Kion Sanders is a recent communications and public relations graduate from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is the former Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) national vice president of chapter development and a current member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). Recently, he officially started his career in Cleveland, OH as an account associate for Fahlgren Mortine Public Relations.
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As a student, I was fortunate to have internships that provided me with pitching responsibilities. One of the major roles of entry-level PR professionals is building and maintaining relationships with media representatives. My relevant experience made the transition from student to professional that much smoother because I was properly prepared for future responsibilities.
A model from the Nicholas Lindsey Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Show. (Image Rights: Nicholas Lindsey Brand)
A few weeks ago, I concluded my post-graduation internship with Weber Shandwick – a global public relations agency. As a consumer brands intern, one of my major responsibilities was pitching the media on behalf of clients I represented. I was able to practice everything from writing and distributing pitch e-mails, using social media tools to engage my targeted journalists, the proper way to pitch bloggers and of course, jumping on the phones to tell my client’s story.
This experience prepared me for one of my most challenging roles to date – serving as a PR manager for a Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week show. Nicholas Lindsey, a brand designer and one of my fellow PRSSA graduates, was in need of last-minute PR support for one of the biggest shows of his life. Immediately, I jumped at the opportunity; it was a great way to help a friend in need and a way to practice what I learned from my internship.
As PR manager for the show, my main responsibility was media relations. On show day, I had journalists present from Essence Magazine, NBC Universal and fashion bloggers from around the country, including an NYC Fashion Examiner. To solidify these high profile media representatives, I used everything I learned from my internship, especially social media for media relations purposes. My wonderful PR agency allowing me to pitch as an intern led to something I am very proud of – my first national magazine placement: NYFW Designer Q/A: Nicholas Clements-Lindsey.
To answer Tressa Robbins’ question, posted on the BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas blog, “Should PR Interns Pitch the Media?” … YES, they should – I am a living example of how it can prepare interns for the “real world.” In fact, I recently accepted a full-time position with Fahlgren Mortine Public Relations where I … pitch the media on behalf of clients.
Giving the valuable experience interns can learn from pitching, can you think of any reasons why they shouldn’t?
GEOFFREY PHELPS: And I’m Geoffrey Phelps, vice president at Coyne Public Relations in Parsippany, New Jersey.
BURKE: And you gentlemen just gave a great presentation about targeting your influencers and how you work with them. Can you please talk a little bit about how you target and work with the media in social media, like your bloggers, and the traditional media?
PHELPS: Well, one of the key things that we talked about today was in the past Goodyear had not approached bloggers. And we had a product that was specifically–the target demographic for that was specifically looking for a lot of their information online, on blogs, and they like to discover things.
So what we realized is there were key influencers in the blogs that we needed to talk to in addition to the traditional print media. So we looked at doing two launch events, one for traditional print media and one for bloggers, giving them the same sort of experience, but understanding that we had to treat the online media a little bit different; understanding that they have video-heavy needs, in many cases, that they have very, very fast turnarounds. They need everything electronically. Their time cycle is a lot faster.
MARKEY: It’s very similar to the different way you might treat consumers. You have to be credible. You have to create an environment where your word is credible, it’s believable, but where they can discover what you’re trying to tell them on their own. They can experience it and feel it on their own and really kind of take it and make it theirs, as opposed to you just pushing out the message. You want to create an environment that makes it easy for you to do your business and for them to get the story they need.
BURKE: Those are great tips for media relations and PR practitioners, and thank you so much. Where can people find you online and in social media?
MARKEY: Well, you can follow the Goodyear Blimp on Facebook. Please come and join us there.
PHELPS: And for Coyne PR, you can visit our website, it’s coynepr.com. And we also have a blog, and we have lots of other tips and advice up there, as well.
In an age when anyone can be a “journalist” and anything a sound bite or testimonial, inappropriate online communications is fast becoming a liability for companies and brands. Those most vulnerable to this threat are organizations that have failed to establish clear guidelines for employees’ use of social media. And, in fact, a sizable majority of businesses still do not have a social communications policy.
A survey conducted by Digital Brands Expression (DBE), a consulting firm that specializes in search marketing, revealed that 78 percent of respondents said that their business actively uses social media. Yet only 41 percent of those businesses reported that social communications are addressed by some form of corporate policy.
And of the 41 percent that have a plan in place, few have formal guidelines specifically addressing employee conduct online, specifically in social media. Referring to the DBE survey, this Media Post article noted, “Only 29 percent reported distributing policies and/or communications protocols to employees via social channels.” Instead, most of the organizations “appear to be shooting from the hip, with no cohesive game plan or measurement systems in place.” Read more of this newsletter in the BurrellesLuce Resource Center.
JOHNA BURKE: Hello, this is Johna Burke with BurrellesLuce, and I’m here at the PRSA Counselors Academy with Abbie.
Abbie, will you please introduce yourself?
ABBIE FINK: Sure. My name is Abbie Fink. I’m vice president and general manager of HMA Public Relations in Phoenix, Arizona.
BURKE: And, Abbie, you’re also the co-chair of Counselors Academy. Can you please talk a little bit about the programming and how you as an agent see–drive some of that content to make this a valuable attendee event for some of the participants?
FINK: Sure. Counselors Academy is a special interest group of the Public Relations Society of America, and it’s attended by owners and managers of public relations firms. And so we are all here–it’s our professional development opportunity for agency owners and managers to really learn about our businesses. We are talking about growth strategies, what are the trends that we’re seeing in the marketplace as it relates to social media, green initiatives, Hispanic communications; really, the types of things that we can look at as new revenue-generating sources, new business opportunities that we can then take back into our own markets and implement new programs and things that we’ve learned as a result of the conversations that we’ve had here.
BURKE: Great. Thanks, Abbie. And where can people find you on the web and in social media?
FINK: Well, thanks for that opportunity as well. We are on the web at hmapr.com. We also host a blog at hmatime.com. And then you can find me on Twitter @abbief, that’s A-B-B-I-E-F, and of course on HMA Public Relations page on Facebook. And I look very much forward to connecting with you there.
To summarize the panel: location apps (e.g., Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt) serve as another way to enhance a consumer or stakeholder’s experience and interaction with your company, brand, or client.
Tara Dunion, Consumer Electronics Association, looks to enhance the attendee experience at the International Consumer Electronics Show each January by creating an official location page on Foursquare and aggregating all the social media coverage on the website. (And they even plan to add additional locations for 2011). She commented that many exhibitors have multiple locations available for check-in, which also buys-into the game aspect of Foursquare.
Danielle Brigida says, The National Wildlife Federation wants to get you outside enjoying nature, so they employ Whrrl and Foursquare to help people share their experiences with others. Whrrl works well for their needs because it allows the user to upload a picture to help tell their story.
A recent story on Mashable by Dan Klamm highlighted how universities and colleges can use location-based tools to promote the school, foster school spirit, drive revenue and promote the community. One idea included offering special badges for exploring places on campus.
However, not all location-based tools are gaining momentum. When Facebook Places premiered, Foursquare had a record number of new sign-ins because it connects with the new Facebook app. A few weeks later, few people are using Facebook Places. Dan Frommer explored the possible reasons on Business Insider, commenting, “Only 2% of My Friends Are Using Facebook Places…”
After the panel ended, I enjoyed brainstorming with others on how they might use these tools to help their organizations. How could you add geo-location social media into your PR toolbox? What questions do you have about the tools? Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuceFresh Ideas.
