"We simply didn’t have the capacity, expertise or a system in place to handle media relations," said Maureen Blaha reflecting on her early days as the executive director of the National Runaway Switchboard (NRS).

Between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth run from home each year. It’s a staggering statistic that continues to drive NRS and its more than 150 volunteers, board members and staff to work tirelessly to keep America’s runaway and at-risk youth safe and off the streets. As the federally-designated national communication system for this young demographic, NRS handles more than 100,000 calls annually through its 1-800-RUNAWAY hotline.

Spreading the Word

A couple of years into the top position, Blaha knew more needed to be done to get the word out about the help youth and parents could receive by calling 1-800-RUNAWAY.

"We were very reactive in our approach to media relations, and even then we weren’t taking full advantage of the media opportunities coming our way," she said. "And when we attempted to be proactive our strategy was limited to sending out a quarterly press release informing media of our recent activities."

Today, Blaha acknowledges that she now understands why NRS wasn’t receiving the coverage they desired with that approach.

The Professional Increases Awareness

"Joel (Kessel) came in and gave us clarity, changed the way we viewed media relations, developed a protocol for us to think and act strategically and proactively," said Blaha. "Moreover, he helped position NRS as an expert resource for the media and others to call upon regarding issues relating to runaway and at-risk youth."

Kessel Communications created a system to consistently increase awareness about NRS’ hotline and services. The agency continues to develop clearly defined messages that NRS uses in its media relations efforts and overall communications offerings – annual report, brochures, Web site and newsletters. And Kessel and his team conduct ongoing spokesperson coaching sessions with key NRS personnel to effectively prepare them for media interviews and presentations. They create strategic media campaigns around existing programs, and identify media opportunities appropriate for NRS.

Investment Pays Off

"Joel helped us recognize how critical it is to work with a professional who understands the media landscape, knows what news is, and is experienced in communicating with the media," notes Blaha.

According to Blaha, NRS now has a systematic approach to proactively and strategically reach out to, and manage, the media – and the proof is in the results. For three consecutive years, NRS has been featured in USA Today’s front page "Snapshot" outlining the hotline’s annual call volume statistics. In early 2008, an Associated Press feature on NRS was picked up by nearly 200 newspapers nationwide including USA Today. Additionally, NRS has been used as a resource and included in numerous articles and broadcasts on youth runaways in such media outlets as Seventeen magazine, Girl’s Life magazine, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Boston Herald, Kansas City Star, The Dallas Morning News, MSNBC, the Nancy Grace Show, CNN, ABC, and USA Radio Networks, and many others.

Coverage Rolls On

Blaha says their coverage continues. "We needed to get a handle on our media efforts and Kessel Communications did just that," she said. "They have the expertise to continuously get us the results we desire. As a result, we are doing more to help keep America’s runaway and at-risk youth safe and off the streets."

Hide [-]

Michon Ellis is no stranger to the marketing communications game. He’s paid his dues: 15 years of working with such giants as Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods, Inc., State Farm Insurance and Wendy’s International Inc.; and eight years with the McDonalds Corporation. However, in spring of 2007 when Ellis made the leap from serving one corporate master to being a managing partner of Chicago-based LimeGreen, a full-service multi-media production and events management company, he needed a strategic media plan to ensure that his move was leveraged to its full potential.

"Joel Kessel didn’t just help. He did it for us," states Ellis. "He was instrumental in developing the media strategy."

Though a founding father of LimeGreen, Ellis’ involvement until this point had been limited. The company was mostly focused on video and Internet communications and Michon and his partners had spent four years building a solid client base. With Ellis as a full-time managing partner, LimeGreen was positioned to expand its client services to include more experiential marketing and event programming.

More Than Just a Brief

The challenge was to get a real story out to the business community; a story that would be more interesting than a typical new-hire brief and wouldn’t pigeon-hole LimeGreen as just another fledgling company.

