nikita scott-naylor\'s pr portfolio
DESCRIPTION
A brief portfolio of my personal PR work completed during my university career. This is by no means comprehensive and other examples are available.TRANSCRIPT
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Public Relations PortfolioPublic Relations Portfolio
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CConte
nts
By P
roje
ct
Mrs Henderson Presents Fan Film Premiere
Communiction Objectives and Learning Opportunities 3
Literature Design and Online Publicity 4
Online Publicity Cont. and Invitation Letters 5
Year One – Funki Ink Client Work
Communiction Objectives and Learning Opportunities 6
Initial Contact and Contact Report 7
Consultancy Report and Press Pack 8
Year One – Press Release Exercise
Wings Holidays 9
Year Two – Fusion Client Work
Comms. Objectives, Learning Opps., Campaign Plan 10
Press Release and Photo Call 11
Year Two – Speech Writing Skills
Speech, Frequently Asked Questions and Fact Sheet 12
Placement Projects
Daily Express and The Guide Coverage 13
Year Three – Biography Writing
Three Sample Biographies 14
Year Three – UK Progress Projects
iTunes Podcasts and RSS Codes 15
Video Tour 16
Learning Reflection 17
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Communication Objectives
The objective of the Mrs. Henderson Presents Fan Film Premiere was to raise
money for the charity, Women’s Aid. In order to raise as much money as
possible, it was crucial that communication about the event reached as wide
an audience as possible. In order to achieve this, the following objectives
were put in place:
• To utilise the internet to reach the 2,250 members of the Will Young
online community.
• To generate awareness of the event as well as the film itself in order
to raise maximum funds for Women’s Aid.
Learning Opportunity
Throughout the planning and organisation, I was able to utilise the skills that I had gained in my first few months at UCLan. This ranged from the techniques learnt in the Effective Writing Skills
module to Public Relations Theory and practice. This meant that I was able to transfer my university skills to an external project at an early stage of my university career. This gave me a boost in
confidence with the more practical elements of my degree course that would be introduced later on.
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Above is an example of the tickets which I designed and distributed
to the attendees of the exclusive screening and the after show party.
The design concept was chosen to fit with the theme of the film,
which is set in a London theatre during WWII. The tickets were kept
as simple as possible whilst keeping visual impact. Over 150 tickets
were produced which was time consuming as one of the tickets
required hand backing onto a silver card mount. This is something
that I would avoid in the future as when producing tickets in such
large numbers as time may be better spent elsewhere.
Between January and November 2005, I worked as part of a team on the planning, organisation, and
implementation of a Will Young fan film premiere for his acting debut in Mrs. Henderson Presents. This
process involved securing the film from Pathé for a dual screening in Leeds and Basingstoke two days before
the official worldwide premiere, planning all aspects of the screening and after show party, organising a
ticketing system, designing and printing all literature and publicising the event. Publicity of the premiere was
conducted solely on two large online forums dedicated to the artist as seen below – The Official Forum
(http://forum.willyoung.co.uk) and Devoted (http://www.williamyoung.biz/forums). This reached the 7,250
(approx.) members who were signed up to the forums and ensured that the event was completely sold out,
achieving the communication objectives. My specific role within the team was to write the promotional
materials, devise new ways to pique interest in the event and arrange all of the literature for the night.
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Above is an example of the online publicity produced. The
numbers represent the number of days remaining until the
premiere. The images were then posted on the online forums
each day to help gather momentum. A separate themed
image was produced on Halloween, which subsequently
attracted many more views to the forum threads, which in
turn attracted much more attention for the event.
The letter below was sent out electronically to all of those who had previously expressed an
interest in attending the fan film premiere. (See Appendix A) It contained the all of the details of
both the film screening and after show party. It was decided that this was the best way to
officially invite potential attendees as it added a personal touch and ensured that as many
people read it as possible. By making certain that the letters were delivered to each member of
the mailing list, the worry that people would not check the details on the forums was eradicated.
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YYear OO
ne –
FFunki II
nk
CClie
nt WW
ork
Communication Objectives
Funki Ink was a Preston based beauty salon and semi- permanent tattoo studio with a main target audience of women.
Since this was a fairly new concept, I took it upon myself to contact them to see if they would be willing to work along side
me with their PR efforts for my first year project. The communication objectives were as follows:
• To increase awareness of semi-permanent tattoos
• To spread knowledge of the brand new Funki Ink salon
• To increase footfall to the salon from both the student and local populations.
• To ensure that Funki Ink were informed of all activities at all times.
Learning Opportunities
Working with Funki Ink was my first experience of working along side an experienced PR team. It gave me the opportunity
to not only put into practice what I was continuing to learn at university, but also to lean new techniques and strategies
from an external source.
I was also able to draw upon my event management skills that I had acquired during the planning and execution of the
Mrs. Henderson Presents Fan Film Premiere.
