Jul 15 2011

Sometimes, It’s Okay to Judge a Book by Its Cover

July 15, 2011 – 10:05 am

best-books-decade_lead_jpg_627x325_crop_upscale_q85

Guest Post By Samantha Cox (@samanthamcox)

As the saying goes, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” Well, that may be sound advice for the dating world, but when it comes to books – and the public relations industry – I must respectfully disagree.

When I walk into a bookstore (my personal kid-in-a-candy-store moment) the first things I look at are the book covers. I walk up and down the aisles, scanning the shelves and letting my eyes linger for less than a second on various ones, waiting for that spark of interest to ignite. It’s only when I feel that flame settle on a particularly appealing cover that I stop and take the book down to learn more. Be it eye-catching colors, distinctive images or unique styles, that first impression is everything.

Perhaps it’s not the best method, but we all do it.Though I’m not a book publisher or cover designer, I can’t imagine either one saying, “No, don’t worry about the cover. It’s what’s on the inside that counts.” We’re trying to sell a product here, people. Take wine for example. Ask any honest consumer who, like me, doesn’t know much about vino and they’ll tell you – if they haven’t heard of the wine, they will choose the coolest looking label. Plain and simple.

Image, of course, is an important part of the public relations industry. Just as a bad book cover can deter a reader from discovering a great story, an unappealing design or messy formatting can sometimes keep a client or media contact from considering a promising idea. Whether you’re creating something on behalf of your agency or your client, here are a few simple tips to keep in mind:

Sometimes, less is more – In many cases, the simplest cover designs can be the most eye-catching. Likewise, when you’re giving a presentation, don’t overwhelm your audience. The text on the slides should be limited to key words and phrases – it isn’t there to be read, it’s there to guide you. Similarly, using too many images on each slide can detract from the presentation rather than enhance it. When in doubt, go for a clean, simple look.

Consistent formatting goes a long way – While unique and creative fonts can work for some books, they can be difficult to read and should be avoided when it comes to professional documents and presentations. Stick to the usual suspects (Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri and those similar), and most importantly, stick with the same font throughout. If you’re using Times New Roman, size 12, for a section’s title, use it for every section’s title. From font styles and sizes to paragraph spacing, make sure everything is consistent.

Keep it in the family – Would the second or third book in a series look completely different from the other books in that series? No. They come from the same family, and that should be clear from looking at them. Always make sure you’re using the approved brand colors and styles. The same tone and feel should be carried throughout all materials, from small things like letterhead to bigger things like presentations and websites.

Whoops

PROOF, PROOF, PROOF – Nothing is more distracting than a typo or grammatical error (I know it’s not technically an error, but boy do I hate the comma before “and” in a series). Not only do errors divert the reader’s attention, but they make you look at best careless, and at worst unintelligent. Every piece should be proofed multiple times and always by someone other than the author. There are few worse feelings in the communications world than sending something out and realizing 10 seconds later that it had a typo. When in doubt, consult your AP Stylebook.

So I say go ahead, judge a book by its cover. Keep that judgmental tendency in mind as you write and design content on behalf of your agency and your clients. Believe me, they’ll thank you in the end.

Photos by A.V. Club and Yahoo! News

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Guest Post | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)
Jul 14 2011

PR Advice from an Industry Veteran on Her Birthday: Patrice Tanaka

July 14, 2011 – 2:27 pm

By CRT/tanaka (@crttanaka)

It’s not everyday you get to celebrate the birthday of someone of the likes of this. Public Relations by day, Samba dancing by night, she defines the expression – “Living Life to the Fullest.”

Patrice TanakaAs Chief Creative Officer for CRT/tanaka, Patrice is the leading ambassador of the whatcanbe vision. Her work is her passion, creatively providing clients, colleagues and everyone around her with new ideas, displaying by example that true happiness comes from within by always envisioning a bigger, brighter and better future. Her smile can light up a room, her expertise is unfathomable, and most of all, her selfless kindness and giant heart makes her an extremely remarkable woman.

On behalf CRT/tanaka, please join us in wishing Patrice Tanaka a very Happy Birthday!

