PRCA Internship Week Two - Kourtney Shaw

Hi everyone,  

It’s been a busy two weeks since I last wrote about my experiences at the PRCA.

During this time I have attended a campaign master-class on crisis management at the Olympics,heard a talk on Asia and Social media from Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence, carried out political research and compiled various spreadsheets. I am going to briefly discuss each of these activities.

Campaign Master-Class

The campaign master class put on by the PRCA was held at Ketchum Pleon and was centred on crisis management at the Olympics. Upon arrival, each attendee was greeted and ushered upstairs where the PRCA had laid on a delightful breakfast. I wish I'd known beforehand that there would be such a wide variety of food to eat as I wouldn’t have eaten breakfast at home. But for those who know me, if there’s good food to eat – it’s going to get eaten.  Chocolate muffins, smarties cookies, all-butter croissants and a collection of succulent fruit, what was I meant to do? Once everyone had arrived and had their morning caffeine intake we were seated and the glamorous Rebecca Hopkins from ENS ltd began to speak.

Rebecca spoke articulately about how to deal with crisis management. She emphasised that when dealing with a PR disaster, you should remain calm and be clear with the message you’re giving. “Throw them one ball – they’ll catch it. Throw them ten balls, they’ll drop the lot”. I’m sure those who have experienced a PR disaster can understand and relate to the metaphor she used. Fiona Wilkinson from Visa Europe also gave a superb presentation on Visa’s marketing and branding for the Olympics. She spoke about their strategies and goals which included the messages they want to relay to the public about VISA. It was an extremely insightful presentation.

Asia and Social Media

Thursday’s talk given by Michael Darragh from Ogilvy was fantastic. I learnt so much about China’s cultural differences thanks to his creative presentation on Asia and Social Media. He included stories of his life experiences which shed light onto his in-depth knowledge of Asia. I was blown away by some of the facts he gave, as well as in awe of the holographic catwalk Burberry campaign carried out by Ogilvy in Beijing (see here)! I was surprised to hear that China is the only Asian country where people have more online than offline friends on average, whilst quite envious to hear that 80% of the luxury market in China is under 45 years old. I am now considering launching my career there instead (joking)!I I also loved the name "great firewall of China" which signifies the ban on popular social media sites such as Facebook, Youtube, Myspace and LinkedIn.

via Vicenzo Cosenza www.vincos.it

(The picture above shows the major social media sites used worldwide. Facebook is the most dominant, however in China there is a very different social media landscape. With over 300 million online users, there is a multitude of social media sites to use (see below)).

via fastcompany.com

Michael also said that it’s not unusual to walk into an office or room in China and hear someone say “you are looking fatter today”. I can’t really see that catching on in the PRCA office although Steve Miller did give it a try. It failed disastrously.

Weekly activities

Throughout the week  I also carried out some political research for the PRCA’s ‘end unpaid internship’ campaign and listened to a webinar from a PRCA training session on the uses and benefits of Twitter. I am honestly not being biased towards the PRCA but I absolutely loved it!! When I went for drinks with my university friends on Wednesday I spoke of my new knowledge on Twitter and they were impressed. It’s great to know about how social media, when used correctly, can benefit you, your company and brand. I will definitely be taking the knowledge I gained from that webinar away with me.

I also went for drinks on Friday with some of the PRCA team which was thoroughly enjoyable. It’s a great opportunity to get to know your fellow peers and engage with them outside the office. I can safely say I look forward to the next one.

I’ll catch up with you in two weeks. The deadline for the Awards, which I've been working on with Katie, is coming up at the end of this week, I'll be attending a few PRCA traning sessions and doing a bit of marketing for them as well. Its all very new and exciting for me.

See you soon,

Kourtney Shaw