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.
We never want to lose a client. However, there is at least one situation in which losing a client is cause for celebration.
At Communiqué PR we focus on helping our clients leverage PR in order to achieve their business objectives. Sometimes those business objectives involve selling the company, and by successfully positioning a company for acquisition, we may ultimately lose the account. We have seen this happen over the years with a number of our client companies including SnapIn and Open Interface North America.
In November 2010, we began working with another organization focused on positioning itself for acquisition – The Shops at The Bravern. We strategically targeted our PR activities on securing results that would reinforce that objective. These activities included building local and regional awareness of The Shops at The Bravern, driving retail traffic and sales, and demonstrating momentum within the retail industry. We leveraged key events including Holidays at The Bravern, Fashion’s Night Out, and Sips & Sounds, and tapped into broad trends to help secure the results needed to reinforce the owner’s objectives.
Those efforts paid off in a big way. Earlier this year, our client Schnitzer West sold The Shops at The Bravern to Ashkenazy Acquisitions, achieving its business objectives with the property. Once again, we successfully worked ourselves out of a job.
PR success is measured in many ways. We take pride in helping our clients achieve their business objectives, even if those objectives include setting the enterprise up for acquisition. The strategies and tactics we employ are always focused on the clients’ goals – so we consider it a positive reflection of our success when our clients achieve key milestones, including a successful sale.
Thankfully, we work with a broad range of clients and not all of them are focused on acquisition!
Here at Communiqué PR, we are enthusiastic about staying on top of current ”tools of the trade” that enhance communication. That’s why the new cloud-based presentation software, Prezi, caught our eye. Since learning about the tool, I have noticed multiple presentations in the format, and have even seen LinkedIn profiles boasting to be “Prezi experts.” A recent TedTalk on YouTube Driven Innovation even featured the presentation software.
So what is Prezi? Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software that has the unique property of a “Zooming User Interface,” which allows users to zoom in and out of their presentation while navigating it. This property gives Prezi’s a non-linear, brainstorming type of flow, as opposed to the traditional linear style of PowerPoint presentations. Prezi also has features such as Prezi Desktop, which allows paying subscribers to work off-line on presentations, Prezi Meeting which allows up to 10 participants to co-edit presentations in real time online, and Prezi Viewer for iPad, which has the ability to view Prezi presentations on an iPad.
How does Prezi work? Through the Prezi website, you can create your own presentation from scratch, or work from one of their pre-designed templates. Once finished, the presentation can be saved on Prezi’s website, or as an Adobe Flash file if you do not want to rely on internet connectivity. A bonus of being cloud-based is that viewers of a presentation can log on and add notes to a Prezi before, during, or after the presentation itself occurs. Additionally, a viewer of your presentation (if it is made public on the Prezi database) can download and save the file onto their computer for later reference. PowerPoint files can be converted to a Prezi by first saving the PowerPoint in PDF form, and then uploading the PDF onto the Prezi website. Unfortunately, there is no streamlined way to convert a Prezi to a PowerPoint.
What can Prezi be used for? Prezi can be used for any type of presentation to provide a visual aid. Its most popular uses, according to Wikipedia, include business and conference use, education, and miscellaneous types of information visualization (e.g. architectural presentations). Some job seekers have used the tool to create interactive portfolios and ‘Prezumes’ (Prezi + Resume).
How much does Prezi cost? Prezi is free to use, but you can purchase packages with additional features. There are two available deals. For $59 annually, you get more storage space, the ability to privatize your presentations, and the ability to put a custom logo in your presentation. For $159 annually, you can receive even more storage space, as well as a tool called “Prezi Desktop,” which allows for offline editing. Both of these packages are available for 30-day free trials.
How does Prezi compare to PowerPoint? Neither can be distinguished as better—they each work well in different situations. Here is a break-down of the basic differences:
Prezi
- Non-linear structure
- Focused on visual aspects of a presentation
- Cloud-based, so users can access their presentation from anywhere
PowerPoint
- Linear style
- Not cloud based; controlled access to your presentation
If you are looking for a tool to amp up the visual appeal of an upcoming presentation, think about giving Prezi a try!
Have you used this tool before? If yes, what are your thoughts?
A common challenge in PR is working with clients to determine if their story is newsworthy. News organizations are often bombarded with pitches and press releases that have no hope of seeing print. As PR professionals it is our job to work with our clients to determine what the news elements are.
For example, a product release might not be appealing to a journalist, but if tied to a hot trend, it can help pique interest.
In a recent article I came across in Ragan.com titled, “6 questions to determine whether your story is newsworthy,” Susan Young suggests questions to walk through when deciding whether your pitch might get pickup. I’ve included some of Susan’s questions below along with examples from my own experience in pitching reporters.
- Who cares? It sounds harsh, but this is the no. 1 question reporters and editors will ask themselves. If you can answer this question, you should highlight it in the subject line or leading sentence of your pitch.