"The tricky thing is, founding your own business doesn’t carry much weight," explained Ellis. Joel’s strategy was to focus on Ellis’s new role as a managing partner buying full time into an established company rather than on his past role as one of LimeGreen’s founders. This strategy presented LimeGreen as a stable, dynamic company and Michon Ellis as the asset that would help move them into the next stage of client services growth.

Kessel’s plan earned LimeGreen the media attention it wanted, including a piece in the "People on the Move" section of the Sunday Chicago Tribune, and several industry trade publications.

The Big Picture

The news of Michon Ellis’s move gave LimeGreen some welcome publicity. Ellis hit the ground running and found himself immersed in marketing his clientele. He soon saw that all of LimeGreen’s resources were focused on the clients and they were losing momentum on marketing themselves. It was time to talk to Kessel about the future.

"Joel got me thinking about our overall communications strategy," said Ellis. Based on Joel’s counsel, Ellis began to submit LimeGreen’s work for awards. In 2008 they won a Commercial Telly Award and earned Aegis Awards in six categories, garnering them industry and media attention. To boost LimeGreen’s visibility in the community, Ellis began accepting offers to speak, and is a regular presenter at Northwestern University. Ellis has also worked to position LimeGreen associates as a resource, not just to paying clients, but to members of the media looking for a professional source for a story, thus underscoring LimeGreen’s reputation as an established company run by experts in their field.

Beyond LimeGreen

Kessel Communications has been an integral part of LimeGreen’s efforts to market itself, which has freed the company’s creative talents to focus on other clients. Kessel’s results have led LimeGreen to bring him in on external projects as well.

Last year LimeGreen took on the full-scale promotion of the release of Alex LeMay’s Desert Bayou, a documentary that follows a group of New Orleans refugees and explores the nature of human relationships as they struggle to adapt to displacement following Katrina. LimeGreen was charged with quickly building buzz for the film (without the financial resources of a large distributor), which they did with a creative multi-faceted approach that included media strategies courtesy of Kessel Communications. Kessel and his team created and implemented a plan that ensured the notice of the Wall Street Journal and the Newsweek and New York Times film critics.

From implementing successful media plans to providing professional consultation on communications strategies, Joel Kessel has had a measurable impact on LimeGreen Productions. Ellis was, at one point, hesitant about committing resources to communications. He is now a believer. Looking to the future, Ellis is already thinking of how to move forward on more of Kessel’s ideas.

Hide [-]

As the product brand manager for Master Lock® Automotive, Mike Sheridan knew he had a great product. No stranger to public relations, Sheridan understood the value of good communication, and he knew he needed someone to help get the word out about his product—that’s when he met Joel Kessel.

Kessel was an independent consultant hired by a Chicago-based agency to manage the Master Lock Automotive account.

Master Lock Automotive had come out with a line of innovative towing items and Sheridan understood that if he could just get the public to take a minute to look at these products, from a brand they already knew and trusted, they wouldn’t hesitate to use Master Lock for their towing needs. The problem was Master Lock’s towing systems were innovative solutions to problems most of the public weren’t even aware existed.

Presenting the Problem to Sell the Solution

When the agency accepted the challenge of promoting the towing line, Kessel and his team brought a story to the table that would educate the public and help them understand just why they should care that Master Lock had a line of towing products and accessories.

Coming from outside the Master Lock company, Kessel’s group was able to look at the towing line as novices. Working closely with Sheridan as the day-to-day point man, Kessel brought a fresh perspective and a distance from the product that industry insiders didn’t have. Kessel could see Master Lock’s merchandise the way the customer might. With this unique view, Kessel and his team found an angle for the Master Lock story.

"We started talking about towing safety," said Sheridan. Kessel, after consulting with the agency team, noted that the general public doesn’t understand what a safe towing environment is, so part of the story needed to be educating the public on what it means to tow safely and why it’s important.

Kessel and his team presented the problem of towing safety and Sheridan came to the table with an expert understanding of the solution: Master Lock’s innovative line of towing gear.

