Technically speaking, Publicity is the management of the public’s view of a certain company, product, or public figure. Sometimes Publicity is grouped under a marketing department because it is also an element of the promotional mix. My job as a publicity associate is to work with the Marketing team’s promotions and, together with my team, publicize them. Managing publicity, in short, includes: promotional event planning, editorial/product placement management, and planning editorial meetings to discuss the company/client’s future ideas/collections with various Editors.
Behind the scenes of these three job components comes a lot of stressful work. Planning and coordinating all events includes booking: the venue, the caterers, the entertainment, the celebrities/spokespersons, the maintenance crew, the fashions/stylists, the photographers/camera crews, the security, and finally, getting invitations out to the most important people – the press.
Members of the press need to receive invitations for the events with adequate timing for follow up and correspondence. The time of these professionals needs to be respected and treated with diligence because they are the people who will make your event worthwhile with all the editorial placements well worth more than any marketing budget would want afford.
After an event, a publicist must track and document every editorial/product placement. What I mean by documenting these placements is, every print or web editorial has a circulation number, the number of people who read a particular magazine, newspaper, or website. Since, the works of publicity cannot be physically counted, the circulation numbers of the editorials featuring the publicist’s promotional events give a net worth of that placement and can then be accounted for in budgeting purposes.
Publicists do get the luxury of VIP status at A-list events, constant party invitations, and traveling perks. However, these are all intended for networking experiences. Publicists need to do their homework on who they can and cannot mingle with. For example, if a company partners with Reebok, that company’s publicist cannot mention a word of business to a publicist from Nike. They need to network with various people in different fields to collaborate with for future events. Publicists need to be completely update-to-date on latest trends and corporate financial news. They have to be able to represent their company in the “blink of a eye,” so to speak, with just a quote or a paparazzi picture.
Publicists are on call 24/7 and are essential to a company/client’s team. Through my experiences in Publicity, I will give you the behind the scenes scoop and colleague-to-colleague tips of what to expect in the profession of Publicity.
Behind the scenes of these three job components comes a lot of stressful work. Planning and coordinating all events includes booking: the venue, the caterers, the entertainment, the celebrities/spokespersons, the maintenance crew, the fashions/stylists, the photographers/camera crews, the security, and finally, getting invitations out to the most important people – the press.
Members of the press need to receive invitations for the events with adequate timing for follow up and correspondence. The time of these professionals needs to be respected and treated with diligence because they are the people who will make your event worthwhile with all the editorial placements well worth more than any marketing budget would want afford.
After an event, a publicist must track and document every editorial/product placement. What I mean by documenting these placements is, every print or web editorial has a circulation number, the number of people who read a particular magazine, newspaper, or website. Since, the works of publicity cannot be physically counted, the circulation numbers of the editorials featuring the publicist’s promotional events give a net worth of that placement and can then be accounted for in budgeting purposes.
Publicists do get the luxury of VIP status at A-list events, constant party invitations, and traveling perks. However, these are all intended for networking experiences. Publicists need to do their homework on who they can and cannot mingle with. For example, if a company partners with Reebok, that company’s publicist cannot mention a word of business to a publicist from Nike. They need to network with various people in different fields to collaborate with for future events. Publicists need to be completely update-to-date on latest trends and corporate financial news. They have to be able to represent their company in the “blink of a eye,” so to speak, with just a quote or a paparazzi picture.
Publicists are on call 24/7 and are essential to a company/client’s team. Through my experiences in Publicity, I will give you the behind the scenes scoop and colleague-to-colleague tips of what to expect in the profession of Publicity.
