• Five lessons for PR professionals from Boardwalk Empire

    Five lessons for PR professionals from Boardwalk Empire

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    Five lessons for PR professionals from Boardwalk Empire

    I’ll freely admit that the premise of this post is a bit of a stretch. There is probably nothing we should emulate from a group of gangsters and bootleggers as portrayed on HBO’s hit series Boardwalk Empire.

    But after having just watched season 3 on DVD (season 4 is now airing on HBO), it seems to me that there are certainly life lessons from Boardwalk Empire we can learn that apply to PR and business in a general way.

    Warning that there are spoilers below.

    1. Know your home base well: At one point, Nucky Thompson strikes a deal with Arnold Rothstein that gets him the location of a rival bootlegging gang in Philadelphia. He immediately uses a press conference of Atlantic City reporters to pin the blame for recent murders on this enemy gang, promising that they are being apprehended for questioning, and leading to an election victory for his Republican friends. Nucky had built up trust with the local press, allowing him to put out his side of the story in a timely (though manipulative) way. Similarly, PR professionals need to have their home turf covered. We need to know the local press that cover our clients frontwards and backwards.
    2. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver: Rothstein protégé Lucky Lucciano makes an ill-timed deal with some drug dealers, but the enterprise fails, and that puts him at a disadvantage to – and in the debt of – Rothstein. Similarly, we should be careful as PR professionals to set high but achievable expectations that will help our clients’ business.
    3. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket: Jimmy Darmody makes the mistake of forming a rival operation that would assume control of Atlantic City’s bootlegging operations from Nucky. Unfortunately for him, it was an irrevocable move that allied him with certain people and put him at odds with Nucky forever. PR professionals need to be adaptable as conditions that affect our clients change and demand new approaches.
    4. Information is power: Time and time again, Nucky gets the upper hand by gaining information about his enemies, whether it’s using information about corruption in the Attorney General’s office to get himself a reprieve, or learning in a timely way of Jimmy’s betrayal to make his own move. As PR professionals, knowing what a target reporter is writing about, or what are the pressure points for a target publication, or how a client can perform better in a briefing, makes all the difference.
    5. Keep your networks strong: Nucky runs into legal troubles over allegations of election-rigging, and after being unsatisfied with his own attorney’s advice, decides to fire him and ask Rothstein’s own attorney to defend him. Maintaining a good relationship with Rothstein allows Nucky to keep his legal options open. Similarly, PR professionals should take care to always leave bridges intact – as you never know when a business opportunity could arise from a source you never expected.

    Do you have any other lessons from Boardwalk Empire relevant to PR professionals to share? 

    Erik Arvidson

  • Matter Spotlight – Melissa Garabedian

    Matter Communications PR star Melissa Garabedian juggles a soccer ball as well as she juggles a handful of interesting consumer PR clients. She once starred as Snoopy in a school play, but found her true calling as a media relations whiz at Matter. Her future is as bright as these amazing sunflowers.

    Tim Bradley

  • A Lesson AT&T Will “Never Forget”

    A Lesson AT&T Will “Never Forget”

    We have all heard it time and time again: From the moment you send a tweet or post to Facebook, your words are forever on display for the entire world to see – even if you press delete.

    Talk about pressure! Social media marketers and public relations professionals are well aware of the embarrassment the simplest typo could cause a brand. You don’t have to remind us that larger blunders have the potential to destroy reputations and lose business. Yet, mistakes happen every day.

    The latest winner of the epic social media fail award goes to… AT&T!

    While the rest of the country honored September 11 with somber ceremonies and emotional tributes on its 12th anniversary earlier this month, the telecom giant took to their social media channels with a Photoshopped version of the annual Tribute in Light display, as seen through the camera of one of their smartphones, with the caption “Never Forget”.

    The image has since been taken down – but not before it accrued more than 300 retweets, 400 shares on Facebook and countless jeers shaming the company.

    AT&T took note of the loud criticism and quickly issued an apology, stating that “the image was solely meant to pay respect to those affected by the 9/11 tragedy.”

