Posts Tagged‘PR’

April 2, 2015

Nowhere to Park? Share the Ride.

Successful PR campaigns involve plenty of strategizing, planning and detailed tracking. They also require something many city drivers know a lot about: being in the right place at the right time. Zipcar is just such an example.

During a winter when many cities in the northeast were hammered with snow, urbanites behind the wheel were left with fewer and fewer choices for parking; and those who were lucky enough to find spots weren’t giving them up easily.

Boston was especially hard hit. In a city where “space savers” are very much a part of urban culture – chairs, floor lamps, Elvis busts, whatever keeps a spot reserved for the person who spent hours shoveling it out – this winter brought out the abominable snowman in everyone. By late February, city officials announced that the Boston DPW would be removing space savers, upping the already heated war on parking spots.

Enter Zipcar.

The ride sharing service recently announced a planned increase in its Boston fleet, a move triggered by a new initiative called DriveBoston, whose aim is to promote ride sharing. As part of the DriveBoston plan, the city has pledged to make over 200 parking permits available for ride sharing companies.

In a surprising turn, Car2Go did not submit a bid for the spots. As the largest free-floating car service business in the country, they were expected to jump into the mix. Their absence leaves plenty of room for Boston-based Zipcar, who is currently positioned to take the majority of the permits. Bid winners will be formally announced this summer.

Which means that by next winter, frustrated drivers in Boston may see a significant drop in the number of available parking spots. Not great PR for the city. But, those urbanites who embrace the ride share movement will have a clear choice laid out for them – Zipcar. The PR playing field is wide open for them. One might even go so far as to say they have a space saved.

We are going to keep watch on Zipcar in Boston between this spring and next winter to see how they utilize this key PR opportunity. Studying the moves of creative companies within unique scenarios can provide lessons we can all use as we work to promote our businesses.

Getting a parking spot in any city during the winter takes patience, vigilance, a keen eye, and the instinct to strike when you find yourself in the right place at the right time. In that sense, it is not unlike PR. To find your best opportunities, it can help to have many eyes surveying the landscape. When running a business leaves you with less time than you’d like to keep watch, that’s where we come in. Let us keep the pulse of your target market so that when the next spot opens, it’s yours.

-BML

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March 25, 2015

Do We Have to RaceTogether? Or Can We Just Drink Coffee?

As I write this, I am sitting in my local Starbucks. It’s a typical morning, and the usual suspects are here. Older intellectuals debating local politics, parents with toddlers discussing the best spot for swim lessons, and workers typing away on laptops in their office away from office. Everyone is doing their thing.

You know what they’re not doing? Discussing race relations.

Shocking, considering that just last week the Starbucks company decided that was exactly what we were going to talk about. By teasing with a full page ad in the New York Times, touting online, and scrawling a hashtag on cups, Starbucks – in partnership with USA Today – launched its Race Together campaign with high hopes.

So far the response has been less than grande.102512229-Race_Together_[4].530x298

In theory, the Race Together campaign was going to represent the company’s active participation in a national discussion on race relations, a hot button topic which has been enflamed by events from Staten Island to Ferguson to Oakland. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting last week that the initiative’s intention was pure, driven by the need for publicly held companies to step up on such issues. Shultz’s presentation was echoed by musical artist Common and punctuated by finale performance of “Hallelujah” by Jennifer Hudson.

Critics, however, called foul on a company they said was obviously using racial tensions to draw attention and increase the bottom line. Others pointed to a blatant attempt to increase cultural relevance – just another shot fired in the ultra-competitive specialty coffee wars. In 4,700 Starbucks locations across the country, baristas are being encouraged to talk to customers about race relations, but details remain sketchy as to what type of training was provided them in preparation.

On social media, the backlash has been brutal. Video parodies of baristas talking to customers have already popped up, and the company’s vice president of global communications reportedly chose to temporarily delete his Twitter account to dodge the negative onslaught. Customers aren’t just rejecting the campaign, they are turning the spotlight on the company itself, and in some cases, its competition:

RockPrincess ‏@Rockprincess818:  Why doesn’t CEO Schultz have many Starbucks in inner city communities…Typical liberal hypocrite always blaming someone else.

