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“She’s a Lady” but She Doesn’t Fit the Mold

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H&M developed a new advertising campaign earlier this year that clearly states there is no correct way to be a lady. Set to the song “She’s a Lady” by Tom Jones, the commercial goes against the very misogynistic themed tune. The advertisement by Swedish agency Forsman & Bodenfors features many women who in the past would not be considered the ideal “lady” that is described in the song. An article by AdWeek describes the implications of this commercial.

There are some very iconic people involved in this stand-out commercial including actress Lauren Hutton, model Adwoa Aboah, transgender actress Hari Nef, Design Army’s Chief Creative Officer Pum Lefebure and Lion Babe’s Jillian Hervey. There is something uniquely inspiring about this campaign’s direction, which clearly goes against the societal norms of what it is to be a lady.

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The new fall 2016 fashion line by H&M is presented in this commercial and it isn’t until after you view it, that you find out there is a hidden message in this fashion preview. The campaign helps to create conversation about the oppression of women in a seemingly entertaining way.

The commercial challenges the traditional concept of what it means to be a lady in a variety of ways. Most people think of women (ladies) as having long, thick, luscious hair, but H&M’s new commercial features a woman who has a bald head and challenges the viewer’s thoughts on what is beautiful. A woman is beautiful and a “lady,” no matter the length of her hair. Throughout the commercial women are curvy, transgender, bald, muscular, and don’t have “lady-like” posture. All of these women are still ladies, no matter what the traditional thoughts on that label are.

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H&M made a strong advertising move by creating a commercial that is not only entertaining, but has a heavy social message behind it. There is sure to be a lot of opinionated talk about this bold campaign.

View the full commercial: https://youtu.be/8-RY6fWVrQ0

Read more at: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/hms-stunning-new-ad-subverts-what-you-think-lady-should-look-or-act-173487

Women in PR: Suki Mulberg Altamirano

Suki Mulberg Altamirano

As a continuation to Paramount Public Relation’s Women in PR series, today’s post is inspired by a recent article written by the HuffingtonPost featuring PR guru, Suki Mulberg Altamirano, the founder of Lexington Public Relations, an agency headquartered in Nashville, TN that specializes in developing consumer and lifestyle campaigns for a wide range of products and services.

Mulberg Altamirano has worked in both the fields of public relations and marketing for a decade and has worked with such clients as the New York Times, the Today Show and Refinery29 among many others. She attributes her successful career to a variety of factors including her exposure to a diversity of clients and perspectives both in international and domestic markets. Throughout her experiences, Mulberg Altamirano asserts that in order to build a successful PR campaign the qualities of creativity, artistry and storytelling must all be incorporated.

In part of her interview with Huffington Post, Mulberg Altamirano offers wise advice for both women looking to start their own businesses and those who are already established in the industry. She strongly believes that defeat is never an option, and that as women we must recognize our own “strengths, successes and achievements.” It is additionally helpful to facilitate a mentorship relationship. She states, “My favorite mentors are the ones that have come in unexpected forms over the years. They’re the people who’ve inspired me with their drive, ideas, creativity, work ethic, attitude, originality and belief in me.”

Mulberg Altamirano was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Science in Communications. Her accomplishments extend outside of the office. As an aficionada of international lifestyle and culture, Mulberg Altamirano is fluent in Spanish and is currently learning Italian.

To read Suki Mulberg Altamirano’s interview with the HuffingtonPost visit: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-dunn/women-in-business-suki-mu_b_6864698.html

Women in PR: Sabrina Horn

Sabrina Horn

Paramount PR’s first women in PR blog post of the New Year features Horn Group’s Founder, President and CEO, Sabrina Horn. After being inducted into the PR News Hall of Fame last year, Sabrina has recently been named to PR News’ Top Women in PR and New York Business Journal Women of Influence lists.

Horn started Horn Group in 1991 with an idea to build a “communications agency that would break new ground in technology markets, employment practices and client services.” Since its founding, Horn Group has become a top, independent digital communications agency that helps companies to build their brand by combining PR with social and interactive services. The success of the agency is attributed to Sabrina Horn’s leadership, insight and work ethic.

As an avid community member, Sabrina serves on several boards. To help promote awareness of the digital communications industry, Sabrina has worked with both the Council of PR Firms and the Software Industry Information Association. A distinguishable mentor for female entrepreneurship, Sabrina actively involves herself with a variety of female driven businesses including her work with Illuminate Ventures, a venture capital firm run by women who fund entrepreneurs (majority female) and their new companies. Horn also works with High Water Women, a non-profit focused on the economic empowerment of women. Horn is a frequent speaker at technology and marketing industry conferences around the nation and additionally has written several research papers related to the field of PR.

Sabrina graduated from Boston University with a MS in Public Relations and a BA in American Studies from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. When not working, she spends her time cooking, running and spending time with her family.

For the full list of PR News’ Top Women in PR visit: http://www.prnewsonline.com/top-women-luncheon2015

Women in PR: Deirdre Breakenridge

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To continue Paramount PR’s women in PR blog posts, today we are featuring a veteran in PR and Marketing, CEO at Pure Performance Communications Deirdre Breakenridge.

Throughout her many years in public relations, Deirdre has counseled senior level executives at organizations such as the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Hershey’s, JVC, Kraft, PRSA, Empire Today and the World Bank successfully through the theory of PR 2.0. As defined on her personal blog, “PR 2.0 uses a combination of social media tools that are available to communications professionals to reach and better communicate with influencers and consumer audiences directly. Social media is a direct-to-consumer approach that allows audiences to drive the communication in their communities. PR professionals are beginning to incorporate PR 2.0 into their strategy and planning as an effective way to communicate directly to Web 2.0 audiences, to raise awareness and increase overall brand exposure.”

