The free event which is organised by Leeds Media and Social Alchemy, Inspire. Create will combine an exhibition of budding creatives’ work with a series of seminars and workshops in a bid to support Yorkshire’s rising stars.

The exhibition will feature the work of 15 successful entrants from a competition that has been launched by the organisers.

The winners will be crowned at the event, with prizes including a paid placement at Leeds-based digital agency Brass and a new Apple Mac donated by communications agency Logistik, which is also offering an experienced mentor from its design department to offer guidance and support.

The exhibition is open to all full time media, digital and creative students, graduates and freelancers and is taking place on Thursday 27 October at The Faversham, Leeds.

Workshops and seminars will be held by representatives from some of the UK’s leading agencies, which are all based in the Leeds City region, including What !?, Engine Room Apps, Thompson Brand Partners, BrandNu, Clearsilver, Coolpink, Two Birds One Stone and Creative England (previously Screen Yorkshire) .

Nick Ramshaw, Chair of Leeds Media said: “Leeds Media is committed to helping develop, attract and retain the very best talent in our region. This is essential to support the continued development of our creative industries and this event is another example of the practical help Leeds Media is providing to ensure this happens.”

Michaela Laubscher, Director of Social Alchemy commented: “As a young person and a business owner, I’ve seen first-hand how difficult it is to break into the media industry.  Events like Inspire. Create. are important for breaking down barriers by allowing young creatives to meet their industry peers face to face.

“Our range of seminars and workshops will inspire students, graduates and freelancers to take the important next steps in their career – whether that’s getting a placement within an agency, or starting up their own.”

There are limited places still available for some of the seminars and workshops, visit www.inspirecreateleeds.co.uk for more information.

Charlotte Giver living it up in LA

It is funny how I ended up working in the industry. Once upon a time, I was one of those people that thought that anyone involved in the fashion industry was shallow and superficial. At the same time though, I was wearing the latest designers and rocking my studded stilettos.

However, it was not until one of my friends over in the US introduced me to the world of fashion and entertainment PR by giving me the contact information to a well-known PR agency in Los Angeles that I actually fell in love with the profession. At the time, I was in the process of landing an internship for my third year of university; also known as the placement year (I don’t believe you can graduate without any work experience listed in CV…)

After a skype-interview (gotta love the new technology!) I got the internship and arrived at Los Angeles International Airport in June 2011, wearing a sundress, straw-hat and a big smile on my lips.

So how was it like to work in one of the most dynamic professions, in one of the world’s most dynamic cities?

Footsore and fancy free

I can only speak for fashion PR but interning in America is often unpaid and working in fashion is pretty much a slave job!  If you have watched Andy Sachs in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, you know what I am talking about. My feet went on strike after the first two weeks. All of the running around to Starbucks, Staples, FedEx, Copymat and the newsstand, I wanted to pretend that heels did not exist.

It didn’t matter how many shoes I got to pick out of the shoe-closet as a reward for my hard work, my feet refused to step into any shoe with a heel. But do you know what? It was all worth it!

Yes, all of that running around was exactly what I needed in order to do to prove just how much I wanted to do a good job at Red Light PR. I learned that what might be seen as a hierarchy will only work in your advantage! Unpaid or not, you are working yourself up! And a little PR101: don’t whine!

By knowing exactly how to work the word reputation management in the world of PR, you will make yourself, your boss and your company look good. I am talking about keeping a good relationship with the clients, stylists, editors and entertainment managers.

Keep on wearing that big smile of yours and with a little hard work, blood, sweat and tears, your internship will pay off!

Needless to say, as an intern, it is very important to create a good relationship with your boss, manager and colleagues. The first day of my internship, I went around the office and introduced myself. I got along great with the other interns and spent a lot of time with them after work and during the weekends. When I was assigned to the Fashion Director and the Account Executive of the women’s department, I made sure that I went to see them every morning in order to show interest and create a good relationship. I asked them if they wanted some coffee, if there was anything in particular that they needed me to do and how the day looked like.

My year of internship has now come to and end but if I could, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! Yes, it has been a whirlwind at times and working unpaid for an entire year is something many people think is insane. But I tell you one thing: the people I have met, the places I’ve seen and everything that I have learned and experienced make it all worthwhile!

I mean, hey, I even lived in the same apartment complex as Heidi Montag and Lauren Conrad in the first episodes of the Hills!

Charlotte Giver is a final year student at Bournemouth University

Isabella Oliver was founded in 2003 and first concentrated on supplying stylish maternity clothes for women who weren’t prepared to compromise their style during their pregnancy. At the request of customers, they then created a 365 Collection range offering non-maternity fashion.

Based in London, they’re a well known company with many pregnant celebrity fans as well as an extremely loyal customer base. I first came across them in 2009 when I was introduced to the opportunity to do some work experience in the PR and marketing team whist studying for my A-levels. Two years later and I was delighted when I was offered the chance to rejoin the team for a summer placement with Michelle, the fantastic PR manager. After communicating with her about the various logistics of the placement I was ready and raring to get started.

As a massive fashion fanatic I really enjoyed my work experience week with the company the first time round, but I had no idea how much I would embrace and appreciate this new experience with them. Michelle and all of the team work very closely and I admire the respect and appreciation everyone shows each other in the office. Every morning I could be sure that I would be looked after and praised as well as kept busy and active allowing me to get a fabulous range of experience.

Some of my daily duties included helping out with the management of the showroom and all the samples. I was responsible for sending out a lot of samples to magazines and dealing with the press for shoots, features and online articles. I also contacted bloggers and online press with releases and other opportunities such as reviews and competitions, which taught me a lot about communication. I also got the chance to do some research on various topics such as trade shows, wholesalers and media contacts in Australia and America.

As well as my day to day duties I was able to help out on shoots for new collections, both on location and in the studio. This offered me a wider range of understanding for what the company does. Part of working with the PR team is sending out ‘Look Books’ to relevant press and so it was great to witness the process of how these are created.

On these shoots I was able to work with Ania, the Fashion Editor and also founder Baukjen, who both taught me a lot about having an eye for fashion. One of the best things about working with Isabella Oliver is the kind and patient nature of the employees, even when things get stressful, and this was evident on the shoots.

If this experience has taught me anything, its how invaluable work experience really is. It was that experience in 2009 that encouraged me to look into PR and the fashion industry, and coming back made me sure I had made the right choice for the right reasons. I even found myself looking back over the knowledge I learnt in my first year at university and gaining a new understanding for all the terms and theories we learnt. Working with Isabella Oliver has confirmed all of my reasons for getting into PR.

There’s never a dull day, it’s vital for any business and most importantly, no two days are ever the same. The thrill and excitement you get from working in a fast-paced industry supplies you with all the satisfaction you could wish for from a career.

