Public Relations

Takeaways from working in healthcare PR

Jess Noonan Leave a comment

When I sit and think about what I wish I knew before going into healthcare PR, so many different things come to mind. I have to say these past few years have brought me the most life learning opportunities as well as business learning opportunities and I often catch myself saying, “if only I had already known this…” I work in the healthcare field and with this comes unique opportunities (aka challenges) like 24 hour coverage, employees that work three days a week, the “administrative side” and passion for compassion.

Takeaways from working in healthcare PR, that can apply to all areas of PR:

1.       Wording is everything
Above, I referred to challenges as opportunities. This makes the daunting task of having a challenge not seem so challenging. Looking at challenges as opportunities leaves room to think about all of the learning that can occur.

 2.       Data is (almost) Everything
While content is extremely important in PR, don’t underestimate the power of data, especially in today’s world. There are many ways to measure what we do as PR professionals and various tools out there. I remember taking my PR research class in college and letting my team members, who were better in Excel than I was, take the reigns when it came to the data, now I wish I had really taken the time to learn more about it. You impress leaders when you can show them, with data, what you have been able to impact. In today’s ever changing world of healthcare reimbursement, showing your worth is important and executive leaders love data.

 3.       Excel is my friend
Going off of number 2, comes my number 3, Excel is my friend. I often have to tell myself this. I found Excel is good for making simple graphs to show data I need it to show, but is also an amazing tool for organizing everything from events to campaigns to checklists.

 4.       Don’t Underestimate “Old School” Paper Print Outs
The majority of the employees I communicate with are on shift work, some only work three days a week (imagine what your inbox would look like if you only checked it three days a week). As PR professionals, we love our email, social media and any way to connect via the web, but when we break it down to healthcare and how to reach employees, they want something more tangible. Unique to healthcare is the passion for compassion and one thing that drives this is integrating our technology with real-person interaction and tangible things to hold. Bathrooms and break rooms are a great place to put your paper print outs.

5.       Have a title that reflects what you do
For the past three years I have been titled as a Nursing Resource Coordinator, which doesn’t describe what I really do. When I look and ask myself what I think it means to me, I think it means I coordinate resources for nurses, but my job encompasses a very small amount of that. I do a lot of employee communication, education and event planning. This is something I have recently talked to my manager about, changing my title to reflect what I do. It is important to have a title that reflects what I do and for future roles that I will have within or outside of my organization. I want a title (and so should you) that will give someone a little direction of what I do.

Katie Kitchen is a 27 year old mother who lives in Hanover County Virginia and works for a 225 bed hospital in the county she lives and has grown up in. Her role entails a great deal of employee relations to about 1,600 employees. She attended Virginia Commonwealth University where she received a B.S. in Mass Communication with a concentration in Public Relations. She enjoys spending time with her little girl, her dog, creating new craft projects and enjoying all of the activities Richmond Virginia has to offer. 

May Twitter Chat Highlights: Media Relations

Lauren Gray Leave a comment

We’d like to thank everyone who participated in the May #NPPRSA Twitter chat as we discussed methods to improve media relations and explored ways to build authentic relationships with the media.

PRSA Twitter ChatSpecifically, we’d like to thank Gini Dietrich, CEO of Arment Dietrich and author of Spin Sucks — a leading industry publication for public relations and marketing professionals.

Join us again on May 15 for our next #NPPRSA chat and stay up-to-date with PRSA New Professionals on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.

Review highlights of the chat below. How can you best nurture a relationship with the media? How can you pitch effectively?

 


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Lauren Rosenbaum is the PRSA New Professionals Social Media Co-Chair and Co-Founder of Soversity, a public relations and digital marketing company. You can connect with her on Google+, LinkedIn or Twitter.

 

 

 

A Guide to A Successful International PR Campaign

Lauren Gray Leave a comment

Businesses communicate to a wider and more international audience these days.  Defining an international PR strategy is a very important step as perceptions in one part of the world can have an immediate impact across the globe.