"We hit it off right away. We fed off each other and the creativity flowed both ways," said Sheridan about the process of working with Kessel on the promotional campaign. Together they crafted a story that set up a common safety problem and presented Master Lock’s solution.

The Story is Good, Now Let’s Tell it

Once they crafted the story it was time to tell it.

"There were some built in avenues to tell this story," said Sheridan, who had some experience with the self-help/do-it-yourself audience. Kessel and his team explored this arena further and began to position Mike as the Master Lock towing expert for local TV shows that did DIY segments.

Kessel landed Sheridan a spot on a Sacramento, Calif., TV show. Kessel worked directly with Sheridan on coaching and managing the logistical details to ensure that Sheridan’s experience was seamless and yielded the hoped for results.

Making the Most of 15 Minutes of Fame

"He did a lot of coaching—what to say and how to say it," said Sheridan remembering working into the night at the Sacramento hotel where they stayed. "He knew what we wanted to say and that we only had X amount of time to say it," added Sheridan, who is naturally talkative when discussing a product that he believes in whole-heartedly.

Kessel helped Sheridan stay on point for the first part of the segment then encouraged him, in the time remaining, to banter with the host. The result was a segment that balanced a targeted Master Lock towing message with Sheridan’s warm out-going personality, and educated viewers on the proper way to tow.

With a unique perspective and respect for his client’s knowledge, Kessel nurtured a symbiotic relationship with Sheridan that created the story Master Lock needed to tell. He then took that story and made sure the public heard it.

Only the Tip of the Iceberg

In addition to the Sacramento TV segment, Kessel successfully coordinated interviews and story placements with numerous boating, camping and towing-related trade publications and radio and TV morning shows throughout the country.

Sheridan was thrilled with the results and the strategy that Kessel and his team developed and implemented.

"Because of Kessel and his team we generated a lot of awareness that educated people about safe towing practices and positioned Master Lock as an expert resource on the topic."

Hide [-]

Marketing Your Business or Organization in a Tight Economy

December 2008

Yeah, I get it, PR and marketing budgets are usually the first to take a hit when the economy starts to tank. But you still need to communicate with your customers, employees, stakeholders and those that matter to the success of your business. Sitting back and saying you’re going to ride it out is not recommended.

Shawn Dainas, group manager for worldwide communications of Sun Microsystems, says that while it’s important to vet each story carefully, it’s also a good time to be proactive and to take advantage of opportunities.

"Go on offense instead of defense especially if you have a lot of interesting products or programs to talk about. And be resourceful; get your message out through social media and other online marketing vehicles such as Facebook, Twitter and industry-related blogs."

Dainas also suggests to not feed into the negativity from the media because there are still a lot of opportunities. He says people are looking for innovation and that there are a lot of opportunities to solve some of the challenges customers are facing.

If you’re a CEO, entrepreneur, marketing/communications director, or someone who is in a position to make any decisions on the strategic direction of your company or organization, listen up. Marketing to your audience is essential. And I’m not just saying this because I’m in the communications industry. I recently read a quote from Peter Shankman of Help a Reporter Out that basically said: "doing no marketing is like saying you’ll throw another log on the fire when it warms up in here." It’s not going to happen by itself. Create opportunities to not just survive, but thrive during times like these.

Look at the Present and Future:
My best advice is to assess what’s going on right now. Review your business and marketing plans—or create one. Where are you today and where do you want to be a year from now, or three years from now? Then ask why, and ask why again and again. "Because that’s the way we’ve always done it," isn’t going to work. Are your activities supporting the long-term goals and objectives of these plans, the company, a particular product or service? Go into this process with an open mind and be prepared to cut things that have worked in the past, but are now too costly. Think of new ways to add value and create long-term success for you and your customers.

Speaking of long-term success, a few years ago the National Runaway Switchboard asked us to help revise its Web site. One of the goals was to make it easier for youth, parents, media and social service agencies to navigate and find information. One of the things we suggested was adding an online media room to house press releases, bios on key personnel, research and data, videos and public service announcements and a media source book. We made it very easy. As a result, NRS is being included in stories that they may have been left out of in the past, they are positioned as an expert resource on runaway and homeless youth issues and the media room has helped streamline the communications department’s overall outreach efforts among its various audiences.

