entails.

However, before giving you an insight of my first week at Medine Limited, allow me to give you a brief introduction of the company. 

Medine started off as a sugar estate, which means that it formed part of the sugar industry which was once Mauritius's main economic pillar back in 1911, when Medine was first established. Later on Medine diversified its activities into other promising ventures as the sugar industry's economic importance declined with time. As such, in 2009 Medine divided its activities through a rebranding exercise, into 3 definite clusters which are as follow:

1. Medine Property: this involves the development of the property portfolio of the company.
2. Medine Agriculture: this cluster's role is to generate and try to implement innovations related to the agricultural activities of the group while at the same time considering diversification programs.
3. Medine Leisure: is all about managing, operating and developing the leisure activities of the Group, including the Casela - the Group's leisure hub.

For more information, you may visit their website on the following link: 

http://www.medine.com/  

and/or if you prefer their facebook page on: 

https://www.facebook.com/MedineLimited?fref=ts

As you will be able to see on their website, the Group also does news, publications and CSR-related works. The Corporate Sustainability and Communication Department at the Head Office, is where I am following my internship. 

The first few days were already scheduled as being my period of Familiarisation with Medine Limited through their printed materials namely their newsletter - 'The Medine Post', their website and facebook page and their Medine Master Plan - a document downloadable from their website which is a high-quality document written and published in 2005 by a team of architects, town-planners and sociologists under the guidance of Mr. Maurice Giraud, one of the architect planners.

This specific document contains all the details of the vision and plans of the organisation over the western part of Mauritius for the coming years. 

Up until now many of the projects have been undertaken and are still ongoing. Also every year the Medine Master Plan is reviewed, updated and adapted to current economic situation and according to present demands. Below are the covers of the latest 'The Medine Post' and the Medine Master Plan:

Moving on, on the first day, apart from going through the familiarisation process, I was able to experience what real media clipping is all about.

 What I was asked to do, was to convert the JPEG articles into PDF documents to be uploaded on their intranet so that everyone connected would be able to get access to it on one main location, in order of - published date and  - separated into 5 sections, namely:

1. Agro Industry 

2. Tourism & Leisure

3.Property Development

4.Regarding Medine, and 

5. Education 

Additionally, I was asked to make a comparative study which involved research work to identify in what ways Medine was different or similar to its competitors.

Moreover, I was asked for the address details of particular ministers and ambassadors for which took place yesterday night - 15.02.13 - concerning the laying of the foundation stone at Casela by the Prime Minister. 

Even if I was not asked to search for their phone numbers, fax number and e-mail addresses, I produced a contact list where these were included in case these were urgently needed. I used the same procedure when making the ambassadors' contact list and as a matter of fact, these two documents came in handy when we had to make follow up calls afterwards. 

Also, during the first week I learnt how to officially communicate on behalf of Medine Limited, whether this was done by calls or e-mails when asking for quotations of certain logistics and how crucial proof-reading is before sending out e-mails. 

Furthermore, what I essentially grasped was that representing such an organisation called for professional behaviour and attitude. 

Afterwards I got to help with the company's fun day scheduled for their employees, which involved:

1. Cross checking of a Power point presentation

2. Re-organising and adding details to a budget document

3. Making integral calls, and 

4. Chase up calls of logistics

As a whole, this is how my first week went by in a jiffy. Having been working on these two events is the reason why I was not able to post my first blog earlier.

Nonetheless, remain posted to check my second blog post coming up soon.

In the meantime, I wish you all good luck with your internships,

Take care everyone,

Warmest regards,

Geetika Boyjoo

Curtin ID: 15172402

From Classroom to the Real Working World

Hi everyone!

I am Delvina and currently on my final lap in completing my undergraduate degree at Curtin Singapore. My internship officially started on 2 August 2012, and I am really glad that I was able to find a placement. This would be my first post and I would like to start off by introducing the PR agency that I am interning with and my role.

 

MAX PR is a fast-growing independent PR agency based in Singapore. The agency specialises in healthcare, consumer, crisis and corporate communications. It comprises well-established and veteran practitioners in the Asia Pacific regional marketing communications landscape and has presence through its own staff/offices or affiliate partners in 14 markets throughout the region. 

The PR agency consists of only six people including myself. My main role in the agency is media monitoring/ media clippings, materials development, social media updates (Facebook), media list updates, event help, desk research and reports, and other ad-hoc tasks.