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Before you start writing, emailing and tweeting, take the time to ask yourself: “why am I doing this?” and “what am I trying to achieve?” “What is the aim of this challenging international PR campaign?” Most of the time, the ultimate goal is to make an international brand shine across countries, engage in new conversations and attract new clients across cultures.

Today, I invite you to take a ride into a new PR mindset and adapt a glocal perspective!

Glocal: a connection between global and local. In business, being glocal is having a worldwide strategy while adapting it to local cultures.

  1. Differentiate global and local: First identify and differentiate your global strategy from your local initiatives in each country. Global is your brand’s overall personality while local is your cultural characteristics.
  2. Divide responsibilities: The head of global reputation shouldn’t execute any local initiatives as it might affect his vision. Beware of conflicts of interest in communication. One or two heads maximum should lead the campaign in one central city and define responsibilities in each country.
  3. Execute locally: If the brand is targeting the European market, you will need to define mini campaigns for each country. You might be aware of the diversity of food in Europe? Well, for media, it’s quite similar. Media landscapes and cultures in Europe are as varied as national food specialities! Pitching a journalist in Germany, France, the UK or Switzerland is totally different. The best way forward is to coordinate with local PR professionals with strong media relationships.

So what’s next? Now that you are involved in an international campaign, ask yourself the following questions before pushing the green light:

  • Does this local initiative respect the global corporate messages?
  • How will the product/service adapt to the local market?
  • Can we push the product through the same channels in each country?
  • What social media outlets should we use?
  • How and when will we translate content to impact local markets?

A few answers and tips:

  1. Work with locals: As you can’t be everywhere, liaising with local experts will help you understand habits and attitudes of your audience. In addition to this, even if English is a leading business language, speaking other languages can be beneficial in communication. Your impact with be much bigger if you speak a fluent German to German journalists.
  2. Build conversations: Shaping a reputation is less about what companies say about themselves but more about what people say about them. In this context, it’s vital to initiate conversations globally. Create a consistent brand internationally through traditional tools (website, blogs, press releases, by-line articles) while engaging with local audiences on traditional and social media. Let your market influencers become your brand ambassadors!
  3. Communicate among teams: As information travels fast, give priority to transparency and dialogue between your teams. It’s better to over communicate. Even if meetings can be laborious sometime, daily updates guarantee that nothing is missed.

Think cross-cultural, think glocal.

 

corpDiane Gaillard is an International PR Consultant with experience in the financial, real estate, hospitality and B2B sectors after having worked in London and Paris. She develops cross-cultural communication campaigns and raises the profile of international companies and startups in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the U.S. To learn more about Diane, visit her website at www.dianegaillard.com.

 

Tips for Alcohol Industry PR… and Basically Everyone Else

Jess Noonan Leave a comment

lMust be 21+

Tweeting to a minor is as bad as serving a minor. You don’t want to be that brand that is associated with underage drinking. Unless your account has an age verification prompt, be prepared to dig into the backgrounds of customers who interact with you. Yes, it takes cyber stalking to a new level, but it’ll enhance your engagement with the customer. Knowing a little about about more about the customer allows you to change your tone or tailor your response. Best rule of thumb? If you think they’re under 21, don’t respond.

Lesson to be learned: Know your audience.

It’s science

Understanding the distillation and brewing process will help you tremendously. It will come in handy when writing a press release about a new beer on your shelf or a wine you’re tweeting about with a customer. Not only will it save you time gathering information on the product, but you’ll understand how it’s created. Your vocabulary will be filled with keywords or phrases typically used to explain the products, making your job that much easier. It’ll eventually flow from you quicker than whiskey out of a barrel.

Lesson to be learned: Understand the product.

