Tatiana Loparski's Views on Contemporary PR (PART II)

Interviewed by: Elina Ketikidi

Tatjana  Loparksi studied at the St. Cyril and Methodius University in Interdisciplinary Journalism and she did her post-graduate studies at the Department of International Law and Politics at the faculty of Law. Currently Tatjana is in the final stage of acquiring her Master's degree in Marketing Advertising and Public Relations from The University of Sheffield International Faculty, City College. For 13 years she was working as a journalist for various national television channels in Skopje, as well as radio stations, daily newspapers and magazines. She served as  the Spokeswoman to the President of the country (2005 – 2006 ).   Tatjana has also a great experience in the field of Public Relations. She was a PR Manager at Image PR Agency, a Managing Partner of Omega PR Agency and now she is the executive director of her own PR company "Element PR  & Corporate Communications.  In early December Tatjana delivered an interesting seminar to the postgraduate students in Thessaloniki on PR Evaluation and Metrics.  

T
https://mk.linkedin.com/in/tatjana-loparski-9b612021

PART II

What do you wish you should have known before starting your career in PR?

Things are changing pretty fast in this profession. I did not have the education of PR, having in mind that I have finished journalism and also I had my postgraduate studies in International Law and Politics. I wish I would have the education that you are having now. At that period in my country the PR just started to evolve into a profession, so I was learning it while working it. I had a great challenge working as a Spokeswoman of the President of the country and I learnt a lot while working in such a position. I was stuck everyday with tones of papers that I had to read, with hundreds of questions that had to be answered and I was working for the State Institutions were mistakes are not allowed. But I learn a lot !

We are coming through the era of social media and digitalization. How does technology affect your daily work and how can you use social media to reach and impress traditional media? 

Several years ago we had some big arguments among colleges in my country about the use of social media. Great part of them thought it is a waste of time and something for fun. I was not one of them. Seeing how internet changes the flow of information, it was more than obvious that social media will make a revolution of communication. There are now social media that affects public opinion and make even crisis for some companies when they have some issue on social media. The future of this profession is in content creation, that will be distributed via Internet and some of traditional media. That is the natural way of creation of new media. See the history of communication and you will see the development. People started to communicate with signs and now we are almost a global village because we can easily communicate with the other part of the world without any problem because of technology.

Have you ever guided any executive decisions during a communications crisis? How do you know when to sound the alarm of a major communications crisis vs. less severe issue?

In crisis communication you have one first rule that you have to implement and that is centralization of communication channels. When crisis appears there is only one person that is giving information in the public. If you do not control that, there will created more problems. So make sure that you will have all the information needed and also make a plan for communication. You will know when it is high alarm crisis; you will be first news at all media. You will know, believe me !

What things do you consider when creating a PR plan to avoid creating a PR fail moment?

I like this phrase - PR fail moment. Do not think that every plan is a perfect one. It is changing material. When you will do something you will have to do also modification, so that is how you are avoiding PR fail moment. 

From 2005 until 2006 you were the Spokeswoman to the President. Which are the main differences being President's Spokeswoman from just being a PR manager in a company or organization?

The main things connecting both are that politics and business is the influence that they have on each other. When there is political misbalance and problems in the country it affects economy and in extend affects political situation in the country. You cannot work in PR if you are not into public affairs and dealing with problematic issues of your clients. That is why the essence of this job is to communicate, to build a network of people whom you trust and work with and of course to know your job. When you are a Spokeswoman for an institution such as the President's Office you are dedicated to fulfilling the duties of the office that you are working for, and that is mainly media relations, but when it comes to PR manager of the organization you are dealing with all audiences including media. Therefore, being a PR manager allows you to practice in full the PR profession.

