8Minute Talk show — Shahrzad Arefi Public Relations and Advertising at Dorsa Leather
Davood Moshtaghi: Hi, This is Davood Moshtaghi, the marketing manager at Shop. We are beside you with another 8-minute talk show, and Ms. Arefi, the PR manager at Dorsa Leather, is our guest today. You are welcome Ms.Arefi.
Shahrzad Arefi: Thanks for your invitation. Hello everybody. I’m glad to be here.
Davood Moshtaghi: What was the biggest challenge during your work experience?
Shahrzad Arefi: Public relations managers have the same challenge because they are the voice of every company. Our challenge is the fast speed of news spreading. We can’t predict or control this news. Everyone owns Media in the world, and he can spread news or rumors. The public relations manager should solve these problems.
Davood Moshtaghi: How did you solve the problems?
Shahrzad Arefi: It isn’t solved completely, but the way to solve this problem is that the organizations should respond to questions.
Davood Moshtaghi: Would you introduce a book to us?
Shahrzad Arefi: I started my professional career in the branding field at Dorsa. I was curious to know why people love brands, so I read “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek. This book explains that people won’t fell in love with products, Because they can see the same product in another brand. So the customer will fell in love with the why of a brand, like the reason of producing a product.
Davood Moshtaghi: What habits do you have, and you must have as a manager?
Shahrzad Arefi: There’s a different definition for management these days. These days management isn’t a person leading and others obeying. If people are successful managers, they will lead the team better, and they can prepare the team to reach the summit of success. In my point of view, cooperation and courage are important.
Davood Moshtaghi: What’s the difference between PR and marketing?
Shahrzad Arefi: The reason why both of them are being done by a person is the lack of personnel, or maybe there isn’t enough knowledge in the PR field. We think that public relations managers have the duty of forwarding messages, but it means creating equal values for customers and the company. But in the marketing field, there are some business objects that marketers should reach. The target in PR is to introduce a brand.
Davood Moshtaghi: Has it ever happened that you apologize to a customer?
Shahrzad Arefi: Our business is B2C type, and it’s connected to customers. When there’s a problem in social media, and I don’t have a good answer for customers, I’ll apologize to them to make them calm. I’ve apologized a lot during my career. The proof of a good company is to apologize to its customers and confess to its mistakes honestly. Even, if you are not guilty, you should apologize to your customer. Because as you are communicating with him, you should help him feel calm.
Davood Moshtaghi: Should a good PR manager be defensive or aggressive?
Shahrzad Arefi: A person who is working in the heart of the company and everybody knows him has a hard duty. On the other hand, the PR manager is communicating with customers in media. Making even a small mistake will destroy the brand’s reputation. A PR manager should be an extrovert person and control his feelings in hard situations.
Davood Moshtaghi: How often do you face a PR problem?
Shahrzad Arefi: Dorsa leather isn’t an online business. It is thought that in online businesses, there are more problems. But we face many problems in our business, too.
Davood Moshtaghi: Who do you invite to this talk show?
Shahrzad Arefi: I invite Seyran Mehrnia. She is so knowledgeable, and she is very experienced in the sales and marketing field.
Davood Moshtaghi: Thanks for accepting our invitation.
Shahrzad Arefi: You’re welcome.
