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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.

SWOT Analysis Unpacked: How to Strategize for Better Business Outcomes

One of the most useful strategic-planning tools for any business is conducting a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis. This technique is used to guide planning and decision making by identifying four key components that factor into meeting your business objectives. A foundational element of our strategic planning at Communiqué PR is to consider a business’s brand positioning and the overall environment in which the business is doing business.

Conducting a SWOT analysis is advantageous for many reasons. It can guide any business decision large or small, whether you’re introducing a new process for employee onboarding or managing finances and physical resources.

Identifying the four elements of a SWOT analysis is only the beginning – the real value lies within addressing your SWOT analysis findings to strengthen your business. Before Communiqué welcomes new clients, we research and speak with the business to determine where their business is at in whole, using some of the questions below as a framework to obtain deeper and more meaningful insights. For example, we may ask, “What publication would you like to see your business in?” This question addresses the opportunism that lies ahead.

Here are a few example questions to guide the development of a SWOT analysis:

Strengths and Weaknesses. You’ll want to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the business or brand in the marketplace. Please note, these should focus on the internal business or brand and not the market conditions. Here are some example questions to identify business strengths and weaknesses:

  • Where is your business most proficient?
  • What driving factor(s) result in making sales or generating new business?
  • What is the strongest product or service your business offers?
  • What are the sales figures and profit margins of your business’s key brands?
  • What is your product’s positioning and how does it resonate with key audiences?
  • Where do you need improvement most?
  • Where are you lacking growth?
  • In what areas have you experienced failure? What led to it?

Opportunities and Threats. Considering both opportunities and threats is crucial to a business’s long-term success. Both of these elements are external and represent ways your business will be impacted by market conditions. Some examples of questions to ask when identifying business opportunities and threats are:

  • What is the market health?
  • What are the industry’s trends?
  • How is your cash flow and how can it be improved?
  • What events, speaking opportunities and awards can you take advantage of to boost your presence?
  • What is the status of your competitor’s products or services?
  • Are there forecast shifts in consumer behavior, governmental regulations and the economy?
  • Will supplier costs eventually increase?
  • Is emerging technology changing how customers or clients interact with your business?

Working toward a PR major at Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, Wash., I took marketing courses where we frequently conduct SWOT analyses for projects. By doing this, we better understood how businesses achieved better results.

One of these projects included creating a PR campaign and SWOT analysis for a local non-profit business, Backyard Harvest – they work to provide fresh produce to the communities in the Palouse and Lewis-Clark Valley. Two outcomes our class procured by doing this were:

  1. Launching a discussion focused on improving the non-profit business.
  2. Developing materials that would likely increase the number of volunteers among WSU and University of Idaho students.

In any industry, and especially as PR professionals, it is important to conduct a SWOT analysis, as it  enables professionals to develop a plan that leverages their business’s strengths and capitalizes on broader market conditions. Most importantly, SWOT analyses allow companies to implement the appropriate strategies to achieve key business and communication goals.

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What PR Professionals Should Know About Satellite Radio

Every morning as I slog my way through Seattle traffic, I am thankful I have satellite radio. Like many other commuters, I enjoy listening to my own collection of music and podcasts. However, my least favorite morning ritual is the task of organizing playlists and picking songs on my hour-long drive to work.

With the turn of a dial I have access to professionally curated music stations, exclusive interviews and informative talk shows—a few of the many reasons I appreciate my satellite radio subscription. As a consumer I recognize satellite radio as a quality service, but as someone working in the PR industry, I can see that this platform offers more than just entertainment on my drive to work.

For background, SiriusXM, the lone satellite radio provider in the U.S., is the result of a 2008 merger between the nation’s only two satellite radio companies XM and Sirius satellite radio. Listeners can stream content through select car stereo systems as well as certain platforms such as LG Smart TVs, Amazon Alexa and the Sonos One Bluetooth speaker. Additionally, users can stream SiriusXM on devices through their web browser and the SiriusXM app.

