By Michael Schena
March 7,2017
This Tuesday our club was blessed with the presence of Marcus Moreno, a CSUN Alumni who was the president of CSUN’s PRSSA club in the past. Marcus focused his presentation on explaining what really went on in public relation agencies, rather than the usual information that people give you. Given that he has quite a history of working with agencies, his presentation was not only personable but very useful as well. Marcus has a history of planning out communication strategies for companies who are looking to strengthen their relevance in the United States market. One experience was with Tenga, a Japanese company that makes toys for masturbation. The angle that Marcus said he took for Americans was focusing on “sexual health,” since talking about masturbating in the United States is known as taboo. The lesson to take here is that no matter what client you get, you can turn it into a good communication strategy.
Marcus also showed examples of public relation plans that he has used in the past, which was really helpful for the club. A good amount of his plans included visual elements that gave a new perspective to our club members. On top of that, he gave us insight on dealing with budgets, advising us to get the details as soon as possible. Marcus also gave us insight on working with YouTubers, Instagram users and Twitch.tv personalities. Usually, these types of people have agencies that represent them. He said that working with these people is similar to working in sports marketing, “Again, it’s a business, people want to make money. Make sure your client fits with the influencer’s personality. Don’t acquire them just because of the name.” Marcus ended his presentation with advice on dealing with public relations and mental health, “Manage your stress and set your work boundary. Recognize when you’re going to get worked out. Recognize when your boss isn’t treating you well. The weekends are yours, own them.” Overall, Marcus gave us an in-depth presentation about his experiences in agencies and also very useful advice about working in the field of public relations.