Introducing Izzie...

Heya - Izzie here, one of the other 'co-authors', just dropping a note to say hi and introduce myself. Not used to blogspot cos I'm more an LJ user (gasp! conflict of interest there...) but I guess I'll get used to this.

I work with PRis the PR-incess here at a little green agency at Amoy Street as business development manager. As the name implies, my roles and responsibilities centre on bringing new business into the agency as well as looking into other creative ways in which to provide clients with newer and more innovative ways of creating brand awareness besides the usual outlets of print and broadcast - and the usual publicity stunts / press conferences / media drops that accompany them. I have to say, though, it's much more easily said than done in many respects.

Oftentimes the major headache faced by many agencies who are looking at using new media or brainstorming new ways of reaching the audiences is that clients are still by and large unsure of how to assess the success of new media coverage. As with many for-profit organisations they place a great deal of their assessment on how much a campaign is able to raise profits, or by the size of participation in a certain initiative, or turn-out at an event. They look at the size of an article and judge the advertising value equivalent, comparing PR fees with how much MORE they'd have to pay were they to have bought a similar-sized ad. Admittedly these are important benchmarks - but aren't we taking things a little too far by assessing the success of a campaign just by the cost savings of ad buys? And I'm talking strictly in terms of marketing PR here - there are a myriad of PR subcategories out there with their own respective definitions, practices, etc.

Therefore, while PRis looks at various PR trends and other exciting items in the realm of new media, I'm going out on a limb to explore the techniques and methods in which a campaign is put together - from conceptualisation to end product. It'll be pretty interesting, and sometimes frustrating, I imagine. Admittedly i am still very much a newbie, being in the industry all of 1 1/2 years - so if anyone has any insight to share on a certain issue pertaining to the formulation and execution of a campaign, even if it's to say "I agree" or "I disagree", please feel free to drop a note.

Catchyas!

Iz