The World of Digital: Don’t Listen to the Stereotype

I've come to the end of yet another rotation and boy how fast that went. They always say time flies when you're having fun! At the end of each section I am entitled to write a blog post for the Edelman Graduate Website http://www.edelmangraduatescheme.com/2010/11/19/the-world-of-digital-don%E2%80%99t-listen-to-the-stereotype/. Here's what I wrote... 

So I thought I was pretty set after my time at JCPR, but oh how I was proved wrong.  Well I guess that’s the point of the graduate scheme – to explore new departments which you wouldn’t have contemplated on liking, only to find out that you in fact love them. I’ll say it…I’ve been converted to the world of digital. Just in case you’re wondering though, this doesn’t make me a geek. In fact, no one seems to be a geek at Edelman Digital and First and 42^nd, just intelligent, creative and switched on! Don’t listen to the stereotype.

Not only is digital the present, it is the future. With the advancements in technology, internet penetration has significantly increased throughout the world. Never before have we seen such a high percentage of people social networking, video sharing, blogging etc etc. Take the powerful players of Facebook and Twitter as two examples of this progression. If Facebook was a country it would be ranked third behind China and India. That’s proof enough.

So what about the dynamics of the Digital crew? Sitting on a fun pod across from a brilliant line manager, I felt immediately welcome and comfortable. I soon realised I should always keep my Thursday evenings free for a drink or two with the team…they are an incredibly social bunch – now that’s my kind of people!

The work at Digital was not only stimulating and varied, but it was the rotation where I’ve learnt the most. Week one highlights included being introduced to the Levi’s® team concerning their new campaign Shape What’s To Come (http://en.shapewhatstocome.com/). A useful platform for all aspiring career-minded girls to share ideas and experiences. I’ve signed up and so should you! Look out for a livecast with The Noisettes on the 1^st of December which I’ve helped coordinate. I was further able to help with website content, strategy and blogger research – the ideal opportunity to really see who’s writing what and where online.

On the subject of blogs, deciphering the art of blogger outreach is key to modern day PR. It is important to remain transparent at all times and to be personable. I quickly learnt that these two factors are integral to success in outreach when contacting various bloggers and forums for the Save 5p per litre on The Shell V-Power Fuels Promotion. Supporting the Shell Team, we achieved a huge increase in online conversation.

As well as engaging with bloggers, I further gained the opportunity to write myself with a Puma hat on. Check out their website at http://www.puma.com/social to read and converse in fun and exciting topics. Writing your own blog posts is something which can be creative, witty and simply informative. I was inspired by the Digital team so much so that I even created my own blog at http://maryfizzy.blogspot.com/.

Two of the most interesting projects I worked on were creating The Social Media Map for Europe and partaking in training on issues and crisis management. The Social Media Map for Europe was the perfect opportunity to gain an insight into the world of online activity: knowledge which I will be able to translate into future client work from pitches to building strategy. The crisis and issues management project allowed me to witness creativity at its peak and again demonstrate the power of social media in terms of both rumour and truth spreading like fire. It is therefore important to be active, to listen, respond where necessary and engage wherever possible.

So Digital team all that is left to say is a massive thank you…what an awesome and incredibly rewarding five weeks!

For more info, check out:

http://edelmandigital.com

http://www.spookmedia.com/