Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
The art of storytelling is nothing new. Since the days of cavemen carving hieroglyphics into rocks, humans have been using images, and eventually words, to share their experiences with others. As humans, we all tell stories every day. Whether we’re telling our friends about a crazy snowstorm or raving to our coworkers about a new restaurant, stories are how we make sense of the world.
But in recent years, how we share our stories has changed dramatically. We are no longer limited to sharing our experiences with people we know personally. The rise of social media has given everyday people a platform from which they can share their stories with thousands of people. For example, Kiersten Reich started her blog The Blonde Abroad five years ago to share stories from her world travels. Since then, her blog has garnered 120,000 followers and she now has 271,000 followers on Instagram.
For brands, this means that everyday people often have bigger audiences on social media than they do. Kraft Foods, for example, only has 11,100 followers on Instagram. In the age of social storytelling, how do brands adjust their marketing strategies to ensure their stories are still being heard?
The answer, for many brands, is to let their customers do the talking.
Karen Olsen, VP of marketing for the Seattle Space Needle, sees the rise of social media as an opportunity for the Space Needle’s fans to share its story. To encourage this, she and her team have created experiences that fans will want to share with their followers. On the Space Needle’s observation deck, there is a panoramic camera that allows guests to take extra-wide selfies and time-lapse photos. There is also a virtual version of the Space Needle that guests can take photos with. Offering tools like these gives guests the opportunity to capture their experience in a unique way that they will want to share with their followers.
“Today, one of the biggest luxuries is to have an incredible experience,” said Olsen. “People are all about having an experience, capturing it and sharing it on social media.”
Indeed, research has shown that millennials, who make up the nation’s largest living generation, value experiences over owning goods like cars and homes. They want to have an unbelievable experience that they can share with others.
Brands can capitalize on this by creating a shareable experience like Olsen did at the Space Needle, or by inserting themselves into experiences their fans are already having. For example, Fremont Brewing launched a social media campaign encouraging fans to take photos of its brightly colored beer cans in a scenic setting using the hashtag #FremontCANpaign. The campaign inspired hundreds of photos by hikers, skiers, and kayakers who placed a Fremont beer can in the center of their nature shot.
Today, every one of us is sharing stories with an increasingly wide audience. As the way we share stories evolves, marketers’ strategies for promoting their brand must evolve too. Today’s marketers need to give customers the tools to tell their brand’s story rather than telling it themselves.
If, like me, you have lived your entire adult life in the state of Washington, you may not realize that most states do not mail out voter information guides. In fact only seven states mail out these guides, leading to a dearth of information across the electorate. This was something I learned while meeting with Bryan Finney, the founder and president of Democracy Live, the nation’s leading cloud-balloting technology firm in the United States.
Providing Americans with better access to ballots and information was the impetus for Bryan and his team to create LiveBallot, an app and website for voters who want to see and interact with their ballots before Election Day. After witnessing the historic Bush v. Gore election and the infamous “hanging chads,” Bryan was inspired to found Democracy Live with the hopes of modernizing our democracy.
Now, for the first time in American history, people with the LiveBallot app can access a replica of their ballot from their smartphones and tablets. The replica ballot allows voters to see who and what is on their ballot, including down-ballot candidates and initiatives. They can research and select the candidates and initiatives for whom they intend to vote, and can share their replica ballots on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
“Access to ballot information is important because the more informed the electorate, the higher the likelihood is that they will vote,” explains Margaret Groarke, associate professor of government with Manhattan College. “Numerous studies have found that information has a significant impact on voter turnout.”
Furthermore, Groarke finds that when her millennial-generation students have questions, the first place they turn to for answers is their mobile phone.
“It is important that younger people get out and vote, but they should not do so blindly,” adds political strategist Mary Anna Mancuso. “Apps like LiveBallot will make it easier for millennials to learn about candidates and key issues, which is important because millennials make up such a significant portion of the electorate.”
Historically, younger people vote less often than older generations, but Mancuso would like to see more millennials turnout to vote as the results of this election could affect them for the next 20-30 years.
