Archive for July, 2012
Tuesday, July 31st, 2012
Gaining exposure through the media continues to be a great way for organizations to reach and influence various audiences. And, of course, today the “media” has vastly expanded to include not only traditional media (print and broadcast), but blogs and other online venues. Successful media exposure requires both proactive and reactive efforts. Whether you’re just developing a media plan, or have already been interacting with the media, here are some key steps and tactics to ensure the best results from your efforts:
(more…)
Tags: media relations, pr, public relations
Posted in Community Relations, Media Relations/PR, PR and Media Relations | No Comments »
Thursday, July 26th, 2012
What are senior managers across the globe and across multiple industries concerned about these days? Reputation. So says a recent study conducted by Spencer Stuart and Weber Shandwick. Not surprising given the hit that many companies have taken over recent years in terms of their reputation, credibility and trust among consumers. So what are senior leaders’ expectations of the communications function according to the study? (more…)
Tags: Brand Management, health care, Healthcare, marketing strategy, measurement, results, Strategic Planning, Strategy
Posted in Healthcare, Healthcare Communication and Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Strategic Communications, Strategic Planning, Strategy | No Comments »
Monday, July 23rd, 2012
Newsflash: according to a recent survey from Fournaise Marketing Group, 70% of the CEOs surveyed said that marketers and communicators are disconnected from business results and living “too much in their creative and social media bubble.”
Now, I appreciate the numbers being tied to this reported sentiment, and I do love surveys, but as a marketing communications (MARCOM) professional for a number of years I have to say that this is not really shocking information. Those of us in MARCOM know this; we’ve known it for a long time. Ironically, though, too few of us (more…)
Tags: Advertising, health care, Healthcare, Marketing, marketing strategy, measurement, results, Social Media
Posted in Healthcare Communication and Marketing, Marketing and Branding, PR and Media Relations | No Comments »
Thursday, July 19th, 2012
There are four ways that people learn about our products and services:
1. Through their own experiences with us.
2. From their friends, family and colleagues – word of mouth.
3. Through the media – news reports, articles, etc.
4. Directly from us through our own advertising, web sites, social media, etc.
I always list these four sources of information in this order, because (more…)
Tags: Advertising, brand, Customer Service, Marketing, marketing research, public relations
Posted in Brand Management, Business Development, Customer Service, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Communication, Marketing Research, Media Relations/PR | No Comments »
Monday, July 16th, 2012
Common wisdom suggests that there is a direct correlation between employee and customer satisfaction. Common wisdom, of course, is often flawed. Just ask a couple of my favorite business authors, Dan Ariely (Predictably Irrational) and Steven Levitt (Freakonomics). Sometimes the things that we believe to be true, simply aren’t.
A few years ago an article in the Harvard Business Review (more…)
Tags: Brand Management, Business development, Customer Service, Employee Communication
Posted in Brand Management, Business Development, Customer Service, Employee Communication | No Comments »
Thursday, July 12th, 2012
Louis C.K. recently cut out the middleman in the process of selling tickets to one of his performances. His experiment has been quite interesting. He’s not the first to bypass sites like StubHub and TicketMaster, and I’m sure he won’t be the last. Why? Because his experiment demonstrates an interesting concept–disintermediation–the removal of intermediaries in a supply chain.
Disintermediation represents a benefit to consumers and a significant challenge, even fatal challenge, to those in the middle. The lesson to be learned? (more…)
Posted in Competition, Marketing and Branding, Strategy | No Comments »
Monday, July 9th, 2012
If you’re like many people who have been involved in strategic planning efforts, the thought of becoming involved in another one may leave you less than enthusiastic. Why? Too often, despite the significant time and effort that may have been put into the process, once the plan is complete, not a lot happens. It seems we often feel fairly adept at the planning part of the process, but when it comes to the doing part we falter.
There may be a variety of reasons for this: (more…)
Tags: planning, Strategic Planning, Strategy
Posted in Strategic Planning, Strategy | No Comments »
Friday, July 6th, 2012
Anybody who has ever observed people–usually, but not always, teenagers–standing together, yet communicating via text messaging can recognize that sometimes technology is overused. Whether email, social media, texting or the use of mobile devices, the downfall of these practices is to minimize face-to-face or voice-to-voice contact which can be a definite drawback. In business settings, studies consistently indicate (more…)
Tags: communication tactics, Customer Service, Social Media
Posted in Client Relations, Customer Communication, Employee Communication, Social Media | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012
Whether managing your personal account or updating an employer or client account you’re responsible for, making an online mistake can be embarrassing to say the least. Online mistakes can also be costly in terms of damage done to an individual or firm’s reputation. As many celebrities and newsies have discovered sometimes what they felt was an innocuous statement can become quickly controversial and viral.
A client recently asked me how to deal with an error that went out in a post. There is no “easy answer” to this type of question, of course. The answer is really “it depends.” It depends on what the “oops” was, how many people are likely to see it, what the potential negative ramifications might be and–importantly–whether a follow up message might bring more attention to the issue rather than defusing it. Believe it or not (more…)
Tags: Brand Management, crisis communication, Customer Service, media relations, pr, public relations, word of mouth
Posted in Brand Management, Community Relations, Media Relations/PR, PR and Media Relations, Social Media, Strategic Communications | No Comments »