by Lisa Wedmann | Oct 25, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Communications, Latest, Marketing, PR, Social Media
As social media continues to change marketing landscape, one change I have seen is the convergence of marketing with PR. In the past, if you wanted an advertising campaign, you produced commercials, print ads and maybe some billboards.
If you wanted a Public Relations campaign, you used some of the more traditional tactics: a press conference, sent out a press release to media, product placement and TV appearances.
But today, marketing and Public Relations are closer than ever. No more can you launch a great product, with a big ad campaign, and talk TO the consumer.
You have to take it one step beyond that and bring the product to the people, get it in their hands, and talk with them – not AT them.
The overarching goals of Marketing and PR are the same: get people’s attention, get people to connect with, to talk about and, ultimately, buy your product. And finally, perhaps most importantly, it’s about building brand awareness and loyalty.
But that is where the similarity ends. Marketing is about speaking to the consumer. PR today is about speaking with the public and creating a two-way dialogue. With the growth of social media, and the changing landscape of traditional media, power has shifted to the consumer. It’s not enough to speak loudly and blanket the airwaves with ads.
And even if you do blanket the airwaves, finding that target market is increasingly difficult as more and more people are turning out traditional channels, and the media landscaped continues to fracture. In 2012, one in 50 Canadian TV subscribers cancelled cable in 2012, and 130,000 are expected to follow suit by the end of 2013. And Netflix subscriptions are growing, as is the use of PVR – meaning no more commercials!
This is just where PR comes in. A good PR campaign can get the word out to increasingly niche target markets using a mix of tactics: events, blogger campaigns, product placement, media appearances and social media campaigns. Done right, the message will get out to just the right markets and people, creating buzz, awareness, a relationship with the customer, and, ultimately, sales.
There are multiple benefits to a public relations campaign, including:
- Relationships – A blogging campaign will create brand ambassadors, consumers who will talk about your product, and share this with their followers. They will blog, and share about your product, with links back to your website. This also fits in nicely with social media.
- Social Media: Obviously, thanks to the blogger campaign, your followers will grow, and you will connect with new fans and followers. Once bloggers post, and share, their blogs, you can repost on your page, and retweet their tweets. This provides a gateway to new followers, and consumers.
- SEO: Do you produce your website to maximize SEO? A PR campaign will improve your online presence, with links back to the site, which will help the site ranking.
How do you think Public Relations has changed? How does it fit within the marketing mix?
by Lisa Wedmann | Aug 21, 2013 | Branding, Business Success, Latest, Marketing
Big companies spend lots of money and effort to build their brands. Brands help their products stand out. Microsoft, Walmart, Volkswagen. We get it. We know what they do.
But what about building a personal brand. Can building a personal brand help us to become recognized. Can a personal brand help build our careers? Build brand loyalty…to us?
Each one of us has a personal brand whether we consciously created it or not.
Our personal brand is the summary of what defines us as a unique and distinctive individual.
This summary is used when you talk about yourself to others. Or when others talk about you. More importantly when others talk about you… you should be memorable! Wouldn’t you rather someone say “call Joe, he can fix that” rather than “call what was his name… he’s the one that ….…pause…what was his name …?
Unless you want to be called ‘What was his name’, don’t leave your personal brand to chance. Personal branding is a way to make a name for yourself and to sell your talent and your skills. It highlights your values and enhances your reputation.
A strong, solid personal brand will make you stand out from the rest. It will help you when applying for a job, building a business or networking with new friends or associates. A powerful brand defines you at all times and lets others know who you are.
Your personal brand is an investment
When you invest in your personal brand you invest for a lifetime. And like any strong investment, with the right foundation and careful planning it will continue to grow. As it grows it encompasses your values and accomplishments and defines the person you are at any given moment in time.
Your personal brand is based on the thoughts and perception of others. That’s the beauty. Building a personal brand is your opportunity to construct that image. How would you like others to think of you? You have control and you can decide what image you want to project and work on that image.
Name it to claim it
Take the time to consider how you want to be perceived. Be clear about who you are and who you are not. This will become your mantra, your raison d’être. Every action, every activity should reflect that person. Focus your message on who you are and what you have to offer.
Personal branding isn’t easy but it can and will bring impressive results. Just ask Oprah! But no, seriously…if you want to know how to go about building a brand, click here.
by Lisa Wedmann | Aug 9, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Creative, Latest
“Life can be much broader. You can embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it.” – Steve Jobs
I was reading about the soon to be released movie “Jobs” with Ashton Kutcher and this quote jumped out at me. So much knowledge packed into one simple sentence.
I get it. I totally agree. Jobs is a testimony to this philosophy. I can easily live vicariously through Jobs and let this knowledge spill into all areas of my life. In this case, it captures my interest in marketing and brand building. Brand can be much broader. You can embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it. It’s about a brand’s life cycle and it being able to live in the now.
Embrace it
There’s much to be said about your product and positioning your brand. But embracing it, now that’s where it gets juicy. Embracing is about nurturing and caring. It’s the point in your product life cycle where you have done your research. You understand what it takes to make your brand strong and resilient. You are not afraid to stand behind your brand and make your mark. You own your product. You protect it. And you embrace it.
