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September 2010 – Polly Robinson writes…

How I found PR...

So there I was, two years into an English literature degree and without a clue what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

My friends were all starting to make moves towards their prospective careers. One in particular was making me so nervous with her pursuit of a career in corporate law that I began screening her calls altogether. I did not need to be reminded of what a failure I was going to be.

My mother began to make tentative suggestions; journalism was the obvious choice but had I considered publishing? Teaching? Round the world yachting? (I’ve never shown the remotest interest in boats but desperation was kicking in).

I’d love to say that I know where the idea for Public Relations came from but I don’t. One day I just thought of it and somehow the idea stuck. I began to look into it and to find out what someone in PR actually did. The more I read about the profession the more and more the idea grew on me. Could I have found my calling?

You see a little part of me has always been more than a little bit superficial. Last semester I rewarded myself with an expensive beauty product every time I completed an essay. I love brands and products and I’m fascinated by what makes them so appealing to us as consumers.

Now I knew that advertising played a massive part in this but I also knew that Cheryl Cole wore hair extensions and that a large percentage of Eva Longoria’s Eye-lashes were false. There had to be more than glossy images of celebrity perfection to a brand’s success.

After extensive research I concluded that this ‘more’ was where PR came in. PR is all about reputation, what you do, say and what others say about you. Companies do not pay for the media coverage achieved through good PR and it is this apparent third party endorsement that creates such power and credibility with the consumer.

This discovery was revolutionary to me; I felt it suddenly explained the way in which I perceived companies and their products. They’d wormed their way into my subconscious, featured in articles that had no obvious agenda and had stuck. This was fascinating! Suddenly I’d found something that I wanted to be involved in, not to mention a plan that would satisfy my mother.