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.

How the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch Failed: Takeaway PR Lessons

I remember the need to fit in when I was a teenager—the need to be liked and look the part. I would beg my mom to buy me tops from Abercrombie & Fitch. I would proudly display the “beautiful people” shopping bags on my bedroom wall, showcasing bodies that neither I nor 99 percent of my classmates would ever achieve. It was a double-edged sword; I felt cool wearing the clothes, but terrible knowing I’d never be that perfect.

By now, many of you have heard about the harsh words of Mike Jeffries, CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, from a 2006 Salon interview. These comments resurfaced during a recent Business Insider interview with Robin Lewis, co-author of the book, “The New Rules of Retail.” Lewis claims that Jeffries “doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store, he wants thin and beautiful people. He doesn’t want his core customers to see people who aren’t as hot as them wearing his clothing. People who wear his clothing should feel like they’re one of the ‘cool kids.’” Ouch. It doesn’t help that Abercrombie & Fitch doesn’t make clothing in size XL or beyond size 10 for women.

Jeffries’ comments created an uproar with parents, teens and the public alike. From disapproving videos to articles to parents boycotting the store, I highly doubt that Jeffries achieved his desired result. He essentially made every teen who can’t shop at his store—and every adult who would not have fit as a teen—relive childhood trauma as well as fueled bullies for tormenting. He made enemies.

The Jeffries’ case is extreme, of course, yet every PR professional can learn from his mistake. While many businesses target a specific population sector, Jeffries’ poor choice of words singled out the population that “doesn’t belong” and supposedly can’t wear his company’s clothes. Making insensitive comments can do irreparable damage to a company’s reputation, causing a PR disaster with measurable effects on company revenues and sustainability.

In general, brands should avoid making such potentially inflammatory and defamatory comments and instead ensure that they position themselves well in the media. It’s understandable to appeal to a particular demographic or population segment, but unacceptable to stigmatize or offend those outside of that group. Spokespeople should stick to messages that have been agreed upon and positively represent company values.

However, what if the mistake has already been made? The best thing a PR professional can do in this scenario is admit the lapse in judgment and apologize immediately. Once Jeffries’ comments went viral, he stayed silent, which was perceived as insensitive. It would have been far more effective for Jeffries to have reacted quickly, immediately issuing an apology and urging the public that his comments were taken out of context. Since the initial outrage, he did eventually offer a “half apology,” which has not gone over well. The damage has been done, and it’s unclear how the brand will recover.

In short, Jeffries’ actions offer a great example of what not to do in PR. Despite what you may have heard, all publicity is not good publicity for businesses. PR professionals should instead keep in mind that attracting customers for clients is about acceptance, not alienation.

Smartsheet Goes on the Road

To raise awareness for our clients, we often strive to reach their target audiences by building relationships with key journalists and driving relevant editorial coverage. Despite the proliferation of conference calls and online meetings, we believe press tours are still the best way to engage and form relationships with journalists. Additionally, meeting with the journalists in person allows us to spend more time learning about the journalists’ perspectives on both industry trends and our client’s business, which always proves to be an interesting, insightful experience.

In the case of our client, Smartsheet, a collaboration tool currently in use by more than 2.5 million people, we are working to connect the company with journalists covering cloud and enterprise technologies. In order to start building relationships for Smartsheet with journalists interested in these topics, we partnered with Smartsheet to execute both a West Coast and East Coast press tour, visiting San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C. and New York City in the spring of 2013.

Focusing outreach on national business media, we were able to secure 16 meetings for Smartsheet with the following outlets:

Baseline Mag
Bloomberg BusinessWeek
CITEworld
eWeek
Financial Times
Forbes
GigaOM
Market Watch
MIT Technology Review
Network World
Successful Meetings
Tech Target
TIME Magazine
Wall Street Journal
Washington Post

To date, Smartsheet has received coverage in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Forbes and CITEworld. Just as important, the in-person meetings laid the foundation for what we hope will be lasting relationships moving into the future. In fact, Smartsheet has already helped connect one reporter to a source for another story completely unrelated to Smartsheet or online collaboration. In today’s connected world, it is often easy to stay behind a desk. However, getting out on the road is a great way to build meaningful relationships with industry influencers. Smartsheet saw tremendous value from gaining first-hand insight into journalists’ perspectives on developments in the enterprise technology industry, especially in collaboration. Furthermore, we always appreciate the opportunity to make in person introductions for a company, as they tend to be a rarity, and go a long way towards building lasting relationships.

For more on tours from Communiqué PR, please see:

The Art of the Digital Pitch

In today’s digital era, media pitches are often directed toward non-print outlets, whether they are online-only publications, blogs or mobile news applications. In PR, it can be tempting to direct the same pitch to multiple types of outlets, especially if you’re pitching to different versions of the same publication. For example, you might question why one would pitch differently to the online and print formats of The New York Times—they’re basically the same thing, right?

Wrong. Digital platforms have a different set of interests and goals than their traditional print counterparts. A major aim is not only driving traffic to their content, but also distributing that content across the Internet through web-sharing and social-media tactics.