With over 65.4 million listeners, a full year income growth of 81 percent in 2018, and its recent acquisition of Pandora Media, SiriusXM is a serious force to be reckoned with and a leader in the broadcast space. Additionally, these numbers show that SiriusXM influences many consumers, and therefore, why savvy PR professionals should consider using SiriusXM to their advantage for potential interview placements on behalf of clients.

SiriusXM subscribers can pick from genre-specific channels, which are frequently hosted by celebrities and famous radio personalities. Many of these shows and stations are unavailable on any other platform allowing SiriusXM provide niche content to listeners. PR pros should know that these audiences can be influenced by strategic messages, when the information is presented in the right way, and therefore consider SiriusXM when brainstorming for communication mediums to place messages.

If you know the demographics of your audience, you can likely figure out which programs would be a good fit for your messaging. For example, let’s say you work with a billboard company that sells signage to small business owners, and you’re tasked with getting your brand in front of this audience. According to a 2017 State of Entrepreneurship study, your target demographic identifies as male around the age of 50-59. Genres that appeal to this demographic include News programs, Classic hits, and Adult standards.  After some research, you’ve identified satellite stations like NPR Now and RadioClassics, which according to their preferences, should be of interest to this audience. Once the process is complete you ought to have a clearer sense of where and how you can effectively reach this group.

With this targeting strategy in mind, we recently arranged an interview for Sue Johansen, vice president of partner services with A Place for Mom and SiriusXM Canada’s Bruce Sellery of “Moolala: Money Made Simple.” This show is aimed at individuals, business leaders and investors looking to make sound financial decisions, as suggested by experts.

During her interview, Sue shared her expertise on themed retirement communities including places that cater to pet owners; communities that are affiliated with universities; and technology-oriented communities that offer iPads for ordering food and virtual reality theatres. After talking about the themed communities Sue shared some of the benefits of working with A Place for Mom to find housing or care for a senior loved one.

The opportunity to participate in an interview or sponsored segment can be very valuable in building thought leadership and brand credibility. Further, securing these opportunities with a station with a prominent following allows you to increase awareness around your company or service through engaging content.

Satellite radio can be a powerful PR tool; however, prior to booking interviews with station producers, make sure to do your homework. It’s a good practice to ensure you are targeting the right station and have a firm understanding of what content the station’s listeners like to hear. Targeting a specific audience while also establishing your client as a thought leader is a twofold approach that can cement your brand and provide unique prospects for exposure.

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HNTB’s Work on One Smart Tunnel

On Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) opened the new SR 99 Tunnel, which was designed by our client HNTB Corporation. It was a historic achievement for our city as the tunnel is more than 2 miles and provides drivers with state-of-the-art safety features, making it one of the safest tunnels in the world.

Brian Russell, project lead with HNTB, talked with a number of journalists about some of these features, which include a design built to withstand and remain water tight after a 9.0 earthquake, an escape corridor for motorists in the rare event of an emergency event, and advanced ventilation and fire suppression systems. In addition, there is an ability for tunnel operators to monitor the SR 99 tunnel 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

HNTB was also a sponsor of the Tunnel to Viaduct 8K Run/Walk, which provided thousands of Seattleites with the opportunity to preview the tunnel and say goodbye to the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which was built in the 1950s. Runners and walkers headed south on the tunnel’s upper deck and returned to the Seattle Center on the lower deck of the viaduct before entering the old Battery Street Tunnel and finishing the event.

In conjunction with the opening of the tunnel, Communiqué PR scheduled and facilitated interviews with Brian Russell and many of our local reporters. Below is a summary of the articles that resulted from these interviews.

