- Marie Ebenezer is from Germany and has been interning at OWC since November.
Last week, I wrote about my time here in Los Angeles and the intercultural challenges I’ve faced so far. Olmstead Williams Communications received a lot of positive feedback about my post, and it encouraged me to keep writing.
One of the responses I got for my blog posts was: “That’s very nice, but what does this have to do with public relations?” My father – who is always very interested in what I do – was a little bit puzzled by the fact that I’m basically writing a travel blog, instead of doing what I should be doing at OWC, namely, public relations.
Many people who do not work in this industry find it hard to understand what PR really is. Well, here is what I’ve learned so far:
DEFINITION OF PR
The term “public relations” is tricky to pinpoint. Especially in recent years with the rise of social media, the practice of PR has undergone a tremendous change. The aim of PR is to influence public opinion by managing the flow of information between an organization and the public. PR is a mutually beneficial communication. For example, when a reporter is writing a story, we want to feature our client in their story– ideally, both the reporter and our client benefit from this exchange.
Data is the key to a successful pitch. It is important to know the targeted audience and the current attitudes about the issue.
PROCESS
This communication between our client and the public has to be planned ahead and thoughtfully executed. At OWC, I’ve learned that data is the key to a successful pitch. It is important to know the targeted audience and the current attitudes about the issue. You have to ask yourself several questions: Who do we want to reach? Are people talking about this? What is the position of the product/organization/person on the market? Once we know this, we can successfully communicate information about the client to the public through the media. Finally, we monitor what we’ve communicated to see if coverage has been successful.
TASKS
Now, all this jargon does not yet tell you what we actually do – Germans like to know the concrete facts – so I should get to the point. Much of our time is spent writing. Press releases are probably the most well-known tactic, but we also write speeches, pamphlets, reports, etc. And, lots of e-mails! In order to get the data we need, we also spend a lot of time researching attitudes and opinions. Social media is a crucial interface between our clients and the public, and part of our job is to monitor our clients’ websites and blogs. Finally, a big part of working in PR is getting business. Very often, several PR firms compete for the same client, and whoever has the best pitch – and sometimes the lowest bid – wins. This also means that you always have to be networking, shaking hands, and meeting people, because who knows – your next client could be the next hand you shake.
These are just a few of the tasks PR professionals have, but from what I’ve experienced at Olmstead Williams Communications so far, they are crucial. I’m excited to find out more. And maybe the most important lesson that I’ve learned about public relations – like in many other professions – is that one is never done learning.
