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by Jazzy Loyal on 4.6.2011 in Company News, Public Relations 1

Whenever I reveal that I attended graduate school for poetry, and for two years in the sleepy Shenandoah Valley scrawled down stanzas at a card table while drinking cheap caffeine and rarely sleeping, all for the sake of the craft, the response is often, “How, after all of that, did you end up in public relations?”

I’m not the first poet to join the field. Take Joseph Awad, who served as both national president of the Public Relations Society of America and Poet Laureate of Virginia. Awad worked in PR for the Reynolds Metals Company for nearly forty years. During the day he wrote news releases about aluminum foil and the production of soda cans. By night, he wrote poems at his kitchen table. He eventually published a book called The Power of Public Relations, in addition to four full-length poetry collections.

Still, I’d be willing to bet that Awad’s day job in PR and his passion for poetry weren’t as divergent as they might seem. Although couplets, internal rhyme, and an understanding of the sestina form aren’t my foremost concerns as I draft public relations documents, my poetic education has been instrumental as I’ve worked to control brand messaging, announce new products, and build relationships with editors and writers, many of whom have literary backgrounds as well.

In PR, as in poetry, the ability to imagine the motivations and concerns of the audience can be crucial. Who am I speaking to? How do I want them to react? When I’m pitching, I have to consider if the publication is already familiar with the brand, or if I need to work that much harder to both educate and engage the reader in the first sentence. Poetry, press releases and pitches all have to captivate while they inform. PR and poetry both rely on concise, clear, and elegantly crafted prose, as well as a well-trained ear for sound, which helps to create catchy copy. Poetry has given me the tools to write with a unified and consistent tone that reflects the product and brand philosophy while piquing the interest of editors, producers, and bloggers.

Happily, PR has proved valuable for my poetry as well. While working on materials for Natura Pet Products’ line of EVO grain free dog and cat foods, I’ve had the opportunity to research and study the ancestral diet of canines, the evolution of the domestic dog, and man’s transition from hunter-gatherer to agriculturalist. Tell me that isn’t rich material, ripe for literary interpretation.

By encouraging team members to pursue their pastimes and passions (“Be a Renaissance person” is a recommendation that appears in our employee handbook), Brighton has created an environment conducive to learning, exploration, and creative freedom. The result is vibrant, intelligent work from all departments. On the PR side, our clients are in the hands of professionals with deep connections to both the mechanics of media relations and the possibilities of language. In a media environment saturated with messages, an understanding of both elements is vital for success—and for standing out.

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