Contact us

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 Rise of Short-term Videos in Marketing

It’s been almost a year since TikTok hit a billion users, and the site’s growth shows no signs of slowing. More recently, HootSuite’s Social Trends 2022 Report finds that TikTok will become the most important social network for marketing. This is partly because TikTok has experienced a 1,157% global user base increase from 2018 to 2020.

In response to TikTok’s growing popularity, other prominent social media sites have released their own short-form video platforms. Facebook introduced “Reels” in September 2021, Instagram came out with “Stories,” and YouTube debuted “Shorts.” While results across these sites have been mixed, YouTube saw a boom of 5 trillion views in January 2022.

How has the popularity of short-term videos affected marketing? According to HubSpot’s 2022 Video Marketing Report, 85% of marketers say that short-form videos are the most effective social media format. The report also found that short-form videos have the highest ROI of any other social media marketing.

All of this makes short-term videos a powerful way to connect with your audience. Here are a few tips to make the most of your short-form video marketing:

  • Authenticity – Creating authentic content can lead to deeper connections with followers. Consumers value genuine and authentic brands and want to support the ones they trust. There have been cases where a company or organization wasn’t fully upfront about their content and faced colossal internet backlash as a result. In late 2021, Kum & Go and influencer Kyle Scheele went viral for a TikTok campaign that was not initially disclosed as an ad. Short-term videos should prize authenticity above all else. Consumers can and will hold brands accountable.
  • Branded Hashtag Challenges – While challenge hashtags are nothing new, they remain an essential tool to promote visibility. TikTok has found that Branded Hashtag Challenges (BHC) garner a 5% median engagement rate compared to <1% with other platforms. For example, Chipotle has had a few successful BHCs on TikTok with the #LidFlipChallenge and #GuacDance. The company currently has over 1.3 million followers on the platform.
  • Be Active – Short-form video trends have rapid lifecycles, so staying current is vital. While viral trends can last for months, most only last a few weeks. If you share videos based on out-of-style trends, viewers will see you as disconnected, and the videos lose their marketing value. Staying current with trends helps content reach a larger audience.

To have a successful short-form video marketing strategy, you don’t need to go viral or have hundreds of thousands of followers. You just need the right followers. The methods above can help your organization gain a foothold in short-term video marketing and grow an audience.

For more information on marketing and social media trends, check out these blog posts:

Read More

The Four R’s: Tips for reusing thought leadership content

It’s no secret that PR professionals spend a great deal of time developing thought leadership opportunities for clients. As a result, we’re often left with an abundance of ideas and content. However, things don’t always go according to plan, and we’re often left with these questions:

  • How do we ensure content reaches the right audiences?
  • How can we capitalize on opportunities available for powerful thought leadership bylines?
  • What should we do when journalists don’t bite on a compelling proactive pitch?

To address questions like these, PR professionals should follow the four R’s – repurpose, reshare, reformat and rethink. These four strategies will help ensure that you maximize developed content and deliver results for your clients.

Repurpose content for other outlets

If you have a client with active blog content, repurposing that content for earned media placements is a great way to reach new audiences. Many outlets accept syndicated content, and there are several benefits to repurposing a client’s content, including enhanced visibility, increased website traffic and a reinforced thought leadership stance.

However, if you choose to syndicate content, it must match the audience of the outlets you pitch. For example, if you secure a placement with a business publication, but your target audience works in human resources, your content won’t reach the right people. As a result, even though you earned a syndicated placement, the content won’t connect with readers, which weakens its impact and the success of the article.

This is why you should always research publications before you pitch as it ensures you’re offering syndicated content to the right places, creating a lasting impact that can improve visibility, audience reach and website traffic.

Reshare thought leadership content as digital newsletters

It’s likely that customers haven’t seen all of a client’s earned media placements. However, it’s still essential that clients maximize the content and offer multiple opportunities for customers to read it. Resharing byline placements in a digital newsletter is an excellent way for already-developed content to reach new eyes.

Newsletters can be a powerful content-sharing source. Eighty-one percent of B2B marketers say their most-used form of content marketing is email newsletters, as the content is delivered directly to customers. However, clients should ensure they’re strategic with their newsletters. Recent research shows audiences are more likely to open emails and click through if they receive fewer than five newsletters a week.

By leveraging newsletters, clients can reinforce thought leadership positioning and strengthen relationships with current customers who may not be active on other platforms like social media or blogs.

Reformat content for social media

If you’re struggling to come up with creative social media copy and content ideas, revisiting already-developed content is a great place to start. By leveraging previous articles, blogs and newsletters, PR professionals can save time typically spent brainstorming social media concepts. In fact, 82% of social media marketers say they reuse content across social media channels.