    But this adver-memorial still infuriated the social media masses, who accused AT&T of a “tasteless,” “tacky” and “disgusting” marketing gimmick. Some referred to the incident as product placement and others even claimed that they would never shop with AT&T again.

    Regardless of their true intentions, AT&T was instantaneously caught in the middle of a 140-character controversy, while plenty of other brands – from American Express to Waffle House – managed to commemorate 9/11 without the backlash.

    The difference? AT&T’s branded tweet focused too much on their product instead of the remembrance, which came off as insensitive, offensive and self-serving. And we all know that the way our message is perceived is just as important as the message itself.

    Matter

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  • Rounding the Mark with Powerful Images

    Two top-of-mind topics collided yesterday when I was forwarded a dynamite article about the technology that goes into the catamarans currently racing in the America’s Cup. My affinity for sailing overlapped with my day job – the article provided another reminder of how it behooves all of us to always consider using visuals to help tell our story. Read this, this or this, and you will immediately see they are engaging and impactful examples of visuals that help convey a complex topic. (And, they happen to be tremendous images of amazing sailboats, if you like to see such a thing.)

    Back to my day job.

    I didn’t have to look far to find another good example of the power of visual assets. Our LoJack team supported the launch of the “Drive 4 Pledges Day” initiative with this infographic aimed at highlighting leading driving distractions and to provide tips for staying safe. Not only is it a powerful tool for the end audience – who doesn’t appreciate and value easy-to-understand content? – but it’s an equally important asset to share with media and across social channels. It’s clear and content-rich, and directly aligned with trends in PR and social media.

    As our category continues to evolve, story-telling is once again complemented by supporting visuals (see 20 years ago when marcom materials were a significant line on any marketing budget) and particularly important when a complex, slightly confusing or highly technical topic needs to be conveyed to a key audience. Beyond infographics, the visual story-telling process now includes icons, logos and other social media-friendly representations of key and priority messages. We’re telling a visual story with many of our clients, and have been at the front of this trend with Studio-C, our full-service creative services group that delivers impactful videos and graphics.

    So, how certain are we that visual story-telling in our category is here to stay? Well, we’re investing further into the initiative by hiring new and talented professionals to our creative team. Just this week we welcomed Jennifer Mills as a senior graphic designer, and Sanford Paek as our agency’s first Director of Sales and Account Management. Jennifer honed her skills at a number of high-profile agencies, most recently at Burlington-based Davies-Murphy Group, now owned by Lewis PR. Sanford, whom I’ve known for over a decade while he managed services at Business Wire and Thomson-Reuters, is the ideal professional to engage with prospects and clients about bridging the gap between the client’s business objectives and their go-to-market communications program, and our creative team. Like all of us here at Matter, I’m enthused about Jennifer and Sanford’s arrival – and looking forward to doing even more to tell our clients’ stories visually.

    Are you using visuals to tell you story? Care to share any with me?

    Scott Signore

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  • 5 Ways PR Firms Impress New Clients

    We started working with a few new (and terrific!) clients in the past couple of months, and early reports indicate that all systems are go and we’re off and running positively. These same reports also indicate that our smart and savvy public relations and social media teams execute in a way that is a welcome change from the process, behavior and lack of results generated from the agencies previously supporting these companies. It’s important to show a new client that you are ready to roll, and here are a few ways for a new PR agency (and specifically, a new team!) to get things started on the right foot:

    First, embrace the new client/business/category with gusto – and show the client that you are sincerely interested. You should pay close attention to the client’s business objectives – first and foremost – but also key care-abouts of the new client. They may covet one specific blog over a pack of others, and one key message over the organization’s larger story. In any case, taking tactical steps to let the client know you are paying close attention as you ramp-up and get started is key.

    Second, be responsive. I’m unwavering in my belief that client service continues to be hugely important in our business. It’s essential to a successful working relationship, and equally important at the start of a project or an ongoing program. Be smart and strategic, but respond with enthusiasm so the new client “gets” that they are a priority in your day.

    Third, be certain you are thoroughly prepared for all of your meetings/calls/etc. Give the new client confidence by being on your game. Have a game plan for the start of the program – in a logical order so the new client knows what to expect.

