Lucky really...

My interest this week lies in winter driving. Over the weekend I was in the car behind a crash at a set of traffic lights. Thanks to the quick braking of my father we didn’t end up parked in the guys boot, but it does make you look at things a little differently, and start wondering every time you go round a roundabout or through a set of traffic lights, if someone just isn’t going to stop for you.

I’ve never really been that interested about the change in road conditions when it’s cold, or raining or icy. I’ve just never really thought about it that much, but when I know that if the roads had just been a little more icy or greasy we would have been in that crash too, it makes me want to get educated! No-body was harmed in the crash, and incredibly there was a police car waiting at a set of traffic lights across the road that saw everything, so it got sorted pretty quick!

I guess seeing it happen, actually there right in front of my eyes kind of makes the penny drop as to why it’s so important to be careful in these weather conditions. And to check your brakes ... and to make sure the Christmas tree on the roof of your car is very, very securely tied in place!

An entire ceremony!

I have just found out, right now here sitting at my desk trying to think of something to write about, that England wanted to hold the World Cup! I wouldn’t have known except for the football fans in the office clutching their head in their hands and mouthing in slow motion ‘Noooooooooooooooooo’ as the radio announced the apparently devastating news that we hadn’t won.

My initial instinct was why? Is it not enough that the whole country is getting stressed about the Olympics in 2012, but we wanted to double the load by inviting the second biggest sporting event in the World to the British timetable too? I have to admit I’m not really very sad that we didn’t win the hosting of the World Cup 2018, although neither would I have been particularly happy if we did.

My only opinion on the subject is really more one of amazement that there is an entire ceremony dedicated to the decision process! A ceremony which creates media frenzy, and is broadcast by every TV and radio station everywhere!

I have been informed that it’s a very serious process. Each country puts forward a presentation and the head decision makers must visit each country and assess its suitability; even our Prime Minister got involved!

… And there I was thinking it was a bit like ‘secret santa’, that they just popped all the names in a hat and the first one pulled out got the gig. Silly me.

Newbie...

Whilst your trusty message merchant is away from her desk this week and next, it has fallen to me to have a go at this blogging thing. I received some useful tips and advice like, ‘don’t over think what you say’ and ‘write about what interests you!’ So here goes …

So here at The Phoenix Partners over the past few weeks we have all been very busy bees! We’ve suddenly had a huge surge of interest in our Incentivise-me scheme and are adding on participants and points like there’s no tomorrow! One of the more time consuming aspects of the job is picking out the insanely cool gadgets to go onto the site. I’ve been slowly flicking through shiny magazines filled with interesting, pretty and probably useful objects whilst sipping my tea and munching on chocolate buttons brought in by someone who popped to the local shop for milk. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!!

We’ve had winning proposals here, there and everywhere, as well as the whole team being involved in a company identity brainstorm session. One of the highlights of the week was a big applause and a general feeling of ‘15 minutes of fame’ as our brilliantly designed oversized cheque was awarded to Children in Need on national television. For a few years now we have designed the cheque for one of our clients, National Grid, to present to the charity and it’s still something to clap, celebrate and get excited about.

Hello, hello, what's this we've got 'ere then?

Just occasionally, a client will give us a real mystery to not only solve but also generate PR from and just recently Nelsons gave us such a challenge. So, like a demented cross between Arthur Negas and Miss Marple, I set about a little bit of research.

The article in question appears to be a truncheon (which, in light of modern email security, made choosing the subject line for enquiries a challenge) and has been found at their Nottingham offices.

So I set out to find an expert on truncheons (or maybe tipstaves) to help me work out what exactly it is and where it belongs. This is where a good internet search comes into its own and I am delighted to say that I am now in contact with a very pleasant and enthusiastic gentleman who is endeavouring to help me solve the mystery. Fingers crossed for an interesting outcome and watch this space for further revelations.

Extra, Extra - Read all about it

When it comes to PR, we are often so busy working for our clients that we almost forget to promote ourselves, (this seems to run along the same lines as the advice that my mother gave me never to marry a tradesmen if I ever wanted anything doing at home), so I’m not about to apologise for a bit of trumpet blowing.

Message Merchants is growing fast, providing quality PR and integrated communications plans to a diverse client base – and we love it! With clients who represent retail, professional services, environmental services, training and the arts there is a lot to get excited about.

The last couple of months have included four new client wins and we are looking to widen our freelance resource to strengthen our offering further.

We definitely don’t believe that ‘no news is good news’ at Message Merchants; for us it’s a case of ‘the more news the better’!

