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Nov 29 2011

What Bill Gates Knows That Congress Doesn’t

November 29, 2011 – 7:00 am

Bill Gates

By Mike Mulvihill

Whatever your opinion of Bill Gates and Microsoft, you have to admit he is one smart dude. So when Gates makes a plea in a guest editorial in Science magazine for more energy research & development by the U.S. government, perhaps it is worth taking note.

In the editorial, Gates says the U.S. should more than triple its R&D investment to $16 billion. The federal government currently spends roughly $5 billion annually. He urges Congress to muster political courage to spend more money even if doing do is unpopular right now. He goes on to say that failing to invest would jeopardize America’s national interest and risk its position in the global clean energy industry.

Meanwhile, Congress is busy trying to pin blame for failed investments in green energy such as Solyndra and Beacon Power to advance partisan political objectives. The likely end result will be a reduction in funding for alternative energy R&D – at a time when we should be putting more funding into this area.

Bill Gates made a lot of money spotting market needs and filling them. And our Congress has shown a remarkable inability to accomplish much other than bickering and back-biting. I would prefer to have my money on Gates. But alas, we don’t seem to have that option.

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AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Mike Mulvihill | Posted in Digital Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)
Nov 23 2011

Tales from a Wine Event Planner

November 23, 2011 – 12:44 pm

By Cassandra Bianco (@cnbianco)

Tempranillos al Mundo press conference

The aromas of blackberry, leather and tobacco tickled the nose hairs of the 25 judges. These sweet smells lingered as did the suspense, which was so thick you could cut it with a corkscrew. Soon the silence broke, and there were sounds of sniffing, swirling, sipping and spittoons shots.  This was not just any blind wine tasting…but Tempranillos al Mundo.

Last week, for the first time ever, the annual Tempranillos al Mundo international wine competition made its debut in the United States, and we were picked to host it. We were equally thrilled when Kevin Zraly accepted as master of ceremonies.

Judged by an expert panel of 25 acclaimed wine sommeliers, winemakers and splendid wine media Tara Thomas and Gregory dal Piaz, more than 400 Tempranillo wines were tasted from around the world. Entries came from the U.S., Spain, Mexico, Greece, Argentina, Australia, France, Italy, Peru, Portugal, Turkey, Thailand and Venezuela. Final results: 54 wines won gold medals and 70 won silver.

Kevin Zraly

Behind the scenes director’s note: this was four days of tabulating scores, translating romance languages, client hosting, entertaining media, vendor patrolling, freelancer supervising, ITing, orchestrating meal and activities, hosting a press conference, and categorizing +900 bottles of wine.

Though testing, it was an empowering experience staging this event, at the (spaceship that is) the Marriott Marquis. It was also pretty special. Hanging out with a dozen winemakers can be a sweet gig.

Marriott Marquis aka Spaceship

Marriott Marquis aka Spaceship

Our agency has hosted ground-up 400 person wine events, but those involved +20 agency staff.

This time, we were a nimble team of…three. Teamwork for the event was critical. We were focused problem solvers, but during the juggling act… we enjoyed camaraderie. Working together was reenergizing. This was sweet success.

Left: Julie. Right: Pablo. Awesome teammates.

Left: Julie. Right: Pablo. Awesome teammates.

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AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Cassandra Bianco | Posted in Digital Marketing | Tagged , , , , | Comments (3)
Nov 21 2011

How Eloqua Gets Content Marketing Right? Q&A with Joe Chernov, Chief Content Officer, Eloqua

November 21, 2011 – 11:03 am

By Priya Ramesh (@newpr)

CRT/tanaka hosted its very first Northern Virginia B2B tweet-up on Tue, Nov 8th with Shawn Cook, Director of Sales, Eloqua kicking off a discussion around marketing strategies that have had a huge impact on Eloqua’s sales cycle. Throughout Shawn’s presentation, it was very clear that Eloqua as a company takes it “content strategy” very seriously. I couldn’t help but continue to bug Sheila Bogan, Public Relations Manager, Eloqua to introduce me to Joe Chernov, the master mind behind all things “content.” What follows is a short email interview with Joe Chernov, Chief Content Officer at Eloqua.

