Archive for ‘Industry Events’:


Leveraging Experiential Marketing to Drive PR

Monday, March 8th, 2010

by Denise Giacin*

So, you’ve hired BurrellesLuce to monitor the media for coverage of your brand and now your boss wants you to increase your monthly impressions and media value. Now is the time to be bold and think outside the box.

Last week I attended a PRSA-NY seminar entitled, “Leveraging Experiential Marketing to Drive PR: Planning and Executing Buzz-Worthy Events in New York City” held at the Museum of Modern Art. I was excited to learn how integrating marketing and PR could benefit your brand, mainly because I knew this could attract the media like bees to honey.

Keith Green, vice president of marketing and communications at Synergy Events, was first to speak at yankeesthe seminar and explained how experiential marketing “attempts to connect consumers with brands in personally relevant ways.”

One way to achieve this connection is through product launch events where people can sample and experience your brand. Being a huge Yankees fan, one of my favorite product launches in New York City was when Herald Square transformed into a baseball diamond and Derek Jeter himself showed up to promote G2, the new drink from Gatorade. After listening to Keith Green’s presentation, I realize the event was successful for the following reasons:

  • The event was creative.
  • The look and feel of the event was relevant to the product, which is a direct result of the event planning team understanding the brand.
  • The location chosen is one of the busiest intersections in the city so the exposure was great.
  • Derek Jeter, the face of the event, is a local icon so the media had a field day.

Keith Green also gave a bunch of tips for holding an event, which I will share with you. Some of his ideas:

  1. Give yourself plenty of time. Especially in New York City, you will need time to plan, obtain permits, etc.
  2. Realistically decide if your event is possible. Brainstorm with people who know how to pull off the kind of event you are looking to successful hold.
  3. Determine what you want people to remember.
  4. Figure out where you will host the event and who will be the face of your company or brand at the event.
  5. Have a team driving people to attend your event.

With all of this planning comes the actual promoting and media coverage of the event as well. Kim Mitchell, the chief communications officer of the Museum of Modern Art, explained that media clips “are not information but validation” of the events. Kim continued on by showing press clips on events held at MoMA from New York Magazine, Women’s Wear Daily, Harper’s Bazaar, and the New York Times. Kim also explained how the media have special access and times to meet with sponsors, artists, and other participants at the events they hold. Perhaps Kim is on to something here. Providing the media with the tools they need to create their pieces can lead to more and better coverage of your event.

What’s your next event going to be? How are you going to leverage experimental marketing to drive PR? If you’ve already done so, how were your initiatives successful? What would you improve upon for next time? Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

Bio: Prior to joining the BurrellesLuce Client Service team in 2008, Denise worked in the marketing industry for three years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Connecticut, where she gained experience interning in PR and working for student organizations. By engaging readers on the Fresh Ideas blog Denise hopes to further her understanding of client needs. In her spare time, she is passionate about Team in Training (The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s charity sports training program) and baking cupcakes. Her claim to fame: red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. LinkedIn: dgiacin Twitter: BurrellesLuce Facebook: BurrellesLuce

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Posted in Advertising/Marketing, Industry Events, Media Monitoring, Public Relations | No Comments »

Young Professionals: St. Louis PRSA Pro-Am Day

Monday, March 1st, 2010

I had the pleasure of attending and serving on a career panel at the PRSA/PRSSA Pro-Am Day in St. Louis last week. (New PRSA president/CEO Gary McCormick was the luncheon speaker, but that’s for a future post here on BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.)  

 In this post I’d like to share some of the advice that was provided in the “Diary of Young STLPRSAproam-youngpro panelProfessionals” session.  Allison Hughes, Lara Golike, Tanya Kath and Phillip Cleveland served as panelists and answered questions from the Missouri and southern Illinois PRSSA members in attendance.

