By: Katie Masko Our first meeting, “Satisfying Your PR Craving,” brought three public relations professionals from the food and beverage industry to discuss their day-to-day work and most important skills for working in the field in Franklin Hall September 26.
“Most messaging starts and ends with us,” said Brandi Neloms, the chief strategy officer at Sipping Black Only, about the most important part of working in the industry. “We are drafting what sounds good and what's true.” Social Media Strategist at Nestle, Deanna Langer, and VP of Communications at J.M. Smucker, Abbey Linville, joined Neloms to share their experiences on digital analytics, crisis strategy and essential transferable skills learned in the PR Kent program. Langer and Linville quickly agreed good writing is the most important skill a PR professional should have when entering the workforce. “If you can write, you can do almost anything,” Linville said. When discussing crisis strategies, Langer shared that a minor crisis can potentially change all social media plans for the rest of the month. “Social moves really fast… you'll have a content calendar planned for the whole month and then something terrible happens,” she said. Langer also spoke about her use of digital analytics in social media, bringing light to why Digital Analytics in Advertising and Public Relations is an essential class for PR majors to take. “We work really closely with our consumer marketplace insights team, and they do tons of market research on our consumer, how people are interacting with our brands, and what channels they're on,” Langer said. Their final pieces of advice went beyond standard networking advice. “Look for ways to constantly engage with people so that when you do have a need, or you do have an opportunity for them, it's more of an authentic symbiotic relationship than it is just you tapping on the shoulder and asking for things,” Neloms said.
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By: William Dakin Coming from a small town of just over 3,500 people, the only thing I knew was “Community." Traveling to San Francisco in April was a huge step, visiting one of the largest cities in the United States. I expected individuality; every man for himself. I thought business owners wouldn’t have the time or motivation to help their local community. To my surprise , a majority of the businesses I encountered prioritize the local community. While in Napa, NMGZ broke us into teams to help advise two local coffee companies. We talked about marketing, subscriptions, and. The coffee company I helped was Ohm Coffee. Being a team leader on this project allowed me to personally speak to Derek Bromley, the founder and owner of OHM Coffee Roasters. Derek has an amazing sense of community. Because their coffee shop is run out of a food truck, community is essential for their brand’s success. .. Over dinner, Derek talked about the festivals and weddings his coffee truck has catered.. Every Tuesday and Saturday, they serve coffee at the Napa farmers market. I grew up around farmers markets and they were always the core of community involvement. I love how the produce and products are made by community members, for community members. Ohm Coffee wants to be a company that does just that. They want to be a place for the community to hang out, relax, and connect. Derek and Ohm Coffee have found a way to keep that core value of coffee shops, even on the road. . Going forward, Derek hopes to open a brick-and-mortar location, a coffee roastery. Derek is a musician in the band “Mama Said,” which often performs in the Napa Valley area. The coffee roastery will give local musicians and bands a place to perform.. Traveling from Newcomerstown, a town with 3,800 people to San Francisco, home to 875,000, I never thought I would find a similar sense of community among businesses and their customers. The community within NMGZ is what sets us apart. Finding a similar connection in Ohm Coffee made my trip to San Francisco extra special. By: Emily King At the end of the 2022 school year, I was on the hunt for a good part-time job to allow me to save for college. That did not happen this summer, instead, I was given the opportunity to work two internships. One is with a local real estate company in my hometown, RE/MAX Allegiance, the other is with a country music social media company, Whiskey Riff. RE/MAX Allegiance is a real estate company that is owned by a family in my small town. I was not sure how working for a real estate agency was going to go due to the fact I knew nothing about the industry. I did research beforehand about how marketing for real estate works. The whole real estate world depends on marketing to sell houses. I was excited to be a part of the team and help bring new ideas with my knowledge about marketing and public relations Whiskey Riff is a Country Music Media Company that sells apparel, creates playlists, produces weekly podcasts, and writes stories. This is just a short list of what this company does. Whiskey Riff is, “The unfiltered voice of real country fans.” I have always been an interactive follower of the company. One day close to the end of the 2022 spring semester, I saw a job post on their LinkedIn for ‘Social Media Intern.’ I had a dream of working for this company down the road and I knew this would give me a kickstart. I soon saw that there were almost 500 applicants for this position and my heart dropped, I didn’t think I would get the spot. A long week later I got the email for a follow-up interview. Shortly after I started working for both companies, I got a routine down. Here is what a normal Monday looks like for me. Schedules WHISKEY RIFF 7 AM - *Wake up and Go through DM’s, Comments, & Tagged Photos 8:30 AM - Post Monday Puppy Picture (Instagram & Twitter) 8:30 AM - *Post Article and Shop Picture to Accounts (Done every Hour or 2) 12 PM - *Check Comments & feed 1 PM - Go over anything new for the week & updates 2 PM - Schedule out Shop Tweets (7 tweets a day) 2 PM - Create 1-3 Tik Tok’s 3 PM - Create & Post Song Of The Week Graphic (Instagram, Twitter, & TikTok) 4 PM - Post to Instagram 6 PM - Posting to Stories & Check Comments 8 PM - Posting to Stories & Check Comments 10 PM - Posting to Stories & Check Comments * = Daily Tasks RE/MAX ALLEGIANCE: 7:30 AM - Wake up & get ready 9 AM - *Arrive & check the to-do list 9:15 AM - *Comment, Like, and Follow ~10 Accounts 9:45 AM - Make 3 Content Pieces for 2 Realtors 10:30 AM - Research & Implement new Marketing Ideas 11:45 AM - Check new listings and complete the checklist 12:30 PM - Head Home What I Have Learned Throughout these internships, I have put myself in the shoes of the careers I'm interested in pursuing. I got to see for myself how social media management and marketing jobs work. My Whiskey Riff internship is a fully remote job. I had to adapt and learn time management very quickly. Luckily, I learned how to do this with the help of online classes during Covid times. Some platforms, like TweetDeck, were made to help plan and schedule tweets instead of tweeting them right at that time. These helped me a lot, I would plan the tweets for a couple of days out at the beginning of each week. I’m also spending my time scrolling on TikTok and Twitter. Most days I’m scrolling on TikTok for 30 minutes to find content to recreate to match the brand. It might be easy to find a meme that is going viral but be able to tweak it so that it connects with the voice of the brand. For RE/MAX, I had to do a lot of research-type work. I looked at what other real estate brokerages are doing and what's working and not working for them. With the recent market and the prices of homes, people have been more scared to purchase a home. I had to learn to relate to them so that the posts would keep them interested. Another aspect of social media is keeping relationships with other similar accounts and people. I would find realtors in the same region and or that worked for RE/MAX and connect with them. I would follow them and give them a few likes and comments. By doing this they would do the same and other accounts would see our comments and go to our account. What I did not list in my schedule is that I am constantly checking these accounts. I'm periodically scanning over comments and tagged photos. Other parts of the job include checking direct messages and helping people with questions and feedback. Checking DM’s and comments is not the most fun but it is important to social media. I have learned a lot while working for these two companies. Social media is a much more complex job than most people think. It’s a fast-moving world, whether it is staying on trends or keeping the voice the same throughout posts. I think social media is an unrespected job that few people fully understand. I got to see what real businesses do every day and I will forever respect companies who have a great social media presence because it’s one tricky world. I’m blessed to stay with Whiskey Riff during the school year doing the same social media work. I’m excited to see what this year holds for me! By: Mia Cadle
Since the creation of the titles Millenials and Generation Zs have struggled to prove their worth and identity in the workspace. Misconceptions and preconceived notions, paired with the growing numbers of mental health diagnoses within the generations, led many people to believe that executives aren’t hiring from the two groups. However, after taking a trip to meet with these said executives I can assure you that is not true. Executives are very much looking to hire from the two groups and here are the reasons why. Refreshing Perspectives Throughout all the meetings and calls one of the things that became infinitely clear was the desire for a new outlook. The talks of inclusion and diversity were the main topics of conversation and it led to another circling around the ideas of how to expand the growing network. Technology Natives There is no hiding the fact that we are very tech-savvy people. We spend most of our time staring at a screen and our ability to find our way around a new site often outmatches the executive. Many executives told us about how they hope to better expand the company name to different platforms. That means they need people who can navigate their way through it. Social Media Influences With the spreading of social media, like Instagram, and the creation of new platforms, like Tik-Tok, more and more companies are trying to find new ways to appeal to the younger audience. The social media challenges they had us do was an overwhelming amount, and more times than not often included company employees stopping us to ask how different apps work. An Adventuring Attitude For many employers, one of the biggest challenges they face is hiring people who are willing to move away from home. The ability to pick up and move to a new city and start a new life is the greatest ability to have. Executives are looking to our generations to lead the way in these fields and it starts by leaving behind the old ones. Innovation Last and certainly not least, the need to change for the better. Many executives are looking to our generations not just for technology but for thoughts and ideas. They want to see us lead them into a new age and one that will be better than the one before. After attending this trip I learned so many things but the one that stood out to me the most was this. The faith in our generations is beginning to grow and I think that it will continue to grow as we do. The rest of the world is counting on us. By: Austin Monigold The Bateman Gold team is working to achieve these goals by tailoring tactics to specific target audiences on Kent State’s campus through their campaign: B.E.A.T. Lymphoma. The acronym stands for Build Community, Educate, Advocate and Treat Lymphoma. Bateman Gold consists of five team members:
Raise awareness of adolescent and young adult lymphoma. With a focus on the Kent State campus and the local community, the campaign also intends to position the Lymphoma Research Foundation as a leader in serving the needs of all those impacted by a lymphoma diagnosis. Educate. The creation of resources is designed to educate the AYA community about the disease and unique needs of this population. Relationship-building. A final goal of the campaign is to foster relationships and partnerships with key organizations and influencers for campaign collaboration. To learn more about the National Bateman Case Study Competition, click here. Bateman Gold Team from Left to Right: Maggie Werren, Emily King, Austin Monigold, Morgan Cummings, Tamra McMillion |
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