The other nifty feature of the LiveBallot app is the ability to access and learn about special interest groups’ endorsements. For instance, LiveBallot shows me that for Seattle, Wash., the Sierra Club is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president of the United States, and Patty Murray for U.S. senator. Whereas, the NRA is endorsing Donald Trump for President and has not provided endorsements for Washington candidates running for the U.S. senate. With one click, voters can mark their ballots to align with organizations they support.
In discussing this app with many Democrats and Republicans, most seem to agree that better-informed voters lead to a healthier democracy. I hope that you will download and try LiveBallot. It is free, helpful and we would love your feedback on it.
For more information on LiveBallot, please check out these news articles:
Democracy Live launches voting app to view election ballots on smartphones
Democracy Live launches digital replica ballots for voters across the U.S.
Democracy Live Uses Electronic Ballots to Help Governments Reach Voters
In a world where pizzas are assembled by robots and hotel room service can be delivered by a mechanical butler, is it safe to assume that with the help of artificial intelligence and automation we might soon see the demise of the (human) public relations professional?
Selfishly speaking (as both a PR professional and a human), I hope not.
There are technologies available that automate parts of our job in terms of press release distribution and social media posting, to name a few. Platforms like PitchFriendly and Bullhorn provide PR-focused customer relations management (CRM) solutions that allow teams to integrate media activities with email and mobile platforms, receive read receipts on pitch emails, share media lists and pitching notes, and more.
The benefits of technologies like these are clear – they can offer agency- or team-wide improvements around the following areas:
- Collaboration and information sharing – Offering a centralized system where team members can update and access historic details about contacts and pitches.
- Greater efficiencies – Providing a quicker way to find interview notes rather than manually searching through countless notebooks, Excel sheets or Outlook folders.
- Continual output of information – Allowing organizations to post tweets and other content on a scheduled basis, ensuring a consistent flow of content and audience engagement
In an industry that bills by the hour, automating many tasks – particularly administrative ones – makes good business sense. If a platform or tool can save time that might be spent looking up notes from an interview or avoiding people double-pitching a reporter, all the better.
But there are challenges with an automated approach. As with any CRM or database system, the information must be updated consistently by all parties to ensure its accuracy. A database is only as a good as the data that lives within it, after all, and for it to be valuable for agencies and clients, it needs to be a living, dynamic resource that is fed and nourished frequently.
Further, while a machine might be able to send out press releases or social media posts on a scheduled basis, it doesn’t take into account breaking news or other unanticipated factors that require real-world, human interaction and professional counsel. If a client finds themselves in crisis – whatever the issue – there’s no place for automation or templates.
Above all, the most important part of our job is in our title. Public relations. At the end of the day it’s about the relationships we build over time with our very human media contacts, clients and co-workers. Machines might be able to identify which reporter is likely to cover our news, but it can’t craft the story angle or understand the nuances and rapport that has been built with that contact.
And here’s where PR professionals need to up their game against the machines. Too often reporters complain – rightfully so – about receiving irrelevant, generic, untailored pitches from PR contacts that clearly haven’t bothered to do their research and apply some creative thinking in their outreach. In these scenarios, we’re no better than robots simply hitting “send” to hundreds of reporters, which does a huge disservice to those media professionals, our clients, and ultimately to ourselves as PR professionals.
Public relations is a creative field and one that requires us to be constantly vigilant in staying on top of our clients’ industries in order to provide them with good counsel and identify media opportunities that will help grow their business. Automated services like Google Alerts might be able to flag competitive news for us, for example, but it’s our job to take that information, apply our knowledge about our client’s business, and tailor a pitch that will resonate with the right contact at the right publication. That’s where the challenge is, but also the fun and the reward.
No machine can, or should, replace the brain power of a good PR professional. And to be clear, I’m far from a Luddite when it comes to technology. That robot pizza delivery service could come in very handy during a late-night press release writing session!
Is your organization using a tool that helps to automate parts of your PR program? What has the experience been like? We’d love to hear more in the comments – let us know!
The recent New York Times Insider article, “How New York Times Stories Are Like Footballs,” shares a behind-the -scenes look into the editing process of articles, illustrating how stories typically move through the review staff like a football in a strategically designed, somewhat frantic, play.
