Tag Archives: earned media

Words to Live By for Communications Pros

Posted on March 6, 2013 by | 1 Comment

At PR Newswire, we frequently conduct webinars featuring  a variety of top thought leaders in the industry, and through their knowledge-sharing and insights, there are some great nuggets of information derived from each of these presentations. But if you’re like me, once the webinar is over, you move on to the next item on your list; rarely is there enough time to pause and truly reflect on what these wise words mean.  So we’ve compiled some of the most thought-provoking quotes from our recent webinars into the above SlideShare presentation, “Words to Engage by… PR, Marketing & the New Media Landscape.”

Which one stands out most to you?

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The Case for Building Distribution into Content Planning

Posted on March 5, 2013 by | Leave a comment

As content marketing strategies become more prevalent in company discussions, there still remains an overriding question:
What strategies can be used for content creation and management?

A critical component is understanding how the assets can be distributed, and ensuring creation will dovetail nicely. Currently, many companies wait for the end product (i.e. the finalized content), and then devise their distribution strategy. While this can cut down on time up front, it can compromise the quality of the asset distribution. Ideally, the creation strategy and the distribution plan are working in synch. Sometimes the people involved may be from different teams, and possibly even different companies!  Think of agencies and how they were historically set up.

PR agencies, ad agencies, and brand marketers were always tasked with content distribution. That content could be a pr message, marketing tag, or print/video ad. Those teams were almost always brought in after the content creation, with virtually no input prior to completion. The management of the assets were overseen by perhaps one person (VP Marketing, etc), and the various teams did the best with what they were provided.

The Digital Asset Management Conference in Los Angeles last week week challenged this methodology.  Companies like HBO and Open Text promoted the idea of upfront planning for all assets and distribution. This can be challenging, especially with divergent philosophies, but ultimately helps ensure the creation of the best assets for the optimum management and distribution.

What we see is this –  not only are silos breaking down between earned/paid/owned media, but silos are beginning to break down at the content planning stages as well.

Kevin ProfessionalAuthor Kevin Wilke is a divisional vice president with MultiVu, a PR Newswire company specializing in multimedia content creation, production and distribution.

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Posted in Content PR & Marketing, Digital Content

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Content Marketing & PR: Powering the Marketing Engine with Earned Media

Posted on February 26, 2013 by | Leave a comment

As a lead strategist at the Content Marketing Institute (among a number of other professional endeavors), Robert Rose is a renowned expert on all things related to content marketing. We recently asked Robert to share his thoughts on the topic of PR and its relation to content marketing, and the resulting Q&A below is chock full of tips and insights. We hope you enjoy it!

PR Newswire:  What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the term…

Content Marketing… 

Robert Rose: Well, the first thing that comes to mind is “my job”.  But the second thought is how marketers are using organic content and dynamic storytelling to positively affect business results.

 Public Relations… 

RR: A core practice that is undergoing fundamental disruption.  I’m a HUGE, passionate fan of public relations.  But I think the practice of Public Relations has lost its way a bit – especially as it pertains to being the corporate “storyteller”.  If there’s one group that should be embracing the ideas of content marketing – it’s PR.  And, sadly, because in many cases it has lost its strategic seat at the table (save for crisis management) PR is one of the last departments to actually get to embrace content marketing.

Daisy Rose, via BigBlueMoose on Flickr.

 Man’s best friend  (a slight digression, but I had to throw this one in here given that you’re fellow dog lover)…

RR:  Oh my god – you’re tempting me to embed pictures of my dog here aren’t you.

PRN:  Yes.  We are.

PRN: What are the parallels between content marketing and PR? (What does PR lend to content marketing, and vice versa?)  

RR: I’m reading a wonderful book right now called PR! By Stuart Ewen.  It’s basically a history of the practice.   In that book, there’s a phrase that’s used frequently describing how “images used as persuasion” was at the core of PR.   That’s directly related to content marketing of course.  The question for brand marketers and product marketers is how can they tell the larger story of a brand/product to fill the emotional well of customers, in order to change or enhance their behavior.  These are identical goals.

blog_quote_RobertRosePRN:  In your opinion, what is the biggest misconception about PR?

