Daily PR Brief - December 1st, 2016
Good morning. Here are today's top clips -
3 Content Marketing Hacks Driven by Listening (PR Newswire - December 30, 2016)
Fred Cook: 'PR needs more balls' (PR Week - December 1, 2016)
Text100 taps ex-FICO comms head Astle (PR Week - December 1, 2016)
H+K Hires GOP Strategist Reed (O'Dwyer's - November 30, 2016)
MSLGroup Acquires Canada's North Strategic (O'Dwyer's - December 1, 2016)
Don’t hang up: Why PR phone calls still matter (PR Daily - December 1, 2016)
How to transform your word-of-mouth marketing strategy (PR Daily - December 1, 2016)
30 jobs in the PR and marketing world (Ragan - November 30, 2016)
Infographic: What millennials want from online video (Ragan - November 30, 2016)
Partner Content: Hacks & Flacks Interviews Bloomberg's Anne Mostue (The Echo Chamber podcast | Holmes Report - November 30, 2016)
Cowan, Kerins, Mathias, Silimeo, Stoddard to Be Inducted Into PR News’ Hall of Fame (PR News - November 30, 2016)
Red Shoes PR Earns Two Spectrum Awards of Merit in School Communication (Bulldog Reporter - December 1, 2016)
PR Industry News: MediaMiser Rebrands as Agility PR Solutions (Bulldog Reporter - December 1, 2016)
The Consultancy Paradox (Influence Magazine - Chartered Institute of Public Relations - November 30, 2016)
Know Your Options as a PR Consultant (Meltwater Blog - November 30, 2016)
PR Rock Stars: Life Time Fitness’ Ava Beilke (Communications Conversations by Arik Hanson - December 1, 2016)
Tips for Working on Project-Based Public Relations Clients (SHIFT Communications - November 30, 2016)
PR Girls We Love: Jessy Fofana, Founder of LaRue PR (PR Couture - November 30, 2016)
Three Ways To Make Your Social Videos Look Better On Mobile (NewsWhip - November 30, 2016)
Debunking PR Myths One Little Lie at a Time (AirPR - November 30, 2016)
How To Communicate With Stakeholders When Systems Are Down In A Cybersecurity Crisis (Melissa Agnes - November 30, 2016) [VIDEO]
Summary Section:
3 Content Marketing Hacks Driven by Listening
By James Rubec
PR Newswire - December 30, 2016
Listening at an enterprise scale requires specialized tools that can collect, sort and tag mentions from millions of authors in real-time. 1. Interest categories. Consider being in the automotive parts industry; your consumers may have an overlap in discussions about monster trucks, baseball and home improvement. Creating content that aligns with one, or all three, of those examples could glean benefits in engagement and brand awareness. 2. Conversation peaks and valleys. Knowing when to launch a product or marketing campaign can improve lead conversion and social virality. 3. Message engagement. Sometimes an email or tweet isn’t what your audience needs to see from you, maybe they need to read your comments in an official press release, or watch your CEO in a video. The format of your content is almost as important as the content itself, and it can be integral to a message’s success.
Fred Cook: 'PR needs more balls'
By Alison Kanski
PR Week - December 1, 2016
The PR industry needs more balls, Golin CEO Fred Cook said at the Institute of Public Relations Research Symposium in New York on Wednesday. Cook presented the findings from the Global Communications Report, conducted by University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Public Relations. Six takeaways for PR pros Cook highlighted in the report, which was published in April, include: embrace change, hire different, get paid, own the sandbox, invest in ideas, and instill courage. In the survey of about 1,000 agency and in-house comms team leaders, only a quarter agreed that the words "public relations" would accurately describe the profession in five years. As the industry changes, Cook said one way to stay ahead is to look beyond the industry when hiring talent. Survey respondents said that they tend to look to other agencies or in-house teams when hiring. Another change coming to the industry is the continued blurring of lines between marketing, PR, and advertising.