Do your homework

Think back to when you started applying for jobs. (I know, I know. I try to block it out, too.) You probably spent endless hours researching the agency’s clients, their award winning case studies and even memorizing their mission statement. The liquor industry requires that kind of attention, but in a few different ways. Each state has their own set of rules and regulations when it comes to selling, distributing and shipping wine, beer, liquor, tobacco, etc. Whether you work for a national brand or a small liquor chain, understand these rules. Questions like, “Can you ship to ___?” or “Why don’t you carry ___ beer?” pop up a lot.

Lesson to be learned: Listen. (And ask a ton of questions.)

It’s good to have options

Not into corporate or retail PR? Not a problem. Tons of PR agencies represent major beer, wine and spirit brands. Heck, GolinHarris just landed Diageo. You could even work for a distributor, a supplier, a bar or event planning team all under the umbrella of public relations within the beverage industry. If you’re serious about getting into the industry, spend time networking at beer events, talk to your neighborhood wine guy or even chat up the bartender at the whiskey bar. Remember: Just like in PR, it’s a small world. Everyone knows everyone.

Lesson to be learned: There are many paths for you to enter the industry.

What do you like to drink? Everything. 

From barrel aged beer to jammy cabernet to… well… Malort. Being open to tasting everything will not only build your palate but expand your knowledge across the field. It’s key to be well rounded in the beverage industry. Brewers, distillers and winemakers take their time to execute the perfect product that will eventually be poured into your glass. It’s an art meant to be enjoyed… and occasionally cause a hangover, but that’s beside the point. Swirl, smell, sample, taste, indulge. Enjoy the craft, but don’t forget to…

Lesson to be learned: Enjoy the product you sell.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Sure, brands like Budweiser or Yellow Tail always don’t have the best rep, but they are still enjoyed by many. Before you snub them, understand that craft beer and high end wines only make up a fraction of industry sales. The beer and liquor you find piled high in stacks to the ceiling are the brands that support a majority of your business. It’s easy to want to side with the little guys but don’t forget about the big boys, too.

Lesson to be learned: Believe in what you promote.

 

151f848Hilary Jurinak is a Communications Coordinator at Binny’s Beverage Depot in Illinois. She is programming co-chair on the PRSA new professionals committee and a former member of the PRSSA national committee. She can be reached on Twitter at @HilaryJurinak.

Diversity and New Pros: Be a Storyteller, Make a Difference

Lauren Gray Leave a comment

As new professionals in the public relations field, we constantly work with people of all walks of life across many disciplines. Working with a diverse range of people opens our eyes to the possibilities and opportunities out there.

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That being said, the PR profession is not as diverse as you might think despite ongoing and tremendous progress that has been made. According to the PRSA Foundation, ethnic groups make up 30 percent of the U.S. population yet only 10 percent of minorities work in public relations.

When most people hear about diversity, the primary identifiers that come to mind include race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. There are many more than that, some of which you might least expect. What makes everyone unique and different in their own ways most likely falls under this category. To name a few, it also includes income level, religion, disabilities, socioeconomic status and age.

Addressing such issues is no easy task yet very much achievable. Local PRSA Chapters can do their part in working on diversity initiatives custom tailored to their communities in order to help diversify its memberships. PRSA members can serve as mentors to PRSSA students of all walks of life as a way to provide professional guidance and support to help prepare the next generation of leaders.

One attribute of PR professionals is that we are storytellers. We all have stories of our own to tell based on our knowledge, experience and upbringing. As no two stories are completely alike, it is having those unique stories that makes us diverse. By learning from one another about our differences, it helps us become competent professionals as a result. If we want to stand out as professionals getting started in this field, it is important that our individual stories be heard to help ourselves advance in this profession.

Now, I would like to hear from you. Each month, I hope to feature on this blog a new professional of different backgrounds and how it relates to your experiences as a PR professional. Speak from the heart so that we can all understand where you are coming from. If you are interested in submitting your story, email simonoh804@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from as many new professionals as possible.

 

Simon_Oh-5Simon Oh is the diversity liaison for the PRSA New Professionals executive committee. He is currently a graduate student at San Jose State University, studying transportation management. His professional background includes public affairs and community relations within the transportation field. Connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.