NEW PERSPECTIVES

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Informational interviews: three reasons why you should go to one
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Informational interviews are less stressful than job interviews and offer practical career advice outside the classroom. Instead of reading a company’s “About” page I have found it more effective to reach out to someone I admire and pick their brain to accelerate my career search.

After researching professionals on LinkedIn, I came across Humber PR alumna and former TVO public relations manager Kathy Saliba. I was eager to meet with her and our second degree connection was kind enough to introduce us.

I learned a lot from our coffee chat and she offered relevant industry advice. Here are three reasons why I recommend going on informational interviews:

1) Gain insight from industry professionals.

It’s a great opportunity to ask specific questions about their personal experience, which you won’t get from an online search engine.

Kathy’s advice:

  • Be open-minded. Opportunities can open up where you least expect them.
  • Be a sponge. Absorb as much information as you can. Make the most of every experience.
  • The learning process is never ending. Keep searching for opportunities to grow. Take advantage of the professional development and training courses offered online, at work or through professional organizations such as the CPRS Toronto Society.

2) Their knowledge of the industry can help you choose your path:

I was interested in learning about the differences between working in a large firm, boutique agency and corporate setting. Since Kathy had experience in all three she was able to shed some light on the subject.

Kathy suggested trying different work environments throughout your career to determine your preferred lifestyle and sector.

Informational Interviews

3) Helpful career tips

Kathy generously shared advice on how to succeed in job interviews:

  • Read the company’s press releases and conduct a media audit to become more informed about the employer’s latest projects.
  • In case of any questions about media relations, research media outlets tailored to the company’s clients or products. It’s a good habit to form a media list filled with specific traditional media, online bloggers and influencers.
  • Research the person you are interviewing on LinkedIn to see if you have any shared connections or experiences you can bring up in the interview.

I encourage students and recent graduates to go on informational interviews if they want to build their confidence and learn more about their future. The more you go on and the more interview practice you obtain, the more prepared you will be to navigate your PR career.

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By: Alessandra Manieri, Post-Graduate Public Relations Humber College

 

 

 

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What truly makes a gold submission?
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ACE Awards Judge, Lauren More, answers that question and shares her insights on the qualities of a gold winning submission

Taking the leap to judging the CPRS Toronto Ace Awards was a natural next step for Lauren More, VP Communications for Ford of Canada. Her six years of judging allowed her to see some of the freshest and most creative campaigns across industries. From helping run the CPRS Toronto mentoring program to ACE Awards judging, Lauren sees volunteering as her way of supporting the communications field.

Lauren shares her insight into creating an award-winning submission with this year’s crop of ACE award applicants:

The most popular categories

While ACE award judges typically judge on a variety of different categories, there are some categories that receive far more entries and are more competitive to place.

“It’s very competitive because it’s kind of the meat and potatoes of a lot of what we do as communicators,” said Lauren. “But the other area that has certainly just expanded exponentially is the social media category.”

The social media category, in particular, has some of the most creative submissions she’s seen.

The most standout campaigns

Lauren notes that often the most memorable and effective campaigns are the ones where “maybe it’s not the sexiest product or the sexiest point of view or the sexiest issue to grab awareness for”. Yet with a creative approach, these campaigns gained a ton of media attention.

While there are some topics that are naturally going to be of more interest to the media, the campaigns she’s enjoyed over the years are the ones where the brand really has to work at it to find something that would be meaningful to their audience.

The challenges to creativity

While it’s increasingly challenging, to come up with new ideas and new approaches, Lauren concedes sometimes there are periods where budgets have been a lot tighter.

“You have to do a lot more with a lot less,” she said, “And you’re still expected to deliver the same type of results – so I think that’s really pushed the level of creativity.”

The ability to sit back

It comes to no surprise that most communicators rarely have time to slow their everyday pace. Lauren explained the ACE Awards provide that perfect evening to do just that with your team and reflect back on your best work.