James Parkley ‏@jnarls: Starbucks: Nothing Says #RaceTogether Like Only Hiring 3 People of Color Out of 19 Executives.

ConservativeBlackMan ‏@Thomasismyuncle: Stopped at Dunkin Donuts this morning, got my coffee and a croissant sandwich and no lecture on my victimhood… so winning!

 What went wrong?

Starbucks has never shied away from hot issues. In October 2013, Schultz introduced a petition during the government shutdown to push Congress to pass a budget deal. That same year, in response to gun rallies, the company placed print ads urging patrons to keep their firearms out of stores. They have also shown open support for veterans and for marriage equality.

But here’s the difference.

Those efforts were put forth by the company as a whole, and didn’t directly impact the customer experience. If, as a customer, you feel strongly about Shultz’s stance on a given topic, you were welcome to simply take your business elsewhere. Skip Starbucks in favor of a competing store, post about it on social media, say your peace and move on. Conversely, studies show that consumers are increasingly drawn to businesses who support social causes on a corporate level, which makes walking through the door enough of a statement for most.

By taking the Race Together campaign to the boots on the ground level, pushing baristas and customers into a blind date of conversation, Starbucks introduced an aggressive element which has been unappreciated, to say the least. One business consultant quoted in the New York Times put it best, saying that “the effort [clashes] with consumer’s wishes – to order, wait silently, and leave the shop within minutes.”

The Race Together story represents basic key considerations for any PR campaign aimed at starting a conversation:

  • Know why your customers choose you and figure out how you can serve that key demographic, bringing in cause related messaging in ways that make sense.
  • Decide in advance what your company’s stance will be. Backing a cause is acceptable and even beneficial at times in helping a brand grow, but associating afterwards puts consumers in an unexpected partnership and can backfire.
  • Know where the line of polite conversation ends and the risk of controversy begins. Decide which side of that line your company should be on.

Starbucks makes good coffee, offers a variety of products to suit any taste, and creates a comfortable environment conducive to working, socializing, or simply killing time. Dive into a race relations discussion, prompted by a hashtag scrawled on my cup? No thanks. As PBS NewsHour co-anchor Gwen Ifill wrote in a tweet, “Honest to God, if you start to engage me in a race conversation before I’ve had my morning coffee, it will not end well.”

There is no arguing the fact that Starbucks started a conversation. But, like someone who ordered a latte and was served a frappucino, it was not the one they wanted.

If you are thinking of what strategies might work best for your own PR campaign, we would love to help. Together, we can conceptualize, target, and craft your message to benefit your customer base and your bottom line in a synergistic way. Give us a call at (203) 762-8833 so we can start our own conversation.

– BML

 

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March 5, 2015

Red Carpet Critique? Not This Year, Ladies

Some call it the movie-lovers’ Super Bowl. Crowds gather and eyeballs are glued as the pre-game, the Red Carpet, precedes the main event: The Academy Awards.

Each year, nominated films are evaluated, actors are rated for their performances, and everyone behind the scenes is up for recognition of one kind or another. This year, we saw the likes of Julianne Moore, Patricia Arquette, and Reese Witherspoon take to the stage as winners and nominees.

We also got an earful about what they were wearing.

It’s become commonplace as another type of judgment has grown in prevalence over the years – that of the attendees’ gowns, body shapes, hairstyles, and every other physical aspect viewable on millions of televisions around the world.

Entire programs are now devoted to watching the celebrities walk the carpet, solely so that their outfits can be critiqued. Pseudo-celebrity hosts of these shows have made a name for themselves by being as cutting as possible, passing it off as humor.

On Oscar night, however, you may have noticed a shift in the tide, at least in the Twittersphere.