RR:  I think maybe that it’s a separate thing from marketing.  A well integrated PR program is much more than just investor relations and/or pushing content (news releases) into the publishing space or (candidly) more than issuing a “social” release that simultaneously tweets/blogs/distributes your latest press release.    An integrated PR program is one key component of telling a broader and more valuable story.  The opportunity is to really leverage earned media in order to power other parts of the marketing engine.

 PRN: If a PR practitioner was sitting across the table from you right now, what advice would you give them as to how they can help their respective organizations amplify the results of their content strategies?
IRR: Well – that’s a bigger topic than this format allows for – and probably needs great beverages to go along with it.  But here’s one quick piece of advice.  The power of today’s distribution services is being squandered by most companies.  Somewhere along the line, companies got the idea that there was only one way to write a press release – and we all swallowed the blue pill.  Why does every press release read like a press release.  Guess what – if we (as marketers or PR professionals) write the article we WANT the outlets to run – the distribution service will still distribute it.  It doesn’t have to speak in Corporate-ese – or in some bland, “we’re proud to announce that blah blah blah”.   Let’s start writing compelling, engaging content – and use the distribution service as a mechanism to get that story out in the market place.

PRN:  What opportunities or benefits exist for organizations whose PR and marketing departments work collaboratively on a content strategy?

 RR: The main opportunity and benefit is a truly cohesive story across paid, earned and owned media.  The Altimeter folks are doing some great work on this front – and I’d encourage anyone to read their work on this topic.  But truly, if you are interested in the ROI of Content Marketing, so much of it has to do with being able to leverage a cohesive story across these channels.  For example, if we look at Coca Cola – and their content marketing.  They produced a piece of content (The Security Camera video) and it was popular on YouTube.  So, nice content marketing right?  Well, right – except that they also used it as an ad for the Super Bowl (after they understood that it resonated on YouTube) and they got tons of earned media on outlets covering it.   Paid, owned and earned media making content work MUCH harder for the organization and justifying the cost of creating great, impactful content.

 PRN: Is there an organization, or two, that you can point to as being successful in rallying both marketing & PR departments around overall content goals to achieve results while working within a limited budget?

Yes, certainly (as mentioned) Coca Cola is doing as good a job with content as anyone.  Also, of course, you can’t avoid mentioning Red Bull – who people have described as a media company that also sells a canned drink.   But I’d also point to B2B companies like SAS and SAP who are doing a good job with content and storytelling.   And, finally – State Farm Insurance and their work with the William Shatner fried turkey  video is a wonderful example of marketing, PR  – turning into great content marketing. 

st farm wm shatner

Learn more about how PR and content marketing strategies can be combined to produce powerful and compelling earned media that reaches the right audiences by tuning into our on-demand webinar,”Fueling the Content Marketing Engine Through PR.”

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Earned Media Awesomeness – It’s Time to Cast Your Earnies Vote!

Posted on February 18, 2013 by | Leave a comment

vote-Earnies-hiRes

I don’t know about you, but I personally love examples of great communications campaigns from other brands and industries.   One can gain so much knowledge and fresh ideas simply by reviewing the good work others have done.

It’s time to cast your vote in the Earnies, and gather some inspiration for your own organziation’s upcoming campaigns along the way! The Earnies, PR Newswire’s socially-selected, earned media awards program, recognizes how communicators are doing so innovatively and successfully.  And, for the second year in a row, we’ve received a number of truly creative entries from organizations and brands that cover a range of industries.

Our esteemed panel of judges helped us narrow down the submissions to a short-list of finalists and now it’s time for your to vote and help choose the winner in each category!  Hurry – voting ends on February 20th!

The entries were judged based on strategy, creativity, results and overall ‘awesomeness’ of the campaigns and now it’s your turn to do the same and help us decide this year’s winners!

The Earnies Grand Prix

  • The Advertising Council – “FWD Campaign” by the Ad Council and USAID
  • General Electric – HealthyShare: Surprise and Delight
  • Gutterglove – Gutterglove Brings China Manufacturing Back to California

See the “Earnies Grand Prix” entries and cast your vote here.

