When PR 20/20 launched in November 2005, we set out on a journey to, “lead and create leaders,” as our mission states.

My theory to grow a wildly successful and influential PR firm was to hire talented, intelligent and motivated professionals, provide them with the systems and infrastructure necessary to succeed, and then get out of their way.

We wanted to develop and retain the industry's premier public relations and marketing consultants. Professionals whose services and expertise bring immeasurable value to our clients, and directly contribute to their growth and success.
 
The Marketing Consultant Laws were originally created in August 2008 and distributed as an internal document to give us (the Consultants) direction and focus, and challenge us to become stronger and more valuable, individually, and as a team.

I’ve decided to share them here on our blog (unedited) because most of the Laws have wider application to professionals in any industry, not just PR and marketing consultants.

Hopefully the Laws provide some sort of motivation or guidance to professionals who are looking to differentiate themselves, and become leaders.

The Marketing Consultant Laws

 

Deliver Results: Tasks, milestones and activity reports are a means to an end. Our job is to deliver results.
 
Pay Attention to Details: Maintain a vigilant focus on details in all communications and projects. Never make mistakes due to lack of focus or effort. Always ask yourself, “Is this the best I can do?”
 
Be a Proactive Communicator: Don’t ever leave your clients or peers wondering. Anticipate their information needs and maintain a high level of communication at all times.
 
Challenge Yourself to be Great: Always challenge yourself and those around you to improve. There is no limit to what you can achieve in business and in life.
 
Bring Solutions: “I don’t know” is not an acceptable answer. Your clients and your peers rely on you for solutions. Use your experience and the endless resources available to you to find answers.
 
Maintain a Career/Life Balance: Your career affords you the opportunity to live a full and rewarding life, but don’t let it consume you. Maintain balance among work, wellness, relationships, community involvement, professional associations, friendships, hobbies and interests.
 
Grow Your Accounts: The life-blood of every consultant is their client base. It is your job to retain and grow your accounts by maintaining an in-depth knowledge of your clients and their industries, building relationships, delivering results and keeping a pulse on opportunities.
 
Be Creative: Show imagination in your strategic thinking, and bring creativity to every project.
 
Be an Independent Thinker and Risk Taker: Don’t get stuck in the rut of conformity. Look beyond traditional wisdom and conventional solutions. Be willing to take calculated risks and make mistakes.
 
Strive for Excellence: Set high performance standards, and always strive towards personal and professional goals.
 
Think Strategically: Challenge yourself to see the big picture. Always be analyzing —perceptions, audiences, objectives, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Find connections in seemingly unrelated news and trends.
 
Hunger for Knowledge: Don’t ever stop learning. Consume the wealth of information that is all around you, and share your knowledge for the betterment of your clients and peers.
 
Stay in the Moment: You will see and do things in your career others can only dream of. There will be highs and lows, victories and defeats. Cherish those moments, but don’t dwell on them. Your job is to stay in the moment, and appreciate it for what it is.
 
Have Fun: Positive energy is contagious. Bring enthusiasm and passion every day.

Earlier this month, the Treasury Department began its distribution of nearly $100 billion in economic stimulus payments to more than 130 million households.  
 
But long before the checks came rolling in, marketing professionals were planning ways to capture consumer attention and grab a share of the windfall.  

The challenge was two-fold: 1) convince consumers that they should spend instead of save, and 2) make them spend it on their company’s goods and services.
 
The following NY Times article outlines several examples of companies pitching consumers on where to best spend, and stretch, their checks.
 
As Stimulus Rebates Go Out, Stores Want the Whole Check
By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD and MICHAEL BARBARO, May 10, 2008
 
“…The government wants the checks to spur the economy through consumer spending. But the oxymoronic nature of the marketing campaigns — spend money to save money — has prompted finger-wagging from some corners, particularly about offers that require consumers to spend hundreds of dollars at only one store…” Full article

Where's It Really Going?

Measuring the success of these campaigns may be easier than planned, as consumers are volunteering details on the things they are paying for with their stimulus checks through news articles, online forums and even blogs, such as How I Spent My Stimulus.
 

Bestselling author and entrepreneur Seth Godin has an uncanny ability to illustrate the simplest of marketing concepts in ways that really drive home the point.

In a recent blog post “The bad table,” he gives a first-hand account of receiving the “bad table” at the back of a restaurant, and the marketing challenge that ensued:

“Hence the marketing dilemma: who should get your best effort? Should it be the new customer who you just might be able to convert into a long-term customer? Or should it be the loyal customer who is already valuable?  Sorry, but the answer is this: you can't have a bad table.”