Here’s some valuable advice from Patrice on her birthday for young professionals in PR and, for that matter, anyone:

Do what you love.  Most people live their lives as if they have the luxury of infinite time.  I am always informed (and haunted) by the memory of the nearly 3,000 people who died in the Twin Towers on 9/11.  They went to work that morning not thinking that they would NOT return home that evening.  It’s important to do what you love and to live as if you had precious few moments in which to do it.  By doing so, you won’t waste your time and your life.

Surround yourself with people you respect and admire.  If you do, you will always learn, always be inspired, always be challenged to do great work.

Learn something new every day.  That’s the great, built-in thing about our profession.  We are engaged in discovery and learning on a daily basis.  In fact, continual learning is required to do great work in PR (or in any other industry). 

Show your passion.  If I’m excited by an idea, others know it.  And it excites and encourages them.  I love working with passionate people.  They’re excited about work and life, in general, and it’s exhilarating to be around them. 

Be positive.  It makes coming up with a solution so much easier.  Far better to invest your time and energy in brainstorming a solution than sapping it with worry and doubt that you won’t.  At CRT/tanaka, our focus is on whatcanbe, NOT what can’t be.

Stand up for what you believe.  We have the opportunity and responsibility to do great work for ourselves, our colleagues, our clients and the community-at-large.  Doing great work, however, requires that you advocate for what you believe in and sometimes fight for it against people you admire and/or who are senior to you, including colleagues and clients. 

Live in alignment with your core values.  Your power comes from living in alignment with what you believe, what you hold most dear and who you are.  That is why I work at CRT/tanaka where we are guided by “Nine Shared Values,” our mission of “Goodness.  Genius.  Greatness.” and a vision of whatcanbe.

Pursue your joy!  Like many New Yorkers in the wake of 9/11, I was depressed and in a malaise, thinking about those nearly 3,000 people who died that day. I wondered how I could live my life so that I would be prepared to die if that ever happened to me.  This is what I decided and this is how I’ve been living my life ever since:  “Choosing joy in my life every single day; being mindful of that joy; and sharing that joy with others.”  Yes, I am definitely pursuing my joy!  And, that is my biggest piece of advice to anyone who asks.Becoming Ginger Rogers Book Cover

If you agree with these views and also live your life the same way, make sure you check out Patrice’s new book, “Becoming Ginger Rogers…How Ballroom Dancing Made Me a Happier Woman, Better Partner and Smarter CEO.”  

Be sure to become a fan of her on Facebook (Becoming Ginger Rogers) and on Twitter (@BeGingerRogers)

In the words of Patrice herself – Happy Birthday, “Doll”!

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Bryan Virgil Crist | Posted in PR Industry Trends | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (10)
Jul 13 2011

You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide: The Thin-dustry is Coming for Your Booze

July 13, 2011 – 10:14 am

bethenny-frankel-skinnygirl-margarita-475x316-1THE BOOZE BIN

Guest Post By Lauren Heilman (@mslaurenheilman)

Three words – bathing suit season. Yes, it’s that time of year again; but even if you aren’t ready, I can assure you alcohol companies and their marketing teams are.

Now that summer has finally arrived, the push for convenient, low-calorie refreshers is on the rise. Whether you prefer flavored light beers (MGD 64 lemonade) or skinny spirits (Firefly Skinny Tea, Skinnygirl Margarita), there’s definitely a guilt-free beverage waiting for your consumption.

While mostly targeting a young, female demographic, marketers are going out of their way to make us regret that delicious Blue Moon we had after work (not to mention that extra 15 pounds that crept up on us over the winter – if only we had stuck with our New Year’s resolutions). Marketers want us to embrace their product in order to achieve our weight-loss goals.

For me, the best way to manage the whole alcohol-calorie dilemma is to simply drink less (or just eat right, exercise regularly and drink what I want), rather than relying on water-flavored beer and less than harmless alternative sweeteners (i.e. Sucralose, Aspartame, Truvia).

Unlike food, which is a necessity, alcohol is a treat reserved for enjoyment and relaxation; why skimp when the pleasure of your drink lies in its content? I like being healthy just as much as the next girl, but shouldn’t we simply drink less of what we love instead of compromising taste or quality?