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YYear OO
ne –
FFunki II
nk
CClie
nt WW
ork
After an initial informal enquiry as to whether teaming up with me
and my part time colleague would be something of which they
would be interested in, I sent a contact letter to Ms. Stevens, the
PR and Marketing manager for Funki Ink. (See Appendix B) I
received a response straight away and all members of the Funki Ink
team were highly enthusiastic about the collaboration. Following
this, a formal meeting was set up to discuss my opening ideas.
I constructed a contact report template to
distribute to the other casual member of
my team and the internal employees of
Funki Ink. (See Appendix C) This detailed
the date of the meeting, the names of all
in attendance, items covered, action to be
taken and the date of the subsequent
meeting.
Due to there being two teams working on
PR activities for the company, this ensured
that all parties were kept in the loop at all
times to avoid duplicate work or missed
opportunities. This also achieved the fourth
objective of keeping Funki Ink team
members fully informed.
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After much planning and research, a basic
consultancy report was drafted. (See
Appendix D) This detailed all aspects of the
event organisation and Public Relations
campaign.
Information varied from the company’s
background information and general
strategies and objectives to specific tactics
that would be employed in the
implementation of the event and campaign.
This was a document that would help to
achieve the fourth objective of informing
internal team members of all activities at all
times by providing them with an at-a-glance
report that detailed exactly where the
project stood.
YYear OO
ne –
FFunki II
nk
CClie
nt WW
ork
A press pack template was produced for the planned event and presented to the PR team at Funki Ink. This included a press
release, a photo call and a photo brief (See Appendices E, F and G) that could be sent out to their media list whenever they
were ready to execute the plans put in place for the tattoo fashion show.
Unfortunately, after my involvement with the company came to an end, a new PR team took over and due to a lack of
communication the event plans were not utilised. However, it was felt by both myself and the Funki Ink team that had the
press program and planned event gone forward, the objectives set forth would have been successfully achieved.
YYear OO
ne –
FFunki II
nk
CClie
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ork
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YYear OO
ne –
PPre
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ele
ase
EExerc
ise
During my first year at UCLan, a timed press
release was set as an assignment in order to
judge our progress from day one. We were given
a block of raw information which we then had to
transform into a press release. (See Appendix H)
Since starting the Public Relations course, I had
written many press releases but had never
worked to such a strict time constraint. This was a
learning curve as in the professional world you
may have to write media releases under
pressured time.
This exercise demonstrated how far we had come
since starting the course in terms of being able to
write and structure a release unaided. However, it
also established how much more work we had to
do before we could create a fully ideal release in a
short space of time.
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YYear TT
wo –
FFusio
n CC
lient
WWork
Communication Objectives
In year two, we were once again required to work as teams for a real client. My team, Premier PR,
worked for the independent fashion boutique, Fusion. It was their wish to fulfil the following
objectives:
• To increase awareness amongst the student population of their boutique and increase
knowledge of their student discount offer.
• To increase student footfall to the store.
Throughout the project, a consultancy report was created,
and regularly updated, to be presented to the client for
them to take forward the plans should they so wish. (See
Appendix I) This contained strategies and tactics, a
financial budget, a press release, a photo call, full detailed
plans of an event to be held within the UCLan student
union and a list of contact reports.
Upon reflection, there are many gaps in the report and the
objectives set forward were not SMART. Although the client
originally stated that they wanted to target students, they
later changed their mind during the final stage of the
project and therefore did not utilise the information
provided to them.
Upon evaluation of the project, it was agreed that although
the plans would have achieved the objectives given to the
team, the client was not sure enough of their own position
to be able to call the project a success.
Learning Opportunities
We were able to draw upon our experiences working for
a real client that we had built in our first year at UCLan
and take these forward with a new organisation.
However, we were working in much bigger teams and
therefore it was important to ensure that the workload
was evenly distributed. Also, due to the larger nature of
the teams, it was possible – and expected – for more to
be done within the group.
For the first time, we were presented with a tangible
budget and had to plan our activities around this. This
was the first time that we had been given such an
opportunity and so it pushed us further to look at the
smaller details of the campaign.
YYear TT
wo –
FFusio
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CClie
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ork
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Below is an example of a photo call provided to the client to be sent out if they
implemented the plan set forth in the campaign plan for a Student’s Union event.
(See Appendix K)
Again, this a very simplistic piece of work which I feel could have had improvements
if the client had had more involvement with the project.
Above is an example of a press release provided to the client to promote their boutique to
the student population. (See Appendix J) Although there was a vast improvement from the
media releases produced in the first year, there were still many areas of weakness to be
improved upon.
On reflection, I feel that I did not pay as much attention to detail with this project as it
slowly became clear that the client was not dedicated to the idea. This proved that you must
feel that your work is worthwhile in order to produce quality materials.
