As the Summer Comes to an End..

Kara's Experience..

Intern: The coveted role that every college student strives to obtain.  Going into Christmas break of my Sophomore year, I was eager to begin the internship hunt.  At Ohio University, we have it drilled into our heads from day one that we need to get an internship in order to graduate.  I knew how important it is to have real-world experience, especially since I was about to be halfway through college.  It was during this internship search that I came across Rebecca Adele PR & Events. 

The first thing that attracted to me to this internship was the way Becki described the program.  While most internship descriptions were pretty cut-and-dry, Becki’s creative way of writing about daily roles made me feel like I would be a part of something fresh, unique, and exciting.  It is for these reasons that I was thrilled to become a part of Becki’s team!

Going into the internship, I had set goals of what I wanted to achieve.  I needed to build my own personal portfolio and have concrete examples of work in the PR field.  I believed that I would be able to obtain these goals, but I did not know how quickly they would be achieved! I was pleasantly thrilled that I was put to work right away, even on important aspects of Becki’s company such as press release writing and managing various social media accounts.

I not only enjoyed the responsibility that I was given, but also the environment that I was given to learn in.  It was great to have Becki right there to answer any kind of question and offer advice.  I loved being able to joke around in the office one minute, and the next be able to receive awesome real-world tips from Becki’s experience in the field. 

Overall, the experience I gained from this internship was better than anything I could have learned in a classroom.  It was the best place for me to begin my growth as a PR professional.  Although I will miss my Tuesday and Thursday mornings in the office, I leave the internship knowing I have a mentor I can count on-from joking about her being my mom or offering advice on how to write the best boilerplate for a press release.  My time at Rebecca Adele PR & Events will be greatly missed, but never forgotten!

Written by Kara Ferrara from Rebecca Adele PR & Events

Chloe's Experience...

Coming straight out of high school, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would land a position with a PR company.

My past two semesters with Rebecca Adele PR & Events (Summers 2014, 2015) has taught me so much about the PR world.  Looking back, I have grown so much and couldn’t be happier with confidence I have gained from this internship.  From not knowing how to write a press release to writing at least five of them in my period at Rebecca Adele seems amazing to me.  Also having never taken a college class about PR, from the beginning of my internship I felt like I was “thrown into the fire.”

And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

I am incredibly thankful to have begun my career path towards a PR professional with Rebecca Adele.  In addition to learning about social media, PR writing and event planning, it also helped confirm that this is the field I want to work in. 

When first meeting with my boss in February of 2014, I had asked to shadow her for a high school project.  Never was it my original intention to intern for her, but as luck would have it, here I am sitting at a desk in her office. 

This internship has been more valuable (and fun!) than any college class--sorry John Carroll!  As my internship comes to an end, I cannot wait for the next exciting opportunity that I will be faced with.  While I am leaving with more PR knowledge and experience, I am also leaving with a wonderful friendship with my boss/role model/friend Becki Silverstein. 

According to the dictionary, serendipity is defined as “luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for,” and I believe that perfectly sums up my time with Rebecca Adele PR & Events. 

Written by Chloe Slavin from Rebecca Adele PR & Events

Millennial Moms: The New Target Market

We’ve all heard of the millennial generation; how they’re changing countless aspects of our society and are now surpassing the Baby Boomers as the nation’s largest living generation.  It comes as no surprise that the Public Relations and Marketing world are revamping many of their campaigns to target this generation, as it now has an increasingly important role in our society.

Fall is just around the corner, which means we’re about to be bombarded with the yearly back-to-school ads and promotions.  So what’s different about the approach that many strategists are taking? Rather than focusing on the “tried-and-true” Mom, companies are targeting the “Millennial Mom”.   While previous generations relied on trusted brands and ideas that had been passed down to them, the Millennial Mom has a completely different method of decision-making and newfound creativity.  Millennial Moms rely on lifestyle blogs and social media sites such as Facebook and Pinterest to get new ideas for their family.  Our Moms usually paid attention to brand-generated content full of facts, but Millennial Moms are more trusting of word-of-mouth and peer-generated reviews.  Reportedly seven out of ten mothers will recommend their favorite products to friends and family.  Think about it: when we need help with decision-making, our generation is not using research to help us make our choice. We go to our friends, family, and network to choose what is best. 