Here are just a few statistics for thought (all servings 12-ounces):

  • Bud Select 55 – 55 calories, 1.9 g carbs, 2.4% abv
  • MGD Light 64 – 64 calories, 2.4 g carbs, 2.8% abv
  • Bud Light– 95 calories, 6.6 g carbs, 4.2% abv
  • Skim milk – 129 calories, 17.9 g carbs
  • Orange juice – 168 calories, 28.2 g carbs

For a few extra calories, why waste your time and sacrifice flavor?

Skim milk and orange juice are rather healthy and we might not feel remorse consuming one (or both) on a daily basis. But when compared to a Bud Light, the calorie and carbohydrate count is interesting to note.

How can we enjoy ourselves (responsibly) with so much pressure placed on the caloric content of our booze? I know we’ve all seen the MGD 64 commercial with the stein-guzzling guy drinking Michelob Ultra. Very unrealistic, but we get the point.

Honestly, whether I like it or not, the “Thin-dustry” is here to stay. Every day, our world is shifting increasingly toward portion-control and healthy lifestyle choices – which is obviously a great thing considering the obesity epidemic in the U.S. – but where do we draw the line and recognize that sugar substitutes may not actually be healthy?slim-waist-tapemeasure-sm

Yes, we should all be more health-conscious, but sometimes, it’s okay to indulge in moderation with a real-deal drink. The thought of one day seeing a bottle of Patron with Splenda on the label or a 55-calorie version of PBR turns my stomach. Literally, Jack Daniels would roll over in his grave. Next thing you know, Weight Watchers will be promoting a low-calorie Fruity White wine. Oh wait…

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Guest Post | Posted in Digital Marketing, Healthcare, PR Industry Trends, Wine, Food & Nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (3)
Jul 12 2011

Word Play Politicizes Energy

July 12, 2011 – 8:30 am

Obama Solar

by Mike Mulvihill

An excellent blog post Sunday by Kate Galbraith in the New York Times (Word Choice Matters for Energy Policy) points out the depth of our nation’s political obfuscation on energy policy.

Ms. Galbraith points out that when President Barack Obama speaks about the fuels of the future; his term of choice is usually “clean energy.” This is a different term than alternative energy and is used separately from descriptors such as renewable, sustainable and green.

President Obama, in a major speech on energy security this spring, called for 80 percent of the United States’ electricity in 2035 to come from “a wide range of clean energy sources,” in which he included natural gas, nuclear power and clean coal.

This is exactly what our energy policy should be – use a wide portfolio of fuel sources to keep electric energy affordable and reliable, while we invest in developing new technologies that will make alternative and renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal, etc.) more affordable and, thus, commercially viable on a broad scale.

But politicians do not want voters to hear them embrace quick adoption of clean, renewable energy sources that will dramatically increase retail electric rates if we act too quickly. Nor do they want voters to hear them utter the harsh reality that it will take 30 years to reduce our dependence on coal without incurring significant consumer cost increases. And politicians and policy makers don’t have the stomach to tell the American public that we need to invest billions of dollars in research and development of new technologies to make even the 30-year plan work.

Otherwise, alternative and renewable energy will continue to be the power choice of the elite. University of Montana School of Journalism, with the help of American Public Media’s Public Insight Network, reported and wrote stories for New West on the energy economy of the Rocky Mountain region. They found that even with tax credit programs, the cost of renewable energy home installations is economically out of reach for most Americans. Installing these systems can cost tens of thousands of dollars and, in order for them to be effective, wind and solar power require just that—wind and sun.

Politicizing energy has been an American practice for more than 100 years. It is time to remove much of the politics and make energy our nation’s next moon program. After all, we actually live on this sphere… and there are all those NASA brainiacs looking for work.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Mike Mulvihill | Posted in PR Industry Trends | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)
Jul 11 2011

Pitch it, Pitch it Good: Tips from Marshall Kirkpatrick, co-editor of ReadWriteWeb

July 11, 2011 – 10:11 am

By Rosalie Morton @rosaliemo

One of the best things about working for a mid-size agency is the quality and intimacy of the trainingDevo sessions. Our training committee is fantastic, and always looking to us for our input on what WE want to learn about.

What is the most evergreen topic in PR? Best practices for pitching. How to get that reporter or blogger to pick up your story.