“We tend to in our jobs and our field to run pretty fast and run pretty hard.” she said, “And I think it’s really worthwhile to stop and take a breath now and then. To acknowledge the work and commitment we put in.”

There are certain things that separate excellence in our field. Lauren believes it’s important as a profession to both recognize and celebrate that.

The extra “oomph”

Key to winning best in show or taking home gold in any given category, Lauren emphasizes the consistency throughout the RACE formula steps. Some of the best submissions, in her opinion took the following measures:

  • The research connects well with the analysis
  • The analysis connects well to the communications tactics
  • A solid evaluation of the results

If you research well you understand what you’re trying to achieve with a communications program. Those winning gold and best in show have that extra dose of creativity, she said.

Lauren also notes past campaigns resonated with people – their key audience – and they told a story, a really good story and “they have that little extra oomph to them.”

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Written by: Jessica Chong, Account Coordinator, High Road Communicatons

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Taking home the top CPRS Toronto ACE Award
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“And the 2015 Public Relations Campaign of the Year goes to Weber Shandwick and McDonald’s Canada McCafé Retail Launch.”

On May 20, 2015, the Weber Shandwick team jumped out of their seats and congratulated one another as their McDonald’s client walked on stage to accept the most prestigious ACE award of the night.

The Work Behind Winning

When asked to reflect on the agency’s big achievement and what it was like to compete in the ACE Awards, Jessica Greasley, account director from Weber Shandwick, stepped up to the opportunity.

In September 2014, Weber Shandwick devised a communications plan for McCafé’s first ever grocery launch. The essence of the communication plan focused on driving awareness of the retail launch to both consumers and the business sector.

Weber Shandwick demonstrated how the brand was innovative and appealed to a younger demographic through their campaign’s creative strategies and tactics. The global agency also took risks to try something new with Songza and the McDonald’s Canada internal team embraced this opportunity to engage their younger audience on a new digital platform. Greasley also explained how the agency’s partnership with the McDonald’s team also fueled the campaign’s success.

The ACE Awards Submission

The submission was comprehensive.

“All of the components in the submission emphasized how the campaign’s strategies tied directly back to the company’s business objectives.”

Greasley also noted the submission’s careful attention to distinguishing how their results matched their initial objectives and goals, which was instrumental to ensuring the campaign stood out. She even identified how showcasing the large scope of the campaign combined with the business and consumer phases and the planning and timing layout were key aspects of the submission.

In terms of advice to agencies developing their submission for the 2016 ACE Awards Greasley said, “Provide a good understanding of the insights that led to the approach. Having clear targets, and how you measured against it will make help the judges understand why it’s award-worthy.”

The Best In Show Presentation

With only 15 minutes to present in front of the judges, the team selected critical parts of the campaign to prove why it was deserving of the top award.

Their presentation communicated why the McCafé Retail launch should receive the prestigious award by:

  • Demonstrating a strong understanding of the company’s audience and brand image
  • Highlighting the agency’s thought process and initial research that was conducted to tailor the campaign’s objectives
  • Showcasing innovative strategies such as the Songza partnership and proving why it was chosen to effectively reach McCafé’s younger audience
  • Explaining the media relations strategy behind the campaign and timing it with International Coffee Day, which engaged consumers and garnered an overwhelming and successful amount of media coverage

The Importance of Celebrating the Public Relations and Communications Industry

After finding out the campaign surpassed Weber Shandwick’s targets (and stretch targets!) the team was confident that it was a strong contender to compete within the ACE Awards. “It was a great honour for the company and client,” said Greasly. Especially since McDonald’s has had a long standing partnership with the agency. Greasly also mentioned “it was all hands on deck”. Everyone from the agency contributed to the campaign and award.

Greasley informed me the agency is currently assembling their application for the ACE awards again this year, “As an industry, it’s definitely important to submit and recognize the great work that’s being done by communications professionals. Wishing all this year’s submissions the best of luck!”

