Aiming to bridge digital public relations (PR) concepts and theories to the actual practices, PHINMA Cagayan de Oro College teamed up with Accenture in the Philippines and recently organized a webinar. Attended by Communication and Business students, the 1.5-hour long online learning session underscored the need to be responsible PR practitioners.In her talk, Ms. Krista Garcia, Associate Digital Marketing and Talent Brand Content Manager of Accenture in the Philippines, mentioned some of the values that define great PR: transparency, authenticity, responsibility, and empowering. This means that when doing ethical public relations, messages that go out to the public must not deceive the people or be fabricated. Rather, they should highlight what is true and uplift the image not just of the organization but also its target audience while being accountable for its impact.

“Digital PR is not just about telling a great story. It’s really about sharing something worth-knowing, sharing something worth believing in for the people, or sharing something that will compel your customers or your stakeholders to do something great,” Garcia shared.

Garcia ended her presentation with a list of principles that are key to ensuring ethical practices when doing digital PR. She said that the challenge is to be a good kind of ‘Marites’. This could be done through certain strategies such as people watching and anecdotal social listening on social media. These strategies can be used to inform a digital PR campaign and make it effective.

Mariane Joy Arevalo, a sophomore Communication student, shared that the webinar provided her with relevant information about the practices in communication management in the context of public relations.  For her, the learning session also offered a peek at how organizations must handle potential PR crises. Arevalo continued that a good communicator must listen and observe before sending messages to its intended audiences.

More learning sessions by the company partners of PHINMA Education, onsite and/or virtual, are expected to be conducted in the coming months. PHINMA Education, in almost two decades, has shown that investing in the country’s future begins with enabling, empowering, and equipping every Filipino with accessible, quality private school education.

To learn more about student and career opportunities in Accenture in the Philippines, visit accenture.com/phstudents