Public Relations | Lovescott

Posts Tagged ‘Public Relations’

We’re up to Something Good!

Tags: "Love Scott & Associates", advice, Bill Love, blog, expectations, good marketing, Inspiration, Meals from the Heartland, Mission Assist, motivation, non-profit, Public Relations
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments 10/12/2010

I just returned from a mission trip to the Navajo Indian reservation just outside Gallup, New Mexico. It was not my first trip there. In fact, I have been there 12 times in the last four years and intend to continue going as often as I can in the future.

During these weeklong mission trips, we work to improve, however slightly and temporarily, the lives of Native Americans living on the Navajo reservation. The area where we do our work in New Mexico is situated in the second or third poorest county in the United States, depending on who’s doing the talking. So we do what we can… fixing holes in roofs; replacing broken windows; building handicapped accessible entrances to homes; chopping wood for winter warmth; running electricity to replace a single extension cord powering an entire house… the needs are endless and the effect eye-opening and life-changing. Each time I go, I come back with a crystal clear understanding of how blessed my life has been and how uplifting it can be to serve others.

But another thing the mission trips have taught me is that you don’t have to travel to Gallup, New Mexico, to find need. There is no shortage of opportunities to serve right here at home. Many of these needs are currently being addressed by non-profit organizations that are unselfishly making a very real and significant difference in the lives of others.

It was this realization, and our experience as the pro-bono marketing arm for the past two years for Meals from the Heartland, that prompted us to start an effort at Love Scott we call “Mission Assist.” Simply put, Mission Assist is an effort to help non-profit organizations better tell their stories, enhance their missions, and increase their funding. Mission Assist provides complete, coordinated marketing and development assistance to non-profit organizations at a substantially reduced charge.

It is headed by an individual who has spent 30 years in the non-profit sector, many of them at the top level of various non-profit organizations. He completely understands the problems and opportunities common to non-profits. This level of knowledge and experience, combined with Love Scott’s 40 years in marketing, results in Mission Assist having a lot to offer non-profit organizations seeking to rise to the next level of effectiveness.

But the most rewarding aspect of Mission Assist for me has been the excitement it has generated among our staff. It turns out they have generous hearts for helping advance the work of non-profits. They have embraced Mission Assist with enthusiasm and seem to get an energy boost when their talents are turned toward helping a non-profit be even more effective.

Last March, we brought a couple dozen Navajo youth from New Mexico, who had been identified as having leadership potential, to Des Moines for a week of intense leadership training. On the last day, after they had worked several afternoons for non-profit organizations serving various needs around the city, we asked them if they were surprised at the level of need in our city. They answered that they weren’t particularly surprised by the level of need, but they were surprised by the number of local organizations actively involved in addressing those needs.

I think that says something really good about the caring nature of the people of Greater Des Moines and the great work being done by so many area non-profits. It’s a pleasure for us to be able to partner, through Mission Assist, with the important work they’re doing.

Media Relations Rules in an Online World

Tags: "Love Scott & Associates", advice, blog, communication, Crisis Management, Media, Public Relations, social media
Posted in Interactive, Media, Public Relations | No Comments 10/05/2010

Like most public relations pros, my Google reader is filled with blogs about my clients’ industries, the daily news feeds for several national media outlets and various other job-related queries I need to look at on a daily basis. While that is part of my daily work, I also have blogs related to my personal interests like cooking, crafting and everything home that I follow. It certainly came as a surprise to me when I found some of my personal interest blogs were dealing with a media relations crisis.

Several of my favorite bloggers who write about their healthy living lifestyles and offer recipes, exercise suggestions and support were cited by a large fashion magazine for promoting unhealthy living in a magazine article titled The Hunger Diaries. The magazine paints an apparent unflattering picture of these bloggers, using their online diaries to showcase their “bad, obsessive habits.”

The bloggers, already a vocal group, came together en masse to write rebuttals to the article. Not only did the main bloggers cited in the article respond, but their readers and support system rallied around them in just a few hours to share their frustration with the magazine and reporter. Be sure to check out the Magazine’s Facebook page to see the hundreds of comments rallying around the bloggers.

The public relations implications of this incident are very representative of what clients fear every day when dealing with the news media. Clients are cautious of media interviews because they might not trust a reporter’s reputation. Some are afraid to grant interviews because something they say or do can be taken out of context or misrepresented. Add in the element of social media and word-of-mouth and clients are worried their comments can spin out of control before they even have a chance to clarify anything.