 Best Connection to Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook Audience

  • New Media Strategies – Engaging the Casual Wine Buyer: The Wine Bar Facebook Community
  • Summertime Entertainment’s Dorothy of Oz – Totally Toto Tuesdays
  • Magic Software Enterprises – Magic’s Rebranded Facebook Page Gained Over 50k Followers

Review the “Best Connection to Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook Audience” entries and cast your vote here.

Best Integrated Campaign on a Shoestring Budget

  • Cleveland Metroparks Zoo – Zoo Olympics
  • Wunderman Seattle – Halo 4 Key Art Reveal
  • Gutterglove – Gutterglove Brings China Manufacturing Back to California

Take a look at the varied entries for “Best Integrated Campaign on a Shoestring Budget” and cast your vote here.

Best Piece of Branded Content

  • CSC – Connected Consumer
  • Huddle Productions – Bud Light Bands
  • New Media Strategies – ACCCE

To learn more about the “Best Piece of Branded Content” entries and to cast your vote, click here.

Best Use of an Infographic

  • Cisco – The Internet of Things
  • Cisco – Worklife Cloud
  • PriceGrabber.com – Back-to-School Shopping Forecast and Consumer Trends

Admire the visuals from the “Best Use of an Infographic” entries and to cast your vote here.

Best Use of Video in Social Media:

  • Cleveland Metroparks Zoo – Ele’s Day Off
  • Cody Westheimer – Kona IRONMAN World Championship
  • LatentView Analytics – Confessions of a Serial Analyst

Watch the “Best Use of Video in Social Media” entries and to cast your vote right here.

Best Visual Campaign through Pinterest or Instagram

  • RA Sushi Bar Restaurant – RA on Pinterest
  • Fathom – ConsumerCrafts Back-To-School Crafter’s Challenge

See the “Best Visual Campaign through Pinterest or Instagram” entries  & vote  here.

We Can’t Believe That Worked!

  • General Electric – HealthyShare: Surprise and Delight
  • Cleveland Metroparks Zoo – Live Tweeting
  • New Media Strategies – ACCCE “Click-to-Call” Grassroots Advocacy

To learn more about the “We Can’t Believe That Worked!” entries and to cast your vote, click here.

 

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Leveraging Converged Media for Content Marketing

Posted on January 25, 2013 by | 4 Comments

It was not that long ago that marketing spent their advertising budget on telling consumers what they thought the consumer should know about a brand. Not what the consumer wanted to know.

However, in today’s consumer-driven world, brands’ audiences expect more. They want a seamless, consistent experience – it should be easy and organic to go from website to blog to wherever else on the web that the company is found.

Earlier this week, the Online Marketing Summit and PR Newswire presented a webinar titled “Leveraging Converged Media’s Impact on Content Marketing.”

At the heart of conversation between presenters Ardath Albee and Sarah Skerik was the importance of coordinating a consistent story across all media channels and creating quality, sustainable content that is straightforward.

In other words, it reinforced a common sense approach to marketing that is starting to evolve:  value and relevancy over static and boring.

“Content has to be awesome,” Skerik remarked during the presentation. And she’s right. It’s time to take a pledge to stop distributing bad press releases or “phoning in mundane blog posts” because they do very little to increase brand awareness.

Quality content has staying power and builds loyalty.  It shouldn’t just convert your target audience into a buyer, but also keep them coming back.  Other noteworthy points:

  • Consistent and creative storyline – Anyone can spout facts, tell a story.
  • Logo is less important – Tone, style, quality and relevance have more substance and tell a better story.
  • Channels are digital ambassadors for the brand and should be consistent, utilizing paid, owned and earned media.
  • Communications between brands and audiences is no longer a one way street – successful marketing today is conversational.
  • Creating valuable content will open up an exchange of information between audience and brand.
  • Content has to be awesome.

Consumers have more of a voice than ever before and they are using it.  Traditionally, when a consumer was unhappy with a product, they would just stop buying what was being sold and maybe tell their family or friends.  Now, when a consumer is unhappy they have multiple channels to vent their frustration.  This is also true when a consumer likes something.