Welcome to the team

We are delighted to announce that Belinda Thompson has joined The Phoenix Partners as Head of PR. Bringing with her a wealth of experience and a vast knowledge of diverse industry sectors, Belinda has already made her mark, securing new clients within her first month with us.

Alongside valuable skills and knowledge, Belinda has a drive and determination which will be vital in the continuing development of our PR offering and enhancing its status as part of our total communications package within The Phoenix Partners.

Belinda is settling well into the office and is taking the eccentricities of a creative agency in her stride saying: “I was previously self-employed so returning to a busy office environment is probably the biggest change for me. That said, everyone has been so welcoming and I am really excited about the future of The Phoenix Partners PR offering - Message Merchants.”

It pays to advertise

I have just stumbled upon a fantastic story about a chap who decided that after spending two years unemployed he would take his destiny into his own hands. Armed with a sign saying ‘Please give me a job’ he stood on a busy roundabout during morning rush hour to try his luck.

Within three hours he had achieved his aim – a passing business man stopped, interviewed him and gave him a job.

This just goes to prove that a simple message, delivered directly to a key audience in a way which provokes a positive response is an excellent way to achieve your aim.

And the winner is...

…Paul the octopus.

Now that the world cup is well and truly over I am pleased to announce that the winner of the PR trophy for the tournament is indeed the world’s first mystic cephalopod, Paul.

Various media have gone to great lengths to keep us informed of Paul’s background – born in the UK, currently living in Germany, favourite food – mussels and his favourite pastime – making children laugh. As I cannot recall knowing such facts about any of the footballers involved in the tournament I can only conclude that in addition to his psychic powers Paul has fantastic control of his media portrayal.

Paul has also remained humble in the wake of his triumph – a quality which many players may do well to emulate. But perhaps most importantly Paul seems keen to retire at the height of his success – until, perhaps, he receives a tempting offer to showcase his new aquarium to his adoring fans and talk about his latest book signing tour!

And all I can say about that is, if there is ever an octopus signing autobiographies then I will definitely be in that queue.

The art of self promotion

PR is often accused of stretching, bending or framing the truth in a self serving way and indeed there is some truth in this.

However, sometimes an example crops up the truly beggars belief.

A gentlemen by the name of Jeffrey Wong Su En has awarded himself a knighthood.
Mr Wong, who is the deputy publicity chief for the Democratic Action Party, a Malaysian opposition party in Sabah, northern Borneo, issued a press release to announce his achievement accompanied by a doctored photograph of him receiving the honour from the Queen.

Unfortunately for Mr Wong his name has never appeared on the Honours List and he made several mistakes regarding his attire and certificate which were noticed by various experts in the field, causing him to become the centre of international attention in not quite the way he was expecting.

Football Fever

The past couple of weeks have seen the whole country gripped, once again, by football fever. And I can now confirm that the entire thing has been a fantastic success.

Firstly for those industrious makers and retailers of all things flag-like these have indeed been halcyon days, secondly petrol stations must have seen a marked increase in trade due to the number of drivers who have upped their fuel consumption with the additional weight and drag of the aforementioned flags and thirdly we have all had the most fantastic opportunity to enjoy that most British of pastimes – moaning.

When it comes to support of our national team it seems that we are fully aware of what we are supposed to do but somehow lacking in the ability to see it through. Even when we have won a game we are keen to emphasise that we played badly, but surely a win is a win?

Maybe my perspective is a little off kilter (I have to confess that football is not a sport that I enjoy watching) but when a whole nation is telling a select few that they’re rubbish, even when they are winning.

How is that supportive? And how does it encourage them to excel?
In short it doesn’t, but it does give us all an excellent opportunity for a good moan.

Augmented, really?

As seems to be almost constantly the case we are currently riding the wave of the next big thing which in this case is Augmented Reality or AR.

AR is all about making reality a bit more real and as a marketing tool it definitely has possibilities. The technology that exists allows you to ‘augment’ your surroundings using various mobile devices. For example your phone will work out where in the world you are and then tell you about the things around you, current sales offers in the shops, available appointments at the hairdressers, shows at the theatre etc. A bit like an all-terrain, pop-up service.

So what will the AR future bring? It is anticipated that you will be able to point your phone at a person and instantly have access to their on line presence, facebook page, professional website and so on which will potentially make networking a doddle.

All of which leaves us with a couple of pertinent questions:

1) Do we need it?
2) Will it catch on?