While the healthy living bloggers situation is less than 24-hours old, there are already public relations lessons to take away.

Always ask the intent of the story. Make sure the reporter tells you what they are trying to prove with their article. That being said, these bloggers asked the reporter her intent and claim they were lied to so…

Trust your gut. Some of the bloggers didn’t feel right during the interviews and felt there were some strange questions being asked by the reporter. If something doesn’t feel right, end the interview. But just in case, keep copies of all correspondence and don’t be afraid to take notes during your interview on the questions you are being asked and the way you respond.

Make corrections quickly. Within a few hours yesterday morning, the article was live on the magazine’s website. Most of the bloggers mentioned had their responses posted by lunchtime. Some even had point-by-point rebuttals to the author’s claims. If they had waited another day, another week, the story is old news.

Use social media to rally the troops. In this case, all it took was the bloggers to post the magazine editors name, e-mail and Facebook page link to get people to respond with their distaste for the article. By mid-afternoon, hundreds of comments were on the Facebook page against the magazine article. This passionate response was because these bloggers have a large base of followers who are interested and engaged in that community. If your customers aren’t engaged in your social media community, find a way to get them active before something like this happens.

Keep it in context. One lesson learned by these bloggers is that in today’s world, what you post on your blog can be taken for face value – and that’s it. One blogger’s 22-mile-run can sound obsessive, but when framed in context of marathon training, it doesn’t sound so unreasonable. Making sure you tell your whole story is incredibly important.

I’ve managed to keep the magazine’s name out of the entire entry, but since I haven’t seen it yet, Marie Claire, what is your response to all of this?

At The Heart Of Giving

Tags: "Love Scott & Associates", Advertising, advertising agency, Andrea James, branding, communication, Des Moines, Inspiration, Iowa, marketing, Meals from the Heartland, Mission Assist, motivation, non-profit, Public Relations, strategy
Posted in Advertising, Interactive, Media, Public Relations | 4 Comments 9/15/2010

Phew! Another successful Meals from the Heartland event under our belts, and it never fails to inspire and energize us all over again. It’s our second year of helping to promote Meals from the Heartland (MftH), a mass food-packaging effort that brings together more than 14,000 Iowans to package and transport more than 4 million meals around the world. When we took on MftH two years ago as our pro bono client, we never imagined the impact working with this group of people would make on our own business. The kindness, the genuine hearts, the “don’t expect ‘no’ as an answer” attitude, and the fearlessness…I am consistently blown away by what this group of volunteers produces. Every year I think they’ve topped the last, but I’m now convinced more than ever, this is still just the beginning

Don’t get me wrong – it’s a lot of work. I’m fairly certain our agency has never put this amount of time toward any other non-paying client. But when we made the commitment, we all agreed we were making a commitment. And trust me, we’ve reminded ourselves and each other many times that we are fulfilling a commitment that we made. Inevitably, it all comes around to remembering the end goal…a starving person receiving a nutritional meal. That’s what it’s all about.

My favorite moment of the last two years working with MftH is standing in the middle of Hy-Vee Hall during the event with literally hundreds of cheerful Iowans buzzing around me – young, old, every race and religion, working together to feed people they will likely never see or hear a “thanks” from, and I get chills as my throat tightens and eyes fill. I get teary just writing about it. It is SO WORTH the time and effort. It restores my faith in humanity, and even in myself.

This year made me especially proud of everyone involved. The special vignettes constructed by MftH volunteers who visited Haiti served as a life-size visual of how people are living there. “Tent City”, as we called it, brought reality closer to home for most of us who have only seen the images on TV. I watched as adults cried their way through the maze of tents, and children asked their parents “but where are the bathrooms? What about bedrooms?” and their eyes grow wide as they were told the truth. When the idea of building the vignettes was first discussed in a committee meeting, I remember thinking it’d be a miracle if it really came together…so much effort, so much work. But it did. And it was my favorite place to be while volunteering that weekend.

I’ve taken lessons from the Meals group on how to make things happen, even if the rest of the world (literally) deems it impossible. It is this experience that has led our agency to a new venture in our business. While we can’t offer this same free service to all non-profits and still keep our doors open, we can offer our expertise and hearts to these organizations through an affordable and practical program that provides fundraising and marketing expertise. We’ve spent a good portion of the last year brainstorming, developing, refining and polishing our Mission Assist program, and I’m proud to say my heart is wrapped up in the offer.

