For our final media visits, we had the pleasure of leaning a little bit about the PR firm Ketchum Pleon and the national newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. At Ketchum, we learned that today was the 90th anniversary of the company. We were given a presentation about the company itself and then a little a few tips about how to create a successful PR campaign with regard to the German media. Although they specified that these were tips form German media, I found them to be universally useful. My favorite tip was to localize the story every time. PR is a business of trust and relationships. They mentioned that Germans are not quick to trust and I believe Americans are similar. If they are recommended to try or believe something on a smaller scale, more close to home as it were, they will be more likely to trust. Relating stories to that warm emotion of home and familiarity is a good segue into the trust necessary for PR to be effective.
After that presentation, we were able to talk to a social media expert at the company who was a master of the trade. I am taking on a social media internship this summer for a magazine back home so I will be able to put his insights to practical use in the future. The most pertinent piece of information I took from his presentation is that for a social media campaign to be successful, you must develop a separate strategy for each channel you are utilizing.
We then had the opportunity of going to Suddeutsche Zeitung, a prominent German newspaper to hear from a couple of people about what they do as well as watch the presses run. The people at Suddeutsche Zeitung were amazing and had very interesting insights and perspecives on the newspaper business and media in general. We got to hear from the editor of the online arm of the paper who showed us a cool analytics program for how they monitor users and engagement with the paper. We also heard from the advertising manager for the paper who showed us some extremely innovative ads he helped to develop and produce. He even let me keep one as a souvenir.
Today was a good last day. I’m sad to be saying goodbye to Germany but all that I’ve learned will be with me forever. It was an amazing experience that I truly enjoyed being a part of.
Always,
Michelle
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