    Fourth, work hard to land the big hit – or specific result – early in the working relationship. Identify what that result specifically is, and do what you can to make it happen. Once a new client sees first hand that you can generate results that make a real impact, you’ve strengthened a new relationship and provided a powerful shot of optimism about the team’s abilities!

    Fifth, start the ball of enthusiasm rolling forward. I’ve seen it happen so many times in my career that partnering with an agency was the catalyst for positive things happening on both sides of the relationship. The communications and product teams were active, engaged and enthusiastic about partnering with the PR and social media team, and all parties worked together for joint success. Be positive in your approach and embrace the new client, category and task at hand, as the positive vibes will go a long way.

    What do you do to see that a relationship with a new client starts well? Let me know.

    Scott Signore

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  • 5 Steps to Social Media Success

    If your company is not utilizing social media in some capacity, it is not taking advantage of a valuable tool to engage with its target market.  Social media is still quickly evolving from a place to just simply communicate to an environment that can help inform and promote brand messaging.  Many people follow companies to stay in the loop on products, promotions and progress, more than to just belong to a community.  For example, Coca-Cola’s page is one of the top “liked” 2013 companies on Facebook (with 72m likes) but few people follow the brand to talk about drinking soda.  The real interaction revolves around corporate social responsibility and promotions that drive engagement.  Customers care about what is going on in the background.

    Launching a social media campaign sounds easier than it is though.  If a proper plan is not put in place, the results can be less than impressive.  No company wishes to increase business investment in social media to obtain only close friends and employees as pitiful followers. 

    That’s where these simple initial steps come in for a successful social media launch:

    Stay focused.  With so many platforms available (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, the list goes on) identifying the right one for your business is crucial.  Follow the leader here, find where your competitors are investing their efforts by conducting a “social audit”.  Identify your target audience, key influencers and competitors in your category but most of all follow your intuition.  Think like your target audience: If your company specializes in tech software for B2B markets, does it make more sense to get on Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook?* 

    Strategize. Get a team to run social media for you.  Social media is a real-time, open communication, collaboration and dialogue.  As a founder or managing member, all of your efforts should revolve around building your brand and running operations for your company to keep growing.  You need a team dedicated to the very time-consuming task of rapid response and message controls.  If a topic in your category gets hot, you want to be a part of that discussion but it cannot take away from day-to-day activity.  Let us PR pros handle this for you, it’ll give you piece of mind and allow you to focus on the details behind running a business!

    Voice.  Engagement is key.  You want your messaging to echo your target audience’s voice.  Social media has the unique ability to humanize a company’s brand.  Once you establish a non-generic tone you’ll notice real personality in your fan-base’s response to posts.  This is your company’s chance to create a more relaxed personality that cannot be achieved through traditional advertising and PR.  It also acts as a more informal way to obtain feedback that your company can respond to and quickly mitigate before issues build.

    Goals.  There are tangible and intangible goals that can be achieved through social media utilization.  It is imperative that your company and its PR representatives are aligned and understand the desired outcome.  Do you want to generate more buzz around a new product launch?  Is your company brand new and in serious need of followers to get your brand out there?  Is your offering difficult to understand and in need of clear messaging and open dialogue for customers to voice their opinion?  Are you conducting damage control when something does not go as planned?  Are you trying to boost sales or obtain more clients?  All of these are important questions to figure out before launching a social media campaign.

    Metrics.  Measuring success should be based on your company’s initial goals (see above).  The rules are yet to be written in the social world so defining success based on your parameters in the beginning are key.  Was generating buzz, increasing conversation and overall brand awareness a goal?  Then observe not only the number of fans your company page obtained, but the level of engagement as well.  If you are utilizing SEO to measure the amount of visitors your website has had since launching a social media campaign, make sure to look at unique monthly visitors or the amount of click-throughs.  What really matters in metrics based on your marketing goals is critical to understand.  Social media success can also be measured in more tangible ways as well, such as meeting actual sales goals.

    Now get out there and be social, nobody likes a wallflower!

     

     

    * Holding all other variables, LinkedIn and Twitter would be your best bet.