As I ushered people into Tent City last week, a little girl who couldn’t have been more than 6-years old, walked by me and said in a shy, sweet voice, “Thank you for helping people who need it.” THAT, my friends, was my payment in full.

The Best Reason I Can Think Of To Be Ruthless!

Tags: accountability, ad agency, Advertising, advice, agency, Alice in Wonderland, art, Bill Love, blog, Des Moines, graphic design, interactive media, Iowa, iowa advertising agency, John Ortberg, marketing, Public Relations, reading, social media, Time management, West Des Moines, white rabbit, work life balance, writing
Posted in Advertising | No Comments 7/28/2010

John Ortberg ( Twitter @JohnOrtberg ), one of my favorite authors, once asked a mentor of his for the one piece of advice that would make the most difference in someone’s life. Without skipping a beat, the mentor answered, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

When I first read this a few years ago, I did some thinking about the way I was living and resolved to begin eliminating hurry from my life. It seemed like a great idea at the time, and still does. But I soon learned that eliminating hurry from my life is easier said than done.

Civilization has been gathering speed since day one. Every important advancement mankind has made has brought with it the capacity to do things faster. And so we have. The more we can get done, the more we can get done. The ability to multi-task has somehow become an admirable quality in today’s hectic world. Busyness is often confused with productivity and most of the time, the busier we are the more in a hurry we are. But being busy does not mean you have to be in a hurry.

The simple truth is, nothing truly important… nothing… can be done in a hurry.

You can’t do your best work in a hurry. You can’t establish meaningful relationships in a hurry. You can’t spend quality time with your kids in a hurry. You can’t be there for your friends in a hurry. You can’t rest in a hurry. You can’t plan for and live a healthy, productive life in a hurry.

So I have recently redoubled my resolve to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from my life. I’ve discovered the operative word here is “ruthlessly.” Eliminating hurry is simply not a casual occupation. It involves a purposeful, “ruthless” turning away from the way I’ve lived most of my life and an equally “ruthless” resolve to re-learn how to live at a manageable pace. It involves an almost minute-by-minute realization of how I am reacting to the pressures that cause hurriedness. It involves a lot of talking to myself and a lot of accountability to those who know about my quest and aren’t shy about calling me on it when I begin to give in to hurriedness.

I’ve discovered that hurry does, in fact, breed waste. I find the old sayings “haste makes waste” and “the hurrieder I go, the behinder I get” to be absolutely true. Hurry is a terrible waste of valuable time. When I’m in a hurry, it takes me much longer to do something than when I’m not in a hurry.

But the most important realization I’ve come to is that when I’m in a hurry, I don’t have time to be a better person. I can’t be the person I want to be because I don’t have time. How pathetic is that? My goal is to slow down and begin smelling the roses and being an encouragement to someone who needs a good word and pausing to appreciate the natural beauty all around me and contributing my time to serve someone in need and reading a book slowly enough to actually breathe it in and going on a road trip with no particular schedule in mind and stop caring about being interrupted because, after all, I’m in no hurry.

I want to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from my life and I encourage you to do the same. Your life will be better for it.

If you ever see me and I seem to be in a hurry, please call me on it. Be ruthless! Say to me, “You know that thing about ruthlessly eliminating hurry from your life, how’s that going?”

I’ll get the hint.

Bill Love

5.5 Tips For Focused Writing

Tags: Advertising, agency, article, audience, blog, Creativity, Des Moines, des moines agency, education, focus, good writing, how-to, impactful writing, Iowa, iowa agency, laser, marketing, metaphor, photography, Public Relations, story, VanGogh, visualization, West Des Moines, writing
Posted in Interactive | No Comments 7/21/2010

Sit back for a second and think about the word, “Focus.” What comes to mind? A pinpointed laser? Crisp, clear visions of a serene horizon? The brushstrokes of a VanGogh?

All of those are viable visuals for “focus,” but what does “focus” mean to your writing?

Is your writing focused? When I apply the word “focus” to writing, whether it’s a simple blog post, a press release for a client, or a story for my children, I see it as a metaphor derived from my background as a photographer.