For example:

  • Twitter: Turn a thought leadership idea from a pitch or article into a thoughtful tweet. This will not only strengthen a company’s position on a specific topic, but it will reinforce the client as an industry thought leader in an easily digestible and shareable way. Don’t forget to throw in a compelling hashtag, as tweets with hashtags get 100% more engagement!
  • Facebook: Turn a list of thought-provoking findings from an already-developed article or pitch into a Facebook post. This will help boost engagement and replies on the platform while providing followers with content they may have missed.
  • TikTok and Instagram: Take an article, blog post or proactive pitch and develop a TikTok or Instagram video that highlights the main findings. For example, PR professionals can research the latest viral dance trends and incorporate the most critical points from a thought leadership piece into a routine. This allows companies to reach a broader audience and create a new way for followers to engage with content.

Rethink proactive pitches as thought leadership content

According to a recent survey, 48% of journalists receive between 1-5 pitches daily, and 13% get over 20 per day. As a result, proactive pitching doesn’t always get the responses you were aiming for. However, PR professionals shouldn’t get discouraged or simply move on. Instead, get creative. In what other ways might the content elevate the client?

A staggering 71% of industry decision-makers say that less than half of the thought leadership content they consume gives them valuable insights. This leaves a significant gap that PR professionals can fill with compelling, already-developed content and ideas.

If a proactive pitch campaign isn’t delivering the anticipated results, consider developing the pitch into an article for the client’s website, blog, social media and newsletters. The valuable information is still shared with target audiences and industry decision-makers, reinforcing the client’s stance as an influential thought leader in their respected industry.

This is important: 65% of audiences say thought leadership significantly improved their perception of a company. So, the next time a proactive pitch campaign doesn’t go as planned, consider how the content can be repackaged to position your client as an influential thought leader.

The four R’s

These are just a few ways PR professionals can capitalize on already-developed content and deliver results for clients. When campaigns don’t go as planned or you’re up to your ears in content, just remember the four R’s – repurpose, reshare, reformat and rethink – and put together a strategy that supports a client’s goals and reinforces them as a powerful industry thought leader.

Read More

Communiqué PR Extends its Reach to Japan Through the Public Relations Network with the Addition of Tokyo-based PR Agency, Custom Media

The Public Relations Network (PRN) recently welcomed Tokyo-based Custom Media into its network of international PR agencies. Communiqué PR has been a member of PRN for 10 years. During that time its clients have benefited from in-country PR expertise around the world. We are thrilled to now have a top-notch PR team in Japan we can partner with on behalf of our clients.

Custom Media is an award-winning bilingual, digital integrated marketing, content-creation and strategic communications agency that offers its services to clients that range from luxury real estate and major hotels in Japan to prominent consumer brands, educational institutions and B2B SaaS companies.

Over the past years, Communique PR has worked with PRN member agencies on behalf of a number of clients including BitTitan, Delta-Q, Interroll and others. It has been valuable and cost-effective for our clients to have access to like-minded, boutique firms in specific countries to help execute one-off projects or ongoing campaigns.

Given the importance of the Japanese market for many of our clients, we are excited Custom Media CEO Robert Heldt, and his experienced team of PR and marketing professionals are now part of PRN.

Read more about it on PRN’s blog here: Tokyo-based PR agency, Custom Media, joins Public Relations Network.

Read More

Acumatica Sponsors Distinguished NASCAR Team

Image provided by Acumatica/Joe Gibbs Racing

Recently, our client Acumatica announced it was headed back to the race track through another sponsorship. The cloud ERP provider sponsored Joe Gibbs Racing‘s (JGR) No. 11 Toyota Camry TRD, piloted by Denny Hamlin in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 11.

JGR is a top-performing American professional stock car racing organization that has amassed five Cup Series championships since 2000. Throughout the 2022 season, JGR has established itself as an elite NASCAR racing team, with three drivers qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Hamlin’s list of career accomplishments is impressive, placing him among the sport’s greatest drivers of all time. He is a three-time Daytona 500 winner, 48-time Cup Series winner, and 15-time NASCAR Playoffs qualifier. Hamlin earned the title of Rookie of the Year in 2006 and is the longest-tenured driver at JGR.

Of the sponsorship, Acumatica CEO John Case said, “We’re honored to be associated with championship teams like Joe Gibbs Racing and prominent drivers like Denny Hamlin, who are known for their impressive performances on the racetrack. Performance is a value that’s central to our mission. We empower businesses with our high-performance solutions that adapt to today’s evolving market demands. Our sponsorship allows us to connect NASCAR’s fan base with competitive, cutting-edge technologies.”