We were fortunate enough to have Marshall Kirkpatrick, co-editor of ReadWriteWeb present on “Pitching for Coverage.” It was great to hear it from the horse’s mouth.

Marshall’s tips

Identify and engage with your community online.

- Use a custom search engine to find the perfect outlets for your story like Blekko

- Now engage with that community. Follow your target bloggers on Twitter. Add insightful comments to their posts. Make it easy for yourself! Use lists on Twitter to organize your contacts so you can easily see what they are tweeting about. Create a Google Reader so that you receive their stories right to your smartphone or desktop.

- Add as much value as possible, early on.

Anddddd. Repeat. With dignity, Marshall emphasized.

Develop a reputation for adding interesting value, and then you won’t be sending cold emails.

Create the Pitch

- Embargoes- Marshall loves and respects them, as do a lot of other bloggers… but not including TechCrunch.

  • The best time for an embargo to lift is 9 or 10 AM PST, 12 PST or 4 PST… but not 3!
  • Prepare a great launch document that includes a short description, quotes, screen shots, logos, link for launch and an FAQ—answer the questions that you know are interesting, but a blogger or reporter who is not familiar with your brand or product might not think to ask.

- Pitches- Short, sweet to the point. Why does the blogger want to write about it?

- Being annoying- This was my favorite part… Feel free to call anyone who hasn’t replied, and call them again. Keep calling until you get pushback (ahhh, a welcome sigh of relief from me!).

  • Don’t worry that you are “being annoying,” until they respond negatively.

Annnnd Repeat.

My personal takeaways: It was a big relief to know that I can send that extra email or make that extra phone call, if I really think a story is a good fit, but I haven’t heard back yet. I may have just fallen to the bottom of their inbox. It also was great to hear just how much bloggers value personal relationships.

My next steps: Sorting out the mess that is my Twitter lists and updating my Google Reader with additional relevant reporters and bloggers.

What’s on your pitching punch list?

Image from http://www.legitreviews.com/news/7386/

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Rosalie | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends | Comments (7)
Jul 6 2011

Buggy Buzz, Dissected.

July 6, 2011 – 9:32 am

THE BOOZE BIN

By Cassandra Bianco (@cnbianco)

worm cocktail

Bugs could be sexy. Ok fine…only a little.

The New York City cocktail movement has trickled so far along, some bars want something… special to differentiate themselves. So why not fix up cocktails with some additional, natural, seasonings?

Creepy is cool, and insect drinks are currently swarming the scene, or at least the publicity scene. Beginning with Falai Café’s squid-ink cocktail in SoHo, this tippler is terrific for newcomers. However, if you’re up for making the (grasshopper) leap, try the city’s latest at TriBeCa’s White & Church, which features $14 insect- and arachnid-garnished concoctions. These include the “Blue Velvet,” a tobacco-infused brandy topped with scorpions; the “Summer,” a coconut, crème caramel and cricket blend; or the Mexican worm-based “Why Not,” a tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, and avocado cocktail. Mezcal and latin cocktails are equally trendy now, so it’s not surprising to hear the little wormy “Why Not” is a true hit. Historically, one of Mexico’s most famous culinary insects is the agave worm, eaten on tortillas and placed in bottles of mezcal liquor, so it’s great to hear authenticity is in order.

Here are my 3 morning thoughts, with hopes to further percolate the matter, but not pester:

  • Insects are innovative. For this creativity, I applaud. Perhaps these establishments were inspired by a certain sustainable food TED talk. It’s an eco protein, and could be very trendy in the future. But for now, quite frankly it just bugs me a little.
  • Crazy, or clever? The bars could be catering to the 48.7 million yearly NYC tourists, many of which are Japanese and Chinese folks accustomed to critter cuisine. If they are targeting niche tourist communities, well that’s ingenious. The Japanese savor aquatic fly larvae sautéed in sugar and soy sauce, but are mostly known to brave poisonous fugu. They also serve boiled wasp larvae, fried grasshoppers, fried cicadas, and fried silk moth pupae…all sounding quite excellent.
  • Bottom line: If you have bugs on the menu, journalists pounce. When I asked Grubstreet’s Jenny Miller, she agreed: “If you have bugs in a cocktail, a journalist’s ears perk up — it’s something different.” To gain media attention, we must constantly research and pitch new ideas, i.e. no Beetle Juice, please.

