Tag Archives: Don Beehler

Ad Agencies Top 20 Topics for Publicity

Agencies often get so busy marketing their clients that they fail to market themselves.  Publicity is a great way to get your name out in the marketplace, whether its local consumer media, industry publications.  Not only is publicity free, but it also has much more credibility than advertising.

Agency executives sometimes overlook the breath of publicity opportunities that are available to them.  Here are my “Top 20 Topics” to consider:

  1. Agency awards
  2. New clients
  3. New employees
  4. Employee promotions
  5. Human interest stories about employees
  6. Community involvement
  7. Client promotional success stories
  8. Introducing a new service your agency is providing
  9. Services or commentary that address newsworthy topics/trends
  10. Appointments to boards
  11. Publications (articles, books, etc.)
  12. New offices/geographical expansion
  13. Mergers/strategic alliances
  14. Trends, projections, forecasts
  15. Speeches
  16. Sponsorships
  17. Mentoring programs
  18. Pro bono work
  19. Guest columns
  20. Case studies that could become feature stories

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Ad Agencies: Add Patch.com to Your Media List for Local News

Special thanks to Joan Stewart’s “The Publicity Hound” e-newsletter for bringing Patch.com to my attention.

Patch is a community-specific news and information platform that covers more than 600 communities and neighborhoods in the United States. And it is still growing.

Headquartered in New York City, Patch is run by professional editors, writers, photographers and videographers who live in or near the communities it serves.

The website’s map makes it easy to find out whether your community is covered. If so, or if you are pitching a story for a client in another community covered by Patch, you simply e-mail your news tip, calendar event or announcement to the appropriate contact. You also can participate in discussions.

When making a pitch it’s important to keep in mind that Patch focuses exclusively on local news and events.

Joan invites readers that have gotten news placed on Patch to share their experiences at her blog.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

 

GM, Ad Agency Form Powerful Alliance to Revitalize Detroit

This Thanksgiving, the city of Detroit ought to be especially thankful for Joel Ewanick, General Motors’ new marketing chief. His duel mission of reviving Detroit and selling cars is something that any city struggling with an image problem would appreciate. 

Mark Reuss, GM’s North American president, recruited Ewanick from Nissan.  According to the Detroit Free Press, after jumping on board with GM and taking up the challenge of helping Detroit make a come back, Ewanick flew to San Francisco to pitch ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners on the idea of having an office in downtown Detroit.  It worked so well that after he spoke, employees were volunteering to relocate there. 

Plans include partnering with five Detroit schools, having ad agency employees teach Detroit School of Arts students how to create TV public service announcements and assisting the city with creating better recreational area.

“We have a rare opportunity to launch a new company…but it also can be a very exciting rebirth of the city,” the Free Press quoted Reuss as saying. 

As GM emerges post-bankruptcy, it’s encouraging to see the company looking beyond its immediate concerns to address ways in which it can improve life in the local community.  It’s a move that will pay dividends down the road as a revitalized company and city grow and mutually support each other.

As a community relations case study, this one would be hard to beat.

 Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Ad Agencies: Is Traditional Media on the Way Out as a PR Tool?

A major shift is underway in the public relations/public affairs world when it comes to the use of social media, according to a new survey by PR/PA agency mergers & acquisitions consultants StevensGouldPincus.

In a news release the consulting group said that the use of social media for public relations/public affairs purposes by U.S. communications consulting firms has increased 12-15% this past year.

While the percentage of work currently devoted to social media by these firms is 30% overall, that percentage will increase to an average of 42% new year.  For firms with revenue in excess of $3 million, the increase will be even higher, at 46%.

“If this trend persists, within the next two years social media will replace traditional media as PR/PA’s primary tool for reaching client audiences with news and information,” said SGP Managing Partner Art Stevens.

“When you consider that traditional media have been the bedrock of professional PR/PA practice for more than 100 years, the implications are profound.”

Media relations has the highest use of social media, averaging 36%, followed by product marketing (25%) and issues advocacy (20%).

While the amount of time devoted to social media varies each month, Facebook gets the most attention (31%), followed by Twitter (29%), LinkedIn (18%), MySpace (17%) and YouTube (14%).