When asked for advice about entering the job market, the panel offered these points:

  • Don’t go in with a sense of entitlement. You’ll be “knocked down a peg” and only set yourself up for disappointment.
  • Not everyone works with clients immediately. While you should have a writing portfolio, you are still the “low man on the totem pole.”
  • With entry-level positions, you may have to jump through the hoops and prove yourself until acknowledged as a professional.  It can be a long road, but you must keep on until accepted.
  • In corporate PR there can be as many as ten approvals and red lines before something is given the go-ahead.
  • Not every office is like “Devil Wears Prada!”

As far as advice about job searching and what skills should be highlighted, the panel offered this guidance:

  1. Digital PR is a must. Agencies want to hire those that already have these skills. 
  2. Be sure Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages are “clean.” With Facebook, you can set privacy filters, but keep in mind that nothing is truly private on the web. 
  3. As far as skills to be highlighted, do NOT say you are a “people person.” 
  4. Include group projects (not just individual) as this demonstrates team work.
  5. Showcase achievements rather than activities. 
  6. Be prepared for an on-the-spot writing test.
  7. When interviewing, ask lots of questions before accepting a position so you know what you’re getting into.
  8. Early in your career (or even when doing internships) – diversify. Even if you know what area you want to go into, don’t pigeon-hole your experience.

Finally, panelists were asked about some the things they wish they’d learned more about in school, to which they responded:

  • AP Style (there’s even an app for that now!)
  • Social Media
  • Reading industry magazines and newsletters as well as thought-leaders blogs.

If your local PRSA, IABC, AMA or other group has a Pro-Am event, I’d encourage you to participate in any way that you are able.  What additional advice would you offer these about-to-be young PR pros?

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Posted in Career Advice/Professional Development, Industry Events | 3 Comments »

Meeting and Conversing: Real Life vs. Online

Friday, February 5th, 2010

by Colleen Flood*

Flickr Image: jaffry, grace and eliza

Flickr Image: jaffry, grace and eliza

While attending a luncheon in NYC yesterday, I initially sat at an empty table with a colleague from BurrellesLuce.  We sat across from each since we are often together and had just had a lengthy chat in the cab ride over.  A very nice person came and sat to the left of me and we started chatting.  I learned about her business, what types of clients she worked with, where she lived and where she has lived, among other things. I also met the person to the right of me and learned her interesting story as well.  I found this sort of face-to-face engagement to be very different from my most recent online networking situation.

First, let me start by saying that using social media as a networking tool is all pretty new to me still. (I have yet to network on #journchat or some of the other networking areas available online, but look forward to getting involved in the future.)  However, the Twitter networking event that I did participate in, while interesting and informative, was very fast-paced and, at least for me, also very limited as far as networking opportunities.  I could not really get to know the attendees in the way that I would have liked.  I met some very interesting people online, don’t get me wrong, but did not take much away from this initial experience.  Perhaps I need to network more online or become more immersed in the social media universe to really feel and establish the sort of connections that physical industry events provide. 

I think part of feeling a lack of connection can be attributed to feeling as though my online relationships are not real and I often find myself becoming shy towards my online contacts. (And I am guessing, that I am not alone and that others may feel similar.) I can almost compare this to email vs. picking up the phone.  I like to talk to people so I will often call a colleague or client to converse about a business matter.  However, I find many people have gotten away from this and instead request an email. While email is a wonderful thing and I could not live without it, I have determined that much of the business I do could be done more efficiently and effectively with one simple phone call rather than a string of six emails back and forth.  Maybe I’m old fashioned but a conversation whether it’s face-to-face or on the phone helps me to connect and form much more intimate bonds.   

Even so, I am thankful for the relationships I have made online. I would likely never have met these people if it weren’t for social media events and look forward to meeting them in real life someday.  I do think once I become more immersed in online networking/friendships I will be able to keep up my contacts easily through systems like Twitter.  I’ll know more about people by following them and seeing their updates. In the end, social media can be a very powerful and effective tool – helping me build and maintain relationships – but it is just one tool in a much larger communication toolbox.

What are your thoughts on online vs. real-life networking? Do you think one necessarily replaces the other? How do you establish and maintain good relationships regardless of the medium?

