Kim Culllman | Feb. 7, 2008
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| Courtesy photo |
| Hyundai public relations manager Jim Trainor headed to the Chicago Auto Show after talking to J428 students about his PR work in launching new product lines. |
Jim Trainor, the U.S. manager of Hyundai product public relations, stopped by Ernie Pyle Hall on his way to the Chicago Auto Show. Trainor, who has more than 25 years of corporate communications and public relations experience, is a longtime friend of Bright’s from their years at Ford Motor Company.
Trainor spent the first half of the class session sharing his thoughts about the launch of the Hyundai Genesis and explaining the process behind the release of a new car.
Trainor emphasized the importance of having a theme to entice potential buyers. The Genesis launch was lacking a hook, Trainor said. However, Trainor met with a representative from Ketchum, the agency Hyundai uses for product PR. After one brief meeting, Trainor and the Ketchum representative had a hook for the Genesis.
“The idea is that it’s a $60,000 sedan for under $30,000,” Trainor said. “Everyone bought into it.”
After his presentation, Trainor asked the students to divide into groups to brainstorm ideas for the upcoming launch of the Hyundai Sonata. Students in Bright’s class already work in groups for their semester-long service learning project, preparing a public relations proposal for either The Middleway House or Bloomington New Tech High School.
“I want you to think about social media, and think big. Even think a little crazy,” Trainor said. He provided the students with some key marketing facts about the car, such as assuming the target audience is a mid-40s female.
Trainor then allowed each group to share their results, and he offered his feedback on the various ideas.
Trainor also emphasized the RACE plan for launching a campaign, which stands for Research, Action, Communication and Evaluation. However, he admitted in his current job, the research phase is often borrowed from others.
“My department doesn’t go out and do a lot of pre-program research,” Trainor said. “We use a lot of what marketing has already done.”
Another idea Trainor raised was that some of the most important work public relations professionals do is behind the scenes, such as convincing a reporter not to run a negative story or shedding positive light on a potentially damaging matter.
“Some of the most beneficial things you do as a PR practitioner no one will ever know about,” Trainor said. “Yet these are some of the most important things we do.”
