In Praise of Small Ideas

June 2, 2010 – 10:27 am

This is a post by Dan Burgess, Senior Vice President, Director of Public Relations at Doe-Anderson. 

“What we need is a great, breakthrough idea that will go viral and make us all rich and famous.”

How many times have public relations practitioners heard that line from clients or colleagues, looking for a single silver bullet to accomplish all their business objectives?  And indeed, we always should be probing around the dusty and neglected corners of our imaginations to come up with fresh, compelling approaches that will help deliver strong, specific results for clients and prospects.

But sometimes it’s not the dramatic “big idea” that wins the game, but rather the ongoing, solid, consistent, persistent and perhaps unspectacular play that grinds out the victory.  Don’t underestimate the value of the down-in-the-trenches work that is neither glamorous nor glitzy, yet often deserves a significant portion of the credit for achieving the client’s objectives.

Media relations is a perfect example.  This staple of the PR toolbox – getting positive mentions in targeted media outlets, both online and off – is certainly not very sexy, and doesn’t make for a very riveting segment of a presentation to a client or prospect about potential tactics.  Yet most public conversations about pretty much everything start with someone – a reporter or blogger or website editor or just an individual with a viewpoint – putting something out there for the world to read, see or hear.  The skillful media relations practitioner can influence these conversations in a way that can make good references great, turn neutral references positive, make potentially bad references at least somewhat better, or perhaps avert a negative angle altogether.  The results of such successful efforts may have a huge impact on the public persona of the client but they rarely garner the accolades they deserve.

Image by businesspictures via Flickr.

Other tried-and-true approaches that, likewise, may fall short of “big idea” status include helping clients fine-tune their community involvement to more closely align their charitable actions with their corporate cultures and thereby help build their reputations.  Or perhaps hosting a special event could celebrate a milestone and deliver a client’s overall message and positioning in a memorable way.  Maybe not big ideas, but still effective PR tools.

These are the basic blocking and tackling elements of the PR world: the essential but often underappreciated aspects of a comprehensive game plan on which the success of the client’s total campaign may hinge.

Let’s continue to swing for the fences and generate big ideas. But let’s also recognize that the small ideas – those day-to-day executions of the most basic PR functions – still have their place in effective communications.

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By kkorvela | Posted in Our Take | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Overuse of Social Media?

May 28, 2010 – 9:40 am

This is a post by Rachael Feldman, Account Services intern at Doe-Anderson. 

Social media is everywhere you look, whether you’re online or not. You can tweet, check your Facebook and watch YouTube videos all from your phone. It seems that every website I visit has a “Follow us on Twitter” button or to “Become a Fan” on Facebook. Going beyond the internet, certain stores, like Forever 21 and H&M, have Facebook and Twitter advertising in the checkout line. Magazine ads are also following suit by having the little Facebook and Twitter buttons somewhere on the advertisement.

Now, I’m not saying this is a bad thing.  Personally, I think it’s very helpful to the consumer. By being able to follow Forever 21 on Twitter, I have access to coupons, special sales and knowledge of new products. Social media truly helps consumers gain more knowledge about a product or service. Also, social media allows us, the consumer, to pick and choose what we want to “follow” or “become a fan” of. But, what is the limit? How far is too far?

This is the question that I want to address. Yes, social media is essential to having a successful organization. However, that does not mean that you need to exhaust your efforts in having a hand in every social media realm. This is a growing problem among some companies today. They want to utilize social media tools, but instead of carefully picking the ones that will reach their target audience the most effectively, they are throwing them all out of the toolbox. All this does is create a big mess, which is the one thing you want to avoid when you enter the social media world.

Many companies have a Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube channel, WordPress blog, Flickr site, LinkedIn profile, iPhone application and the list continues. Yes, all of these outlets may be effective over time, but you do not want to immediately use all of these tools at once. In order to be successful with social media, you need to start with one or two social media outlets first. It’s vital that you take the time to build up your content for these outlets, whether it be a Facebook page or WordPress blog. If you do not take the time to do so, then why would anyone want to “become a fan” or read your blog? After you have built a stable and content-full site, it is time to spread your social media wings and add more. Maybe then you could open a Twitter account and a LinkedIn profile.  Soon, you will have your own little social media community and your company will take flight into the social media world.