The survey indicated the most important issue to public relations and public affairs firms is the ability to track and measure results, and quantify value.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Ad Agencies: Don’t Underestimate Your Competition

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Nick Brien, CEO of McCann Worldgroup, said that the ad agency giant’s biggest competition is media companies like Meredith Corp.

 It turns out that Meredith, which does direct marketing and social media for Chrysler, beat out McCann for part of the auto maker’s business.

 “If you don’t recognize who you competition is, you will underestimate them,” Brien told The Journal.

 And in times as intensively competitive as these, you really don’t want to do that.

 Ad agencies aren’t the only ones feeling the heat.  Now PR firms either are – or should be – looking increasing their expertise in social media.

Earlier this month the Dallas Business Journal ran a story by Web Reporter Kerri Panchuk about how the PR landscape has been changed by social media advertising/marketing, and how local PR agencies are responding.

  •  “In our business-to-consumer group, social media is getting to be at least 25 percent of our business,” says Michael Burns, CEO of public relations firm Michael A. Burns & Associates Inc.  “We are diversifying our services based on what our clients want from a PR agency.”
  • James Hering, a principal at The Richards Group, tells the Dallas Business Journal that many of his clients allocate about 70 percent of their marketing budgets to digital and online initiatives.
  • As further confirmation, Michael Crawford, president of a M/C/C, an advertising and PR firm, estimates that 60 percent to 70 percent of his revenue now comes from digital work.

I suspect these Dallas agencies are pretty representative of what’s happening nationally and internationally. 

If your ad agency isn’t getting on board the social-media train, consider these parting words from The Winterberry Group,  a consulting firm that helps advertising and marketing companies grow shareholder value:

“Spending in the online marketing segment is expected to increase to $8 billion by 2012.”

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

A Team Approach For Ad Agency Principals Who Want to Write A Book

A team approach can result in an excellent book that tells your agency’s story in a fresh yet authentic way.

Last month my client  Jim Patton and I finished writing the manuscript for his book, Life in the Turn Lane: A Story of Personal and Corporate Turnarounds and the Principles that Make Them Happen, which chronicles what he has learned personally and professionally throughout his career.

Jim Patton is a true American success story. He started out as a heating and air conditioning repairman, learned how to do mergers and acquisitions by reading The Wall Street Journal, and today he runs a firm that buys, fixes and sells distressed manufacturing companies throughout the world. One business publication has dubbed him the “billion-dollar repairman.”

Writing the book was a year-long process, and next week it will finally be released, so we’re both pretty excited to see the final product reach the marketplace.

Recently I was asked how someone else can write (or co-write) a person’s book–as opposed to just providing editing assistance–while retaining authenticity. It’s a good question.

Most ad agency principals have very busy schedules, and the thought of taking time to write a book can be a bit overwhelming. Plus, some people have a great deal of knowledge about a particular topic but don’t like to write and/or are not very good at it.

A good ghostwriter brings new thinking and perspective to a book. He or she should be able to pull information out of the executive, as well as work off of written documents (notes, presentations, articles, etc.) the executive may have about the subject matter.

The writer also should learn as much as possible about how the person thinks and speaks, and try to capture his or her personality on paper. It’s vital that the writer and executive work well together and have good chemistry.

The first step in the process is to jointly develop clear objectives for the book and create an outline of chapters. Once that’s completed, my approach is to supplement existing material with input from the executive through notes he or she puts together on each chapter. We then sit down together to flesh out details, fill in gaps and clarify or expand on a particular point.

With that information in hand, I’m ready to write a chapter draft. The executive edits the draft, and we go back and forth a few times to fine tune it. Then the process starts all over again with the next chapter.

You may also be interested in reading my article: Why Ad Agency Principals Should Consider Writing a Book

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Share

Ad Agencies: Talking Points Help Your Clients Stay Focused During Interviews

Talking points – also known as key messages – have gotten a bum rap. For many people, the term “talking points” is synonymous with stonewalling and lack of candor.

Politicians, in particular, are adept at the art of saying what they want to say, regardless of the question they’re asked. If they don’t like the question, they silently make up their own and answer it, making sure they get their messages across.

There are, however, some good and honorable uses of talking points. For one thing, they help the person being interviewed stay focused and on track. It often helps to condense what you want to say into a sentence or two, to make sure you communicate succinctly and effectively.