- What makes my story outshine the other 372 that crossed a reporter’s or blogger’s desk today? Just like standing out in a crowded room, pitches need to be unique. I guarantee that the journalist you are targeting receives hundreds of emails a day and you must grab their attention before they hit delete. For more information on how to craft a subject line that can help, read our previous blog post.
- Where would my story fit in this reporter’s world? Sometimes tying a product launch, a new company or event to a relevant trend can help your story. Reporters need to be able to relate, so try to tailor your pitch to be relevant to their coverage topic.
- When is this most important? Today, tomorrow, next Tuesday? Reporters generally cover day of news or preview upcoming news. They aren’t interested in something that happened yesterday. News is such a fast paced and competitive industry that old news is no longer news.
- Why would anyone sitting in their den in Utah, driving on I-95 in Florida, or bowling next to my dad in New Jersey want to pay attention to this story? The goal of a reporter is to have their story read or watched by their audience so the story should tap into emotions or a human element. For example, providing someone that the journalist can speak with who is impacted by the announcement can make your story more compelling. This moves the story away from the company announcing the news, but shows the impact the news has.
- How can this story help other people? The news is likely important to the company sharing it, but in the same vein as the question above, journalists like to illustrate how the story will help other people. By writing an article, how will the audience benefit from this news? For example, if you are pitching a story about a new safety feature for a car, be sure to call out how telling this story will benefit the audience. Will this reduce the number of accident fatalities? Impact soccer moms? Save money?
The more you can showcase why your story is newsworthy for the journalist, the more likely you’ll be successful in your pitch. For more information on what makes a good story, and additional questions to ask yourself when developing a pitch, read our previous blog post.
Earlier this week, we facilitated a two-hour messaging workshop for a new Communiqué PR technology client. The goal was to discuss the company’s mission and vision, as well as hone in on its value proposition and distill that information into several compelling key messages.
The messaging workshop was a big success and it got me thinking about our work and methodology for facilitating these discussions, which can often be fraught with emotion as senior leaders and executives often have strong points of view about the subject matter. At Communiqué, we believe there are five key steps that should be taken when preparing to conduct the messaging workshop:
- Explain the importance of messaging and build the case for the workshop. Messaging is often the foundation of your PR program. To harness the full power of PR, you want to deliver messages that are accurate and credible, as well as concise and compelling as possible. It is also essential to arm employees, staff, investors and partners with the right messages so they can deliver them on your behalf. Given this, if a company has not outlined key messages, we recommend holding a workshop to identify and build consensus around the key points that need to be communicated.
- Determine who needs to participate. This is another essential step for a productive workshop. To have a meaningful discussion about mission, vision, values and a company’s value proposition, you will need the senior leadership team to be present. Typically this group of individuals are responsible for the direction of the company so it is important they articulate their perspectives on these topics. By gathering this group together to discuss vision, mission, values and value proposition, the facilitator can hone in on differences in perspective and help resolve them, which is important if you’re going to deliver consistent messages about the company and its products and services.
- Get the creative juices flowing. We recommend coming up with one or two ice-breaker exercises to help set the stage for an effective and engaging ideation meeting. These can be really helpful as you look to get people thinking in a new manner. For instance, you might provide executives with a list of emotional or functional attributes to describe their company and ask them to rank them. Each person could then present his or her perspective. This gives everyone an opportunity to share his/her thoughts at the beginning of the meeting and sets the tone in establishing participation with all the leaders.
- Set time limits. Determine how much time you’re going to spend on each subject. Give everyone a few minutes to share a point of view, but at the end of the allotted time, be sure to move on to the next section so you don’t get bogged down on one point. If there is unresolved conflict around a topic, feel free to table it so you can do some more thinking and analysis.
- Identify roles for the meeting. Designate one or two people to facilitate the meeting, and appoint someone else to take notes and capture key action items. We also recommend bringing a digital tape recorder to ensure that everything is captured and can be reviewed later.
We hope these tips are helpful. If you’re challenged to come up with the right messages, please feel free to call us. We are experienced and adept at helping companies identify and come to consensus on key messages.
The flowers are blooming and the days are getting longer, and that can only mean one thing: college graduation and summer internships are right around the corner. For students studying communications, public relations is a great field in which to work, but there are some things you should keep in mind when it comes to a career in PR.
PR is a lot more than putting together press lists and writing press releases. While you certainly don’t need to be perfect, you do need to understand some qualities PR firms are looking for in candidates, decide if you live up to these and ensure you demonstrate these characteristics.
- Be your own PR representative. In order to represent companies in a transparent, ethical and positive way, you need to reflect these qualities in yourself. Do you have a bunch of pictures posted on Facebook of you and your sorority sisters out at the bar last weekend? Do you post things on Twitter that might be too personal? Make sure you put your best foot forward online and build your own positive reputation before you expect a client to trust you with theirs. Also think about your own key messages you want your potential employer to know about you and the proof points you can share that reinforce these messages. Think about how to consistently deliver those messages when you are interviewing.