In 2010, Deirdre was named one of the top 25 women who rock social media by Top Rank named Traacker recognized her as one of their top engagers in 2013. She is also the author of five Financial Times books including “Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional,” “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations,” “PR 2.0, New Media, New Tools, New Audiences,” “The New PR Toolkit” and “Cyberbranding: Brand Building in the Digital Economy.”

In addition to her public relations work, Deirdre is an adjunct professor at New York University, an online instructor for UMASS at Amherst Journalism Department and speaks nationally and internationally on the topics of PR, marketing and social media communications. Deirdre continues to give back by sharing her expertise on twitter by answering questions from PR students, educators and professionals. Learn more about the PR world by following Deirdre on Twitter @dbreakenridge and getting involved with her conversations using the hashtag #PRStudChat.

Women in PR: Stephanie Cutter

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To continue Paramount PR’s women in PR blog posts, today we are featuring deputy campaign manager for President Obama, Stephanie Cutter.

After receiving degrees from Smith College and Georgetown Law School, Stephanie Cutter started her career by working at the Environmental Protection Agency until she ended up in politics.

Stephanie Cutter has worked as Deputy Communications Director for former President Bill Clinton, as Communications Director for Senator Ted Kennedy, and in 2008 was appointed Chief of Staff to Michelle Obama for the 2008 Presidential general election campaign. Stephanie helped build Obama’s popularity by launching Let’s Move! a campaign to end childhood obesity in the United States. Stephanie continued her work in the White House as Deputy Campaign Manager for President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, “Obama for America,” in which she oversaw communications, media, policy and research and was a member of the senior strategy team that helped the President get reelected.

The New York Times describes Stephanie a woman with “long and favorable reputation with some of the most influential journalists and opinion makers in Washington.” She is on Business Insider’s 2012 “25 Most Influential PR People Behind The Scenes Of Corporate America” list and is now a Partner at Precision Strategies.

Stephanie Cutter continues to spread her knowledge and experience of American Politics in the PR industry by teaching at Johns Hopkins University, and lecturing at schools such as Smith College, American University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Women in PR: Marian Salzman

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Today, Paramount PR continues our “Women in PR” blog series with PR veteran Marian Salzman, CEO of Havas PR North America.

After graduating from Brown University with a degree in sociology, Marian Salzman went on to launch several extremely successful consumer campaigns such as SAB Miller’s Peroni and Pepsi’s “It’s Like This.” After her focus transitioned from advertising to PR, Salzman joined Havas PR and has since lifted the company to new heights in digital prowess and media relations.

As one of the world’s top “trendspotters,” Salzman constantly has an eye on the future. She publishes a highly-anticipated annual trend report and is credited with popularizing pop culture terms like singleton and metrosexual. As her website biography claims, “Cultural monitoring is in Marian’s blood. Whether in speeches, on TV, to the press or in the blogosphere, Marian can talk about what’s going on—and what’s coming next.”

Marian Salzman lectures on various topics around the world and blogs for The Huffington Post, Forbes.com and CNBC. She was recently named to PRWeek’s Power List 2014 and is its Global Agency Professional of the Year. Salzman was also listed on The Holmes Report’s In2 Innovator 25 in 2013 and Business Insider’s 25 Most Powerful People in PR in 2012.

In addition to her long list of accomplishments and awards, Salzman is also cancer survivor. After undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2013, Marian Salzman continues to persevere, innovate and inspire.

To learn more about Marian Salzman, visit her website.

Women in PR: Audrey Gelman

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Paramount PR is introducing a new blog series called “Women in PR” in which we highlight prominent women who have had an impact in the public relations world. Today, learn more about a rising force in the political PR world, Audrey Gelman.

At twenty-six, Audrey Gelman has a resume most PR professionals would envy. Shortly after graduating from NYU, Gelman became deputy press secretary for Scott Stringer in his campaign for Manhattan borough president. Running against the infamous Eliot Spitzer, Stringer was lacking serious name-recognition. Gelman gave Stringer’s campaign new life with a millennial PR approach. She hosted what New York Magazine called “the most hip fund-raiser in the history of the office of the New York City comptroller”. By inviting high-profile celebrities, like Girls creator Lena Dunham, Gelman successfully made comptroller politics cool. The event was covered by influential national media like Page Six, Refinery 29 and Vogue and made Scott Stringer a household name and eventual winner of the election.

Beyond her work with Stinger’s campaign, Gelman found time to revive Downtown 4 Democracy, a political action committee. Again, Gelman made progressive politics hip by hosting a casual, celebrity-endorsed launch barbecue. Gelman understands her demographic and the importance of tastemakers in the world of PR. Young people, she tells New York Magazine, “influence what America wears, watches, reads, and listens to — they have an opportunity to harness that influence.”

We can’t help but admire Audrey Gelman, not only for her PR efforts but also for her ambitious attitude. She currently serves as vice president of the strategic communications-consulting firm SKDKnickerbocker, is a contributing editor at Marie Claire and is the inspiration for the character Marnie on Girls. Gelman’s refreshing take on political PR has established her as an “It Girl” that female PR professionals can look up to.

To learn more about Audrey Gelman, check out this article from The New York Times.