Media Monitoring/ Media Clippings

There are various newspapers which I have to go through every morning. My role is mainly to look for news in print media that has references to a specific client and the agency’s designated topics of interest, to record them down and to clip the client’s coverage. Other than from the print media, I would also need to monitor and clip news articles from the Internet, and from various business e-newsletters that my colleagues had assigned to me.

Materials Development

Till now, I have helped to do up part of the wrap-up report for the agency’s two clients. I am tasked to collate all the media coverage of the clients into the PowerPoint slides as well as to research for the circulation numbers that each publications and websites have.

Social Media updates (Facebook)

I am tasked to update the Facebook statutes for a client thrice a week. These updates include post-event comments and other health related news (as the client is from a healthcare industry).

Media List updates

The update of media list is quite a taxing job as I had to go through many different publications and Internet websites from both Singapore and international. But I feel this job is an important one as there are frequent changes within the various media themselves, where some journalists either resigned or transferred to another department. As such, it is important for us to keep our media list updated, and thus able to pitch the stories of our clients to the right media, with the right contacts.

 

I am happy to be spending these two months at MAX PR, to learn and to gain a lot of invaluable PR experiences. I will be sharing more on my internship soon. Till then, hope everyone has great experience in their respective companies!

 

Cheers,
Delvina Chiang
15006527
Curtin Singapore

Social media - no longer just an assignment procrastination tool

The role of ‘new’ media, ie. Social Media

At uni and in the public relations industry in general, we are often told of the importance of being familiar with “new media”, also known as social media. For the present day public relations graduate, calling the media “new” is amusing seeing as the majority of us have grown up with it, and we are now more connected with society than ever! The majority of us are very familiar and skilled at using social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, blogs, and the newer ones Instagram and Pinterest.
 

Facebook timeline crisis

Earlier this year in mid-February, Facebook announced their new 'timeline' layout being rolled out for brands as of March 31st. This annoucement, while not entirely unexpected, caused a bit of a hurdle – especially as we had been working with the creative agency on a new Facebook ‘splash’ page for the old layout of the Student Edge fan page (eg. drive the like). Our communications team worked hard to ensure we were going to ‘timeline ready’. Along with the new timeline announcement, Facebook also released a set of updated guidelines, in particular that the ‘cover’ photo could not advertise the products or have a call to action to like the page.

Anna our marketing gun worked closely with a consultant who specialised in social media for brands (what a brilliant job! Definitely something I would like to do!) to roll out the new timeline (especially revising the creative) for the Student Edge Facebook page.

My role in this was to review the current copy in the ‘About’ section to ensure it was updated to be on tone with the new Student Edge brand. After Sharyn reviewed my comments I was told to cut it down. Unlike at university, in the real world less is NOT more, particularly when speaking as a brand that communicates primarily to 15-17 year olds! Check out my Facebook copy here.
 

Using social media as a brand

Having the insight into how brands use Facebook is fascinating. As an avid Facebook user myself, I am very well versed in using it as a personal user – and in doing so, maintaining my own ‘brand’: setting my privacy settings to high, detagging potential incriminating photos, etc. However, using Facebook as a brand adds a whole new dimension. As I’ve learnt, there are two things that need to be considered when setting up a social media page for a company:

1. Who is your target public? There is no point having a Facebook page if your target audience is not on Facebook.
2. What is your communication objective? Do you wish to ‘broadcast’ to your fans (eg post messages) or engage with them? Whichever approach is taken, companies needs to remember that social media cannot be controlled, and that people ‘follow’ or ‘like’ you because there is something in it for them.

Great use of Facebook timeline

In the process of developing the Facebook timeline creative for Student Edge, we looked to what other brands were doing well. See below for some examples:

Fanta:
In their Facebook page, you can see they have integrated their profile picture into their cover picture which is very clever. The profile picture also works as a 'stand alone'. Fanta uses their page to engage fans and has utilised the 'timeline' feature well, with important milestones filled in (eg. back to 1955)

Student Edge:
With the Student Edge Facebook page, the profile picture was also made to be able to 'stand alone', as well as be consistent with the rest of the cover photo. The Student Edge Facebook page is used to engage members as well as drive traffic back to the website. Student Edge’s use of Facebook is a major focus for this year. It is the social network of the moment, and it is where their target market is.