Millennials are also more concerned with making a difference in their community, and enjoy supporting companies that do the same.  Brands are taking advantage of these views by emphasizing not only how their products will benefit the Millennial Mom’s family, but also how the purchase of these products will give back to worthy causes. 

Implementing loyalty programs has long been a success among major retailers.  Let’s face it, everyone loves an incentive and a great deal.  However, strategists have changed what they are placing the incentive on.  This generation’s Mom is much more concerned with convenience than quality.  One could attribute the preference for convenience to the fact that more moms are working nowadays.  The love for one-stop shopping stems form the working mother’s need for convenience in her hectic day.  Retailers that offer this convenience and extra rewards will attract more Millennial Moms come back-to-school shopping. 

Companies that want to gain the Millennial Mom as a customer need to pull all of these methods into their campaigns.  Give ways for the Millennial Mom to be creative.  Show her how she can find inspiration from the products and personalize them to fit her own family.  Make her feel like she is giving back in some small way by supporting a company that does good in the world.  Millennial Moms may be breaking the traditional “Mom” role that campaigns are used to, but they are also bringing in new, creative ways to target today’s most prominent generation.

Written by Kara Ferrera from Rebecca Adele PR & Events

Lessons We Learned from the PR Side of Caitlyn Jenner’s Story

Will there ever be a Transformation Tuesday bigger than discussing Caitlyn Jenner’s reveal to the world? Last week, we were graced with the images of her debut in the form of a Vanity Fair cover shot.  Jenner’s photo shoot in Vanity Fair marks perhaps the most impactful representation of the transgender community in the mainstream media. 

The meaning and widespread impacts of Jenner’s transformation have been discussed seemingly nonstop over the past few months, and especially after last week.  But not as much light has been shed on the amount of public relations planning and knowledge it took to pull off Jenner’s reveal in expertly crafted manner.  Public relations specialist Howard Bragman stated that Caitlyn Jenner’s transition was played out “masterfully” in the press.  The topic of transitioning is especially difficult from a PR standpoint because of the sensitivity surrounding the matter. So what have we learned from analyzing Caitlyn’s media management?

Keep it Classy: What’s the secret behind making great PR moves when covering a heated topic such as transitioning? Bragman pointed out that a key move is to ensure that the topic is to “play it out well and tastefully and move the issue along in society”. Jenner’s cover shoot has no doubt done brought positive attention to the transgender community, and has done so by keeping the media campaign respectful and controlled. 

Share the Love: In terms of personal publicity, Caitlyn Jenner received overwhelmingly positive attention.  She gained over a million Twitter followers in mere hours, setting a Guinness World Record.  She received an outpouring of support from fans via social media, which does wonders to show the millions of people supportive of the transgender community.

Handle all Things with Grace: No matter how good a media campaign can be at handling sensitive topics, these topics will always be met with some form of backlash from those who do not support.  In Jenner’s case, social media also shed light on the beliefs of those insensitive to transgender topics.  Drake Bell tweeted “Sorry….still calling you Bruce”.  Comments like these can be extremely hurtful to whomever you’re representing, but follow in Jenner’s team’s footsteps and turn a blind eye.

Quality over Quantity: Jenner’s transition in the media definitely blows the door wide open to even more transgender topics being covered.  However, a great lesson to learn from her media campaign is simple: quality over quantity.  The Sawyer interview and Vanity Fair were two huge quality pieces of media coverage, so it’s safe to say Jenner does not need to go overboard on making many more media appearances about the transition.

The best part of analyzing Jenner’s PR strategy is to see how such a private issue was taken public, and in a respectful manner.  The transgender community is just one example of heated topics being covered in the media today. Are there any specific examples that you think the media or PR teams have done a good job of handling? Tell us in the comments below!

Written by Kara Ferrara of Rebecca Adele PR & Events