The first question has demonstrated its irrelevance throughout the history of technology and can therefore be studiously ignored. As for the second I’m going to stick my neck out and say yes, when information has value you can’t afford to miss any of it.

PR, Politics and Apathy

After my last blog I am pleased to report that we now have a government and while democracy may not have actually triumphed in the true sense of the word, we do now at least know where we are – or do we?

In the business world when one company becomes amalgamated with another larger one, in a not entirely amicable way, the PR machine talks of ‘hostile takeovers’ and ‘monopolies and mergers’. But we seem to be happy to not let such issues ruin the present entente cordiale.

And so we should be, for most of us politics is largely smoke and mirrors and until it has a direct personal effect us (usually our wallets) we are quite happy to let whoever it is get on with whatever it is that it takes to run the country.

So maybe what does triumph in the end are two stalwarts of our society – great PR and good old fashioned apathy.

The Everest Climb continues – sponsor us at www.thephoenixpartners/donate

Still Spinning

In January I blogged in ‘Please stop spinning’ about how the 2010 general election had already begun to be the main item for every news outlet, so I was expecting that at polling day +5 the matter would be resolved, the dust settled and the country returned to business as usual – how wrong I was!

The electorate have spoken and in a very British way they seem to have said “I’m not really sure, what do you think?” which leaves the decision of who won back in the hands of the contestants. I confess that I do not have either a degree in politics or a particularly detailed understanding of our constitution but I do recall learning about democracy and this does not quite echo that particular lesson.

So, despite voting in relatively impressive numbers we, the people, seem to have lost our voice.

It is not as if we were not thoroughly briefed on our choices, 5 months is long enough to get a message across, but maybe that was part of the problem. With spin doctors on all side creating a veritable whirligig of information and the most extinguished of PR companies creating and counter-creating campaigns from dawn ‘til dusk maybe we just had too much information to work with – and not enough time to evaluate footwear choices.

The Everest Climb continues – sponsor us at www.thephoenixpartners.com/donate

Public Relations Comes of Age

PR seems to have reached a milestone this week with its recognition as a subject with a history.

Bournemouth University is planning to hold its first conference on the History of Public Relations and is welcoming academics from 14 nations to speak at the event.

According to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations there are 48,000 people currently employed in PR in the UK, generating a turnover of £6.5bn. This year students can choose from 262 PR degree courses across the country.

All very exciting stuff but surely there is a saturation point somewhere?

PR needs two essential ingredients: a story to tell and an audience and despite my tapping away here, stories about PR told by people in PR to other people in PR would probably be very dull indeed!

Dangerous Pets!

Last week it seems a new communication barrier was identified with the suspension of post office deliveries to the home of the owner of a dangerous cat, which has attacked and injured three postal workers.

This is one of those stories that works on a number of levels combining the best of cute animal, twist on a story you think you know and health and safety gone mad. That Tiger, a 19 year old cat, has injured three posties is not under discussion, just whether this is cause to stop delivering and how the situation can be remedied.

A quick internet search reveals other similar tales involving not only cats but birds as well and one reports that a solution was reached when the home owner put up an American style post box at their garden gate.

I for one embrace the return of such ‘news’ items to our media and wish all the postal workers a speedy recovery.

A thought about Malcolm McLaren

The news this week has included lots of thoughts and comment about Malcolm McLaren who recently passed away. Everyone seems to have an opinion about how his achievements affected modern media, music and fashion, some complimentary and some not so.

Whatever your perspective it cannot be denied that McLaren had a true talent for PR in its most visceral form. It is not often that someone in entertainment manages to polarise the opinions of three generations. Many of the (shock) tactics that McLaren employed in the promotion of himself and his b(r)ands would not have the same impact today and most have no place in mainstream PR but there are elements which survive.

In the late 1970s he was instrumental in bringing punk to the attention of mainstream media, it does not matter if you were not part of the scene, we all know what punk was all about and recognise its lasting impact on modern fashion and music. This is the sort of dissemination of information that modern marketeers can only dream of.

Happy Easter

A study published in the European Heart Journal seems to indicate that chocolate is good for you – at least that’s what the headlines say. This seems to be a fortuitously timed announcement for the chocolate industry at Easter and is without doubt a textbook piece of PR.

In a multi-media world where information flows fast and freely it is worth remembering that the headline often IS the story – not everyone will read the whole piece and very few will cross reference it in any way. On this occasion I thought a bit of further investigation was called for.

The facts it seems are something like this: Providing that you are not overweight and that the rest of your diet is healthy you may be less likely to suffer from a stroke or heart attack if you eat half a bar of chocolate a week.