In an effort to highlight – and reverse – the negativity which surrounds such flashy events, Dove launched a campaign called #SpeakBeautiful in conjunction with Twitter. Based on a recent Twitter survey which reported that four out of five negative tweets posted about beauty and body image were women putting themselves down, the two companies designed a tool which would identify posts on related topics during Oscar night and immediately respond to them with something positive, written by self-esteem experts who were manning the company’s Twitter account.

In addition, an impactful spot ran, showing a series of white domino tiles, each with an actual negative body image quote. A blue Dove tile, showing the tweet “You are Beautiful,” then hits the first, sending them all falling. A shocking statistic is shared as well: last year alone, women sent over 5 million negative tweets about beauty and body image. The spot ends with the hashtag #SpeakBeautiful.

speakbeautiful

 

By combining a rivetingly simple video with a social media campaign directly targeted at a perfectly matched television event, Dove and Twitter came at their message from all sides, not just conveying it, but insisting that it be heard. Response was remarkable.

When putting a message out into the social media landscape, method and timing are as important as the words you choose. We would love the opportunity to figure out how to best conceptualize, target, and craft your own multichannel social media campaign. Like Dove and Twitter, our partnership could have a very real opportunity to make an impact in an otherwise noisy landscape. Let’s talk!

– BML

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February 20, 2015

Nationwide’s Big Game “Buzzkill”…But Did You Talk About It?

When viewers tune in for Super Bowl ads – because let’s face it, if your team isn’t on the field, they can be the highlight – the expectation is that they will be funny, witty, or fabulously produced. Each one will leave us laughing, quoting them on social media, or expounding on the cool factor. This year, many spots fit into these categories.

Then there was the Nationwide ad.

No doubt you’ve seen it by now, or read a detailed description of the ad, titled “Make Safe Happen.” A young boy is shown, with a voiceover detailing all of the things he won’t experience from youth through adulthood; he then tell us he won’t do these things because he died in an accident and couldn’t grow up.

Reaction to the ad was immediate and predominantly negative. The festive Super Bowl atmosphere, some said, was punctured by the ad’s “super-depressing” tone and message. Critical posts continued into the post-game work week.

According to Nationwide, the spot was not meant to sell insurance at all, but to be a conversation starter. The company’s Chief Marketing Officer, Matt Jauchius, took that one step further by telling Time.com, “We were trying to save kids’ lives by making people aware of this.”

So, despite the negative backlash, if the ad was meant to start a conversation, and to raise awareness around common household dangers to children, didn’t it hit the mark rather squarely?

“I spent all day Monday reacting to the social media onslaught,” says Alison Jacobson, founder of Safety Mom and a paid spokesperson for the Make Safe Happen campaign. “By Tuesday, however, the tide was definitely turning as people engaged on both sides of the conversation.”

There is an old saying that no PR is bad PR, and that can sometimes be up for debate. In many cases, “bad” PR is unexpected and then reacted to through spinning the story. In the case of Nationwide, however, viewer response wasn’t thrust upon them, it was invited. Some would argue even orchestrated. A negative reaction to a “conversation starter” isn’t always backlash after all; it is exactly what it was meant to be.

In today’s interactive world, anticipated response must be weighed as much as the initiating messages being sent out. Projecting how viewers – or readers, or customers – will likely react is part of being prepared with the right answers. Particularly in the social media world, reaction is voluminous and immediate. It’s all part of the equation.

Mapping out your messaging, and planning out responsive measures, are key to building PR campaigns which fit your brand. If you are ready to strategize the best communication strategies for your business, we are ready to lend our expertise and support your success. We’d love to hear from you.

– BML

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January 30, 2015

Uber’s MADD Hail Mary Pass

Uber-MADD-Football-700x300Like an action packed highlight reel, the momentum leading up to Sunday’s Super Bowl is seen in glimpses everywhere. Social media posts, headlines, party recipes, predictions… But did you know that it is also one of the nation’s deadliest days for drunk-driving?

According to MADD – Mothers Against Drunk Driving – 47 people were killed in drunk-driving related accidents on Super Bowl Sunday in 2012, a jump of more than 60% over the normal daily average of 28. If only some of these drivers had had options for getting themselves or their fellow football fans home.