And so, I wish you well on your eco-eating adventures. If the kids get a little envious, feel free to serve up some cicada ice cream. Bon appetit.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Cassandra Bianco | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends, Wine, Food & Nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)
Jun 27 2011

Five Social Media Blunders Made by PR Agencies

June 27, 2011 – 2:13 pm

By Priya Ramesh (@newpr)

[Disclaimer: This is not yet another PR bashing post, I live and breathe PR/social media and Kudos to @GaryVee for clarifying things for us PR pros on @GeoffLivingston's blog http://geofflivingston.com/2011/06/22/gary-vaynerchuk-garyvee-answers-tough-questions/]

social-media-mistakesThis coming Thursday, June 30th is WORLD SOCIAL MEDIA DAY and I am sitting here nodding my head in “no, we are not there yet mode…”  Like you, I am someone who truly believes in human relations as a means to a meaningful end. In its most simplistic form, we Public Relations pros are in it because we “like” people and understand the science and art of “building” relations that positively affect our clients. Whether we do it using paper and pen, iPhones, Facebook or Twitter is secondary to the bigger mission which is to COMMUNICATE. As much as I greatly tout the fact that social media is owned by PR versus Advertising, I also realize we are not there yet in terms of truly leveraging social media. Here are some of the classic blunders we PR agencies make when it comes to integrating “social” with “traditional”

1.       Facebook: CHECK, TWITTER: CHECK, Now let’s go back to hibernation: All that landscaping, new tile design, colorful logos in your social garden is a complete waste if you don’t plan your party for at the least the next few months. If you consider just launching yourself on Twitter and Facebook with your branding and daily updates and tweets a huge accomplishment, you have totally missed the boat. If you are the head of marketing/communications at your company, PLEASE, PLEASE ask your social media folks to plan for a well thought out engagement calendar. No not editorial but ENGAGEMENT CALENDAR meaning what do I tweet or Facebook (soon to be a verb) that is of any value to my audience? Do not just arrive on social networks and forget to keep yourself updated and engaged. You made us like you and follow you. Now give us a reason to want to stay that way. Just three meaningful tweets a day, that’s what McDonald’s does is enough. Look active on social media if not pro-active. If your PR agency isn’t thinking through rules of engagement and quarterly new ideas to keep your content fresh and meaningful, you might want to rethink your social media game plan.

2.       Push content without Pulling your audience:  Yes, free content and thought leadership are AWESOME but I do like to track some metrics behind that great work. Tell me which PR/Marketing professional doesn’t want to see “What did all this social media do for my brand” report? While we spend countless hours churning out great content, we don’t spend half as much time in tracking the outcomes of content generation. In-fact some of us don’t even ask ourselves the most important question, “Why am I hosting a tweet chat or a video contest on YouTube?”  I know I am preaching to the choir here but let’s take a step back and define success for our clients before recommending tactics. A well thought out social media strategy starts with identifying a solid strategy followed by key performance indicators followed by tactical recommendations not the other way around. I agree every single social activity can’t be measured BUT there are tons of free tools out there to see how much you are pushing out versus pulling in.

 3.       Treat SEO, Social and Web as Separate Siloes: This is when I try to keep my blood pressure under control and accentuate the Colgate smile. If your PR agency is doing a website rebranding without integrating it with your SEO ambitions and social media goals, RUN!!!  The three elements are closely integrated. Your blog feeds the Google engine which in turn drives traffic back to your website or any social property that YOU want to promote.  Again start with an online audit first, where do you stand on Google search rankings? What is your online sentiment (which is not who YOU think you are but who your AUDIENCE think you are).  I have seen some companies have multiple vendors with different strategies and tactics to handle SEO, Social and Web separately and they don’t talk to each other. Now if you have the luxury to do that, good for you but some of my clients don’t so we ask that all partners in Web 2.0 strategy connect and work towards a common set of goals.