Joe_Chernov_VP_Content_Marketing_Eloqua Joe is the vice president of content marketing for Eloqua, a revenue performance management SaaS company. One of the industry’s most award-winning content marketers, Joe is responsible for imagining, developing and distributing much of Eloqua’s market-facing content throughout the social Web. Joe oversees international public relations, analyst relations and social strategy. Before joining Eloqua, Joe was the VP of communications and associate VP of marketing for word-of-mouth media firm, BzzAgent, and the chair of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s ethics panel. He has presented to the FTC about the Commission’s “Endorsement Guidelines” and has lectured on content marketing and social media ethics at universities and international marketing conferences.

Content Strategy is a phrase that still seems to be somewhat foreign especially to B2B marketers? Could you please enlighten us on how Eloqua has mastered this? <

Joe: I agree that content marketing isn’t a skill that comes naturally to many B2B marketers. I suspect it’s because B2B products tend to be more complex than their consumer counterparts, and, as a result, the marketing lexicon is filled with trade-specific jargon and buzzwords. A simple, accessible, “human” lexicon is the first step in a content marketing program. Even if an individual marketer possesses that skill, organizational culture seems to want to suppress it. As a result, the content marketing effort is derailed before it gets off the ground. After all, there’s never been a great piece of content that included the words, “industry-leading, paradigm-shifting solution.” That said, I wouldn’t say Eloqua has mastered content marketing. We are very much still learning ourselves.

If content is King, who are the soldiers to the King? What are the critical elements to executing a content strategy that positively affects your bottom-line?

The foot soldiers are the places where the content is distributed, the people who share it, and the tools that track it. Content marketing, of course, isn’t new. But the ability for the marketer to double as the publisher, distributor and analyst … well, that’s the new part. Just as a king wouldn’t have kept that title for very long without guards, without distribution and support, even the best content is doomed to fail. A content strategy that positively impacts the top-line is one that balances broad awareness (that is, gets new prospects to discover you) and helps accelerate active leads through subsequent stages of the purchase funnel. That is successful content.

How does Eloqua continue to produce such great, relevant and fresh content in a somewhat less-entertaining space like revenue performance management? Please educate us with specific examples.

Joe: Who says revenue performance management isn’t entertaining? Really though to the extent that we have a secret, here it is: We are a company of marketers who sell a product to marketers. So we turn the mirror on ourselves. We create content about what we know, not just what we sell. We understand that our buyers have more concerns than “just” marketing automation, so we try to help them keep pace with changes and developments in adjacent sectors. We honestly try to be a resource — even if that means we recommend another product, which, incidentally, we have done in our social media program.

Why do you think CMOs in the B2B space are still skeptical to test drive social media?

Joe: I think B2B is inherently more conservative. The old, “Nobody gets fired for buying IBM” adage is still very much hardwired in the B2B marketer’s DNA.I think that skepticism is starting to subside. Trusted firms like Forrester and SiriusDecisions and even some vendors have done a very good job at illustrating that social media is giving way to social business. Books like “Smart Business, Social Business,” (http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Business-Social-Playbook-Organization/dp/0789747995) by Michael Brito hopefully will convert whatever stubborn skeptics remain.

The role of a Chief Content Officer is extremely critical and we see the benefits of that in Eloqua’s success. Can you please help us understand at a strategic level, the role of a Chief Content Officer and how that person acts as an integral thread that connects Marketing, PR, Social Web and in certain cases Customer Success Programs?

Content marketing is a force multiplier. I cannot think of a single function that, if executed well, improves the performance of so many other functions. An effective Chief Content Officer contributes to SEO (search engines place a high value on fresh content, linked to by high authority sites, and shared liberally on the social web), public relations (the media is far more open to write about innovative content than they are willing to report on product press releases), demand generation (the effectiveness of marketing automation http://www.eloqua.com/topics/marketing-automation.html systems hinges on quality content), social media (it gives community managers something to share) and, if the Officer publishes helpful (versus promotional) content, then absolutely the Customer Success team benefits as well. It’s benefits are truly pan-organizational.

If you had to pick three social media trends that will dynamically shift the B2B space in the coming years, what would they be?

