Archive for the ‘PR Industry’ Category

Kaitlin
Doody

How to Land a PR Internship (and Take Advantage Once You Do)

Monday, January 9th, 2012

Spectrum’s new crop of interns starts today! (Can you tell how excited us junior level staff are?!)

Summer 2011 interns present their final project to staff

This time of year reminds me of when I first started working at Spectrum as an intern in the spring of my senior year in college. In some ways, I feel like I was more buttoned up with my PR know-how then. I had mastered Grunig and Hunt’s four models of public relations and I could outline an RPIE approach to a campaign in no time. However, after being out in the “real world” for a few years now, I know that PR cannot be so easily defined or broken down into four simple models, and I’ve seen that there’s never as much time as we’d like to R (research), P (plan) and E (evaluate) – which is unfortunate, really.

Securing a PR internship and capitalizing on the opportunity is one of the most important things PR students need to do to land a job after college.  It’s the time when you begin to learn those invaluable out-of-the-classroom lessons. Below is a list of ways for students to distinguish themselves from other internship candidates and leave an impression (a good one, that is):

 

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Kelly
Barrett

Spectrum Celebrates 15 Years

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

Photo Credit: Scott Davis

Tis the season to celebrate, and celebrate Spectrum did, at our holiday party last Thursday, December 15. The Spectrum gang has a lot to celebrate this year, including 15 years of outstanding health and life science communications. Founder and CEOJohn Seng, what a milestone!

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Lissette
Capati

On Getting it All Done…or Not

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

A colleague asked Pam and me recently, how we get it all done and manage to not feel overwhelmed – client work, helping to manage our wacky shop and then going home to start our first job of being moms and wives. I looked at her with absolutely nothing to say. No brilliant answer or pearls of wisdom. Pam responded that you just grow numb to it over time. I laughed at that and we continued to talk about our colleague’s workload and offer some practical tips.

But the conversation really struck me. Pam and I have been friends for a long, long time. She was the matron of honor at my wedding 10 years ago today actually.  Back then I was young and self-absorbed and couldn’t imagine a life without sleep. I looked at her in awe as she juggled everything. Where did the energy come from? It was enough for me to make it through the day, walk the dog, watch TV and pass out.

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Anthony
LaFauce

Digital Pharma East: I Got iPad Fever

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

I know the title of this blog post may seem a little odd. What is iPad fever? Can I catch it? What are the symptoms? Who is to blame?

Don’t worry there is an easy way to pinpoint if you might have a problem:

  • Does your CEO get doe-eyed when they see an iPad?
  • Do your fellow colleagues carry around iPads like they are small children?
  • Does “Let’s make an app!” come up in almost every brainstorm?
  • Does your company think the iPad will solve all of your marketing needs?

If you answered yes to any of these questions you might have iPad fever.

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Anthony
LaFauce

Digital Pharma East 2011 Day One

Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

A big thank you is in order to my employer, Spectrum, as I attend Digital Pharma East this week. Day one kicked off with a great session lead by Takeda Pharmaceuticals Chad Ballentine who spoke about how to use a patient focused, multi-channel, customer relationship management (CRM) to really capitalize on your database to assure you are getting the right information to the right people…and of course increase sales.

Chad had a ton of good points but I was blown away by his simple, and spot on, key points on how to get the best value out of your CRM.

  1. Use digital [technology] to grow your database
  2. Use your database: Chad said that nearly 60 percent of marketers don’t actually use their DB
  3. Minimze duplication: With budgets scalling down, efficiency is key. If you have a high conversion touch point, make sure to increase your efforts toward that touch point and scale back those that don’t work well

Social Media & Pharma…it’s out there

As I sit here and type, drinking my coffee, Todd Kolm from Pfizer is on the stage talking about some of the great tools Pfizer is using to engage customers. Pfizer is taking to social media and positioning YouTube as an educational tool for consumers by using a blend of paid ads and search ads which link to channels with custom play lists.

As a lover of PR/Digital media I am constantly getting hit with, “oh Pharma doesn’t really do social” or “we don’t want to deal with the legal issues.” I am surrounded by around 700 people who see things differently. I am energized by hearing not what we COULD do but hearing about what we ARE doing.

Anyone else out there excited about this?

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John
Seng

Top 10 Tips for Writing a Great RFP

Friday, September 30th, 2011

I’m guilty of being human. Every time Spectrum receives a Request for Proposal (RFP), I assume it’s a golden opportunity for our firm to compete for and win prestigious, new business. But in some cases, the sheen begins to wear off as we re-read the RFP documents and engage with the client prospect. If we start scratching our heads, it’s a symptom that what looked like glitter is probably not gold. Maybe not even glitter.
someecards.com - I was so excited about recieving this RFP, until I started reading it.

Spectrum seeks the kinds of business collaborations in which the client is interested in a healthy partnership, not merely a one-way, vendor mentality relationship. What we offer as public relations counselors strikes to the very essence of brand or corporate reputation. We are on the front lines. After a conference call or two, if too many questions remain about what our role will be or what the RFP is asking for, Spectrum leadership is inclined to pass up the opportunity. If the RFP just plain stinks, it doesn’t portend well for building a quality relationship.

To help you make sure your next RFP is top notch, I’ve offered a list of tips to keep in mind based on some of my experiences:

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