As anyone who has ever completed an academic thesis knows, research, often in the form of interviews, is crucial to being able to complete the work. I am always shocked when PR practitioners are less than thrilled to be asked to contribute to a budding PR star trying to do something interesting to further PR research, especially in the oft-neglected field of fashion PR. Case in point, Gediminas Guzelis is researching “Why and How Luxury Fashion Brands Use Online PR” for his MSc in Strategic Marketing thesis at Cranfield School of Management, and has had quite a hard time with the interview portion of his research. In his words:
My goal is to understand best practices in the area of fashion PR and so I intend to speak to top fashion PR executives/consultants to understand this topic in more detail. I would like to interview you, either in person at your offices and convenience, or by telephone if necessary to discuss this topic in more detail (or someone else from your company if they are more suitable/likely to be available). I don’t think it should take up more than about 45-60 minutes of your time. The interview data collected will be anonymised and if necessary we can place embargo restrictions on the thesis (for up to 3 years) to ensure complete commercial confidentiality.
I will also be more than happy to provide you with a copy of the thesis once it’s completed, which should give a round-up of best practices in the area of online fashion PR. If you would like to verify any details with regard to this study, please contact my supervisor and the course director, Dr. Paul Baines at paul.baines[at]cranfield.ac.uk.
Please consider supporting this interesting project by contacting Gediminas and offering to share your wisdom, perspective and experience with. His email is g.guzelis[at]cranfield.ac.uk
