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.
Every month at Communiqué PR, we celebrate the success of our blog and its contributors by sharing stats, including the most views and the average time spent viewing the post. Analyzing these statistics allows us to track the growth of our blog and determine which topics appeal to our audience. Building a committed and involved audience is a priority, however, this is often easier said than done. PRDaily recently posted an article providing tips on building a blog readership. This advice is not designed to gain one-time views but instead to build lasting relationships with the audience to ensure frequent and involved visits.
Consider the Content
This is advice that I never tire of hearing. Whether it’s regarding a paper for school or for a blog post, the content is the main priority to any type of writing. Content will not only capture people’s attention but also maintain it. Mark Schafer, a journalist at PR Daily, suggests using content that is “RITE”: Relevant, Interesting, Timely and Entertaining. By using content that meets this criteria readers will be more likely to share and comment on posts, which in turn will generate more views to the blog.
Build a Twitter Following
This is not only a fast technique when building readership, but also efficient. By spending 10 to 20 minutes a day tweeting, you will be able to build an established audience. Mentioning your blog in tweets will draw people to your site and encourage them to read your most recent posts.
Activate LinkedIn Groups
There are more than 1.5 million LinkedIn groups. This means that there are groups for every topic and area of interest possible. Find multiple groups that are relevant to you and your blog. Use your blog to answer questions or respond to different topics by posting the link to the group as a response. You will likely find people who not only are interested in that specific post but also the overall content of your blog.
Build a Blog Network
Find a group of bloggers that are willing to support each other. It can be difficult to get involvement, especially when first starting a blog. In order to generate more interaction, find bloggers who are interested in a similar topic and who are in a similar position. Comment, share and like one another’s blogs to gain more exposure. One way to find new bloggers is to look through the comment section of your favorite blog. Another way is to use a formal approach though a service like Triberr.
Make your Blog Similar to your Email Address
This simple step is often forgotten or unnoticed. Promote the URL of your blog everywhere you promote your email address. Place it on a business card, in an email signature, on PowerPoint slides, and in newsletters. People who are viewing these things are often high-potential readers and are likely to be interested in your blog.
Building a readership is not an easy task. I hope that with these tips you will be able to gain a strong following. Are there any other tricks you have found successful?
McDonald’s recently announced its decision to part ways with longtime supplier Heinz. The two companies are cutting ties after 40 years of working together and the decision may be because of Heinz’s recent hire of former Burger King CEO Bernardo Hees and the lack of full disclosure.
McDonald’s stated flatly, “As a result of recent management changes at Heinz, we have decided to transition our business to other suppliers at this time.” Added the fast-food giant congenially, “We have spoken to Heinz and plan to work together to ensure a smooth and orderly transition.”
Just another business decision on McDonald’s part? What kind of “management change” could tear a long-standing business relationship? It seems Hees may have had a conflict of interest in trying to continue working with McDonald’s. According to USA Today, while Hees is currently the head of Heinz, he is still vice chairman of Burger King’s board of directors, and according to the Daily News, Heinz is served in nearly 80 percent of Burger Kings in the United States. This put McDonald’s in an untenable situation because Heinz clearly has an allegiance to one of McDonald’s main competitors.
For McDonald’s, it’s merely a strategic business reaction to its changing business environment. The mystifying part is that Heinz has gone silent and has yet to satisfactorily weigh in and seize the PR opportunity.
The events of these two business giants are understandably receiving a great deal of media coverage, yet Heinz has refused to comment on this situation, explaining that its company “does not comment on business matters as a matter of policy.” However, Heinz did add this: “All our foodservice customers globally remain valuable to the company and are an important part of what has made the H.J. Heinz Company what it is today. We continue to operate respecting every customer while upholding the high level of confidentiality and business ethics that the H.J. Heinz Company has built with our business partners over the years.”