He continues to explain how no one wants second-rate service, products or salespeople – and that there are creative ways to turn bad tables into good tables.

He concluded with, “Treat different people differently. But don't treat anyone worse.”

In this world of Web 2.0, consumers have the ability to share opinions and influence behavior like never before, leaving no room in business for a bad table.

As public relations and marketing consultants, we have the responsibility to make sure our clients are providing only good tables to their customers, and in turn, every one of our clients, no matter how small the account, has a seat at the good table.

Bad Tables Turned Good

Whether through pricing, promotions or positioning, organizations are constantly finding ways to alter perceptions and make their bad tables look good (think baseball bleacher seats).

Every organization needs to take a critical look at its products, services and employees, and find creative solutions to change perceptions, strengthen customer loyalty and grow their business.

A study by two researchers - Vasant Dhar and Elaine Chang - from the New York University Stern School of Business shows a direct correlation between user-generated content in blogs and social networks, and record sales.

In the study, they examine how online "chatter" impacted a sample of 108 albums for four weeks before and after their release dates.

"If an album has more than 40 blog posts it will have an above average level of sales. . . . Interestingly, though, if blog chatter is extremely high – above 240 posts – it is possible for an album to overcome the disadvantage of being released by an independent label. In fact, albums with such extreme highs in chatter correspond to sales even higher than major label, high chatter albums. However, even if chatter is relatively high for an independent label (above 40 posts), sales will be higher than the average for the sample. . . "

While the research applies specifically to the music industry, it presents a compelling case for businesses in all industries to consider how social media impacts marketing strategy. And for the underdogs and innovators, the study is an excellent example of how social media levels the playing field, and makes the size of your marketing budget less relevant.

See the full study here: Does Chatter Matter? The Impact of User Generated Content on Music Sales

Business keeps getting in the way of blogging, but we've got some public relations and marketing posts in the works to help grow your business in new and innovative ways.

Here's a peek at some of the public relations and marketing trends, news, resources and technologies we're working on:

• What are RSS feeds and how can they make you more efficient, productive and profitable?
• How to calculate a marketing budget?
• What are the best online press release distribution services?
• Do you Digg? Should you?
• What can Del.icio.us do for your business?
• I've got a LinkedIn profile . . . Now what?
• How to hire a Website developer . . . And not get burned?
• How to grow your business with search engine optimization?
  

Also, stay tuned for the Social Media for Communicators Conference blog series. We'll be blogging live from Vegas in early March on more than a dozen social media topics.

If you've got a topic you'd like to see covered in a future blog post, contact us anytime, or just post your comments below.

InsideCRM has delivered an excellent article for business owners and marketing professionals seeking to explore and capitalize on Web 2.0.

50 Social Sites That Every Business Needs a Presence On covers the industry leaders, including Digg, LinkedIn and YouTube, as well as niche sites and upstarts, such as Ning and Sphinn.

I highly recommend bookmarking the article, and spending a few hours browsing to see what these social sites have to offer your business.

Simple. Powerful. Inspiring.

Here is a brilliantly executed viral marketing video that has already generated more than 1.1 million views in the four days since it was posted to YouTube:

Brands of all sizes have been built, and destroyed, by the media. Print, broadcast and online media outlets have unmatched power to influence behavior and affect change, making publicity an essential part of every marketing budget.

Effective campaigns build strong media relationships, publicize newsworthy information and events, and proactively create news that fits the needs and profiles of target media outlets.

Here are 10 fundamental tips to conduct successful publicity campaigns:

1. Media Database: Every successful campaign starts with a custom media database. Whether you build the list yourself (or through your agency), or use a service such as PR Newswire’s MEDIAtlas, the key is to tailor the list to reach mainstream and social media with information targeted to their beats and interests.


2. Historical Coverage: Review past media coverage to establish a clear understanding of how your brand is perceived and positioned, and ensure you remain connected with media contacts that have covered your organization and your industry.


3. Press Releases: Identify the common news topics that can be publicized through press releases, including: awards, events, executive appearances, new locations and clients, personnel, product innovations and sponsorships. While I’m not a huge fan of the traditional press release, it still has its place when properly targeted. Releases can also be distributed online as a search engine optimization (SEO) tool (either through a corporate site or release distribution service). 


