Archive for the ‘PR Industry’ Category

PRSA Chicago Luncheon Recap: PR Trends for 2012

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

As we venture into 2012, PR continues to evolve as an industry driven by real-time engagement. At PRSA Chicago’s most recent luncheon, the panel of PR and digital experts spoke to this movement and related trends they anticipate this year.

The luncheon panel (pictured above, from left to right) featured Jack Monson (moderator), vice president at Engage121; Anna Rozenich, director of communications at SunCoke Energy; Bill Adee, vice president of digital at Chicago Tribune; Laura Chavoen, senior vice president and director of digital strategy at MSL Chicago; and Jim Motzer, public relations instructor at DePaul University. Here are some key takeaways from the luncheon:

Leverage Inherent Connections to Engagement and Content in PR.

Laura emphasized the significance of PR’s deep connection to content generation and audience engagement. PR practitioners are inherently strategic thinkers and storytellers, developing narratives around a brand’s audiences. PR practitioners understand the conversation and significance of real-time engagement, and this makes them much more equipped to handle brands in this new digitally-driven consumer age over  advertising, digital and media agencies.

Laura encouraged the PR audience to take ownership of this engagement movement in 2012 to help position PR professionals as the leading minds and strategic thinkers closest to content and consumer behavior.

Keep Consumers Top of Mind.

In 2012, consumers expect brands to be engaged in every aspect of a consumer’s life, and to be an active part of their everyday conversations, both online and offline. The days where brands and corporations dictate the conversation, and consumers are to simply follow suit, are long gone. In the age of social and online media, the everyday consumer is now an influencer with a voice, and brands must put consumers first.

Jim spoke to Netflix as the perfect example of a contemporary brand blindly changing its pricing structure and operations without any regard for its very loyal consumer base. Brands not only have to be engaged with its consumers and audiences, but must keep them top of mind before making any business decisions, said Jim.

Make Content Interactive and Strategically Forward Thinking.

Several of the panelists called out new, innovative means of taking a brand story and making it interactive and engaging. Social media and online platforms continue to serve as creative outlets for delivering content in a relevant and intriguing way for consumers. The panelists referenced Google TV, infographics, Google+ brand pages and Pinterest among the latest vehicles for driving brand content in 2012.

However, the panel cautioned PR professionals to not be too eager to jump onto the latest social media bandwagon. For instance, if a brand’s target is a younger male demographic, Larua suggested Tumblr over a Pinterest, despite Pinterests’ recent popularization.

Don’t Forget About Authenticity.

Although authenticity is among the most overused terms in the industry, Anna admitted, she referenced authenticity as still having tremendous relevancy for brands in 2012. The panel expressed that brands should have a personality and should use tailored content to capture its unique spirit. The 80’s corporate model where companies are fixed on an unattainable pedestal is dead, and brands are now expected to be “down in the trenches” with their consumers, engaging in their audiences’ everyday problems and conversations.

Social media can be a brand’s greatest means in connecting on an intimate, personal level with individual consumers, however it can just as easily work against you, uncovering inauthenticity as quick as a flash, said Anna.

Position Data as the Input, not the Output.

As Laura Chaoven spoke to on measurement, “Data as an output is 2010. Data as an input is 2012.”. With the invention of tools like Radian6 and Sysomos, data can be easily extracted and manipulated to paint a picture of a brand’s engagement online and offline that links back to a brand’s objectives.

However, with increased accessibility of these programs and competing free software, this data is no longer as inherently valuable as it was two years ago. Brands don’t need research experts or agencies to deliver the “output” numbers anymore. They can just as easily do it themselves these days, said Laura. Thus, these data analysis experts must not look to the numbers as the “output” or end game, but as the “input” from which insights are derived. It is the expert insights that are the real asset, and what is going to differentiate PR experts from any old data miner.

