I was fortunate enough to get in touch with one of my contacts, Jennifer Abel, who works at a top PR firm here in Los Angeles. As an account executive in the talent department, some of her notable clients include Taryn Manning, Alexa Pena Vega, Cote de Pablo and Miranda Otto.
Here is a little background on the firm that I gathered from an article from The Holmes Report that featured a handful of the 2015 agencies of the year. “Since PMK*BNC was born out of the historic merger between PMK-HBH and Bragman Nyman Cafarelli in 2010, the firm has cornered the market when it comes to the intersection of brand and entertainment... the 258 employees are distributed between offices in Los Angeles, New York and London and clients include Audi, Samsung Mobile, American Express, T-Mobile, The Honest Company, Amy Poehler, Showtime, Shonda Rhimes, Tim McGraw, among many others.”
Here are Jennifer’s answers to my questions:
What are your responsibilities and how do these responsibilities integrate with marketing and business objectives for the organization and or clients?
"My responsibilities as a Talent Publicist are best described as the following; when a client has a project (a film, book, TV show, charity, or some kind of entertainment platform) we are the connecting piece that makes sure the general public knows about it, cares about it, and knows about it in a way that positions our client and project in the best light possible and achieves what they are wanting to achieve. There are various responsibilities that go into that process such as pitching and securing interviews and appearances, red carpet coverage, putting together a 360 press plan with specific dates which will incur the optimal amount of publicity possible (resulting in views, ratings, ticket sales, attendance, etc), and general overall management over the messaging to ensure it is always in line with how our client is promoted. Part of this management is the booking of hair and makeup, styling, developing relationships with designers and showrooms, to ensure our client’s public image is always on point. Another large part of what we do is crisis management, which is why our relationships with the media and press is very important as we often need to tap into them as resources to communicate the truth and to combat rumors about our clients.
To be clear, what we do is very different from marketing, which implies that there is a budget available to use as leverage to secure placements and coverage. What we do in public relations strictly utilizes our relationships with the media to communicate about our client and/or their projects."
What methods of communications does your organization use to reach their publics and how are they effective?
"My first answer lists some of these methods, but to be more specific we use press releases, electronic press kits which are comprised of past interviews, photos, bios and more general information about our client, in addition to numerous phone calls and emails…and a lot of leveraging and sometimes some begging!"
What are some examples of communications strategies you and your organization have used to achieve success and what were the results?
"Each communication or PR strategy differs per client and project. Through extensive conversations with the client, network, studio, agent, manager we put together a strategy which is implemented to achieve the agreed upon goal. So for promotion of a film or TV show, a plan is rolled out months prior through the premier or release comprised of satellite media tours (depending on the cities the project is being carried), specially timed solo or cast interviews, a press tour which is usually an entire day with rotating journalists who have seen the project, a series of screenings for press with Q&As with the talent, which coincides with a marketing strategy that incorporates ads, paid promotion and other advertising initiatives. The way to really achieve success is to gauge the level of press pickup, positive coverage and ultimately resulting in either big opening numbers or ratings. It’s all connected. If it’s for a charity, the success is gauged by amount of money raised, level of interest and exposure. For a product, number of units sold. Each goal is achieved by a specific communications strategy."
How has your public relations practice affected the reputation of the organization and/ or clients?
"We are in the business of reputation management. We are faced with the honest truth that the work we do on the client’s behalf is a direct reflection of how our client is viewed and portrayed. Everyone in this position actively works to protect our client’s reputation and either works to better how the client is perceived in the media and viewed by the general public, or to keep the consistent good reputation. Unfortunately we are often put in the position of having to be the bad guy and to say no to opportunities if it doesn’t fit in to the plan for the client or if it doesn’t help the client in some way. Everyone always has their own agenda and we are tasked with having to protect our client’s interests and time."
Reference:
Creative Agencies of the Year (Creative PR Agencies of the Year, North America)
http://www.holmesreport.com/events-awards/agencies-of-the-year/2015/north-america/creative-agencies-of-the-year