I can’t help thinking that making one bar of chocolate last a fortnight would be detrimental to both my mental health and my stress levels but maybe that’s just me!

We are PR

Last month saw a lot happening in the world of marketing and PR. Google started rolling out a new feature to Gmail users called Google Buzz; their first serious entry into the social networking space. Reports of Brown’s Bullying at Number 10 hit the headlines; with some over zealous reporters naming it ‘scoop of the year’ and if you haven’t heard we even won a Gold Medal at the Winter Olympics!

For those of you who are familiar with the above then you probably found out through that essential marketing tool that we call ‘Public Relations’ otherwise known simply as PR.

At a time when many organisations are having to impose rigorous justifications on every penny of marketing expenditure, PR is an excellent way of making those budgets stretch a little further.

A New Face at The Phoenix Partners

Hi, my name is Amy Leong and I’m the new work experience girl for The Phoenix Partners. I am currently trying to break my way into the Event Management world and The Phoenix Partners have kindly given me a chance to build up my experience. I studied Marketing Management at University and now currently work at Loughborough University Student’s Union in the marketing department.

So …I am on my third visit here, finding the tasks that I’ve been set interesting and a great insight into events… also having my extra own personal challenge of getting over my fear of dogs as we have the lovely Dyson and Square in the office. All being well I shall be able to add two points to my CV at the end of my time here – Event experience – check, phobia of dogs – gone.

Already after only being here for 3 days, I am more convinced that I would like to work in events, just absorbing the atmosphere and information in the office has been great (and a nice bit of banter too). Hopefully I have made myself useful over the last few days and fingers crossed I’ll be able to come back and help with more, and you never know I might even stroke the dogs!

Another Busy Month...

It has been another busy month for Message Merchants, it’s always exciting to work with new clients and this month has bought the kind of challenges that we relish.

Both Norman & Underwood and Ovation Boat Services are now coming to the end of their first month with us and it has been fascinating to find out how their businesses work and how we can best serve their PR needs.

It is always interesting to peer into specialised areas of work and although the basic premise of PR remains the same there are innumerable variations in style and delivery to suit every client and every delivery medium. The identification of target audience is always important but the way in which those audiences are approached can make all the difference.

It is important that whatever the platform, every message is clear and delivered with enthusiasm.

It’s what we do and it’s what we love doing.

Crisis Management

This morning, over my porridge, I watched some of the coverage of the Winter Olympics and was told time and again that events have been delayed due to rain, which as far as snow based sports go, is a bad thing.

This afternoon, as I write this, my view of Sileby is largely obscured by falling snow, which as far as getting home goes, is a bad thing.

Which, sort of, leads me to PR.

Bad things do happen, on a Village and a Global scale and good PR can be the key to weathering the storm. Crisis management strategies are an important part of any companies PR plan, a little bit of ‘insurance’ that you hope you will never need.

So, lets all try and remember that my journey home will be glistening and magical despite all the evidence of it being cold and soggy.

Public Relations - Is It Fully Understood?

I am a Public Relations MA Student completing four weeks of work experience. Fortunately, my work placement at the Phoenix Partners, a marketing communications agency, has given me the opportunity to get an inside look at how Marketing and Public Relations can work together.

Marketing and public relations are both used to "promote" a person or a business, and I have learned that they can go hand-in-hand. The marketing department handles the financial aspect of communication through advertisement while the public relations department keeps in touch with the public and handles the company’s public image.

Together, the marketing team and public relations department work together to promote and publicise your business through a well-structured communications campaign.

However, Marketing and Advertising enjoy full professional recognition while Public Relations still is not recognised as a profession.

Nevertheless, this has not prevented the growth and expansion of public relations practice: with thousands of established public relations agencies and practitioners existing in the UK alone.

But why is public relations seen in this way? Is the practice of public relations fully understood?

Do you know how many of the stories in the newspaper are taken from well-written press releases issued from public relations officers? Do you know how many times your way of thinking has been influenced by the hard work of a public relations practitioner? It is an indefinable number, so lets follow a campaign that we all know.

Think about the concept of recycling and its recent history. Vast amounts of people now recycle and the overall importance of recycling or being eco-friendly is well-known, but how do you think those ideas were made reality? A well-prepared public relations campaign that stretched over a number of years!

Someone had an idea, and through good communications management, those ideas were filtered to the press, posters were made, flyers were distributed, press releases written, announcements were made... and the list goes on!