I urge anyone studying PR, or even thinking about studying PR, to get out there and find out what it’s all about. It will help you gain a well-rounded view of the career opportunities you have in this industry. Although this was fashion PR I have also worked in retail and property PR. The great thing about PR is that there are so many paths you can take, so go out there and experience them. Apart from anything else, pushing for these experiences and finding and contacting people in the industry is also a great way to practice the important skills of persuasion and communication, vital for working in PR.

It’s not working

One report by American advertising company Ace Metrix would certainly suggest so.

The company spent all of 2010 monitoring more than 2,600 adverts, and they discovered that the celebrity endorsed adverts had the same impact as non-celebrity endorsed adverts.

In some cases they performed much worse.

This was particularly prevalent in adverts endorsed by sports celebrities who performed the worst out of all celebrity endorsements.

Out of the whole campaign the two celebs that had the lowest score in the test were professional cyclist Lance Armstrong with minus 28 percent and professional golfer Tiger Woods with minus 30 per cent. The sports star who had the biggest impact was American footballer Peyton Manning who is a quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, and he only boosted the value of the campaign by a measly 1.5 per cent. (The full report can be found on the Ace Metrix website).

In an article for the Daily Telegraph Peter Daboll, head of  Ace Metrix, was quoted saying: “Today’s consumers are far more likely to be influenced by someone in their social network”. He went on to state that “They don’t want to have products pushed at them, even by a celebrity.”

So what does this mean for sports stars and their agents? Well one reason behind these findings could be the decline in celebrity status, especially amongst sportsmen.

It used to be the case that the public could only judge a sports person by his or her performance in their chosen sport. Now we know every facet of their lives and when a sports star does make a mistake or do something immoral you can be sure that it gets mass coverage.

So it is of no surprise that Tiger Woods was bottom of the poll, after his catastrophic fall from grace. Woods is still struggling to regain his reputation and his form. Since it came out that he was a serial philanderer Woods has dropped two rankings to third in the world and has put in some truly mediocre performances, so the effect that he will have on a campaign is never going to be what it once was.

Reputation risks

It is because of the constant flow of scandals coming from the sporting world that advertising and PR agencies have to be careful how much they build a brand around a sports star.

Another consequence of the report is that the application of celebrity endorsement needs to be reconsidered. Whereas before it was enough for a celebrity to come on screen and endorse a product, now this has a minimal impact on the public; so a more subtle approach needs to be taken.

One example of this is the campaign for Power Balance Bands. Rather than produce a set of garish flashy adverts that had athletes talking about how effective the bands are, they just asked David Beckham, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal to wear the bands in front of the cameras. Word soon spread and eventually other opinion leaders started to test the bands and soon they had worked their way into the mainstream, now they have sold around 2.9 million units around the world.

This opinion is also shared by Tim Crow, who heads up sports marketing group Synergy. In the same article he commented “rather than sticking a sportsman in a studio where they eat money, look uncomfortable and irritate a high proportion of viewers – you need to get them out into the action”.

The rise of social media

Another way in which celebrity endorsements can develop is through social media.  As Peter Daboll stated, people are far more likely to be influenced by someone in their social network; this means that the advantages of platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are even more important.

I for one follow a large number of sportsmen and woman on Twitter and when they tweet about a new product they have tried and liked I immediately check out the product, this process has a far bigger impact on me than a traditional advertisement.

Viral adverts are nothing new, but they are a great way of sports people endorsing a product without seeming obvious. One great example of this is Nike’s’ “Write the Future campaign”. This was Nike’s campaign for the 2010 Football world cup. It was launched a month before the start of the tournament and got 7.8 million hits in its first week and it outperformed Adidas, the official sponsor of the World Cup.

These videos show our favourite competitors actually performing; the product that is being promoted feels organic to the video and allows the viewer to witness the effects of whatever is they want to sell. It is clear that internet-based videos have a future in sports branding and if you haven’t seen the video you should watch it after reading this article.

Super Bowl, still super expensive

We are approaching an event which is one of the most eagerly anticipated and watched climax of any tournament, The Super Bowl. This will be broadcast all over the world and watched by over 90 million Americans. On average it costs advertisers 3 million dollars for a thirty second slot on the telecast.

Tom McGovern

With advertisers spending huge amounts of money for viewing figures like that it is obvious that sport still has an integral role in promoting and advertising. With such a big event it is imperative that these campaigns make the maximum impact. That is why it’s crucial PR, marketing and advertising companies start embracing other platforms for endorsing products and start engaging with their target audience.

For me, sport is the most inspiring form of entertainment. It transcends race, gender, class and political barriers and there is something about witnessing a team or individual rise above mediocrity and achieving something greater than themselves. This appeal is universal.

The quest for a sporting victory is itself an allegory for life and as long as people still aspire to become better and look up to sportsmen there will be a place for sports endorsement. However it is the application of the message and the medium which will dictate how successful a campaign will be. The future of sports endorsement rests on the shoulders of the agents and advertisers rather than the sportsmen themselves.

To celebrate the relationship between journalists, bloggers and PRs, www.theCRAPPs.com was launched by 10 Yetis PR Agency in mid-November, in association with Daryl Willcox Publishing, www.dwpub.com, the company behind Response Source, FeaturesExec and SourceWire.

The light-hearted awards are split into three stages:

1.    Nominations – open until 30^th November 2010 – NOW CLOSED

2.    Voting – open from 1^st December until 14^th December 2010

3.    Results – released 15^th December

There are five personal award categories, and one group award.

The awards have received thousands of nominations since launching on Wednesday 17^th November, prompting praise from prominent journalists and public relations professionals.

The ten most nominated names have now formed the shortlist in each category, where voters now have the chance to vote for their favourite per category.

Final results will be made public in time for Christmas, on Wednesday 15^th December.

Here are the finalists in each category:

1. The journalist that makes you feel warm and furry on the inside

·         Adrian Bridgwater – freelance

·         Alan Hubbard – Independent on Sunday

·         Ben Moss – sport.co.uk

·         Mary Bowers – The Times

·         Miya Knights – Retail Technology

·         Paul Lampkin – Pocket-lint

·         Sophy Ridge – News of the World

·         Tara Evans – This is Money

·         Tom Wiggins – Stuff

·         Tricia Phillips – Daily Mail

2. The ‘most likely to tell you to sling your hook’ award

·         Alan Burkitt Grey – Global Telecoms Business

·         Charles Arthur – The Guardian

·         Chris Blackhurst – London Evening Standard

·         Fiona Harvey – The Financial Times

·         Gary Flood – freelance

·         Joe McGrath – What Investment

·         Mike Butcher – Techcrunch

·         Miles Brignall – The Guardian

·         Pete Swabey – Information Age

·         Sean Poulter – Daily Mail

3. The ‘best blogger’ PR award

·         Adam Vincinenzi – COMMS Corner

·         Ben Cotton – Social Web Thing

·         Chris Lee – Planet Content

·         Juliana Farha – freelance

·         Martin J Robbins – The Lay Scientist

·         Sal Romano – scrawlfx

·         Sally Whittle – Who’s the Mummy?

