Khalil kicked off his career in 1999 at Al Aswaq newspaper, one of the leading economic daily newspapers in Amman, Jordan, and while there, was one of the select few chosen to participate in UNESCO Amman’s unique ‘Electronic Journalism’ training program. He later joined ‘Ammannet’, the first online Arabic radio station in the Middle East, as a reporter and digital editor for the culture and arts section. In 2002, Khalil moved to Dubai to expand his horizons, initially working for Elite Advertising as an account manager. He then joined Tamar C2 Advertising in 2002, where he was soon managing the agency’s top global accounts, including Western Union Financial Services (WUFS); an experience that entailed building cross-border relationships with its offices worldwide, especially in the USA. He worked closely with WUFS to implement a special PR strategy and crisis plan for the MENA region, which included devising and managing many events and activities for a diversity of ethnic groups residing in the UAE.
Having worked on numerous accounts in a wide-range of industries such as banking & finance, automotive, electronics and FMCG, Khalil has developed excellent media relationships locally, regionally and internationally. His background in advertising and events management has also lent to the tremendous success of his PR campaigns.
Khalil speaks Arabic, English and French fluently and writes in all three languages. He was a radio and TV major at university.
I’ve asked my 5-year old nephew, why he loves 3-D movies so much?
He looked at me with those wondering eyes exclaiming, “What kind of question is that?”
Then he replied, “Well because I am there!”
3D movies put us right in the action, which makes the experience even more thrilling. We find ourselves consumed with an alternate universe – there is no escape.
When it comes to PR campaigns, we have to be ahead of the game, so 4D PR comes into play.
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You can’t study social media, you live and learn it. But even then, what makes one more socially savvy than the other?
Creativity.
Sure you can post, reTweet and pin; but if you don’t have some defining quality that’s distinctly you, well, you’re just making a lot of noise.
How do you get creative? I think it’s something you’re born with, but if you haven’t been bestowed this gift, here’s how you can try to attain it.
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They might as well be. Building a life for yourself in PR isn’t an easy undertaking for normal individuals, oh no, you need to have super-human PR powers.
There are tight deadlines, and clients and meetings that never end. There are proposals, and brainstorming and communication workshops. There are newsletters, press releases and blogs. Overwhelmed yet?
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Attention, attention; how can I get more attention? You don’t have to be a business to want some. Kids will scream to get it, teenagers will rebel to get it and Nicki Minaj will show up to the Grammys with the most interesting of dates to make sure she gets some too.
Facebook is no stranger to wanting attention; they change their layout almost every other week! More recently it’s the new Timeline that everyone’s been raving about.
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You’re new, you’re fresh and you’re all ready to cry already? That can’t be good. Yes, PR may seem scary at first (especially since we still haven’t decided on one definition for it yet), but don’t despair. Some great tips from the seniours might do you some good.
Get going
Don’t sit around waiting for someone to teach you or things to happen, because I assure you that that’s the one thing that will bring about your downfall. PR is about being active and proactive for yourself, your company and most importantly, your client.
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Is it too late to talk about predictions for the New Year? We’ve already made our promises, and broken most of them, but it’s never too late to look at what you hope to achieve this year and how much you have already done.
The trending topic of the year would be social media, hands down. Seems like you can’t go an hour without hearing something about it, and if you aren’t sick of it yet, good, because social media is here to stay – at least for now – so let’s looks at what the medium should be up to this year.
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As times change, and so do available positions, we’ve seen many a journalist make his way into PR. Make sense, right? I mean they need the same writing, interviewing and thinking skills that they used to find the news to make the news. While there are many skills that help make this transition possible, here are some of the more relevant ones.
Cold, hard facts
There’s no room for frill and fluff in the newsroom, so journalists who have had to cut it from news they receive are ready to be the bearer of frill-free news. The X-factor of a journalist turned PR? Press releases that don’t need that much cutting.
Know it’s newsworthy
Will it be headlining news or a brief mention in the back? They’ve been pitching for years, so when they make their way into PR, they know what will make it or break it with the editors.
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You’ve written the press release, taken into account SEO, now what are you doing to make sure it gets found on Twitter? If you’re still not on Twitter, you really should consider it, since it’s more effective in driving traffic to your press releases than Facebook.
How do you best go about tailoring your press release for Twitter?
Great Headline
There’s still the problem of SEO and making sure that the title is self-explanatory, but I personally suggest making it catchy and interesting. If it sounds so boring that you want to die just reading it, chances are people aren’t going to be clicking on the link. Continue reading »
I like the way you move. Do you like the way I do? People don’t realise all the motion and action that goes on when we try to explain ideas. That’s why – in our service industry – we have to educate our clients about how to control their body language. This is especially important when they communicate with the media, because they don’t want to end up sending the right message with their words, but the wrong one with their bodies.
So, in order to make sure you’re not written off as a circus freak, here are 6 steps to better body language.
Sorry to say it ladies, but it is. We speak up more, are more confident and are willing to stand apart from the crowd. But before you form a mob outside of our C&B offices, let me elaborate.
An article by Harvard Business Review reveals the following downfalls of the female race:
Being overly modest
Why shouldn’t you take credit for your accomplishments? We do, and that’s how managers know how much we have been up to. I know we’re ingrained to puff up are chests and to show the world what we are made of, but ladies, it’s time you started doing the same. Continue reading »
Khalil has over 11 years of experience in journalism and PR, and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Yarmouk University, Jordan. He heads C&B’s retail & sports tracks, where his hands-on experience working as a journalist, events manager and advertising account manager has added tremendously to his team’s success.
Khalil kicked off his career in 1999 at Al Aswaq newspaper, one of the leading economic daily newspapers in Amman, Jordan, and while there, was one of the select few chosen to participate in UNESCO Amman’s unique ‘Electronic Journalism’ training program. He later joined ‘Ammannet’, the first online Arabic radio station in the Middle East, as a reporter and digital editor for the culture and arts section. In 2002, Khalil moved to Dubai to expand his horizons, initially working for Elite Advertising as an account manager. He then joined Tamar C2 Advertising in 2002, where he was soon managing the agency’s top global accounts, including Western Union Financial Services (WUFS); an experience that entailed building cross-border relationships with its offices worldwide, especially in the USA. He worked closely with WUFS to implement a special PR strategy and crisis plan for the MENA region, which included devising and managing many events and activities for a diversity of ethnic groups residing in the UAE.
Having worked on numerous accounts in a wide-range of industries such as banking & finance, automotive, electronics and FMCG, Khalil has developed excellent media relationships locally, regionally and internationally. His background in advertising and events management has also lent to the tremendous success of his PR campaigns.
Khalil speaks Arabic, English and French fluently and writes in all three languages. He was a radio and TV major at university.