YYear TT
wo –
FFusio
n
CClie
nt WW
ork
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YYear TT
wo –
SSpeech WW
riting
SSkills
During year two of the Public Relations course, we were required to research and write a speech on a set
topic. I chose to write a speech on consumer debt issues as a representative of the Citizens Advice Bureau
(CAB). (See Appendix L) We were also asked to supply Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and a CAB and
consumer debt fact sheet. (See Appendices M and N)
This was an area that was completely new and required me to write in a different style to that I was
accustomed to. It has been a large help and has aided me in adapting my writing style to suit different
purposes. It also highlighted the need for imagery when the communication is spoken, especially if there are
hard to grasp concepts.
In completing this project, I was more confident with my public speaking and I was able to draw upon my
past experiences presenting in groups in various other modules throughout my time at UCLan.
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PPla
cem
ent PP
roje
cts
During my time on placement working for Lancashire County Developments Ltd, I
was able to put into practice all of the skills I have acquired in my first two years of
university. From my first press releases of my university career, there was a marked
improvement in my placement work. Whilst carrying out project work for Hawkshaw’s
Birds of Prey Centre and their venture, Hex in the Harvest, I was able to secure
several pieces of coverage including a half page piece in the Bank Holiday issue of the
Daily Express as well as a write up and competition in The Guide which covers leisure,
shopping and tourism in the Southport, Sefton and West Lancashire areas. This vastly
boosted visitors to the farm, not only increasing visitor numbers to the birds of prey
centre and the haunted attraction, but also boosted their home-made ice cream sales
by almost 100% on the previous year.
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YYear TT
hre
e –
BBio
gra
phy
WWritin
g
Upon returning to UCLan after my placement period, I was much more confident in my writing and PR skills.
This encouraged me to get involved in writing biographies of UCLan alumni for the Lancashire Business
School (LBS) marketing department. (See Appendix O) This involved being given a completed questionnaire
that had been presented to past graduates and turning this raw data into a full feature to promote the LBS
externally.
This gave me fantastic experience in writing for different purposes as well as an opportunity to draw upon
what I had learnt on placement. It also helped refresh my memory of the skills I had gained in years one
and two so that I was able to integrate back into university quickly and efficiently.
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YYear TT
hre
e –
UUK PP
rogre
ss
PPro
jects
The podcasts were recorded by the team and I in person at the centre using the Marantz and transferred to the
computer to be hosted on the internet. However, in order for the podcasts to be published on iTunes, I had to
learn the complex computer script, RRS Code. (See Appendix P) Through research, I found that iTunes do not
host the podcasts, only make them available for download. Therefore, I was required to create an RSS feed to
be externally hosted online. This feed was then in turn sent to iTunes who use it to automatically update your
podcast’s availability each time the feed was updated.
This was an area that was brand new to me and so through a large amount of research, online tutorials and
much trail and error, the podcast was made internationally available through iTunes.
As part of my third year, I was required to work as part of a team on PR campaigns
for the Vajravarahi Buddhist Centre. The team and I were given the object of
educating the publics about meditation and its benefits and well as increase footfall
to the centre. In order to do this, we decided to utilise the new equipment available
to UK Progress students and create a new media campaign consisting of a series of
podcasts available on iTunes and a video tour of the centre to be published on You
Tube and Facebook.
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YYear TT
hre
e –
UUK PP
rogre
ss
PPro
jects
The team and I again made the most of the new equipment available and filmed a tour of the Vajravarahi
Buddhist Centre to enable those unsure of visiting the centre the opportunity to gain an idea of what to
expect. Once the tour was filmed and uploaded to the computers, I once again had to rely on online tutorials
and trial and error in order to successfully edit the piece into a completed video for publication on the
internet.
For this process I used the Mac Pro software, Final Cut Pro, to achieve a smooth and visually pleasing tour,
emulating the style of MTV Cribs. (See attached disk)
During these new media projects I have significantly improved my technological knowledge in areas of which
I think will greatly benefit me in the future. I have no doubt that the new equipment secured for UK Progress
students has helped me to develop in this way.
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LLearn
ing RR
efle
ctio
n
Professional Development
I have repeatedly seen a marked improvement in my work at a steady rate since the
beginning of my university career. UCLan has provided me with both the knowledge and
opportunities to develop new and diverse skills that will certainly help not only in my future
career, but in my immediate employability.
I feel that I would be able to fully research, plan and execute a successful Public Relations
campaign, something which would definitely not have been the case four years ago.
I also feel that my time at university has shown me how rapidly the world of PR changes and
how you must develop new skills all the time in order to keep up. This means that my
professional development is still in progress.
Personal Development
I have seen my confidence in both myself and my abilities go from strength to strength since
beginning at UCLan. Through the varied program of modules, I have gained a much clearer
idea about where my strengths and weaknesses lie which has encouraged me to take
forward those areas that showcase my skills.
I feel that I have vastly progressed as both a professional and a peer and that I will continue
to develop long after I graduate thanks to the skills and encouragement gained from my
time at UCLan.