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Networking With Janet Kestin And Nancy Vonk

Nancy Vonk

Nancy Vonk

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty was discussed repeatedly in high school and university, so when I learned that Ogilvy’s former co-chief creative officers who were responsible for the work were speaking at a Women of Influence event, I couldn’t resist. On Wednesday night, Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin shared how women can get ahead by speaking up and networking at a Women of Influence event.

In the age of personal branding, I was surprised when they said that women are taught it’s wrong to talk about themselves. Whether it’s at a networking event or an interview, it’s beneficial to have an elevator pitch ready and be a good storyteller when you have the opportunity to talk about your life and career.

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IKEA Grabs Life By The Catalogue

Photo Source: Marketing Magazine

Photo Source: Marketing Magazine

IKEA is known for creating innovative experiences for shoppers and their latest attempt is no exception. They’re jumping on the branded vending machine bandwagon (something we’ve seen brands like Essie do before) and offering a contest that’s powered by Twitter to promote the latest edition of their catalogue.

The vending machine is going on tour across Canada until the end of the month. When you tweet a PIN displayed on the vending machine, you will instantly win a prize such as a gift card, restaurant voucher or toy. One shopper tweeted a photo of the stuffed bear she received, which makes me curious to learn what else is inside the vending machine. It sounds like simple instructions for anyone with a Twitter account. The designated hashtag #GrabLifeByTheCatalogue is kind of long, but it clearly communicates the purpose of the campaign.

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Book Review: Who Do You Love

Hot On The Street - Sarah Prince - Jennifer Weiner - New York - 2013

As a major Jennifer Weiner fan, I was delighted to get a sneak peek at her latest novel, Who Do You Love. The novel tells the story of Rachel and Andy, two Americans who meet in the ER and reunite again and again as they grow up and fall in love. Their bond is strong enough to let them survive a long distance relationship and they remain top-of-mind for each other as circumstances tear them apart. The characters are raw, realistic and believable.

The book starts off with a slow pace, but the plot thickens as soon as Rachel and Andy enter their teenage years. Weiner dedicates the beginning of the book to establishing Rachel and Andy’s immediate circle of family and friends, and then the book becomes more interesting as Rachel and Andy become independent, leaving their parents’ homes behind.

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Ten Thousand Coffees Chat With Lisa Kimmel

Lisa Kimmel - Edelman

From early morning meetings to late night client dinners, Edelman Canada’s President Lisa Kimmel is a busy woman. Thankfully she took time out of her schedule to talk to young professionals for a Ten Thousand Coffees group chat.

Here are some takeaways from our conversation:

  1. No matter how hectic your job, it’s important to make time for yourself so you can stay healthy. Lisa exercises 3-4 times/week and appreciates the alone time.
  2. In an agency environment like Edelman, a good PR professional is highly adaptable, reflexive, flexible, solution-oriented, collaborative, curious and able to deal with overwhelming client responsibilities.
  3. A few of the most important skills for a PR professional are sales, public speaking and critical thinking.
  4. Effective internal communication, something I was particularly interested in learning about, involves honesty, transparency and frequent discussions. An account executive should understand the strategic plan for the entire agency and open communication makes this possible.
  5. Employment engagement is an essential priority. Lisa advises employers to recognize that employees are your best advocates, so equip them with the right tools to talk about your company at a party.
  6. An effective employee engagement program invites contributions from employees at junior and senior levels so management can gather insights for operations.
  7. Media companies like Facebook and Twitter sometimes eliminate clients’ agencies as the middleman and go straight to presenting solutions to clients. This is an obvious threat to agencies who want to be involved in all campaigns, so some agencies like Edelman are starting to partner with media companies like The Globe and Mail to present solutions to clients based on joint capabilities.
  8. Lisa understands the value of information interviews, but young people should realize that she’s inundated with requests. Tell a story in your email invitation to capture her attention because too many people say, “I’m passionate about public relations and want to meet with you over coffee.” If and when you are awarded an information interview, make sure you come prepared. Know your elevator pitch and research the senior employee’s company.
  9. For job interviews, ensure that you can articulate your point of view on the industry. Do enough research so that you can confidently predict future trends and think about your portfolio so you can describe the work you’re most proud of doing.
  10. Young professionals without a family should take advantage of opportunities to work abroad, such as landing a job within your agency’s international network.

Instagram Inspiration: Happy New Year

Many top brands were eager to help consumers ring in the new year. Overall, I noticed that brands posted more GIFs and short videos this year, which signals progress. Last year’s round up included only three posts and this year’s list includes three categories to help marketers with content development on Instagram.

I hope you’ll bookmark this for future reference and maybe even print it in colour to discuss at your next brainstorm meeting!

Inspiration for Small Businesses

While evaluating posts in my feed, I looked for simple posts that small business owners can learn from and treat as templates for future holiday posts. With the right stock photo and some text overlay in a program like Adobe Photoshop, a post that looks like this one from Aroma is fairly easy to create.

Hot On The Street - Happy New Year - 2015 - Aroma - Instagram

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