New Year's PR Resolution: Help Clients Better Understand Long-Lead Deadlines
Keep The Most Important Dates Organized
Just because it's a new year, that doesn't mean you have all the time in the world when it comes to preparing for arguably the most coveted public relations deadline - the national magazine deadline.
Equally important as having clients understand what outsiders consider to be newsworthy is appreciating the news cycle by media type. One of the most prized media types is the magazine because of the large audience and perceived shelf life. While many clients want major magazine coverage, some may not understand what securing that coverage type entails. It is 50 percent about news and 50 percent about getting the details to the magazine by their long-lead deadline.
Lead time is defined as the period of time available or deadline by which a company or brand must approach a media outlet with all key product launch data to be included in that publication. Long-lead publications include monthly, national or regional magazines. They require key data three to four months prior to publication, but the media outreach related to and sharing of that data should begin five to six months prior to the magazine closure deadline. In the world of magazines, they refer to that period as preparing to close the book. It is imperative that a magazine be put to bed in enough time for all of the key publication departments to address their quality assurance prior to going to press.
From the part of the public relations team, we can do a great deal without engaging a client but there are some matters that require client assistance. Such a key matter is meeting this long-lead deadline. Accordingly, the same is true of what is required of a client and the client's PR team. It is necessary to back out enough time prior to the publication's due date to provide the PR team time to position and share all key product information.
In an ideal world, that would mean giving all assets to the PR team at least six months before the desired coverage timeline. Such assets include fairly finalized key product or service data and its associated imagery. Keep in mind that sharing that is only for media outreach purposes and is not a guarantee of coverage. Once all assets are shared, including details that need to be as firm as possible, then the agency team can present those facts to media in what should be the most compelling news positioning possible.
The Perils of Ignoring PR
Instagram provides a perfect example of what can happen
When Facebook bought Instagram this year for a cool billion dollars, the blogosphere was in an uproar. It's the ultimate tech dream: create a product or service, amass millions of users, get bought by one of the big players in the industry, and retire on a private island.
But after Thursday's debacle, Instagram's sunny future suddenly looks cloudy. The photo company debuted new service terms, including this nugget:
"To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you."
The company suffered a PR nightmare in a matter of hours. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook users, and news outlets were reporting the story as if Instagram was trying to sell your first-born child. To make matters worse, the CEO issued a statement that said:
"Our intention in updating the terms was to communicate that we'd like to experiment with innovative advertising that feels appropriate on Instagram. Instead it was interpreted by many that we were going to sell your photos to others without any compensation."
That's basically a non-apology, and also offensive to the users who apparently couldn't interpret the original statement correctly, according to Instagram.
Here's where they went wrong: they didn't know their audience. And they didn't have a clue how to get their story out to the media. Instagram grew so quickly and had so much success in a short period of time that they didn't take the time to figure out who was using their product and what their values were.
Today's consumers are much more web savvy than in the past. They are more protective of their information and social media presence because they know that something on the web, once disseminated publicly, never goes away.
This is where an integrated brand model can work wonders. Instagram was focused on the features of their service, adding new filters, getting new users, and ultimately figuring out a way to profit from them.
However, it turned a blind eye to the PR side of the business. No one on their team stopped to think about how these new terms of service might be received by their customers. No one thought about how to inform the media so that Instagram told the story they wanted to tell, instead of reacting to an increasingly agitated consumer base.
Instagram might recover from this; it might not. There are similar apps out there, and customer loyalty is fluid in social media. If a service betrays a user's trust, they can jump ship without thinking twice.
Companies need to take a serious look at their brand model and make sure PR is incorporated. It's increasingly difficult to have your side of the story heard over the chatter, and an agency with a PR component is the best way to weather the storm. Or prevent the storm from happening in the first place.
Surviving the EMD Storm
How to keep your website content relevant and high-ranking.
It was late September when Matt Cutts, Google's Head of Webspam, added the title of "weatherman" to his resume after tweeting the following message:
The algorithm, which Cutts later tweeted would affect 0.6 percent of English-US queries, was aimed to reduce the amount of companies attempting to trick search engines into ranking high those sites that shouldn't be based on the combination of the sites EMD and poor site content.
Simply stated, an exact-match domain, or EMD, is created when a company attributes more value to specific keywords than to its own brand. This is displayed in the domain, where desirable and high-ranking search terms are used instead of organic and brand-specific keywords.