Joe: I think we are going to see a rise in adoption for internal social networks, like Salesforce’s Chatter or Yammer. Executives seem to have recognized that the “social UX” has become the natural environment for interpersonal communication. The vendors are also now building out workflow and operational efficiency tools, which will make executives more willing to invest in the platforms. I think the Big Three networks — Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook — will expand to four, with SlideShare joining the ranks. Lastly, I think you are going to see some major mishaps in B2B social media. I suspect we’ll see cases brought before the FTC that expose B2B marketers who attempt to shortcut the system by shilling their own products or paying others for positive reviews.

Thank you Joe for taking the time to help CRT/tanaka Buzz Bin readers with some good advice on an effective content strategy that delivers value to your community as well as your sales organizations.

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AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Priya Ramesh | Posted in Digital Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)
Nov 17 2011

Is your hospital ready for a HIPAA audit?

November 17, 2011 – 11:38 am

By Jenn Riggle

Dr. Seuss' The GrinchJust in time for the holidays, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which enforces HIPAA privacy and security rules on behalf of the Department of Health & Human Services, announced it is ramping up its enforcement activities.

While nothing to celebrate, these audits are definitely worth preparing for.

In the past, OCR has had an informal enforcement policy, but that just changed. A pilot program is performing 150 audits of covered entities, which include healthcare providers, health plans and healthcare clearinghouses, to determine HIPAA compliance. The audits will be conducted from November 2011 to December 2012.

The question is: Are healthcare organizations ready for this type of audit?

Recent estimates show that only one-third of hospitals currently have a policy for how their employees’ use of social media, and less than 50 percent of healthcare organizations surveyed by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute include the approved use of social media and mobile devices in company privacy training.

With HIPAA changes on the horizon, now’s a good time to review some basic rules of them when it comes to HIPAA:

Create a social media policy: It’s not enough to block employees from using the Internet and social media at work, especially since they can access these from their smartphones. Instead, hospitals need to develop a social media policy that explains what employees can and can’t say on social media.

Refresh the policy and your people throughout the year: Social media is constantly changing, so it’s important to revise your policy at least twice a year to make sure that it accurately captures new technologies (e.g. Google+) or new Facebook privacy controls. Your hospital’s staff changes, too, so it’s important to conduct trainings on a semi-annual basis.

Help patients opt-in: Technology makes health systems uneasy because of HIPAA violations, but it’s a mistake not to harness it to bring patients in. Use automated appointment reminders. This is a simple way to provide benefit to your patients. These messages can be sent via text message, email or phone call, and don’t violate privacy.

Keep your personal/professional life separate: This is a good rule of thumb. If you “friend” patients over Facebook, you might be put in potentially awkward situations, such as sharing too much information about your personal life, having people see photos taken during a vacation or being asked to diagnose a health issue via Facebook. Instead, create a practice fan page. This allows physicians an opportunity to provide helpful information but helps keep their personal life separate. 

Use caution when posting photos taken in the hospital: To protect patient privacy, it’s important not to post patient photos or photos with patients in the background. Or sometimes photos that were taken in jest could be an example of unprofessional behavior.

Don’t post personally identifiable information about patients: It’s not enough to not name a patient; you also can’t post personally identifiable information about a patient. For example, a Rhode Island ED physician lost her job because people in the community could identify a trauma patient from personally identifiable information posted on Facebook.

What about texting?

Texting seems to fall into a gray area and is increasing with physicians. More than 70 percent of physicians use text messaging to communicate with other healthcare providers because it allows them to send and receive real-time information without calling or relying on email. It’s also not unusual for physicians to request the patient’s name and room number so they can look up the chart before returning the call. In the end, whether texting is HIPAA-compliant really depends on what information is shared and whether the information is encrypted or not.

With the end of the year coming to a close, now’s a good time to plan ahead and take a closer look at your HIPAA policy and procedures.

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AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Jenn Riggle | Posted in Healthcare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (3)
Nov 16 2011

What’s Been Brewing: Top Five Booze Trends for 2012

November 16, 2011 – 12:14 pm

THE BOOZE BIN

By Pia Mara Finkell (@piamara)

It’s that time of year again. Obnoxious Christmas music blasts in stores, despite the fact that Thanksgiving is next week. Can’t we focus on one holiday at a time? But I digress…

With 2012 just around the corner, here’s a look at the major booze trends ready to make a splash in the New Year. Cheers!