However, the general public is unaware of the behind-the scenes activity needed to distribute this information. They simply receive the message. All of that is PR!
There are so many public relations practitioners out there who genuinely get excited and are passionate about their work, and I have been privileged to come into contact with a few of them, and this has sparked not only an interest but an eagerness to fully immerse myself in the field.

I am personally excited about the field of public relations, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a challenging and exciting career choice.

Gemma Holder

Things Are So Much Better When They're Free

Over the Christmas period we saw the power that social media has over businesses and people. ‘Rage Against The Machine’ shocked the nation when it was announced that they were Christmas number one. This was all down to a Facebook group that started called ‘Rage Against The Machine For Christmas No.1’, the group attracted widespread attention and attracted more than 500,000 members - many of whom previously bought the single when it was released back in 1992.

The Eurostar crisis was another headline grabbing story that occurred around the same time. Twitter played a massive part in getting the passengers views and experiences out to the media.

The use of social media is a relatively new PR tool and many traditional businesses are still falling short when trying to keep up with the new ways of communicating on the web. It is a perfect opportunity for young ‘internet savvy’ entrepreneurs to take advantage of their youthful knowledge and do what their competitors are not doing. Whether it’s just something simple as ‘tweeting’ to inform customers of new products or blogging about your latest news, the possibilities are endless and with the use of digital and social media set to only grow further, it’s time to not get left behind!

Raj Bedi

Social Media in the Spotlight

As you all would have heard, Haiti was victim to a vicious earthquake on Tuesday 13th January. This was said to be the strongest earthquake in more than two centuries to rock this Caribbean nation. Words cannot begin to describe the shock in the wake of last week’s tragic events in Haiti.

Across Haiti, dozens of buildings have collapsed and thousands of people are feared dead. This catastrophe has left residents shaken, with some unable to cope.
Moreover, some Haitians have expressed feeling very abandoned and alone at the moment, which is mainly due to a lack of aid supplies. The rescue effort and the promised help are now desperately needed, but so far the fresh supplies of water, food and medical equipment are still in short supply.

Little do they know that there are major relief efforts in progress. But I am not only referring to those massive relief efforts by governments and international authorities, but I must highlight the massive efforts being launched on social media sites like facebook and twitter, to name a few.

Social media platforms have been overloaded since last Tuesday with some groups formed to make donations of food and clothes, others to help overseas family members searching for missing relatives and some for condolence postings. These groups also provide members with up-to-date information on the situation in Haiti.

Unfortunately, communication is down in Haiti, so residents would not be privy to these efforts, but they will be extremely beneficial to them later. So as much as residents may feel alone at this point, they are being heavily supported!

I would suggest paying a visit to these groups to see the worldwide concern and support for victims of this tragedy. It reinforces the practicality of using social media platforms in wide scale public relations plans. Furthermore, it demonstrates the rapid acceleration of social media as a fundamental communications strategy in any situation.

Goodbye from Raj!

My two weeks are now over and my work experience has come to an end. The question is though, “Have I actually done anything and have I learnt anything?” Most people who do work experience will probably answer this question by saying, “Yes, I now know how to make a great cup of tea!” The whole time I have been here I have only made the tea about four times, not bad for two weeks!

So, what have I done then? Well, since being here I have done a wide range of different jobs, from doing mail-outs to writing press releases. I have also written newsletters, news posts, blog posts and letters to clients. I have created media lists, phoned companies to persuade them to take part in a client’s charity event and suggested possible podcast and vodcast opportunities for the agency.

I would be lying if I said I have enjoyed every single minute of it, putting letters in envelopes isn’t the highlight of my day! But that’s how it is in PR and although one day you might be planning the world’s most exciting campaign, the next day you may have a never-ending pile of mail-outs to do. Has this put me off though? No way!
If I had to pick one thing that I feel I have improved on the most through my work experience, it would have to be my writing. When I wrote the first draft of my first blog post for the Message Merchants, it was the sort of writing style that would get me a good mark in an essay at university, but not what is needed for a good blog post. If I were to still be using this writing style now, this blog post would have bored you to death and you wouldn’t have even got this far in reading it!

From the whole experience I feel I am now in a better position to get a job within PR. Any previous doubts I had about working in PR have now gone as I am sure that this is the career for me. Although it has only been two weeks that I have worked here it feels a lot longer, within the two weeks I have learnt far more than I could have ever learnt in two weeks of my PR course.

Now I have some experience of working in PR, will I be able to get a job in the profession after I finish university? Only time will tell, but fingers crossed!