In the post-EMD world, it is assumed that if a website carries most of its weight in its domain, Google will send it to the deepest, darkest corner of search results. However, Google Webmaster Help posted this YouTube video where Cutts explains the importance of keeping keywords in a domain name.
"Now if you're still on the fence, let me just give you a bit of color, that we have looked at the rankings and the weights that we give to keyword domains, and some people have complained that we're giving a little too much weight for keywords in domains," Cutts said in the video. "And so we have been thinking about adjusting that mix a little bit and sort of turning the knob down within the algorithm, so that given two different domains it wouldn't necessarily help you as much to have a domain with a bunch of keywords in it."
In a nutshell, the algorithm isn't as bad as it seems. In the pre-EMD world, Google awarded higher rankings to sites with desirable keywords in the domain, better understood as plus one points. Post-EMD, a keyword-rich domain isn't going to get you anywhere with Google. With "the knob" on domain value turned down, the rankable value has been allocated into the rest of your site. This means that though sites aren't gaining points for their domains, they aren't losing points either. Essentially, sites are not being penalized.
At 70kft, we have had our fair share of adjusting for Google and algorithms such as EMD for our clients. What we found in the weeks following the release of EMD was not surprising and traces back to white hat, SEO best practices. As the EMD algorithm went into effect, we saw the search rankings of one of our sites dip into the number eight spot. Although still sitting on page one results, it was easy to see why it initially went down. Why it remained on page one results can be credited back to the sites well-written, organic content.
Landing pages are developed strategically to direct users to a specific action. Landing pages are a common feature among many websites. Also common among landing pages is having very direct and common keywords in the domain to capture search results. Because of these keyword-rich domains, some of our sites suffered and lost their plus one points as a result of the EMD algorithm.
As we stated earlier, the added value to site domain no longer exists. This makes search engines rely even more on the remaining content of a website to determine its site ranking and relevance to users. With that said, we can assume websites that already had their organic ducks in a row were less affected by the EMD algorithm than websites that were not built of purely white-hat, organic content. Our key takeaway is that a website containing landing pages with keyword-filled domains can survive EMD.
Although EMD has been in the Google spotlight since its debut in September, site owners are still having difficulty understanding and adapting to the algorithm change as evident through a thread at Google Webmaster Help For example, a site owner posted this question:
"I have an EMD and have been clearly penalized for that. I am now getting feedback from my webmaster that I should change it, as it is the quickest and cheapest way to get my business back on track. Our EMD is a registered business and it is trademarked."
The thread, which began Oct. 28, was responded by username StevieD_Web. Stevie's answer was further validated after John Mueller, Google's Webmaster Trends Analyst, marked it as "best answer."
"Bottom line, a legit business that happens to have an EMD is not going to be penalized or lose the value of their domain matching the query…..so back up your claim. Let us examine it. And if you are correct then one of the TCs (top contributors) will escalate the findings for Google to evaluate and potentially modify their algorithm."
As the thread continues to bring debate and discussion, the question on everyone's mind is whether or not Google will protect official and legitimate EMDs from the new algorithm.
As SEO professionals, it is important to note that we cannot guarantee that sites, including our clients, went down in ranking due to the EMD algorithm. Instead, we examine what was lost in the wake of this EMD algorithm and postulate our own assumptions combining SEO best practices with careful observation.
For more tips or information about search engine optimization and adjusting to google algorithm changes, please visit 70kft.com/contact
Jack Williams
Director of Web Development and Internet Marketing
Design Education Formula
Software is only one part of the equation
So you want to be a designer! Great, that's the first step. A creative, intellectually curious mind and a passion for design are all prerequisites for success. Unfortunately, the rest isn't as easy. If you're looking into design schools or universities with design programs, make sure you do your homework.
First of all, an education is key in any profession, and design is no exception. A designer might work with a number of clients from diverse fields, and a well-rounded education incorporating history, science and other subjects gives designers a comprehensive view that makes them all the more versatile, and therefore valuable, to their firm.
Unfortunately, there is a lack of standardization within design education. There are some programs that exploit students by only training them in software. Software knowledge does not create a great designer; it's a tool. If a person is proficient in using a hammer or a saw, that doesn't make them an architect. In the same way, having a grasp of the tools of design is important, but it is equally important to have a sense of the reasoning and logic behind your design, which comes through a solid, comprehensive education.
