PUBLIC RELATIONS IRL

(is not at all like the image above)

WE LIVE IN AN INFORMATION ECONOMY

What does this mean in a

practical sense?

WERE ALL STORYTELLERS

We sell stories, and creativity is

the only way to cut through the
information glut.
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THE PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNSEL IS FIRST AND

FOREMOST A STUDENT
His text books for this study are the facts of life; the articles
printed in newspapers and magazines, the advertisements that are
inserted in publications, the billboards that line the streets, the
railroads and the highways, the speeches that are delivered in
legislative chambers, the sermons issuing from pulpits, anecdotes
related in smoking rooms, the gossip of Wall Street, the patter of
the theatre and the conversation of the other men who, like them,
are interpreters and must listen for the clear or obscure enunciations
of the public.
- Bernays, Edward L., Crystalizing Public Opinion (New York: IG Publishing, 1923) p. 78.

REMEMBER: PR IS A BUSINESS FUNCTION

Always bear in mind the management part of communication management.
At the end of the day, the money raised for your PR campaigns is an investment! If
the CEO puts $500,000 into PR, what results can you show him/her at the end of the
year?
PR must always tie back to business goals and objectives. Dont be creative just for
the sake of being creative.
Bombastic, over-the-top campaigns dont often yield the best return of investment..
If the business fails, you can be certain that PR and marketing budgets will almost
always get cut first and your job along with it.

THE PR PROCESS
Evaluation

Planning

Environmental
scanning

Message
design and
execution

Formative
research

CASE STUDY
Campaign name: #WeSpeakCode
Client: Microsoft
Geographic scope: Asia
Campaign timeline: December 2014 to July 2015

#WESPEAKCODE OVERVIEW
What is it: An Asia-wide corporate citizenship
campaign to promote computer science education
among the youth.
Business relevance: Looks like a feel-good CSR
campaign on the surface, but has long-term realworld implications on the hiring of next-generation
talent, and more computer-literate customers.
The role of PR: Create and tell stories of the
importance of coding, call on parents and
educators to introduce coding and/or STEM
education into the mainstream, reach out directly to
youth.
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CAMPAIGN STRATEGY
From a PR perspective, the team understood that a traditional feel-good campaign
focused on just the CSR aspect will not receive the necessary attention and traction
that befits the importance of the subject topic.
At the same time, content had to be kept visual and light-hearted in order to hit the
right notes with our young target audience. A delicate balancing act between the two
had to be maintained.
We also approached the campaign from an integrated communications perspective,
harnessing traditional media, social media and owned channels to amplify news and
moments.

EXECUTION
A data-driven approach was chosen to lend more weight to the campaign and
bolster overall newsworthiness. Through a combination of primary and secondary
research, a convincing case was made for the inclusion of coding as a mainstream
education subject.
An Asia Pacific-wide survey was commissioned and created by the PR agency, which
produced concrete evidence for #WeSpeakCodes key messages.
The survey results also provided an abundance of data from which to create original
content that served as pillars of support for local #WeSpeakCode activities,
including an overall messaging framework, media releases, infographics, branded
content, and social media content.

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News release

Infographic + localization

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CAMPAIGN RESULTS
Close to 500 media stories achieved across Asia, a more than 200% increase from last years
campaign.
Over 222,000 people across Asia participated in Microsofts coding events this year, compared to
just 20,000 in 2014.
Social channels were used to maximize buzz across all markets:
Twitter: the #WeSpeakCode hashtag reported a Reach of 6 Million and an Exposure of 16.9 Million, with 1,600
contributors and 3,800 Tweets between end-January and early April 2015.
Instagram: 685 photos from 226 users contributed to the #WeSpeakCode hashtag, with a reach of 242,200 during the
same time range.
Facebook: 292,482 impressions from 195,784 users were tracked, with 27,245 stories created by 26,178 users.
Microsoft Blogs: 31,000+ views of YouthSpark #WeSpeakCode Blog Posts

Ultimately, the campaign fulfilled its purpose of generating significant interest and participation in
coding 544 events were conducted in 88 cities across 15 APAC countries, where 96,000 youth
and over 3,500 non-youth (eg. educators, parents, etc) got their first taste of coding.
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#WESPEAKCODE COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS

FAQS PICK YOUR BURNING QUESTION!

Whats the difference between in-house PR and
Whats the difference between PR/journalist/advertising/marketing?
Which one of the above should I consider a career in?
Are the hours in PR really that long?

Should I do an internship?
Whats the salary like?
PR sounds easy. I can do it with my eyes closed, right?

[INSERT OWN QUESTION HERE]

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