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Posted in Digital, PR Industry, PR Measurement, Social Media | No Comments »

MSL Expands Global Reach in a Growing Market; Acquires Poland's Largest PR Agency

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

We recently announced that MSLGROUP has acquired Ciszewski Public Relations, Poland’s largest PR agency. This was an announcement dear to my heart: I am a first generation Polish American, born and raised in New Britain, Conn, who moved to Chicago to further expand my young career in public relations. Fortunately enough for me, both areas have a very large and warm Polish community. In fact, Chicago has the second largest Polish population in the world, second only to Warsaw.

MSL Chicago welcomes CEO Jerzy Ciszewski and COO Sebastian Hejnowski and their team to the MSL family. Ciszewski and Henjnowski are clearly experienced experts in strategic consulting, management, and corporate communications.

With the acquisition of Ciszewski, MSLGROUP is now the largest agency network in Poland, a market at the heart of dynamic Central and Eastern Europe. And, it is no surprise that Ciszewski PR has grown significantly over the last several years. Poland joined the European Union in 2004 and its economy is booming. The nation constitutes half of new Europe’s economic potential reflected by the Gross National Product. They are a country that has best dealt with the economic crises. I encourage you to view this animated film about how a country which 20 years ago underwent a radical transformation of economic system became a steadily developing member of an exclusive economic club, the European Union.

It is thrilling to hear about the expansion and MSLGROUP’s continued boundless opportunities in global initiatives and marketing. Many of our clients in Chicago are expanding their marketing activities overseas to include emerging markets in Europe, Asia and Latin America. I’m quite excited.

Serdecznie Witamy!

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Higher Education Marketers Are Changing the Game

Friday, December 2nd, 2011

While colleges and universities face reduced funding, increased pressure to prove their value and disruptive technologies impacting the education landscape, there is still reason to be optimistic. If the record-breaking attendance of more than 900 higher education marketers at the 22nd Annual AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education is any indication, there is a renewed focus on strategic branding not only to achieve business objectives but also to protect and enhance reputations.

I had the opportunity to speak with a number of higher ed marketers at the event and it became clear that colleges and universities are reinvigorating their brands and taking calculated risks in their marketing strategies to drive growth. MSL Chicago was a sponsor of the event and I have enclosed a few marketing trends that I observed at the conference:

Change management is driving brand strategy. Quite simply, the status quo doesn’t cut it anymore. Gone are the days of a client service model within marketing or as one speaker dubbed “an in-house Kinko’s” pumping out marketing collateral, logos and taglines like an unstoppable machine. Rather, today’s marketers are driving transformative change within their organizations and leading strategic communications through rebranding efforts. I think this shift is a tremendous opportunity for marketers to help redefine what’s important to the organization and communicate its core values through the development of a compelling, authentic brand narrative.

This is no small feat within decentralized organizations as Dr. Mark Putman, President, Central College in Iowa attested in his keynote, “Do You Drive the Agenda or Go Along for the Ride?” While process is certainly important, it can be painful for individuals who need to be “dislodged” or pried out of process. I also think it’s critical to have a champion at the top who is advocating this long-term change within the organization to be successful.

Research is a tool—not the end game. One of the pain points we’ve observed with our higher ed clients is the increasing pressure for education institutions to prove they are delivering value not only to students but also society as a whole. The digital age has empowered marketers to define their brand strategy and positioning by conducting comprehensive qualitative and quantitative research as discussed in the session “Knowing What We Are: Defining the DePaul Brand” by Deborah Maue, Associate VP for University Marketing, DePaul University. Research is a useful tool to understand perceptions of both internal and external audiences but in our experience with clients the real impact is how the key findings are incorporated into strategic planning.

Boldness pays off. Many institutions struggle with lower student enrollments, reduced budgets and resources. One of the bright spots I noticed at the conference was hearing about the schools that have taken big risks and reaped bigger rewards due to their marketing campaigns.

This was particularly evident in discussions regarding student enrollment. One of the more entertaining (and enlightening) sessions that I attended “Marketing to a New Generation: It’s All About the Relationship” led by James Raby, Director of Enrollment Marketing at American University and Jamie Hardin, Director of Customer Relations at WayBetter Marketing shared their success by embracing one-to-one marketing in student search.