To meet these ends, digital outlets tailor their content specifically for web readership. What works well for print doesn’t always transfer successfully to digital platforms, where content is typically shorter in length, more attention-grabbing and more concise. When your pitch appears in an online reporter’s or blogger’s inbox, their decision whether to write is influenced by factors unique to digital publishing—to be successful, it’s helpful to address these.

How can you amp up your pitch for digital outlets? Caysey Welton, editorial assistant for PRNews, offered tips about the topic in a recent article. I’m listing three of Welton’s five tips below (I highly recommend you visit his full article for further reading) to set you on your way to the perfectly crafted digital pitch.

Welton’s tips:

1. Consider the virality of your topic.

The success of digital publishing relies largely on ad revenues, which in turn depends on the ability to direct readers to content via SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Eye-catching headlines and engaging multimedia content are therefore increasingly important for digital content. Consider what factors make your pitch SEO-friendly, and make them apparent. Writing about a popular topic, brand or major trend? Mention this in your subject line. If you can’t see why your story should be shared across the web, neither can the reporter.

2. Research is key.

It’s a given, but particularly important in digital pitching—read up on the publication, its style and audience, as well as the voice of the specific reporter. Pitching to a conversation-style blog? Be professional, but less formal in your pitch. The digital publishing realm is also highly divided into specialty topics, so make sure you’re targeting a reporter who follows the correct beat to avoid your pitch landing on deaf ears.

3. Educate the writer.

With the rise of the Internet, just about anyone with a computer and a few resources can produce news via blogs and contributed content. However, just because a writer has interest in a particular beat and a wide reach does not mean they know everything imaginable about that topic. It’s your job to fill the journalist or blogger in with background and context while still being concise and to-the-point.

As a PR professional, you may have been told to “think like a journalist” when constructing a pitch or strategizing media relations. Nowadays, this type of thinking requires understanding the key differences between digital and print publishing. Just as reporters cater their writing for different formats, so should PR professionals tailor their pitches to the particular platform type. Of course, traditional pitching tactics are still important, but do consider these suggestions when drafting your next digital pitch to avoid it landing in a reporter’s (digital) recycle bin.

Public Relations Activities Raise Awareness of Verdiem, a Leader in IT Energy Management

Verdiem, one of our Seattle-based clients, delivers IT energy efficiency solutions for mid-sized to enterprise customers across vertical industries. One of the reasons we love working with Verdiem is because they have compelling and timely stories to tell.

For example, Verdiem’s Surveyor allows customers to lower their operating expenses, sometimes significantly, by reducing energy waste using Verdiem software. Verdiem can point proudly to its many customer success stories, including Partners HealthCare, which is saving over $1.2 million per year on its energy bills using Verdiem.

And that fits nicely into the growing concern of environmental sustainability in the business world. Even the federal government has now mandated that U.S. commercial and government buildings must significantly reduce energy consumption. Verdiem is contributing to the reduction in energy consumption, such as that seen by Partners, by continuing to deliver new, innovative solutions to market and offering stellar support to its customer base – all of which are excellent fodder for PR.

Through announcements, contributed content and creative story pitches, Communiqué PR was able to generate 21 articles since spring 2012 to raise awareness about the growing need for IT energy management and Verdiem’s successful solutions.

Below is a list of those 21 publications, along with links to the articles.

Environmental Leader, “Verdiem adds international energy rate coverage to IT management software”
ZDNet, “Power management software tracks multinational energy rates”
Geekwire, “Keeping your workplace culture on the cutting edge”
Seattle Business, “Changing your company’s culture can boost your bottom line”
Techtarget, “No escaping networked-based IT power management”
Government Technology, “How to save money by automating CPU power cycles”
Journal of Business, “Software cuts energy use by city’s computer system”
The Spokesman Review, “Spokane Public Schools district software pays big dividends”
Seattle Times, “First there was Xbox, now there is Vbox”
TMCnet Smart-Grid, “Save your energy with Verdiem’s IT and facility power management platform”
Efficient Energy, “Integrated solution for energy savings in buidings and IT”
West Penn Post-Gazette, “Sleeping computers bring savings”
Xconomy, “New finance models for NW cleantech, sustainability as VC wanes”
Government Technology, “Power management software helps Spokane, Washington go green”
Health Management Technology, “Manage IT energy use and save cash along the way”
Health Management Technology, “IT energy management: A no brainer for healthcare organizations”
HealthLeaders, “Conserve energy to preserve margin”
Washington Post, “Firms turn to IT to track energy consumption, cut costs”
Government Computer News, “Printer analyzer can help keep energy phantoms at bay”
Xconomy, “Seattle roundup”
Energy Manager Today, “Printers, PCs hog energy at enterprises”

We are excited to continue our work with Verdiem, to aid their efforts in raising more awareness and supporting them in their business objectives.

Anne Lindberg

Cool Use of Analyst Relations

We were pleased to learn recently that our client Nintex, a global leader in workflow solutions and project management was named to Gartner’s list of “Cool Vendors in Program and Portfolio Management, 2013.” The exclusive report, authored by analysts Robert A. Handler, Matt Light, Jim Duggan, Daniel B. Stang, Donna Fitzgerald, and Elise Olding, highlights innovative vendors and their products and services selected by Gartner analysts.