The central purpose of successful design training begins with teaching people how to think and solve problems. At their core, designers are gifted artists. What makes them successful is the ability to understand a client's communications need and transforming it to something relevant, memorable and tangible.
For those who dream about getting into design, it is imperative to ask the right questions that determine the quality and aim of the program. Find out what type of jobs the graduates of the program are getting. The types of jobs the school's graduates are getting is a good indication of the type of skills you'll be taught.
At the end of the day, you've got to love the industry if you want to be in it. If design is your passion, immerse yourself in it; study where it came from and how it has evolved. Find design that you respect and try to emulate it. Get inspired and get educated about the field, and you will find success.
Gus Granger
Principal and Creative Director
The Politics of Design
Gus Granger on the importance of design in politics and the history of campaign designs.
Q: How do political campaign designs convey meaning?
We cannot, as designers, create meaning with a logo. We can imply meaning, we can give you some suggestions based on what people will react to, but in and of itself, a symbol cannot authentically represent honesty or integrity. It can suggest those things. For example, when a political candidate does something fantastic, that symbol comes to represent that fantastic thing the candidate did or said. And it's like if you're trying to collect water in a colander as opposed to a bowl. If the identity is weak, you might fill it up with all this water, but it will all fall away.
Sometimes, campaigns will fall back on familiar and forgettable design approaches. They just need to get signs and fliers out, and the only thing that ties it together is their name, and they don't realize that their name looks different in all the different things they put out to the public. If they make it consistent, it makes their point louder and the success of the campaign more likely. The materials are working harder for them or reinforcing the work they've done. Poorly designed work will work against them.
Q: What goes into designing the brand of a candidate?
It's not that different from establishing a strong brand for anything, whether it's a product, or a service or a politician. Essentially, a campaign is a movement centered on the politician. We all have individual brands, and a campaign will have a brand, strongly designed or not, that is what it is. And the strong and better planned out that brand is, the communications that are being created become a stronger asset for the movement.
Q: I feel as though most campaign signs are red white and blue, is that just because we're in America?
It absolutely is. Not only are they red white and blue, there's a reference, explicit or implied, to the characteristics of the flag or an eagle or other iconography that tie into what is essentially brand America. And voting is what some would consider the most patriotic thing you can do. And folks say what are the two most patriotic moments in your life, they might say voting or the Fourth of July. Both are dominated by the same color palate or iconography.
Q: Is this phenomenon just related to design?
Our names are part of our brand. If I meet you and you say something fantastic to me but I don't find out your name, the next time I see you or hear your name in a conversation, your brand is not heightened to me. Our personal brands, the way that you dress, all those things start to build up integrity.
Q: What are some examples of strong political design?
The 2008 Obama campaign really understood this by crafting identity campaigns centered on a strong, unique, memorable logo for the campaign. Because it was there, it became a rallying point for all the great (or if you didn't see him as great) all the negative things that campaign did.
Q: What do you think of the Romney/Ryan look?
Their whole identity is based on the R in their names and the shape of that R and the stripes that they applied... it doesn't look like a flag or anything recognizable, it looks like Aqua fresh toothpaste. That's a common criticism of it, and it's all I can see when I see it.
Q: Do you say that as a completely unbiased, nonpartisan?
Absolutely. John McCain's was good. He had strong typography. He developed a logo for the campaign itself. Same with the "W" campaign. It was elegant and consistently done. The confidence behind being that simple, there's something audacious about that but it works. I thought that was very good. But it wasn't the primary campaign identity.
Q: You recently did an identity system for a college friend of your running for Senate in Iowa. What did you draw upon to do that, and what do you like about the identity system you created for candidate Adams?
From a design standpoint, we didn't do anything earth shattering. But it put in place a strong visual brand for the campaign based upon his last name and a consistent way to handle all the design. Because of that people in his district have perceived him as being more sophisticated player in politics based on the level of polish and professionalism compared to the others. it becomes this snowball effect. You're able to associate all the positive things you're doing with this central brand identity. These things remind you and tie you to past experiences you had with the campaign.
But it's all about the candidate being able to back it up. You have a great symbol, or identity and the candidate is fantastic, that symbol represents that. If the candidate is mediocre, it represents that.
Q: Politics aside, can you explain how the Nazi movement is a portrayal of a well-executed movement from a design standpoint?
