Burger King’s Whopper Freakout – Creative…or some might call it, radical marketing.
Worth a peek.
Burger King’s Whopper is one of Americans’ popular choices of fast-food and a definitive icon of America.
Well it’s been awhile…
Trying to orient myself around in view of some new changes for the year…
For example, starting work on the Feb 11th, a momentous occasion for me because while it might represent the start of something monumental, limitless and unpredictable, it certainly means the end of a form of liberty in life…end of the days where you get to slack when you wish to, skip school when you want to or just bum around because you can.
I’m not quite sure if I’m living my dream as yet but I’m fortunate to be starting out something that i am passionate about. I’ll have lots to sort for this couple of 10 days – rounding up all the blogs that i need to catch up upon – beyond corporate or consumer pr – such as that of financial affairs, world affairs through online business media. Looks like my blog columns would be piled up with all these daily reads. I should start subscribing to TIME; i find it inexplicably fascinating.
Then apart from a day job, i will also be more involved in a side job with a few friends (doing the branding and marketing) which i shall not speak of it as yet; things are not concrete till date so until it seems like it’s going somewhere, if anywhere at all, i might just have it exposed…but i guarantee it’s something interesting and lucrative…and to top it all off, it’s relatively untapped…:)
It’s going to be one helluva year i foresee but if this is how it’s gonna be, then it shall be. Because i have fantastic friends and an unconditionally supportive family.
After weeks of waiting, Harold Burson finally updated his blog. Yes, he has fascinating entries and i always look forward to the next.
[Quoted from: Harold Burson's Blog, Burson-Marstellar]
The question most often asked me by both students and interns is along the lines of:
“Mr. Burson, based on your experience, what is your best advice for us as we start out careers in public relations? What are the three or four things you think will count most?”
This is what I tell them:
[1] Networking is the most important activity you can undertake, starting now. Approach it in terms of building a support infrastructure that you can tap into as your career and your life goes forward. But never think that networking is simply a matter of knowing people. To be effective, it takes an underlying relationship – shared experiences -and you’ve got to work at it. Just one example of the payoff: when I ask newly recruited employees how they happened to come on to Burson- Marsteller, no less than half say “I knew someone who knew someone” – you get the point!
[2] Working as a member of an organization – a team – is an essential in most careers, especially business. My successor as B-M CEO, Jim Dowling, put it this way: “We prize the individual; we celebrate the team.” It is essential that you earn the trust of those around you: not only your boss, but also your peers and, equally important, the people who work for you. My late partner Bill Marsteller maintained “your direct reports are the ones who really ‘nominate’ you for promotion to higher responsibility.” At Burson-Marsteller more than half of all involuntary separations of professional employees is caused by an employee’s inability to work with his/her teammates – to “fit in” as a member of the organization.
[3] Never cease working to become a better writer and a more effective speaker. One of the scarcest commodities in public relations today is the scarcity of competent writers. My observation is that the newly-hired staffer who demonstrates a strong writing ability soon becomes one of the office’s most billable employees. There is always a need for good writing, and word spreads fast.
[4] Develop as broad a knowledge base as possible. In our kind of work, all kinds of problems arise. And as consultants, in all fields of social, political and economic endeavor. Strive never to be caught tongue-tied for a total lack of knowledge even on a subject remote to your every day existence. The old fashioned way of doing this has been by reading – traditionally, newspapers, magazines, books and, of course, television and radio. The new way is the internet – about which most of you are far moré au courant than I. The best advice my Father ever gave me was “try always to be in the know.”
My good wishes to all recent graduates seeking a career in public relations. Even after so many years, I well remember my early years and the many individuals who contributed to whatever success has been heaped upon me. I could never have done it alone – and I believe, at the end of the day, many years from now, you will feel as I do.
