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.
As businesses and organizations realize the power of strategic public relations, they are increasingly seeking the help of a PR agency or contractor. We thought it would be good to share our perspective on what to look for when selecting a PR partner.
Below, we have compiled a list of things to keep in mind when going through the process of selecting a firm. Consider the following:
1) Determine your objectives and clearly outline them to prospective PR partners. It’s important to be well-grounded and clear about your business and communication objectives, goals, target audience, timeline, budget and how you will measure success. With the proper information, prospective agencies will be able to come up with meaningful proposals that align with your expectations for your consideration.
2) Request a scope of work that is realistic and within your budget. To ensure that a project yields the desired results, it’s important to disclose your PR budget whenever possible. This will allow your potential PR partner to develop a plan that maps to your organization’s communication goals and resources.
3) People and chemistry matter. Get to know the agency and team that will be working with you. Take the time to meet or talk with the people who will work on your account. This will enable you to get a better feel for the team members’ personalities, their work ethic and if they will be a good match. Robert Dilenschneider, author of “The AMA Handbook of Public Relations,” explains, “After all, you are likely to be working with this team for a long time, and it will be more fun, not to mention effective, if you like and respect one another.”
4) Check references. Don’t be afraid to ask for agency references and actually call them. Heather Logrippo, of Expose Yourself Public Relations in Boston shares her experience, “PR agencies are sometimes referred to as ‘slick salespeople’ — the results don’t match the promises made when firms are trying to win the business. You can tell the true value of a company and the results they drive by speaking with their current clients.”
5) Share the outcome. Let the PR firm know in a timely manner whether you are hiring them or not. Agencies typically put a lot of unbillable time and effort into developing a PR proposal and presentation specific to a prospect’s unique goals, market opportunity and competitive landscape. Be respectful and take the time to inform the agencies competing for your business of your final decision. Even if you are not hiring a particular firm, the people who put time and energy into a response deserve the courtesy of knowing the outcome — and maybe even the rationale for it.
Please check out our book “Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR” for more information about how to select your PR team. Jennifer Gehrt and Colleen Moffitt have devoted an entire chapter to the topic.
Clearly it takes time to interview agencies and solicit proposals, but selecting the right partner is likely to be critical to your company’s ongoing success.
I admit it – I can’t stand the thought of not being connected. Whether it’s e-mail, the Internet or checking social networking platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter, I find it hard to be unplugged. The growing popularity of smartphone devices coupled with Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile WiMAX is only proliferating our “always-connected” culture. So it’s no surprise that airlines are looking toward inflight Wi-Fi offerings to help passengers stay connected while they travel.
Over the past couple of years, several airlines have begun offering inflight Wi-Fi services as a way to build customer loyalty and create additional revenue opportunities. Communiqué PR has been working closely with Alaska Airlines to help build buzz around its inflight Internet initiative. Last spring, we helped the airline launch a trial of its inflight Wi-Fi service which garnered some excellent results with local and national media as well as technology and aviation vertical publications.
On Wed., Feb. 24 the airline announced it would partner with Aircell to offer its Gogo Inflight Internet service on all of Alaska’s aircraft. With Gogo Inflight Internet, Alaska’s passengers will be able to browse the Web; access online music, games, podcasts and webcasts; send and receive e-mail; and connect to virtual private networks (VPN) while flying.
In order to drive awareness around this news, we recommended developing press materials with succinct messages and conducting targeted outreach to national, travel, aviation and technology media and bloggers as well as local media in Alaska’s key markets along the West Coast.
Communiqué partnered with Alaska Airlines and Aircell to conduct joint outreach to national, travel, aviation and technology media and bloggers. Specifically, we were responsible for reaching out to technology media and bloggers to help spark interest in the news. Overall, the launch was a huge success with coverage from Associated Press (which garnered more than 60 picks ups in outlets such as USA Today and MSNBC), Aviation Week, Boarding Area, PC World and Anchorage Daily News to name a few.
As a result of our outreach, we were able to secure coverage in Puget Sound Business Journal, Wireless Week, FierceBroadband Wireless and Informationweek.
The news was also widely tweeted about on Twitter by key media and analysts who cover Alaska Airlines as well as the airlines’ customers.
