By Fachri Mirza Muhammad
KUALA LUMPUR, 2 March 2019: A group of 22 members of the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia Student Association (IPRMSA) – IIUM Chapter had the opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge on public relations practices when they visited Edelman Public Relations Malaysia on Friday (1 March).
The first thing they learned about public relations practice is Edelman’s motto of earning trust and attention as the company’s focus is helping their clients to evolve, promote and protect their brands in an increasingly complex environment.
The trip was organised not only to educate its members on the public relation’s environment and job scope but also to give students opportunities to learn about public relations outside the context of classrooms and textbooks.
Edelman is a known global public relations firm that has 67 offices worldwide and has been in Malaysia for 34 years. The office is located at Centrepoint in Mid Valley.
Edelman’s offerings include investor relations, executive positioning, brand marketing, advocacy and public affairs, research and insights, media engagement, digital media, thought leadership, crisis and risk management, and social media.
Students were also exposed to case studies involving Edelman’s major clients in digital media, energy watch, healthcare, finance and profiling Kuala Lumpur as a regional hub.
They also learned from the experience shared by an intern who had gone through internship with Edelman and later was absorbed by the company. Writing skills, media engagement, creativity of ideas, and having the right attitudes were the main qualities expected from interns who intend to work in a public relations agency, students were told.
Students gained lot from the trip where they asked questions and discussed directly with the practitioners themselves.
A student asked whether Edelman has ever rejected any client on the basis of trust. The response from the public relations practitioner was that Edelman had rejected the company that was a competitor to their client, quoting the example of Lenovo being a competitor of HP. “This is due to our loyalty and trust on the client,” she emphasised.
Commenting on the educational visit, the programme manager, Muhammad Naqib Othman, said: “Overall, I am very satisfied with the outcome of the visit because everything went on smoothly as expected, and Edelman didn’t disappoint us as we managed to gain a lot of knowledge.”
He added, “This visit gave us a first-hand knowledge about the public relations profession, what more this is a top communication agency in Malaysia.”
The trip was accompanied by three lecturers from the Department of Communication – Dr. Zeti Azreen Ahmad, Dr. Kamaruzzaman Abdul Manan and Mr. Aznan Mat Piah. ***