*Bio: Colleen Flood has been a sales consultant with BurrellesLuce for over 12 years and is eager to become a more integrated part of the social-public relations community. She primarily handles agency relations in the New York and New Jersey metro-area. She is not only passionate about work, but also about family, friends, and the Jersey Shore. Twitter: @cgflood LinkedIn: Colleen Flood Facebook: BurrellesLuce

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Posted in Career Advice/Professional Development, Industry Events, Public Relations, Social Media, Twitter | 5 Comments »

Do-se-do Your Partner

Monday, February 1st, 2010

In Virginia, one of the highlights of the fourth grade was the annual square dance. We practiced “our moves” for weeks, got just the right plaid outfit, and when the event arrived we were all in top form to do-se-do our partners. In many respects, minus the plaid, social media is the communication do-se-do equivalent. If you’re “free-styling” too wildly people may watch, but it’s hard for them to partner with you.

Seatle Municipal Archives

Flickr Image: Seatle Municipal Archives

Long before there was social media there were sewing circles. These communities influenced decisions and trends by their power of conversation. Last week the Craft and Hobby Association Winter Convention and Trade Show reminded me that good communication, no matter what the platform, yields results if you move in tandem with your audience (partner).

  1. Have a clear understanding of your brand and your value statement for your audience.
  2. Listen to your audience and understand what they want and/or need from you.
  3. Engage to provide clear messages and value.
  4. Measure your successes and failures.
  5. Make adjustments to further build on your strengths.

Granted, I was influenced by the bedazzled smocks and aprons, but was truly amazed at how smoothly these communities have integrated online socialization into their face-to-face roots. (I’m very thankful at BurrellesLuce we are fortunate to have an engaged social media team, enthusiastic bloggers, and amazing client advocates who have made a similar smooth transition of their relationships.)

There have been at least a hundred new mainstream dance moves since I was in the fourth grade, but, like with crafts and hobbies, the classics live on forever. The evidence is in this video of children doing the Virginia Reel at the 2009 Kala Ghoda Art Festival in Mumbai, India.

Do you have a social to online success story you’d like to share? What classic core competencies do you attribute to your success? How have those skills attributed to your success in social media?

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Posted in Industry Events, Public Relations, Social Media | 4 Comments »

The Value of Joining a Group-Take 2

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Smiling business people standing togetherIn my last post I asked, “Why should you join a professional organization?” There were so many great answers that I felt it deserved a follow-up post, recapping all the insight.

Tangibles:
There are a lot of resources a professional organization can help you find, like: magazines, newsletters, sample reports, case studies, conferences, awards, seminars, webinars…  But, the people seem to be the real reason many communications professionals join.

B j Altschul, APR, Montgomery County Humane Society, summed it up with, “…the value of peer support and knowledge has been a key benefit of my PRSA membership.” Like many of us, Altschul has moved from city to city. Her moves brought new leadership opportunities and new friends through her new chapter.

Inspiring others:
Association for Women in Communications (AWC) member Tina Christiansen, Write as Rain® Communications, says: “These are the FIRST people I turn to when I need another professional to partner with on a project or to make a referral — or when I just need to bounce ideas around.”

“I also think volunteering for IABC activities is one of the best things anyone can do to build a personal brand. People get to know you as a person then, and not just a business card, resume or portfolio,” says independent writer and editor Richard Buse.

I liked this idea of building a personal brand. How are you known in the communications community? Many people may see me as the “BurrellesLuce woman.” But, I hope they also see me as a volunteer, leader, tweeter or another persona I try to exhibit.

Media and communications advisor Jason Berek-Lewis noted, “We live in a linked world and I believe that real value lies in having access to a large, international network of thinkers in strategic communications – that’s why I joined the IABC.” Mary Wilson, ABC, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, agreed that the network has helped give her fresh ideas.

How are you using your professional community or organization to inspire you? Are you gaining the benefits of your membership?

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Posted in Career Advice/Professional Development, Industry Events, Public Relations | 1 Comment »

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