     

    Matter

  • Thank goodness. Football is back.

    I’m pumped about the start of football season, and am so looking forward to watching my Patriots weekly this fall and (fingers crossed!) early winter. If Tom Brady and our boys can meet the expectations of Sports Illustrated – that the Pats will meet Seattle in the Super Bowl – I’d be thrilled. Despite a rather unusual off-season – you can say that incomprehensible criminal activity is a-typical – the Pats are back to their winning ways and I’m eagerly anticipating this coming season.

    I’m also very much looking forward to following my fantasy football team.
    The National Football League is a common denominator in America as it connects people across social categories and geographic boundaries. Fantasy football does the same here in our office. Sixteen of us jumped into the Matter fantasy football league and with the start of the NFL season, the competition here in the office has commenced. And, so has the smack talk.

    Only hours before last Thursday’s season opening kick-off, I heard from Nate Goldin, a recently hired Account Coordinator from our office in Providence. It’s not so typical that I receive email from this particular guy, so I was pleasantly surprised to see his name in my in-box. (Blogger note: I work side by side with some of the staff, but not all of them, and as a result I hear from some more than others. It’s not a hierarchical thing, but rather the result of various team and organization structures.)

    In any case, I opened Nate’s email to find the he was choosing to connect for reasons other than inquiring about smart and strategic public relations or social media PR counsel from an industry veteran. He wasn’t connecting to ask about ways to overcome a communications challenge he was facing on behalf of one of his clients, or to provide an update on a high-profile happening with the agency. Instead, he was getting in touch to talk smack. He was politely apologizing (in advance) for handing me my fantasy football team’s first loss of the season. He did wish me luck, but the note was rich in sarcasm.

    Fantasy football is brilliant. It makes every game on any given Sunday in the fall count. Games that were previously so far from being interesting are instantly a priority. And, to the NFL’s benefit – and all those marketing NFL products, gear, etc. – it has widened the typical fan’s areas of interest far beyond his or her team. (For example, I’m in the very fortunate position of having Russell Wilson as my team’s QB and plan to care a lot in the coming months about scores of Seahawks’ games.) And, occasionally, those scores help you stick it to those who raise their hand with senseless bravado. In this particular case, however, Nate’s was spot on and I’m disappointed to report that my fantasy team starts the season 0-1.

    I hope you are enjoying the start of the football season, too.

    Scott Signore

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  • Is All Press Still Good Press?

    Who would have thought that adding a handful of french fries to a hamburger would spark such a controversial conversation online? Burger King launched the $1 “French Fry Burger” because apparently, that is what their customers wanted. It seems like such a simple strategy, listen to your customers and then implement their idea, just like Burger King did. But is the outcome always going to be a positive one?

    It was once a public relations rule of thumb that all press was good press and that if a campaign or an announcement got people talking, then it was a success. While Burger King advocates and aficionados are thrilled, PR influencers and some fans may look at this creation as a brand running out of creative ideas. Daniel Gross from The Daily Beast stated, “I fretted that America – and American business, in particular – seemed to be running out of ideas.” On Burger King’s defense, James F. Thompson from Media Bistro says, “…the public will celebrate. Because this is what we want. And Burger King listened. Those geniuses. They get us.” Others are mocking the fast food chain, Venessa Wong from Bloomberg Business Week wrote an article, stating the most obvious fact, you can already have this amazing concoction any time you want, including right now. It’s not like the stores don’t always have fries.

    So, the news wasn’t all positive, and some of it was flat-out negative. But Burger King ultimately wins because people like me are talking about their latest product offering. That’s good PR.

    Burger King’s French Fry Burger

     

    Matter

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  • My Life in #Hashtags

    My Life in #Hashtags

    While scanning my Facebook homepage, Twitter feed or Instagram page, it’s rare for me to not come across a hashtag.  Whether it’s a tweet, status update, comment or caption, chances are I’ll find a word or phrase with a hashtag. Although a once scarcely used practice, the hashtag has come to define our day to day actions and thus describe our lives. This has happened so much that now the hashtag has left my computer screen and traveled onto my television, the magazine in my hand, and even the T-shirt I’m wearing. Whether you are a #lover or #hater it’s time to accept that the hashtag is everywhere and it’s here to stay.