1. Value is the new cheap

rioja reservas sommelier journalWhen the recession first hit a few years ago, headlines like “Top 10 wines for under $10” and “Secrets to drinking on the cheap” became ubiquitous. Cheap was the new black. Interestingly, trends this year seem to instead be moving toward a desire for value at all price points, and 2012 looks to place more importance on consumers trading up to get better values and find diamonds in the rough.

As an example, I work with the wines of Rioja, a region noted for its value proposition at various price points. We have noted the biggest growth this year in our premium wines, Reservas and Gran Reservas, which grew by over 50% and 95% respectively in the first half of the year. Rather than simply cheap wines, it seems consumers are looking for wines that taste more expensive than their price tags.

2. Eat Local. Drink Local

The Farm to Table movement has been around and going strong for quite a few years, but recently, this locavore movement seems to be translating into support for local wineries (yes, they’re farmers, too!), brewers (many grow their own hops and source ingredients locally) and local artisanal spirits.

Drink LocalI wrote recently about my love affair with Virginia wines and the movement to #DrinkLocal, and I’m not the only one. From a growing organization devoted to the local wine movement, to a bill supporting local craft brewers to news of a recently launched American Craft Spirits website devoted to the craft American spirits movement, including whiskey to rum to absinthe.

3. Burgundy over Bordeaux

With Bordeaux prices at astronomical levels, it seems the future markets, especially in Asia, are turning to a neighbor to the east focusing in pinot vs. cabernet. According to Elin McCoy’s recent article in Bloomberg, the big bidders are getting tired of the “ubiquitous” Bordeaux.

“Burgundy’s on fire and sizzling,” said John Kapon, president of New York-based Acker Merrall & Condit, which set 145 price records at its Nov. 4 and 5 auction in Hong Kong. “Bordeaux is a day at the office now.”

On a personal note, while I also prefer Burgundy, I’d take that day in the office any day!

4. Movement for modesty…in alcohol levels

wineface

Halleluiah, it looks like the wine verging on port, fruit bomb movement is dwindling at last. While there is, of course, still an audience for 15 and 16 % alcohol, “New World” wines, it looks like winemakers and consumers are finally swinging that pendulum back towards more elegant and balanced wines with modest alcohol levels (think 13-14%).

According to a recent Washington Post article, despite their reputation as producers of “overripe, over-oaked, too high in alcohol” wines, top California are making the “return to elegance,” including Francis Ford Coppola of Niebaum-Coppola and Bob Lindquist of Qupe winery. Others in California are proud to maintain this more reserved style, such as Au Bon Climat, Arcadian, Alma Rosa, Copain, Clos du Val, Qupe and Frog’s Leap.

5. Wine sales lead charge, but overall alcohol sales predicted to rise

new york whiskeyOverall on-premise alcohol sales, especially in the wine sector will increase in 2012 by 2.4 and 3.5 respectively, according to the food and wine research firm Technomic, as reported by a recent issue of Nation’s Restaurant News.

An increase in prices will contribute to this growth, but also according to the Los Angeles Times, strong demand for wines by the glass, craft beer and premium spirits will play a part.

Photos courtesy of Sommelier Journal, Edible Manhattan, Forget Burgundy and New York Barfly.

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AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Pia Mara Finkell | Posted in The Booze Bin, Wine, Food & Nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (4)
Nov 15 2011

Solar is Drowning in Political Backwash

November 15, 2011 – 12:51 pm

drowning

By Mike Mulvihill

An article in the NY Times this weekend, A Gold Rush of Subsidies in Clean Energy Search, has generated a number of posts in support and in opposition of the article and solar subsidies.

The article points out that several investor-owned utilities and large projects capable of shopping for private capital, are utilizing federal subsidies to build solar generation. If the intent was to increase solar energy generation and to create jobs in the process, then why is this so bad? Meanwhile, Congress and the media want to dissect riskier projects that went belly up after receiving subsidies (i.e., Solyndra, Beacon Power, etc.) New technology, risky ventures will more likely fail than succeed, so these bankruptcies are not surprising. But they do provide fodder for political drama. And politicization of renewable energy spells bad news for green energy.