 4.       Promise the ‘Stars” without knowing which planet they belong to: Sure, I will get you a tweet from Chris Brogan, Guy Kawasaki and Larry King but I don’t even know what they are interested in, leave alone following them on Twitter. I hold myself accountable to this; I don’t take enough time on a periodic basis to see what my “influentials” are up to? Let’s first subscribe, follow and like them and then start identifying possible connection points. PR agencies will promise you a blog mention or a tweet out from big names in social media as though they live right next door to Chris Brogan and Guy Kawasaki. Instead we need to first LISTEN to them, find a win-win situation for both client and your influential to get Mashable kind of attention. Ask your agency a simple question, “What makes you think you will get a #1 blogger to write about my brand that no-one has ever heard of?”

 5.       Viral and Video don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand: Recently at the “Metrics and Measurement” panel at BlogWorld NY, Margot Savell, VP of Digital Measurement at Weber Shandwick made the point, “First of all you can’t create a viral video campaign. We can only create a video campaign with the hope that it will go viral.” I am proud to share CRT/tanaka’s success with the Go Granny video campaign for Network Solutions that we launched during Super Bowl 2011. I am not a big fan of “impressions” but if we were to judge Go Granny by impressions, we garnered over 50M impressions in less than a week especially during the Super Bowl, the biggest media event and most of it just on Twitter. PR agencies can only plan for a video to go viral but setting a realistic expectation with clients that not all videos can go viral is just open and honest communication between an agency and its clients.

My intention here is not to come across as another one of those PR agency bashing blog posts because PR is my passion, my daily bread. I am proud to spend a vast majority of my life doing what I enjoy the most, helping people and brands COMMUNICATE effectively so why not try to get it right when it comes to communicating on SOCIAL MEDIA. I am sure you have your favorite silly, stupid social media moments that you have witnessed, please share it here so we can all learn from you. Thank you!

Image courtesy: http://www.dragonblogger.com/tips-social-networking/.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Priya Ramesh | Posted in PR Industry Trends | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (7)
Jun 24 2011

Content, Content, Content! Tips from the Pros

June 24, 2011 – 11:18 am

By Rosalie Morton (@RosalieMo)

What’s the key to success with social media? According to the pros who spoke at Vocus Users Conference ’11 in Baltimore last week, it’s content. And I have to agree.

The speaker list at the conference was virtually a who’s who of the social media/public relations space. The very entertaining Scott Stratten opened the conference in his characteristically wild style, setting the tone for a fun two days. I had the pleasure of attending sessions by Lee Odden, Valeria Maltoni, Ann Handley, David Meerman Scott and Gini Dietrich. Providing the perfect bookend to Scott’s energetic presentation, Peter Shankman closed the conference and brought down the house.

The overarching theme? Content, content, content.

clip_image002Lee Odden started us off with a look into the ways that SEO and PR work hand in hand. SEO essentially closes the gap between PR and journalists. How do journalists find stories? They use Google. By increasing our SEO, we are increasing our odds of being found. In addition, SEO is the key for online reputation management. You should ensure that the first page of Google results only includes the links that you want your audience to see.

And how do we do this? Content. We have to help our clients demonstrate expertise on their subjects. They should be the authority on their given topic in the online space.

Ann Handley also rocked the content vibe—no surprise, considering we were all given copies of her book entitled, you guessed it, Content Rules. Ann told us, “Good content is the soul who you are.” It should share and tell your story… and when you create good content, it’s shared even further. This is where social media comes in. With good content, you not only reach your network… you reach your network’s network. That’s the goldmine.

David Meerman Scott went a very entertaining route, looking at content with respect to Charlie Sheen and his shenanigans. David focused on the importance of real time content. Look for opportunities to insert your company into the second paragraph of news. For a dead-on example, he looked no further than America’s favorite heiress, Paris Hilton. When she was arrested for cocaine possession in Vegas, Wynn hotels banned her the following Wednesday because her vehicle “reeked of marijuana.” The hotel chain issued a press release, and bam, their press pick-up was enviable (HuffPo, People, CBS News). The moral of the story? It’s important to be real time with your content. If you spend too much time jumping through legal hoops and getting approvals, you may be too late.

So make sure you’re considering SEO, reaching your network’s network and thinking in real time to develop content with true reach.

