Name of Professional: Amy Power
Profession/Title: President and Founder
Business/Company name: The Power Group
Date of Interview: 14 October, 2017
Interview Assessment #3
Ms. Amy Power is the first interview I had with a PR firm instead of an in-house specialist at a particular brand or organization. This means that instead of working solely for one company, companies come to her firm and ask for their services. She has worked in PR for upwards of 20 years, starting and running her own business quite successfully, so Ms. Power had lots of knowledge to share with me.
First of all, I learned a great deal about crisis management strategy and how to address conflict within a business. Something I had been confused about up to this point is whether or not there are specific strategies that are often implemented in public relations, and Ms. Power suggested that I research crisis communication strategy. She told me about a few examples of times she has addressed consumer conflicts, and she emphasized the importance of one-on-one communication with the affected consumer. If the customer does not feel listened-to or satisfied with the solution they are offered, a small conflict could blow out of proportion into a local news story. It is crucial for a company’s PR to work directly with the customer first, because it could turn bad very quickly and tarnish the company’s reputation is not taken care of swiftly and quietly.
Additionally, when I asked about some fundamental differences between public relations and marketing, Ms. Power taught me that PR falls under something called the “marketing umbrella.” Essentially, PR is a more specified subset of marketing, as is advertising and social media. I learned that marketing is a very broad term that encompasses many subcategories beneath it. Contrary to my previous belief, marketing is not necessarily the same thing as advertising, and thus is not as specified as I once thought. Rather, PR also works as marketing in that it also works to market a company, what they stand for, and who they represent.
Furthermore, Ms. Power was kind enough to share a few examples of recent projects she and her firm have taken on. These examples helped me better grasp the specific duties of a PR specialist—what aspects of projects different people take on, the diverse nature of these projects, and the impact they have within the company. One that resonated with me was a beauty expo called “Indie Beauty,” a convention that, with Ms. Power’s help, made its way from California all the way across the nation. Ms. Power and her firm helped design a website, create and manage social media accounts, write articles and blog posts, and organize events for this brand that came to The Power Group as a mere idea. Really, PR is not just writing and sending press releases, but rather it encompasses a wide span of jobs under the marketing umbrella. Seeing how Ms. Power was able to give individual attention to each company and their needs, making sure they had what they needed to achieve their goals, inspired me and showed me what my goal should be when working with clients in my PR future.