First of all, let’s look at the funding. From 2007 to 2010, federal subsidies jumped to $14.7 billion from $5.1 billion, according the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Most of the increase came from the 2009 economic stimulus bill, which financed an Energy Department loan guarantee program and a separate Treasury Department grant program, intended to create green energy jobs. The rules do not prevent large concerns from tapping the program to create added green energy production, and, in fact, it would seem reasonable that this added generation would be favorable (in the long-term) to consumers. For example, today solar costs 70 percent less than it did just two to three years ago and it is fair to assume that costs will only continue to decline as the industry grows and innovates.

The article points out that P.G.& E., and ultimately its electric customers, will pay NRG (one of the large, private ventures spotlighted in the article) $150 to $180 a megawatt-hour. At the time the contract was awarded, that was about 50 percent more than the expected market cost of electricity in California from a newly built gas-powered plant. Duh, yes, even though solar costs are declining, there is no economic case (and won’t be for at least another decade) to replace established fossil fuel technology (natural gas and coal) with renewable energy on a cost per KW basis. If we wish to tap solar as a renewable energy source, then we need to bring solar to scale and achieve economies that will eventually drive the price down to a level that the American public – and economy – can withstand.

As for the politicization of green energy, a recent Pew Research Center study release on November 10,shows voters galvanizing along party lines on green energy. Pew’s study shows that since April 2009, there has been a 30-point decline in the percentage of Republicans and Republican leaners supporting more federal funding for research into alternative energy technologies. Currently, 53 percent favor this policy, down from 82 percent in April 2009. There has been little change in opinions among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. Currently, 83 percent of Democrats favor increased funding for research into alternative energy technologies.

The study indicates that a narrow majority of the public (52 percent) thinks that government investment is necessary to develop new energy technology. About four-in-ten (39 percent) say that businesses will produce needed energy technology without government support. Again, there is a partisan divide on this topic. Two-thirds (68 percent) of Democrats and Democratic leaners say government investment in new energy is necessary. Most Republicans and GOP leaners (59 percent) say businesses will produce technology without government investment.

Bottom line, as campaigning for the next presidential election continues to heat up, green energy will become a football tossed back and forth for political gain with little concern for whether these actions foster or retard the creation of needed alternative energy generation and a foundation for achieving green energy affordability. Mull on that the next time you get ready to dig into a juicy energy headline.

Image by Thomas Tibitanzl

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AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Mike Mulvihill | Posted in Digital Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)
Nov 11 2011

Has your brand suffered from any of the following syndromes or ailments?

November 11, 2011 – 12:37 pm

By Jason Poulos (@TheSaganaki)

  • Identity-Schizophrenia: Everywhere I look, I look and feel different
  • Budgetitus: I have champagne dreams on a beer budget.
  • Post-traumatic-design-syndrome: I hate what my former designer created for me
  • Creative-constipation: I’m having trouble “releasing” old ideas
  • Content-arexia: My website is thin because I’m not feeding it enough content
  • Arachna-keyword-phobia: My website’s afraid of search engine spiders
  • Antisocial Tendencies: My brand doesn’t participate in social networks
  • FatFingerusOsima: I’m having trouble navigating a mobile website

If your brand has suffered from the above, the doctors in the interactive practice at CRT/tanaka can help mend these ailments among many other common problems and challenges faced during a PR Campaign.

 Dr. Feelgood
    Dr. Feelgood:
Chief of Medicine, Identity Systems & Typography Specialist
Dr. Whats-she-do Dr. Whitespace-wow-factor Dr. Whatthefont
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Paper & Printing Specialist, Production & Traffic Manager		 Dr. Whitespace-wow-factor:
Desgin & Illustration Specialist, Business Development		 Dr. What-the-font:
Print & Web Design Specialist
Dr. Googleopoulos Dr. Webalicious Dr. Frederic von Codeburger
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Motion graphics, Front End Development, SEO/SEM Specialist		 Dr. Webalicious:
Backend Development, Mobile & Emerging Technology Specialist		 Dr. Frederick von Codeburger:
Backend Development, Content Mangement & Application Specialist

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Solutions for your Ailments

  • Custom web design
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  • Interactive games
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  • Search engine optimization
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  • Usability testing
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AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Jason Poulos | Posted in Digital Marketing | Tagged , , | Comments (4)
Nov 10 2011