1. Curbed, A Quick Guide to Seattle’s brand-new SR-99 tunnel, originally published, Jan. 31 but updated on Feb. 19, 2019

2. KOMO-TV News at 6 p.m., Seattle Squeeze: Tunnel Countdown, Feb. 1, 2019

3. KOMO-TV News at 4 p.m., Seattle Squeeze: Tunnel Countdown, Feb. 1, 2019

4. KOMO-TV Online News, How to stay prepared in the case of emergencies in the new SR-99 tunnel, Feb. 1, 2019

5. Seattle Business magazine, Here’s Why Seattle’s New SR 99 Tunnel Has no Downtown Exits, and Other Facts You May Not Know, Feb. 1, 2019

6. KIRO Radio, Feb. 1, 2019 – Jillian Raftery did an in-studio interview and Brian’s comments were shared on numerous broadcasts over the weekend.

7. Q13-TV, Mike McCarty interviewed Brian Russell. Coverage aired on Feb. 1.

8. Q13-TV, Colby Murdock did a live shot with Brian Russell.

9. KING 5-TV Weekend Morning News, Tunnel to Viaduct 8k Run/Walk, Feb. 2, 2019 – Live interview with Joyce Taylor and Steve Bunin

10.   The Seattle Times, From fire sprinklers to surveillance cameras, the Highway 99 tunnel is loaded with safety features, Feb. 3, 2019

11. Emergency Management, From fire sprinklers to surveillance cameras, the Highway 99 tunnel is loaded with safety features, Feb. 3, 2019

Congratulations to the entire HNTB team, WSDOT, our local government officials, and local taxpayers for coming together to ensure we have one of the safest tunnels in the world. This infrastructure is making it easier and more efficient to get around our beautiful city.

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From Seattle’s Tech Hub, BitTitan Drives Thought Leadership Among Industry Titans

When surveying Seattle’s tech landscape, the view can be both dizzying with opportunity and daunting with intimidation, as the list of industry titans is extensive and robust.

There are, of course, tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google. There are also countless ambitious and innovative startups with which to fend, such as Blue Origin, Moz, WhitePages and Zipwhip.

Surrounded by such strong competition, it can be easy for bootstrappers to fall by the wayside and get lost in the mix. Yet one former bootstrapper found a way to not only contend with the industry heavy-hitters but become its own market leader.

BitTitan, which specializes in cloud-migration services for managed service providers (MSPs) and IT professionals, is in its 12th year of operation. What began in CEO Geeman Yip’s basement has now grown into a multimillion-dollar company of roughly 200 employees. Its SaaS solution, MigrationWiz, has helped MSPs and IT pros move mailbox, document and public folders to the cloud for over 13 million end-users in 187 countries around the globe. Its IT services automation and management platform, MSPComplete, allows IT pros to streamline their service-delivery needs through one-click automation.

Few players in the cloud market have managed to offer such effective solutions in both the areas of migration and automation — yet BitTitan has tackled both. Its work led to BitTitan being deemed the Pacific Northwest’s “Next Tech Titan” by GeekWire in 2017 and recognized by the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce as its “Eastside Business of the Year” in 2018. Since October 2018, BitTitan has teamed with Communiqué PR to tell its story, share its expertise and release its latest developments.

In the last six months, BitTitan has strategically shared its market insight by contributing content and thought leadership pieces to trade publications across the tech and IT industry. Working with Communiqué PR from October through December of 2018, BitTitan was either published or received coverage 28 times in 21 different publications. In the first three months of 2019, BitTitan has either contributed content or received coverage 29 times in 27 publications.

Some notable contributions include Mark Kirstein contributing seven articles on cloud-migration predictions and trends to six publications, as well as BitTitan director of IT Brian Wilson contributing his article “Security Measures to Consider When Migrating to the Cloud” to Ping! Zine magazine. You can find links to these and other articles below:

2019 Predictions and Trends

Exec News and Features

Migration and Security

The results are encouraging, but the work is not done. BitTitan continues to innovate and find new and effective ways to help its customers migrate to the cloud. There is plenty more to come – stay tuned.