To learn more about the campaign watch this video

Jessica Greasley LinkedIn

Follow Weber Shandwick @WSCanada

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Written by: Alessandra Manieri, Post-Graduate Student, Humber College

 

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Judging the ACE Awards, a researcher’s perspective
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Friday February 26 is the deadline to submit to this year’s ACE Awards and returning judge, Lisa Covens, vice president of communications and public affairs at Leger, discussed her marking style and approach to judging this year’s campaigns.

Before stepping up as a judge, Lisa would attend the ACE Awards to support the clients who used Leger and the research they conducted for the award winning campaigns. When the opportunity came up to be one of the esteemed ACE judges, Lisa took it and started doing something she had never done before.

Lisa shared with us her strategy to marking submissions and to help prepare this year’s hopeful campaigns. Here are some highlights from her interview:

On her judging approach

“My focus will be on the RACE formula.” Research and evaluation jump at her the most.

On what makes a campaign stand out

“Today, campaigns are now so integrated – videos and visuals – which allow people to be very inclusive in their submission. Not only is the winning campaign sharp, but there’s something special about them. It is supported with research, includes creativity, success was measured and explained and overall well-executed.”

On the importance of submitting to the ACE Awards

As a returning judge for the third year in a row, Lisa listed why it is important to submit to recognitions awards such as CPRS Toronto’s ACE Awards:

  • Keeps public relations professionals on top of their game throughout the year
  • This isn’t done in market research so this a an opportunity worth taking advantage of
  • Provides a good reflection on the campaign – when summarizing a submission it makes you think of the campaign from beginning to end
  • Outline and learn from the issues encountered
  • And of course, recognition is always a good thing

On one piece advice for this year’s submissions

“It’s a shame when we mark a submission and it’s so creative and clear but misses a part of the requirements. Doing that will take you out of the running for the gold.”

TIP: Ask someone, who was not part of the campaign, to review the guideline and checklist. Ensure all the components are included because anything can be overlooked and the missing section will be marked with a zero.

On what she is looking forward too

“One aspect of the ACE Awards I really enjoy is the Best In Show judging day. That day, candidates are on top on their game. You get to witness great presenters and great speakers. I take away so much and I even receive insight on how to be a better presenter. It is such an inspiring night.”

One last thing: “Keep up the great work!”

 

Follow Lisa Covens on Twitter: @lisacovens

 

Submission deadline is this Friday February 26. Submit your campaigns here.

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Written by Charzie Abendanio, Humber College BPR Student and CPRS Toronto’s Student Steering Committee President

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APEX PR’s Jennifer Stein on the importance of celebrating success
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Last year, APEX Public Relations & Walmart Canada took home the ACE Award for Best Creative for the innovation and creativity behind their “Back-To-School with Walmart” campaign. We sat down with Jennifer Stein, vice president of APEX Public Relations, to look back on the award-winning campaign and the importance of celebrating success.

  1. What inspired you to launch Back-To-School with Walmart?

The inspiration started with the Snack Report. In our research we found out people were talking about lunch and dinner solutions, but not snack solutions. When I think about kids I think of them trading snacks on the school ground. Kids have snack envy, and that really set the tone for what we did.

  1. Why do you think the campaign was so successful in the end?

We really touched on a nerve on something that was applicable. We had a hypothesis, we did a survey to prove the hypothesis and the hypothesis was true.

It wasn’t just 50 per cent of moms, it was 85 per cent of moms that have this problem, and we knew we needed to provide this solution for them. We worked with a recipe developer to create fun recipes that would resonate with everyone. The content was amazing and when you have amazing content the media is more apt to pick it up.

  1. You have your finger on the pulse with key industry trends. How important is it to know your audience?

Not only do you need to know your target audience, you need to know what their habits are. How much time they’re spending shopping, how much time they’re spending watching TV, online and listening to the radio so that they can really be targeted, otherwise your message isn’t getting to them.

