Written by Advik Mohan
Edited by Bipasha B
For my summer internship of 2023, I got the opportunity to intern at a Public Relations (PR) agency in Bangalore called Kaizzen PR Services Pvt. Ltd. Kaizzen is a pan-India organization that aims to act as a linkage or connection between people and spreading the news about anything. The organization is mainly involved in the field of PR, aiming to build up the brand image and visibility of their clients. It aims to help its client in developing a credible brand identity, cultivating, maintaining a strong consumer and investor interest in the business and its activities, as well as greater awareness about its activities.
First, the employees read up newspapers at the start of the day and find news articles or columns that align with the field of their clients, for e.g., cybersecurity. Then they use the media list which consists of all their contacts which include correspondents, editors, opinion columnists who write authored articles etc; in order to have an effective idea pitch on behalf of their company or clients. The next step involves contacting the journalist who wrote the article for them through email, phone-call or in person. The contacting is done by offering a prospective article about the field alongside the collaboration of the client.
Initially, I was very nervous about how it would go. This was because I had very less amount of knowledge about the subject of Public Relations (PR) which is what the organization mainly deals with. What most people think of when they hear the word PR is that it deals exclusively with protecting the reputation of public figures. However, that is only one tiny segment of PR (known as Crisis Management); and in reality, PR is a vast topic. The building up of a brand image, the different methods to ensure that customers are attracted to clients, the pitching in new ideas etc. are the various processes, which are involved in PR.
I got to observe all these various processes; as well as the way a corporate agency functions. Meetings for project updates and fresh ideas, continuous calls and sending of mails, the rush to abide by set deadlines are some of the activities which are common every single day in the agency. I feel that this process is something which I will benefit to a great extent from. I have also gained a better expertise and knowledge regarding the subject of PR as a whole, which I feel could prove to be helpful in the future. Nevertheless, there were still some other challenges which I faced. The first was that the organization was located in Indiranagar, at least 40 minutes away from my home in JP Nagar which meant that it was a challenge to commute twice a day, in the morning and evening after 6 pm.
The erratic traffic meant that it sometimes took me two hours to reach the destination. There was also the fact that this was a set of established employees who I was interacting with for the first time. However, they took me under their wing, explaining all the workings of the organization patiently, giving me a better understanding and boosting my confidence. I also gained a first – hand experience of how the work culture is in most work organisations, the dynamics and actors involved etc. I am sure that this will prove to be a valuable experience in the long run.
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