Thanks, Vocus, for this fantastic line-up of speakers. Hope to see you all next year.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Rosalie | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends | Comments (6)
Jun 20 2011

HOW TO MAKE YOUR AWARD SUBMISSION A WINNER

June 20, 2011 – 5:00 am

Guest post by Ken Jacobs, principal of Jacobs Communications Consulting (@Kensviews)

clip_image002Having just judged three awards competitions— the PRSA Silver Anvils, PRSA-NY Big Apples and PRSA-NJ Pyramids—I was delighted when Priya asked me to share my thoughts, from a judge’s perspective, on what makes for an award-winning entry.

Here’s a baker’s dozen list of questions that you should ask yourself before sending your entry. I apologize if some of these seem overly basic, but trust me, over the years I’ve reviewed a number of program entries where this list could have made a real difference for those submitting their work.

1. Is this truly game-changing work? We know you worked very hard, but awards are given to identify and honor best practices, for results that are above-and-beyond, for programs that changed the game for you or your client, and yes, for our industry. Very good programs are very good, but they don’t win awards. If your program was very good, revel in that, but save your time and your expense. Don’t enter it into an awards program.

2. Did I show that I understand that one of the objectives of an awards program is to prove that I know what an objective is? Ok, I exaggerate, but just a bit. I still reel when I see entries, from reputable firms, which seem to indicate that they don’t understand that an objective should be measurable, that an objective is the “what” and the strategy’s the “how.” I appreciate that some industry pros have slightly different definitions of goals, objectives and strategies, but I think we can all agree that “generating more media coverage” is not a measurable objective!

3. Are my results connected to my objectives? I’m amazed that I just wrote those words, but I’ve seen countless entries where the goals and results seem to live in different universes. Let me make it simple for you: When you’re writing your results, just copy and paste your objectives into the results section. Then share the appropriate results for each objective. If you’ve laid out measurable objectives, it should be easy to prove that your results achieved them. If some of your objectives weren’t achieved, it’s best for you to acknowledge this, indicate the reason and how this affects your plans going forward. If you over-achieved any objectives, don’t be shy about trumpeting this fact.

4. Does it all connect? If you achieve the measurable objectives that you indicated, will it help solve the business or marketing image you described in the business environment section? Do your strategies truly overcome the challenges you articulated? Will the tactics involve and reach the audiences you’ve identified? Will the coverage likely convey the important messages that you indicated?

5. Did I show the entry to someone not on this account or who didn’t work on this project? It’s absolutely critical that you do so. Even though these pros won’t know the details of your program, they have one critical skill that you don’t: objectivity. They can help you see which parts of your write-up aren’t clear, or what might be confusing to another reader. And wouldn’t you want that insight so you can take corrective action before judges see your work?

6. If I left out the budget, did I explain why? Budgets are often required for programs. If your client or company prohibits you from sharing this critical piece of information, at least provide a budget range. If you’re prohibited from sharing even that, say so. Either way, don’t allow the judges to assume you were hiding a huge budget or were simply being careless.

7. Should I be entering this campaign in a publicity, rather than a public relations, awards program? You don’t need me to remind you that our industry has morphed incredibly in the past few years, and that we’re living in an era of engagement, when (cliché alert) content is king and getting the target to share it is critical. Yet many firms insist on entering publicity programs into public relations awards contests. I’ve nothing against a classic publicity program designed to generate coverage in traditional outlets. But if your program doesn’t reflect state-of-the art execution, channels and tactics, don’t enter it in a public relations awards contest. (And don’t even get me started on the entries whose achievements were primarily the result of advertising efforts.)

8. Did I focus on the entry, not the back-up? When I was entering and winning awards competitions, it was believed that judges were looking for excuses not to review the support binders. While that may or may not be true, all those with whom I’ve ever judged, and certainly the senior judges, focused on the two-page entry. That’s where you convince the judge that your program was truly best-in-class. In my experience, the binder was used as a tie-breaker, or perhaps to determine which campaign gets the award and which gets the honorable mention. But if your entry isn’t executed properly, and according to the rules, your binder won’t make a difference.