After reading this article, I wanted to address these editing steps from the lens of a PR professional taking our football (a press release) into the end zone (publication/distribution). Below are the parallels I drew from the editing stages outlined by Steven Rocker.
The Backfielder. Although the “backfield” is commonly known as the area behind the line of scrimmage on a football field, the Times has adopted this title for the individual on their editorial team who reviews the article’s content and value. In PR, I associate this step with when our team assesses an announcement topic before developing the media outreach strategy. We ask questions such as: Is this newsworthy? Why should a reporter care? Why does the company care? How will this change the customer experience? Will this benefit or challenge the industry as a whole?
If we can answer these questions confidently and determine that this is strong news that will benefit multiple audiences, we will give our client the green light and develop a strategy for releasing the news. “No article is released without the approval of a backfielder.” That quote made me laugh…sometimes PR teams must show tough love!
Slot to Copy. After approval is given, a slot editor picks up the article and passes it along to an available copy editor. The copy editor develops the headlines and reads for logic and grammar. For some announcements, our clients will request reviewal of a press release instead of writing from scratch. In this case, we approach the media alert with the same magnifying glass as that used by the copy editor. We ask questions including: Is this headline catchy? Is this sentence a fact or commentary? Should this sentence actually be a quote? We also look to streamline long paragraphs into bullet points that help outline individuals who will benefit and the changes the industry should expect to see.
At its essence, the press release is home to the announcement’s most important takeaways, with these facts typically placed as close to the top of the page as possible. The press release needs to be straightforward and to the point, so that the target audiences can easily and quickly identify the who, when, what, why and how about the news. Reporters can either repost the press release on their websites, reach out for an interview, or develop their own article weaving in the facts and executive quotes listed in the release.
Touchdown! After the copy editor signs off on the headline, it is sent back to the slot and cleared for publication. Similarly, once we have finalized a press release, we will tee it up for distribution. While the news is in the queue, we will prepare a press list and pitch email to align with the release’s details. Depending on the timeliness and subject of the news, we will sometimes begin outreach before the publish date in order to drive buzz or organize an exclusive.
Post-Mortem. After “the game,” the Times’ newsroom is on standby and “compiles post-mortems.” During this time, reporters are ready to address any issues, mistakes, serious comments or controversies that have stemmed from their piece, as appropriate and necessary. Similarly, with a company’s announcement, we compile coverage recaps and are on high alert as to who is reposting the press release, as well as correct any mistakes that were made while transforming information from the release into an article covering the news. Although you’ve made the touchdown and even won the game, the job is not finished. Professionals who have had to handle crisis communications during the post-mortem period understand this and live it regularly.
As PR professionals, roles shift from being the writer, backfielder, copy editor and even referee. There is no doubt that the responsibilities of each of these positions and the processes of storytelling is stressful. It is important for PR professionals and even clients to appreciate articles such as Rocker’s in order to understand how much thought goes into a standalone story, as well as the sheer volume of stories produced. It is necessary to be thoughtful with outreach and carve out the time to research your pitch targets before you throw news their way.
Lastly, because articles go through just as much – if not more – scrutiny and judgment before they are published, it is important for PR pros and their clients to be thoughtful when contacting a journalist to make corrections. Thank the reporter for taking the time to cover your story, address the issue, provide a recommendation, and be respectful.
You’re busy, we get it. Despite your best efforts to refresh your Twitter feed, sometimes you miss a headline here and there. To keep you updated on all of our clients’ latest and greatest product announcements, contributed articles, funding news and more, we’ll be featuring recent articles in our new series, “CPR Clients Making Headlines.”
Read on to find out what Spaceflight Industries, iPinYou, Dell EMC, Bank of America and our very own Colleen Moffitt are up to lately.
- Congratulations are in order for Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries. Last week, the company announced the successful launch of its BlackSky Pathfinder-1 satellite. KING 5’s Glenn Farley visited Spaceflight Industries’ headquarters to speak to Rakesh Narasimhan, COO of Spaceflight Industries, to learn more about BlackSky’s 60-satellite planned constellation.
- Next time you’re in Bellevue, be sure to stop by iPinYou’s new U.S. office. As Xconomy pointed out, the Chinese digital advertising company is not affiliated with wrestling. (Sorry, WWE fans!) Instead, iPinYou is helping more U.S. companies reach customers in China.