Personally, when I find a product I like, I look to their website, like them on Facebook, follow on Twitter and more than likely will seek them out on Pinterest.  My goal is not to necessarily keep track of their every move but to show support and, let’s be honest, get the low down on coupons, sales or giveaways.

I will only do this if it is easy.  If I have to click too many times or have to hunt for a link, I will give up.  I am not going to work to find something that should be there already and both Ardath and Sarah echoed my thoughts as a consumer perfectly and offer wonderful insight on how to achieve this objective.

Quality over quantity is what will attract and keep new business and utilizing the many social media channels that are offered will only help to brand awareness.  It is important to remember that new social media sites are created daily and having the ability to adapt the message will only mean success over in the long run.

Finally, PR and marketing need to be on the same page.  It is a waste of time, effort and money if the two departments are not coordinating.

Did you happen to catch this presentation? If so, what was the biggest takeaway for you?

Of course, if you weren’t able to make it, you can listen to the archive of the webinar at the following link:  “Leveraging Converged Media’s Impact on Content Marketing”

To learn more about the topic of converged media, check out PR Newswire’s workshop, “Driving Qualified Audiences Into the Funnel Using Rich Media and Distribution Network” during the upcoming Online Marketing Summit. Click here to register and be sure to use promo code SMPRN1 to receive 30% off the registration rate.

Author Mary Johnson is the office manager in PR Newswire’s Cleveland office and is a member of our social media team, curating and tweeting technology news under the @PRNTech Twitter handle.

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Earned Media: Capturing Audience Attention

Posted on November 28, 2012 by | 2 Comments

According to  Altimiter Group’s Rebecca Lieb, who  addressed  Future M conference attendees recently, today’s media environment is a “virtual Times Square; an environment of screens.”  As consumers, she noted, we are bouncing from device to device and message to message.  We are “tuning out the noise and too distracted to concentrate.”  This is an environment that makes it even harder for brands to capture the attention of their audiences.

Her analogy is a good one.  Your first experience on New York’s bustling midtown streets can be exhilarating – amazed by the bright lights, flashing billboards, and bustling crowds.  You may try to soak it all in, capture the moments on camera and embrace the chaos.  The third or fourth time, however, might not be quite the same.  Anymore, when I think about Times Square, I consider the quickest exit strategy; the detour I can take to get around the dizzying lights and crowded streets to my final destination.  Something has to be quite intriguing to capture my attention there, and therein is the challenge for brands today.

So how should brands tackle this challenge? By being ubiquitous.  By being visible across all media channels and creating a dynamic and consistent story in paid, owned and earned media spaces.  By creating “branded surround sound,” as Lieb puts it, and implementing an integrated strategy in which all channels work in concert to amplify one another and ultimately maximize the impact of the overall strategy.  Consumers are simply looking for the most relevant and engaging information – in the instant that they need it and in the channel they are seeking it, and to remain relevant, a brand message must be wherever they are.

This informed and active consumer, along with the emergence of new social platforms where they have the power to share and play a brand message forward, has caused a shift in the scales of paid, owned and earned media.  It has spurred a transfer of influence from traditional marketing to this new, evolved converged media where earned media, more commonly known as PR, is taking the crown as King.  Owned media, too, is rising in influence, helping sustain the buzz of a brand generated by earned media, in turn, posing a challenge to paid media.  Still a necessary component, there is a growing opportunity for paid media to leverage owned media & earned media to stay relevant.

The new playing field requires communications professionals to reimagine their strategies of the past.  They must create more holistic programs, programs driven by engaging content, constantly streaming from brand to consumer.   Marketers are using enhanced PR tools to cost-effectively communicate with their audiences through multimedia content.  PR pros are doing more than managing brand reputation, but are evolving their role as storytellers to influence consumer behavior and drive demand through earned media.  The convergence, while it opens up the door to more opportunities for a brand, also requires willingness to adapt, an integration and collaboration among departments, a strategy that aligns across departments, as well as to the overall business goals, and the ability to act with agility.  Understanding the impact of the converged media landscape gives you an edge in the virtual Times Square within which we are living.