    Regardless of your feeling about the hashtag it’s helpful to understand its importance. Knowing what hashtags are trending can help you or your company boost its SEO on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. This will help bring traffic to your business and the product or service you are selling. If you are lucky enough to develop a trending hashtag even larger opportunities for your business will arrive at your door.

    For instance, as it being a Thursday while I write this, #tbt is trending. (Throwback Thursday for those of you without a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account.) If I were to attach an old picture of a staff member at Matter connected with #tbt the chances of more people seeing the picture on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram would sky-rocket. This increases the chance that people will meander their way to the Matter profile page thus resulting in more followers.

    While attempting to boost your social media presence it is important to add a hashtag here or there, but remember with every upside there is a downside. Don’t believe me? Just ask McDonald’s. Last summer when McDonald’s started their Twitter campaign, #McDStories, McDonald’s planned to tell stories of all the great efforts that come from the production of their food. For example, telling the story about a farmer’s growing process with #McDStories at the end of the tweet. Unfortunately for McDonald’s this hashtag did not go as planned. Within hours #McDStories changed from praise about McDonald’s to horror stories that happen all too often at America’s favorite fast food establishment. According to an article on PR Daily, McDonald’s pulled the hashtag by the end of the day only to find that #McDStories was mentioned 72,788 times, most of which being negative comments.

    With any campaign you launch there are risks to be taken. The same goes for social media and the use of hashtags. By just adding a # to a phrase you have the potential to boost your SEO and blow up your Twitter feed, Facebook page or Instagram profile. But keep in mind to tread lightly the hashtag has the power to keep you afloat or sink you.

    Matter

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  • Along the Western (PR) front

    I – along with Jesse Ciccone, a Managing Director here at Matter – have had the luxury of spending the week in the Pacific Northwest with Kent Hollenbeck and Josh Rein, two of the dynamite professionals who joined Matter earlier this summer when we acquired  The Hollenbeck Group, based in Portland, Oregon. In addition to getting together to cover timely topics such as recruiting, cross-agency happenings, and marketing the local office, we met with a number of marquee companies in the region – including a key client based locally. As my week out west comes to an end, here are some related thoughts going through my head:

     1.      My enthusiasm for extending our physical presence out West is even greater than it was when we made the decision to do so many months ago. I like everything about it – the team we have in place, the opportunity to leverage the greater assets here at Matter to do more for some existing clients, and, naturally, the opportunity we have to work with our local team to introduce Matter to some exciting brands. I’m pumped, can you tell?

    2.       While it’s likely that I traveled on one of the worst weeks for activities beyond work – start of school and about 100 activities related to my kids – I was reminded that I love getting out of the office and shaking hands. I like meeting new people and hearing what they have to say. I continue to believe that so much good comes from doing business in person, and I was reminded of that fact this past week while meeting great people.

     3.      I’m generalizing (in a big way!) but the Portland and Seattle-based tech and consumer communications professionals that I met are absolutely tremendous. They are smart and savvy, but also personable and exceptionally nice to be around. I was thrilled to meet those who I did, and I’m excited about spending more time with similar folks from these communities.

     4.     I hadn’t been in this area of the country for some time and I was reminded this week that the Pacific Northwest is beautiful. (Like, knock your socks off gorgeous.) The culture of our agency has always been a priority, as has the environment our valued team members work within. And, as expected, the office in Portland and the city itself nicely compliments the vibe of our existing offices. I’m thrilled about that and so happy for anyone who has the opportunity to work from that office regularly.

    5.       I didn’t bring a blue blazer on this trip, and I didn’t need one. I was encouraged to wear a button-down shirt and a pair of jeans, and that guidance couldn’t have been any better! J

    If your business is located in Portland, Seattle or San Francisco (or anywhere in between), I’d be honored to grab a coffee or beer with you on my next trip to the Pacific Northwest. Drop me a line.

    Matter Spotlight – Kent Hollenbeck from Matter Communications on Vimeo.

    Scott Signore

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