Tuesday, May 31, 2005

You gotta love the niche you're in

One of the more frequent questions I get when I'm talking to a client who is considering media relations as part of their marketing mix is something like: "My target is so narrow, is there any way that public relations can help me?" Many of them are not selling directly to consumers and wonder if there are opportunities in public relations.

I was reading the latest edition of The Publicity Handbook this weekend and came across an answer to that question: "…media outlets with large and broad audiences are the most difficult publicity targets. Specialized media, on the other hand, often don't get enough material that fits their narrow focuses, so they may be eager to use yours."

From my own personal experience, that couldn't be truer. One of the companies I work with is Jerry’s Electric, a small company that remanufactures transformers, which is not likely to land them an interview on Good Morning America. In fact, my RSS feed on transformers is dominated by transformer fires. In other words, the major media generally cover them only when something goes wrong.

But, like all industries, they have a thriving specialty media that covers transformers and electric utilities. After a little research and a pitch, one of those publications sent a writer from Chicago for a full-day interview and photo shoot. The result was a front-page article in the May issue of Electrical Apparatus Magazine with a six-page spread and nine photos. Jerry’s Electric is a thriving company with a great story to tell and there was a publication in their industry waiting to tell it.

This is just one of many examples I could give, but the point of the story is that there are media opportunities for everyone. The important thing is to embrace and target the niche market you’re in. The Wall Street Journal profile might be out of reach, but Electrical Apparatus is waiting for your call.

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Friday, May 27, 2005

Wanted: Rapid City Public Relations Effort

For those of you who do not follow the news, South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base ended up on the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list. The loss to the state is significant, in that Ellsworth is the state's second-largest employer, and the impact on neighboring Rapid City could be significant.

Naturally, this has become the biggest story in the state and has been widely followed across the country. A Google News search for "Ellsworth base" generated more than 2,200 hits, even showing up in places like the New York Times.

Short of getting Ellsworth off of the closure list, which is unlikely at best, what can Rapid City do to replace the jobs that will be lost when the base closes?

Well, they've just been handed an opportunity from Forbes Magazine who listed Rapid City as the sixth best small city in the U.S. to start a business or a career. They can't control the news cycle, but they can become a part of it by playing up the local business climate as a way to lure new businesses to the area. What they need is an aggressive public relations effort. Can they do it?

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Are we ready for the blogosphere?

Is the blogosphere ready for us?

Okay, we’re not totally new here. Each of us has a list of our favorite blogs that we visit on a regular basis and some of us were even bloggers before we started this one.

But today we dive in head-first. After all, we’ve got a few ideas about marketing and communications that turbo-charge business. Some are even worth sharing. Besides, we’re constantly scouring the world of business and advertising to tune in on how others are exploring ideas, media and how they combine to connect customers and businesses. This is where we serve it up to you.

Here's the deal: at least since the Cluetrain Manifesto, we’ve come to embrace the idea that marketing is conversation. In our industry (as well as the industries of many of our clients) more of those conversations are occurring online and we want to be a part of them.

Thus we present this blog. So named because we think advertising is not a cosmetic; it’s an adhesive. The work we and our industry peers deliver is nothing if it doesn’t bring you and your customers closer. Like, really close. Of course that can mean a lot of things. And we’ll get into that right here.

So what do we plan to do with this blog? Part of it is just channeling some electricity out of our shop. We’re a 15-person agency in the Midwest. We work with everyone from pressure washer manufacturers to venture capitalists. Our clients make anything from nutraceuticals to fire trucks. We have to think a lot about how the genius of new media/marketing meet the pressures of the market. And we’re particularly interested in how in the 21st Century economy, small agencies like ours can deliver big-time thinking and major league work for clients of any size, need, or GPS coordinates.

We love this stuff. And it’s fun to share.

Ultimately, we’re just starting a conversation. When you stroll into a cocktail party or chat up an interesting friend, you may know where the conversation will start, but you rarely know where it will go and never know where it ends. That’s simply to say that the content of this blog depends on what we’re doing and what our readers are interested in.

But enough about all that…let’s blog already.

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