DeVries Public Relations Overview

Many PR professionals consider the ability to focus on just a few substantial client relationships to be a kind of gold standard – highly desirable but difficult to achieve. It is common in our industry to get caught up in the never-ending pursuit of new business, or project work that creates churn for the staff. We’ve created guiding principles designed to keep us out of this treadmill and focused on what matters most: our clients and their business needs.

DEDICATED TEAMS
With a relatively short client list, we’re able to keep our account staff focused on only one or two clients at any given time. This allows them to be as immersed in a client’s business as the client themselves.

DEDICATED SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Every account at DeVries is run by a Senior Vice President or Managing Director, providing leadership as well as direct participation in client business.

DEDICATED TO BUILDING LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPSWe are proud that many of our client relationships and brand assignments have spanned decades, something we attribute to our ongoing commitment to dedication and cultivating fewer, more substantial partnerships. We immerse ourselves completely into the ethos of a brand and company culture, bringing both head and heart to the work we do on our clients’ behalf.

DEDICATED TO CONSUMER PR
We are also dedicated to focusing on consumer brand communications for a diverse roster of blue-chip consumer brands that enhance consumers’ lives: doing whatever it takes to inspire positive brand connections, conversations and cultural relevance. Deep influencer relationships, powerful word of mouth, strategic unity & amplification of marketing and message – these practices have always been a part of our DNA. Our expertise is focused on Beauty; Fashion and Retail; Health and Wellness; Food and Beverage; Wine & Spirits; Lifestyle and Home.

DEDICATED TO DIVERSITY
We aspire to be among the most inclusive consumer public relations agencies in the nation and we believe that diversity and inclusion contribute to the growth and success of our business, our people, our clients and our community. We have zero tolerance for behaviors which conflict with diversity and inclusion values. It is our mission to recruit, hire, develop and promote the best talent that reflects the labor market in which we do business; provide an open and inclusive work environment where each person has the opportunity to contribute and grow to his/her maximum potential while enriching our creativity and innovation; and develop a deep and enduring understanding of a diverse consumer base in order to deliver the most effective programming to our clients.

AS DEDICATED TO OUR STAFF AS WE ARE TO OUR CLIENTS

A few years ago at an agency off-site, one of our senior managers posed a simple yet provocative question: Are we as devoted to our employees as we are to our clients? The answer of course was yes, and staying true to that promise became an internal DeVries mantra from that day forward.

The proof of our agency culture is in the minds and hearts of the staff themselves, so we check in with them from time to time to see what they think. This word cloud was created from the top ten responses in a recent employee survey asking, “How would you describe the DeVries culture?”

Being dedicated to our employees means creating a culture where individual differences are not only respected but celebrated. Where training and development opportunities are ample. Where the mood is “disciplined informality” – buttoned-up when we need to be without ever losing our sense of humor or fun. It’s a jeans policy five days a week, because we trust our employees to be “client-ready” when they have to be. It’s one of the most generous time-off policies in the industry.

It means inter-division happy hours and a much-loved annual holiday party open to dates and spouses. It’s recognizing the desire of our staff to make a difference in the world and empowering them to do so through an ongoing agency relationship with Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, in which our staff mentor high school girls. It’s the DeVries Summer Service Day, our newest agency tradition, one in which we partner with local charity NY Cares for a day of community service followed by a celebratory get-together for the entire agency.

At DeVries we support the lives our employees have outside the office. Respecting work/life balance is a core tenet of our management philosophy, which means telecommuting and flexible schedules are a viable option for many employees.

Getting One (Or Two) Jobs in 140 (280?) Characters or Less

MARCH 24TH, 2010 | POSTED BY JESSICA GRECO

I’ve been called a case study more times than I can count.  And no, it’s not because I’ve set a record for amount of time spent talking about Dunkin Donuts or because I’m the only person ever who enjoys riding up and down the Garden State Parkway.  Although I’ve probably set some sort of record for those personality traits as well. What is so interesting about me is that in an industry that does a lot of talking about using Social Media for finding a job, I have actually DONE it.  I don’t mean to sound overly proud of myself, it’s just that I still find myself becoming astounded every time I think about it.  I have used Twitter not once, but TWICE to secure full-time positions at high-profile PR agencies.

I know that May is fast approaching, and this year we’ve seen an explosion of incredibly smart PR students who have made it their job to get as involved in Social Media as possible.  Their ambition and dedication has truly impressed me.  However, they will be graduating into an economy that still hasn’t fully gotten back on its feet (but one that is hopefully better than the one I graduated into last year!).  I wanted to write this post as a way to show all the PR job-seekers that it IS possible to “get a job in 140 characters or less”, as my friend
Stina likes to say.  In fact, straying from the traditional means of getting a job might be your best bet.

When I graduated in May without any position or prospects, I was fully prepared to spend my summer looking for a job.  I brushed up my resume, checked Mediabistro and Talent Zoo daily, set up Craigslist feeds in my Google Reader, and asked my friends to pass along anything that they thought might fit.  I stayed relatively quiet about my situation online, not wanting to seem desperate or whiny.  I went on a number of interviews, but after the fourth time that I met with someone for a position that I wasn’t all that interested in and never heard back, I decided something needed to change.  Armed with fresh determination, I overhauled my online profiles and started spending more of my time on Twitter interacting and engaging with other PR professionals instead of simply broadcasting.  In fact, it was around this time that I started chatting with the now-members of PR Breakfast Club, the blog I write for on a regular basis.  This isn’t to say that I went from knowing zero PR Tweeties to a whole bunch- I simply started showing them what I knew about the industry more than I had been.  I also decided to make it fully known that I was looking for a full-time job and had been looking for a long time.

It wasn’t TOO long after I tweeted my job frustrations that my then-acquaintance (and now awesome friend) Elliot reached out to me and let me know that his agency was hiring and he’d be happy to pass along my resume.  Elliot and I didn’t know each other very well, but he followed me on Twitter and had seen that I was looking for a job.  I was the first person that he thought of.  Two weeks after he reached out to me via DM, I had my first full-time agency job!  It was an awesome, and very unexpected, feeling.  As an added bonus to my unique good fortune, the story of how I got the job made me one of the company’s resident social media geeks.

When it came time for me to find something new, I decided it would be a good idea to tap my loyal Twitter network once again.  I told a few of my closest PR friends that I was looking, just in case they had any connections or opportunities for me.  At some point, I decided to send my resume to the fantastic Stephanie Smirnov, President of DeVries PR.  I had followed her on Twitter for a while and knew that she was a big fan of PR Breakfast Club, which had turned into a blog by then.  DeVries was like a dream agency for me- fantastic clients and reputation, and the best part was that their PRESIDENT tweeted and was actually GOOD at it. Plus, I also followed and interacted with a number of very social media-savvy girls that worked there.  I actually ended up interviewing with a number of them, which was a very interesting, yet comforting experience.  When I was offered the position, I couldn’t believe it.  I had gotten the job I had been waiting for, and I owed it all to Twitter (well, maybe not ALL)!

So, my advice to all the PR students out there who are feeling a little lost and scared, is: Be open to everything and don’t close yourself off to ANYTHING!  Throw yourself into Social Media and meet as many new people as you can.  Constantly show your network of people how you can think and what you can do.  It just might land you a job (or two)! 

Jess Greco is an Account Coordinator for the Fabric Care team and works on two exciting brands, Downy and Bounce. She is a self-proclaimed foodie, social media enthusiast, and pop culture junkie.

- Jess Greco