- In Sanjay Joshi’s byline for Health Data Management, he stresses the need to change the 2:1 ratio of research to clinical budgets that currently exists. The CTO of healthcare and life sciences at the Dell EMC Emerging Technologies Division also discusses how information infrastructures are shaping the future of precision medicine.
- At tomorrow’s GeekWire Summit, former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Ricardo Lockette will take the stage to share his inspiring story as part of the Summit’s Geeks Give Back campaign. Launched in partnership with Bank of America, Geeks Give Back benefits the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship, which provides scholarships to underrepresented minorities, women and others who are pursuing degrees in science and technology in Washington state. Last year, Bank of America and GeekWire raised over $500,000 with their annual giving campaign and hope to record an even larger number this year.
- While not technically a client, CPR’s founder and partner Colleen Moffitt snagged the cover of a recent Puget Sound Business Journal issue. Colleen and her former RealNetworks colleagues shared their experiences working at the audio and video software company and dished on their current ventures. Check out Colleen’s blog post to learn more about her time at RealNetworks.
In today’s ever-connected market, internet users can visit a site and be served an ad in the (literal) blink of an eye. On the other end, ad buyers are increasingly on the search for ways to engage with a wider audience. Given this, programmatic ad buying is a key tool for both marketers and advertisers.
Programmatic ad buying refers to the use of software to automatically purchase digital advertising inventory in real-time. Typically, programmatic ad buying leverages big data and online behavioral habits to drive personalized, targeted ad purchases. Because programmatic ad buying technology utilizes advanced algorithms and removes the need for human buyers and salespeople, it makes the purchasing process more efficient, strategic and less expensive.
In late August 2016, Communiqué PR began working with iPinYou, China’s largest programmatic ad buying demand-side platform provider. Although known and highly regarded internationally for its solutions, iPinYou is now focusing on the North American market and is positioning itself to be a brand’s best partner to explore the Chinese market and reach its consumers. Communiqué PR was tasked with driving communication efforts to announce iPinYou’s entry into the United States and securing media placements about the news with key advertising and marketing media.
As background, iPinYou was founded in 2008, a time when the Chinese ad-tech market was in its infancy, and has since developed and patented new tracking and labeling technologies to help understand consumer online behavior. iPinYou owns a 59.8 percent share of China’s branded programmatic buying market according to an independent third party research company (Analysys International) in China, and Google Double Click, Baidu and Tencent have recognized iPinYou’s platform with a “Best in Class” award. Last December, iPinYou received a $500 million Renminbi pre-IPO investment from its exclusive data partner, China Mobile, along with other investors. Beyond China Mobile, UnionPay and AsiaInfo are also iPinYou strategic partners.
Making a Media Splash
Communiqué PR recognized the news value of the announcement – after all, how often does a worldwide, established company such as iPinYou reveal that they are entering the U.S. market for the first time? Advertisers, marketers and business executives would all be interested in the news, and Communiqué PR and iPinYou worked closely together leading up to the announcement to prepare for the wave of expected news coverage.
The interest in the news was immediate. Publications around the U.S. began covering the announcement as soon as the press release crossed the wire. Advertising and marketing trade publications featured six original articles on the announcement, and the press release itself was picked up by a slew of top-tier media including MarketWatch, Yahoo! Finance and The Street, reaching a potential audience of more than 88 million. Highlights from the media coverage include:
- CMS Wire: China’s iPinYou Enters US Market in Partnership with Twitter-Owned MoPub
- Mobile Marketing: MoPub Partners with China’s Largest Programmatic Ad Platform
- AdAge: A Chinese Ad Tech Titan Looks to U.S., Partners With Twitter-Owned MoPub
- Media Post: Chinese Programmatic Giant IPinYou Launches In The U.S.
- Geekwire: Chinese ad buying company iPinYou opens U.S. HQ in Seattle region
- Xconomy: Seattle Week in Review
Communiqué PR congratulates iPinYou for successfully announcing its entrance into the North American market. The company is poised to succeed because it is the link that connects U.S. brands to Chinese consumers, and Communiqué PR is proud to help iPinYou in its entry into the U.S.