·         Sarah Ewing – freelance

·         Stephen Waddington – Wadds’ PR Blog

·         Tom Fordyce – BBC Sports

4. Least twattish Twitterer – the must follow journo

·         Caitlin Moran – The Times

·         Charles Arthur – The Guardian

·         Charlie Thomas – Pensions Management

·         Darren Waters – BBC

·         Dr Ben Goldacre – The Guardian

·         Emma Barnett – The Daily Telegraph

·         Graham Norwood – freelance

·         Harry Wallop – The Daily Telegraph

·         Jeff Prestridge – Daily Mail

·         Sophy Ridge – News of the World

5. Journalist you’d most like to bring to the dark side (employ as a PR)

·         Amy Duncan – The Metro

·         Charlie Brooker – The Guardian

·         Harry Wallop – The Daily Telegraph

·         Jane Hamilton – The Sun

·         Jemima Kiss – The Guardian

·         Mark Dye – freelance

·         Mark Gilbert – The Sun

·         Sarah Ewing – freelance

·         Simeon de la Torre – FHM

·         Sophie Donnelly – The Daily Express

6. Most approachable daily national newspaper

·         The Daily Express

·         The Daily Mail

·         The Daily Mirror

·         The Daily Telegraph

·         The Daily Sport

·         The Daily Star

·         The Financial Times

·         The Guardian

·         The Independent

·         The Metro

·         The Sun

Rich Leigh, account director at 10 Yetis PR Agency, www.10yetis.co.uk, had the following to say,

“Since launching the awards two weeks ago, we’ve been overwhelmed by the response. We counted just shy of 1,000 separate Twitter mentions on the first day, and have seen a steady flow of traffic and nominations since from some very prominent media names.

“As I mentioned at launch, the media calendar is already full of awards, but the difference here is recognising the often-difficult relationship between journalists and PRs whilst having a bit of fun at the same time. The shortlists really began to take shape after the first week and despite a few twists and turns, I can’t wait to see the reaction to the categories!”

Daryl Willcox, chairman of Daryl Willcox Publishing, www.dwpub.com, said of his company’s involvement in the awards,

“We couldn’t resist being involved in these awards and I’m really happy at how well they have been received. It was fantastic to see both PR professionals and journalists coming together to embrace the nomination stage, particularly via social networking platforms. It will be exciting to see the votes roll in over the next two weeks, and look forward to when 10 Yetis announce the winners.”

The CRAPPs can be found on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thecrapps

The Communicative Relations Awards from PR Professionals (The CRAPPs) have been launched to celebrate the special relationship between the media and public relations professionals.

To celebrate the relationship between journalists, bloggers and PRs, www.theCRAPPs.com has been launched by 10 Yetis PR Agency, in association with Daryl Willcox Publishing, the company behind Response Source, FeaturesExec and SourceWire.

The light-hearted awards are split into three steps:

1.       Nominations – open until 30^th November 2010

2.       Voting – open from 1^st December until 14^th December 2010

3.       Results – will be released 15^th December

There are five personal award categories, and one group award.

Categories are as follows:

1.       The journalist that makes you feel warm and furry on the inside

2.       The ‘most likely to tell you to sling your hook’ award

3.       The ‘best blogger’ PR award

4.       Least twattish Twitterer – the must follow journo

5.       Journalist you’d most like to bring to the dark side (employ as a PR)

6.       Most approachable national newspaper

Nominators can tweet their nominations, and nominate as many times per category as they wish. The ten most nominated names will be shortlisted for step two on Wednesday 1^st December, where voters will get the chance to vote for their favourite per category. Final results will be made public in time for Christmas, on Wednesday 15^th December.

Rich Leigh, account director at 10 Yetis PR Agency, had the following to say, “We wanted to have a bit of fun in the run-up to Christmas, and what better way than to make light of such a hugely contentious issue as media relations?

“The public relations calendar is already full of awards, but the difference here is recognising the relationship between journalists and PRs in a way that hasn’t ever been done before, whilst having a laugh at the same time. Knowing some journalists, being the recipient of the PR-voted ‘most likely to tell you to sling your hook’ award would be the perfect way to kick off Christmas!”

Daryl Willcox, chairman of Daryl Willcox Publishing, said of his company’s involvement in the awards, “As a provider of services that help PR professionals and journalists connect with each other we couldn’t resist being involved in these awards and look forward to the nominations and votes rolling in.

“Journalists and PRs may not always see eye to eye, but with the festive season fast approaching I’m sure hatchets can be buried momentarily as PRs doff their respective hats in the direction of the media.”

The CRAPPs can be found on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thecrapps

Grayling’s brief is to raise the profile of the EIU, positioning the sector analysts and leveraging report content. The six figure account was won by Grayling following a four way pitch and covers activity in two regions. Asia Pacific will be covered by The Consultancy in Hong Kong and Cape PR in Australia.

The EIU is the world’s foremost provider of country, industry and management analysis, and is now a leading research and advisory firm with more than 40 offices worldwide.  With extensive international reach, and unfettered independence, the EIU is the most trusted and valuable resource for international companies, financial institutions, universities and government agencies.

Michael Brunt, Global Head of Marketing, Economist Intelligence Unit commented:  “We appointed Grayling after a thorough pitch process during which we spoke to all the top international agencies. We felt that Grayling’s offer would provide us with a centrally coordinated and highly effective one-stop shop for all our communications needs. The Grayling team convinced us with their strong expertise within the media space, and we look forward to working with them.”

Michael Murphy, CEO Grayling, said: “The fact that the Economist Intelligence Unit has chosen to work with Grayling is another strong endorsement of our growing reputation for providing counsel, insight and delivery of global PR support. The EIU is such a prestigious brand; we are delighted to be working with them in such an integrated communications remit across territories.”

The campaign will be driven out of Grayling’s offices in London and New York.

Jason Gale

Handmade UK works with many interns and those at the beginning of their public relations careers. We have learnt a great deal about their expectations from the work and how the reality measures up.

Television programmers and script writers have long portrayed PR in titles such as Sex and the City and of course Absolutely Fabulous as an image of endless parties,  ‘flirtworking’ and celebrities on speed dial as your ‘in’ crowd.

Is this really the mainstay of the public relations executive’s role and the only real knowledge a successful PR person needs?

If only it were that easy to be fabulous!

In reality this is a small part of the fabric that needs to be weaved. Indeed, before the fun elements of the PR industry kick in we have to make way for hours upon hours (upon HOURS!) of straight up copy in front of the computer screen.

PR has to add value

Today’s modern consumer public relations agency now has to focus on a quantifiable return on investment for all its clients. A client may once have been happy to pay a huge retainer for occasional celebrity show ups or to attend glamorous premiers of Hollywood blockbusters. However, that client is long gone.

The PR industry over recent years has banged its fist hard to insist on being taken seriously as a valuable if not essential part of the marketing mix. That wish has now been granted albeit at a ‘cost’.

