Gemma’s not-so glamorous world of PR.

Gemma Clarke, Account Manager

FOR an industry that is all about reputation, PR has had a hard job in losing its Ab Fab Luvvies connotations, but since the industry was given its chartered status in 2005 things have been looking up.

However, when I was presented with the task to promote the Miss Sunderland 2009 beauty contest I did start to worry about what my fellow professionals in the world of B2B PR would think about this rather ‘fluffy’ campaign task.

Heading up the ‘Lifestyle’ division at O Communications, I have to admit though, that the thought of promoting Miss Sunderland 2009 did, actually, thrill me!

After setting objectives and strategy, actually getting down to the grit of promoting the competition was not at all as glamorous as you might think!

Indeed we’ve have had a ball in meeting some well-known faces such as the Star of ITV’s Paris Hilton’s My British Best Friend Emma Beard, ITV’s X Factor finalist girl group, Bad Lashes and Sky 1’s The Gladiators.

But being part of one of the biggest events on Sunderland social calendar- the glitzy Grand Final – definitely saw the glamour factor hitting a top note. Here we, (amongst other things!) got our glad rags on and sipped champagne whilst mingling with the glitterati of Sunderland, watching a fashion catwalk and being entertained with live music. We were then – in true glamour style – whisked off to the after show party at Sunderland hottest night club, Cosa Nostra where we entertained clients until past 2am!

Behind the scenes of this of course, is a somewhat different story. The pressure was on when I had to chair a meeting with the editor of the Sunderland Echo and try to secure his support to be the official sponsor of the event this year as well as arranging technical issues such as a text voting system. We agreed the deal, but this high profile business meeting was sure the sharp end of PR.

Then there were the actual photo calls and press interviews. The most memorable non-glam moment has to be the press launch. The day after the launch there was a fantastic picture story in the regional dailies featuring two beautiful girls standing in front of an Audi banner – what people didn’t actually see was our team standing on the football pitch at either side on the banner hoisting it up with our high heels digging into the ground!

We then spent the rest of the day running up and down the pitch sides, in and out of the tunnel , changing rooms and conferencing suite dragging the models and celebrities in front of a microphone to speak to the many journalist that had arrived that day. Keeping up with their schedule and print deadlines was very demanding, let alone following up and securing the coverage afterwards.

At the end of the day the glamorous bits far outweigh the gruelling groundwork but the Miss Sunderland 2009 experience was a blast and we have generated loads of press coverage and secured sponsorship deals – this is the true value of PR.

In my view, the aim of the PR game is to work hard and play hard!

Job done x