Photographers want their images to be “in focus,” as sharp and as clear as they can be (in most cases). As the photographer focuses on their subject by making slight turns and adjustments of the lens, so the writer tries to see the story as clearly as possible through visualization, drafting, revisualization, editing (and more editing) until “the picture” is crystal clear. Then, snap. Done.

So how does focus express itself in your writing? How can you, as a writer, achieve better focus?

Here are some common questions I ask while writing that help sharpen the picture:

1 – Who’s the story talking to?
2 – What’s the news?
3 – What’s one thing the reader MUST know?
4 – What makes this story interesting? (Is it interesting to others or just you?)
5 – What is the story about? (No, REALLY, what’s it about?)
5.5 – Walk away and look at it later with fresh eyes. (Revisualization)

While anyone can pick up a pencil, pen or pull out a keyboard and write, if it’s focused, writing can have impact. With focus, writing can help your community, help make change, help save lives and inspire the world.

How do you focus when writing?

“The Decision” Made Without Thinking

Tags: Advertising, branding, celebrity, Cleveland Cavaliers, Des Moines, ESPN, Iowa, King James, LeBron James, marketing, McDonalds, Miami Heat, NBA Marketing, Nike, Personal Brand, Public Relations, South Beach, Sports, Twitter, West Des Moines
Posted in Advertising | No Comments 7/14/2010

What brand wouldn’t love to be so popular it could put on a one-hour special about their future and have everyone watching, on the edge of their seats waiting to find out the news? That’s what LeBron James did last Thursday. With his impending free agency, he had the sports and advertising worlds on the edge of their seats. By now, you’ve probably heard the critics and basic public relations bust that this was. I think there are several ways to look at it.

Speaking as a sports fan, this was a complete debacle. Maybe I have too many Midwestern values, but you don’t go on national TV to tell the world you are leaving your hometown. He is literally crippling the Cleveland sports economy – perhaps the economy period. Think of all the tickets (tourism), merchandising (shopping) and advertising (business) he is ripping from the city, not to mention their hearts. This is a hometown kid that made it big, put Cleveland on the NBA map for a while, and is now “taking his talents to South Beach.” That statement says it all for me. He didn’t say “I’m going to the Miami Heat.” He said “I’m going to South Beach” – the glitz and glam of celebrity. I may not be a normal sports fan in that I really don’t care how much a player makes because its all relative. Who doesn’t want to succeed and make more money at their job? I think some sports athletes may even deserve a one-hour special if they are popular enough. Good for LeBron that he generates enough interest that people in the middle of July on a Thursday night will tune into a cable channel to watch him. That’s cool. I just think he lost sight of his decision. If Lebron is staying in Cleveland – have the special, donate the proceeds to charity and the city rejoices. He still gets his money and he is still on a good team. His brand keeps moving forward and he is on to even more riches. If LeBron is going to “South Beach” to seek more fame, then announce it like any other player and don’t crush the city that supports and depends on you in front of a nation. Now LeBron’s personal brand has to hit the “reset” button.

As an advertiser, this event poses an interesting question to me – do you want your brand to be associated with this kind of public relations flop? From what I can tell, most people are down on LeBron, and I haven’t heard too much about the advertisers that actually made this special happen. Many of the sponsors were already tied to LeBron – Nike, McDonalds, and VitaminWater. But some were not – University of Phoenix, Microsoft, and Facebook. This article in AdAge, it breaks down the advertising exposure and value of the mention. It also talks about how this TV special came together. What it doesn’t talk about is who was the biggest brand this night?

I think it was LeBron James, because it’s easier for people to identify with a person over a product. LeBron made it very evident he was the brand “taking his talents”, which include marketability, to South Beach. That’s where he lost relevance to his “corporate brand.” It became his decision without considering his brand community.

In this day and age, sports figures have a lot of control over their message – to the point that they easily make a “corporate brand” out of their celebrity. They no longer have to rely on the media to break a story or message for them, they can take the message to the media themselves and monetize it by asking, “What is it worth to you?” They can even go one step further to break news themselves via Twitter, Facebook or their own personal websites. This is all a public relations puzzle as much as an advertising puzzle. Because the relationship that the person has with their consumer (fans in this case), is what drives the brand they’ve created.

LeBron thought his personal brand was above scrutiny and that people would realize it was a “business” decision. Yes, there is absolutely a business side of sports, but the core of what drives that business is the fans and the personal connection the fans have with a team or a player. LeBron failed to see where his brand starts. He thought that LeBron James creates marketability with his talents. No, the fans create his marketability because they admire his talents. When you tarnish your connection to people, you lose your brand.