Joe Gibbs, owner of JGR, said Acumatica is “an ideal sponsor for JGR given our shared commitment to performance and teamwork. We look forward to having them join us in Kansas and building what will surely become a winning relationship.”

See the full announcement here: Acumatica Sponsors Distinguished NASCAR Team in its Race to the Finish Line at Kansas Speedway

The exciting announcement has resulted the below coverage and social media buzz.

Congrats to the Acumatica team for this exciting announcement and to Denny Hamlin on the second-place finish!

Editorial Coverage

Social Media Buzz

Read More

Achieving Greatness Through Empathy

Insights from Greg Hoffman’s “Emotion by Design: Creative Leadership Lessons from a Life at Nike”

There is no corporate branding more recognizable than Nike’s. The iconic swoosh. “Just Do It.” The eye-catching orange boxes. For decades, Nike has led the way in innovative consumer marketing. Highlights include:

  • Michael Jordan’s “Wings” poster, showcasing the superstar’s impressive wingspan
  • Colin Kaepernick’s “Believe in Something” ad, addressing Kaepernick’s sacrifices for civil rights
  • The “Find Your Greatness” campaign, proving that everyone is capable of greatness

How does Nike do it? What goes into developing these unforgettable marketing campaigns? That’s what former Chief Marketing Officer Greg Hoffman sets out to answer in his book, “Emotion by Design: Creative Leadership Lessons from a Life at Nike.”

Marketing may seem like a different ball game than public relations, but Hoffman’s book provides lessons for all communicators. Everyone is capable of greatness, and everyone is capable of creativity.

“Emotion by Design” delves into Hoffman’s journey at Nike and the insight he gained developing initiatives such as “The Last Game,” “Crossbar” and “The Man Who Kept Running.” If you haven’t seen these, I recommend you head to YouTube ASAP.

Hoffman’s central message is that we are all capable of using creativity and empathy to forge meaningful relationships with our audiences. According to Hoffman, “a brand gains a competitive advantage through its ability to construct powerful emotional bonds with its consumers.”

While I wish I could discuss the entire book in detail, I’ll have to settle for sharing seven key takeaways from Hoffman’s “playbook for unleashing creativity.”

1: Creativity is a Team Sport

No one can go it alone. Even athletes like Serena Williams and Tiger Woods have teams of people helping them succeed. Organizations should collaborate with a diverse range of voices to create meaningful messaging. Communicators, too, should seek new experiences to understand the world.

2: Never Play it Safe, Play to Win

Taking risks is vital. While the status quo may keep things straightforward, taking “big, innovative swings” in the idea department is how you lead the pack. Develop a working environment that fosters creativity and free-thinking, and you’ll be surprised at what your team can develop.

3: Game Face for Greatness

Consistent branding allows organizations to remain salient to stakeholders. Organizations and the people who communicate for them should focus on creating strong, stylistic and layered branding to draw in audiences and keep them hooked. Not everyone can have the global recognizability of “Just Do It,” but your target audience should know who you are and what you stand for.

4: Dare to be Remembered

Communicate authentically and openly. Audiences want to feel connected to an organization, and we can do that by sharing ourselves in our communications. Be relatable. Listen to your stakeholders. When an organization has a deep understanding of the lives of its customers, it is better able to serve them. Hoffman says, “worry less about how people feel about us and more about how we make them feel about themselves.”

5: Don’t Chase Cool

In a media landscape ruled by a constant stream of TikTok trends, be an individual. Hold tight to what makes your organization unique, then find ways to merge your message with “cultural currents” like art, music and even sports. A successful organization can remain relevant in the face of changing culture while also staying authentic.

6: Spark a Movement

Be “audacious” in the pursuit of communicating with stakeholders. You don’t need to be at the forefront of a social justice initiative to create a movement. You can listen to stakeholders and give them a sense of community and empowerment. We all want to be part of something bigger.

7: Close the Distance

Prepare to be uncomfortable. Organizations should take time to understand their stakeholders and their needs. Ask questions, listen to feedback and improve. Serving your stakeholders means including them in decisions. Organizations should also empower workers to provide diverse perspectives during decision making. Bringing together the perspectives of employees and customers allows an organization to communicate a more well-rounded message.

Hoffman’s book is a must-read for all creatives, from public relations to graphic design. Not only do you get a glimpse into the inner workings of Nike’s marketing operations (like how they got Kevin Hart on a treadmill in the middle of LA traffic), but you also get to learn how to merge empathy and creativity into your work environment. Once you and your team can do this, the possibilities for greatness are unlimited.

Read More