Are you an earned media wizard?  The deadline to enter the Earnies is approaching.   Entry is free! To enter the Earnies, simply review the categories, and then click the pink “Submit an Entry Now” button under the category that best fits your campaign.

Author Meryl Serouya is a marketing communciations associate with PR Newswire.

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Brands + Journalism: Unholy Alliance or New Marketplace Reality?

Posted on November 20, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Image via Clairification

Last week, Forbes published an article titled, “Journalists Need to Understand the Ad Business, Not Sulk and Go Home,” authored by Lewis DVorkin which discusses the changing landscape of digital advertising, and increasingly grim economics of journalism.  DVorkin suggests that it’s the duty of journalists in the newsroom to find solutions for their flagging traditional media outlets, and within the discussion, he devotes considerable attention to the increasing popularity of branded content.

“Marketers are no longer satisfied with the 100-year-old silos that media professionals forced them into — containers intended to safeguard journalistic “truths” from mighty advertisers and to protect consumers from confusion, or themselves,” he writes, going on to note marketers’ desire to be “natural participants in user experiences, not intrusive or disruptive side shows within them.”   In a nutshell, marketers recognize the value of generating earned media, and are less interested in simple “impressions.”   And, as we all know, earned media is generated when readers take an extra step

Many journalists decry the advent of brand journalism, recoiling at the use of the hallowed term “journalism” in the context of what is, undeniably, promotional material.   On the one hand, I can see where they’re coming from – whether you call it content marketing or brand journalism or native advertising, the intention of this content isn’t to merely inform the audience.  The intent is to influence action.

Unholy alliance, or simple reality?

But leaving intention and outcomes aside for a minute, it’s interesting to think about why brands find journalistic efforts and content publication effective.   Simply put, brands are filling voids in their marketplaces, listening to customer voices and answering their questions.  The content they publish is read and shared by their audiences, where it gains credibility each time it’s recommended via a tweet or social share.  Search engines notice the signals, and the content rises toward the top on the search results page.   There’s a lot for a brand to love about this kind of earned media and viral messaging.

The earned media opportunity for brands

Certainly, the content is designed to steer readers one way, or another.  And, let’s be frank – there’s enough discussion these days about media biases to suggest that steering reader action isn’t the exclusive domain of marketers.   But in that aside, it’s important to note that in order to be effective, the content brands publish has to be truly useful, interesting or entertaining (or any combination thereof.)   Put another way, publishing lousy content is waste of a brand’s resources.

  • Utility – Is the content useful to your audience? Will it make their job easier or improve their performance?  According to Mitch Joel of TwistImage, the very future of content marketing lies in the ability of brands to provide utility to their audiences in the content they publish.  He challenges marketers to think about whether or not they’re adding value every time they press publish, rather than simply adding just more static and noise to the ecosystem.
  • Transparency – Is the relationship to the brand made crystal clear to the readers?  As soon as your audience discovers you’re trying to mask your identity or appear independent rather than connected to a brand, you will lose all credibility and goodwill.  If you’re really unlucky, you may trigger a PR crisis.  People appreciate authentic and credible content, and ultimately, publishing good content will reflect well on the brand.  Make radical transparency standard operating practice
  • Interest – Is the content interesting? Is it relevant to your audiences needs?  Does it provide new information, answer their questions or offer unique perspective?  People won’t share boring, hum-drum content.   Make sparking your audience’s imaginations, stoking their ambitions and fueling their conversations the goal of the content you publish.

One challenge the media marketplace continues to struggle with is the rise of the crowd as editor.  Readers now vote with eyeballs and clicks, and are the final arbiters on whether or not an article or piece of content is ultimately successful.  Newsrooms now count traffic to individual articles in real-time, and the number of times an article is read is now a serious KPI for many media outlets.

So, whether you’re a professional journalist, a marketing maven or a PR pro, if you’re charged with developing content for your brand, there are three imperatives you must keep in mind if what you publish is to generate any sort of return on your efforts.