But keep in mind— when you are choosing which social media outlet you want to use, you might not need every outlet that is available. For example, you really don’t need a Facebook page and a MySpace profile since they are in the same category of networking social media. You don’t want to overload your consumer by giving them too many options. Instead, your social media should be streamlined and organized to meet their needs.

That being said, pick up your social media toolbox and use it to build your social media community wisely.

Social media overload? Image by jjprojects via Flickr.

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By kkorvela | Posted in Doe interns, Our Take | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

I Am Not an Expert

May 26, 2010 – 2:40 pm

This is a post by Kate Killian, Traffic Manager at Doe-Anderson.

I was going to write a very buttoned-up, linear blog post about process in the agency. Or communication skills. Or something safe and logical. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt like these topics are old-fashioned and out-of-style.

After some procrastinating and Facebooking, I started thinking about that. Facebook. What does Facebook mean? What can it do? Is it an enduring media tool, or will it be gone within five years? Does it matter? Is having 200,000 fans success?  

In my own entry-level opinion (I am NOT a social media expert, and don’t even work on the same floor as the Interactive team), I think Facebook is a great social tool for family and friends. It’s an easy way to comment on pop culture or share your favorite quote. I like to post pictures and update my status with my toddler’s potty-training progress. I’m not quite convinced of its efficacy as a promotional tool. I don’t know what motivates me to “like” a specific company or product. Sometimes I resist, simply because I can see the effects of freely “liking” only to be inundated with worthless daily updates.

From a marketing perspective, I know the barriers to entry are very low. Anyone can make a Facebook page, and it may seem like everyone should. But from a consumer perspective, I know that enough is enough. I can just as easily “hide” as I can “like.”

I think companies should be cautious in their Facebook approach. Be thoughtful and strategic. Be logical and buttoned-up. Apply some rules for what should be posted and why. Think about the goals of your Facebook presence and what success means to your company or product, as it relates to Facebook.

Maybe good process and communication skills never go out of style.

Image by Balakov via Flickr

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By kkorvela | Posted in Our Take | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Playing Around with Online Advertising

May 25, 2010 – 2:20 pm

This is a post by Diego Pacheco, Account Services intern at Doe-Anderson.

Today, I began pondering which direction I wanted to take in writing an article for our internal newsletter, the Doe Main.  At first, I thought I was going to focus on how the advertising industry has transitioned from using traditional forms of advertisement (print, television, etc.) to using the Internet, but after speaking with Todd Spencer, President & CEO of Doe-Anderson, I learned that I was not completely correct in my assumption. Instead, I learned that advertisers still pour lots of money into traditional media sources but have also begun to ‘play’ (experiment ) around with the internet to see how it can help them to get their product out to their clientele.

When I think of online advertising, I think of browsing a website, such as the New York Times, and viewing the ads on the side column or the bottom of the page. While there are other forms of advertising on the web, I want to focus on these ads that sometime ‘pester’ us while browsing our favorite website or social media page. In the last five months, I visited Spain, Portugal, Germany and Italy. Each time I entered a new country, my Google and Facebook pages would not only change to languages I could not understand (with the exception of Spanish), but they would also pull up advertisements for local events and items that firms were trying to promote/sell to the public. Each time I logged onto my Facebook account in a new country, I always looked forward to seeing how the advertisements, products and events changed from location to location.

While these sites do provide a good venue for advertisers to reach a specific clientele within a certain area, selecting which sites to place ads on can become a tricky and flustering matter due to the daily emergence of new websites, in addition to the frequent changes in the sites that viewers like to browse.

Image via Flickr

For myself, I had just learned how to master MySpace when Facebook emerged, and today I find myself in the same position with Facebook in relation to the emergence of Twitter.  While Twitter and Facebook are major media sources for advertising, I have learned through my travels that those sites are not as popular worldwide. In Madrid, where I was residing, there was another social media site, which I believe was entitled “21,” that most Spaniards preferred to Facebook.  It is from my experiences of learning that not everyone, despite how large or popular the website is, uses the same social media sites.  This fact gave me a better understanding of the issue of why advertising has not reached greater heights.

While I am not a scholar on the trends of the advertising industry, I have noticed from my use of sites that most advertisements on social media sites are not couriers of major ad campaigns. In the near future, I do not see a freeze in social media sites emerging because there will always be the ‘hottest’ new site that has more features than the last one, thus once again putting advertisers back to where they currently are with the internet and advertising— ‘playing’ around.

