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We spoke to two members of our alumni: Peter Hoffer (MSc Global Media & Communication (USC), 2005) and Hibah Hussain (MSc Media, Communication & Development, 2010) about their favourite memories and lessons from studying at LSE and life post-graduation.
Peter Hoffer
Give us a brief overview of life since graduating from LSE and what your current job role consist of?
Following my graduation from LSE and USC, I worked for a small research agency focusing on online communities and digital communications. I then drifted to client-side communications before joining Moonpig in 2014.
I’m currently Head of PR and Social Media at Moonpig. My role consists of looking after messaging through press, social media and blogger outreach. Although most people know about Moonpig (and can sing the jingle), there are still things about our brand that the public aren’t aware of (for example, our growing range of gifts and flowers). The goal of my team is not necessarily to raise awareness of our brand but to help shape the way people see Moonpig and engage with us.
Why did you choose the global programme with USC and how did the 2 experiences compare?
The chance to study not only in London but at LSE was impossible to resist. The opportunity to complement my LSE experience with USC was an added bonus, particularly as I had been living in LA for 6 years.
LSE was an intense year – not only academically (where professors had the highest expectations of you) but also culturally. London itself was another classroom and adapting to a new culture was another rewarding learning experience (I still cringe at my failed attempts to make tea for friends).
While LSE gave me a firm understanding of theory, USC gave me a chance to test and challenge my learnings through practical activities. Not only was I able to create communications plans or campaign strategies in my USC courses, I was able to intern at a non-profit to gain even more practical experience in my field of study.
What is your favourite memory at LSE?
My favourite memory would have to be the study sessions with my LSE classmates. The Global Communications cohort was a small group, but we all managed to encourage each other every step of the way. We formed study groups, helped each other with our dissertations and even explored the many pubs and cafes around campus (Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese was a favourite).
A unique selling point of Moonpig has always been that it uses a primarily online sales platform. As competition has made the online market more saturated over time, how has this affected Moonpig’s social media, advertising and PR strategies?
Customers are becoming savvier. If they feel they are not getting the best level of service from a brand, they will quickly move elsewhere to where they would feel more valued.
There’s a lot of emotion customers put into their personalised cards and gifts – after all, they would only spend time personalising for people they care for. Therefore it’s even more important for us to look after the customers.
Although our communications are integrated across a number of channels (for example, TV, outdoor ads, PPC ads), we know we need to be very agile when it comes to social media and PR. Therefore we need to be even more aware of what our customers are talking about online (and react accordingly).
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into your field?
One piece of advice I would share is to frame any social or PR successes to your company’s bottom line. Sure, getting a message retweeted 500 times is great, but what does that mean to your FD? If you instead link a percentage rise in sales of a particular gift item because you engaged with an influential blogger, that will make an even more powerful case for the vale of PR and social media within the business.
In a biopic of your life who would you like to play you and what would it be called?
Keanu Reeves would definitely play me in the biopic entitled “For Pete’s Sake”. :)
Hibah Hussain
Give us a brief overview of life since graduating from LSE and what your current job role consist of?
Currently, I work on international policy issues as a Senior Policy Analyst at Google DC. My area of focus is Internet governance, so I spend a lot of time working to ensure that decision-making processes around the future of the Internet are as bottom-up and open as possible and that these processes safeguard the open Internet we all know and love. Right after graduating from LSE, I started a Ph.D program. I quickly started craving hands-on tech policy experience, so I left the program to work as a researcher and policy analyst at New America's Open Technology Institute.
Why did you choose to study your programme in the LSE department of Media & Communications and how did it compare to your expectations before coming to LSE?
At the time (and this may still be the case), the programme was really one of the only places that married theory and practice to tackle some of the most complicated challenges at the intersection of media, technology, politics, and economic development. It was ahead of its time in understanding the connections between technology and society, which was very exciting to me.
What did you enjoy the most about studying in London?
Definitely London itself. It's such an incredible city -- walking across the Thames every morning to go to class or popping into the Tate Modern for a casual afternoon was just so surreal and amazing. I also really miss the clotted cream and McVitie's chocolate biscuits.
What do you enjoy the most about working for Google?
While the perks are great, the thing I really appreciate the most is all of the thought and infrastructure that's available for employees, especially women and employees of color. Policies like generous maternity leave, a culture of actually taking vacation, a robust network of employee resource groups, and a strong People Ops teams makes it much easier for me to thrive at work. My co-workers are also truly amazing people with really interesting backgrounds.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into your field?
This sounds cliche, but I'd advise following your gut and course correcting whenever necessary. There really is no established path for people in this field, and you may need to take a few detours (like my Ph.D program experience!) to figure out where you can contribute the most. Also, you would think that this would be common knowledge, but I'd advise being nice to everyone you meet. It's been amusing to see people who have treated others poorly come back to ask those same people for favors. This is a small space, and you'll run into the same folks over and over. Being nice is also just a good thing to do regardless.
In a biopic of your life who would you like to play you and what would it be called?
Emilia Clarke would play me, and it would be called "Hibah, mother of dragons".
Wait, I think I just want to be Khaleesi.
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