We’re shining the spotlight on earned media!

PR Newswire’s Earnies awards recognize recognizes innovative earned media campaigns executed through social media.   It’s the first socially-selected awards program where the community decides the final winners.

The deadline is November 30th, and submission is easy and free!

Author Sarah Skerik is PR Newswire’s VP of social media.

 

 

 

 

 

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Earned Media Expertise: Meet the Earnies Judges!

Posted on October 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

For the 2012 edition of the Earnies,  we have put together a stellar panel of judges, drawing from social media, content marketing and public relations.   The judges hail from equally varied posts – practitioners, agencies and media are all represented.

The Earnies awards recognize individuals and organizations for outstanding efforts in the area of earned media executed across social media. For our second year of the Earnies, we’ve added more categories to give you even more opportunities to show off your successful campaigns.

Without further ado, because this group really doesn’t need embellishment, meet the 2012 Earnies judges!

Deirdre Breakenridge (@dbreakenridge)

Deirdre K. Breakenridge is Chief Executive Officer at Pure Performance Communications. A veteran in PR and marketing, Breakenridge has counseled senior level executives at companies including the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Empire Today, Hershey’s, JVC, Kraft and the World Bank.

Breakenridge is the author of five Financial Times books. Her most recent book, “Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional,” was published in May 2012 and is available in print and all digital formats. Her other books include, “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations,”  “PR 2.0, New Media, New Tools, New Audiences,” “The New PR Toolkit” and “Cyberbranding: Brand Building in the Digital Economy.”

Breakenridge is an adjunct professor at NYU, and she speaks nationally and internationally on the topics of PR, marketing and social media communications. She was the keynote speaker at The Social Conference 2012 in Amsterdam, the PRSA Southwest District Conference in Tulsa Oklahoma, and the Canadian Public Relations Society Annual Conference in Victoria, BC.  In 2011, she delivered the keynote address for the Maine Public Relations Counsel (MPRC), and presented the keynote at Visa Championships / USA Gymnastics Conference.  Breakenridge has also presented at BlogWorld, Social Media Congress, the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA), and the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG).

Breakenridge is a member of PRSA and has served on the Board of NJ/PRSA and the New Jersey Advertising Club. Top Rank named Breakenridge among the 25 Women that Rock Social Media and Traackr recognized Breakenridge among the top 10 PR 2.0 Influencer in 2012.

Breakenridge blogs about PR 2.0 strategies and is the co-founder of #PRStudChat, a dynamic Twitter discussion scheduled monthly for PR students, educators and PR pros.

Tim Moore (@TimMoore)

Tim has spoken to thousands of people internationally about using social media in their work, in all sorts and sizes of businesses. As an analyst, his online influence assessments, strategy maps and implementation of best practices have helped numerous companies drastically improve their monetary conversions.

Tim is author of the forthcoming book “Hype Is Dead,” currently serves as SVP/Social Business Architect at Maximum, and is the CEO and lead singer of CrushIQ. He has been engaged in technology consulting for nearly 20 years and is frequently requested to share his honest assessments and digital evaluations, via his addictive delivery style, with companies at events internationally. He is also called upon regularly as a social media reference by the likes of ABC News, AT&T, CNN, The New York Times Company and many others. He is certified by the Social Media Academy and is addicted to Karaoke.

Tim’s comedy writing/actor credits include The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with ConanO’Brien, SNL and The Onion SportsDome.

Joe Pulizzi (@JuntaJoe)

Joe Pulizzi is a leading author, speaker and strategist for content marketing. Joe is first and foremost a content marketing evangelist, and founded the Content Marketing Institute (a division of Z Squared Media, a 2012 Inc 500 Company), which includes the largest in-person content marketing event, Content Marketing World as well as Chief Content Officer magazine, the leading magazine for content marketers. Joe is also co-author of  Get Content Get Customers (McGraw-Hill), recognized as THE handbook for content marketing, as well as Managing Content Marketing: The Real-World Guide for Creating Passionate Subscribers to Your Brand.