Interestingly enough, this is not McDonald’s and Heinz’s first dispute. According to the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette, during the early 1970s Heinz supplied nearly 90 percent of McDonald’s ketchup and pickles. However, after a tomato shortage, McDonald’s took the majority of its ketchup needs elsewhere. Heinz ketchup was recently only being sold in two United States markets, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis, with the rest of its McDonald’s business being in international markets. This split, therefore, will hurt Heinz primarily in the loss of the international business from McDonald’s.
Heinz, to its detriment, is not offering customers and stakeholders any insight, and its no-comment policy seems to be the least effective approach it could take. So what might the condiment king have done differently from a PR standpoint?
Addressing the recent events head-on may have been a better approach. Heinz should have offered an explanation to put shareholders and customers’ concerns at rest. Losing its business with McDonald’s may well have a negative effect on sales and those who have a stake in the company deserve to be updated, and may mean the general public will make its own assumptions because of the lack of response from Heinz on the matter. This is clearly a tricky situation for Heinz, but it seems the company may have overlooked some critical PR crisis strategies.
How would you have handled this PR opportunity differently?
When the Obama administration launched its healthcare website on October 1st the President’s most prized project quickly turned into an unmanageable disaster. Healthcare.gov was riddled with technical problems that made it almost impossible to use, causing enormous public backlash. But there are a few valuable PR lessons to be learned from healthcare.gov’s disastrous rollout.
Launching late is better than launching poorly
If the date of a product or service launch is looming and there are still glitches that are far from being fixed, it is always better to postpone the launch. Although the company may receive some criticism it will still maintain its customers’ trust, which is much more important.
When the Obama administration decided to launch a faulty healthcare website they lost the trust of the American people. President Obama’s approval rating has dropped below 40 percent, the lowest it has been in two years, and his unpopularity is almost certainly linked to the healthcare fiasco. Now in addition to fixing the faulty healthcare website President Obama must find a way to win back the public’s trust.
Speak up if expectations are too high
When a client’s expectations are not in line with what your experience knows to be true or are unrealistic, speak up. This requires a lot of diplomacy, but better to voice your concerns early so that you and your client can agree on the expected outcome.
Despite being warned by an outside health advisor that no one within the Obama administration was up to the task of overseeing the healthcare.gov project, President Obama insisted on putting his health policy team in charge. When healthcare.gov collapsed no one on the project knew how to fix it, so the Obama administration was left scrambling for outside help. If the Obama administration had appointed an outside technology expert earlier some of the system’s flaws might have been caught before the launch, and someone would have been readily available to fix the problems that occurred afterwards.
Always be transparent
Despite our best efforts, mistakes happen. When a crisis occurs be straightforward about the situation and don’t try to cover anything up. There are too many examples of what can go wrong if you don’t take this approach. The press and the public will be much more forgiving if they are provided with all the details.
The Obama administration were not as forthcoming as they could have been with data on the number of visitors, enrollments and purchases on the healthcare.gov website, which might have been part of the reason several media outlets that are usually supportive of the Affordable Care Act became highly critical. The Huffington Post, which has been fairly supportive of the Affordable Care Act in the past, recently published a critical blog post asserting that the Affordable Care Act is flawed.
Although the healthcare.gov rollout was a disaster, the website is fixable. The biggest challenge for the administration will be changing the public’s opinion of the Affordable Care Act. Any suggestions for how the administration should earn back the public’s trust?
If you read our blog or you work in public relations or media, you’re likely well aware of the importance of AP style. A couple months ago, the 2013 version of the AP Stylebook was released, with 90 new or updated entries.
Ninety updates is a lot of information to process. At the time, PR Daily published a helpful article compiling the five “most important” updates in the revised addition. Now that we’ve had a bit of time to get settled with the new changes, we thought we’d highlight a few of those that have been especially relevant to our work as PR professionals. Here are three that might trip you up as you write:
- Expanded social media terms. In line with the times, the 2013 Stylebook now includes terms like circles, flash mob and Google Hangout. Additionally, the updated Stylebook broadened guidelines for attributing and referencing user-generated content (e.g., in photo captions).