Text100 taps ex-FICO comms head Astle
By Sean Czarnecki
PR Week - December 1, 2016
Text100 has appointed Steve Astle, the former comms head at FICO, to the newly created position of SVP, highly regulated markets. Astle reports to Ken Peters, EVP and regional director of North America for Text100. Part of his job involves identifying emerging market needs. For example, businesses in highly regulated industries, such as Tesla, have been forced to reckon with ascendant external market forces, such as public policy and cyber threats, Astle said. "Relatively young companies have to increasingly deal with business matters that used to be the domain of more mature industries," Astle said. "There are opportunities to integrate, to help businesses that are highly regulated to achieve growth objectives, and their other objectives, by providing new services beyond traditional PR, or even traditional marketing."
H+K Hires GOP Strategist Reed
By Jon Gingerich
O'Dwyer's - November 30, 2016
Scott Reed, a veteran GOP political strategist and a former executive director of the Republican National Committee, has joined Hill+Knowlton Strategies in Washington, where he’s been named a senior advisor. Reed is founder and chairman of Washington-based government relations consulting firm Chesapeake Enterprises. Reed is currently senior political strategist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which he joined in 2011. He will maintain this role while serving in the senior advisor role at H+K.
MSLGroup Acquires Canada's North Strategic
O'Dwyer's - December 1, 2016
MSLGroup has acquired Canada's North Strategic, a Toronto-based PR shop with a respected content and video unit, Notch Video, and operations in Calgary and Montreal. MSLGroup CEO Guillaume Herbette said his firm, which has offices in Toronto and Montreal, triples its operations north of the border after the deal creating a "powerful force in this important marketplace." North Strategic co-founder Mia Pearson takes the title of CEO, Canada for MSLGroup under Herbette. Gayle Brock-Woodland continues to lead MSL Canada as president, reporting to Pearson.
Don’t hang up: Why PR phone calls still matter
By Meggan Manson, Principal with Young & Associates
PR Daily - December 1, 2016
Speaking by phone has become an anomaly, and your communication prowess isn’t being expressed as strongly via texts and emails. It’s amazing how effectively a quick phone call can clear up confusion, convey your tone and deliver your message. Also, when you’re talking on the phone with someone, you have that person’s focused attention.
How to transform your word-of-mouth marketing strategy
By Mark Lange, Chief Marketing Officer, Reputation.com
PR Daily - December 1, 2016
In this age of star ratings, review sites and social media, traditional word-of-mouth is a dying strategy for attracting customers. This isn’t to suggest that traditional referrals are no longer valuable, but if you still rely heavily on them, you’re vulnerable to competitors with stellar online reviews that drive major purchasing decisions. In order to get ahead of any negative customer sentiment or boost your positive online presence, you must actively manage your online reputation. How do you do that? 1. Start by asking. Simply (but systematically) ask all customers to write honestly about their experiences with each of your organization’s locations, and give them two or three links to the review sites that matter to you. 2. Take feedback seriously. Constructive criticism is important information that can help improve operations—whether through making a process more efficient or by coaching a person to be friendlier. 3. Use technology. A good, cloud-based online reputation management platform reduces the difficulty and expense of collecting, monitoring and tracking customer reviews on multiple online review sites across hundreds—or thousands—of geographically dispersed locations.
30 jobs in the PR and marketing world
By Clare Lane
Ragan - November 30, 2016
Many of today’s PR executives are tasked with making their work environments “more engaged.” Although refreshing a stale workplace is easier said than done, there are a few ways to take your office culture from average to exceptional, data from YouEarnedIt suggest. Want to keep your employees happy and engaged? Consider advice from three employees—all of whom were featured on YouEarnedIt’s list: 1. Encourage openness and collaboration. 2. Set a more casual tone. 3. Listen to your staff.
Infographic: What millennials want from online video
By Kristin Piombino Long
Ragan - November 30, 2016
An infographic from BuzzMyVideos reveals how millennials interact with online video, and it offers insightful statistics that can help you plan your content strategy. Here are a few important takeaways: 56% of U.K. millennials wish they could click on a product in a video to learn more information; 73% of U.K. millennials watch more than two hours of video each week; 85% of U.K. millennials are more likely to buy a product after watching a positive online review about it.