Enter Uber.

The app-based transportation network and company first announced a partnership with MADD this past July, and has stepped it up in preparation for the upcoming Super Bowl by jointly launching the ThinkAndRide campaign. On Sunday, between 3:00 p.m. and midnight, Uber will donate $1 to MADD for every trip taken via their service. Riders need only enter the ThinkAndRide code.

Along with MADD, Uber is pulling out all of the PR stops to promote the campaign. Just days ago, the partners released a report connecting Uber services with a drop in auto accidents over the last three years in California, where the company is based. In addition, the Benenson Strategy Group contributed to the report, providing impressive results from a consumer survey measuring attitudes toward ride sharing services as a means to prevent drunk-driving. Uber and MADD held a joint press conference to present the findings and to promote the ThinkAndRide campaign, following it up with a major social media push on both.

At face value, the partnership between Uber and MADD seems a perfect match, accelerating at the perfect speed to gain optimum attention. To skeptics, however, that’s just the point.

In November 2014, Uber came under fire from more than one direction, facing allegations ranging from regulatory complaints to reports of passengers being assaulted by their drivers. To cap it off, one company executive suggested – during a sponsored event open to journalists – that critical reviews of the company might warrant tracking the rides of those writers and finding information to use against them.

Clearly the relationship between Uber and the journalism community – and the community as a whole – has been strained. Bad press has lead to vocal dissension which has lead to more bad press. Steve Barrett, Editor in Chief of PRWeek US, described the company’s handling of the most serious charges as being executed with “breathtaking arrogance.” Not exactly endearing.

A successful partnership with an organization no one can argue against might be just the ride Uber needs. Or, it might be a forced marriage doomed to transparency. Like the Super Bowl itself, no one will know the actual outcome until the clock runs out.

Partnerships are key to success for any company. Finding those which make the most sense and which drive real results can be challenging. If you are ready to amp up your PR playbook, we are ready to help you find the right match-ups, map out the best plays, and go for the big score.

– BML

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January 26, 2015

Automakers: the New Darlings of CES?

CESLast August, a member of the Kovak-Likly team traded in a 2003 Honda Pilot with 172,000 miles on it for a brand new 2014 Toyota Highlander. This being her first new car in twelve years, she says she was immediately enamored with its technological upgrades – touchscreen capability, bluetooth compatibility, and the ability to have her texts read to her by a smooth talking virtual co-pilot.

Small potatoes if you really think of it. Especially if you were one of the thousands of attendees at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, held earlier this month in Las Vegas. Ten major auto companies were on hand this year, demonstrating everything from fully loaded digital dash monitors to autonomous driving capabilities.

According to a recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek, the automotive category covered significant space at this year’s CES – the equivalent of three football fields, in fact. With Detroit’s North American International Auto Show following on its heels this month, why the large auto presence at this year’s CES? According to his keynote speech, Ford CEO Mark Fields announced the dawn of the connected-car era, saying that in addition to being a car and truck company, Ford considers itself a tech and mobility company.

The Bloomberg article quotes consulting firm Accenture as reporting that technology is the top selling point for 39 percent of U.S. car buyers. That, compared to 14 percent who rate horsepower and handling above all else. That means that in order to be viewed as a technologically leader in the car industry, automakers need to be where all eyes are on tech, looking for the wow factor.

By making their presence known in this way, the auto industry has done what we can all do in our own businesses in one way or another.

Know your customers. What they buy, but more importantly, why they buy. When your car buyers want tech features, invest in that.

Find the right stage. In 2007, Mark Fields said Ford was definitely an odd sight at CES. Today, with such a large percentage of car buyers emphasizing technology, automakers not only had to be there, they had to be as big a presence as possible to push out their digital branding message.

Spread the word. Car makers not only made a splash on site at CES, they also received widespread attention in the media world, all focused on their cutting edge technology. A Google search of “CES 2015 automotive” nets pages of links to articles, using terms like “connected cars,”  “car tech you can’t miss” and “truly smart cars.” The exact message the industry’s leaders wanted to send.

