| The monthly newsletter for the Hampton Roads Virginia Chapter of PRSA |
March 2009 |
March Program
How to Derive Return on Investment (ROI) for Interactive Communications
Learn How to Profit From the New Media
a PRSA National Teleseminar
While companies decipher the "jungle" of social media, Web 2.0, consumer-driven media and buzz marketing, they must also learn how to profit from them. Today, marketers are held more accountable for ROI, as corporations no longer spend the marketing budgets of yesteryear.
You will learn:
How to utilize interactive tools to drive business objectives.
How to allocate proper resources to developing media trends.
How to balance new forms of interactive communication and the old demand of ROI.
Instructor:
Dr. David B. Rockland is partner and managing director, Global Research and Interactive Communications at Ketchum, and chairman of the IPR Commission on PR Measurement and Evaluation. David is responsible for overseeing Ketchum's research products and services, and developing innovative approaches to public relations and measurement for Ketchum globally. In 2007, he was charged with developing Ketchum's global interactive offerings now collectively called Ketchum Interactive Communications. Formerly, David was senior vice president and managing director for Roper Starch Worldwide where he managed the company's environmental and public relations practice areas and oversaw approximately 40 client relationships. David previously owned his own firm, The Rockland Group, specializing in environmental issues management and marketing.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Cox Media
1341 Crossways Blvd
Chesapeake, VA 23320
Cost:
$15 Chapter Members / $20 Non-Members
Pay at the door, cash or check ONLY.
Reservation Deadline
Noon, Friday, March 6, 2009
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From the President
by Harry Kenyon, APR
What does the future hold for Public Relations during an economic downturn?
That is the question that many of us are asking. And as public relations professionals we should consider the essence of what we do. . ."provide communications solutions to the challenges of management."
Rather than lament on the economic zeitgeist, it's times like this when public relations should coexist with management strategies to find ways to build consumer confidence and product loyalty.
Many years ago at the height of the recession of the early 80s, the owner of an advertising agency where I was working took me aside and gave me a piece of advice that I use to this day. We had just lost a major client and the future of the agency was looking grim. In light of the current situation he simply said, "...to be successful, you have to make every problem into an opportunity."
After getting over my initial fear for the future, I contemplated what he said and what it meant. Rather than grieve over the loss of a major client, it gave us a chance to look in a different direction and explore new ways of expanding the business. Perhaps it was a case of "necessity being the mother of invention," but it was during those times of doubt and despair that we came up with some of our greatest ideas and opportunities.
Our nation's history is filled with economic highs and lows, failures and successes, victims and survivors. Public relations is certainly not the end-all for business, but it is one area that many businesses can not afford to be without. These should be the times when we are most challenged, when innovation and creative thought can bring strategic solutions.
When the economy turns soft and businesses begin to trim, public relations initiatives are not immune. But smart business leaders are quick to recognize that these are the times when public relations and marketing strategies are most needed. It's essential to maintain their position in the marketplace and increase customer loyalty. Tough times demand difficult decisions. And this is our time to take on these challenges and create opportunities in an era of change.
So what does the future hold? We can only assume based on what history has taught us. Most futurists agree that recovery will come-it's only a matter of time. So what can we expect? It's safe to say that we can all expect to change the ways we do business. It's up to us to help chart the course.
We should also stand together. Talk to your fellow professionals and listen to their experiences. As members of PRSA we are committed to advancing the profession; not just for personal ambition, but so that we all can be recognized as trusted and valued professionals on the management team.
So at this time of economic uncertainty, let's look beyond the problems and find opportunities. When the recession turns to recovery, public relations professionals will be at the forefront. History has taught us that. |
PR Marvels & Miscues
An excerpt from the blog of PRSA HR member David Rourk 
Who Stepped In It: For better or worse, our quick-moving, highly-connected society can take a limited amount of media coverage and make it seem like the story has been reported a hundred times. That's what I experienced as I searched for articles on the Norfolk light-rail debacle where a consultant missed 240 pilings for removal because he or she went to the site during high tide, and the HRT CEO took the heat.
All I found was a front-page story, a brief mention in a column, and an editorial in the Virginian-Pilot, plus some coverage on the local TV and radio stations. That's not enough media coverage to make it seem like the story had been reported day-in and day-out for weeks. Everywhere I went, that's all everyone was talking about.
When you're the company at the center of an issue going viral, you may want to take some action to stop the bleeding and protect your image. And that doesn't mean doing a disappearing act, which is what this consulting company did. Hampton Roads is a small place and there's nowhere to hide.
Norfolk city councilmembers and city staff, city officials throughout Hampton Roads, the construction industry, and business people - and everyone these folks talk to - know who the consultant is.
These are the leaders who hire the consultant, which means they are the consultant's primary target audience for company PR and reputation management. As it is now, the entire community is wondering who this contractor will hang out to dry next? If the consultant had done the right thing, people could be saying, "That is a responsible company and I respect them. They just made an honest mistake."
Here are some public relations tactics the consulting company could have used to do the right thing:
Plan for a crisis: Long before you need to do crisis communications, you should have a public relations plan. Key leaders who will serve as spokespersons should have training and you should practice for a crisis occasionally. This ensures you have direct access to the right leaders and can move quickly. Bad news does not age well.