Awarded “Custom Media Innovator of the Year” by American Business Media, Voted Who’s Who in Media Business by BtoB Magazine, Folio: 40, and recognized as the Most Influential Content Strategist via Lavacon,  Joe travels around North America and Europe  talking to marketers and business owners about how they are indeed publishers, and what they need to do about it.

Joe writes one of the most popular content marketing blogs in the world and is overly passionate about the color orange.

Michael Sebastian (@MSebastian)

Michael Sebastian is the founding editor of PR Daily.

He has also held a variety of editorial roles at Ragan Communications, including staff writer and online community manager.  Prior to joining Ragan Communications, Michael was a newspaper reporter, freelance music writer, and editorial assistant.

Michael lives in Chicago with his wife. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and eating pie. He’s also afraid of bears and lightning.

Want to know more about Michael? Send him an email: michaels@ragan.com.

Tim Washer (@TimWasher)

Tim Washer is Senior Manager of Social Media at Cisco. His social media work has been covered by Advertising Age, ADWEEK, NPR and The New York Times. He’s presented at SXSWi, The Wall Street Journal Digital Download and Harvard Business School. He holds an MBA from the University of Texas.

Tim’s comedy writing/actor credits include The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with ConanO’Brien, SNL and The Onion SportsDome.

YOU.  (Yes.  You.  Reading this.  Right now.)

Guess what! You’re an Earnies judge, too!  After our panel of experts picks the finalists from the entries,  the final decision on the winner will be made by YOU.  And a few thousand of your peers.  Because the final round of judging is crowdsourced!  Thanks in advance for voting!

The entry deadline for the Earnies is November 16th 2012.   To enter, review the categories and then submit your entries from our site.  Here’s the link:  Earnies Categories & Entries!

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Pushing… er, Pulling All the Right Buttons

Posted on October 17, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Our own campaign at PRSA proved to be an effective inbound marketing tactic.

PRSA 2012 was a living, breathing example of integrating inbound marketing into communications.  Inbound Marketing is an effort that pulls in your audience by offering them information they want, and ideally, they’ll be running to you.

Wear a button! Win a Kindle! The direction in our button campaign was crystal-clear.

Be findable & give direction.

To accomplish this, your audience needs to first be able to find you – so, make your messages easy to find – that’s the common sense part of this.  Use the words and phrases your audience would use if they were trying to find you in a Google search.  Messages needs to be remarkable, sharable and your audience needs to know exactly what you want them to do next.  Is it a downloadable incentive?  Maybe.  Could it be telling them do take direct action?  Sure.  Mostly, you need to understand what your audience wants and give them a relevant call to action.

Why inbound marketing?

First, according to HubSpot, an inbound marketing lead costs 62% less per lead than traditional advertising.  Beyond that, sharing intellectual property builds trust with clients and prospects, it provides lead generation, it’s trackable, it provides direct engagement, and it offers you real time data to drive your strategies while offering you the ability to showcase your expertise.  Inbound marketing can be many things… it can be opinionated, quirky, fun, and emotional and it needs to be relevant, innovative, digestible, actionable, experiential, and of course measurable.

Buttons, ripe for pushing.

You want an example?  In real life application and in the break-out session the example is as easy as pushing a button.  The presenters specifically pointed to PR Newswire’s pre-conference and on-site promotion of our I ♥ PR campaign and mentioned how significant and notable example of inbound marketing pulling our audience in.  (Kudos to our marketing team! J )

The I ♥ PR approach

Let’s dissect this… every registered attendee for PRSA 2012 received an email before the conference letting them know to stop by the PR Newswire booth on day 1 and pick up your I HEART PR button (numbered).  Ultimately, the number on the button could make you the winner of a new Kindle.