The PR profession is changing. What about us? Necessary skills for the 2020 Public Relations expert

Our lives are transformed into digital lives; our communication, our work; our social relations have all been influenced and turned into a different direction from what we were used to. In such a world, where almost everything is connected with technology, PR and marketing professionals must change as well, acquiring new skills and competencies  Not very long time ago, PR professionals spent most of their time organizing events, building relations with opinion leaders, writing press releases and trying to place them – through networking with media people – in newspapers and TV stations. Building rapports with journalists were as important as breathing.  Needless to say that most of the principles and tasks of the past still apply today.  Networking is still necessary, event planning and press release writing are of imperative importance.  What has changed is the recipient of our messages: the customer; the reader; the viewer and the way they are engaged with the brands.

Preparing for and being competitive in a Public Relations Career

In a demanding and competitive corporate world, where the expectations are high, besides education which may vary and will be discussed in a future article, professionals must possess certain skills. But what are these competencies and how someone could build upon?

Writing Skills: Still, the number one skill is writing. Public relations was and will always be a writing function; the PR professional must be perceived as an expert in writing press releases, articles and features for internal and external media, presentations and speeches.  Putting thoughts and ideas into words is not an easy task; thus your writing must result the desired impact and engagement to the various audiences.

Strategic thinking: Being able to see the big picture and link your PR objectives with the corporate goal requires a well-developed  strategic view. This is a skill, which is acquired over time and certainly can be learned.

Ethics: In a world where corruption and unethical behavior is a usual phenomenon, practitioners operating under an ethical set of principles are needed as never before.   

Creativity: In today's cluttered environment, creativity has become a necessity. Only creative and remarkable messages will survive.  

Educated and always updated: Public relations and Marketing professionals need to be well – educated and study a lot in order to be updated in new technologies, new products and services, new tactics, competitors, and the internal and external environment.  

Communication Skills - Articulate: Enhancing your oral communication, speaking and listening is really essential.  You as a PR professional must ensure that your message is clear, credible simple, and within the right context.  Moreover, the knowledge of additional languages adds to the professional status of a PR expert.

Sensitive to people with a pleasant personality: A PR professional must be a people oriented person. It is still important to establish and maintain relations with all stakeholders, media representatives, opinion leaders, co-workers, competitors, customers, suppliers. A positive personality and an optimistic attitude along with a smile can open doors in this industry.

Familiar with new technologies and Social Media: Depending your sector, sites such as Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Vimeo, Instagram, Orkut, Wiki, or Twitter are used to defuse company's news and promote products and services.

Other skills and attributes include:

• Cultural agility and teamwork
• Multitasking
• Analytical skills
• Decision making and good judgment
• Well organized, with good time-management skills
• Self-confident
• Able to motivate others

What we do at the University of Sheffield International Faculty:

Both our postgraduate marketing programs, one in Marketing Advertising and Public Relations and the other in Digital Marketing and Social Media, are built around all the above principles. More than 90 students, in all four cities we are offering the programs - Sofia, Thessaloniki, Skopje, and Bucharest - are exposed to the latest trends in PR, Marketing and Social Media, while they are coached to implement through a series of workshops principles of communication in real life scenarios.    We first teach them the core principles of public relations and communication. From research to planning and organizing, and from implementing to evaluation. We teach them the importance of goal setting which derives from a comprehensive situational analysis and an identification of the target audiences.  Then we stress out the importance of setting the objectives in relation to the corporate goal and linking them with certain strategies and tactics, while we set techniques for evaluation and assessment. The ability to apply knowledge and turn it into skills has become a strategic pillar for all of our postgraduate programs.

Our students at Business Administration and Economics Department are developing decision making skills with a strong sense of ethics and integrity. Teaching however is not based on a single textbook but rather on a set of competencies necessary for the real world.

   

Dr. Dimitrios V. NIKOLAIDIS

Head of Business Administration & Economics Department 

Senior Lecturer in Marketing

___________________________________________

CITY College,

International Faculty of the University of Sheffield

Business Administration and Economics Department

3, Leontos Sofou Str., 7th Floor, 546 26 Thessaloniki, Greece

Tel.: (+30) 2310 536 544 & 528 450 (ext. 103)    

Fax: (+30) 2310 282 384

Skype: dimitri.nikolaidis

website: www.city.academic.gr

Times Higher Education University of the Year