When thinking about your own branding, it’s important to keep these factors in mind. Pushing out a message that doesn’t fit with your target customers’ priorities, isn’t sent via the right channel, or that just plain doesn’t get out there isn’t going to move the needle. If you are ready to find those attributes and outlets which will get your publicity efforts the mileage they deserve, we’d love to help you strategize a campaign that works for you.  Give us a call at 203.762.8833.

– BML

 

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January 16, 2015

Federal First: A State of the Union Trailer

It’s a page right out of the Marketing 101 playbook: Find out where your target audience is, and go there.

When President Obama unveiled his proposal last week for making community college partially free for students, he did so where those prospective students can be found – on social media. By creating a video wherein he explains the basics of the program, the President was able to send out his message in one swoop across The White House’s Facebook, Twitter, and Vine accounts.

In no time at all, #FreeCommunityCollege was trending. The White House reported 6.6 million views of the Facebook video within 21 hours of the announcement, while Obama’s Vine video scored nearly 35,000 shares on Twitter.

Arguably the proposal would have gotten its fair share of mileage following the President’s State of the Union address on January 20, but not necessarily where it needs to be. While the talking heads and loud debaters would no doubt have been hashing it out in late January, the program’s key demographic may have missed the message altogether. By introducing the concept where its potential beneficiaries are found, The White House ensured the conversation was sparked by the group they wanted to hear it first.

Of course the topic was then fair game for Obama fans and haters, those who thought the program was a great idea and those who were incredulous. Again, the social media launch may have brought engagement full circle, generating interest in the State of the Union by a demographic who may not have otherwise tuned in. Maybe. Ultimately, only the ratings numbers will tell.

For the record, the Free Community College proposal calls for applicants to enroll in school at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA, and make steady progress toward completing a degree in three years. Participating colleges would be required to offer academic programs that fully transfer to four-year colleges or occupational programs in high demand fields. The federal government would provide three-quarters of what is determined to be the average cost of community college.

Using social media to spread a message isn’t something new for President Obama. His 2008 campaign was the first presidential run to effectively use social channels as a tool to, among other things, draw in younger voters. Today, @BarackObama boasts tweets which are favorited over one million times. Michelle Obama may be even more comfortable in the social arena, readily using videos to promote everything from her healthy kids initiatives to support for military families.

By the time the gavel drops to mark the opening of President Obama’s State of the Union address on January 20, his Free Community College program will almost be old news. Almost. And that’s the point; the discussion is already fully underway.

Who knows? Maybe there will even be a live Twitter feed scrolling at the bottom of our screens.

Social media is more powerful than ever in spreading a message and engaging your target audience in real-time discussion. To find out how you can best utilize the many channels available, let’s talk. Defining strategy, audience definition, targeted communications – it’s what we’re about. Give us a call at 203.762.8833.

– BML

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January 2, 2015

A Day of Giving = A Lesson in Building A Movement

It started in 2012 as an effort incubated at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, launched in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation. We already had Black Friday and Cyber Saturday, the thinking went; why not shift the direction of all that consumerism toward philanthropy? #GivingTuesday was born.

On December 2, 2014, in its third year, #GivingTuesday is estimated to have generated $45.7 million in charitable donations, a 63 percent increase over last year according to a study released by the Case Foundation, an agency focused on driving social change through supporting philanthropy, entrepreneurism and civic engagement. Donations were driven by a #GivingTuesday effort involving 20,000 non-profits in over 65 countries.

How did a grassroots campaign become a bonafide movement in three years?

In a recent interview with Bulldog Reporter, Havas PR North America CEO Marian Salzman, whose team developed this year’s campaign, says the key was collaboration, creativity, engagement and a clear call to action. In that sense, #GivingTuesday makes for a beneficial study, standing as a model of how these elements can blend successfully for any effort.

Matching Needs with Answers

It was already clear, Salzman says, that social media was the place to create the biggest buzz around #GivingTuesday; it was where organizations in need of help could find those willing to donate – and vice versa – wherever they were. The next step was to identify the best partners to generate that buzz.