The ‘cost’ is that expectations of PR professionals have grown. Now not only does the modern PR executive have to get the best invites to the best parties rubbing shoulders with the best people, they also need to cope with a 14 hour day at least five days a week staring at a computer screen writing copy, researching opportunities for every client.

Clients’ communication needs now have to be integrated across all available tools and platforms to ensure that all this effort produces maximum benefit against demanding expectations. Patsy and Samantha would be horrified!

Additionally this change of expectation has been accompanied by the huge fragmentation of media in recent years. For example, the reduction in the number of journalists working on publications has come with an increase in demand for producing relevant column inches.

This has led to a new opportunities for the already hardworking PR executive. By providing well structured copy that helps journalists they come to rely on a PR company to take the strain.

A great journalist no longer sees the publicist or PR professional as a gatekeeper but as an essential tool that helps keep their editors happy.

Before you change your mind about PR, it’s not all work with no play; the amount of fun in public relations is an essential part of the PR mix.  Creativity is sparked and developed by throwing yourself in the mix and meeting the right minds, whatever the industry. It is certainly part of the Handmade UK working week.

When we down keyboards we put on some slap, take ourselves to glamorous parties, premieres and networking evenings.

Party lifestyle

Jackie Brambles in OK Magazine

Parties are plentiful especially in London and can produce interesting and fantastic opportunities so attending and getting known on the PR party scene is an important part of our work. Since the great and the good of the entertainment and lifestyle industries attend these events it is often easier to get an audience with them over champagne than getting past office protocols.

I attended a fantastic event for ITV a few months back with a celebrity client and in the space of one hour quaffing champagne and networking I learnt about the change of direction ITV daytime was heading, got to know a talented presenter who is soon to be a client and also shared TV strand ideas with the best TV producers in the business.  To try and achieve all this would have taken four or five separate meetings – and may not have been possible otherwise.

Hosting our own events and parties for our clients is an important part of the Handmade UK PR solution for many of our clients and we organise about twelve events a year.

Not surprisingly these prove to be among the favourite activities for the agency staff to participate in. Creating the correct branded message through a great and memorable time is essential. Organising the leaving party of ‘Loose Woman’ Jackie Brambles who chaired the hit daytime show was hard work.  ‘Hands on’ organisation is key to handling celebrities’ press sponsors, catering, photographers and celebrity arrivals along with the venue.

Of course it was extremely successful with stacks of press generated and on reflection when PR executives think about the Loose Women party they never think back to the late nights stuffing envelopes with invitations or poring over press releases… they think about sharing jokes with Carol McGiffin, dancing with pop star Lulu and being blinded by the paps after the photographs of Konnie Huq!

This remains an exhilarating time to be working in public relations. The respect for the craft is on the increase as is the expectation for a return on the client’s investment year on year.

I see an improvement of the quality of people attracted to the industry as the importance of PR activity increases in business as a whole.

The fun remains alive and kicking and essential to consumer and lifestyle PR and a successful agency -  so come on Patsy and Samantha get in those Blahniks, get the Bolli poured and chase it with a Cosmo!

Jason Gale is founder of Handmade UK and creator of the London Lifestyle Awards

The media relations tip is delivered in their own unique way by Gabrielle “Rocky” Lofthouse, who believes persistence with journalists is the key to being a PR champ. 

If you have not subscribed to the 10 Yetis YouTube channel then there has never been a better time.  Simply subscribe and you will be entered into a draw to win Guy Clapperton’s new book “This is Social Media”.

If you want to see more from the scamps @10Yetis then why not have a look at their YouTube channel

10 Yetis also offer the days news in pill form, with their “Daily Headlines” mailing list.  If you like to be added to the mailing list then please  email emmak@10yetis.co.uk

From this, here’s the first in a series of ‘ten second tips’ – advising you to ‘always keep your ear to the ground and listen out for a good story’.

By Carly Ann Smith

The night of the 22nd February had finally arrived…..the big debate….. “Is PR killing real journalism?” The event was organised jointly by the University of Lincoln’s Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations department and the Lincoln School of Journalism. It was sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Anita Raghavan, a journalist with Forbes magazine and Marc Wadsworth, a lecturer at City University and founder and editor of thelatest.com formed the journalists side. Andy Green, author, partner in Green PR and creativity entrepreneur and Peter Smith, a lecturer at Lincoln University with significant PR experience formed the PR team. The stage was set.

Both sides put forward some great points.  Anita claimed that PR practitioners were there to pull ‘the wool over people’s eyes’ and to deliberately shade the truth and even lie.

Andy Green didn’t feel the need to stay behind the lectern and read from notes. He was calm, collected and engaged with the audience. Using a glass of water to represent his point he argued there is no definitive truth, people are always biased and when things are placed in a large context their meanings can be changed. He wanted to work together with journalists to create better consumers of media and claimed we had a collective interest. This is a point contested by Anita saying she didn’t see any middle ground that they could meet on.

Marc described PR professionals and journalists as being in a ‘sickly embrace’ and claimed PR practitioners needed journalists more than they needed them. He wanted journalists to ‘return the spin’ instead of letting journalism become ‘churnalism’ – mere printing of press releases with no investigation.

Peter Smith said, “To be a good PR professional one had to think like a journalist.” Journalism isn’t dying it’s just changing. He emphasised we must ‘survive together or die separately.’

Questions flooded in from the floor with students (and lecturers alike) asking probing questions.

The debate posed a further question for many people: journalists attack PR for being biased, but surely the only difference between PR professionals and journalists is that PR professionals are transparent in their intentions? Everyone understands that they work for a particular company so their intentions are clear. It has been claimed that “any story that you look at will select some facts over others, highlight some opinions over others” – Is that not classed as spin because it was a journalist who said it?

The big result? 11 for and 34 against the notion that PR is killing journalism. Even PR practitioners wouldn’t claim this is a definitive result, to suggest however that it carries ‘next to no information at all’ defeats the object of having the debate. This is a debate that is unlikely to be settled and is undoubtedly one to watch. If journalists think that real journalism is in decline maybe they should look elsewhere for the cause…

As I come closer towards completing my public relations degree and begin looking at my career options, I am becoming increasingly confused.  In just three short years since starting my course, the landscape of public relations has changed dramatically.

When I started on my path towards PR stardom, I had to decide which sector I would like to work in – public or private – which industry I could flourish in and which discipline would suit me best. (For your information, I decided I was going to become a PR officer for a big fashion house – too much trashy American TV I think.)

However the phenomenal rise of social media has presented a whole host of new, and sometimes confusing, job roles. For example when looking at the job section of PR week, I came across vacancies for: Head of Social Media, SEO officer, Online PR Officer, Digital Media Executive and many many more.