A Look at Food Policy from the Nation’s Capital

November 10, 2011 – 3:04 pm

By Jason Stemm @NYCubsFan

This past week I was in Washington DC for the International Foodservice Editorial Council’s annual conference. As president of the group, it was quite a bit different than the previous ten years I’ve attended. The group and conference are driven by the unique opportunity for editors and writers to network with publicists, marketers, operators and brands that make up the membership. We share our opportunities, challenges and what is happening in the world of restaurants, catering and noncommercial foodservice.

clip_image001Like all of our conferences, it tends to take on the character of the host city, and this year was no different. Being in Washington, the conference was kicked off by an eye opening and inspiring keynote by Sam Kass, Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives for the White House and the First Lady’s Let’s Move campaign. He shared alarming statistics that show if we do not do something to combat the upward curve of childhood obesity, one in three Americans will have diabetes in their lifetime. We considered the potential impact not only on the lives and wellness of our population, but the economic impact on our healthcare and employers due to lost productivity and sickness. He recalled a meeting with a four star general who looked at obesity as the greatest national security threat as he deals with the potential of more than 1 in 4 Americans being medically unfit to serve in the military. Chef Kass also talked about some of the pillars of the Let’s Move effort including working with the schools, increasing access to nutritious options, empowering kids and parents with information, and offering greater choice.

One of the initiatives I found particularly interesting is the Chef’s Move to Schools. They are working with chefs in communities across the country to work with school food administrators and cooks as well as teachers and children to improve not only what is offered in schools, but what kids choose to eat. I thought of my 2 year old as he described a young girl visiting the White House garden who couldn’t get letsmoveenough of the fresh cauliflower that she had never had, and didn’t even know what it was. It is already one of my daughter’s favorite vegetables. He left us with the campaigns ultimate desire to help people realize that we are all stakeholders in this issue, and involvement and support is needed at all levels.

The next day we had a lively panel discussion that brought together different perspectives on food issues and policies that are impacting the industry. The panel included a restaurateur and fresh seafood supplier as well as the VP of Nutrition and Wellness for Compass Group North America and the VP of Industry Affairs and Food Policy for the National Restaurant Association. It was a candid discussion of menu labeling, employer healthcare mandates and sustainability initiatives currently being discussed on the Hill. I think one of the greatest takeaways was the need for involvement from the industry in a collaborative effort to find solutions that are reasonable and implementable. A primary fear is for policy makers who don’t understand complex industries to write rules that look good on paper or sound good in press releases, but are impossible to implement and detrimental to the industry.

Yesterday we got out and around the city for food tours. I chose to visit the new employee cafeteria at the Department of Interior that was renovated with two main directives, wellness and sustainability. They hit a home run on both. They offer wellness and education programs for workers, along with choice and information for customers that includes a farm stand of fresh fruits and vegetables, and an array of options, easily identified with calorie and nutrient information to make informedDOIcafeteria choices. They were also proud of the compost room, which can take 100 pounds of waste and break it down to 10 pounds that is sent to a facility to be processed into compost for their onsite garden. It is a remarkable closed cycle that is drastically reducing the waste heading to landfills. This is an area that the federal government has taken the lead on to get in front of an issue that is already a growing crisis for some municipalities.

The themes we kept hearing and returning to were those of involvement, education and choice. The cafeteria isn’t eliminating barbecued ribs and French fries, but they are empowering customers to make informed choices for themselves. Let’s Move doesn’t want to dictate policy but create a platform to enable others to take the ball and run with it. They want everyone to realize that we have a stake in this game, whether we are a parent, an employer, a school or simply a fellow American. These are complex issues, and a one size fits all approach doesn’t always work, but with greater involvement, education and choice, we will be in a position to make a difference.

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AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Jason Stemm | Posted in Wine, Food & Nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (3)

Thanksgiving Lessons for PR Pros

November 10, 2011 – 12:30 pm

By Jenn Riggle

Normal Rockwell's famous painting, "Freedom of Want"

Thanksgiving is a time when we overindulge, heaping our plates with turkey and mashed potatoes, not to mention pumpkin pie. And while the food may be wonderful, you can sometimes have too much of a good thing.

The same is true with press releases. While press releases are a great way to share your news with the media, you can overdo it.