Partner Content: Hacks & Flacks Interviews Bloomberg's Anne Mostue
The Echo Chamber podcast | Holmes Report - November 30, 2016
Bloomberg is a brand of contrasts. In this episode of Hacks and Flacks we talk to Anne Mostue, radio anchor and reporter at Bloomberg Boston, to help PR professionals get a better sense for this dichotomy. She describes the types of news that’s important to her audience, the differences between Bloomberg and her past stops in journalism, plus the best ways for PR professionals to pitch her.
Cowan, Kerins, Mathias, Silimeo, Stoddard to Be Inducted Into PR News’ Hall of Fame
By Steve Goldstein
PR News - November 30, 2016
Each December at its Winter Awards luncheon in Washington, D.C., PR News inducts into its Hall of Fame PR professionals who have played longtime leadership roles, serving as sources of inspiration within and beyond the workplace and helping to redefine and expand the roles communicators play. The 2016 Hall of Fame inductees will be honored on Dec. 6 at the National Press Club, where PR News will also celebrate its PR People Award winners and honorable mentions, Rising PR Stars 30 & Under, Diversity & Inclusion Award winners and the 2016 Top Places to Work in PR. PR News' 2016 Hall of Fame Inductees. Anne Cowan, SVP, Communications and Marketing, CTAM. Raymond Kerins, SVP, Head of Communications, Government Relations & Policy, Bayer. Robert Mathias, President, Ogilvy Washington. Debra Silimeo, EVP, Hager Sharp. Rob Stoddard, SVP, Communications & Public Affairs, NCTA.
Red Shoes PR Earns Two Spectrum Awards of Merit in School Communication
Bulldog Reporter - December 1, 2016
Red Shoes PR, a northeastern Wisconsin strategic communication agency, was recently honored by the Wisconsin School Public Relations Association (WSPRA) with two Spectrum Awards of Merit for its work in school communication. WSPRA presented the Spectrum Awards at its recent annual conference in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Red Shoes PR earned an Award of Merit for its marketing materials for Hortonville Area School District’s E3 program, a school-based mental wellness program to educate, engage and empower K-12 students. Spectrum Awards recognize high-quality public relations efforts produced by or on behalf of Wisconsin school districts.
PR Industry News: MediaMiser Rebrands as Agility PR Solutions
Bulldog Reporter - December 1, 2016
Ottawa, Canada-based media monitoring firm MediaMiser announced that it has rebranded under the global brand name Agility PR Solutions and that it has unveiled a new web site at www.agilitypr.com. Parent company Innodata made the changes to reflect its growing portfolio of media database, monitoring and analytics solutions for PR and communications professionals.
The Consultancy Paradox
By Paul Sutton
Influence Magazine - Chartered Institute of Public Relations - November 30, 2016
A large part of my rationale when jumping ship from agency life was formed by observing the industry in which I worked. When I looked around I saw both brands and PR agencies floundering when it came to digital and social media strategy and in desperate need of accurate advice and beneficial experience. Be good at what you do and you have to accept that you need to find lots of new work on a regular basis. Be average and you’ll probably have clients for longer, albeit perhaps less happy and less successful ones. The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE) says that “the number of self-employed marketing professionals has more than doubled since 2011”. But when budgets are being tightened and the value of everything is questioned due to economic uncertainty and a Pound that’s in freefall, there’s not so much work to go around.
Know Your Options as a PR Consultant
By Michelle Garrett
Meltwater Blog - November 30, 2016
Of course, beyond the basics, consultants may want to consider additions like subscriptions to media databases, and social media monitoring software, so they can track campaign results for clients. What are some areas of PR specialization? 1. Writing. 2. Social media. 3. Event planning. 4. Crisis communications. Anything from an accidental social media misstep or national tragedy can affect businesses—many who aren’t equipped to handle these situations. PR consultants who specialize in crisis communications can help steer businesses down the right path. 5. Media relations. 6. Thought leadership. PR consultants are primed to implement initiatives for executives that include them writing and speaking at conferences, as it requires focused effort, sometimes within a defined timetable. Fruits of such a program can feed other marketing initiatives (like social media and the company’s blog). 7. Influencer marketing. A consultant can help hone in on key influencers and start to build relationships on behalf of the company.