It's hard to argue against the power of the Nazi logo as being an effective tool of recruitment and intimidation. It came to stand for this horrific movement. There was a consistent use of the swastika, black on a white field, in a red circle. It was rarely seen any other way. The Nazis put together a graphics standard manual that controlled the image of the party in a breathtakingly detailed way. How materials were created, how uniforms were designed. (For more information, click here)
If people are trying to understand the power of brand identity, it's hard to think of another example that has the impact of WWII. It continues to shape modern society, because of one man and what he did and the brand that he wrapped his movement in. To this day, you scrawl that symbol on anything and it represents what the Nazis were about, and it makes people fearful, or others might feel powerful.
Remember, the actual design doesn't represent anything. It's what the people that the symbol stands for that fills it with meaning. The swastika was originally meant to symbolize peace, and they coopted that.
Q: Are there any other examples of names or symbols being coopted?
Think about when the iPad came out. That product name was widely ridiculed. People heard pad and thought of maxi pad. They thought of feminine hygiene products. You don't hear that anymore. They redefined the word. You take something that might be familiar and change its meaning.
Gus Granger
Principal and Creative Director
Search Party
Search engine optimization and site search have been challenging each other since the beginning of time, or at least since the word Google became a verb.
However, the most negative impact site search has on search engine optimization is the production of duplicate content. Site search often produces this dreaded duplicate content because a website is allowing non-content pages to be indexed. This means pages within your website are competing with one another, diluting the credibility for search engines. When this happens, search engines like Google don't see your site as being a beneficial search result to users. Instead, Google might penalize your website, resulting in the funeral of your search engine optimization efforts.
Although duplication is considered the greatest possible negative impact on search engine optimization, it is also the easiest to fix. In order to reap the benefits of site search and search engine optimization without being penalized for duplicate content, your site needs to have a common search result page that will deliver or setup a no-index tag on pages that don't need to be included in Google's index. A good example of pages that should be excluded are category pages, news list pages and system files.
The most common and widely recommended no-index tag is called Meta NoIndex. This method explains to search engines that they can visit your site but they are not allowed to show that specific URL in search results. By using this method, you can have the best of both search engine optimization and site search.
Here are some other issues that site search duplication causes with search engine optimization:
- Search engine inclusion - Search engines don't know which duplicates to include or exclude from their index.
- Link Direction - Search engines are unable to detect if the link should be directed to one page versus keeping the link separated between duplicates.
- Ranking - Search engines won't know which duplicates to rank for query results.
For more tips or information about search engine optimization and site search issues, please visit 70kft.com/contact
Jack Williams
Director of Web Development and Internet Marketing
70kft Approves This Message
First, 70kft does not have any political clients and is sharing the following blog simply as a means of speaking about current events through the lens of brand communications.
In a season poor in formal debates and rich in political advertising, some might view political advertising as little more than a distraction or amusement. Well, watch and learn. Political advertising serves as a great study of public relations, no matter how unintentional. History has shown us that political ads critiquing an opponent often lead to PR clean up or narrative resetting.
The natural tension between the two disciplines forces candidates to answer for one discipline via the other. For instance, if candidate X makes a PR misstep, then it may be necessary to run advertising showcasing counter points. And, conversely, if candidate Y runs a hyper critical ad, it may be necessary to do PR to fix public perception of the person who approved the ad. Still, 12 years after the bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (aka McCain-Feingold act), reason remains to ask if a candidate really meant to associate him or herself with an ad. You most likely know the result of that act by its infamous tag of "I approved this message."
Case in point, wanting to seize on the current PBS funding debate issue, President Obama's camp has prepared a seemingly Big Bird-endorsed ad. Well, PBS does not approve or endorse one candidate over another and now the administration must contend with public opinion for upsetting Big Bird so to say.
Here's a little free PR advice, President Obama:
- Pull plans to run the ad
- Apologize to Big Bird/PBS via a formal statement (that will gets lots of air time)
- Run ads reinforcing your best judgment moments (helping people forget about a poor debate performance)
Bottom line, thanks to the 24-hour news cycle, the Obama camp will garner more than enough mileage out of news clips of the ad without further ad spend. Just a little something to chew on.
