Posts Tagged ‘agency’


2012 Social Media Trends from IABC DC Metro

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Even though we know digital and online media continues to change, IABC/DC Metro started 2012 with a chapter meeting tackling the latest Social Media Trends.

The panelists included:

Emerging Social Media Trends
Each panelist brought different industry point-of-view to the discussion. Radick took government. Horowitz gave the agency perspective, Steigman reviewed the small business view and Dunham brought insight from publishing and the media.

  1. Government Use: Radick dispelled the myth that the government is behind the curve, but he did see them stalling in advances for 2012 because it is an election year.
  2.  Internal Communications: Radick also thinks there will be more enterprise 2.0 or social media behind the firewall to internal audiences.
  3. Integrated Efforts: Both Radick and Horowitz confirmed they see more integration into all lines of communications.
  4. Influencers: They felt the days of the “social media guru” are dying fast. Horowitz said it’s time to look for persuaders or influencers who can help persuade others to your thinking or agenda.
  5. Small Business: Steigman sees social media platforms as a reliable ecosystem and wonders how they can be used to make it easier to reach customers. She suggested reading Phil Simon’s The Age of the Platform: How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Have Redefined Business. She also feels it will be key for business to understand search and the data around it.  
  6. Digital Skills: Dunham is amazed by the use of tablets for tweeting, video, etc. Because many of his colleagues are not digitally inclined, he relies on interns to provide new ideas for using social media to drive more readers to their media properties.  

Social Media Best Practices for 2012
As with all social media discussions, some great best practices come out. Radick reminded us, “Don’t concentrate on social media tools, but concentrate on the principles behind them.

“When asked how to best measure social media, Horwoitz said, “You need to measure based on business goals, don’t measure on tactics.”  

For more helpful social media best practices, you can read Steigman’s highlights of the session on her blog.

What social media trends do you see for 2012? Please share them with the BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas readers.  

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Posted in Career Advice, Industry Events, Public Relations, Social Media | 2 Comments »

Crazy Target Lady: Seasonal Campaign Brands Memorable Spokesperson

Friday, December 9th, 2011

Andrea Corbo*

Whether or not you’ve been trying to ignore the over-abundance of holiday sale commercials — if you’ve watched any TV in the last few weeks, you’ve surely noticed that the famous Crazy Target Lady is back again. Who am I talking about? The over-enthusiastic, fictional shopper who performs extreme measures to take full advantage of Target sales. With funny quotes like, “The Target 2-Day sale is almost here. The last thing that’s gonna stop me is weak thighs,” you’ve surely taken notice.

With so many holiday sale commercials in existence, it’s quite an accomplishment to create a campaign that can stick out in the mind of viewers, be remembered, and get people talking about your brand and purchasing your products.

Nearly every commercial we’ll see in the next month will be winter and holiday related, but does that really help guide us to shop for that brand? Or is that something we consumers have come to expect from the brands we already loyally shop? Perhaps just the idea of snow, family, and presents is supposed to drive the typical consumer toward the nearest mall? Whatever the recipe for holiday marketing, Target is making a lasting impression of its name with this series of commercials from Wieden + Kennedy, a full service integrated advertising agency.

Branding a memorable spokesperson, however fictitious she may be, is something that viewers can recall each year and, in fact, many do love that crazy Target lady. If a viewer is a fan of the comedic commercial series, this may again contribute to brand loyalty. Despite the fact that the commercials don’t exactly highlight any specific products, you’re still reminded of the Target brand itself along with the fact that you may need to do some shopping.

Personally, I don’t usually watch commercials because I fast forward through them. However, there has been such hype about the Crazy Target Lady by word-of-mouth that I’ve now stopped to take notice. People are talking online and offline which means the branding is working.

What other brands have created a seasonal campaign that you can clearly and successfully identify? Are there commercials you talk about with friends and family? Are there ads that have made you take action?

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Bio: After receiving a B.A. in communications, and briefly working at a TV production studio, Andrea began volunteering abroad. This lead her to work in the non-profit world, where she was fortunate enough to learn about international education, women’s empowerment and social issues for the elderly, while traveling to over a dozen countries.  Since joining BurrellesLuce in 2011, Andrea is excited to share her thoughts and views on branding, social media, and communications with the growing Fresh Ideas audience, as well as her passion for cultural awareness, volunteerism, and sustainable efforts. Twitter: @AndreaCorbo; Facebook: BurrellesLuce; LinkedIn: BurrellesLuce 

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Posted in Advertising/Marketing, Broadcast, Online Video, Public Relations | No Comments »

Tough Talks, Insights for Creating a Win-Win-Win: Alan Cohen, Acts of Balance, Interview With Johna Burke, BurrellesLuce, at the 2011 Counselors Academy

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

Transcript -

JOHNA BURKE: Hello, this is Johna Burke with BurrellesLuce, and we’re here at Counselors Academy. We’re joined by Alan.

Alan, will you please introduce yourself?

ALAN COHEN: Absolutely. My name’s Alan Cohen, and I’m president of Acts of Balance Executive Coaching and Training based out of New York City. And I work with public relations executives and PR firms to help develop more effective leaders, and I work a lot with communications skills and team-building.

BURKE: Great. Alan, you did a session on tough conversations for PR practitioners and agency owners here. Can you give us a couple of your insights as far as how people can set up and then have those tough conversations?

