Culpwrit

 Grant Crone, Account Executive

                              MMPR – Phoenix, AZ

 

 

 

 

I chose to face today because I want to move the world.

I woke up, grabbed a large coffee and cracked the newspaper.  As a publicist, I am always looking for trends.  Is there a new process being used, is gas expensive, are people traveling?  How do my clients fit this story?  Ten-year anniversary of a steakhouse, economy is bad but they are busy.  I want a feature with the headline “Staying Power.”  Time to ride, I need to be at the office in 5 minutes.

The day starts with email.  I sometimes wish that tomorrow would be designated fountain pen, wood pulp and wax with a stamp day.  I craft the steakhouse pitch and negotiate back and forth on a spring training baseball sponsorship.  I move to the circular glass table in the middle of our bullpen-style office.  Planning session. The next two hours really define what I love about my job.  I get to use my knowledge of culture, trends, and history to strategically align our clients within focus of the media.  Time to pitch.  Flawless research on the subject matter of the pitch is the only way I will succeed here.  It is time to explain to a writer or producer why my client is a fit, why they should write about them.  I dissect the difference between intralasik and lasik.  Phone rings.  Advertiser.  Change course, draw upon market knowledge.  Explain why $4,000 for a ½ page vertical in a magazine reaching 20,000 people doesn’t make sense for my client.  Lunch meeting with a client.  We sit down to review where they have been in print, online and television.  I present a new angle on a menu pricing (Boom, sales up 10% that week).  I transition to new markets to penetrate, and then most importantly, I listen.  Clients know who they are and what they want.  Go to dinner. Feel the heartbeat of the city and smile.

Post Script – Trust your intuition.  As a publicist you have the opportunity to shape the thoughts and ideas of others.  Make sure you listen to your own. 

Grant has been an account executive with mmpr since 2008. He graduated from Fordham University in 2005 with a degree in marketing. He got his first taste of public relations while interning at Sony Urban Music in New York City and has continued developing that passion since joining the mmpr team. mmpr is a full-service marketing communications firm specializing in public relations, advertising and strategic marketing.