But what did this really do for PR Newswire?  Well, it did a lot.  First the buttons were truly, as my grandmother would say the bee’s knees!  Everyone wanted one. On a larger scale, it drove booth traffic and gave us multiple touch points with customers and prospects which fostered conversations that gave us credibility and talk about our latest offerings.  We were on the radar of every attendee on day one to get their button and on subsequent days to stop by and see if they were a winner.  And, it gave us the opportunity to talk, talk, talk…

So, all our literal button pushing, while it seemed like a cute novelty that people will wear proudly, in reality, it was genius display of inbound marketing at its finest.  Okay, that may be a little strong, but we understood our audience and the campaign is remarkable, sharable, quirky, fun, actionable, experiential, innovative, digestable and trackable.  Lead generation?  You should see the stack of cards.  Sometimes, effective inbound marketing is as easy as pushing some buttons and pulling your audience in.  They were running to us!

Author Christopher Brimble is an executive account manager for PR Newswire.

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PR & the Presidential Election: Commentary from Michael Steele, MSNBC Political Analyst & Former RNC Chair

Posted on October 17, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Michael Steele giving his keynote at PRSA’s International Conference.

Michael  Steele was the keynote address for the final day of the 2012 PRSA International Convention where he highlighted the top events and issues of the 2012 presidential campaign.  According to Steele, Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign was a PR nightmare all summer and has made a great PR and image turnaround rather quickly.  The Obama campaign, on the other hand, used effective message targeting to paint a scary picture of Romney as the “Rich Boogeyman” who appeared to be unapproachable, distant and disconnected with voters.

“This put the Romney team on the defense, which looking back was a very good thing,” said Steele. “ It made the campaign focus and gave Romney the opportunity to undo the professionally crafted messaging on paper and the TV screen.”

“In one debate, Romney redefined the landscape with the perfect PR persona,” Steele continued. “ The public got to see two men, hear their own words, and in fact, do their own PR.  Romney clearly did that by re-defining himself in that moment…. He won the debate in the first 30 minutes.”

A case study for media training

Steele mentioned the body language of the president, such as how looking down during Romney’s responses came across as weak, which in essence was perceived to be an image disaster.  We in PR understand the media training basics of keeping direct eye contact, addressing the speaker, audience, or in this case the opponent, stay on message, and respond clearly and succinctly.  And at the top of the list — always preparing for the unthinkable, which in this case was a strong Romney attack.

Steele addressed the fact that after all is said and done, good PR means effectively playing your role, positioning your narrative with your persona to make a connection with the voters, using appearance, body language, cadence, content, and effective messaging.  In other words, effectively engaging with your target groups.

The VP debate – a contrast

In contrast, Steele noted that the VP debate was unlike any other as it was critical for the Democrats to re-charge and re-energize their brand, which they did.  He noted that both candidates played their positions well.

“Joe Biden did everything right,” said Steele.   “He was engaging, energetic, and pushed back on the issues that needed to be addressed.  He promoted the Democratic team well.  Paul Ryan held his own, was respectful of the VP position, and didn’t push too much.  He was clear, articulate and stayed on point.”

Paid vs earned media, election-style

Steele also discussed how the constant flow and billions spent on campaign ads may be for naught.

“In the state of Ohio,  73,000commercials ran and for all of the money spent  it has barely moved the needle in the polls,” commented Steele. “ Voters have made up their minds very early.”

So what does this all mean in the end?  Have voters really made up their minds?  The first presidential debate created a flurry of upsets and shifts in the polls, with Romney appearing to win a large number of undecided voters, and closing a double digit gap of women voters who previously were in favor of President Obama.  According to Steele and some polls, women, the working class now view Romney not as the “Rich Boogeyman” but as the billionaire who can make things happen.

I guess with how the polls appear to be shifting as a result of these debates, image (at least with our voters) is everything.   Now, let’s sit back and watch the coverage of last night’s contentious debate unfurl.  What did you think of the candidates’ behavior and tactics?

Larene Pare is a new business development manager for PR Newswire.

Our connected society offers the potential for paid and owned media to make the leap into valuable and credible earned media.  We call this “evolved media.”  To learn more about this phenomenon, and how you can harness it for your organization, read our free white paper: Earned Media, Evolved.

A note on comments for this post:  With the election around the corner, and enthusiasm running high, we’re receiving a lot of politically-oriented comments on this post.  However, the post (and this blog) isn’t about partisan politics – our focus here is communications strategy.  As such, commentary that isn’t related to communications won’t be displayed.

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