Research:
What are you doing to find out what your customers, members and donors are saying, thinking, want, or need? There are several cost-effective ways to gather this information. Implement a monitoring system so you know what’s being said about your company or organization online. Start with Google alerts and check out www.search.twitter.com and www.technorati.com. There are several social media monitoring services available for a fee that may be worth the small investment. Here’s a comprehensive list from Jeremiah Owyang, a senior analyst at Forrester Research. In addition to monitoring, consider conducting ongoing online surveys and third-party research to learn about your customers. Constant Contact and Survey Monkey offer different subscription levels for a nominal fee. The feedback is invaluable and helps create and direct future marketing initiatives.

Ongoing Education:
Learn how to be more efficient and effective, be a better manager, marketer, industry leader, or discover new and improved ways of doing your job. Ongoing education only adds value to you, your company and customers. But you already knew this, right?

Network (in person and online):
Attend industry-related events. Meet people. Find out what they do and how they can help you, or how you can help them. Do an online search to find the relevant networking events in your area. In Columbus, Ohio, Business First has a networking breakfast every other month where between 300 and 400 people attend, and the Columbus Metropolitan Club has weekly events. In Chicago, check out www.networkingmonkey.com. You can’t afford not to be networking.

Social Media and Online Marketing:
There are many cost-effective ways to build your brand and strengthen relationships with customers. Are you following and participating in blogs related to your industry? Join the conversation. Maybe you have your own blog and need to go to more frequent posts that cover additional valuable topics. Consider writing and sending an e-newsletter that’s more about solving your client’s problems and less about your products and services. Conduct a survey among industry leaders or your customers and report the results for free through your e-newsletter, your blog, on your Web site. Post a tweet on twitter with the URL to the results. Get your site optimized. There is a lot of information to get you started right now: www.searchengineguide.com, www.advergirl.com.

There are so many ways to proactively market and promote your company, products and services during these times. Take a step back and see what will make the most impact to you and your business. The above are just a few thoughts to get you started, or continue streamlining your marketing approach.

Hide [-]

Best Practices When Working With the Media: Tips for earning awareness

By Joel Kessel

Understanding a reporter’s beat and outlet, being mindful of tight deadlines, and providing accurate and easy-to-find information, are just a few things to keep in mind when working with the media. But as Martha Irvine, national writer for the Associated Press points out, there are several things to be aware of before that release is sent or phone call is placed.

"Be patient. Take time to develop a relationship with a reporter," says Irvine. "The reporter might say 'no' the first few times, but will generally respect someone who takes 'no' for an answer and keeps coming back with quality pitches."

Good advice from a veteran reporter whose articles have been picked up by countless national publications such as USA Today, BusinessWeek and Forbes to name a few. Irvine’s valuable insight can go a long way in achieving success with the media. She offers the following suggestions when working with the media:

• Be personal: "Don't e-mail a press release to a distribution list—make the pitch personal and relevant to the reporter. It's very easy to hit the delete button when it's clear the person making the pitch a) doesn't know you and b) doesn't understand your beat."
• Understand how reporters like to be contacted: Some journalists prefer e-mail over phone, while others like phone only. "Are there certain times of the day that are bad for phone calls? Does it annoy the reporter when you send an e-mail and then follow up with a phone call when an e-mail would have been sufficient? Also, it's important to understand just how many pitches a reporter receives. Doubling up on your efforts—by e-mailing and calling—might have the opposite effect you're aiming for."
• Consider an exclusive: "An exclusive can be good, but must be relevant and newsy. It is also more likely to be accepted from a PR person who is a trusted source. In other words, offering an exclusive to a reporter you don't know probably won't work very well."
• Be part of a trend: "Pitches tied to promoting a product are doomed to failure, unless it somehow fits into a larger trend."
• Use available resources: "Tap into services such as Profnet, where reporters often look for experts and real people."
• Keep it simple: "Keeping releases brief and to the point (a page) is good. Including links to Web sites is also good. And don't send books and other goods that aren't requested. It's also best to e-mail news releases, or possibly fax them. But snail mail is less and less relevant all the time—and seen as environmentally unfriendly (especially when a lot of packaging is involved). Simple, straightforward, electronic is best for me."