The basis for the honor is the value Nintex Workflow software offers enterprises in terms of efficiency and cost savings via its process automation and project management software. Its product has been adopted by more than 4,000 organizations in 90 countries. In late 2012, we worked with Nintex’s marketing team to develop an analyst outreach plan for Nintex Workflow for Project Server, one of the company’s key software products. The product has only been on the market since December 2010, but was gaining traction and attention quickly from partners including Microsoft and was ready for greater visibility among reporters and analysts.

The way Nintex was able to capture the attention of the analysts demonstrates the importance of planning, storytelling, and having customers ready and willing to speak about the benefits of their product.

In January we began outreach to key analysts at Gartner, Forrester and IDC and secured briefings with five analysts over the course of January and February to demo Nintex Workflow for Project Server and provide information about updates in the 2013 version. We also sent out a press release to key media in the project management industry and briefed them about the continuous investment and innovation Nintex was providing its customers.

A large part of the Nintex story is how the company’s end users – the business managers and project managers – are able to automate their workflows and data collection. Automating routine tasks through workflow allows them to spend more time on mission-critical tasks like ensuring public transportation safety, tending to the medical needs of patients, and bringing new products to market.

Nintex has a number of partners and customer willing to speak about their experience with the product, which enables our public relations team to bring life to the story when briefing analysts and reporters. We were able to provide references to analysts and reporters from partners eager to speak about the company’s value as a business partner who is committed to fast roll outs, continuous refinements, and understanding the needs of project managers. Nintex also provided end-users case studies that reported increased efficiency and cost savings, including a 20 percent reduction of time spent in meetings, up to 50 percent faster project completion times, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings in IT support.

The success of this analyst and media relations plan for Nintex Workflow for Project Server supports a tenet that is critical in telling a cool story: Show us, don’t just tell us. Innovative solutions, happy customers, supportive partners and fans of your product are what make your company cool indeed.

Why You Should Hire a PR Agency

I recently received my latest issue of The Strategist, a quarterly publication from the Public Relations Society of America. In it, I was pleased to see an article discussing the benefits of hiring an external PR agency over an internal PR staff. It’s a question we at Communiqué PR hear regularly: “Why should I hire you and not someone in-house?”

It’s an excellent question and certainly worth exploring. Some of the arguments presented in the article include:

Sustained focus: An external PR agency likely has a staff supporting your business. Depending on your budget, this could be a couple people to more than a handful. Should a crisis arise for your business, your agency PR team can divide and conquer. One person can handle reactive media inquiries pertaining to the current issue, while the other person (or people) can continue focusing on your proactive media relations – the positive stories that take time to come to fruition, but which ultimately help balance the potentially negative coverage, and resulting negative perceptions, that come with a crisis situation.

Breadth: An in-house PR practitioner knows your business inside and out. But they also often know only your industry beat reporters. A PR agency account member, on the other hand, has experience with reporters in a number of industries focused on various beats. What if your IT company suddenly wanted to target K-12 organizations or higher ed institutions? The agency rep probably already knows the education reporters and will have more success when pitching because the relationship is established. And because they’re talking to a multitude of reporters every day, they have insights that can’t be gleaned through Cision or other database searches. The agency rep knows which journalist wants to write a story about cybersecurity while their editor wants them to focus on the stock market. And they can help make that knowledge work for you.

Independence: Reporters often like multiple sources when writing a story. If you’re in-house, you don’t always have the connections to provide more sources to a reporter; however, a PR agency staffer has an arsenal of clients that could be provided as sources. The reporter saves time because they don’t have to seek out more contacts and the agency staffer strengthens the relationship with the reporter while helping your company get the story.

But those aren’t the only reasons. Consider the following as well:

Perspective: Agency staffers can approach product launches and other news with valuable perspective not often gained when in-house. The agency pros can ask tough questions about what makes something newsworthy and understand whether media will find it notable. Sometimes when working in-house, there’s a possibility that you become a die-hard fan of your company and believe everything about it is newsworthy. Unfortunately, that’s rarely the case. But the agency team can provide counsel on how to make something as newsworthy as possible, and/or offer guidance on the best way to communicate the news for the most ROI.

Creativity: While in-house PR practitioners can be creative, a PR agency has more brainpower to tap for the most creative ideas. From seasoned PR professionals to new college graduates, agency staffers can combine experience with out of the box ideas to get a solution that works for your business.

Multiple specialties: When you hire a team in-house, you limit your capabilities. You’ll rarely find a PR pro who is gifted at media relations, crisis management, social media and analyst relations. But with a PR agency, you can have a number of resources to rely upon, all of whom have particular specialties and passions that can benefit your business.

What are some additional pros and cons of hiring a PR agency? If you’re considering hiring a PR firm, give us a call. We’d be happy to talk through our capabilities and what we can do for your business.

Additional Communiqué PR blog posts you might find helpful:

Insights for Leaders Navigating Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.