Change it
For brands, change is not always good, but sometimes it’s necessary.. Knowing when to tweak an element of your brand or when to re-haul it takes a keen sense of timing and a marketing intuition. In most cases when brands (not products) need a total re-position, it’s because the brand hasn’t had the attention it deserves…for quite some time.
Improve it
Improving your brand is not about changing it. It is about realigning your brand to keep it current. It’s about paying attention and having your brand live in the now. Improving how your brand is presented and keeping it relevant to the market ensures its success. Staying on trend. Being fresh. In today’s marketing landscape, this is keeping current with social media and all that it has to offer.
Make your mark upon it
And here’s where Jobs was so distinctive. We can all agree he made his mark. We are all familiar with the iconic apple symbol, the brand and all that it means, not only as a product, but as an experience and a promise.
Jobs left us the formula for life success that can easily be adopted to brand success
We can all follow in Jobs’ footsteps. He left us the formula albeit, for life. To my way of thinking, Brand has a persona, and therefore, as mentioned at the beginning of this post, Brand has a life. We all refer to a brand and it’s product life cycle. Create a cohesive brand identity. Develop a unique identity that demonstrates your company’s personality. Make your product so impressive that people rush to do business with you and not your competition. Do whatever it takes to make it happen.
by Lisa Wedmann | Jul 26, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Creative, Latest, Marketing, Objective
Quick… Pop Quiz
Answer the two following questions with the first answer that jumps in your mind.
- Who is the most creative person you know?
- Who is the most objective person you know?
Now think of those two people joined into one brain. Kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but they are both nice.
On the one side you have the creative person, full of original thoughts and insights, willing to try and experiment with new and innovative ideas.
On the other side, you have objective Judge Judy. Straight and by the book. Judgments are objective, based on facts and not influenced by personal feelings in the courtroom.
Creative ideas can turn into billions of dollars
Creative originality is valued in advertising and marketing. We create fresh views that draw and keep people’s interest. Just think of Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerman or Bill Gates. They all took a creative approach to their businesses; conducted creative campaigns and turned their ideas into billion dollar empires.
Objective thoughts balance creative ideas
At the same time business must be objective. You can bet that Steve, Mark and Bill were as objective as they were creative. They mixed their creative idea with business objectivity. They asked questions such as who is the market, how big is the market, where the market is headed, how much money can be made. This is objective thinking and the answers are the objective facts that are required to run a successful business.
Inventors need to be both creative and objective
We only have to look at a few examples of Dragon’s Den to understand where creative and objective didn’t always mix. On the television show inventors and entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a successful business panel. They hope to get money to grow and expand their business.
Many of these inventors, although creative come up with ideas that nobody wants. For example edible greeting cards for dogs or a pair of roller blades you strap to your knees to get from one kneeling job to another fast.
And for that reason they’re out.
by Lisa Wedmann | Jul 25, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Communications, Latest, Management, Problem Solving
Writing communications for business is a lot like swimming, if you don’t know the water you better stay out.
How deep is the water? What’s the temperature? Jumping in cold water… brrrrrrr… jumping into hot …well, just ask a lobster. Rocks in the water? In case you didn’t notice, rocks don’t move. And what if someone else is already in the water? What if they get in your way, panic and try to pull you under?
There are many dangers in not knowing the water.
Writing business communications is similar. If you don’t know what you’re getting into you can get yourself in some serious trouble. Here’s how to avoid those common, sometimes dangerous, errors when writing business communications.
Communications Tip #1 HOW DEEP IS THE WATER?
Many communications are written without knowing the characteristics of the audience. Who is reading your communication? Is it your team member, your boss, your client or the CEO? Each of these communications need a different style and tone appropriate to the audience. Don’t think that one style of communication fits all. Each of these audiences requires a different degree of information.
Your CEO doesn’t need all the details. What the CEO needs is a high level summary of the important points. Your client needs something different as does your boss and your team members.
You must fit the style, tone and content of your communications to the audience.
Communications Tip #2: WHAT”S THE TEMPERATURE?
Is this a hot communication or cold? Is this high priority or low?
Be clear on the urgency of your communications. As in all things in life, timing is critical. Act and expect actions depending on the pressures of the situation.
Communications Tip #3: WHERE ARE THE ROCKS?
What is lying in wait for your communications?
Is there a chance your communication could be interpreted the wrong way? Could someone take the wrong action based on this misinterpretation? Could your communication get blocked?
And though seemingly innocent, you mustn’t overlook those nasty little fish that hover around rocks and cause you distraction?
Don’t assume that you can simply avoid issues without knowing the dangers. Know the danger of your words and write your communications with these risks in mind.
Communications Tip #4: IS ANYBODY ELSE IN THE WATER?
This is the tip that many tend to forget. Who else is in the water? Who are the other players? Are they sending communications for or against your needs? How can you take advantage of communications by others? Can you piggyback on their information?
Be aware of others, whether they support or negate your cause and determine your best approach.
STAY SAFE
In swimming and in business communications, play safe. Do the right thing, at the right time and you will enjoy your day and all going well, catch some additional rays.