 
Have a look at this thought provoking article on PR Daily: Why 2 million brands should shutter their Facebook pages. The article argues that you either need to do a Facebook page well or not at all. I agree!



Beyond Facebook
 
It will be interesting to see what the new ‘new media’ will be after Facebook – the wave will not last forever – remember MySpace? There is a lot of industry buzz around Pinterest, but I’m not yet entirely convinced. What do you think?


Rachel

Beauty and the 3geeks; Episode 4 - The end of an era!

Beauty and the 3geeks

Episode 4; The end of an era!

It has been a crazy 2 months that is for sure. Below is a quick recap, so just imagine a movie montage type show reel with music playing in the background whilst the highlights of my last 2 months are playing;

In episode 1 I introduced myself and the commitments I have running the not-for-profit; zero2hero, university and my new position as Social Media Manager at the digital agency 3geeks. I covered setting up the basics of a business ie: templates, spread sheets, documents, presentations and seeing to it that everything we are promoting our clients are supposed to be doing we are also doing.

In episode 2 I shared what it was like to brief and pitch to a “real” client and the preparation required leading up to it.

In episode 3 it was unveiled that we signed the client from episode 2 and that the challenge had only just begun. I also touched on what it was like to interview clients and produce case studies.

Phew! In my last 2 months working fulltime and studying full time has been a mammoth of a task. I have managed full time work alongside my degree quite easily over the last three years (until now). One thing University is unable to prepare us for is 'what it really takes'.

Previously managing a fashion store meant that I was doing full time hours however I could switch off at the end of the day. I have discovered is that there is a big difference when your job involves you being accountable for client accounts, KPI’s and also working in the social media industry. Unfortunately (and fortunately) Facebook does not sleep. In this industry it is expected that I am up late checking accounts and replying emails and that uni will fit around work not that work will fit around uni. This has required a realignment of my mind, diary and habits.

My position required a lot of work to get going and also the ability to find my place within a small business. Now that I feel as though I am in the swing of things the results have been showing up. In the last 2 weeks we have closed a few accounts and my week consists of managing all six of my client campaigns. This is the most rewarding part of my role. I love managing their social media strategies, although it is challenging at times it is fun and has plenty of rewards. I smile whenever an account clicks over another 10 likes ;) a little geeky but true.

Once upon a time I was a massive lover and advocate for Facebook, I now view it as just one of many tools to increase brand awareness, customer loyalty and target an audience. I have learnt so much in my time with 3geeks and I am looking forward to developing myself in the social media world plus the success of our first ever zero2hero Day. There is plenty happening and I have confirmed that there are definitely not enough hours in a day.

Final thought: Sleep faster!

Thanks for reading,

Ashlee Harrison

A 24hr Job

HERE IS SOMETHING NONE OF YOUR LECTURERS AND TUTORS WILL TELL YOU-

PR IS NOT A 9-5 JOB... THERE IS NO END... THERE IS NO CLOCK OFF... THERE IS NO DOWN TIME. 

YOU MUST BE ON YOUR GAME ALL THE TIME. WORKING ALL THE TIME. LEARNING ALL THE TIME. CONTACTABLE ALL THE TIME. EMAILING ALL THE TIME. FACEBOOKING ALL THE TIME. TWITTERING ALL THE TIME.

AND ABOVE ALL... YOU MUST STAY AHEAD OF THE PACK.

No one told you this? Why are you so surprised?

A career, a job, an industry that is built on interacting with people, socialising and crises management  could never have a start time or an end time and don't you DARE hit the snooze button.

BUT

Heres the good news.
If you are on your game all the time, You are committed to working as hard as you can, You are constantly willing and wanting to learn, Always clutching your phone waiting for that phone call, Always replying to emails, Constantly watching the companies Facebook pages and closely monitoring activity then you will be the most in demand and successful PR agent. That is the key.

To be fair to everyone, I fear this may only really apply to anyone that wants to get into the music and events industry of PR, however, consider yourselves warned and advised!

Beauty and the 3geeks – Episode 3; A frosty week

Beauty and the 3geeks

 

Episode 3 - A Frosty Week...

In episode 2 I discussed what it was like to pitch to a “real” client but left whether they had signed the dotted line until this episode. Today I am proud to say that we did and that they chose to go with the Mercedes campaign (a step-down from the Rolls Royce campaign we originally proposed). After almost a month working on this campaign they are ready to step it up to that Rolls Royce campaign. So a double bonus for both companies and a good indicator that the work we are doing is beneficial for business.

