Author: michael_singleton

Today was sadly my last day at FWV. This morning, we got an opportunity to finally put together a full-fledged PR pitch. Alaina sent us some examples of real pitches, and we had to put together our own. Essentially we were sending a letter to a travel journalist about Wilmington, and FWV wanted us to put together a short list of reasons why Wilmington was a good destination. In addition to this, we also researched a variety of travel reporters in general, and compiled a list for the Travel & Tourism team at FWV. After this, we met with Abigail and Sarah to go over some influencer marketing basics. This presentation provided a really strong overview of the various aspects of influencer marketing, and it was really interesting. It gave specific statistics surrounding influencer follower requirements, and payouts. In the afternoon, we travelled to the NCDOT shoot happening in Cary. At the shoot, we got to see the production team in action, which was awesome. We also talked to the producer who gave us some insight into the industry of producing, and how the business works. Overall, this was probably one of the coolest days of the whole work experience, as we got to see the creative team in action, but also got to see the work of all of the other teams coming to fruition. I really valued my time at FWV today, as i got to learn even more about the field of influencer marketing, and I got to put my PR skills into practice.

Here is a picture of a drone used in the video shoot.

Today was yet another fun day at French West Vaughan. In the morning, we started off with another social status meeting. Social Status meetings are essential for day to day operations at FWV. After this, we met with Erin. Erin told us a little bit about her work for FWV, but mainly she took us through the plan for the GHSP and NCDOT. Erin said that FWV is working with the NCDOT to extend their Booze it and lose it campaign, along with their Click it or Ticket campaign. These two campaigns are extremely important, as they have save many lives in NC each year. Erin was taking us through a storyboard for an ad FWV will shoot for the NCDOT later on. After our meeting with Erin, we met with Deegan to take headshots. Deegan was really nice, and gave us some insight into how she got into the video/editing industry, and what her job is like on a day to day basis. In the afternoon, we met with Scott. Scott is in charge of all paid media for FWV, and he took us through the FWV BurgerFi campaign. THis was really cool, but also really scary at the same time. Scott showed us how FWV had geofenced off a FiveGuys in order to target BurgerFi ads to people who had walked into the FiveGuys. I was unaware google could do this, so it left me a little stunned. Later, he also showed us that google has a huge list of information about you that it can sell to advertisers. However, none of this identifies your name, so it technically protects your privacy. Overall, this was a really fun day, and I think my main takeaway is that ad agencies know a lot more than you think they do about your online activities.

This is an example of an ad that FWV was running for BurgerFi

Today was a great first day at FWV. We started by arriving at 9:30. After arriving, Alaina gave us a tour of the office. THe office is located is the center of downtown Raleigh, and it is actually an old furniture building that they renovated. To pay homage to this, they have parts of chairs sticking out of a wall. The office was is three stories tall, and has a very welcoming vibe. After the tour, Alaina went over some basicc information with us, like when to arrive and whatnot. After this, we sat in on a call with Alaina and some other members of the social team. After lunch, we were split up into two groups. My group met with Peyton, who works on lots of different accounts. Peyton told us about Greenville, NC and showed us the booklet she had made for them. Peyton also told us about the process of researching clients, and gave us a general overview of how FWV works internally. After this, we were given the task to find influencers for Case Knives, a knife company. We needed to find any influencers that met a certain list of requirements. Overall, this was a really great first day. I really enjoyed meeting with Peyton especially, as she gave some great insight and introduction into the world of PR.

Here is a picture of me working hard to find influencers for Case Knives

Today was very interesting. We started out our day by sitting in on a social status meeting. This is essentially a daily practice by the people at FWV which makes sense, as they have many accounts to go through. After the social status, we had a brief meeting with Barrie Hancock in the kitchen. Barrie oversees many different divisions at FWV, and she helps fill any agency needs. We had a really interesting conversation with Barrie. Barrie told us about many aspects of FWV including their focus on work-life balance. Barrie also gave us some leadership advice, and told us that as a manager or leader you have to play to the interests and motivations of your group of people, you need to be able to listen, you need to be able to adapt, and you need to give credit where credit is due. In the afternoon, we met with Natalie Best, the COO. Natalie gave us a lot of useful information about leadership as well, and gave some insights into how the advertising field works on a larger scale. After this, we had been tasked to review two client proposals. One was made by a small credit union, and the other was made by a non profit organization dedicated to helping out boards of directors. Essentially, these proposals were put out by these organizations with the hopes of receiving pitches from firms like FWV. We gave Natalie some input on wheter or not we thought it would be good business for FWV, and why it would/wouldn’t fit.

