DPR holds webinar on Public Relations

UTAR Department of Public Relations (DPR) organised a free webinar titled “So, you want to be in PR?” on 1 August 2020 via Microsoft Teams for students who plan to venture into the Public Relations (PR) industry as a practitioner. The webinar aimed to introduce and prepare the participants for the world of PR, especially for graduating students who were going to enter the working world soon. The speakers were Centriq PR Sdn Bhd Managing Director Jacqueline Arnold, MCT Bhd Corporate Communications Head Alex Lim, Axiata Group Bhd Corporate Communications and Sustainability Head Saffura Chinniah and Linde Malaysia Communications ASEAN Head Valerine Lee.

The webinar was carried out via Microsoft Teams

Saffura has 20 years of experience in the PR industry and has worked for many leading telecommunication companies previously. She started her session by sharing her experience and her role as a PR practitioner in the organisations she served. She explained that the external role of PR, which is media relations, helps in giving the company a voice through the media, and this makes the role of PR practitioners in the industry even more important. “The public’s perception of the company must be credible so that shareholders and consumers feel confident. This shows that social impact plays a very significant role in the PR industry,” said Saffura.

Valerine Lee, who is currently in charge of communication strategies across six countries, shared her experience of Public Relations in Linde Malaysia. She said, “The new norm requires people to embark on digitalisation using social media platforms. This could help drive PR into a new level in this 21^st century.” According to her, the company has been utilising digitalisation in a much more positive manner, especially during the Movement Control Order, to face the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Valerine Lee explaining the customers’ journey funnel

Alex Lim, who has worked in various multinational advertising & CRM agencies and also banking industries, continued the webinar by pointing out that PR is just one of the many tools of integrated marketing communication. He then advised the participants to engage with customers using appropriate PR tools in the future, at their respective jobs.

Alex Lim explaining Integrated Marketing Communications

Jacqueline was largely involved in crisis communication. She has given training on crisis communication and issue management on numerous occasions. During the webinar, she spoke about PR from a consultancy perspective. She noted that PR mainly focuses on relationships with the stakeholders. It also emphasises on creating content for client organisations, building relationships with stakeholders and cultivating connections with business partners.

The experts sharing their knowledge and experiences

The talk ended with a brief Q&A session.