Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Welcome to the Centennial college podcast series PR shaping the future. Join our team of postgraduate students from the Centennial college public relations corporate communications program, who partnered with the Canadian council of public relations firms to explore diversity and inclusiveness in the PR industry. This will be the second episode of a three-part series, where we interviewed diverse BiPAP individuals who have been making an impact in the world of public relations and communications. My name is Kara and today is a little different current Centennial CCPR student angel Carolino has graciously allowed us to share her recent podcasts with account director of apex PR Steph Porter. This week's episode will feature all the angel learned during her interview with Steph a little about stuff's background and about apex, what PR is and what skills you need to be a successful PR practitioner.
Speaker 1 00:00:52 Hey guys, welcome back to overcoming glossophobia with me angel, your favorite Jill of all trades. So last week I had a very interesting conversation with my husband. I was gushing about the CPRS event that I attended for school and how excited I am to join the public relations industry in Toronto. It's so funny. He was smiling and nodding at all the appropriate times, but then he cuts me off and says, honey, what exactly do you do in public relations? So that got me thinking, how do I explain the public relations profession to anybody in simple, understandable terms? So today I invited Steph Porter account director for apex public relations, which is a mid-sized PR agency in downtown Toronto to help y'all understand what a public relations professional really does.
Speaker 2 00:01:41 I can't wait. I'm excited to be here and for you to interview me.
Speaker 1 00:01:44 So Steph here has been working in PR for about 12 years already, and she's worked with some of the most recognizable brands and companies in Canada, like Harley Davidson, Roger center, um, paradigm PR retail at Canadian tire. They're now over at apex PR where her biggest client is Walmart, Canada. She also does support for new balance and baby products. Brown outlet. Her undergrad was BA honors in popular culture from Brock. And she also got her postgraduate certificate and public relations from Niagara college. Okay. So guys, are you listening, grab a pen and a piece of paper cause you want to take this down in the simplest of words, public relations is a strategic communication process that those mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics. Okay. So say your dim Horton's right. And you have this amazing cool app with Drake. For example, of course you want to tell people about that, right?
Speaker 1 00:02:41 To make them as excited as you are for the project. So when you work PR for Tims, what do you do? You come up with a well-written pressure lease. You pitch it to your friends over on Toronto star, the globe, and mail a press, CBC news, CTV blog T O, and tell them why this cooler is so amazing and why it needs to be covered by the media man. You might be shortlisting, a bunch of food and music, influencers or bloggers. Do you have them post a photo video or story on their social media platforms so that they're super engaged followers also look forward to, and by these crazy Drake daughters or what have you and the Cola comes out, you get it now.
Speaker 1 00:03:21 Okay. So I thought it would also be important to take a look at agency life, to give you an understanding of how it works in functions. So let's take a look at apex PR structure Shelby. So peer agents usually have a corporate and consumer department, corporate accounts handle PR for a company stakeholders like their employees, board and investors, the commercial or consumer departments handled a brand or a company relationship with key audiences who affect business like the media customers thought eaters and et cetera, like Apexus website says, if you have an idea, they can make it bigger. And if you have an issue, you can make it better. So for Steph as account director and the consumer department of apex, she is the senior contact for the agency's consumer clients. She oversees a team to ensure that the PR campaigns messaging is precise, that campaigns are creative and are delivered within timelines.
Speaker 1 00:04:14 And that the rest of the provisions of the service contract are met as account director. Steph is also responsible for growing the agency's business by either growing the business of existing accounts or delivering new businesses. Of course, she's also in charge of media relations with industry people like journalists, key commentators, spokespeople, and also influencers, content, creators, and blogger. So basically the objective of their department is to amplify ideas through media relations events, social media, and content marketing to get the right people talking. The PR landscape is pivoting fast and Steph and I both think that it's gen sessioning to being more than just media relations
Speaker 2 00:04:57 And also think PR is really moving into like integrated marketing communications. So it's not just public relations anymore where it's like you're doing traditional media outreach and that's it like it's very much a very holistic marketing communications job where you pretty much have to be able to do everything job postings, because especially smaller corporations are looking for everything. They want somebody who can write and they want somebody who can do traditional MRF. They want someone to do the influencer relations, social media campaigns. They want someone to do everything. So I would say if you have that experience, that's great because they want that one person who can wear all the hats and do after that.
Speaker 1 00:05:37 So, Steph, what do you think are the essential skills and characteristics that one was tapped to be successful in PR?
Speaker 2 00:05:44 Oh, but you need to be a good writer. I would say writing is something that it's hard when you don't practice. So I would say all kinds of writing. I mean like, like, uh, social media writing long form writing, whether that's in press releases, blogs more by-lines pitches. Like you need to be able to write it all. So I would say a hard skill would be writing. And then I would say the other kind of more soft skills would be, um, tenacity and just wanting to learn and not saying no to things and just taking everything in resourcefulness, being able to figure things out on your own.
Speaker 1 00:06:17 So if you wanted to work in PR what would be the skills that one would need to have or develop, you know, aside from being able to write well and, uh, keys to having a decent grasp of the CP style book. And of course having a good Meagan network. One was also having an understanding of how each communication platform works.
Speaker 2 00:06:36 This would resonate here. This would resonate there. This messaging would work here. There's so it's good to have insight into all of those things because we need to be able to really understand each and every platform
Speaker 1 00:06:47 There, you have it PR in a nutshell. So if you like work that throws you curve balls every day and where no two days are the scene, or if you like talking to clients and offering them solutions to their communications problems, if you like thinking creatively and like an extra year of challenge in the form of working with sometimes very tight budgets or very tight timelines, then PR could be the right career for you. Thanks for joining me today. This has been Ingle carrageenan of the overcoming glossophobia podcasts.
Speaker 0 00:07:22 We have come to the end of our segment and we want to thank Centennial CCPR student angel Carolino, who has graciously allowed us to share her recent podcast with account director of apex PR Steph Porter. Be sure to follow angel on YouTube at angel Carolino of Ayala land premiere and apex PR on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn for updates on the work they continuously do in the PR industry. Join us next week, when we hear another story from another PR practitioner who has also been making impacts in the world of public relations and communications and how we can continuously shape the future of PR, make sure to subscribe to Centennial college's podcasts on SoundCloud, Spotify, apple podcasts, and Google podcasts. This is Kara, and this is PR shaping the future presented by Centennial college's public relations, corporate communications program partnered with the Canadian council of public relations firms. Thank you for joining us.