Building a highly-customized communications approach with students to pull them in to participate in a dialogue rather than push out content led to an increased response rate, lowered costs and data-driven decision-making. The campaign incorporated video and personalized prospective student URLs that evoked humor, organizational personality and “edginess” and was worth the risk. As stated in the session by Raby, ‘what do you have to lose?’

At MSL Chicago, we have worked with several colleges and universities in our Reputation On Course specialty practice who have encountered similar challenges. We’ve found that building a strong university brand requires listening and understanding the needs of all key stakeholder audiences. We’ve helped our higher education clients develop differentiated brand strategies that keep their reputations on course and convert reputations into results.

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Posted in Higher Education, PR Industry, Reputation, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Client-Side vs. Agency Internships: Learning the PR Ropes

Monday, November 28th, 2011

For some, the term “intern” used to (or still does) bring to mind responsibilities such as getting coffee or making copies. Fortunately, internships now greatly supplement a college degree and have evolved into a much more valuable experience than performing trivial assignments.

Before even applying for an internship, future PR interns must ask themselves an essential question: client-side or agency? For me, the answer wasn’t so simple. Attending college in a small town limited my ability to experience PR in an agency setting, so client-side PR became the building block of my career. Throughout all three of my client-side internships, I learned highly valuable skills including writing press releases, building media lists, and shooting/editing promotional videos. In addition to these responsibilities, my internships heavily focused on planning and marketing events, which I now consider to be one of the key responsibilities of in-house internships.

Upon graduation, I decided it was time to branch out and experience agency PR. After interning with MSL for a few months, I’ve come to realize that client-side and agency internships are quite similar in terms of the bottom-line goal, but of course the assigned tasks differ. In my opinion, agencies seem to place more focus on media pitching and monitoring, whereas in-house PR teams concentrate more on events and partnerships. Planning events proved to be an informative and rewarding experience, because it allowed me to see my labor come to fruition. As an in-house PR intern, it is easy to recognize the overall impact your work has on the company.

Another difference (one that comes with pros and cons) is team size. An in-house PR team can be anywhere from one person to several people depending on the company, which gives interns the ability to work closely with the internal departments. On the agency-side, some firms are very large, so teams may be comprised of multiple people. Some may see this as a disadvantage, but in my opinion, agencies give interns the opportunity to interact with and seek advice from numerous professionals and mentors with different backgrounds.

Even though I’ve only been with MSL for a few months, I can honestly say I think I’ve found my home in agency-setting PR. The strong focus on media coverage, both traditional and digital, definitely draws me to agency PR, but when it comes down to it, I am deeply intrigued by the fast-paced, unpredictable nature of an agency! Deadline-sensitive, client-pleasing tasks keep me on my toes and drive me to produce the best work possible. I have found that dealing with multiple accounts and a wide range of clients keeps work fresh and engaging, and it gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge of various industries. Not to mention I have some pretty cool co-workers who have made my short time here a step above awesome!

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PRSA International Conference Recap: Discussing Audience Fragmentation

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

Last month, Laura Chavoen, our senior vice president of digital strategy, spoke at the 2011 PRSA International Conference in Orlando. Her topic was “A Tailored Approach to Audience Fragmentation.”

In her session, Laura discussed how social media is causing many marketing companies to adopt a PR planning model to ensure that programs and campaigns are tailored to the right target audience. She also shared her thoughts on using new tools that public relations practitioners can use for monitoring and pinpointing audiences. Below is a video of a segment of her presentation.

Thanks to the PRSA for inviting MSL Chicago to particpate in the 2011 International Conference!

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Posted in Events, PR Industry, PR Measurement, Social Media, Video | No Comments »

Higher Education and Social Influence: Where Does Your School Rank?

Friday, October 28th, 2011

In the face of budget cuts, lower endowments and a fiercely competitive market for talent, colleges and universities are coming to terms with the need to be creative in their efforts to attract the best and brightest in students and faculty. At the same time, they know they’ve got to focus on building stronger relationships with virtually anyone who can positively impact their balance sheet — alumni, philanthropists, government, etc. So what’s the new metric for marketing success that everyone is focused on? “Engagement.”