In this age of sound bites, thinking through a few key points you want to make prior to an interview with a reporter is a must.

Talking points also can help you avoid landmines that otherwise could come back to bite you later on. Of course, it becomes obvious when a person is only spouting talking points, so they need to be used carefully to provide guidance to the conversation rather than being the conversation exclusively.

Recently I helped a couple of my clients develop talking points for situations they were facing. Just the process of working through the messaging was useful because it generated discussion about not only what should be said – and not said – but how the words we ultimately chose would come across to others.

If your agency hasn’t prepared your clients by helping them determine what to say and how to say it, beware that interviews can and sometimes do backfire, and the consequences may be far-reaching and unpleasant.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Journalists Survey Part 2

What’s the biggest concern that journalists have about materials they receive from corporate communications and public relations professionals? According to the new Bulldog Reporter/Cision Journalists Survey on Media Relations Practices, it’s that the information is written like advertising, not journalism.

Following closely behind is the complaint that the material is not relevant to their work.

In addition, half of responding journalists complained that e-mails from communications professionals don’t highlight why readers would care about the subject.

While nearly 70% of journalists surveyed rated PR and corporate communications professionals as substantially or extremely professional, when it comes to understanding their media outlets, 53% said communications professionals have only “some understanding.” Ouch.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Journalists Survey Has Good and Bad News for PR

There’s good news and bad news in a new media relations practices survey of more than 1,700 journalists and editors.

First, the good news: More than 90% of respondents say they rely on public relations for some of their story ideas.

The bad news: Nearly 60% say the relevance of the materials they receive comes up short, citing it as their top problem with PR.

The survey, which was sponsored by Bulldog Reporter
and Cision, contains some interesting information. Here’s a sample:

• Some 45% of journalists report that the communications professionals they work with don’t understand which subjects they cover.
• Nearly 27% say communications professionals don’t understand the subjects they are pitching.
• More than 30% report they cannot find information they need on corporate websites, and nearly 32% specifically say they can’t find the name and/or telephone number of a communications professional on the corporate website.

While these are embarrassing stats for PR professionals, they’re also fairly easy to correct. Learn as much as possible about a specific subject before contacting the reporter covering it, educate yourself on the subject you want to pitch, and then make it easy for reporters to contact you.

If you’ve ever had difficulty finding your way around a city and wondered why there wasn’t better signage, you’ll get an idea of the frustration a busy journalist experiences when trying to find what he or she needs on your ad agency’s or client’s website.

Take a few minutes to visit your site as if you’ve never been there before – how easy is it to find your way around? Then ask some other people outside your company to do the same thing. You may find your website needs a bit of work to make it more journalist friendly. Not a big deal to fix, but the payoff could be great.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Coca-Cola Can Teach Ad Agencies Valuable Lessons about Social Media

The Coca-Cola Company has always been one of my favorite companies, in part because of its innovative marketing. With the incredible brand recognition Coke enjoys it would be easy to get complacent, but Coca-Cola executives have resisted the temptation to do so.

So it’s no surprise that Atlanta-based Coca-Cola has become a leader in social media marketing. With 500 brands in more than 200 countries, can’t afford not to be efficient.

Michael Donnelly, the company’s group director of worldwide interactive marketing, oversees a group of 30 people in Coke’s global interactive group, including four focused on social media, according to an article last month Media Post News Marketing Daily

A new program called KO Social Hub reportedly will be a social media tool kit that any of Coca-Cola’s 3,500 marketers around the world can use locally to create programs.

“The idea,” Marketing Daily states, “is to make it easier for marketers in different countries to reach local cohorts of Coca-Cola’s 7 million fans across dozens of social-media sites.”

Instead of running programs, Mr. Donnelly is providing marketers with platforms to potentially run thousands of programs.

“If you were to create a Facebook and YouTube page for every country in which you market, then moderate and run those pages, you will be doing a $30 to $40 million investment,” he notes. “Our strategy is to have a single presence, central pages so that no matter where you are in the world, when you pull up YouTube/Coca-Cola, you get a country-local social page.”

Sounds like a smart, cost-effective strategy that will pay great dividends by continuing to build Coke’s brands throughout the world.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.