Telling the story of your company draws your audiences into your business in the same way a novel captivates a reader, creating a powerful way to shift perceptions. "I think that we human beings have always enjoyed great stories," says Lee Weinstein, principal of Lee Weinstein & Associates and the former director of global corporate communications for Nike. "It's part [...]
Today’s communicators are called on to write for an increasing number of mediums including print and broadcast media, social networks, and online media such as blogs and Web sites. Some of us are also writing scripts for podcasts or YouTube videos. So how do you – as a communicator – effectively write for these different mediums and ensure your communication [...]
Social media contests have the power to drive massive awareness and engagement for an organization. Earlier this year we blogged about the benefits these campaigns can provide both consumer and business-to-business (B2B) companies, as well as a case study about a successful Facebook campaign we launched. While we have experience developing and executing social media contests on platforms such as [...]
[caption id="attachment_2003" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Figure 1: CES Tradeshow Floor. Photo credit: CES"][/caption] Many companies choose industry tradeshows as the platform from which to launch new products and services, and to make significant announcements. Tradeshows are a good forum because they typically bring together key influencers, media, analysts and customers all under one roof. But what happens when a company wants [...]
[caption id="attachment_2607" align="alignright" width="240" caption="As part of IKEA's "Everyday Fabulous" campaign, the company decorated a bus stop in Manhattan."][/caption] “Guerilla marketing” is a way to generate buzz without instituting a hefty marketing budget. This method is oftentimes effective because it is attention-grabbing and easy to understand. Arguably one of the most famous guerilla marketing campaigns is the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. [...]
Quentin Hardy of The New York Times recently wrote a story that positions Seattle as the next tech capital, highlighting a trend that is changing the way people think about the Emerald City. For a city mostly known as the birthplace of Starbucks, the Seahawks and rain, a recent influx of Silicon Valley venture capital investments and big wigs like [...]
Email is a primary form of communication for many professionals. What once was a casual correspondence now serves as the primary means for many people to share information. At Communiqué PR, we ensure we are developing clear messages when communicating over email. To do this, we recommend having someone else review your note. Having another set of eyes look over [...]
Exact Target, the company behind one of the web’s most popular Twitter management tools, CoTweet, announced last month that they will no longer be offering their free service. Instead, they will be offering SocialEngage, an enterprise-ready, premium social media management solution that comes at a high price. While SocialEngage sounds great, many of the clients we work with are new [...]
As a marketing professional, it can be tempting to hop on the bandwagon of popular trends or memes that are hot with consumers. For example, because of the wild popularity of the release of the Hunger Games movie, a popular nail polish brand named China Glaze released the “Capitol Colors” line of polishes. A new Warner Brothers Green Lantern animated [...]
Here at Communiqué PR, we believe strongly in the value of testimonials. Client or customer testimonials are an excellent way to validate a product or solution. Not only do they offer credibility for your service, but they provide real life examples of how a technology works. A well written testimonial shows potential customers how a technology may fit their needs. [...]
The CEO and founder of OtterBox, Curt Richards, recently posted a byline article for Inc. Magazine about maintaining workforce passion in a small business. Since many of our clients are start-up companies that are growing, and as a small-but-growing business ourselves, we thought we would share a few of Curt’s key findings to ensure that the start-up mentality of scrappiness [...]
It might sound like a tip from an overprotective mother, but once you post something on the Internet, it becomes public and it is hard to undo. I’ve heard adults pass this knowledge along to teens that live and breathe in a virtual world, posting every feeling or rant to Facebook or Twitter. There have been plenty of articles about [...]
For brands hoping to engage consumers and maintain a consistent social media presence, a Facebook page can be an effective tool. Despite debates over what a Facebook “like” is actually worth, or whether the company is here to stay, Facebook provides an excellent resource for sharing content, engaging with fans, and telling your brand’s overarching story. If you are part [...]
At Communiqué PR we are on a quest to be the strongest PR agency in Seattle – in more ways than one. How? By challenging ourselves to do 100 consecutive push-ups, which we referenced in Monday’s post on sparking creative culture. For this challenge, we’re talking real, on-your-toes-not-on-your-knees push-ups. Our training began a few weeks ago and almost immediately, all [...]
It seems that bad news is all around lately. I’ve heard this comment a lot from people who reacting to the news of the Boston Marathon, bombings, Newtown, Conn., shootings and fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. “When it rains, it pours,” we are all saying. Unfortunately, we’ve also seen a lot of bad reporting raining down on us from [...]
With shrinking editorial rosters at publications across the country and an explosion of online publications eager to populate their sites with relevant content, an old-school PR tool stands at the ready to help fill the gap – the classic mat release (also known as a matte release.) About Mat Releases A mat release is a consumer-oriented feature story that is [...]
Communications professionals (including the Communiqué team) often tout corporate blogs as a way for businesses to create a voice, connect with their audience, drive thought leadership and increase website traffic. While this is all true, corporate blogs can become especially handy when a company has a crisis on its hands – especially if the company is a small to medium [...]
If you’re anything like me, the last thing you want to do is to spend 15 minutes or more on the phone or engaged in correspondence with a customer service representative via instant message or email. Let’s face it, by the time we’re reaching out to them for assistance—especially when we rely on their service for something critical (like access [...]
Recently, I wrote about publishing capabilities on LinkedIn and the social media giant’s plans to invite all its members to contribute articles via long-form posts. Since that time, I began thinking about the implications of this new capability as it pertains to copyright, other forms of intellectual property, corporate guidelines and staff education. For instance, every person with Communiqué PR [...]
Writer’s block – sadly, it happens to all of us. Few things are worse than hitting the proverbial wall, especially in a field like PR, where writing is a daily requirement, be it for emails, media briefings, pitch materials or content development. When you find yourself stuck, the magic question becomes, “How can I get the creative juices flowing again?” [...]