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I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the writing styles of our Associate Media Director, Chrystie Reep. Chrystie is the backbone of many of our digital media programs in place today. Those of us who get to work with her everyday know how knowledgable, passionate and dedicated she is to the continued evolution of how to really connect with consumers. Enjoy....and look for future posts from her in the future. Great job, Chrystie!!! A good friend of mine recently bought an iPhone. Since then I've heard him say how much it has "changed his life." My first thought was....seriously? I laughed off the comment and attributed it to being stuck with a wireless plan sans uber-cool devices. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was not an exaggeration. Mobile devices (you know they aren't just phones anymore) have become the center of most consumers communication universe. PDAs, digital cameras and MP3 players are on their way to becoming obsolete as stand-alone devices. For that...we salute you iPhone! As marketers, our passion is to ensure that our clients' messages are reaching the right consumer at the right place and time. Mobile is on the verge of being a true player in terms of achieving a balance of reach and accountability. The speed in which mobile has evolved is nothing short of remarkable. Equally remarkable is the ability people have adopted this technology as part of their own personal media mix. Check out this presentation demonstrating the impact of mobile as a viable marketing channel. Mobile Marketing View more presentations from CHRYSTIER. Curious minds want to know-how has your device changed your life?
I just finished listening to Buzz Marketing for Technology’s podcast interview with Bob Buday, co-founder of the Bloom Group and co-author of the book, Thoughts on Thought Leadership-Insights on Creating Demand for Professional Services. In the podcast, Buday does a nice job speaking about the different levels of writing required to develop the various marketing [...]
Free Lunch? It Does Exist
Last weekend, representatives from local non-profit agencies got one - and something much more valuable.
On Saturday, Fahlgren Mortine hosted its first-ever Free PR Advice Day. Representatives from United Way-affiliated community groups were invited to meet with FMPR staffers to receive free counsel on PR tools and strategies that they can leverage on behalf of their organizations, even in tough economic times. While nearly every school, business and social group has been [...]
Want My Business? Make It Worth My Effort
I was meeting with Gary Ansel, MD, an interventional cardiologist at Riverside Methodist Hospital, the other morning and we ended up talking about patient experiences with hospitals. The conversation turned toward how the experience can make or break a patient's perception, regardless of how good the clinical care is. And he's right. He routinely asks "is there anything else I can do for you?" before he finishes up a patient consult, and his efforts always are met with positive feedback. In this world of commoditized, non-distinct brands, we've all had interactions with companies that don't put enough emphasis on the customer experience. Advertising, marketing and communication can all help build a brand, but driving people to a negative experience can spell the demise of a strong brand. And blogger Bruce Temkin points this out in his paper, The 6 Laws of the Customer Experience. Temkin describes some of the implications of his six laws and there are a few that really resonated with me: Employees need to be empowered. How frustrating is it to be passed from person to person when you have a problem? Empower the front-line person to fix it and you minimize the risk of that customer going away unhappy, and telling multiple people about their bad experience. You know more than your customers; deal with it. No where does this seem more evident than in hospitals. They're scary, anxiety-producing places full of procedure names, acronyms and process steps that are understood internally, but seem very complex for patients and families. Our client, Riverside Methodist, does a wonderful job helping patients know where to go by personally escorting lost visitors, and explaining that PAD, or peripheral artery disease, is blocked arteries in the arms and legs. Don't let company organization drive experiences. As a customer, it's not my problem that your back-end operations aren't integrated. I was frustrated over the holidays when I looked up a book on the Barnes and Noble Web site, found it was available at the store close to work, went to buy it and the price was considerably higher in the store than online. Rather than match the price, they lost the sale. Don't under-spend on training. This is something that seems to be lost when new hires are made. Rather than throw a new employee into work, companies should invest in their staff and give them everything they'll need to feel confident and provide the level of service you expect from them. Check out Bruce's 6 Laws. I'm sure they'll inspire you to see how you can improve the customer experience with your brand.
I was killing time the other day thumbing through the Valentines Day cards at a local grocery store. (I say “killing time” because I’m cynical … and because I have no need to purchase a card since there’s no one other than my dog and he has no use for paper cards, regardless of the [...]
Two Brands Make A Right
It's 6:30am and my toddler is letting me know she's ready to start the day. We do the same thing every morning. I put her oatmeal in the microwave and like clock work, she points to the TV and says, "Dorda." Only a mother would know baby talk, but my daughter wants to watch Dora the Explorer while she eats her breakfast. Every morning we watch Dora the Explorer on Nick Jr. She's only a toddler but already my daughter is a creature of habit and knows when she eats breakfast she gets to watch TV. And she already has a favorite brand - Dora the Explorer. The funny thing is I don't mind one bit. I have found myself indulging in her desire to have everything Dora. Because I think it's cute every time she sees something Dora and says "Dorda," I end up purchasing that product for her. Our last trip to the grocery store was an event; we got Dora crackers, soup, bandages and an electric toothbrush - all things that we already had at home but she didn't care about that. Her choice of consumer products is based on whose face is on the packaging. She asked for crackers the other day and wouldn't eat the normal box of animal crackers because she wanted the Dora animal crackers instead. The animal crackers tasted exactly the same but the package was different and my toddler knew it. She also knew the difference between her regular pink toothbrush and her new Dora toothbrush - both Colgate products but one was the definite winner in my toddler's eyes. Colgate and Nick Jr.'s Dora the Explorer, both well-known brands, partnered together to produce a toddler's dream toothbrush. Colgate transformed their child's electric toothbrush and gave it new appeal reaching a very important audience - moms of toddlers. Brand Extensions
Brand extensions have helped companies build their brands and become top-of-mind in consumer purchasing behavior for decades. In 1979, Edward M. Tauber coined the term “brand extensions” to describe leveraging a well-known brand name in one category to launch a new product in a different category. (more…)
From ongoing “media is dying” posts on Twitter to the cover of this week’s Time magazine to the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, concern about mainstream media grows. For a broad overview of issues and potential solutions, check out Battle Plans for Newspapers, published this week by the New York Times. As a PR pro, of course, I’m [...]
Alex Rodriguez took performance-enhancing drugs from 2001-2003. We know this because either by his own choice, or at the urging of those close to him, he followed a golden rule of crisis communication and tackled the situation with transparency (even if it did lack sincerity). Rodriguez learned from the mistakes of the sports stars that came before him, [...]
Just before the holidays, the U.S. Travel Association (formerly Travel Industry Association) hosted an industry-wide conference call to offer some insight into the travel and tourism landscape for the upcoming year. According to this group and others, the message for tourism is really no different that what we’re hearing in other industries. Tourism is expected [...]
If you’re a fan of Twitter, the unique one-to-many microblogging service, then you know that Twitter people (aka Tweeple) are fond of lists. There are lists of journalists on Twitter, lists of Twitter-related resources, even lists of Twitter users in particular geographic areas, like central Ohio. Here’s a list we love of Twitter users in Columbus representing restaurants, [...]