Have you ever wondered how your company or nonprofit organization is perceived by the broader community? Or maybe you simply want to measure awareness of a particular feature on your new widget before you promote it in your next PR campaign?
These are questions many of our clients ask as they work to make informed decisions about their business and communication strategies. For instance, imagine you have a software solution like PDFill that allows people to more easily and conveniently edit PDFs.
As the vice president of marketing, you are chartered with driving downloads of this software. As you work to create the right awareness, you’re interested in knowing how many people are aware of your product and what they think about its usability.
You decide you want to conduct a perception audit. The trouble is you have limited dollars for this research and cannot afford to hire a prestigious firm to do the work for you…. Well we have some good news to share with you.
A business associate of ours has taken a very innovative approach to market research. He uses Zoomerang to create his surveys and then finds people to take them using Amazon Mechanical Turk (mTurk). For those of you who don’t know, mTurk is a marketplace where workers (people) are waiting to do small, simple tasks on the Web. And, for a small fee, these workers are eager to complete surveys.
Here’s how it works. Each time our associate has a survey he needs completed by a group of people, he submits what is called a hit. Each hit has a tagline, a description of the work that needs to be done, the number of workers needed and the fee to be paid to each worker. Typically, for a survey containing 15 questions, our colleague pays each person $.11 to $.25 for his/her work.
Once the hit is published, workers accept the hit and begin work on their assignment. When the work is complete, they submit for approval. For surveys, our colleague uses a complete code that appears at the end of the survey to verify that the worker has completed the hit.
With this process, our business associate has been able to glean all types of information from all over the country. For a survey completed by 700 people at $.25 per response, he paid just $175.
Clearly, this type of data gathering is not right for everyone (especially if you need a very select demographic to participate), but we thought this was a fabulous idea and look forward to trying it out in the future.
If you live in the Northwest, you probably have seen PEMCO Insurance’s innovative marketing “We’re a Lot Like You” campaign. Maybe you even have a favorite profile, such as socks and sandals guy, the recumbent bike computer, relentless recycler or the Marymoor off-leash dog lady. Have you ever wondered about the history of this campaign?
This week I had the opportunity to hear Rod Brooks, CMO with PEMCO, speak at the Puget Sound American Marketing Association Luncheon. His presentation was terrific because it clearly demonstrated the importance of knowing your customer and positioning. It was also fun to hear Rod talk about how the campaign has been extended from traditional ads to outdoor advertising, social media, PR and more. It is another fabulous example of the power of integrated marketing communications.
Anyway, I selfishly wanted to make sure I captured some of the salient points of Rod’s presentation so I decided to blog about it. Here are some of the highlights:
Before creating its campaign, the insurance company did significant market research. They made their first use of “ethnographic research” and sent folks (trained researchers) out to the homes of customers and potential customers to glean information, study their environments and generally find out what was on their minds. Here is what was learned:
- People in the NW are fiercely independent;
- We are leaders in innovation – Rod joked that in the eyes of our NW neighbors, anything invented that is GOOD probably came from the NW;
- We’re proud – This is evidenced from the above bullet;
- We’re incredibly green – And act as if we invented composting and the whole idea of recycling; and
- We love Main Street. Local trumps large; personal trumps price. Rod explained people in the northwest like to go to our local pet store, even if it costs a bit more than a big chain pet store down the road.
The goal was to connect core Northwest values to PEMCO. PEMCO wanted to own the local market. After all, from a brand positioning perspective, this was a message that the large, national insurance companies would not be able to own. This was important to the overall brand strategy as PEMCO is a challenger brand, which means PEMCO competes with the big boys (and girls) who are all national players and have far greater resources.
As a challenger, Rod explains that PEMCO lacks economies of scale. The company must have well-defined strategies; be highly creative, innovative, resourceful and nimble; and be willing to challenge the establishment – starting with the internal sacred cows that graze inside the organization. Finally, relevant to all of us, PEMCO must capitalize on word of mouth from loyal customers and advocates.