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By kkorvela | Posted in Doe interns, Our Take | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Thank Goodness for Proofreaders

May 24, 2010 – 3:33 pm

This is a post by Amy Balz, proofreader at Doe-Anderson.

Here’s a shocker: no one can hear what’s going on inside your head. So clarity is the most important aspect in writing. Good writers know that, and so they ask someone else to read their work. Not because they make numerous mistakes, but because they don’t want to be embarrassed by a typo, a computer issue or a sentence that requires a little background they neglected to include.  They want to make sure that someone outside their own head can follow along.

When it comes to writing, always remember: proofreaders are your friends. (Think of them as the ones who’ll let you know there is spinach stuck in your teeth.)  If you don’t have a proofreader, ask a friend to pretend. Any set of eyes on your ad copy, e-mail, resume or presentation will help. Access to a skilled set of eyes is even better.

Give your proofreader a break and run spell check first. No one wants to waste time fixing “teh” or “adn.” And though it can never replace the human brain (wee all no that), it can be the first step to crisp, clean, error-free words and save you a little embarrassment in the process.

Sometimes it can be hard to give your thoughts up for criticism. But it’s important to check your ego at the door. As someone paid to edit the work of others, my only goal is to strip the work of errors. Chances are pretty good you’ll find that across the board. Proofreaders aren’t looking to ridicule anyone. And this isn’t grammar school – more red marks don’t mean failure. It’s up to writers to digest the suggestions and decide what works best with their words, but, given the chance, proofreaders can be valuable parts of any team.

A few years ago, two different people read my Christmas letter to family and friends, but a typo still got through. I knew what it said – I wrote it, after all – so I was never going to catch it. It wasn’t on a billboard or across the front page of a newspaper, so it really didn’t matter. But my sister-in-law enjoyed pointing it out nonetheless. Errors are going to happen. That’s just a fact of life. This isn’t brain surgery, and no one will die if we use “than” instead of “then.” But asking for a little help to smooth out the wrinkles can never hurt.

Can you spot the spelling mistake? Image by ConanTheLibrarian via Flickr.

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By kkorvela | Posted in Our Take | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

How to Build a Website in Three Weeks

May 19, 2010 – 10:32 am

This is a post by Bob Lauder, Vice President and Supervisor, Public Relations at Doe-Anderson. 

A client came to Doe-Anderson recently and said, “We need a website up and running in three weeks.” 

Our response was, “I’m sorry, did you say ‘three weeks?’”  Holy cow!  We’re not talking about using a turnkey template from Intuit or TemplateMonster.   We’re talking about original design.

The client operates in the public eye and announced the website would be live by a certain date.  So the deadline was real. 

As we all know, client cooperation is essential when it comes to getting work finished in a timely manner.  So, step one was to outline a schedule that showed completion dates for the various phases:

  • Site map and architecture
  • Copy
  • Design
  • Programming

 Writing the copy occurred concurrently with design.  Our site map called for limited copy, meaning the designers could simply use “greeking” for content.

Basically, we gave the design team a week.  With efficiency they produced a simple design with flair.  It was quickly approved by the client.  At this point, the programmer could get to work.  She needed approximately three full days to complete and test her work.

As she began programming, copy was still being scrutinized and reworked.  This was not a problem because one of the key components of the website was to make it content managed.  This would allow us to insert and revise copy, without the use of a programmer.  In this case, we utilized WordPress, the most commonly used content-management platform.  Another which we have used successfully is Umbraco.

The advantage of using a content-managed system, such as WordPress or Umbraco, is efficiency.  The cost is less.  And it’s takes less time to make changes to copy.

When it was all said and done, we were able to launch an original website within three weeks that included six tabs, numerous pages of content, an image gallery with more than 20 illustrations and two videos.  The promise to the public was upheld. 

Image by Jordan Brock via Flickr

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By kkorvela | Posted in Interactive | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Sometimes, You Just Have to Make Lemonade

May 14, 2010 – 12:08 pm

Most companies can’t stop talking about how wonderful they are, and for a company to admit that they goofed— well, it’s a little unorthodox to say the least.  Domino’s Pizza did a brave thing and admitted that their product wasn’t up-to-par and sought out to “reinvent their pizza from the crust up.”

It all began when customers complained about the taste and quality of their pizza.  Domino’s went back into the kitchen, literally, and tried new recipes.  Not only did this result in tastier pizza, but a marketing campaign was born.  Earlier this year, Domino’s started airing ads that offered an apology to the customers for producing a substandard product and encourages them to give their new pizza a try.  According to an Ad Age article, the company reported a 14% increase in first quarter, same-store sales after the marketing blitz.  Coincidence? I think not.