Many schools (and major brands) are still trying to navigate social engagement and influence online—especially as these communications continue to evolve. At MSL, we’re constantly using new tools and techniques to help our higher education clients listen and analyze the conversation.

The team at MSL Chicago took a quick look at which universities and colleges are doing the best job of engagement online. The metric we used was the institution’s overall online influence, as measured by a Klout score. (Klout uses data from social networks to measure the influence of the institution by looking at how often and how broadly the content created drives action). The results are interesting:

What’s most interesting to us is the mix of schools with top scores — you’ve got top Big Ten universities with huge and passionate alumni bases focused on athletics and there are also prestige academic powers like Harvard mixed in the group. The schools are located in virtually every geographic area and they feature different areas of academic strength— they attract entirely different student bodies.

As a marketer, my big takeaway is that there isn’t a “winning” formula that helps spark engagement. It goes back to defining your brand — finding the differentiators and making that brand come to life for all those you want to reach.

What do you see in the results?

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Posted in Digital, Higher Education, Influencer Marketing, PR Industry, PR Measurement, Reputation, Social Media | 1 Comment »

2012 PR Planning: Learning From the Past, Building on 2011 Momentum

Monday, October 24th, 2011

With the fall in full swing, 2011 will soon be drawing to a close. PR agencies like MSL Chicago are developing and evaluating their 2012 PR plans with clients in addition to speaking with new companies about their public relations needs. In planning for 2012, agencies must bring the brightest ideas to the table, especially for clients who want to stand out and excel among their competition. MSL Chicago is currently working with our clients to develop powerful campaigns, and build upon existing partnerships to engage customers and consumers in real time. A key part of our planning is leveraging key learnings from the past year.

For example, MSL Chicago attended BlogHer in San Diego this year on behalf of a healthy food client. The expo included thousands of female bloggers who circle a convention hall to hear about trends and the latest and greatest of various products and services. Our consumer team knew from years past that we needed a different strategy to stand out among the other brands at the conference The simple solution: pulling the client out of the expo hall and into a suite across the street.

After sore feet from long weekend hours at the expo hall, being pitched in both ears, and pulled in various directions, these “BlogHers” needed some R&R. The client therefore held a “Refuel and Recharge” suite. This gave bloggers a healthy snack, a make-up touch-up and a hand paraffin treatment, all while sitting on a massage chair. Simultaneously, they learned all about the health benefits and messaging of our client’s brand, and tweeted along the way.

With 2012 planning underway, it’s important to take key learnings from the year prior and create an overall strategic PR plan—taking the best programs and results and using those as a precedence with creative ideas for the year ahead. It is important to look back and see how much ink and/or social media buzz that a program received for the money spent. Finally, it always works best when these key learnings are employed across all MSL clients, ensuring that our team works cohesively as a whole—and the expertise is carried throughout and shared.

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Posted in Brand Recognition, PR Industry | 2 Comments »

Taking Consumer Marketing to School: Earning A+ Client Results

Monday, October 17th, 2011

MSL Chicago’s consumer marketing team sat down with the students of Loyola University Chicago’s Beta Rho Honor Society at their School of Communication. Senior account executive Stephanie Lewis,  account executive Angél Hakim, and assistant account executive Diana Rostkowski shared their take on the hands-on nature of consumer PR, the importance of real-world internship experience and the fast-paced agency life.

“The person in school who always takes charge of the group project — assigning chapters, calling group meetings, making sure the project is in order — that’s the PR person of the group,” said Stephanie Lewis. “In this fast-paced business, you need to be detail-oriented and ready to immerse yourself and make it happen, much like you would for a school group project. A successful PR professional is the one who gets the team together, rolls up his or her sleeves and determines what needs to get done for the best client result – hopefully an A+.”

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Posted in Consumer Home/Wellness, Food & Nutrition, Media Relations, PR Careers, PR Industry | No Comments »

Global Going Local: Google Acquisitions

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

I frequently visit daily deal websites and online recommendation sites on a regular basis. Between Yelp, OpenTable and Groupon, I see a lot of value in connecting with local businesses online and discovering new restaurants. Clearly, Google has been seeing the value too.