Hide [-]

The Online Media Room: Why it needs to be part of any communications strategy

By Joel Kessel

According to a recent Norman/Nielsen study, "99 percent of journalists start their research for an article by going online. Yet they could find answers to only 68 percent of their questions across a range of business websites."

It begs the question: Why don’t more companies and organizations have an online media room as part of its communications strategy to help journalists find relevant information on its company and industry?

"It makes my job much easier when I begin researching on a certain topic," says Andy Rathbun, reporter at the Daily Herald in Everett, Wash. Rathbun says he can be working on numerous stories at one time so having easy access to information online is a tremendous help.

When planning the development of an online media room, keep in mind that it is not just for media, it is also for customers, employees, investors, and competitors—anyone looking for information on a company, its products and services, or industry. Here is a list of items to consider including in an online media room.

• News Releases: Categorizing can be helpful to the visitor. While most visitors will be interested in the latest news, chronological order makes logical sense. However, once the news release is archived, it may be prudent to categorize it by topic as well as by year.
• Images: Include headshots of key leadership and photos from the recent press conference or marketing event. But make sure they are high resolution images (300dpi or higher). "Give me something I can download and use," says Rathbun. If the site cannot handle a large amount of photos, consider using a photo sharing site such as Flickr. And be sure visitors can easily return to the online media room if they must step away from it.
• PR/Media Contact: It can be frustrating when a reporter cannot get in touch with a company representative to arrange an interview or request additional information. Sounds like common sense, but it is amazing how many companies do not follow this simple step. These reporters are oftentimes on deadline so make it easy for them to find the PR/media relations contact. By failing to provide this information, reporters may be likely to seek out competitors.
• Recent News: Brag a little bit. Show how many other publications and outlets have covered company news. It adds credibility says Rathbun. "If I go and see a New York Times article I’m more likely to do something for our paper." But be aware of copyright issues. It is best to contact an outlet to obtain permission and an understanding of its copyright policy before posting an article in the online media room.
• Research and Statistics: Be a leader in the industry. Conduct ongoing research that further educates and informs various audiences—including the company. Use the results to promote the industry and the company’s products and services. "In addition to your company’s research and stats, I also need other industry stats to support yours," says Rathbun. So it is important to include third-party research as well. A good example is the National Runaway Switchboard’s annual call volume statistics. In addition to disseminating and making its annual statistics available in its online media room, the organization also compiles and updates a media source book that includes third-party research and information on runaway and at-risk youth. Everything a reporter would want to know about this topic is in the source book. As a result, the organization has earned the reputation of being an expert source to media, parents and youth.
• Company Spokespeople: List the experts who are available for interviews and include their biography. How many people within the organization have expertise in a certain area? In addition to the president and CEO, consider the director of research and development, the lead engineer of a particular project or new product, perhaps a volunteer who’s knowledgeable about the cause and organization. Just make sure they understand the organization’s media protocol if they receive a call from a reporter.

Other considerations that may enhance the online media room experience are product press kits, videos, RSS feeds, past e-newsletters and byline articles. Conduct an assessment of what is available, realistic and within budget before forging ahead. And implement those elements that support the overall communications strategy of the company.

There are a few good examples of online media rooms to check out. Go to: IBM, American Red Cross, and Apple.

Lastly, if you anticipate any challenges in making updates in a timely manner because they need to go through a web master or several layers of approval before being made, check out PR Newswire’s MediaRoom feature. It provides the PR/communications department the luxury of having more control over "timely" updates in the online media room.

The online media room is a smart addition to any company’s communications strategy. Media and customers are searching for information—so be there when they are looking.

Hide [-]