- Added new rules for numerals. The recommendations for numerals are now more expansive; a four-page section outlines when and where not to use figures. Pay attention to this section, and reference it as you write—the 2013 Stylebook has layered further directions onto already complex numeral guidelines.
- Enhanced fashion, food and sports guidelines. Terms like chichi, froufrou and upside-down cake are now formal additions to the Stylebook. If you target a consumer audience, updates to fashion, food and sports standards will be especially relevant for your writing.
For the fully updated 2013 AP Stylebook, you’ll need to purchase an updated version of the Stylebook.
For more information on the importance of AP style, we recommend our blog post: “Understanding AP Style and Its Importance.”
Throwing a launch party is an important part of a company’s marketing plan and to do it well requires a serious investment of resources – both human and fiscal. Whether you’re celebrating a new product or a new company, the launch party provides a critical opportunity to make a good first impression with potential customers, to entice the imagination of potential investors and to encourage an enthusiastic army of brand advocates.
As a communications practitioner providing counsel to clients in a variety of industries, I’ve been fortunate to attend a number of launch events over the years, and in most cases, I leave these parties with a mental checklist of things to do differently or to improve upon for future client events. Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a client launch event that had my inner-critic stumped, and rather than leaving the party with my usual list of things done wrong, I left with a long list of things done right.
The party was hosted by Seattle-based startup Lively, a tech company that connects music fans to their favorite artists by providing high-quality recordings of live performances. Staying true to their roots, the folks at Lively threw an over-the-top party featuring live music performances and local celebrities from Seattle’s music, sports and political scenes. And, while the party was certainly a great time, what was really impressive was an attention to detail that kept the Lively brand front and center throughout the evening.
From Lively logoed wristbands to takeaway gifts including a Lively hangover kit, this attention to the details was in large part due to the expertise of Lively’s CMO Geoff Walker. Walker, who recently ran his own event marketing company, has a long history of producing high-profile events for companies such as RealNetworks and Rhapsody, celebrities including the Foo Fighters and Kevin Spacey, and occasions such as the NFL Pro Bowl All-Star Game. From arrival to departure, the party Walker designed was like a drum driving home the beat of Lively’s vision to celebrate music and the artists’ relationship to their fans.
Not every company is fortunate to have an event expert like Walker on staff, but here are some of the evening’s highlights that you can refer to when planning your own launch party:
1. Make a Great First Impression
Upon arrival, my colleagues and I were greeted by friendly valet attendants who promptly ushered us out of our vehicle and toward the reception area. We passed a brass band playing standards, and strode upon a blue carpet (blue to reflect the company’s logo instead of the traditional red) to take our place in front of the logoed step-and-repeat for keepsake images that we can download and share via social media platforms and that Lively can use in its future marketing efforts. From there, we headed down the reception line to receive logoed wrist bands, a raffle ticket and straight to the bar serving a variety of complimentary cocktails.
2. Select a Theme That Compliments Your Company’s Vision
As a tech and music company, Lively played up the music side of its business and provided two stages alternating live performances by LeRoy Bell & His Only Friends, Young Evils, Hunter Hunted and Portugal. The Man. DJ Niros helped maintain the crowds’ energy level by spinning dance worthy favorites in between live performances. Party attendees were given a special promo code that they could use after the party to download high-quality audio and video from the evening because, well, that’s what Lively does!
3. A Great Mix of Attendees
Family and friends, local celebrities, vendors and investors were all on hand to celebrate the startup, bringing a sense of excitement to the event. And while private parties are not typically newsworthy on their own, Seattle’s Mayor Mike McGinn gave an enthusiastic speech to the crowd of 450-plus guests and helped the company secure this follow-up story in a local technology media outlet: “Mayor McGinn spends final campaign hours hanging with the tech community.”