And while the Domino’s campaign mainly focused on advertising, I’d like to believe it was just as much a public relations effort.  For example, Domino’s used social networks like Twitter to find out what consumers were saying about their product and as it turns out, they weren’t saying nice things.  It’s no simple task to change the public’s perception of a product or service, and Domino’s has worked hard to do so.  The company even created a website that includes a live Twitter feed of consumers’ thoughts on “the new pizza,” as well as clips of media coverage.

I commend Domino’s for their honesty and most importantly, for taking their lemons and making lemonade. It’s hard to admit when you’re wrong, and at times, it’s even harder to redeem yourself or your product. But in public relations, sometimes it pays to be wrong.

Lemonade by bootsybrown via Photobucket

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By kkorvela | Posted in Our Take | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

School’s Out. Are You Ready for the Real World?

May 5, 2010 – 10:27 am

   There’s no need to mince words—it’s a tough world out there for new graduates.  Entry-level jobs are scarcer than before. The public relations industry is known for being an extremely competitive industry, and when you add in the recession—yikes.  But don’t fret–there are still things that newbies can do to help their job hunt. 

 1.   Read.  A lot.  Read industry publications and blogs to learn all you can about public relations.  Sign up for Ragan’s Daily Headlines.  Check out Bulldog Reporter.   There’s a ton of interesting commentary, case studies, and other helpful information on these two sites in particular. 

 2.   Do your homework.  If you know you want to work for a particular agency or company, study them.  Visit their website and read their blog.  Many agencies have Facebook pages and/or Twitter accounts as well.  Know their clients.  Ask for an informational interview.  Every agency has a different culture and it’s important to find a place where you feel comfortable and your work can shine. 

3.   Make sure your resume and cover letter are up to snuff.  You’d be surprised how candidates with wonderful experience can be eliminated from the interview pile because of poor proofreading skills. 

 4.   Take advantage of internships and job shadowing.  A good internship or job shadowing experience is invaluable, even a non-paid position.  The contacts you make at companies can help you out during your job search.  Also, having experience with industry-specific software, like Cision and Vocus , can put you head and shoulders above other entry-level candidates. 

 5.   Dress professionally.  Every company has a unique perspective on dress codes.  When in doubt, err on the conservative side.  

 6.   Have a positive attitude.  After all, no one wants to work with Debbie Downer.

    The good news is that PR isn’t going anywhere.  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, employment in the field is expected to increase 24 percent through 2018.  And that’s very good news, indeed.

    Did we miss a great tip?  If so, leave us a comment.

Image by recessionstone via Flickr

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By kkorvela | Posted in Our Take | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Print Debate Revisited

April 28, 2010 – 10:36 am

Some of you may have read my blog on the state of print journalism (“The Print Debate”).  I’d like to point out a few examples of print publications that are doing an excellent job of using technology to their advantage, including one of our local publications, The Courier-Journal.

While looking for Doe-Anderson client news several weeks ago, I stumbled upon a Facebook fan page that had been embedded into the home page of the Courier-Journal.com.  Intrigued, I clicked on the hyperlink and began to read about Terrell Starks, a man from Shively, Kentucky. His family has had to endure more heartache than most—not only is he battling sickle cell anemia, his older sister Dominique passed away five years ago from the same disease.   

 Reporter Laura Ungar and photographer Sam Upshaw Jr. are documenting the Starks’ family’s experience in a unique way—a Facebook fan page. I love the idea because the story can live on and readers can continue to connect with the Starks family.  This is a great example of a newspaper embracing new media and, in some way, giving the story “new life.”

A friend of mine passed along a link to Lonny Magazine recently.  If you haven’t seen it, Lonny focuses on design and style.  When I clicked on the link, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the entire magazine was online.  Not only is this a brilliant idea for people who like to read their news online, it’s incredibly smart.  After all, we’re not always able to get copies of magazines (particularly if they are regionally-focused or targeted towards a specific niche), so by providing the entire issue online, Lonny did its readers a great service. 

To these publications, I say ‘Bravo!’  And I’m sure your readers would agree too.

Image by JustAnotherDayDesigns via Flickr

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By kkorvela | Posted in Our Take, Social Media Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)