Hi, I’m Katrina, I recently joined the All-Channel Launch team working mainly on Tesco and BP.

Having only been a Launcher for 6 working weeks this week heralded my first piece of experiential activity and the opportunity to spend a day with former Olympian and hurdling legend, Colin Jackson CBE. It just so happens that Colin is one of the nicest men you will ever meet and just as well as we were asking him to run his first ever half marathon on before of the Tesco Great School Run. This he did with consummate ease and a big smile on his face the whole way round.

Prior to my arrival, Launch had taken the brief to raise awareness of the 2012 Tesco Great School Run ( a 2k fun run staged at schools across the UK encouraging children, family, friends and teachers to take part in exercise for fun) and encourage other children/schools to sign up. The idea was simple yet effective – get Colin to run between the primary schools in Westminster to thank them for signing up to this year’s run and spur on kids to take part. The response we had from schools and kids alike was fantastic and far exceeded our expectations. The best way to give a snapshot of the day is by numbers:

• 15 miles run
• 1000+ kids met
• 100 Autographs signed
• 20,000 steps taken
• 500 high fives
• 150+ banners made
• 5 London Landmarks

It is not every day you get to work with a British sporting legend but seeing the response from the kids along the way was truly refreshing and I would recommend it to anyone! Coverage included: The Sun, The Guardian, TalkSport, The Mirror, The People, MSN to name a few.

Gnarled media commentator Roy Greenslade used his Guardian blog last week to flag the one-day National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) PR courses for journalists wanting to make the leap into public relations.

Greenslade was very sniffy about the course curriculum, which included lessons on how to write press releases, how to organise press conferences, and “the differences between PR and journalism.”

Unlike Roy, I have no problem with hacks becoming flacks. I was a journo for about eight years before joining Launch and have found the transition to the ‘dark side’ (or ‘light side’ as I have learned to call it) to be a rewarding and interesting career change.

My problem with this course is that promising to teach an “understanding of modern marketing methods that are needed to successfully fulfill any role in PR” in a single day is unrealistic.

While an understanding of newsrooms, editorial workflow and commissioning – not to mention impeccable writing skills – are undoubtedly useful in PR, hacks should be under no illusion that they will thrive in PR just by turning up.

It takes hard work and an acceptance that you will go from a position of relative power to one where the most junior of your colleagues can wipe the floor with you on the most basic PR tasks. I spent four years on the industry title PRWeek, but found that while I knew the industry inside out, I could no more produce a media list than programme the Large Hadron Collider.

Journalism has been decimated over recent years, with titles merging or going online (if they’re lucky) or folding (if they’re not). Both inevitably involve redundancies, but with severance packages notoriously meager and the freelance sector hit by a double whammy of oversupply and cuts in commissioning budgets, many desperate hacks will consider £375 a bargain price to pay for an easy ride into PR.

I have no problem with the NCTJ itself (indeed, I am an alumnus of one its journalism courses) and I’m not saying don’t do this course, but I worry about the struggling hacks who will see this as a passport to an easy new career on its own.

To them I say this: if you really want to find out whether you can cut it in PR, do some work experience in an agency for a couple of weeks. At the very least you’ll save yourself £375.

Hi, I’m Holly, a new Account Manager at Launch Group. I’ve just come to the end of my first week and thought I’d share what I’ve been up to as the newest ‘Launcher’…

 

Monday

 

Surprisingly, no first day nerves, just a sense of excitement at joining a PR Week ‘Best Place to Work’ accredited agency. The team is very welcoming and I have a day of inductions planned to get me up to speed. It’s nice to be back in Soho too!

 

Tea Received: 2

Tea Made: 0

Paper Read: Telegraph

 

Tuesday

 

Getting to know Launch processes and relieved to find everyone is as media savvy as campaign results show! The Butlins team secures a great hit for their ‘Fine but Fun Wine List’ from top drinks writer Anthony Rose. 

 

Tea Received: 1

Tea Made: 0

Paper Read: Guardian

 

Wednesday

 

Briefed on an upcoming launch event for premium Vodka brand Black Moth. I also get to taste the delicious cocktails which is a bonus! Keep an eye out for Black Moth from July; it is a must have for any Vodka connoisseur.

 

Tea Received: 1

Tea Made: 0

Paper Read: The Sun

 

Thursday

 

Briefed on two more interesting campaigns – The Discovery Channel premiere of James Cracknell’s ‘Toughest Race on Earth’ and Yell.com’s ShopView programme which is revolutionising the way SME businesses promote themselves.

 

Tea Received: 1

Tea Made: 1 (for me)

Paper Read: Daily Mail

 

 

Friday

 

Talk through the Butlins 75^th birthday project (particularly excited as my childhood ambition was to be a Red Coat!). I fill in my timesheet then it’s off to the Friday afternoon ritual of end of week catch up over some beers and wine. My first week has flown by and I had loved every minute!

 

Tea Received: 0

Tea Made: 2 (1 x me 1 x Account Director)

Wine: 2

Paper Read: Daily Star