Weber Shandwick's swanky foyer. They have their own tuck shop too (sadly, just out of shot)
It's here all too soon, our final destination for the 2009 London Study Visit, and what a way to end, at Weber Shandwick, the world's largest PR firm.
We make our way to their offices in the Gray's Inn Road, just a short distance from the ITN News buildings, where we're greeted by Director of the company's consumer PR practice, Rebecca Grant and her colleague, Account Manager Toan Ravenscroft. They lead us through into a smart meeting room complete with snazzy tea and coffee pots and launch straight in to a presentation which makes the links between the innumerable new social media platforms used by PR to communicate with increasingly well-targeted audiences.
It's an almost mind-bogglingly broad field and Rebecca and Toan do well to keep it in perspective, tossing in an amusing tale or two about life in PR for good measure. After eating all their biscuits, we leave, hoping some of Rebecca and Toan's enthusiasm will rub off on us.
Ameera's thoughts on Weber Shandwick:
Saving the best till last, Weber Shandwick - one of the largest PR companies in the world - certainly didn’t disappoint!
Weber Shandwick covers different areas such as financial communications, healthcare PR, consumer marketing, corporate, digital communications and social media.
The building itself had a very professional yet casual atmosphere and this coincided perfectly with our presenters, Rebecca and Toan who were clearly very skilled in PR and very friendly.
They were both very enthusiastic and eager to present to us, stating that they had been looking forward to this to meeting and speaking with us all week. We were each engaged and asked why we wanted to do PR and where we hoped to be in the future.
They then began a presentation into what they do, how they operate and the clients they represent. Well-known businesses and brands they work for include Harley Davidson, Singapore Airlines, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, MasterCard, Pernod Ricard wines and spirits and Microsoft.
We were then informed about an idea which they entitled ‘inline’, an analysis of the different communication channels that influence consumer opinions.
Having discovered that consumers rely more on online opinions and reviews before purchasing/using a service, whereas previously word of mouth was the greatest influence, a lot of emphasis was put on getting people talking about the product online as much as possible.
After a welcome break for tea and biscuits with some small talk, they then continued with their presentation and gave us some insight to what it’s like using celebrity endorsement and how vital it is to use the limited time efficiently. Toan gave us an example by telling us of his experience working with racing champion Lewis Hamilton.
Overall I was very impressed with how knowledgeable and successful Weber Shandwick is as a PR company. Where previously I was uncertain of which direction I wanted to go in PR, I can finally imagine myself working within a similar company, and hopefully I’ll get the chance to undergo an internship with Weber Shandwick.
Ameera's thoughts on Weber Shandwick:
Saving the best till last, Weber Shandwick - one of the largest PR companies in the world - certainly didn’t disappoint!
Weber Shandwick covers different areas such as financial communications, healthcare PR, consumer marketing, corporate, digital communications and social media.
The building itself had a very professional yet casual atmosphere and this coincided perfectly with our presenters, Rebecca and Toan who were clearly very skilled in PR and very friendly.
They were both very enthusiastic and eager to present to us, stating that they had been looking forward to this to meeting and speaking with us all week. We were each engaged and asked why we wanted to do PR and where we hoped to be in the future.
They then began a presentation into what they do, how they operate and the clients they represent. Well-known businesses and brands they work for include Harley Davidson, Singapore Airlines, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, MasterCard, Pernod Ricard wines and spirits and Microsoft.
We were then informed about an idea which they entitled ‘inline’, an analysis of the different communication channels that influence consumer opinions.
Having discovered that consumers rely more on online opinions and reviews before purchasing/using a service, whereas previously word of mouth was the greatest influence, a lot of emphasis was put on getting people talking about the product online as much as possible.
After a welcome break for tea and biscuits with some small talk, they then continued with their presentation and gave us some insight to what it’s like using celebrity endorsement and how vital it is to use the limited time efficiently. Toan gave us an example by telling us of his experience working with racing champion Lewis Hamilton.
Overall I was very impressed with how knowledgeable and successful Weber Shandwick is as a PR company. Where previously I was uncertain of which direction I wanted to go in PR, I can finally imagine myself working within a similar company, and hopefully I’ll get the chance to undergo an internship with Weber Shandwick.
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