Here are some PR lessons learned from Thanksgiving dinner:

You can go to the buffet table too many times: If you’re issuing press releases more than twice a month or you’re issuing a lot of “market releases” to generate buzz, you can damage your organization’s credibility. Reporters may start to view your releases as marketing or spam. This is especially true if you’re reaching out to a limited number of trade reporters who cover your industry.

Don’t forget your veggies: With so many tasty things to eat, you can sometimes forget the basics. By the same token, it’s important to remember that press releases are actually “news releases.” The goal of a news release is to share news and information with the media and the general public. So remember that you should issue news releases when you have something newsworthy to say, such as announcing:

  • New products or services
  • Executive appointments
  • Major sales (group into one momentum release)
  • Awards
  • Research findings
  • Events such as a TweetChat, Twitter Party or Webinar

It’s all about relationships: The holidays are about spending time with family. Press releases also are a great way to develop your relationships – with reporters and editors. There is a marketing rule that you need to reach out to people three times in order to make an impression. That’s why we talk about using a “rolling thunder” strategy and issuing press releases on a regular basis. Not only does this help keep your organization top-of-mind, but it you can use these releases as a way to develop relationships with key reporters.

After cooking all day, someone needs to clean up: The work isn’t done once the dinner is cooked. Someone needs to go back and clean all the dishes. The same is true when issuing a press release. It’s not enough to just issue a press release on the newswire. You need to reach out to reporters. Don’t call them to follow-up on a press release. Instead, follow-up on a story angle and ask them what types of stories they’re working on and whether they’re interested in this type of story.

Try it, you’ll like it: I read a great post from Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases, which explained that sometimes it’s better to forego issuing a press release and find another way to share your information. Consider the following:

  • Developing a bylined article – If your goal is to generate news coverage, there’s really not a better way to do this than writing the news story yourself. This not only lets you frame the news, but it also helps to establish your executives as thought leaders.
  • Writing a white paper or case study – Like a bylined article, this is a great way to tell your own story, but doesn’t require having to sell it to a reporter. These types of documents can be posted on your website and used as a sales tool. What’s not to like?
  • Turning it into a blog post – Blogs are social media’s answer to the OpEd. Granted, it might need a little tweaking to be more conversational in tone, but you can either post it on your website or pitch it to a more established blog. Then you can post links or excerpts via Twitter and Facebook.
  • Turning the release into a video – A picture is worth a thousand words. Consider whether you might be able to shoot a short video that brings your story to life. It’s a great way to have people put executive names with faces. Again, you can post this on YouTube and your website and post links via Twitter and Facebook.
  • Pitching an exclusive story – Reporters love an exclusive. So instead of issuing a press release, consider developing a targeted media pitch and offering it to one of your key reporters. Not only does this offer the potential for a high-visibility placement, but it offers you another opportunity to offer greater value and hone relationships with key media contacts.
  • Developing an OpEd or Letter to the Editor – These can provide another way to generate coverage in one of your target media. However, these can’t be “overly promotional” and need to be clearly linked to a news angle.

After all of the Christmas parties and family feasts, we’re all going to be counting calories after the holidays. When planning for 2011, you may want to consider putting your release schedule on a diet as well. You’ll thank yourself later.

This post was originally published December 2, 2010.

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AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Jenn Riggle | Posted in PR Industry Trends | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (4)
Nov 9 2011

Ten DOs and DON’Ts for An Effective Hispanic-Targeted Social Media Campaign

November 9, 2011 – 11:26 am

 

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Note: Today’s guest Buzz Bin post is written by Gaby Alban, Co-Founder and CEO of Conexión (www.conexionagency.com), a full-service marketing firm specializing in the Hispanic market with offices in Los Angeles and Miami.

By Gaby Alban

What’s one part public relations, one part customer service, one part advertising, one part digital programming and one part marketing genius?

Answer: The perfect social media campaign.

Effective social media campaigns that successfully target Hispanics and deliver solid results are hybrid campaigns requiring a broad range of skills. In fact, the biggest pitfall of such campaigns is that the person or department who developed the idea far too often wields total control over the project, from budget allocations to the delegation of individual tasks. Digital departments may see social media as a reason to build a new app or implement a new tracking system. Marketing views it as an extension of existing ad campaigns and budgets it primarily as a media buy. Customer service departments value the direct customer interaction and assign staffing for rapid response. Most importantly, managers underestimate the challenges of reaching Hispanics in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner in this intimate marketing channel.

