Public Relations Strategies: Announcing News on a Press Tour
Gaining news coverage on a successful press tour requires planning, preparation, and follow up.Under the right circumstances, physically traveling to the media on a press tour is a great way to contact multiple media outlets.
Environmental Public Relations And Communications Key To Promoting Brownfield And Re-Development Success
Environmental public relations specialists serve as advocates for businesses, nonprofit associations, universities, and other organizations, and build and maintain positive relationships with the public. Decision makers working on Brownfield redevelopment are first beginning to recognize the need to rely on public relations specialists for advice on strategy and communications to ensure project success. Public Relations experts play a key role for remediation and redevelopment companies in earning the trust and confidence of the community through communication and dialogue established by external and internal communications.
Rubenstein Public Relations Hired to Represent Guernsey's Auction of Yankee Memorabilia
Auction Features Over 400 Irreplaceable Items from Yankee Baseball History
Dahlia Web Designs LLC Selects Vocus Small Business Edition for Public Relations and Online Marketing
Vocus' On-Demand Press Release Distribution System Enables Company to Raise Online Visibility, Drive Website Traffic and Increase Sales for its Great Kids Corner Website
Vocus to Present at Upcoming Public Relations Conference on Digital Communications
Company to Lead Discussion on Measuring the Impact of New Media on PR Campaigns
Golf Etc.® Franchise Selects Shafer Communications as its Public Relations Agency of Record
Agency to Create Communications and Media Relations Program to Support Golf Etc's National and International Growth
Rubenstein Public Relations To Provide Corporate Communications for StoneCastle Partners LLC
One of the Largest Investors in Community Banks.
R&J Public Relations Hires V.P. to Drive Client Communications Strategies
Ken Hunter joins the R&J team.
Graphic SEO Launches a Free SEO Website Evaluation For Website Owners
Graphic SEO has been taking SEO to a new level with back to back successful marketing campaigns. Now with the release of their new free SEO evaluation, they are looking to set new benchmarks in SEO
Experience Communications Presents Public Relations and Marketing Workshop at the Marina Technology Cluster
Interactive Session is Aimed at Helping Companies from all Sectors to Grow with Efficient and Effective Communications Strategies
Altruism. Corporate responsibility. Philanthropy. These are often used to describe cause-related marketing, an activity in which businesses join with charities or causes to market an image, product, or service for mutual benefit.
Embracing a cause makes good business sense. Nothing builds brand loyalty among today's increasingly hard-to-please consumers like a company‚s proven commitment to a worthy cause. Other things being equal, many consumers would rather do business with a company that stands for something beyond profits.
Powerful marketing edge
Cause-related marketing can become a cornerstone of your marketing plan. Your cause-related marketing activities should highlight your company's reputation within your target market. Cause-related marketing can positively differentiate your company from your competitors and provide an edge that delivers other tangible benefits, including:
Real-World Success Story
Cosmetic dentist Mark McMahon made himself a media mini-celebrity with a thriving practice due in part to his high-profile pro bono work in his community, a strategy that landed him radio and TV appearances in areas where he worked.
McMahon established partnerships with local charities, including a homeless shelter and a shelter for battered women, and offered free dental services to their members. Before each event, he contacted local media and let them know what he was up to. Several TV crews showed up, filmed him treating patients, and later aired the segments on the evening news.
"These events were surprisingly easy to arrange, and every year, they'd help us get press simply by doing these charitable promotions," McMahon says. "Local television news stations loved the emotional element. And it was obviously rewarding to see patients after we'd treated them who'd been in pain for months talking about how glad they were to be relieved of their toothaches."
Another project involved the Delancey Street Foundation, a residential education center for former substance abusers and ex-convicts. "I agreed to treat some of their members' acute dental needs," McMahon says. "I quickly appreciated the media appeal of transforming the appearance of these rough-looking guys with terrible smiles."
McMahon captured the event with before and after photos. "These guys had missing teeth and terrible smiles," he says. "So I had a professional photographer capture before pictures of these guys in street clothes with their snarling faces. After I fixed their teeth, we took more pictures, but this time dressed the guys in suits and ties, now looking like lawyers and accountants, with me sitting right in the middle. The media loved it, and it was great seeing these men looking like new."
McMahon's TV appearances created name recognition. "After I did the story on a local television show, I was recognized in my gym by a masseuse who had seen the show," McMahon recalls. "She said, 'I was thinking about you this morning while I was flossing my teeth.' She became a great source of referrals."
(Excerpted from the book Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort, by Steven Van Yoder)
Getting Started
Cause-related marketing yields mutual benefit. Look for partners with a similar agenda whose goals can be better achieved by partnering with your business. Take inventory of the assets that make you an appealing partner in a cause-related venture.
There are many types of mutually beneficial relationships you can form with your cause-related partner, including special events, sales promotions and collection plans. An easy way to embrace a cause is to team up with a charity.
Whenever Johnny "Love" Metheny, a slightly famous nightclub owner in San Francisco, opens a new club, he shares the limelight with a local charity. "I have a history of including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in my grand openings," says Metheny, who was voted the society's Man of the Year in 1991. "It's not only something I feel good about, but it helps us market our businesses to the community and media at the same time."
Volunteer with an organization. When Eunice Azzani, an executive recruiter, volunteered to serve on the board of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, she didn't anticipate that it would connect her with executives from Mervyn's, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo Bank, all of who eventually hired her to work for them.
"People don't hire a piece of paper or a process. They hire people they trust," Azzani says. "Volunteering for a position at a local organization makes you very trustworthy." She advises business owners to target causes they believe in. "If you're helping with a cause you believe in, people will see that you care. And they'll realize you will probably care as much about your work."
As your partnership takes shape, become ambassadors for each other. Talk about the charitable organization and have flyers available. Promote the organization (and your partnership) on your website and in your newsletters. Ask your partner to extend the same courtesies to you.
Never lose the marketing focus of your community partnership efforts. Even though the work is philanthropy, your cause should generate interest in your company and motivate people to buy from it. Select a cause that is important to your target market, and make sure your target market sees that connection.
About The Author
Steven Van Yoder is author of Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort. Visit http://www.getslightlyfamous.com to read the book and learn about 'slightly' famous teleclasses, workshops, and marketing materials to help small businesses and solo professionals attract more business.