The use of public relations in politics is not new. In fact, it has been a crucial aspect of politics throughout history. However, the techniques and mediums involved in it have surely evolved over the decades. Now, most political parties have their spokespersons to handle media and public relations effectively. Audrey Gellman mentions that the core responsibilities of these professionals include managing the reputation of their party leader, and establishing their brand positively among the audience. Audrey herself is quite a prominent political spokesperson, and played an important role in handling the media and public relations aspect of Scott Stringer’s campaign.
Establishing their brand in an impressive and influential manner is important for all contemporary politicians. Due to the sheer reach of the media today, ensuring effective media and public relations would be the most effective ways to do so. Audrey Gellman, in her role as a political spokesperson, managed social media outreach programs, organized fundraising events and even networked with political reporters. Audrey joined the campaign of Scott Stringer as his spokesperson in the fall of 2013. Stringer was a democrat running for the post of New York City comptroller, and was up against Eliot Spitzer who initially had a sizable lead in the polls. Audrey however managed to turn the tide in favor of her party by executing a robust media and public relation strategy. For this purpose, she firstly coordinated his media strategy and helped develop is brand as an influential New Yorkers. She managed Stringer’s social media outreach program, and traded posts with Mr. Spitzer’s team as well. These tactics helped in establishing Stringer as a dynamic political opponent who was competent enough to be in the influential comptroller role.
The fundraising event organized by Audrey Gellman for Stringer’s campaign also benefited his media and public relations to quite an extent. This fundraiser featured several reputable and influential names, including Lena Dunham who has been Audrey’s longtime friend. The attendees of this fundraiser had several designers, nightclub managers, and actors, and the event was covered by multiple media publications. Audrey also ensured a good social media coverage for the event, which helped in raising the profile of Mr. Stringer’s campaign significantly.
Throughout Scott Stringer’s campaign, Audrey Gellman managed media and public relations quite seamlessly, which helped boost its reach and effectiveness quite significantly. Moreover, Audrey managed to develop her reputation as an intelligent spokesperson as well, and managed to emerge as an impressive culture figure. She developed good relationships with several political reporters, managed to bring in multiple A-list supporters, and even fought for Scott Stringer’s campaign through multiple Twitter skirmishes. Her commendable work and efforts played a valuable role in making Mr. Stringer win the democratic nomination for the comptroller role. He won soundly in the subsequent election as well, and the contributions of Audrey significantly underline how crucial good media and public relations was to ensure this fact.