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Michael Brown, CEO, Vicarious PR

by | Jan 30, 2019

Oceanside, Calif.-based Vicarious PR was a multi-award winner in Bulldog’s 2018 Stars of PR Awards, taking home a Gold Award in the “Best New Agency” category, two Silvers in the “Small Agency of the Year” and “Best Industry-Focused Agency” categories, and a Bronze in the “Agency That Gets Results” category.

Michael Brown, CEO, Vicarious PRYour most memorable campaign: By far it has to be my first. It destroyed my nerves as I was fresh, unsure of my footing and trying to find confidence in a sea of people who were better than me at the time.

Number of 2 a.m. calls from a client this month: Is too many an answer? It would easily be more than 10.

Biggest complaint about social media: Discovery is a big issue, especially on Facebook. Having to fight an algorithm simply because you don’t want to pay for ads 24/7 is a sad state of affairs.

Best thing about working at your agency: We are all like a family, we help support each other in the workplace and outside.

Most misunderstood thing about PR: I think the most misunderstood thing is what PR is and the benefits it can have for a company or product. A lot of people think that PR in our industry is just sending emails, that’s when my palm usually hits my face.

Last time you didn’t do any work all weekend: The weekend before I started my PR career!

What got you interested in a PR career? I think initially it was the ability to work in an industry I was interested in and I could do this through PR, but after that it became about the creativity involved in PR itself.

Most interesting thing about your job: I love crafting a campaign and message, the creative side of this is amazing. The variety in companies, products and services always keeps me on my toes.

Michael Brown, CEO, Vicarious PRNumber of meetings you were in last week:  Probably around 15 not including internal staff meetings

Your nightmare client in 3 words: Apathetic, Distant, Unreachable.

Favorite way to de-stress: Since we work in video games, I can’t touch one without it feeling like work. I tend to de-stress by watching old episodes of Star Trek TNG or The West Wing.

The moment you realized PR is more fun than you thought it would be: I had a general idea what was involved in PR going in but once I was in, I quickly realized that so much more goes on behind the scenes than I thought possible. Difficult? Sure, Important? Definitely. But it’s also super rewarding and fun.

Worst PR crisis in the news this year so far: In the current climate, it’s pretty weird time, there are so many. Tesla has had a pretty hard time of it from what I know. But there are literally so many.

Brand that does the best PR: Wendy’s is pretty savage with their social media PR, that person deserves a raise.

Favorite non-work hobby: Watching Sci-fi TV shows and B rated films.

Last book you read: The Assassination of Julius Caesar by Michael Parenti.

Cocktail of choice: I don’t think lager and lime counts as a cocktail.

Favorite movie this year: Avengers Infinity War

Your first “real” job: Waiter at an awful ‘hotel’ when I was 16.

Childhood “dream job”: British Prime minister or an EDM DJ if that went wrong.

Three people you’d love to invite to dinner: Patrick Stewart, Clement Attlee and Bernie Mac.

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