#BehindtheSelfie with... Franco D'Onofrio
1. Where do you live, work and play?
I live in a quiet road, work in Bedfordview, and play in the park with my girls.
2. What’s your claim to fame?
My daughter says my tiramisu is better than my mother’s. That’s quite a feat!
3. Describe your career so far.
A roller coaster ride of working across industries, from brands that are relatively unknown (at least to start off with) to global brands with a very strong South African presence.
4. Tell us a few of your favourite things.
Time out with my family; cooking on weekends, or any time really; keeping up to date with the industry and politics, both local and international; and watching and being part of brands doing great things.
5. What do you love about your industry?
It’s simply one of the most dynamic industries. Never stagnant. Always challenging. It keeps me young, which is critical since I have two young princesses who ask the most incredible questions. And mostly, I can help them out.
6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.
Leading my amazing team, writing, strategising, learning. Peppered with meetings, my regular work day is quite hectic.
7. What are the tools of your trade?
Reading and listening. Having an open mind and thinking logically. Everything else is just noise.
8. Who is getting it right in your industry?
There are so many agencies doing great things out there that picking one out is difficult.
The trick is having clients that are willing to invest in great ideas in order to see magic happen.
9. List a few pain points the industry can improve on.
Transformation in the industry remains critical and necessary.
The other point is delivering real, valuable results for clients. The key to this is ensuring that ‘what success looks like’ is defined upfront. In order to achieve this, however, PR needs to be seen as an integral part of the marketing campaign, from inception.
There is the continuous habit for the most part to ‘bolt on’ PR once all is planned. It’s much like creating the marketing campaign for the first flying car, finalising it, and then asking engineers to design, build and make it work, from tomorrow!The engineers need to be in at the first point, as they rightfully are, so that they can tell you if it’s actually going to work. Also, we need to remember that while our brand story may be the most important thing to us, our ‘job’ – if you wish – is to place it in the public sphere, and here readers/listeners/media owners decide what’s important or not.
10. What are you working on right now?
Building an agency that continues to deliver quantifiable results for clients.
11. Tell us some of the buzzwords floating around in your industry at the moment, and some of the catchphrases you utter yourself.
Influence, ROI, ROE, AVE. These are recurring and continuous.
Today, everywhere you go you hear about ‘multi-disciplined’, ‘360’ and ‘integration’.
I guess I’m prone to using integrated approach quite a lot, as I firmly believe that PR should form part of the entire marketing process from inception, integrating what works both in the online and offline environment.
12. Where and when do you have your best ideas?
Somewhere after 6pm and before getting home. There’s a silence of sorts during that time, before the emails start again.
13. What’s your secret talent/party trick?
I mix a mean Harvey Wallbanger!
14. Are you a technophobe or a technophile?
A self-confessed technophile. No doubt about it.
15. What would we find if we scrolled through your phone?
Lots and lots of apps. And a million pictures of my kids.
16. What advice would you give to newbies hoping to crack into the industry?
PR is not about going to events and acting cool and hip. It’s about having a thorough understanding of the broader marketing and communications environment. It’s about getting a brand message out.
If you want to win this game, you’d better have passion, drive and commitment. This is not just 9am to 5pm.
Simple as that. D’Onofrio says to follow him on Twitter or Instagram “If you really must,” otherwise follow Twiga Communications on the same social media channels for more: Twitter | Facebook
*Interviewed by Leigh Andrews.
About Leigh Andrews
Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews.