  1. Was an ACE Award priority during the campaign, or was it after it ended that you decided to submit?

After. Even though we knew we really blew it out of the water with media impressions, we didn’t know until a couple of months later when all the sales data came in that we helped drive sales and in-store foot traffic. It’s not until you get that insight that you know you have a winner.

  1. Back-To-School with Walmart was completed and your client was satisfied. Why submit to the ACE Awards?

I think it’s a nice way to congratulate the team. Awards can be tedious, but everyone squeals when you get an e-mail and it tells you you’ve won an award. It’s a feel-good ending to a campaign and something you can show the client, too, that it was an award-winning success.

  1. Do you think it’s important to submit to recognition awards like ACE?

Yes, often in our industry we do a campaign, we wrap and then we’re on to the next. We don’t take the time to sit back and relish how amazing the campaign was because this industry is so fast and furious. This allows us to take a step back and reflect. Not enough people do.

  1. Why do you think APEX won last year?

We had amazing content, content that was backed by research. And the campaign helped drive sales and at the end of the day, that’s what’s most important.

  1. What advice do you have for those PR campaigns being submitted this year?

If you have a sales stat, always use a sales stat to show your success. Or stakeholder analysis. The more you can dig deep into that the better your awards submission will be.

  1. When you found out you were competing for the highest ACE Award, how did you prepare for the Best in Show judging?

We treated it like a new business pitch to a panel of 12 people we didn’t know. We put together a presentation, we vetted it and then we rehearsed. We rehearsed three to four times as a group.

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Written by Bianca Jimeno, Post-Graduate Student, Humber College

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Six tips to building media relationships
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On Thursday, February 11 the CPRS Toronto’s Student Steering Committee (SSC) hosted their fifth-annual Building Media Relationships event at The Pilot in downtown Toronto.

Every year, a panel of media and public relations professionals share their insights and key advice with attendees.

This year’s panel included: Lindsey Coulter, Weber Shandwick; Shawn Rusich, Butter PR; Kelsey Rutherford, High Road Communications; Arti Patel, Huffington Post Canada; Jennifer Weatherhead Harrington, Travel & Style Magazine; and Kathleen Newman-Bremang, The Social. CNW Group‘s Laurie Smith moderated the lively panel discussion.

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Here are the top six takeaways from the event:

  1. Do your research.

Before you reach out and pitch to a journalist, know what they write about and what beat they cover. Questions to consider include: Do they create content for my target demographic? Is this the best medium?

“It is important to really understand how they write and why they write.” – Arti Patel

  1. Be personal.

Craft each email pitch to be personal and tailor the story to align with the journalist’s beat. This proves you are proactive and clued into their needs.

“If the email has a generic “hi” then I won’t even read it.” – Kathleen Newman-Bremang

Pro Tip: Kelsey suggested keeping notes about a reporter’s likes and dislikes for future use. For example, whether they prefer email or phone pitches.

  1. Stand Out.

Laurie Smith shared the interesting statistic that PR professionals outweigh journalists 4-1. This means reporters are constantly being bombarded by pitches. To make your pitch stand out, write a very tailored and catchy subject line. Simplify the reporter’s job by putting ‘the ask’ in the subject line.

“The art of writing a subject line is important. Tailor it to get their attention.” – Jennifer Weatherhead Harrington

  1. Be Respectful

Every good media relationship is based on courtesy and respect. The panelists agreed that it is unprofessional to pitch through personal social media.

On the topic of questions public relations practitioners should never ask the media, these were some of their pet peeves:

“Don’t ask if you can have creative control. We respect what you are promoting, but you also need to let us do our job.” – Kathleen Newman-Bremang

“Don’t ask who my demographic is. Your research should have already told you who they are” – Jennifer Weatherhead Harrington

  1. Be resourceful.

During the pitching process, make the journalist’s job easier by providing them with the right content that works best for the outlet.