This is a picture of all of our cubicles.

Overall, my time at FWV was very enlightening. I think I really learned a lot about what it means to work in corporate America, and how an office functions. One of the main surprises to me was how free we were. Throughout the day, we didn’t constantly have someone watching over our shoulder telling us to get work done, yet we still managed to be productive.  Also, I was really surprised by the scope of the marketing industry. When I pictured working for a marketing firm, I just assumed that there would be someone to research the market, and someone to design ads. I never really imagined all of the working parts that go into the machine. FWV has an entire creative team dedicated to ideating their different advertisements and logos. They also have entirely different teams dedicated to social media and paid media. While it is impossible to give one or two takeaway from such an intriguing experience, I think that one think I could take away from my time at FWV is that writing is an essential tool. Nearly every person that we talked to stressed the importance of writing in PR, and marketing as a whole. Not just writing copy or writing advertisement, but professional writing in general. If you cannot be professional or write in a professional manner, you will never be able to succeed in the business world. Overall, during my time at FWV I learned a lot not only about the marketing/PR world, but also about the professional world in general. Also, I really appreciate the hosts taking time out of their day to make this a meaningful experience for all of us.

Today we started out our day by doing some research for Pendleton Whisky. Pendleton Whisky is one of FWV’s Biggest clients, as FWV does all sorts of work for them. We were tasked with finding influencers for their music festival in Pendleton, Oregon. For this campaign, FWV wanted to branch out from their traditional cowboy/cowgirl aesthetic, and so they wanted us to find more lifestyle influencers. After this, we sat in on a creative status meeting. Also, we sat in on a meeting held by John Moore. John Moore is the head of the creative team at FWV, and he told us a little bit about how the creative team organizes photoshoots and other things. He also ran through a schedule of the NCDOT shoot happening at Bond Park the following day. We got to see the storyboards and overall plan for the ad, which was really interesting. In the afternoon we met with Leah. Leah is an account supervisor at FWV who works mainly with the travel and tourism team. Leah took us through some of her clients, and gave us more insight into how the account management part of the business works. Overall, this was a very informative and interesting day at French West Vaughan.

Today we started out our day by doing research for BOA. BOA is an athletic performance enhancement company who has developed an electrolyte spray. BOA was invited to be on David Meltzer’s clubhouse segment “Ask Me Anything”, and we were tasked with researching the types of questions typically asked on this segment. Later in the morning, we met with Sarah. Sarah gave us some background on her time at FWV, and gave us some insight into how it is to enter the PR indsutry/the transition from college to the professional world. We also listened in on a Greenville client update, about what has been/will be done for Greenville social media. After lunch, we did some more research for BOA, and after this we met with Melanie and Madeline. They are a part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team at FWV and they gave us some insight into how integrated firms have to educate themselves on the various aspects of DEI in order to avoid making performative initiatives.

Also, here is a picture of a poster showcasing various advertisements that FWV has done.

Today we started off by finding some Formula 1 influencers. ABB, a client of FWV is looking for some influencers for an electric Formula 1 race they are holding in NYC, so we were tasked with finding good candidates for this program. After this, we sat in on a brainstorm session for Pendleton Whiskey, one of FWV’s largest clients. We got to hear all sorts of ideas about potential marketing strategies, giveaways, and influencer involvement. This meeting really gave us a snapshot into the creative process of coming up with a marketing campaign, and how much thinking goes into every single detail. In the afternoon, we split off into two groups. Some of us met with Colleen, a Group Account Director. Colleen gave us some insight into client relationships, degrees needed to enter the industry, deadlines, and content calendars. Tomorrow we will likely be searching for User Generated Content (UGC) on Instagram to use for the Wilmington Beaches Instagram account.

Here is a picture of us in the common area: