INK PUBLIC RELATIONS

With just a little over a week until the Austin Marathon and Half Marathon, the INK Public Relations running team is laying out the race day wardrobe, making a shopping list for their pre-race dinner and deciding where to have the post-race pint. OK…so maybe that applies to just me. Baby news, injuries and life’s other priorities have dwindled the “running” portion of our team to yours truly. Arguably, everyone ultimately pounds the pavement alone on race day, but it always takes a team of supporters, goals and inspiration to ensure every runner finishes strong. And that will certainly be the case with our running team, come February 14. Even though I may be the only INKer spotted on the marathon course, keep your eyes peeled for my “team mates” at the Blue Dog water stop and along the course cheering everyone on, especially those running for Blue Dog Rescue . And where will I look for inspiration? Of course, to of all the homeless dogs that will find forever homes because of the money raised in the marathon. To that end, INK has committed to match every dollar I secure up to $2,500. So help me out. I want to not only cross the finish line with a smile, but $2,500 richer for the wards of Blue Dog Rescue (you can donate under my name here: http://www.bluedogrescue.com/marathon.htm).

And I would be remiss to not give a special shout out to my original running buddy, the one who got me to lace up my sneakers in the first place and developed my soft spot for the canine kind…the only and only Luckstepper.

I am pleased to officially introduce the INK running team. At INK, we continually strive to maximize efficiency. To that end, the idea for our running team was born at a company offsite many months ago and combines our love of the following:

Running: The love for running has spread virally among our group. I credit Blair Poloskey for introducing the bug. On her own will, she trained for the 2008 Austin Marathon. A self proclaimed “non-athlete,” she kicked that marathon’s booty and inspired yours truly to check out the pastime of putting one foot down in front of the other in a rapid fashion. The following year, I followed in Blair’s footsteps (pun intended) and bagged my first marathon medal in Austin. INK co-founder Kari Hernandez acquired a taste for the race with her first half at the same event. We continue to bring others into the fold.

Dogs: Blue Dog Rescue (BDR) is an Austin-based volunteer organization whose purpose is to end the needless killing of homeless dogs. To date, BDR has rescued 1,500 dogs including our own beloved Jack, who belongs to Blair. BDR dogs are fostered in private homes where they receive basic obedience lessons, house training and socialization skills until their permanent homes are found. Fosters receive full health exams, vaccinations and are spayed and neutered if necessary. Sadly, many dogs arrive with horrible and heartbreaking problems (heartworm positive, mange, burned or hit by cars). BDR covers the cost of needed medication, treatment and surgery. Funds are generated only through donations, fundraisers and adoption fees. Because of our love for dogs, the INK running team will pound the pavement to raise money for BDR. The team makes its debut at the 2010 Austin Marathon, but we plan on running in other races (like BDR’s own Run for the Rovers 5K) and supporting BDR in a variety of ways to generate much needed funds for the organization.

INK: To be honest, the running bug has not bitten quite EVERYBODY at INK but that does not mean we can’t throw our whole company’s support behind the BDR cause. Come February 14, 2010, expect to see Julie, Kari and myself on the Austin course. Who knows? We may recruit a few more colleagues yet. But those not lacing up their running shoes that day will be on hand volunteering at Blue Dog’s water stop and we will ALL be encouraging people to donate on our running team’s behalf. If you are interested in supporting our efforts in the 2010 Austin Marathon, please visit http://www.bluedogrescue.com/marathon.htm. There you will see our INK runners’ names and you can donate to any one of us. And certainly stay tuned to this blog to hear more from each of our runners about our training. We will have different perspectives as the experience will have unique meaning to each of us (more to come on that).

…be ready to dress as if they were headed to the Kentucky Derby.

Based on what I am hearing from friends and experts in the broadcast journalism field, more than ever reporters in this industry must wear many hats. As people increasingly turn to the Internet as their source of news, broadcast news organizations must ensure they maintain or grow their audience by hitting eyes via this medium. For the broadcast reporter (already a profession notorious for impossible workloads and timelines), the growth of the Internet is just another task on their massive daily “to do” list. No longer is the reporter simply creating stories for their TV newscast. Sure, they still do that, but now they are also creating a web version of that story and on top of that more of these journalists are expected to shoot and create web video to accompany online stories. And let’s not forget that the demand for turnaround on these online stories are as about as close to “real-time” as you can get. As if that was not enough, the rise of the Internet and in turn social media is demanding broadcast reporters develop a social media presence.

As PR professionals, keep this in mind when pitching broadcast reporters. Let them know you are savvy to their plight by indicating resources you can provide for any medium where they will publish their story (Online? No problem…here are web-ready images. TV? No problem…here is b-roll. Tight turnaround? No problem…here are stats and my spokesperson is at the ready). Don’t be afraid to suggest how they could tell your story on camera. For one client, we actually shot our own video of how the story would look on camera and received a great response as a result. Basically, put yourself in the well-worn shoes of these overworked souls and pitch accordingly.

Personally, I intend to learn more by following the blog of Elise Hu, a local TV news reporter who is venturing out in a new role as a multi-platform reporter for The Texas Tribune. Hopefully, I will pick up some insight in order to more effectively pitch the modern day multitasking broadcast reporter.

In my role as Director of Broadcast Services, I have learned a few things about working with broadcast journalists and thought I would share with you, my loyal reader. These tips will be passed along in a series known as “Quirks of Working with the Broadcast Beast. ”

Quirk #1: “Well…That’s One Way to Look at It?”

I recently worked with one of the most visible consumer tech reporters in broadcast television. He covered the product of one of my clients, the BlueAnt Q1 Bluetooth headset. With all kinds of bells and whistles such as noise cancellation and multipoint technology, the Q1 is the kind of device that has gadget freaks fawning. And it does something else really cool. Something no other luxury headset from any other manufacturer does….it talks. The Q1 has a voice user interface so that you can talk to it and it answers back. With all that going on, I could not wait to see the take this superstar tech reporter would have on the device.

I settled in with anticipation to watch when the segment aired. I knew it would be a summer tech gadget feature and I could just see all the fun angles that could be taken with a souped up, talking Bluetooth headset. “Keep your eyes on the road and hands on the wheel during your road trip”, “noise cancellation technology blocks out the background noise when you need to take a call at a summer music festival”, “multipoint lets you share the Q1 with your summer fling….awwww.” So, imagine my surprise that the Q1’s redeeming virtue according to the reporter was that the rubber ear buds kept the headset firmly in when your ears got sweaty. Say WHHAAAA????!!!! Indeedy deed…that is how the Q1 was positioned…as the best headset for all you sweaty eared users out there. I mean, true the Q1 has optimized design features, but extolling its rubber ear buds would be like saying Manolo Blahnik heels are great because you can use the heel to separate your toes when you want to do a home pedicure.

At the end of the day, the client and I were not disappointed for a second. The fact that we were covered at all by this reporter was wonderful, and after all, it was an extremely positive piece. However, I was still a bit surprised. Given that I was working with a seasoned pro and had done all of the due diligence of educating this reporter on the product, discussed possible angles to take and so on, it was clear that what I had on my hands was an opportunity to learn something, thus quirk #1 of working with the broadcast beast:

Expect broadcast producers to be more liberal with the edit scissors than their counterparts in the world of print. We are talking about a vastly shorter time frame to pack in information compared to what you can do in a print article. Also, when information is delivered through a broadcast medium, a much smaller amount can reasonably be retained. Show and tell them and then “poof” that’s it. When it comes to TV, content has to be tailored to minimize the “in one ear and out the other” risk. And of course, you don’t want to overwhelm the viewer with too much information. When your audience is reading something, they expect more detail and can reference back to the information since it’s right there in front of them. So, what I am saying is…don’t be completely surprised if the finished piece of a broadcast story looks a lot different than how you pitched it for reasons named above.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing and it’s a great thing to keep in mind. Doing so let’s you set appropriate expectations and provide more insightful counsel to clients. You can also use this knowledge to your advantage when pitching broadcast reporters. Break it down for them how all that corporate messaging and technical jargon can be condensed and repackaged in a visually compelling way. And of course, as any seasoned PR pro knows, we can tell our client’s story till the cows come home, but at some point you have to turn that baby over to the reporter who was the ultimate say. So as a cheesy Hallmark card from the ’80’s would say, “If you love something, set it free; if it truly loves you it will come back to you.” Just don’t be surprised if what comes back is a bird of a bit of an unexpected feather.

I recently plunged into the waters of social media with the launch of a Facebook page for long time client, magicJack. A few weeks in and all is going well. We are rapidly growing our fan base and have a heavy amount of interaction on the page week over week. Looking back, I can’t believe I ever questioned the value such a tactic would provide for magicJack. We are reaching a key audience of the company’s, the young professional and college student demographic, in the most powerful and direct way to date and having a lot of fun (from an internal perspective) in the process. It just goes to show that you never know what you will find when you start testing these resources out for yourself. This reflection reminded me of how reticent I was to use Facebook for personal use, initially.

I am from a very small town. I became convinced that I would not want to revisit my past for the world to see on Facebook. Afterall, I would surely receive requests from old flames (can they use Facebook in prison?), old friends (armed with evidence of why I should be in prison) and tagged photos (I didn’t know they made ropers and Wranglers for clowns). Of course, the requests did come and I accepted and ohhhhh…how the hunted became the hunter. My old friends’ status updates are so much better than those of my newer peers. Instead of “I am at Starbuck’s …YUM GUYS!” I get updates that read, “I am sitting out in the yard waiting to SHOOT THAT SQUIRELL!…%*^&^**!” Instead of vacation pictures from Cancun, my old school Facebook friends post pictures of their family vacation at Walt Disney World posing with Mickey whom they have holding the hometown paper with headline reading “Another Meth Bust!” I gotta say…that kind of originality has me coming back for more and just reaffirms that originality and transparency spell success in the social media world.

And just to show you don’t have to be from a small town to be original (or haunted by your past), here is  a picture of my husband in his youth. This proves you can be from London, listen to the coolest most underground music and still wind up regretting fashion sense and haircut choices many years later. But one thing remains true – people appreciate originality and a little something different.  When you are out there competing for attention in the social media world, don’t be afraid to let your freak flag fly.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:

On Father’s Day, this one goes out to my dear old dad. He was a high school principal and spent most of his time embarrassing me. Yeah…he was my high school principal and once used the P.A. system to announce that he would “break plastic sitting benches over the head” of anyone he caught jumping on said plastic sitting benches. Even though we pursued different career paths, my dad passed along advice that I rely on in my profession as PR pro, particularly when dealing with stress. Don’t worry…it’s not to break things over people’s heads.
1.)   Stress is what you can’t control so forget about it and focus on what you can control.
Big news from industry giants that trumps absolutely all other news items (I am looking at you Apple iPhone 3G S), client expectations that don’t jive with reality (“why doesn’t Walt Mossberg want to review my 5th generation software development kit for improving the functionalities on the yo-yo of the future hitting markets in the year 3000?”) and impossible deadlines from reporters (and theeeeeen it’s always the TODAY Show producer calling to request that your client, who is currently half-way around the world, report for in-person appearance at their New York studios in five minutes) are all things that can really get your goat. Well, don’t let it. At times, you have to accept that you can’t control time, space and the opinions of other people no matter how hard you try. Swallow that bitter pill and move on to tackle what you can.

2.)   Dealing with stress is what you get paid for.
Like “walk to school cookies” or BlackBerry phones, stress (whether in the form of punk ass kids jumping on benches or cranky reporters killing your buzz) is part of professional life be you a school administrator or PR pro. So accept it. It’s what our constituents and clients pay us to do so take it for what it is…par for the course.

And if all else fails, according to the Zen of Ronny Nash (aka, my beloved dad)…drink whiskey and crack skulls.  Thanks Dad for making me the woman (and PR pro) I am today.

Last night while I was in another part of the house I heard my husband shout from the kitchen, “Are these cookies in Lucky’s treat jar for humans or dogs?” (If you had not gathered yet, Lucky is our pooch.) Oh, this could give me fodder for months to write about the many things that were so dumb@$$ about his question, but I will keep it short and sweet for you readers. #1) Why would I put human cookies in the dog’s jar? #2) I don’t really buy things like that for “the humans” in my household which is occupied by me (they call me Steak and I run 30 to 40 miles a week hence my never ending appetite) and my husband (they call him Festival Eater and I don’t know what his excuse is but he once ate my supply of chocolate flavored running Gus in a marathon…a marathon video game session). Anyway, after agreeing with him that they certainly smelled great, I explained they were indeed for dogs. The next morning upon returning from a strenuous workout, I ate one. Now, what does this tell you about me? That’s right, I truly learn from applying myself in the real world.

So here I am, sitting in the captain’s chair about to kick off a truly 100% guerilla style marketing campaign for a client of ours. The program will have many tried and true viral and social networking tactics that some in our field are old hands at and some (like yours truly) will be experiencing for the first time and just how I like to… by drinking out of the fire hose. OK…so the first step will be to launch a successful Facebook presence. I know, I know…some of you are like, “that’s so yesterday” but the planets have aligned in such a way that it now makes sense for me to engage this tactic, number one being that this client already has quite a substantial customer base (over 3 million thanks in no small part thanks to traditional PR programs conducted by INK). This means, I have a built-in audience to go after to start building a Facebook fan base quickly.

Another key point – we are targeting a younger demographic, particularly college students. I saw a recent stat that 8 out of 10 college students are registered on Facebook. However, lately I have seen a sudden rush of older peeps joining up (my 88 year old father-in-law just requested to be my friend) so how much longer do we consider it to be a forum for  targeting young whippersnappers? Lastly, for this client, we have achieved great success in securing endorsement from media and industry influencers (and intend to continue to build upon that) but in today’s transparent and communicative world, you must have peer-to-peer endorsement as well and this Facebook tactic is our first step down that road.

I want to hear from you. What elements should be in place to establish a SUCCESSFUL Facebook presence? I  have about two months to prove to the client that this is a good idea. What success of failures have you experienced with similar programs. Who does it well on Facebook?

I will also be keeping you posted along the way about other the other tactics to be employed as part of this so called guerilla program so stay tuned!

In my house, you gotta work hard for your treats!

PS – The cookie? It was good…even if it was meant for dogs.

What do you do when you have secured coverage for your client in newspapers across the country via the Associated Press; scored hits in top-tier publications such as USA Today, CNN.com, San Jose Mercury News, BusinessWeek, Forbes.com and MSNBC; achieved visibility on broadcast outlets nationwide and garnered prestigious industry awards from the likes of PC Magazine? You take it to the streets. In search of reaching untapped audiences via non-traditional PR methods, INK is recruiting a few good foot soldiers to join the magicJack army.

Your mission will be to raise awareness of our client’s namesake device via a guerilla marketing campaign. By stretching the limits of creativity, you will execute “anything but ordinary” tactics to raise awareness of the magicJack among key audiences (young, hip, cool types). How fun is that? And at the end of it all, you get to put lots of “hot buzzwords” (social media, viral marketing, blogosphere, etc.) on your resume. Check out the job description below and send the resumes in!

But first, check out this classic clip from the Bill Murray classic, Stripes. When I think of creativity and the Army…it’s Stripes.

Stripes
I love it when he says, “RAAAAZLE DAAAAAZLE”!

INK PR – magicJack army
The magicJack army is an internship program at Austin-based INK Public Relations (www.ink-pr.com which will raise the noise level around the magicJack communication device in ways that traditional PR methods could not. Interns will be chosen based on their creativity, independence, and understanding of marketing communications to participate in a summer program.

Job Description
8 to 10 hours a week
Conduct guerilla marketing plan with guidance and preparation help from INK PR
Contribute to campaign with individual ideas for stunts, tactics and outreach
Implement campaign and monitor results
Conduct local events and stunts to raise awareness of magicJack among key audiences
Provide detailed documentation of all aspects of campaign

Job Requirements
8 to 10 hours per week
Ideal candidate will be a Jr. or Sr. at the University of Texas, Austin with a desire to establish hands-on experience within the field of Marketing/PR
Preferred College: Communications or Business
Interest/experience with marketing/PR a plus
Candidate must be self-motivated and willing to set and meet personal deadlines and work with little direct supervision
Candidate will be creative with excellent verbal and written communication skills
Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, high energy level and ability to manage and monitor multiple projects/deadlines required

Interested applicants please submit resume to Adrienne Huebner at adrienne@ink-pr.com

As any good Type A personality will relate, I need to get all my little duckies in a row when I set out to accomplish something. If I venture into unfamiliar territory, I believe in seeking out an expert to guide me to  my destination.

Upon taking in a stray mutt that played me for a chump by morphing from forlorn, terrified stray to hell hound that was too crazy for the devil himself, I enlisted the help of the “Dog Father,” Lee Mannix. Among dogs, dog trainers and men, Lee is, in one word… ALPHA. Any dog with too much drive that finds its canine-self cast in the silhouette of Lee’s sizable, cowboy hat donning shadow will sit down and shut up (and do just about anything else he says). Lee is the owner of the Lee Mannix Center for Canine Behavior and a nationally recognized expert in dog behavior and aggression issues. I witnessed him make an angel out of my devil dog, command an entire field of about 20 dogs to lie down at one time (an accident occurring when he happened to raise his voice – they all just respected him that much) and even make my hubby (possessed of the gift of the gab thanks to his Irish heritage) speechless. Now my dog, who was once on maximum security lockdown is a free woman and will soon enter her first agility competition.

No longer chasing men’s naughty bits, Lucky is relaxed, well-behaved and a force of reckoning on the agility course.

When I made the decision to take up running, I did not hesitate to put my other dogs (the ones that wear sneakers) under the direction of Austin’s best running coach, Gilbert Tuhabonye. Gilbert, a former NCAA All-American, leads the immensely successful Gilbert’s Gazelles training program for runners of all levels. No matter what stage you are at, Gilbert will make you stronger. He got me in shape to run my first marathon with a 3:33:03 time qualifying me to run the Boston Marathon in 2010.

INK takes the same approach to our work. We have developed a valuable network of experts and tools to ensure we do our job better, for us and our clients. By working with top notch producers of multimedia assets such as Webbed Feet for video and images as well as industry experts like Sam Whitmore’s Media Survey on emerging media trends; and employing coverage tracking from Critical Mention and Meltwater, and intelligence tools from Cision and Factiva, we have the weapons in our arsenal to deliver the breadth of services expected of a large PR firm while providing the level of deep attention and expertise of a small dedicated PR agency. If you don’t think we do it, just ask. I bet we do or know who to talk to get it done…(very well, I might add).

What about you? Who helps you get the job done?

Thanks to Gilbert and the support of my fellow, Gazelles, I crossed the Austin Marathon finish line with a smile and hope to do the same in Boston next year.

As will soon become evident in our “stuff we love” section of this blog, we at INK have a special place in our hearts for dogs and food (among other things like running, beer and babies). And while striving to always stay on top of all there is to know about “new media,” we (and perhaps me more than some of my other hipper colleagues) will always consider ourselves PR purists at heart. I am going to attempt in my first blog to create a casserole of sorts that combines all these ingredients (sans running, beer and babies), to serve up a lesson in the value of transparency. And it’s no accident that “steak” makes a cameo appearance in my maiden post. I love it and when I have it (about once a year), I make it count. That’s how I earned my nickname (I am looking at you, you freak of carnivorous delectability courtesy of Daniel’s Steakhouse in Seattle) so strap on your feedbags folks, Steak is making her first post.

Ahem…like the phrase “steak” rings out among a cacophony of phrases you ramble  to your dog, so the phrase “transparency” stood out to me in the  white noise of advice our director of new media (Blair Poloskey) has been drilling into my thick skull for well over a year now. In the beginning it seemed to me that when dealing with the “new media” and all that goes with that, it was going to be as daunting as having to outfit the dressing room of J Lo, Mr. J Lo and their twin babies at Madison Square Garden on the kick-off of their fabulous family tour. However, transparency I get (she said… with her reputation of starting conversations with clients using phrases such as, “Can I say something inappropriate?”). With that token of encouragement along with the expert guidance and mental manhandling skills of Blair, here I am somewhat adeptly dealing with tweeting, blogging and participating in a number of social media programs. Some of us “PR purists” at INK would not be here without the counsel of our more pioneering colleagues. Even the trusty PR media database tool, Cision, has been coaxing the industry along the new media path with such nuggets of wisdom like “the fundamentals of working with bloggers are the same as with traditional journalists at traditional media outlets.” While that advice on the surface may be as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle, a recent experience with a client had Cision’s little gem top of mind for me and even giving it a swizzle. Perhaps, we need to push our clients harder to treat traditional journalists more like bloggers and particularly when it comes to transparency.

Say it For Yourself

More often than not, I find it necessary to strongly counsel clients to go ahead and jump into the conversation…even the controversial ones. If you don’t say something for yourself, someone else will and it’s never good to surrender control of your voice if it’s going to be out there anyway. So I was pleasantly surprised to witness how our client ACCIONA, a renewable energy company, faced the very unwelcome task of conducting layoffs at one of its wind turbine manufacturing plants when demand decreased due to unstable financial markets. From a PR perspective, this is the type of issue that many companies would rather simply avoid discussing with the media given the negative light it could cast. From the start, ACCIONA recognized the need to make itself available to not only the national media that would be interested in them as a leader in the renewable energy industry, but also the local media in a small community where the impact on the area economy and unemployment rate would be felt.

The morning the announcement was made and all employees were first notified, INK proactively contacted all local media and one high visibility national reporter with the company’s official statement and offered one-on-one interviews with ACCIONA’s vice president of manufacturing. I was struck by how many of the reporters were thankful for the candor. It, and transparency, paid off. All of the coverage resulting from the news, included key messaging featuring the silver lining on the cloud (hiring would begin again, just a matter of time). A more unexpected result was the show of support from the community that would feel the pain of the layoffs. Citizens and in some cases the effected employees wrote letters to the op-ed sections of the local newspapers to say what a great employer ACCIONA was and how they looked forward to the plant remaining there and thriving again in better economic times.

I am certain that in the future, I will again face the dilemma of advising clients to tackle uncomfortable topics head on and having this as a successful case study in my back pocket will help support my point. But having said that, if I ever ask you, “Can I say something inappropriate?”…just say “no.”