Bloggers: Provide them with samples of the product so they can test it and reflect on her own experience.

Online news: Send pictures, infographics and social media content that aren’t too branded to be published.

Broadcast television: Provide video content of the guest or spokesperson as well as any related promotional materials.

Pro Tip: if your client will be interviewed on TV, the segment producer needs to see for themselves if they will look good and interview well, hence videos.

  1. Stay informed.

With the world of social media and the emergence of influencers and the media landscape changing rapidly, it’s important to keep up with the latest trends.

“The landscape is changing, but it’s forcing us to be more innovative.” – Kelsey Rutherford

There is so much to learn within the ever-evolving world of public relations, but two aspects prevail: good manners and preparation.

Committee

More quotes and learning insights can be found on the SSC’s Twitter handle: @CPRSStudents

Check out more photos from the event on our Facebook page: Facebook/CPRSTorontoStudents

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Written by: Alessandra Manieri student in Humber College’s Public Relations Post-Graduate Program.

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The Student of the Year Award and what you need to know
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Past award recipients, Amanda Paterson and Jessica Chong, give their advice to aspiring applicants

Students may be wondering if they should apply for the CPRS Toronto’s Student of the Year, awarded annually at the Achieving Communications Excellence (ACE) Gala. If you’re involved in your community or the public relations industry, you should take the chance, apply for the award and put yourself out there.

From agency to in-house communications department, the last two recipients of the CPRS Toronto Student of the Year award took different paths and here’s where they are today:

 

What’s been the most rewarding part of winning the CPRS Toronto’s Student of the Year?

Amanda: Winning the award means that I have the CPRS name behind me whenever I am job hunting. I feel confident that I can leverage that recognition into better opportunities in the future.

Jessica: I had ton of fun volunteering with the CPRS and working with the CPRS Toronto Student Steering Committee – so the most rewarding part of the award was having made those genuine connections with people in the public relations community.

 

Where are you working now?

Amanda: I’m currently on maternity leave from my position as a Communications Specialist at Baycrest Health Sciences.

Jessica: I’ve been at High Road since June and I’m currently an account coordinator.

 

What’s your day-to-day role?

Amanda: I am responsible for planning and executing internal and external communications plans. My day-to-day includes pitching journalists and editors, writing for web and social media, producing and designing our staff newsletter, and developing marketing strategies for Baycrest’s programs for seniors.

Jessica: My day-to-day schedule changes often and I love how fast-paced an agency setting can be. My role can vary on the digital side and include content calendar creation, web writing, social measurement, community management, influencer relations and sometimes even live-tweeting at events like Taste of Toronto.

 

Has your path in PR changed from what you wanted when you were a student or freshly graduated?

Amanda: I had worked in healthcare marketing prior attending my post-grad, and wanted to continue in that field afterward. It’s an interesting place to be.

Jessica: Before starting my post-grad, originally I wanted to work in-house in a communications department because I didn’t know too much, if anything, about agency life. Going through a post-grad program was my first introduction to agency life. What drew me to agency was how challenging and rewarding it could be to support multiple accounts.

 

What’s your advice to current PR students aspiring to win the award?

Amanda: Treat your program like a job and your teachers like your managers. Impress your faculty and they will be happy to write nomination letters for you.

Jessica: Think about what you can contribute to the public relations industry in the future and what you’ve already contributed. Don’t discount your past experiences before your post-grad or non-PR experience. Sometimes those experiences help paint a more holistic picture of who you are and what you can contribute to the industry.

 

Looking back what is one takeaway from the award you would like current students to know? Is there one piece of advice you would like to give them?​

Amanda: Public relations is all about measurable results. The award is proof of the value you can bring to an organization.

Jessica: Network. Head out to events or for coffee and put yourself outside of your comfort zone. Make connections and ask questions because you’re genuinely curious about their role and their experiences – in and outside of the office.

