In Life and PR, Preparation Leads to Success

By Matter

Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.”

I immediately thought of this quote when I agreed to run in the Walt Disney World Wine and Dine Half- Marathon with a couple of friends this coming November. I have to admit that I think it’s pretty cool that this run takes place in the evening and that Mickey and other Disney characters cheer you on at every mile, but my affinity for wine tasting was the real reason I agreed to participate. However, shortly after I signed up, I started to contemplate what I just gotten myself into. The farthest I’ve ever run was a 10K, and that was four years ago. I’m not sure if my two surgically repaired knees will be able to handle the stress of such a grueling race. If I’m going accomplish my goal, I have to begin to prepare for the long road ahead.

Since making the agreement to run a few months ago, I have completely changed my diet and eating habits by snacking on smaller meals that are packed with protein. I researched and purchased new running shoes that were comfortable and supportive for my feet, and I even began occasional acupuncture sessions to alleviate any aches and pains. Most importantly, I talked with family members and friends who have run marathons to help me to create a plan to build my stamina for the upcoming race. This preparation comes to mind because I see parallels in my training for the marathon and how we help our clients achieve success here at Matter Communications.

I participated in a campaign for a client that wanted to make a splash by making eight product announcements at an upcoming conference. This was a critical show that many of our client’s competitors, key media writers and industry analysts were attending. I saw first-hand how my team worked tirelessly to prepare and execute a plan to flawlessly deliver on the days of the conference. Starting six months ahead of time, we worked with our client’s marketing and product teams to establish a strategy and discuss how to make an impact at the show and on the social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. The team drafted variations of press releases to perfect the messaging for the launch of the news, secured 40 meetings with the media, and organized the worldwide team to translate each release into five different languages.

The event resulted in our team generating 405 pieces of coverage with 100 million impressions and 8,701 impressions from our client’s social media page. Surely Benjamin Franklin would have been proud of the preparation that went into this campaign and the incredible results we delivered. Hopefully, similar preparation in my personal life will lead to similar success for me at the half-marathon in November.  Has careful preparation made a difference in a project of yours – or has the lack of preparedness brought home Mr. Franklin’s point to you?