- Be a good communicator. It seems obvious, but PR is all about communication, whether it be with your team, with clients or with reporters. You need to be able to clearly articulate ideas or recommendations via just about any method of communication: email, phone, blog post, instant message or teleconference. You need to be comfortable and proficient with all the many ways to communicate (well, except Morse code) because that is really what our job is all about.
- Be professional. This one also might seem like a no-brainer, but looking and acting professional is essential. In our line of work, you sometimes meet with powerful people that have high expectations and little time to make small talk. CEOs, vice presidents of marketing and other executive leaders within your client’s organization may need to meet with you, and it is important to walk the walk and talk the talk. Dress professionally for client meetings, keep the discussions on appropriate topics and stay calm, cool and collected. Letting your professional side shine will build trust and respect with clients.
- Be proactive and solutions-oriented. Part of being a PR pro is being able to handle just about anything your client asks for. The secret to this quality is to always consider what is best for the client and anticipate what they might need before they ask for it. By putting yourself in your client’s shoes, it is easier to understand his or her perspective and can help you come up with impressive solutions if you run into a speed bump with a project. Always think about how you can make your client feel like he or she is your only client, even if you are working on multiple accounts.
- Be courageous. In PR, you need to be pretty brave. You need to be able to tactfully push back on clients or coworkers who make recommendations that you don’t think would help your account. You need to pick up the phone to call reporters at national publications to pitch stories or follow up on interviews. You need to be graceful when put on the spot. Learn how to use new tools or technology quickly. Even if you aren’t the bravest person you know, you need to be okay with the fact that in PR, you will be pushed outside of your comfort zone from time to time.
- Be flexible. One of the facts of life for PR professionals is that no two days are quite the same. Sometimes a crisis will come up with a client and you’ll need to drop everything to help them draft some messaging or talking points to handle the situation. Other times a reporter will call with a deadline that afternoon and he or she will want an interview with a client. Or perhaps a new business opportunity will come up and you have to put together an impressive proposal in a couple days. Whatever the scenario, you need to have a can-do attitude and be able to roll with the punches.
These are just a few examples of the qualities employers and clients are looking for in their PR people. While you may not really need to be perfect, you do need to be perfectly suited for PR. To get more ideas about the type of work PR professionals need to be able to handle, you can check out our careers page. Additionally below are a few tips as you search for a PR position:
- Follow the hashtag #HAPPO (Help a PR Pro Out) on Twitter
- Leverage LinkedIn to connect with other PR professionals, secure informational interviews and network
- Join your local PRSA and participate in networking and educational events
In just a matter of two years since its beta launch in March 2010, Pinterest has become one of the top ranking social networking sites today. Just last month, Experian Hitwise reported Pinterest is the third largest social network in the U.S., surpassing LinkedIn.
As consumers continue to flock to the site in droves, so are businesses and brands as it’s been proven to drive traffic back to their websites. According to an article in Ad Age, Real Simple magazine’s GM of digital Shannon King shared that, “Pinterest is a huge source from a referral standpoint, even beating out referrals from Facebook in the month of October. It speaks to the power of engaged audience members. We view it as an important part of our social media strategy.” And both small and big businesses alike are following Real Simple’s footsteps, exploring ways to use the site to connect with consumers.
While most content on Pinterest centers around art, fashion, décor, beauty, food and other lifestyle categories, automakers (yes, you read that right) are exploring the platform as a way to engage with their female demographic.
One creative campaign that is garnering a lot of media attention is Honda’s “The Pintermission,” which is part of its larger “Leap List” campaign for the CR-V, a small SUV that is targeted toward females. Given their target demographic, they have come to the right platform since women generate nearly 85 percent of activity on the site according to comScore.
For the campaign, Honda targeted five of the site’s top pinners and offered them $500 each to stop pinning for 24 hours. During their time off from “pinning,” they were to get out and do some of the things they have been pinning about, then return to the site and pin about what they did. Check out what each of these five pinners did on Honda’s board.
While Honda admits they didn’t set metric goals for this campaign, they are viewing it as an opportunity to begin engagement on this new social networking site in a creative way, and integrate Pinterest into the brand’s larger social media strategy to drive traffic to its website. Lauren Ebner, assistant manager of social media at American Honda Motor Co. notes in a separate Ad Age article, “It’s such a fast-growing social-media network and seemed like a really good, different, creative outlet for us and a chance to use a visual medium to promote our cars.” Honda hopes the campaign will inspire others to take a Pintermission (without the $500 incentive) and get out to enjoy life. After all, we do deserve a break from the 24/7 connected world we currently live in every now and again.
Have you come across other creative campaigns on Pinterest? Which ones caught your attention? Let us know.
And if you’re thinking of building a presence on Pinterest, be sure to check out another one of our blog posts, “Ground Rules for Harnessing the Power of Pinterest.”