Working Word PR Blog

Work experience placement Georgia Gibson-Ford on escaping classroom PR theory and breaking into the real world.

About 20 different PR companies were emailed and only one responded….Working Word. “If you want a career in PR, work experience is essential”; I’ve been told this numerous times by people ‘in-the-know’ but it is much easier said than done!

Time to burst out of the bubble for Georgia

When I first started my degree in Journalism, Film and Media at Cardiff University, I expected to become a serious, hard-hitting news journalist overnight.

After almost three years of studying and a week’s work experience at a local newspaper, I can finally say this is not the route for me; I wanted a career with flexibility, creativity with words and ideas and, most importantly, to actually talk to people!

The more I’ve learnt about PR, it seems clear that creativity and communication with people lies directly at the heart of it, but what about in the real world?

Most university tutors (and the CIPR website) mark the value of work experience in the industry as priceless; it’s one thing sitting in a classroom reading about how PR works but it could be a completely different kettle of fish outside my journalism ‘bubble’.

After many, many emails enquiring about opportunities with next to no leads, I was ready to throw in my PR towel (until graduation loomed) but then I was given a chance by Working Word!

I’m so excited about being able to break free from my stuffy lectures and explore the real world of PR and really hope that I can gain as much out of this week as possible as unfortunately, they are very hard to come by.

Georgia's new t-shirt (maybe)

Although I’ve just arrived, the colleagues here have already made me feel that this is the best place to come for an engaging and motivating first step into the PR world and I’m confident it will confirm there is a place for me outside my university ‘bubble’.

Could you do a George Papandreou?

Our Associate Director Andy Green on doing a Papandreou. Could you?

By which I mean could you take a really big decision that would be deeply unpopular with others – or with key individuals?

George jumped: could you?

My reading of his actions was that he realised at the penultimate moment that if he had gone ahead, implemented the challenges ordered by his European ‘partners’ he would have gone down as the most unpopular man in modern Greek history, and no doubt his family name would have been similarly tarnished.

From the gallery we can sneer in our bewilderment over Papandreou’s actions – but what we would do in similar circumstances?

When are we ever brave and stand up for our principles and beliefs, protecting what we think is right?

In my innovation and creativity workshops I emphasise the importance of your Adversity Quotient – your inner rocket fuel to help you bounce back from setbacks.

If you are being creative, inevitably there will be times when people say ‘No’ or even worse, may hold you in lower esteem as a result of what you believe to be right.

I’m guided in life by two great sayings: the first from rock legend Frank Zappa

When he said: “Just because several million people think you’re wrong, it doesn’t mean they’re right.”

The other, is from my favourite film and play, ‘The Harder They Come’ with the lines from the title song: ”I’d rather be a free man in my grave, than live my life a puppet or a slave.”

But even I have recognised, either from growing maturity, or just one too many times of banging my head against a brick wall, that actually you need to be selective about your battles: you can’t take on the whole world.

There are many times when you just need to grit your teeth, take a deep breath and smile at the latest example of ‘the world doesn’t recognise your brilliance’.

There are other times however, when you need to be brave, be prepared to have several million people think you’re wrong, and fight the fight you believe to be right.

Maybe George Papandreou was brave and didn’t want to live his life a puppet or a slave to his European partners.

The truth he has highlighted however, whether it is the world of politics or innovation and creativity, is you can’t be popular all the time if you want to achieve the change you want to see in the world.

Now, where was I with my latest idea for…..

Associate Director Andy Green blogs…

“Daddy what did you used to do on Halloween?”

My honest answer would be: “Nothing”.

As a child, if asked about Halloween I would have probably said: “What’s that?”

At the time there might have been a story feature on Blue Peter where maybe some nice middle class boys and girls would have done something creative with pumpkins and a washing up bottle – but beyond that absolutely zilch.

Not that I was objecting to the concept or idea of Halloween, with concerns over devil worship or other dark side concerns.

Rather, I had no idea what Halloween was, and more importantly, what I should do to engage with the idea.

You see, Halloween is a great example of a meme – an idea that has spread and replicated by itself.

So today’s children can choose from a menu of:

• Going out ‘Trick or Treating’
• Dressing up in scary costumes
• Watching a Halloween related/scary movie
• Having some other Halloween/scary themed sweet, food, or beverage

Ian Morris in his excellent analysis of the broad themes of history ‘Why the West rules for now’ claims that there are essentially just three motors for change: fear, greed and sloth.

The story of humankind has been fuelled by satisfying one or more of these core drivers.

Halloween, by playing off our fear of fear is drawing upon a key underlying emotion – and perhaps harnessing some reverse psychology: by making fun of what we fear deep down– we can lessen our underlying dissonance about these nasty things.

Halloween is evidently a good meme: it is instantly identifiable, memorable, and copy-able: it is easy to pass on, easy to engage with, and easy to create conversations around.

It has grown partly by commercial interests – from filmmakers to Cadburys offering ‘Trick or Treat’ sweet buckets.

More importantly, it has grown because significant numbers of us want it to: it provides the opportunity to party in some way, and connect with others: parents have a chance to connect with their children, and commercial interests, well…, there is a commercial opportunity.

Now if Halloween as a concept is able to replicate itself and operate as a meme, should most professional communicators understand more about how memes work and how they can apply to their work in promoting messages and greater understanding?

Luckily, help is at hand.

Memes, viral and word of mouth are just a few of the 101 different tips an ideas being offered to public relations and marketing professionals in the first ‘Word of Mouth and Viral Marketing course being run by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

The half day training course takes place in London on the afternoon of Friday November 11^th. Places are limited, to book your place visit www.cipr.co.uk or ring 0207 631 6900.

The course has been devised and will be delivered by Andy Green FCIPR. His book ‘Effective Personal Communication Sills for PR’, part of the Institute’s PR in Practice series, was one of the first PR texts to cover word of mouth and memes.

Sharing examples from the work of Edward Bernays to the latest cutting edge campaigns, you will go away telling your friends how you can manage your word-of-mouth, how to create positive messages about you, what you do and what you stand for.