Bieneosa Ebite - Consultancy MD

Bieneosa Ebite first moved into PR when a marketing role at Western Union led to her spearheading an internal communications project, and then representing the company to relevant journalists. Since then she has worked in communications at McDonald’s and the Home Office, before moving into the agency side of the industry as MD of Bright Star Public Relations.

Bright Star work to create “public relations strategies based on understanding business objectives”, and do so in a number of different sectors, including food & drink, not-for-profit and professional services.

Bieneosa is also able to use her role at Bright Star to pursue one of her personal passions, tackling diversity issues in the PR sector, and helping state the very real business case for why the corporate communications industry needs to draw on a more diverse workforce.

We spoke to Bieneosa about her career to date and her work for Bright Star, and found out more about her opinions on social media and diversity in PR.

By Unicorn Jobs

What was your first job?

When I left university, my first job was Marketing Assistant at Western Union, a money transfer company. It involved sourcing point of sale materials, liaising with designers and booking advertising space.

What was your first PR role?

My Western Union role morphed into a PR one. It started with an internal communication project – I developed a newsletter, which was distributed to the network of Western Union agents across the UK every month, sharing key messages about the company and its activities.

Once I started producing the newsletter, I began to speak with journalists about the events that the company was supporting in various communities. At the time, the brand’s main audiences were the African Caribbean and Asian communities, and so the majority of the conversations were with media targeting these groups. I developed a keen interest in widening the brand’s circle of influence and communicating all the great things the company was doing. It was at this point that I decided to pursue a career in public relations.

Western Union invested in my interest and paved the way for me to study the CIPR Diploma. After successfully completing the course, I was promoted to Public Relations Executive. My role evolved quite quickly and I took responsibility for community affairs and sponsorship, as well as for additional media relations activity.

Where did you go next?

My next role was as Regional Communication Manager for McDonald’s. This was a great experience: it was challenging, fun and no two days were ever the same. I covered a large area of 200 restaurants across London, Essex and Hertfordshire, and developed communication tools for managers and franchisees, enabling them to speak confidently about the brand within their communities.

When I first joined the company my work was mainly firefighting, as at that time the brand was under considerable attack from the media, pressure groups and had additional issues to contend with in the form of the film ‘Super Size Me’, Jamie Oliver’s ‘School Dinners’ and the book ‘Fast Food Nation’.

Over the next couple of years I did a lot more proactive work around stakeholder engagement and community affairs, liaising with politicians, journalists and community leaders. It was great to build grassroots relationships with communities and to communicate key messages about the brand, often negating the most ludicrous assumptions about where McDonald’s food came from. I am very proud that I was part of communicating McDonald’s story of change and helping the brand to bounce back.

And what came after McDonalds?

I worked in various freelance roles, including at the Home Office where I was a Stakeholder Communication Manager.

So when did Bright Star become part of the equation?

Bright Star Public Relations came to life in 2007 with the aim of giving organisations a bespoke PR service that works in tandem with their business objectives. Our specialist areas are food & drink, not-for-profit, professional services and brands that are interested in tapping into the UK’s lucrative multicultural market.

Through Bright Star Public Relations I have also been able to pursue some of the things that I am passionate about, such as working with the Generation Next Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation set up to empower youth to make a positive difference to society.

In addition, I have challenged myself in new areas. For example, I recently worked with Thomas Eggar LLP, a leading law firm, managing the public relations for the launch of their Sports & Media group and was pleased to be able to achieve great results for the firm.

What interesting things are you working on at the moment?

One of our clients is an international quick service restaurant chain which is expanding their portfolio of restaurants in the UK. We have developed their local store marketing plan in addition to working on the media activity for the store openings.

I am also doing some pro bono work for UpRise, a campaigning organisation that has been set up following the cancellation of the Rise Festival, Europe’s largest anti-racist festival, held each year in Finsbury Park. As a member of the campaign team, I offer advice and direction about media activity. It is a rewarding experience for me, as Rise is a festival that I would love to see put back on London’s event calendar.

Give us an idea of your typical day at work.

I would not say that I have a typical day, but it usually starts by looking at what is going on in the media. It can then involve working on campaigns, speaking to journalists, attending meetings, working on new business opportunities and going to networking events.

What’s the best thing about your job?

I enjoy being the master of my destiny and being able to work with clients and on projects that I am genuinely interested in.

How is Bright Star PR planning to weather the storm of recession?

I think flexibility is a great strength and, during these testing times, the ability to adapt is a strong currency. However, I am of the mindset that there are always opportunities out there; the key is in finding them!

Do you think social media has a place in PR?

I think social media definitely has a place in PR. The digital age is upon us and we have to embrace what this means in terms of how we are able to communicate. We have all seen examples of how social media is able to shape the debate and influence people at speed, something that was not possible when I started in PR ten years ago.

Although social media is relatively new, the principle of the medium being the message isn’t; and so as PRs we need to understand the characteristics of social media and the relationship the audience that we are trying to reach has with this medium, just as we would with any other type of media.

What are your opinions on the issues of ethnic diversity in the communications industry and how do you think they should be tackled?

I think the industry is missing a valuable trick when it comes to ethnic diversity.

The UK is more ethnically diverse than ever before and we are living in a global village, doing business with people from different cultures and backgrounds. It is therefore a no-brainer that communicators should have a workforce that is reflective of this environment. Our shortfall in this area represents our inability to communicate effectively to a range of audiences at home and in the wider global community.

The business case for diversity in all its forms is widely acknowledged by bodies such as Business In The Community and the London Development Agency. It is about time that we as an industry are more progressive in this area.

In terms of how the lack of ethnic diversity should be tackled, as with any changes within an organisation or industry it has to be something that is championed at the highest levels, and it needs to be a case of walking the talk and not an exercise in ticking boxes. In the first instance, I would like to see our industry bodies vociferously advocating the business case for diversity.

Talking of diversity, what is the UK Black & Asian PR Networking Group and how are you involved?

I am a founding member of the UK Black & Asian PR networking group. It was set up to connect black and Asian public relations practitioners in the UK and to encourage and increase the diversity of the PR profession in the UK.

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

People always ask me where my name is from and what it means. It is from a town called Agbor in the Delta state of Nigeria and means “bow to God”.

Bieneosa on the web

Bright Star’s website