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Spaceflight Made History With Record-Breaking Launch

At the end of last year, our client Spaceflight, the leading mission management and launch service provider, launched the largest number of satellites ever from a U.S.-based launch vehicle – a historic achievement that was years in the making.

The first-of-its-kind mission, named SSO-A for the orbit it was launching to, was dedicated to smallsats. Onboard were 64 smallsats from 34 organizations with varying missions representing 17 different countries. It included satellites from commercial organizations tasked to take images of the Earth, spacecraft from universities conducting research on orbit, payloads serving as art displays, and even a satellite built by middle-school students designed to test bacteria in the conditions of space. (Spaceflight shared more about their customers here.)

Successfully launching 64 satellites is no easy task. Not only did the team need to meticulously address each satellite’s needs, they also had to orchestrate a complex integration process and develop a deployment sequence that would enable each satellite to deploy on orbit. On Dec. 3, 2018, Spaceflight executed its historic mission successfully.

In order to promote this incredible accomplishment, Communiqué PR and Spaceflight’s marketing team began building momentum around the launch in August 2018, distributing a press release that provided facts and stats about the mission and customers onboard. This helped set the stage and provide the media foundational information about the launch.

As the mission approached, we scheduled and hosted a press tour to meet with prominent reporters who we believed would be interested in learning more about this mission. We viewed the in-person meetings as an opportunity to brief the reporters on how Spaceflight makes space more accessible, as well as explain how what this mission meant to the industry. We stopped in Washington D.C., New York and San Francisco to meet with reporters from The New York Times, CNN, CNBC, Quartz and more. Additionally, we hosted phone calls with many reporters who were unavailable during the times we were in town.

Finally, we distributed a press release following the launch confirming its success and emphasizing Spaceflight’s role in the mission. Not surprisingly, due to the mission’s impact on the industry and its significance, there was substantial coverage about its success. Below, we’ve included a handful of articles that resulted from the mission and its promotion.

Spaceflight SSO-A Coverage

Congratulations to the entire Spaceflight team!

Image by: Spaceflight Industries
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Media Q&A: Rob Smith, Seattle Business Magazine

The Communiqué PR staff recently had the opportunity to sit down with Seattle Business Magazine’s new Editor-in-Chief, Rob Smith, to discuss his vision for the magazine. Smith has overseen several prominent business publications in the Pacific Northwest. We look forward to what his dynamic leadership style, and his depth of regional business knowledge, will bring to the magazine.

1) What is your vision for Seattle Business magazine?
While I want to honor the stronghold Seattle Business Magazine has in the community, I am also looking forward to the future. I think there is an opportunity to emphasize the factors that are influencing growth in our region. For example, magazine coverage of Seattle Center Arena’s development, and its influence on lower Queen Anne, can demonstrate the business community’s impact on real estate growth.

2) What do you look for in a story?
I think the most interesting part of business reporting is the “why.” For me, it’s all about the impacts of the “why?”

3) What is your favorite thing about your job?
I have the license to meet and talk to interesting people. I get paid to be nosy. It is that simple.

4) What are your go-to news outlets?
CNN and Quartz. I also love how the Wall Street Journal breaks down a story; there’s a definite philosophy and pattern to the writing and reporting. Forbes is also one of my favorite business publications.

5) Number of unread emails right now?
6,000+

Bonus tip: pithy subject lines that are specific, relevant and regional help break through the noise.

6) Are there any work rituals that are critical to your success?
In my experience, it’s key to establish a balance between daily tasks and long-term goals. One way I do this is by writing down what I must accomplish daily while also keeping a list of bigger-picture goals handy. It keeps me focused on day-to-day activities and provides the structure to carve out time for more complex projects that advance our overarching business strategy.

7) What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
My father was a banking executive and passed on some sage advice that I try to embody: “Instead of worrying about all the things you could worry about during the week, write down what is bothering you right now and stick it in a drawer. On Friday afternoon take a look, and you’ll see that most of the things you worried about on Monday don’t even matter by the end of the week.”

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