In the three weeks I have been working with this client I have enjoyed the freedom I have been given to implement their social media strategy. Both the client and my boss have given me sufficient space to manage the account and update them on its progress. This company works in the mining industry which is not something I was traditionally familiar with. It has meant that I have needed research the topic, their industry and its target market far more in depth than I first predicted. I have also been in the process of speaking to people working within the industry and taken mental notes of how they speak, what they say and how they react to different aspects on the mining industry. This is massively important with regards to running advertisements and posting relevant information.

This has given me the opportunity to further develop my Facebook advertising knowledge. I have been using Facebook advertising for over a year now and consider myself very knowledgeable in running a marketing or PR campaign using this tactic. However, managing the same topic for a few months has meant that I have had to really develop my industry researching skills. For example simply searching mining does not give me information that can be used to target people working in Australian mining between the ages of 20-40. Therefore I have had to delve much deeper into getting to know my target market in order to ensure that my clients advertising spend is achieving the highest return.

On another note; I had the awesome opportunity to produce case studies for a client. This required me conducting interviews with both the client (my client) and also a representative from the company they were chasing a testimonial from. In this process I was having some serious flash blacks to PR Media and got a little excited at the thought of interviewing people from an angle that would deliver some solid results that highlighted my client very positively. The interviews did make me feel a little like a David Frost wannabe it was a ball. The interviews were recorded on an iPad not a Dictaphone to achieve a real Gen Y effect J. They have since been converted into a 2-pager highlighting the issue the clients services solved and can now be added to their sales portfolio or used to showcase their work on blogs, social media channels or within their office. Conducting the interviews was good fun and I realised that a career in presenting is not entirely off the cards yet.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mQyKq5fvQg)

Final thought: stop researching what people in mining are earning, I chose to be white-collar and I am starting to rethink that ;)

Speak soon,

Ashlee Harrison

Beauty and the 3geeks

Beauty and the 3geeks

Episode 2; Would you recruit me?       

Good morning,

In episode 1 the focus of my placement at the digital agency; 3geeks, was to lay a solid foundation for their new social media department. With proposal and presentation templates firmly in place it was now time to test how effective they were. My boss and I had a meeting with one of Perth’s leading recruitment agency’s to discuss the potential of implementing a social media strategy. I had met the owner (aka the decision maker) very briefly before the meeting so I wasn’t walking in blindfolded however it was a big pitch and very different to presentations I had done in the past and also anything I had pitched at University.

The agency was already aware of the importance social media placed on the future success of most organisations however they did not have the resources or experience to fulfil on the strategy we were suggesting.  Our proposal (another PR technique I had been graded on many times before) included the management of their Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin and Youtube accounts. It was exciting and confronting to be talking to not only a “real” client but also a potential BIG client about managing their digital footprint on such a large scale.

At University we have been taught about budgets and timelines for supposed clients and it was satisfying to be proposing something in reality and for a client that actually invested in marketing or PR activities. The only clients we had come close to working with at Uni were charities and typically these organisations don’t have the money to spend on excess marketing, advertising and public relations therefore it was refreshing to be able to unleash our creativity with this campaign and still produce value for money.

(A Rolls Royce Camopaign).

The pitch went well (I felt) and my boss was happy so we crossed our fingers and waited for their response. They were happy with us BUT wanted to know what a step down from the campaign would cost them so requested we come back to them with a ‘Plan B’ proposal so they could choose.  This response was positive for me, we were proposing a 'Rolls Royce' of campaigns and they wanted to see how a 'Mercedes' would look.

After this pitch I had a completely new experience of what we call an “oral presentation” at University. Although the process was a lot more natural in this context it was also a lot more confronting and I was left waiting for a contract rather than a grade.

Overall it was an enjoyable experience and I learnt a lot! Working with my boss to ensure we were on the same page before, during and after the meeting was crucial. This is more important in a small working environment and is also obvious to a client. Therefore we worked together making sure we agreed on every part of our proposed campaign and did we land the job??? Episode 3 will answer all ;)

Final thought: don’t take them up on a coffee at the start of a meeting it’s too hot to drink until after the meeting is over.

Thanks for reading,

Ashlee Harrison