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google purchased DailyDeal, a website based in Germany similar to the likes of Living Social and Groupon—which complements its Google Offers website. Google Offers launched in June and is currently only available in select cities, but the DailyDeal acquisition is just the latest in a series of moves focusing on local commerce websites.

Earlier this month, Google announced the acquisition of Zagat. At first, this move seemed surprising, but in reading more about the announcement, it’s clear that more brands and companies are seeing the value in marketing and branding on a local level. Hyper-local marketing is influencing the way companies engage consumers—not just for small to mid sized businesses, but for global organizations as well. Zagat has specialized in local reviews and recommendations for years, and it’s an approach for Google to tap into a regional consumer base and connect with local businesses.

In recent months, a few daily deal sites have reshuffled. Facebook cancelled the Facebook Deals product, while Yelp has downsized its daily coupon offering. Still, local commerce sites continue to grow as a source of recommendations and community buzz. Last week, I caught an infographic from Yelp, showing its exponential growth over the last five years. The ‎site experienced 54 percent traffic growth in the past year— this explosion of online activity and memberships signal how more consumers are looking for recommendations from people like them in the local community.

There has been a lot of speculation around how Google will leverage local commerce acquisitions like DailyDeal and Zagat to tap into the cities around the world. Aggregating recommendations, daily couponing, reservations, and sharing the information with your extended network on Google+ could all be rolled into a powerful Android application. And of course, any Google searches for dining destinations will find Zagat recommendations at the top of the list.

In any case, it’s pretty exciting to see how the local commerce sites and even global companies are evolving their business models to reach a consumer audience craving reviews, recommendations and deals. Clearly, this audience is hungry for information on a local level, and it was only a matter of time before Google jumped into the local commerce playing field.

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Posted in Digital, PR Industry, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media | No Comments »

Welcome to Our Colleagues at Schwartz MSL

Friday, September 16th, 2011

We’re very proud of the growth MSL Chicago has experienced over the past four years, more than doubling the size of the office with the help of an impressive roster of clients who share our mutual interest in bold work and a smart, energetic team who share a passion to be boundless in all we create.

This week, we are even more excited about the future of MSLGROUP. We are proud to announce that Schwartz Communications, one of the world’s top independent tech and healthcare agencies, has joined MSLGROUP as result of its acquisition by the Publicis Groupe. Details of the acquisition can be found in the full release here.

Renamed Schwartz MSL, the firm, which has nearly 200 employees in offices located in Boston, San Francisco, and Europe, has a roster of over 200 clients and a deep expertise in the healthcare sector as well as the enterprise, emerging, clean and bio technology spaces. The shop also has substantial service offerings in consumer, social media and financial services.

This acquisition is MSLGROUP’s sixth globally and second in the Americas in the last year. And it not only increases the service offerings we can provide our current and potential clients, but it will significantly increase our scale globally allowing us to provide more efficient and effective service to marketers around the world.

MSLGROUP now has over 800 employees in the Americas and more than 3,000 people in 83 countries across the globe. And coupled with the recent global acquisition of 20:20 MSL in India, this acquisition provides MSLGROUP with global and formidable technology capabilities equipped with best-in-class talent that can service your technology and healthcare communications needs around the globe.

Schwartz’s Boston operation will merge with MSL Boston to form Schwartz MSL Boston, now the largest PR agency in the New England market with nearly 110 employees. Its San Francisco office will join with MSL San Francisco to become Schwartz MSL San Francisco, the second biggest tech agency in the market with nearly 70 people. MSLGROUP now also becomes a major presence on the West Coast with over 160 employees in four offices—SF, LA, and Seattle.

I’ve followed the Schwartz agency for years and have always been impressed with their growth and the quality of their people. They’ll be a great fit with our culture and dramatically enhance our capabilities. So to our new colleagues at Schwartz MSL— welcome to the MSLGROUP family.

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