If you’re ready to jumpstart your career and build connections, consider applying for the CPRS Toronto Student of the Year award. All you need is to submit a resume and one-page endorsement from a faculty, fellow student or mentor. Whether you wish to contribute back to your school or broader community, consider how you will continue to make an impact on others and share your story with the CPRS Toronto today.

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Public relations students, did we cover your questions and satisfy your curiosity about the CPRS Toronto Student of the Year award? You can always connect with Amanda and Jessica on Twitter.

 

 

Written by: Jessica Chong, Account Coordinator, High Road Communications

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Infographic: What You Should Know About Informational Interviews
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Infographic_Informational_Interviews FINAL

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Mix & Mingle: Round Two!
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On January 27, the CPRS Toronto Student Steering Committee (SSC) hosted their first Mix & Mingle of 2016. Public Relations students gathered together at Hemingway’s in downtown Toronto for a night of networking and to take a break from the assignments piling up in school. By eight o’clock, the venue was packed with young PR professionals, and for many, this was their first taste of what the CPRS Toronto has to offer.

CPRS MixMingle 2

 

CPRS Toronto SSC’s Mix & Mingles are a great way to learn more about the industry, by speaking with other PR students from schools like Humber, Centennial, Seneca, Ryerson and Durham. Friendly and open discussions regarding PR careers could be heard at every table, ranging from subjects such as internal vs. external, or corporate vs. agency and where they see themselves in the future. After all, many students at the event were experiencing the excitement of the internship application process, and any insight on the subject was highly valuable.

In addition to being a source of excellent advice, the Mix & Mingle gave students the opportunity to connect with future colleagues on a personal level. Public relations is all about connections and it’s a smart idea to start meeting the people you’re likely to see and work with throughout your career. Networking at formal business events might be intimidating, but meeting other young professionals in a more comfortable setting encourages conversation and ease to meet new people.

In short, the night was a tremendous success! Anyone interested in knowing more about CPRS Toronto student events is encouraged to check out the one coming up, Building Media Relationships #CPRSBMR, on Thursday, February 11.

 

Facebook: CPRSTorontoStudents

Twitter: @CPRSStudents

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Elyse Carney is the CPRS Toronto Student Steering Committee representative for Durham College.

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The case of the PR body snatchers
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I hope that everyone is having a great start to 2016. I know that one of the things that I love to do during the holidays is catch up on some reading.  I am a long time subscriber to Toronto Life and an article in their December issue caught my eye and I thought it would make a great starting point for a discussion on our member blog. This article piqued my interest and really got me thinking about our professions’ role in the scenario.

The article, by Nicholas Hune-Brown, is called The Body Snatchers. The premise of the article is the public campaign by sports and business leader Eugene Melnyk to crowd source his request for a live liver donation. In addition to referencing the Melnyk case, the article reviews two other campaigns that made similar requests for organ donations for young children.  More specifically, the two campaigns for Toronto-area children, Delfina and Jacob, received some professional assistance.  The person who provided this assistance was inspired to help the families find an appropriate donor after seeing a post on Facebook. For the thesis of the article Hune-Brown asks the question: “what happens when PR campaigns decide who lives and who dies.”

We were fortunate the campaigns featured in the article all had positive endings. Both children and Melnyk received the organ donations they needed.  While I praise the initiative of the person who came forward to help raise awareness for Delfina and Jacob there are some questions that running a campaign like this raises.

Have these campaigns created a new reality for living organ donation in our province? Is this something that our profession can now consider to be a business? What is the role for remuneration in a situation like this, and, how would the profession deal with any potential conflicts? Do we, as one bioethicist in the articles suggests, create the potential to turn this into a beauty contest?

I don’t believe it is the job of PR to decide “who lives or dies”, I do however consider it to be one of the duties of our profession to engage in conversation on issues of the day and the live donor organ donation debate is relevant.  I would love to hear what you think and I look forward to a stimulating conversation on the member’s blog!

 

 

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