Building Partnerships

During the summer, Havas set out to find media partners and even other PR agencies to drive #GivingTuesday communications, ultimately rolling out a media plan two months in advance of the holiday shopping season. These partners and a group of hand-picked “social media ambassadors” kicked off the chatter.

Inviting Participation

Next, the #GivingTuesday team introduced the “UNselfie,” inviting people to post photos of themselves helping out organizations or making donations to charity. Not left to chance, the UNselfie program was supported by PR toolkits provided to #GivingTuesday campaign partners and social media ambassadors.

The gangbuster results of this year’s #GivingTuesday campaign were both financial and emotional. In the true spirit of engagement, the program raised awareness, gave everyone involved – from the strategic partner to the casual consumer – something to do in the name of goodwill, which in turn helped someone else and became a win-win for all involved. With that sort of positive momentum, there is nowhere to go but even farther in 2015.

We at Kovak Likly are looking forward to a wonderful 2015 as well. We hope to help you build your next successful campaign this year!

– BML

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December 22, 2014

Special Delivery: Viral Video Spreads Positive Message for UPS

UPSAnyone who prefers cyber shopping to fighting the mall crowds at this time of year as I do, knows they’ll be seeing someone quite a bit: their UPS driver. Deliveries come courtesy of a man or woman in trademark brown, sometimes with a wave and perhaps a treat tossed to the family dog. At the office, they offer a friendly greeting at the front desk, maybe some quick conversation; they are a familiar face, part of daily life.

Harnessing Obvious (and Not So Obvious) Strengths

If you were a PR person charged with creating a campaign around UPS’s strengths in the marketplace, however, it might be easy to step too far back. To take a much wider view of the company to focus on obvious aspects like on-time delivery rates or the extra manpower put toward the holiday rush.

Thankfully, the folks at UPS took a different route with their most recent publicity campaign, zooming way in on the company until their view was focused on one man, Ernie Lagasca and one of his many customers.

The Back Story

Lagasca, a UPS driver in Colorado Springs, has spent the last four years forging a very special friendship with a child on his route named Carson. As an infant, Carson’s milk sensitivity required a special type of formula be delivered to his home several times a week. As he grew into a toddler, Carson would eagerly await the big brown truck, waving to the driver and eventually waiting for him on the curb. “Mr. Ernie,” as Carson called Lagasca, would take the time to chat with his young customer, ultimately inspiring him to emulate his friend. Carson’s parents were able to get him a kid-sized uniform, and he turned their basement into a shipping department so he could “play UPS.”

This past summer, Lagasca’s route was changed and he was no longer able to see Carson. But UPS had one more treat in store for the 4-year-old. In November, the company sent Lagasca to Carson’s home with a special delivery: his own child-sized UPS truck, provided as part of the company’s “Wishes Delivered” campaign.

If you want to see how a kid lights up when his dream comes true, check out the video.

The Whirlwind Response

Naturally, the video has gone viral. Carson’s mother has said she tried to keep up with responding to comments on the UPS Facebook page, but couldn’t as hundreds turned into thousands. The story of Carson and Mr. Ernie has touched millions of people, and is now being featured in a holiday commercial for UPS.

Do Good, and Good Will Come to You

UPS now has a massively successful publicity campaign burning up the internet. Not based on pushing their business practices, but on the simplicity of the relationships that form between driver and customer. Not only does the incredible response reinforce the UPS brand, it has boosted the company’s charity efforts by promoting the “Your Wishes Delivered” campaign. UPS leaders have announced that for each wish shared on wishesdelivered.ups.com or on social media via #WishesDelivered, the company will donate $1 to charity, up to $100,000.

Sometimes the most impactful messages really can be the simplest ones. By leveraging strengths they may have otherwise taken for granted, UPS built one special friendship into an impactful publicity wave.

Let’s talk about what strengths you may be overlooking as you plan your next PR campaign. Together we might just be able to find the Carson in your story!