4. Feature Story Pitches: Package and promote big news about your organization, special events, industry trends and more with feature story pitches. Ideal for targeting one key TV, radio or print outlet with an exclusive story, feature story pitches often start with a phone call or email to the selected media contact.


5. Editorial Calendars: Identify opportunities to deliver timely information to trade, business and consumer media. Editorial calendars (commonly available on publication Websites) provide detailed outlines of the topics and news that outlets plan to cover throughout the year. 


6. Expert Sources: Position your company spokespersons as valuable media resources, assuming that they can offer expertise on topics relevant to your industry or an outlet’s coverage areas.


7. Awards: Garner recognition for your success, innovation, community involvement and leadership through awards. 


8. Trends: Consider the trends impacting your industry, how they are being covered in the media and what your organization can contribute to the discussion. 


9. Special Sections: Assess the recurring special sections in your target media outlets for editorial opportunities. For example, your local weekly business magazine may have a monthly small business or technology section that would be a great fit.


10. Publicity Calendar: Plan and track press releases, feature story pitches, editorial opportunities and events throughout the year with a publicity calendar. Basic software applications such as Word and Excel work great for maintaining publicity calendars, or for the more tech savvy professionals, consider a project management tool, such as BaseCamp, or even a wiki.
    

Next up on PR 20/20 Insights, “Tools to Increase the Impact of a PR Campaign” . . .

"The next 5 years will hold more change for the advertising industry than the previous 50 did."That, according to a new report from IBM (NYSE: IBM) Global Business Services.

In "The End of Advertising as We Know It," (all apologizes to Sergio Zyman who published a book in 2003 under that exact title), IBM surveyed more than 2,400 consumers and 80 advertising executives globally. The report shows, "increasingly empowered consumers, more self-reliant advertisers and ever-evolving technologies are redefining how advertising is sold, created, consumed and tracked."

Report Highlights

• Broadcasters must change their mass audience mind-set to cater to niche consumer segments.

• Distributors need to deliver targeted, interactive advertising for a range of multimedia devices.

• Advertising agencies must experiment creatively, become brokers of consumer insights, and guide allocation of advertising dollars amid exploding choices.

• All players must adapt to a world where advertising inventory is increasingly bought and sold in open exchanges vs. traditional channels.

• U.S. users report more usage of social networking sites and user generated content than almost any other content services category:
  • 45 percent use social networking sites
  • 29 percent visit user generated content sites
  • 24 percent use a music service such as iTunes 
  • 24 percent subscribe to premium television content

• In biggest DVR market, users report extensive replay of television programming. This is resulting in ad skipping and revenue shakeup unless producers and broadcasters reinvent marketing formats and messaging: 
  • 24 percent have a DVR in their home, and 48 percent have used video-on-demand from a cable company or other provider
  • While 33 percent report watching more television content than before the DVR, 53 percent report watching at least fifty percent on replay

• Users feel extreme regarding new forms of advertising. Marketers have to work harder than ever to understand individuals and micro-segments:
  • Nearly 50 percent reported that video spots online – during, pre-rolled or as sponsorships – were the least annoying form of advertisement. Other formats tested were banner ads, pop-ups, and contextual search ads

• However, nearly the same level of consumers responded the same forms of advertising were most annoying online

• Additionally, 11 percent said they’d be willing to pay a little for ad-free viewing of video online

Check out the full report from IBM.

Despite the explosion of social media, many marketers still appear reluctant to invest significant resources in blogs, wikis, forums, social networking, podcasts and virtual reality worlds.

According to Coremetrics, "More than three-quarters of US marketing professionals surveyed think that social media marketing—also known as Web 2.0—can give them a competitive edge."

"Marketers are aware of the impact that social media marketing can have on their overall program but view it as uncharted territory, not worthy of their budget," said John Squire, senior vice president of product strategy at Coremetrics.

While many organizations sit on the sidelines waiting for social media best practices to emerge, the innovators and visionaries are venturing into the world of Web 2.0. It's not too late to integrate a social media budget into your 2008 marketing plan, and here are some ideas on how to get started:

• Build Wikipedia pages for your company and top executives.
• Join LinkedIn.
• Launch a corporate blog.
• Monitor industry news, trends, blogs and forums through RSS feeds.
• Read and comment on industry blogs and forums.
• Find out how wikis can make your organization more efficient and productive.
• Tap into the power of viral videos.

Need help with your social media strategy? Contact PR 20/20 today for a free 2-hour consultation.