by R. Devin Hughes, CEO
I am delighted to write the introductory post for the new ImPRessions website, moved over from Blogger to WordPress. Aside from needing to fill out a few biographical segments in our Leadership section, the site is complete and ready for public viewing. As this is a new venture, we would really appreciate any comments and/or suggestions you have for the page; please feel encouraged to comment on this post or e-mail us at ouimpressions@gmail.com. This website needs to accurately portray the excellence of our firm, so we welcome all constructive feedback that will help us to do so.
The creation of this new site dates back to last year, when I asked the ImPRessions account to analyze the websites of top-notch PR firms around the country to see what was traditionally done in the field. The team came through, presenting a list of suggestions for the design of a new ImPRessions website as well as producing some sample copy for the pages. Because of the various projects we were involved in, I pushed the potential creation of the new website to the future, mentally storing the ideas the account members had suggested. Now, with the free time that summer offers, the ideas have become a reality.
Why model ourselves after these top PR firms? Because we are a top PR firm. The firm-wide oversight I had last year as assistant director showed me as much. We have a truly exceptional group of students with extraordinary amounts of enthusiasm, and time after time I heard reviews from clients who were extremely pleased with the work we had done for them. Stepping into the role of CEO, I realized it was time for the entire firm to own its potential.
This new website is a major step in a new way of branding ImPRessions. We are more than just a “student PR firm.” We are a credible, viable and exemplary public relations service. We provide tangible value to any client we take on. Looking at ourselves as just a “student PR firm” only creates psychological limitations within ourselves.
My vision for this firm is to move forward to a place where we are not just a great student PR firm; we are a great PR firm that happens to be employed of students. Re-branding ourselves as such removes the perceived qualitative and geographical limitations of our work; we can, in fact, go anywhere and do anything. This vision began to become reality in the past few months, when we chose to move from nine clients to 13, a 30 percent increase in client base.
We added a company that is #17 on the Fortune 500 (Cardinal Health), two clients that impact, oh, every student at Ohio University (University Libraries and the OHIO Performing Arts Series) and partnered with a firm that is a global leader in public relations (Fleishman-Hillard). Oh, and our work is so highly regarded that we added a client that is only the greatest journalism school on the planet (E.W. Scripps School of Journalism).
As ImPRessions steamrolls forward, we refuse to grow complacent with our already high-quality work or set any limitations on ourselves. It is an exciting time to be involved with this firm and I cannot wait for next year to begin.
Alas, with only week two of summer vacation set to begin, we will have to settle for a new website for now. There will be blog posts throughout the summer so I encourage you to subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date. Again, we would really appreciate any thoughts on the new page in the comments section, or e-mail us if you are shy.
With the introductory post complete, and by the powers vested in me by the Public Relations Student Society of America, I hereby pronounce this website open and operational. Happy visiting!