Research: Determine what caused the problem. In this case, was it inexperience, a faulty process, or carelessness?
Institute Change: All problems have a solution. Find the right solution and make it company policy.
Develop talking points: All external communication should contain the key facts of the situation and your core messages. Talking points will be used in press releases and resulting media interviews. These talking points will help you stay on message and keep you out of trouble.
Write and issue a news release: Write a one-page or less news release that expresses regret for the mistake, and describes how it happened and what you've done to make sure it won't happen again. Also, correct any errors in the media's reporting.
Identify the media: Identify who covered the story and send them the news release. Do not aimlessly blast fax or email it. Personally call the reporter to ask if he or she needs anything else. Being open and honest is appealing and will help your position on the issue.
Unfortunately, none of these PR tactics have been done up to this point. If the consulting agency thinks it dodged a bullet by keeping its name out of the media, they should think again. Letting the harsh spotlight fall on another professional can never help your image. If your company ends up smearing someone else's image, you can bet yours is being smeared too.
If your company finds itself in a firestorm through an honest mistake, does your public relations damage control plan contain strategies to protect your reputation and the future of your company? |
Member Perspective: Using the Blog-o-Sphere for Effective Promotions
By Sid Bridge, APR
When I attended our recent teleseminar on social media, it became abundantly clear that social media offer simple and effective marketing strategies that can be put to use by anyone, regardless of your technical prowess. I decided to put it to the test on a personal project of mine that I've poured all of my energy into since becoming unemployed. The Endive, or www.theendive.com, is a conservative political satire site I created to rival The Onion, a favorite read of mine. My challenge was to create and promote the site using as little capital as possible since I, of course, don't have any. Creating the site and its content was the easy part for me. The teleseminar pointed me in the right direction for promotions - start with bloggers. Bloggers are an easy-to-reach pool of active writers. They all write on very specific topics, so no matter what you're promoting, there's a healthy group of people out there posting on it, sometimes daily. Using Google, I quickly found list upon list of politically conservative bloggers. I crafted a very short email introducing the site, linking the address, and to build trust, I included my real cell phone number. Each blog had a blog roll in its margin, which allowed me to surf from one list to the next, e-mailing each one as I went. I was surprised to find that the total audience was really a small one - roughly 1,000 active bloggers who make their email addresses available to the public and post regularly. The emails yielded more than 100 responses. Each response was followed up with an email conversation, usually leading to at least link in each blog. The quality of the respondents was high - including well-known bloggers and journalists. The effort garnered an article on The National Review's web site and postings on quite a few blogs, one of which spiked my hit count to more than 1,600 in one day - after only being in existence for two weeks! The real value isn't the hit count, it's the relationships built from contacting these bloggers. Bloggers are a tight community and if they like something, they'll share it with their readers. Additionally, the respondents began following me on Twitter and subscribing to my RSS Feed - two simple tools which give them direct information on when my site is updated. This has led to consistent, solid hit counts and serves as a springboard to the next phase - promoting the site on blog and terrestrial radio shows. If you have more questions about how I did it, feel free to call me at 574-1145. |
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Women's History Month: March 2009
National Women's History Month's roots go back to March 8, 1857, when women from New York City factories staged a protest over working conditions. International Women's Day was first observed in 1909, but it wasn't until 1981 that Congress established National Women's History Week to be commemorated the second week of March. In 1987, Congress expanded the week to a month. Every year since, Congress has passed a resolution for Women's History Month, and the president has issued a proclamation.
Check out some interesting facts compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. For the complete report, click here.
Population 154.7 million
The number of females in the United States as of Oct. 1, 2008. The number of males was 150.6 million.
Source: Population estimates http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/2007-nat-res.html
At 85 and older there were more than twice as many women as men.
Source: Population estimates http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/NC-EST2007-sa.html
928,000The projected number of bachelor's degrees that will be awarded to women in the 2008-09 school year. Women are also projected to earn 391,000 master's degrees during this period. Women would, therefore, earn 58 percent of the bachelor's and 60 percent of the master's degrees awarded during this school year. In addition, women would earn nearly 50 percent of first-professional degrees, such as law and medical.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Projections of Education Statistics to 2017 http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008078. |
Welcome New Members!
Jennifer L. Cauldwell
Public Information Specialist
City of Norfolk
Denise N. Davis
Public Affairs Specialist
Cox Communications
 Join in February and March 2009, and receive a free one-year Chapter membership!
Click here for more information.
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Quote of the day
Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends.
- William Shakespeare |
Member News
Local public relations professionals have not been imune to job cuts and layoffs. Sadly, several of our members have lost their jobs in recent months and are looking for new employment opportunities.
One of the best ways to keep up-to-date on current public relations-related positions is by subscribing to PRSA HR's Job Bank. It's a one-stop site that includes a listing of available PR jobs in Hampton Roads And what's best is that it is a FREE benefit with your membership! All you need is your Membership Directory ID and password. (If you have forgotten either of these, click here.)
Non-members may subscribe or renew a supscription for a fee to the Job Bank for periods of 60, 90 or 180 days.
To go to the Job Bank, click here! | |
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