Christmas No.1?

The whole nation was shocked when it was announced that Rage Against The Machine’s single ‘Killing In The Name’ was Christmas Number One. They released the single back in 1992 and my question is “How come 17 years later after release it becomes Christmas number one?” If someone gave you a one word answer and said ‘Facebook’ you would have thought they were joking, but essentially they would have been right. It’s all down to the increasing power and effectiveness which social media has on influencing people.

A man named Jon Morter started a Facebook group called ‘Rage Against The Machine For Christmas No.1.’ The Facebook group asked the question, “Fed up of Simon Cowell's latest karaoke act being Christmas No.1? Me too... So who's up for a mass-purchase of the track 'KILLING IN THE NAME' from December 13th (DON'T BUY IT YET!) as a protest to the X-Factor monotony?” The group attracted widespread attention from Facebook users and had over 500,000 members. One of the bands members, Tom Morello heard about the group and then used his Twitter page to encourage fans to purchase the single. The use of social media prompted traditional media involvement and a word of mouth campaign then ensued. The single achieved the coveted Christmas number one spot.

I actually remember coming across the group on Facebook when I was invited by several of my friends to join. When I saw it I just thought of it as one of the many groups on Facebook that is a load of rubbish, and here I tend to hit the ‘reject’ button. I regarded it in the same category as the types of group which you see that are called ‘If 100,000 members join I will get The Phoenix Partners tattooed on my head!’ or ‘I will run around Leicester city centre naked if 50,000 people join!’ When I saw people on my Facebook posting comments about how the single has become Christmas number one I couldn’t believe it. Maybe if I had joined all the other groups then those people would have got The Phoenix Partners tattooed on their head or run around Leicester city centre naked!

Along with the rest of the country I expected X-Factor winner, Joe McElderry’s single to become number one. For the past four years the winners of The X-Factor have released cover songs which have made it to Christmas number one, partly due to the final being held just before Christmas. Maybe if Simon Cowell and the rest of The X-Factor crew had worked harder on promoting Joe’s single then it may have beaten off competition from Rage Against The Machine. Instead they relied on the show’s popularity to make the single a success. A poor decision by Simon Cowell and for once Cheryl Cole won’t be laughing!

This is an example of social networking used in exactly the right way. It has worked well because along with the campaign having a clear goal, Facebook and Twitter were both used to speak to fans directly to create a massive buzz and this in turn has created media hype. It has been proven once again that social media is becoming more and more powerful in influencing people’s decisions. If Rage Against The Machines success story doesn’t encourage more businesses to start using Twitter and Facebook then what will? Maybe next year we could make Take That Christmas number one, or would that be taking it too far?

The Latest Talent

Hello!

My name is Raj and I am currently studying MA Public Relations at De Montfort University, Leicester. I am a big football fan and I support Newcastle United. About a year and a half ago when Newcastle’s owner was faced with a backlash from the fans he stopped communicating with us and this is when I first took an interest in PR. If I could choose my career it would be to work within Sports PR as I have a big interest in this and it would be great if I could work in a sector which I have a huge passion for. If only it was that easy to pick and choose your job!

Yesterday I started my two week work experience placement at The Phoenix Partners. The Phoenix Partners is a fully integrated communications agency and although I will be getting involved with all aspects of the business I will mainly be focusing on the PR side of things. From this work experience I hope to gain some hands on experience and put into practice the skills and knowledge that I have learnt from my course. Hopefully this will put me in a good position to get a job in the PR industry when I finish University.

One of the main projects I will be working on is the Vantis Corporate Challenge. This is held by Vantis, who are a Financial Services company based nationwide but with an active office in Leicester. Now in its third year the Challenge is simple. Vantis give £50 to 100 local businesses who must then use this money to raise as much as possible. The only rule is that whatever they do must be legal and ethical. All the money which is raised is going to be donated to two local charities, Rainbow’s Hospice for Children and Young People and LOROS. Part of what I will be doing is to find and motivate local businesses to take part in the Challenge as well as creating media attention for their efforts. From this my communication skills will be developed when talking to businesses and the media.

In my Public Relations course I have been learning about things such as blogging, writing press releases, contacting the media and preparing PR proposals. I hope to get involved with as many of these things as possible as there is only so much you can learn in a classroom environment, and more of the learning comes from actually putting the knowledge into practice. I am grateful to The Phoenix Partners for allowing me the opportunity to learn more about PR by undertaking my work experience with them and I hope I can give something back by making a good contribution to their agency.