Lesley White - Account Director, Online

Lesley’s current specialisation in the fast-expanding world of online/digital PR is no accident.  Her 14 year old PR career shows she knows when to pick a trend.

Lesley first serious role in PR began at a time when luxury good marketers had just fallen in love with PR as a marketing tool. For three years she worked for French perfumes and cosmetics brand Parfums Yves Saint Laurent in Australia. It was the heyday of luxury goods marketing which saw the rise and rise of couture houses in ancilliary markets of beauty and jewellery.

Later, Lesley found herself in consumer electronics with Sony Australia- ironically just as technology began to shift from standalone audio and video products into converged audio visual and IT hardware.  Sony was the brand at the forefront of technology and format changes, and over an eight-year period Lesley helped create Australian PR strategy and launch plans for many of the world’s most innovative and iconic consumer electronic products.

Now she’s immersed in another paradigm shift - the explosion of online communication as a marketing and corporate tool.

At Network PR Lesley heads up the Online (some say digital) Public Relations team. She plays a key role in shaping the vision of what is possible in the world of online engagement with key influencers.   

In the era of the ‘consumer journalist’, with the increasing influence of online advocates, Lesley and her team advise clients on how to identify and engage credibly with key online influencers to measure and improve their reputation online or generate grassroots word of mouth about their products and services. 

“The world of media has changed significantly and demystifying online communication and the blogosphere for clients is an exciting challenge.  It takes experienced public relations, research and digital media practitioners to guide companies through the maze of communication options online. 

“Educating clients on how to get cut through in fast-changing and competitive marketing landscapes, while delivering exciting content for the key online influencers, is a real buzz. 

“It’s more exciting because ours is a ‘home-grown’ online or digital capability. We are not importing a model developed in New York and London. We are bound by no boundaries or protocols.  We are free to expand and develop just as far and fast as we - and our clients - want to”.  

When away from work, and not playing in the virtual world of Second Life, Lesley is often immersed in the quest to grow the perfect herbs in her garden, whipping up something yummy in the kitchen or meditating. And, she’s trying not to become addicted to Facebook!

Network PR optimises brand appeal by matching messages to individual markets and mapping a communication ‘Network of Influence’ to ensure messages are delivered with clarity & credibility