Here are 10 Dos and Don’ts for effective Hispanic-targeted social media campaigns:

1. Do divide the jobs of community building and community management

Creating a social media fan base is a different job than maintaining one. The job of creating a vibrant Hispanic online community from scratch requires knowing how to target fans in the appropriate language for each social platform, then advertising and then optimizing to discover what engages them. Once a community is up and running and the social media voice is established, the job becomes more about encouraging existing fans and friends to spread the word to keep the community growing. Make sure you staff each phase appropriately.

 2. Do have a separate community manager

Fans and followers are the building blocks of any social media campaign. A community manager speaks to them in a tone and language that is engaging and keeps their needs and interests at the forefront, fueling their enthusiasm, and thereby encouraging rapid growth of the community. Part customer service representative and part marketer, the community manager monitors and responds to the day-to-day needs and interests of the community, gleaning information that can impact ads, content and timing.

3. Do have a separate content coordinator

If content is king, then content coordination is surely queen. Tweets, Facebook posts, recommendations and comments come from many people in an organization, as well as partners and agencies. Some posts will be in Spanish, some in English, but all of them need to stay “on message” and appear in a timely manner. The full-time job of the content coordinator is that of a good PR manager, keeping everyone on message, keeping them culturally relevant and encouraging participation, all while taking feedback from the community via the community manager to evolve the message.

4. Don’t ignore the value of advertising

Facebook and YouTube users are accustomed to seeing ads that are part of the conversation. Don’t fall into the trap that social media campaigns are exclusively about earned media, while ads are a separate item controlled by marketing. Ads on Facebook grow the fan base and increase fan interaction. Good ads reflect current community interests, inform users of new ideas and keep them connected with their friends’ likes and postings.

5. Do make sure ads are adapted and optimized quickly

Ads are entertainment content in social media. Facebook and YouTube ads need to be fun and encourage participation by new and current fans. Just remember, the ad cycle is quick in this environment, requiring weekly refreshing and optimization.

6. Do respond to fans and customers in appropriate language

It’s extremely important that everyone on your team is speaking the same language in your campaign. Be sure to set a clearly defined voice — whether it is in Spanish or English, formal or informal — for posts. Once your campaign is in motion, be flexible and respond to comments in kind whether people respond in a different tone, language or even Spanglish. Most importantly, be friendly and respond appropriately.

7. Do involve marketing early when developing new apps and technology

When developing new technology apps, customer service and marketing are your best resources, not your programmers! A brilliant but slow-loading application is a waste of money, so trust your team’s connection to the customer when looking for the “next big thing.”

8. Don’t rely too heavily on automated tools to track sentiment, particularly in Spanish or bilingual campaigns

Measurement in social media changes monthly, and there are new tools that promise to automate many jobs, but tracking sentiment in Spanish and bilingual communities is still a job best done by hand. Even in English, understanding context, slang and regional differences is difficult for software. In Spanish, the ability to accurately measure those factors is still a few years away. Using your community manager to understand the true nature of the conversation is your best option and will ultimately determine the value of the intelligence you derive from your campaign.

9. Do define your success metrics at the start so everyone is watching them during the campaign

While social media metrics seem vague in general, avoid relying on arbitrary metrics like total number of fans or followers. The best metrics are based on business objectives. Some good examples are:

  • Market research data
  • Lead generation or sales
  • Usable content, such as comments, posts, tweets or likes for a website or other marketing program
  • Increased awareness

These will be more significant in shaping your social media campaigns than the number of fans or followers you acquire. Relying on these business objectives to guide the development of your social media campaigns will help your business achieve real results and a useful ROI.

10. Do make sure the campaign is managed by someone who knows the audience and the platforms being utilized

Social media is made up of fast-moving conversations that are filled with slang, irony, daily events and culture. Make sure the campaign manager has a rock solid understanding of the Hispanic contingent on the platforms being utilized — Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and others. A solid foundation in these platforms will allow you to adapt quickly to the changing conversation and use it to reap solid ROI and long-term results. 

Photo from Hispanically Speaking News

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AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Jeff Wilson | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)