COHEN: Absolutely. One of the most common things that I see in my practice is people really avoiding having those tough talks. And in avoiding them, they actually make the situation even bigger and more volatile. We largely like to be people pleasers, and so we avoid having the conversations that may be unpleasant, may provoke some strong emotions. But what I do is really help develop people to think, to plan in advance, to go through a multistep process to really think about how they’re interpreting the situation, to really align their values with having the conversation and to really, really plan it out so that the conversation will develop into a real win-win-win; a win for the individual having the talk, the–a win for the person who’s being spoken to, and really a win for the relationship overall. It’s really about a collaboration. So as leaders, we need to have the courage to have the difficult conversations. And leadership is not always easy, but it’s important that we stay in integrity by really addressing the situations that are causing us discomfort.

BURKE: Alan, thank you so much. Where can people connect with you online and in social media?

COHEN: I’m at actsofbalance.com, and my Twitter handle is actsofbalance.

Or you can join my Facebook fan page, also Acts of Balance.

BURKE: Thank you so much, Alan.

COHEN: Thank you.

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Building a Successful Brand: Dana Hughens, Clairemont Communications, Video Interview w/ Johna Burke, BurrellesLuce, at the 2011 Counselors Academy

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Transcript –

JOHNA BURKE: Hello, this is Johna Burke with BurrellesLuce, and we’re here at the PRSA Counselors Academy. I’m joined by Dana.

Dana, will you please introduce yourself?

DANA HUGHENS: Hello, I’m Dana Hughens with Clairemont Communications in Raleigh, North Carolina.

BURKE: Dana, you did a great presentation on the three P’s, kind of the pillars that you use to build your successful business. Can you share those with the audience here of PR practitioners and communicators?

HUGHENS: Sure. The first P is promise, and it’s all about defining your promise or pinpoint your promise. And that’s promises that you make to other people, and also you have to think about the promises that you make to yourself. And those promises tie to principles, which are your founding principles and your guidelines for your agency.

The second big P is potential. And what I like to say is purpose plus passion plus possibilities equals potential. So you have to think about your purpose. Why are you doing what you’re doing? Go back to the original thought of why did you start you agency, or why did you accept the job that you’re in now? And then you have to think about the passion, and the passion that you have for that, and how you instill that and nurture that with your other team members. And with those things, what are the possibilities, where can you go with that? Be willing to be open to possibilities and open to take a risk.

And the last P is people, and there are three P’s under this P. And it’s preference. Think about how people prefer to get information from you, and work with them and give them the information in the way they like to receive it. The next one is predict, and that is really just predict that there are a lot of things that you can’t predict when you’re dealing with communicating with people. The last P, and perhaps the most important, is plain and simple.

And this just goes back to a general rule about communications that the more basic that we can make it and the more straight-forward, the easier it will be for people to receive the message that we’re intending to communicate.

BURKE: I think it was a great session. I was there. And I think the power of plain language is always the strongest hook at the end.

HUGHENS: Thank you.

BURKE: Because, you know, we get so caught up in industry jargon, and then information that just doesn’t convey to our audience. And so, Dana, where can people connect with you online and in social media?

HUGHENS: My Twitter IM @blah2voila. You can also connect with Clairemont Communications on Twitter @ClairemontComm. Clairemont Communications is also on Facebook, and you can visit our website and blog at clairemontcommunications.com.

BURKE: Thank you so much, Dana.

HUGHENS: Thank you.

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Crisis Proofing Your Agency: PRSA Counselors Academy

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Colleen Flood*

iStock_000011860969XSmallOn May 13, 2011, Jay Silverberg, senior vice president of Xenophon Strategies, lead a breakout session – Crisis Proofing Your Agency and Client Support – at the annual PRSA Counselors Academy.

As a journalist you have to be prepared to cover any story. After all, bad things happen!

Silverberg explained his experience of a major crisis situation firsthand. He was at Candlestick Park for the third game of the World Series when an earthquake hit.  He said a few media organizations had emergency plans and emergency generators, but many media organizations in the area were not prepared for the crisis and did not have an adequate plan in place. Media coverage that day in San Francisco ranged from the unexpected to atrocious.

PR and communications professionals, along with the businesses they represent, must also be prepared for times of crisis. This will not only help with business continuity – the ability for your business to continue operation in times of crisis – but also keep The Media on its toes!

So how can PR practitioners start crisis proofing their agencies?

  1. Brainstorm. Come up with several crisis scenarios relevant to your agency and its clients. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Some examples might include: IT emergencies; prolonged office closures because of fire, power outage, flooding, etc; senior staff or management unavailable because of prolonged illness, missing persons, death, etc.; client crisis, or some other internal issue that might affect the operation of business. 
  2. Responsibilities. Create a check list and prepare an internal guide for your employee handbook that outlines duties and responsibilities and what is expected of employees.
  3. Business Continuity: Set the expectation for your clients. How are you going to keep the office open and operations running smoothly to minimize impact and return to normal as quickly as possible?
  4. Process: Outline procedures. If it is an IT emergency what measures could you put in place before, during, and after the crisis? For example, employees may be required to have two backup email addresses. All employees may be required to have access to a VPN and Internet at home.

Examples of Additional Backup Procedures:

  • 24 -36 hour backup of emails in Outlook
  • Cell phone with a separate area code from where you do business normally
  • Access to landline in case of emergency, including emergency contacts
  • Private Facebook pages for companies
  • Know what backup systems your monitoring service has in place
  • Purchase additional domains
  • Scripts or changing voicemail
  • Coordinate conference calls

Of course you will want to set the expectation during the hiring process, as well as write down your plan and revise it as needed. The key is getting staff involved from start to finish so that they understand the process.

Got any other great tips for handling a crisis? Be sure to share your thoughts with me and the readers of Fresh Ideas. 

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*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 Industry Events, Media Relations, Public Relations | 1 Comment »

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