As more and more job titles like these pop up, I am starting to question my future – surely with so many new roles being created and so much emphasis being placed on social media, this is a road I should venture down.  It’s quite scary however, as social media is not something that has been taught during my degree due to its tender age, and I’m not quite sure where the new skills required for these roles come from. Is my Facebook addiction enough to make me digitally savvy?  And what exactly is digital PR anyway?

What is Digital PR?

The internet has created a new playing field where PR is concerned and has initiated a ‘traditional PR vs. digital PR’ war.  But what exactly is digital PR and how does it differ to traditional PR? And with the rise of this imposter, is traditional PR as we know it going to die a death?

BusinessWeek describes digital media as, ‘the practice of leveraging online media, search and the social web as channels of communication, engagement and influence.’

Basically this means the use of blogs, news sites, social media and SEO for PR purposes as opposed to the traditional off line methods.

To compare digital to traditional PR, take the example of the press release. As you most likely know, offline a press release would be written primarily for the print media.  It is a body of text, no longer that a page, two at most, usually with an image attached and a quote from the director.

However, in comparison, an online social media release would have keywords integrated into it in order to optimise its results in search engines and would be likely to contain the following:

• Contact information prominently displayed up top.
• A list of basic facts.
• A series of quotes.
• Company logos and photo headshots.
• Related audio or video.
• Social bookmarking or sharing links to sites such as Digg and del.icio.us.
• RSS feeds.
• Comments.

Traditional PR professed to use the two-way system of communication but is usually a one-way affair with the focus being on securing coverage in print publications such as newspapers and magazines.

New Look's Facebook fan page

Digital PR uses online channels to enhance two-way communication in order to make the brand more trustworthy and therefore increase its reputation.

Digital PR is also much more reactive than traditional PR, as the immediacy of social platforms allows organisations to respond to stakeholders.

For example on New Look’s Facebook Fan Page,  New Look is able to communicate directly with a customer if they are unhappy with something and therefore possibly resolve a problem before it becomes an issue.

It is clear that digital PR is important and to ignore a platform that allows organisations to partake in two-way communication with their stakeholders would be silly to say the least.

Even if an organisation has no presence in the digital world, this will not stop them being talked about.

However, I don’t think traditional PR should be forgotten about completely, after all isn’t digital PR simply traditional PR but on a digital platform?  Digital PR requires the same skills as its traditional counterpart, such as excellent writing that is newsworthy and enhances the reputation of the organisation.  Sure, in the digital world the press release may come with embedded links and sound bites but the principle is fundamentally the same.

Does digital mean the death of traditional PR?

According to a PR Week survey, 60% of agencies have a digital department and 59% have a head of digital or similar post.  Several agencies described themselves as wholly digital.  While 83% of clients request digital as part of their PR activity, only 13.5% of agencies use a third party agency for digital work.

I personally don’t envisage digital PR replacing traditional PR, but rather enhancing it.  I see social media as the biggest and most exciting change to the PR profession that there has ever been and I think agencies need to embrace it.  As the PR Week survey showed, agencies aren’t employing third party agencies to do digital work; rather they are evolving their existing expertise to move into this new area.  Digital PR shouldn’t be seen as something to replace PR but as something to expand on the public relations we already know.

So as the digital boom continues and new and exciting jobs are being created, I am going to cram as much digital knowledge in to my final-year-overworked-brain as possible.  Hopefully I can then evolve into the digitally-aware PR professional that the future is undoubtedly going to demand. Of course, this is good news for my Facebook addiction too…

The launch of the iPad was phenomenal. From a PR perspective it was extremely successful. Twitter and blogs went into overdrive, trending topics regularly contained some sort of iPad reference: usually iSlate, iTablet or Apple & Tablet.

The blogs were full of videos of what people thought of the tablet, and live blogging took place like never before.

To use the soundbite ‘it just works’ that Apple chose to use over and over in the keynote would be a good reflection of the PR hype that went on; it just worked, it got people excited.

Did you hear? There's a new product coming from Apple

However, the iPad will not be the only tablet device, in fact there are many alternatives soon to come. Google is planning one, which is potentially huge competition judging by its Android technology and Chrome OS.

Whenever I open up my Eee PC net-book I am greeted by the webpage for the Asus tablet. Tablets are going to show up fast, and will soon be as common as an mp3 player. Apple just hopes the iPad controls the market just as its iPod does.

For the newspapers and magazines the wide variety of tablets will bring about a wider readership.  It could be argued that they will have to develop their content for different systems, which is time consuming and costly, but I am sure they can afford the process.

In fact it is great news for traditional media. The opportunity to update and modernise has finally arrived. Again, you may argue this happened with the internet and their websites.

But it is now that they can finally charge users for the service, whilst providing a service that users will most certainly be willing to pay for.

A great example of how game-changing this is for traditional media is Sports Illustrated. They have released a video of what their application will look like on a tablet computer. The app includes fantastic interactivity, hours of video and thousands of images per issue which will be extremely enticing to the reader. Why buy the magazine, when for the same price a reader can be given so much more, directly to them within minutes by a simple download.

Traditional media,  mainly the factual newspapers, have found the internet a bittersweet experience. The websites get plenty of hits, and new readers join every day. However, the news they provide comes free of charge, and very few take up the paid options.

Publishers will soon have the opportunity to not only charge for each issue, but to make even more on additional content. Sports Illustrated shows a live betting game in the video demo; fun for the reader, profitable for the magazine.

So long as the traditional media embrace this new format, they will soon reap the benefits. To do so however, they must first do the following:

✦ Create quality applications. If the app is no good, people won’t pay. These products will get rated, they will get reviewed, and there will be plenty of alternatives.

✦ Provide plenty of extra content. Why subscribe if the app has no more than the paper format? In fact, why purchase a tablet if apps will not be better than their paper counterparts. While there are other factors that push people towards the apps, like instant download, readers will want something to show off about.

✦ Avoid making the new format complicated. Just like a website packed with flashing images and pop-ups, an over-crowded app will put people off. The navigation must be simple, in the same way a website should be. It should be obvious how to get to the content a user wants. Simplicity is key.

Once they have completed the above, they should become very successful. Then it is time for the PR industry to worry.

Now for the interactive media release

Just as with the social media boom, this will provide new channels for public relations. But just like social media, it’s adding et more media. One press release cannot be used for all different formats, it would be too generic to use anywhere. Press releases and social media releases must differ, and now ‘interactive’ media releases must come into existence too, and differ from their counterparts.

Interactive media releases, to be effective and become published, must be a complete package. While PR practitioners do not have to put together the code and build the apps themselves, they must provide the content required.

There will be two main areas of content necessary for a good Interactive Media Release.

1. Plenty of images, one great shot is not enough, and all shots must be front page worthy, as the images are likely to be in some sort of slideshow.

2. Video must be included, it must be relevant, HD quality and provide different angles – for example, in the Haiti crisis there were many 360˚ videos, and I expect apps for tablet computers will embrace this technology.

Readers are going to change over to this new format. This is not going to be instant, it may take years, even decades, but the in the future, newspapers will not exist in paper format. So let’s embrace the technology now.

