Dom Whitehurst - Digital PR

After working for two regional PR companies in Nottingham, Dom Whitehurst relocated to London and, presumably by combining his scientific background with his communications skills, found himself working at two great technology PR agencies. The second was Hotwire. More recently he and three colleagues have been busy developing a new sister agency to Hotwire, taking some of the technology and social media expertise possessed by Dom and other Hotwire people, and applying them to a wider range of clients than just tech firms. With that new company, 33 Digital, now full up and running, we caught up with Dom to find out a little about his career to date and his new agency.

By Unicorn Jobs

What was the first thing you did after graduating?

My first role was as an intern at BCS PR, a Nottingham-based tech PR agency specialising in telecommunications. It was a world away from my degree in Physics and, since I joined about a week after my exams finished, it meant I didn’t succumb to a long lazy summer but instead started developing my career straight away.

And the internship led to your first proper PR job?

Yes, in a way. My first ‘proper’ paid role was as an Accounts Assistant at Willoughby PR, another Nottingham agency. I was looking after accounts for multi-million pound regeneration projects and the UK’s largest distributor of industrial pipeline. It was, however, less interesting than it sounds.

Where did you head next?

Since those early days in regional PR, I have since moved to London and held roles in two technology agencies – Pleon and Hotwire – with social media becoming an increasingly important part of my day to day work. My social media role has developed to the extent that a month and a half ago myself and three colleagues launched a sister agency to Hotwire, focusing exclusively on ‘Digital PR’. In case you’re wondering it’s called 33 Digital!

Tell us about some of the projects 33 Digital are working on?

We are doing some very exciting things for clients that include The Financial Times, Debenhams and a really exciting Silicon Valley start-up called Evernote, amongst others. Due to the relatively recent emergence of social media as a marketing tool we are regularly treading new ground with our campaign strategies, which is both exciting and refreshing. Whoever we happen to be working on behalf of, there is never a dull moment.

And you think social media really has a place in PR?

Definitely, otherwise my role is redundant! Our focus as an industry should be channelling messages to the public via whichever platforms are most appropriate. As the media landscape shifts, affecting the attention paid to different types of media, we need to be agile enough to shift with it. The increasing amount of budget being assigned by clients to social media campaigns demonstrates that brands are finding real value in it.

Give us an idea of your typical day at work.

I work fairly regular eight to eight-and-a-half-hour days, spending most of my time talking to my clients, bloggers or journalists via email, telephone, Twitter or IM. There’s a lot of communication in this job and so talking to people takes up a lot of my working day. When I’m not pitching, or catching up with clients and account teams, my time is spent writing campaign plans, and building web profiles and platforms on behalf of our brands. The role that I fulfill is broader than a traditional PR remit as we pitch to the media whilst undertaking web development, blogger relations and social media monitoring projects, and that means no two days are ever the same.

What’s the best thing about your job?

Without doubt it is the opportunity to be creative and to see your ideas developing into reality. There are few roles where you are regularly given the scope to be really innovative.

What’s the worst thing about your job?

The worst thing is having to explain to friends and family exactly what it is I do! There is a lot of confusion surrounding PR amongst the general public.

As a brand new agency launching in troubled economic time, how is 33 Digital planning to weather the storm of recession?

Simply, we aim to do great work for our clients – keeping them happy in the process. If you retain your clients it makes surviving the recession far easier. Our parent company, Hotwire, was founded during the fallout of the dotcom bubble and stands as a lasting example that hard work, the right strategy and great results can see even fledgling agencies growing in an uncertain economic climate.

What’s your best piece of advice for an aspiring PR person?

Demonstrate precision and modesty. Any new account executive or graduate must be able to deliver emails, press releases and briefing documents without errors and spelling mistakes – your manager needs to be able to trust that you can deliver accurate copy and reports to clients. Secondly, not all elements of PR are glamorous and exciting but they’re very important for your professional development. You won’t be running the company on your first day.

Tell us something interesting about yourself that we couldn’t find on the internet

I’m not sure there are any facts about me that aren’t covered on my blog, LinkedIn page, Twitter account or Flickr profile. Sorry to disappoint!

Dom on the web

33 Digital’s website