Sad but true fact: We have passed the halfway point. Over the course of four weeks the Coopr staff has bombarded us with everything there is to know about the field of Public Relations, ranging from crazy (effective) brainstorming techniques to the do’s and don’ts of Facebook. Not to mention the endless personal anecdotes (shit storms, shit storms, and more shit storms), and cutting edge food (I ate tofu for the first time ever, what a time to be alive). And yet again, this week’s session did not fail to surprise.

The Kardashian and Jenner sisters represent more than over the top American privilege, ‘selfies’, and glamour. This pop-royal family has built an empire around the family name—and their ability to harness its power is impressive. While a substantial amount of their income stems from their reality television show Keeping Up with the Kardashians, product line, and apps, the family also profits from promoting third-party products on the social media accounts. It’s called ‘influencer marketing’ and in many ways, it’s second-wave infomercials. How, you may ask? People today have become so accustomed to being bombarded with advertisements that traditional marketing efforts have rendered themselves somewhat ineffective—A nuisance to skip over, block, or tune out. So how do marketers get their target audiences to receive their messages? Change the delivery system. When the Kardashian sisters endorse products like Sugar Bear Hair, AirBnB, and countless others, their millions of Instagram followers worldwide are all ears and eager to cash out on any product that gets them ‘closer to God’. And, it works so well because influencers create and foster the illusion of a real life interpersonal relationship—something Communication scholars, Donald Horton and Richard Wohl refer to as a para-social interaction. They create this feeling of closeness by sharing their day-to-day activities such as meals, workouts, leisure activities, annoyances, and purchases—effectively tapping into the fact that modern-day consumers are enormously influenced by peer ‘recommendations’.

At our third meeting at the Coopr Academy, the focus was on being creative and understanding how original and astute content can be truly pivotal in the field of public relations. I must admit, I was pretty excited for this session.

But what does creativity really mean? And can everybody be part of the creative process? After all, many of us have the habit of either labeling ourselves as creative or thinking we do not possess some congenital ability that allows us to be inventive enough.