PR Rock Stars: Life Time Fitness’ Ava Beilke
By Arik Hanson
Communications Conversations by Arik Hanson - December 1, 2016
What’s the one social media trend most companies are over-looking or under-utilizing? "I think that influencers have become such a huge, trendy tactic in social media marketing… which is awesome, I love influencers don’t get me wrong. But, I feel like companies completely overlooked the untapped potential they have within their own employees to become badass brand advocates. The employee programs I’ve experienced to date seem to be minimal and almost an afterthought. How cool would it be to really push employee social advocacy to the seams (all while remaining within FTC guidelines)? It seems like low hanging fruit."
Tips for Working on Project-Based Public Relations Clients
By Casey Egan
SHIFT Communications - November 30, 2016
DON’T: Deprioritize project clients. It can be easy to push project-based tasks to the bottom of your to-do list, but it’s hugely important for teams to keep the end goal top of mind when working through a temporary contract. DON’T: Be afraid to try something new. Share all of the crazy ideas your team dreams up, but be sure to set clear expectations of what the goals or results of each initiative will be. DO: Go above and beyond. Be sure to set up alerts, do industry news scans and keep an eye out for exciting opportunities, events, articles, campaigns and awards your client should pursue – even if the deadline falls outside of the timeframe in which you will be working together.
PR Girls We Love: Jessy Fofana, Founder of LaRue PR
By Kayla Logan, Founder of Kayla Logan PR
PR Couture - November 30, 2016
What’s the biggest challenge facing fashion/lifestyle communicators right now? "The industry has changed so much in the past ten years and will continue to do so. What worked three years ago to drive visibility, sales or interest might no longer be relevant. It’s important to stay current and pay attention to the ROI on your initiatives so you can gauge what is working and what isn’t. We regularly request analytics and stats on the campaigns we create and press coverage we secure so we can see what had an immediate ROI, what drove visibility as well as what didn’t work."
Three Ways To Make Your Social Videos Look Better On Mobile
By Liam Corcoran, Head of Communications at NewsWhip
NewsWhip - November 30, 2016
1. Experiment with square videos. Square videos that have a 1:1 aspect ratio can take on a life of their own in a mobile news feed. It seems as though few people bother turning their phone sideways to view horizontal clips, which then show up very small on their screens. 2. Try different visuals, caption formats and even graphs. The usual two pieces of advice here still stand: that is to have an action-packed opening to your video, and provide captions on screen. 3. Simplify your story. Instead, think about how you can improve how you use the time you have in the short video to get the story’s message across, without all the ancillary detail you’d get in a regular TV package.
Debunking PR Myths One Little Lie at a Time
By Leta Soza
AirPR - November 30, 2016
Over the summer, I published three LinkedIn Pulse articles, a series focused on busting the myths even the most data-driven PR professionals tell themselves. As an experiment, we republished those articles with new titles and imagery here on the AirPR Blog. We found that the series garnered more likes and shares on LinkedIn Pulse. Does that mean that we won’t share this type of content on our blog anymore? Hardly! While the articles provoked more engagement on LinkedIn (what read at surface level as the “real” success), being able to compare the data we gathered from publishing the articles on two different platforms allowed us to develop a range of new insights to fold into our evolving content strategy. The point is that just because you perceive the outcome of one PR move as less impactful for your business than another doesn’t mean that the less impactful of the two wasn’t worth doing, a theory I echo in the first piece in the myth busting series. So in an effort of “rewiring” our mentality about PR, let’s review those pesky myths. PR Myth 1: It’s not okay to fail. PR Myth 2: Once the story publishes, your work is done. PR Myth 3: More is better.
How To Communicate With Stakeholders When Systems Are Down In A Cybersecurity Crisis [VIDEO]
By Melissa Agnes, President and lead crisis management consultant of Agnes + Day
Melissa Agnes - November 30, 2016
"In the event that our systems are down, what is the best alternative measure for communicating with stakeholders?” In my experience, most people tend to take a more general approach when answering this question. For example, they may contemplate having an external Gmail account that their team can leverage in the event that their own servers and emails are down. But while this may be a solution for some – some organizations and some of their stakeholders – it typically isn’t a “catch-all” solution."
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