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(Photo Credit: Photong)

9. Did I use the checklist? Checklists are provided by the awards sponsors to assure that each entry addresses all key issues. This also makes it easier to judge all submissions from a level playing field. These are requirements, people! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat around a table with a group of judges, saying “This seems to be great work, but where’s the budget? Where’s the research? Don’t they understand the meaning of the word ‘required’?” (Yes, after a morning of looking through entries that leave out key data, we judges can be a bit snarky! Now you know.)

10. Did I wow the judges? I’m not talking about a flashy video or a beautifully-designed binder, but an entry that’s well written. I’ve read some entries for programs that might have been absolutely compelling, but were so dryly written I needed two double espressos to get to the end. The reality is judges are reading many entries in a relatively short period of time. Write yours in a way that captures and keeps our attention. And yes, you can have some fun with it. In fact, please do so, at least for this judge!

11. Have I taken the judges ages into account? Ageist you say? Not at all. But most awards judges are around 40 or older, when the eyes start to go. So that 8-pt. type that you’ve used in order to fit all your words onto two pages is not having your desired effect. Instead of using tiny type, take out your red pencil, and slash the copy down to size. And on the same subject, remember that white space is the judges’-and therefore your—friend!

12. Does the data in my binder truly support my two-page entry? Okay, you’ve wowed us with your two page entry. It’s thorough, well-written and yes, compelling. Make sure that your binder proves all the claims you’ve made in your entry, that you’ve shared the findings of the research that led to your strategy, and most important, the data that proves you achieved your objectives.

13. Did I proof? Have I seen more than my share of awards entries with typos? Yess!

Ken Jacobs is the principal of Jacobs Communications Consulting, which helps public relations firms 1) Grow and manage business; 2) Improve client service and enhance client relationships; and 3) Increase staff performance, motivation, loyalty and retention. It does so via training, consulting and coaching. Prior to launching his firm, he spent 25 years in leadership roles with various New York-based public relations agencies. He blogs at Ken’s Views.

 
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Jun 14 2011

CSR: How Do You Figure Out What You’re Getting Back?

June 14, 2011 – 11:32 am

Einstein

By Natalie Smith, APR

Does “giving back” get you anything back?

This is the question that often plagues companies as they establish and build their corporate social responsibility (CSR) platforms. Inevitably, battle lines are drawn not only over whether or not giving back provides a good return on investment, but over how to measure to determine whether ROI exists.

The liberal-leaning side of me would like to think that companies give back to the community because it’s simply the right thing to do. But I’ve been in business long enough now to know that’s not the case – and in fact, I’ve come to believe that it shouldn’t be. There is a long, long list of needs in this world and as much as we’d like to help resolve them all, we can’t. We have to choose – and as businesses, our decisions should be smart, make sense to our stakeholders (including our employees) and should support the other parts of the business that we work so hard to build.

Let’s start with the measuring (more on choosing later). Measuring ROI on CSR can range from basic and surface to very complex, depending on the importance to the company and the resources it is willing to commit to measurement. On the minimal end, companies can choose to measure outputs generated by CSR activities, such as the number of dollars donated or volunteer hours logged. Admittedly, this approach doesn’t actually tell you the return on that investment, but it at least lets companies understand what they are contributing – something a surprising number of businesses don’t bother to track.

Companies willing to put more time and resources into measurement may choose to measure outcomes in areas that have more direct impact on the business or the activity, This could include increases in customer satisfaction, employee morale or referrals,  or favorable media coverage or social media sentiment.

Metric-driven companies with strong, long-standing CSR programs often choose to take measurement even further by examining the social return on investment (SROI), which analyzes the effectiveness of CSR programs. In general, these models lead companies through a process of establishing inputs (what the company will invest), measuring outputs resulting from the investment and measuring outcomes (changes that have occurred over a longer period of time) to determine the overall impact of its investments (outcomes minus an estimate of what would have happened anyway). The London Business School recommends this approach, while Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship and the University of California/Berkeley Haas School of Business also provide sound advice on measurement.

Whether your CSR measurement efforts are simple or detailed, don’t forget to take that most-important first step: make sure your CSR program has clear objectives that align with the company’s business goals, brand and culture. Failure to do so leads not only to wasted time and money but to a disconnect between your well-intentioned efforts and your internal and external stakeholders. And that’s definitely a bad investment.

 
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