Here is one final thought on the subject. Readers currently go from the front page to the back page of a magazine or newspaper.  The apps will be personalised, so readers will adjust the content order and skip out entire sections. PR must be even smarter than before, to reach every individual on the right page, most relevant to them and the PR goal.

And journalists… cut us a bit of slack I am sure you find them interesting sometimes?! And free gifts can’t be that bad.

There’s a perennial battle between journalists and PR professionals. They don’t like receiving our irrelevant press releases yet we keep on sending them. We then phone them up numerous times to check whether they have received them. That’s the basis of the problem.

A campaign has been launched by the Realwire chief executive Adam Parker named ‘An Inconvenient PR Truth’. They propose a PR ‘bill of rights’ which includes points such as these: once a PR practitioner has sent a press release they aren’t allowed to ‘chase’ the recipient by phoning them; the headline should be succinct and there are to be no file attachments.

I agree with some of the points in this ‘bill of rights’ and think there are some good ideas . However as for the name – An Inconvenient PR Truth – I think they could have avoided the spin. However, it has gained a lot of attention which might have been one of their aims from this Convenient PR Stunt.

In a comment on my blog Realwire’s Adam Parker said where I could find a rationale for their name. He sees the problem as one that people are reluctant to tackle head on and draws the analogy with climate change. Knowing this information changes my opinion slightly on the name as I can see the connection. But even so.

Both journalists and PR practitioners are busy – and we both have jobs to do. Why all the disagreement? As a university student I don’t want to enter the world of work conscious of such troubles. I live across the corridor from a journalism student and we are the best of friends – because of living with each other we understand how we could use each other in the workplace effectively rather than seeing each other as a problem.

Your press release: news or spam? Image: cobalt123 via Flickr

I understand completely that there are some agencies out there who are simply concerned with sending out hundreds of press releases to people who won’t find them relevant – but this doesn not describe all agencies. Angie Moxham, CEO of 3 Monkeys, makes a good point in PR Week – ‘It is all based on individual relationships with journalists’.

We are taught about media relations in University so how is it that some people in the industry seem to have forgotten the importance of this?

Relationships are important both inside and outside the workplace. You wouldn’t start telling your grandparents about your sex life (well I wouldn’t…) so why tell a cycling publication concerned with the environment about a new 8 litre supercar?

PR is about understanding your target audience and picking the correct ways to communicate with them so treat the media in the same way. Learn about a certain journalist – make sure that when they see your name on an email they don’t let out a sigh but instead they look forward to seeing what you have sent them.

I contacted Kate Carter, fashion writer at The Guardian,  who posed the question to colleagues in her office including Rachel Dixon, Susan Smillie, Hilary Osborne and Rick Peters. The overall feeling that came back – minus a lot of ranting – was that PR practitioners try to be/act like their friends without knowing them at all; PR practitioners claim to know their publication better than they do and when they phone they speak so quickly and for so long that the journalists have no time to interrupt them – even when they aren’t interested.

They also send emails entitled: ‘I know how much you love whisky’ despite the fact they have never met and the journalist couldn’t think of anything worse.

Phone hounding is another point which affects journalists. Kate Carter seconds this: ‘Particularly when they are calling to pretend they want to know whether you would be interested in receiving something which they have already sent twice.’ I can see how this would be irritating for journalists, however in PR we have to chase things otherwise we won’t meet our targets.

All of this aside, one issue that can be helped the easiest is spelling. Personally I can’t believe that PR practitioners would send out a press release with spelling errors but apparently it happens. By asking journalists what they find irritating I have learnt so much.

Perhaps if agencies asked this question to the journalists they deal with they would get points they should work on? There are definitely some techniques I won’t be using in my future career. I think PR practitioners try so hard to create a friendship that it just seems false and fake instead of investing the time and effort needed to really be of some help to the journalist.

I agree that sending irrelevant press releases to journalists is unprofessional and downright irritating for them – 1.7bn irrelevant press release emails are sent each year in the UK according to inconvenientprtruth.com – that is a  lot. Some people say: ‘Just delete them’ but when you receive over 300 emails a day it can take up time that could be spent elsewhere.

As a PR student I am constantly being reminded to send press releases that have been tailored for the journalist. Regional paper? Give it a local angle. Make it relevant for them.

So before you click send on that email:

1. Just have a think.
2. Do the research.
3. Be concise- it saves your time as well as theirs.
4. Do you know the journalist well enough to write that about them?
5. Tailor it to them.
6. SPELL CHECK.

And journalists… cut us a bit of slack I am sure you find them interesting sometimes? And free gifts can’t be that bad.

I will be keeping a close eye on this debate as I am sure it will be one that is carried on for some time to come. Who knows with the rise of new media and email being regarded as old hat PR practitioners might even find a new way to target journalists. Watch this space, or MySpace or Twitter space…

Nick Rennie

Writing stories as a PR professional should be a doddle for an experienced journalist like me.

Or so I thought, as I prepared for a short internship in the communications office at Cambridge University.

Having completed three weeks promoting and publicising the goings on at this 800-year-old centre of educational excellence I have a very different idea of what goes into the perfect press release and corporate web story.

While many of the traditional journalistic ideals hold true – news releases have to be accurate, free from libel or defamation and basically tell us something new and interesting – there are some key differences:

The angle of the story
I wrote a web piece at Cambridge about a professor who was given a science and technology award by a women’s lifestyle publication called Glamour Magazine.

It was a straight report about the woman being honoured with background about her academic achievements and the work of her university department. In short, it was a promotional piece highlighting the impressive research at Cambridge.

Now had I been writing for, say, the Cambridge Evening News, I might have angled the story more on the absurdity of this highly intellectual professor being given an award by a magazine which is mainly concerned with Cheryl Cole’s fashion sense and the latest scandal involving a Hollywood starlet.

The professor also told me she was unhappy the magazine had not directly contacted her because she would have liked to have used the award to help inspire more young women to study science at higher education level.  Another great angle for a newspaper.

Allegiances
The journalist is supposed to be neutral. Whatever political, environmental or cultural views and opinions they might harbour they must not be introduced into stories. They have a professional duty to write or broadcast the most interesting story.

King's College, Cambridge

Because PR professionals are concerned with portraying a company or organisation in the best possible light they can never be neutral. There are obviously ethical considerations in terms of behaving legally and honestly but the basic aim is to protect and enhance reputation.

While I worked at Cambridge there was enormous media interest in unusual plans by the university to raise money for capital projects with a bond issue.

Dealings with journalists were limited to a straight press release containing basic details and quotes from the director of finance. Newspapers and broadcasters were all looking for a different angle – to re-frame the story. In the end most outlets cited the current financial climate as the reason for considering a bond issue when in the past the university might have taken out a bank loan. The limiting of information from the communication office clearly helped frame the story the way Cambridge wanted.