Rod also explained that PEMCO’s overarching business objective is to “sustain profitable growth” and consistently deliver a “world class customer experience” at every touch point. He said that “a perfect storm or convergence of internal forces” has come together at the right time and place to make this goal a reality. They include: 1) The marketing BHAG: to never have to pay for a lead again (they want to grow through referrals); 2) The PEMCO culture: to foster a culture where the company leads with its relationships; and finally, 3) Commitment to hearing and responding to the voice of the customer: to stand in the customers’ shoes each and every time a strategic decision is made. These certainly are lofty goals, but it was important that the campaign helped PEMCO move toward these goals.
In closing, Rod shared how the campaign has been extended from traditional ads to banners on buses, social media and even the WALLY van (a clever acronym for We Are A Lot Like You). The WALLY van provides PEMCO with the opportunity to stay connected with the community by travelling to events around our state. To view Rod’s presentation titled, “Word of Mouth Marketing: Blending Online and Offline Approaches,” click here.
All in all, it was a fabulous presentation. Rod is an inspiration and it was valuable to learn more about the strategies and tactics of this successful brand strategy.
We are happy to announce the release of “Discover Cooking with Lavender,” a cookbook written by Seattle-based author Kathy Gehrt. This book takes readers on a culinary adventure into the world of lavender and features 75 unique recipes spanning seasonings, drinks, savory dishes and sweets.
“Discover Cooking with Lavender” is ideal for seasoned chefs, foodies, and novice cooks, as well as lavender and gardening enthusiasts. It offers readers tips on how to incorporate this exotic herb into simple, fresh and flavorful recipes.
Promoting a book is a huge undertaking. We developed a three-pronged strategy to help Kathy Gehrt and Florentia Press create buzz and drive sales of “Discover Cooking Lavender.” The first is to drive reviews of the book with influential foodie bloggers. Bloggers can often be the “early adopters” for book reviews and other information because they are so passionate about the subject and want to share information with their audience. To date, we’ve secured commitments to review the book from six influential food bloggers.
Second, we developed a press release and sent it to traditional media (both local and national) covering food and gardening to seed feature stories about how to incorporate lavender into everyday cooking. We are currently working with local media to place feature stories on cooking with lavender for publication this spring and summer.
The third strategy is to secure speaking engagements for Kathy to share her passion and tips in- person through in-store author events, book signings and speaking opportunities.
While the book just launched yesterday, below are some early reviews of “Discover Cooking with Lavender;”
To learn more about “Discover Cooking with Lavender” or to purchase a copy of the cookbook, visit Amazon.com or DiscoverLavender.com. You also will be able to find this book in select Made in Washington stores.
As we wrap up a project for Aveso Displays, we want to summarize the results we secured for the company.
Aveso Displays is a developer of printed electronic displays for the credit and security card industry. The company’s solution can be used for one time password (OTP) technology among other things. As you may know, OTP technology is often utilized by large enterprise companies or financial institutions to prevent fraud. To embed OTP on a credit card, manufacturers need flexible display modules which can withstand the hot lamination process used to produce bank cards.
To raise awareness for Aveso, we focused on securing briefings with influential industry analysts and placing contributed articles to position the company as a thought leader in the electronic display market
Specifically, over the course of a three-month project for the company, we secured nine conference calls with top-tier industry analysts at Gartner, Forrester, Frost & Sullivan, IDC, and other leading firms.
These briefings enabled Aveso to establish relationships with key industry analysts following the banking and security industries and gauge their perspective on Aveso’s technology and how it impacts relevant industry trends.
We also placed and wrote three contributed articles in the following publications:
- Electronic Design, “Flexible Display Modules Offer New OTP Options” – October 1, 2009
- ECN Magazine, “Printed Displays Offer New World of Design Opportunities” – February 10, 2010
- Bank Systems & Technology, “Fraud and ID Theft: Are One-Time Password Bank Cards the Answer?” – Feb. 17, 2010
In these articles, Aveso provides insight on how flexible display technology can help increase security and provide new design opportunities for a range of companies.
It was a sincere pleasure working with Aveso Displays as well as the analysts and journalists who expressed interest in understanding how flexible display solutions can be used in products – such as OTP credit cards – to protect banks and consumers from fraud.
We hope to have the opportunity to build on this experience by taking on another PR project for Aveso Displays or other companies working on technology to prevent the illegal access of personal information.