Give us a call at 203.762.8833. Happy Holidays!

– BML

 

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December 8, 2014

Effective PR from Start to Finish: Building the Sizzle Around the Perfect Steak

There is an old adage in marketing: Sell the Sizzle, Not the Steak. But as PR professionals, we know that all the sizzle in the world isn’t going to sell mass market corn-fed beef. The steak has to be cooked to perfection and presented not just as a product but as an experience.

Today’s Special: Steak

Within PR, that steak is the foundation of traditional public relations activities; strategizing cohesive campaigns which incorporate the creation and distribution of news releases, liaising with the media to facilitate interviews and article placement, opening opportunities for presence at events and speaking engagements. All remain critical to a successful PR campaign, yet with such longstanding presence in the publicity world, some of these standards can be detrimentally treated as a reflex action rather than a precision tool.

Let’s take press releases. An oversimplified headline (think: XYZ Company Announces…) will have editors and writers snoozing in the first five seconds. An undercrafted headline will miss valuable SEO opportunities. The body of the release also needs to address the shrinking attention span and rushed pace of its recipient; numbers are old hat, while infographics make statistics pop off the page.

Directing a release properly is also a different game today than it once was. The old cropdusting approach – spread the word everywhere and hope someone picks it up – is a gamble at best. Pitching by the masses doesn’t fit today’s marketplace. In PR it used to be called “smile and dial” – the obligatory phonecall following the mass market release. Despite the seemingly endless number of media outlets today – the majority digital – content is still king. We need to know the editors well – not to mention the beat reporters, writers and bloggers – and tailor the pitch to best capture their attention and make their job easier. They need content; giving them the best fit possible puts yours ahead of the pack.

Creating the best quality steak also means sending it out of the kitchen in the best way possible. Just as it’s crucial to create press releases tailored to varied targets, the spokespeople who will back those releases up must be prepped in a similar fashion. For example, an interviewer writing for NPR will need answers to background questions to educate and inform their audience; a reporter for a trade magazine will most likely be able to surpass or minimize the background and jump further into the details for a B2B audience. Preparing a spokesperson for each individual interview will ensure the best presentation.

Sizzling Social

Now that you’ve crafted the highest quality steak possible, let’s get back to that sizzle.

The sizzle today is social media. At lightening fast speed, messages are posted, tweeted, retweeted and pinned…all in the name of drawing attention to that steak. As PR professionals, we need to be both masters and students of social media. Trends are constantly changing, and tracking them well means staying on top of the ways in which social media can be used, presented and leveraged.

Social media has also transformed publicity into a two-way street; one in which as much as traditional means can push a message out, the recipients of that message can respond directly and out loud. Relationship marketing has become crucial; knowing not only what a target customer buys, for example, but what they do for fun, where they live, what their priorities are – these are the keys to connecting. The opposite is a true danger zone as well; all the sizzle in the world is great, but if in the end you are serving up a lackluster steak, you will hear about it. Most likely at the same time everyone in the social media sphere is hearing it.

The Perfect Combo

We’ve defined the steak and the sizzle. The question now is:

How is social media integrated with the foundational components of PR so as to deliver the ideal campaign?

  • Be compelling – don’t just push generic content. Create searchable press releases with no fluff and quickly digestible information.
  • Be visual – Numbers in a press release make people yawn…infographics catch the eye, and make for much more viewable social media posts, tweets, and retweets.
  • Know who you’re talking to every time.  Via every channel and in every instance, know your editors, writers, freelancers, bloggers…and tailor information for them that they can truly use.
  • Engage in multiple ways; presenting information through a twitter feed and through a LinkedIn post, for example, will draw different factions into the conversation.
  • Stay in school. Continue to be both a master and a student of social media and of journalism so that your two-way communications remain relevant in the long run.

When the sizzle around your steak is crafted for not only the best presentation, but is introducing the most delicious meal on the menu, you’ve created a successful campaign. To find out how to do both for your product or service, let’s talk. Call 203.762.8833 to start making your steak.

– BML

 

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