Editorial control
A free press is essential in any democracy. And newspapers thrive on retaining editorial control. Occasionally a company or organisation which advertises in a newspaper might object to a news story which portrays it in a negative light.  They may threaten to withdraw their adverts. But editors will always stand their ground and insist on retaining control of content.

Journalists will only be concerned that their story is accurate, that it does not offend the sensitivity of readers and that is not legally suspect.

In contrast, the communications officer has only limited editorial control. He or she must satisfy a number of other people before uploading it to the company website.

At Cambridge I wrote a piece about the Arts Society at the all-female Newnham College holding a special night to mark the 80th anniversary of a visit by acclaimed novelist Virginia Woolf.

I had to run my story past representatives of the Arts Society, who were keen to raise seemingly unnewsworthy items higher up the story and who insisted I use capital letters for job titles and nouns. I was essentially writing for them, however, so I had to forget the journalistic principles I used to live my life by in favour of following their wishes.

Balanced argument
All trainee newspaper reporters have it drummed into them that they must represent both sides of an argument.
If an old lady has tripped over a loose paving stone and injured herself, you must include quotes from the council as well as the unfortunate pensioner.

It is all part of appearing neutral – someone with no bias who can be trusted to report the news as it happens.

In public relations you cannot be neutral. As a result website stories and press releases will be distinctly one-sided.
When 30 employees are made redundant by a factory the corporate release will state that the company is being streamlined, as though those losing their jobs were surplus to requirements.

Newspapers, of course, will focus on the fact that the business is struggling and the human cost of those people who are now unemployed.

My web stories and press releases for Cambridge University were all skewed in favour of the university’s interests. As they should have been. The institution has a strong brand throughout the world and the PR professionals I worked with are doing an important job to ensure it stays that way.

This article has been re-published with permission from Nick Rennie’s blog: http://isallpublicitygoodpublicity.blogspot.com/

Photograph of Cambridge by Extra Medium (via Flickr)

She will advise the Cannock-based agency’s clients on media strategy and also help to develop the firm’s new TV operation which will provide clients with video news releases.

Ward Lovett’s PR Director Clive Reeves said; “We have been working with Llewela for some time now. She has provided invaluable strategic support for some of our clients and also our own in house media training. We are delighted that she will be spending more time with us.”

Llewela Bailey trained as a journalist and has been a broadcast reporter and news presenter for more than 25 years.

Ward Lovett is a Staffordshire based independent advertising and PR agency billing around £10m and employing 25 people at its offices alongside the M6 Toll in Cannock.

Photo shows Llewela Bailey and Clive Reeves.

In 2009, Apple’s iTunes online store alone has sold 5 billion downloaded songs and is adding 5 million more download sales every day, alongside 50,000 daily film rentals.  Other sites and online music distributors count for a further 30-50% of the market, according to market studies.

Music downloads and file sharing are now an everyday activity. But 15 years ago, I worked with colleagues at a London high-tech PR agency to launch the very first online music site as part of a campaign for longstanding client Silicon Graphics, alongside the UK music distributor Southern Studios.  Things were very different back then.

After three weeks of the site being live, all parties were delighted with 1,000 people a day visiting the site and 20 or so of those downloading content via dial-up phone lines. Each three minute audio file took around one hour to download.

Music videos were available too but, as journalists present at the packed launch in our Trafalgar Square offices watching Bon Jovi reminded us, a three minute video clip would take over 13 hours to download and cost around £30 in call charges.

Internet Underground Music Archive

The Internet Underground Music Archive was founded in 1993 by three US students – Rob Lord, Jeff Patterson and Jon Luini – and was run from the University of California at Santa Cruz. It provided indie bands with an outlet to distribute music samples to an online audience and, by 1994, its early success had led to deals with mainstream labels such as Warner Brothers and Geffen Records.

In December 1994,  a European version of the site was launched, hosted by  John Loder’s Southern Studios, which had already gained ‘legendary’  status (according to the Guardian obituary, after John died in 2005).

At the centre of the philosophy of the site was the promotion of lesser know bands and ability to distribute their music on the same terms as established artists with record deals.

John Loder summed up the aims at the time:

“Indie bands will get the same exposure as, say, Madonna, and be available on a more even basis.”

Lessons learnt

The launch is an interesting case study for two reasons. Firstly, the subsequent rate of adoption on online media in general, and music in particular, reinforces the extraordinary rate of change in communications technology. Secondly, the reaction of the media, as analysed by the resulting press coverage, suggests that journalists are not always open to the possibilities of new technologies.

The London Evening Standard adopted a mocking tone – and called the future developments entirely wrongly and also called my client, UK marketing director Steve Webb, to account:

“Something called the Internet Underground Music Archive arrived in London this week – from California, of course.

Hold it right there, Mr Steve Webb of Silicon Graphics. I think you have inadvertently nailed the problem with all this net stuff. It is a hobbyist’s paradise rapidly disappearing up its own SCSI socket.

“Remember the hi-fi buffs of yesteryear? Then came along the music centre, out sent the wiring and in came a lifestyle that did not need any DIY. That’s what we’re all waiting for on the Net. ” London Evening Standard, 30 December 1994

Another distinguished technology writer used his report to explain “why the Internet’s global village of sound and pictures is further away than our wallets can even dream about.” He went on to write:

“Time to put my neck on the line. My guess is it will take just six months before Internet fever peaks and the media tires of gee whizz stories about how millions of people around the world are hooking up to the world wide web of electronic information, sounds and pictures.” Hi-Fi Choice, March 1995

Not all the coverage was negative and one positive piece of coverage included the IUMA story alongside a discussion on internet radio:

“The first radio station in cyberspace is using the same sort of technology was another broadcasting initiative, the Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA). Both use a combination of multicasting and traditional file retrieval methods.” The Guardian, 9 March 1995

IUMA was bought by a US business EMusic in 1998 at the height of the mergers and acquisitions activity in California that formed the “dot com boom.”  The site was closed to new submissions and finally shut down in 2006 after pioneering the compression and streaming of media content using different formats such as MP2 and MP3, and clearing the way for a branded distributor in the form of Apple’s iTunes, to own around 80% of the market.

Gareth Thompson is a public relations consultant and senior lecturer in public relations at London Metropolitan Business School. He can be contacted at: g.thompson@londonmet.ac.uk

They enlist Cow PR, Public Relations Consultants’ Association’s (PRCA) agency of the year for 2008. Cow PR didn’t receive this prestigious title for writing press releases and doing generic PR. They won it for doing outstanding PR with the ability to make people sit up and take notice.

Cow PR took on the challenge of making the world’s most expensive burger the world’s most talked about. Burger King, one of Cow PR’s biggest clients wanted to convey their quality messaging through launching a limited edition burger costing £95, called THE Burger. You may have read about it, at least you should have done because the launch successfully created 139,098,922 opportunities to see within the media.