Audrey Reed-Granger
Principal, Public Relations & Marketing
Stratosphere Creative is now 70kft
We, Gus & Audrey, are proud to announce the birth of another child: 70kft (unisex name). This is an important day for all of the 70kft family. Our new name and business diversification represent the culmination of years of training and the natural evolution of our business. 70kft now formally operates with three core competencies: Design, PR and Internet Marketing. We would like to thank all current and past clients who entrusted us with these brand-awareness and brand-building services. It has been our pleasure to work with all of you.
In addition to being married to each other personally and as company leaders, we are also married to our work. It's our passion and what we choose to do rather than what we must do. Healthy or not, we talk about client business from sun up to moon high. We have hired and are developing the next great crop of brand thinkers. We have all of our design, PR and internet marketing bases covered. Our team is diverse in thought, approach, background and culture. We love where we are in time right now. So thank you to the entire 70kft family (immediate & extended): Elda, Jack, Heather, George, Amanda B., Amanda L., Erik, Josh, Kim, Duane, Max & Allison.
We hope you will take advantage of our services soon and see why we are so energized about the next big step.
Gus Granger and Audrey Reed-Granger
Principals
Get A Classic Story Before Your Competitor Does
Anna Karenina, War and Peace, To Kill A Mockingbird, Jane Eyre, Gone
With The Wind and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are classic
examples of strong, engaging storytelling.
All the greatest,
most memorable stories in history have a consistent thread of elements: a
defining moment, emotion, hero/heroine, archenemy of sorts and turning
point. I would argue that corporate branding (regardless of company
size) is not that different. Most businesses worth their salt believe
they are the heroes delivering uniquely on a proposition for the prized
customer. They also have a competitive set, which is equally as resolute
in the belief that they make the better or best widget.
What
separates one company from another is their brand story that compels the
reader, consumer or customer to engage or buy the goods to be sold or
delivered. Some companies believe they are not large enough to worry
about the brand story yet. It's not about the 'yet' but rather the 'best
and first.' See, whoever tells the best story first cements an
association of their brand name with the value proposition firmly in the
customer's mind.
In fact, I would argue that many of today's
developing or transitional companies are caught up in the transactional
aspects of business management (supply chain and sales team) but they
neglect what pushes the purchaser's buttons. While the behind the scenes
of business management is absolutely necessary, I submit that it is
equally necessary to know and articulate the company's brand story as a
major construction step for building the overall brand. Branding, when
done well and consistently, contributes to the bottom line. Even if the
bottom line is doing great, imagine how much stronger it would be if you
add more fuel to the fire. While my circle of friends and family is
small, I don't know anyone who doesn't want more money.
Something
all the great classics have in common is that they are not short reads
but millions have continued to turn the page for more. Again, it's the
emotional connection that makes someone choose or buy one widget over
another.
2012: The Year of jcpenney
There are a handful of envied brands that come up all of the time in
client meetings: "We want it to be clean, simple and friendly, like
Apple." "I love what Target does, make it like that." If it's not the
clients that mention those brands, it's the designers when we go back to
our workshops to craft the next heroic brand narrative for our clients.
When I shop or when I leave either one of those places, I'm
leaving a place, which was beautifully designed. Whether it's the
exterior signage, architecture, POP displays, house-brand packaging,
way-finding cues, employee uniforms, even the checkout experience:
design work very deliberately, delightfully and smartly executed.
We
look to companies who "get" the value of design and, how when done
right, design is an essential part of positively impacting the
bottom-line.
Q: My pick for the next brand to join those ranks? A: jcpenney.
In
recent years, J.C. Penney Company leadership has been forging
successful relationships with fashion-forward brands (Aldo and Sephora),
aimed at elevating its profile and changing brand reputation as being
fashion-neutral, at best. A key win for them this last year was the one
who played a key role in making Apple and Target envied retail brands,
their new CEO Ron Johnson. He's brought along some key players from his
time at Target and Apple, and most recently acquired a major stake in
another envied design brand: Martha Stewart Living.
All of
this makes me hopeful about jcpenney achieving the same status. And not
just as a bystander and fan of excellent design and branding, but as one
who is passionate about the design community of the Dallas Fort Worth
area, as all of that work should be designed in the area.
I've recently become the president of the Dallas Fort Worth chapter of the AIGA,
the professional association of design. Our sole focus is elevating the
profession, the amazing people here engaged in it and educating the
greater business community about the value of strong design. I'm hopeful
that DFW and the world will see the next transformational brand story
unfold here. I suspect the more than 6000 designers in our area would
jump at the opportunity to take part of such a story.