4. Branding, Branding, Branding!
Everywhere I looked I saw the Lively logo. It was on my party wristband, the cocktail napkins and coasters, on the backs of servers passing hors d’oeuvres, displayed in lights with the help of GOBO projections, behind the artists performing on stage and on the takeaway gift bags. It didn’t stop there. Inside the bag was a Lively T-shirt, a logoed guitar pick key chain and a Lively branded hangover kit, among other goodies.
5. Capture the Evening and Make it Social
Capitalizing on today’s culture of sharing, Lively had roving photographers snapping shots of attendees and providing Polaroid images. Partygoers were then encouraged to snap a shot of the Polaroid and upload the image to personal social media pages with the hashtag #LivelyLounge. Smart and effective.
There is so much more I could say about the Lively Lounge Premier Party, but why write about it when I could just show you – take a look for yourself here.
When I worked for Waggener Edstrom in 2001, I learned we were going to be moving into a sparkly new office building in the Civica Office Commons in downtown Bellevue, Wash. It was exciting. After all, how often does one get to work in a brand new office building?
My anticipation was well founded. Civica Office Commons was beautiful and well thought out for the modern-day worker. The building had a large, light-filled great room with couches and coffee tables instead of a cold, sterile lobby, making it an ideal place to enjoy a cup of coffee or catch up with co-workers. I also liked grabbing lunch at the adjacent SeaStar restaurant or picking up a breakfast sandwich at Starbucks, both of which were conveniently accessible from the great room. In fact, I can safely say in my 20-year career I have never worked in a nicer building.
At that time, I knew little about Schnitzer West, the developer of the Civica Commons. Today, through Communiqué PR’s work for the developer, I know much more about Schnitzer West and its process of developing commercial, residential and multi-use properties. I have learned that projects span years and there is significant research that goes into understanding functional and efficiency needs well before design and construction.
I also know that part of Schnitzer West’s success stems from its financial strength, expertise with risk management, and skill with complex asset operations (e.g., the management of real estate) after a property is completed.
The people with Schnitzer West clearly possess an impressive array of core competencies, but what really sets them apart from the competition is their focus on creating value, which in turns leads to higher-quality properties and superior-to-market returns. Consider the recent sale of The Bravern Signature Residences and North Creek.
The Bravern Signature Residences are luxury apartments in Bellevue, Wash. With an occupancy rate of 94 percent, the apartments are home to entertainers, professional athletes and business people. Schnitzer West recently sold the towers, and according to our local media, the sale of the Bravern apartments set a record for the region.
In a separate transaction on the same day, Schnitzer West also sold North Creek, a collection of 11 office buildings in Bothell, Wash. With both properties, Schnitzer West had significant interest from multiple potential buyers.
The media coverage of these announcements paints a more complete picture of these sales and their significance. To date, there have been more than 10 articles written about the two transactions. Here are links to a few of the articles:
- Bravern apartment sale sets record for Puget Sound region
- Schnitzer West sells Bravern apartment towers
- Schnitzer West sells two Eastside properties for $476 million
- Schnitzer West sells Bravern towers and 11 Bothell buildings for a total of $475M
- Bellevue, Wash., Apartments Sold for Nearly $700,000/Unit
Clearly, Schnitzer West’s commitment to creating value was important to the sales of these properties, but in closing, I think it is also important to note that the proceeds from the transactions also will help our region for years to come.
For example, the city of Bellevue and Bothell each got a bump in tax revenue. Dan Ivanoff, managing investment partner with Schnitzer West, told me that Kevin Wallace, a Bellevue City Council member, called to thank him and the team with Schnitzer West for the excise tax paid to the city on sale proceeds. Dan and the Schnitzer West team also have explained in their press interviews that they will use the proceeds from these sales to continue funding the investment firm. This means jobs for construction works, research firms, architects and the like, not to mention we will all benefit from their results (e.g. better work and living spaces).