Burger King and Cow PR used this campaign to demonstrate the quality they put into all their products. THE Burger was created by Mark Dowding, Burger King’s Director of New Product Development and Innovation, a professionally trained chef. This acted as a unique selling point that no other quick-serve restaurant chain had to offer.

The £95 burger combined the best ingredients including Kobe beef, saffron, truffles and pate negra to produce a memorable taste sensation. But with no advertising being used to promote the limited edition burger it was up to the PR team to make sure that everyone knew about it, including typical Burger King customers as well as people who would never usually eat at their restaurants.

The official launch of THE Burger was on June 19th 2008 at the Gloucester Road restaurant in South West London, probably one of the few places in the UK where people could afford to buy a £95 burger.

To gain the maximum amount of media interest, journalists from key publications were invited to taste and review THE Burger the day before the official launch. Journalists who attended the pre-launch included influential ‘foodie’ Tom Parker Bowles, a well-renowned food journalist who writes for The Daily Mail.

Burger King wanted as much coverage as possible for this campaign. However with hugely expensive raw materials and a final cost of £95 the PR team were not able to offer free burgers to all the journalists who wanted to taste it. Each potential reviewer had to be assessed by the PR team, taking account of the total readership of the publication, the demographic of the readership, the influence of the journalist wishing to write the review and if they had written any articles about Burger King previously.

The goal was to change people’s perception of Burger King but if these journalists were overly negative towards the brand then it could have resulted in a negative review, which could have jeopardised the campaign.

Then onto the launch, proving that PR isn’t always about sitting in the office ‘phoning journalists. It was all-hands to the deck, with the majority of the team out of the office ensuring that the launch went smoothly. We were dealing with the restaurant staff, making sure they were fully briefed, taking enquiries from customers and, most importantly, dealing with the large number of media that attended the official launch.

My first responsibility was to deliver THE Burger to London-based radio stations for the breakfast shows. This included Alex Zane’s show on XFM and Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen on Capital FM. Although it seems odd to be delivering £95 burgers to celebrities for breakfast you have to consider that the breakfast shows are renowned for achieving very high listening figures. These presenters could review THE Burger live on air to a big mass audience.

Back at the Gloucester Road restaurant a photo-call was taking place for online publications, late editions and the evening newspapers. Photographers from major newspapers and press-wires came to the restaurant to collect images of the first £95 burger being sold to a customer.

Throughout the day various print and broadcast journalists visited the restaurant to taste THE Burger, and to do some filming for FHM online, amongst others. The PR team had to help all of these journalists, ensuring that they had all the information they needed, setting up interviews with Mark Dowding if required, overseeing the preparation of THE Burger, ensuring it was ready in time as well as dealing with customers who wanted to purchase THE Burger.

Every good public relations professional knows that the most important aspect of any campaign is the result – not just the amount but the quality of the coverage. Getting a couple of mentions in newspapers sometimes isn’t enough to create a real impact. With THE Burger we wanted people to be talking about it at work, on the Tube, in the pub; we wanted it to encourage debate and discussion. In terms of “advertising value equivalent” it achieved £5,254,029, with major articles in The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Sunday Mirror.

However what was more interesting were the number of blogs written about THE Burger including world-renowned Perez Hilton, showing that it was a story with global appeal. THE Burger also appeared in the reader comment section of the London Lite and Style magazine on the Going Up/Going Down column, demonstrating how the story managed to get people talking about the brand and THE Burger.

Of course many people saw this as a money-making scheme for Burger King, but they were wrong. All of the money (not just the profit, the entire £95) went to “Help a London Child”, a charity that Burger King has supported in the past.

So did the PR team manage to create a successful campaign and meet the brief? Following analysis of the coverage we reached 61% of all UK adults on average 3.5 times, with 98% of this mentioning the Burger King brand and 86% of this being positive. Proving that for this campaign THE Burger really did become King.

Photography: www.freeimages.co.uk, Victoria Louise Crampton, Chris Ramsden

Mass marketing goes against the very nature of PR: it isn’t about creating a mutual understanding and doesn’t facilitate relationship building. Quite frankly, it doesn’t do the reputation of PR or the company that it is representing any favours. From my own experience, when sending blanket emails and press releases to journalists the only thing that you are doing is creating negative PR for the company that you are representing.

Reporting from the San Francisco Media Relations Summit, the Misukanis and Odden team provide some key tips for PROs. One of the points that they make is that journalists still do not like being inundated with press releases.  The PROs that sent unsolicited emails and press releases to Chris Anderson, the editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, are a great example of how not to engage in media relations.  In his blog post ‘Sorry PR People You’re Blocked’ Anderson publicly named and shamed 329 PROs by announcing that he had blocked them from his email inbox, in one month alone. In this one move not only did he cut the lines of communication between himself and the people in question but he also highlighted that mass marketing is still a product of PR departments.

Of course, not all PR people are the same. But what happens when the company that you represent doesn’t understand the pitfalls of mass marketing and your own professional integrity is compromised? How many of the PROs on Chris Anderson’s blocked list had the pressure of a fame-hungry manager or client behind them? Although as a professional you know what should be done, if your manager doesn’t allow you to take these steps, how can you get round it without compromising yourself or the business?

Recently I have found myself in this position. Just how do you explain to your manager that being named in every single newspaper and magazine is not always the only measure of success and that communications should be suitably targeted to those media outlets that have a place for your story?

The relationships that PROs form with journalists and media organisations have to be developed carefully and this is reflected in another tip made by Misukanis and Odden; ‘you are not the journalists’ friend, you are their resource’.  So in essence PROs shouldn’t mass market to journalists but at the same time they shouldn’t make the mistake of being too friendly.

Finally there is the day that you really get to grips with media relations; to journalists you are known as a trusted source and you are sought after by many companies due to your reputation with the media.  Whilst flicking through a newspaper you come across one of your stories but in a stomach flipping moment you also see that your company hasn’t been mentioned in the piece.  Why is it that even when you get it so right there is no publicity gain for the company? This is where it gets complicated.

Your objectivity as a trusted source may be great for your reputation with the press, but at the same time you can be sure your boss won’t be happy. It’s one thing for the company to appear to be benefiting its publics in the long term rather than helping themselves in the short term but to get no company mention at all is seen as disastrous for a lot of managers and not what they employ you for.

Media relations can be a pretty bleak part of PR but it does have many upsides such as giving your company credibility, relatively free publicity and the capability to spread a story quickly and across a variety of media channels.

In many ways you could say that working in media relations is like being stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea.  You should build relations with the press rather than mass market to them, but if you are too friendly they will resent it.  As a professional you should advise your company on what is best with regards to media relations but if your boss doesn’t agree, whose side do you take for the sake of your career?

When you have finally overcome the challenges and you are a respected source you don’t always get the publicity that the company desires.   When putting it like this is media relations more trouble than it’s worth? Many marketers and company managers may say yes, but the benefits of having strong relations with the media should, when carried out appropriately, outweigh the disadvantages.

Photography by Victoria Crampton