The great thing about sports and America really, is there are usually second chances. LeBron’s brand took a big time hit last week. He might think he can just garner new fans in a new city and things will be repaired. I think its going to be more than that. He needs to connect again, which is going to be tough. He had a big advantage being the hometown kid. Cleveland likely would have loved him no matter if he won or lost championships. Now in Miami, he has to win. He has to build relationships and find a way not to come across as a narcissistic celebrity trying to be seen. Winning could be the cure, but a lot of people have a new view of him after last week.

Do you think his brand will be repaired? How might he do it?

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

Tags: Advertising, Agency size, big agency vs small agency, cost effective, creative, decision makers, different kind of ad agency, fitness, hard work, Iowa, lean, marketing, mean, nimble, Public Relations, relevance, rewards, West Des Moines
Posted in Advertising | 1 Comment 6/17/2010

Scale I recently started a 10-week fitness boot camp to whip myself into shape. At times I have wondered what I got myself into and why I actually PAID to do it! I have been concentrating on my health and fitness the last year or so and finally felt like I could take the next step and really push myself. I’ve lost about 80 pounds now on my own, so I thought this class would help me reach my goal. I started the fitness class around 10 days ago. This is what I’ve learned about myself and life…

• Waking up at 5:45 to workout at 6:15 is not cool. But, there are other people awake at this time and some seem to have been up earlier. They need a mental screening or a sedative.
• Your body can literally keep sweating and sweating and only stop when it literally runs out of sweat.
• A dirty dream can involve yourself, at a table, eating pizza. That’s it. It was a good one.
• I have zero flexibility. Zero. The Tin Man bends better than I do.
• I kick and punch like a girl at times. I also wimper and cry like a girl at times.

Okay, it might not be that dramatic. Its actually been a really great experience and in less than a week and a half I’ve discovered how to push myself even further than I thought I could. I can only hope to see where I can go in this 10-week time. The goal would be to get smaller and leaner and meaner. I’ve been a larger guy for most of my life. I always wondered what it was like to be skinny. To eat whatever you want, bathe it in ranch dressing and lay around. Must be nice skinny people. Well, what I’ve discovered is that a lot of skinny people are skinny because they work at it and they want to be skinny. They are okay with the work you have to put in, the discipline it takes and the rewards of the effort.

At Love Scott, we are a bit smaller than your average large agency. But we like it that way. We’re not ashamed of it and we love the work and effort it takes to see the rewards. We’re different that way. To steal an excerpt from our company manifesto…

“The larger the army, the slower it moves.

That’s a fact. So it’s also a fact that sometimes smaller is better. We’re a different kind of ad agency in that we’re smaller and okay with that. There are lots of smaller ad agencies, but most of them are not okay with that and live for the time when they can be much larger (and as a result, much slower). If cumbersome is what you seek, hire a large ad agency. Spend lots of time working your way around and through the various layers and empires built without regard to responsiveness… not to mention cost controls. Get used to “taking a meeting” whenever you need an answer and whatever you do, don’t cross the prima donnas in the creative department. They’re very sensitive.”

Although this is written in an entertaining way, its as simple as saying the people you meet at Love Scott are going to be the people you see and work with every day. We’re lean. We’re mean. (in a good way) We’re nimble. We like it that way. If you’d like to work with a company willing to work directly with you and you want to reach the decision makers when you need them, we’re your kind of people.

And by the way, the prima donnas in the creative department are sensitive. I’ve found body parts I didn’t know I had that are sensitive these days.

Don’t Let Your Story Get Away From You

Tags: "No Comment", brand control, branding, broadcast media, Brooke Bouma, Crisis Management, Des Moines, Des Moines Business Record, Des Moines Marketing, Des Moines Register, DSMCVB, Eric Hanson, Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau, interview, Jim Pollock, KCCI, Kendra Williams, KIOA 93.3, Lynn Hicks, marketing plan, Maxwell Schaeffer, metro Des Moines, Midwest Living, Pioneer Communications, Polly Clark, PR, print media, promotion, Public Relations, research, spokesperson training, story, Van Hardin, WHO AM 1040, WHO TV
Posted in Public Relations | 3 Comments 5/12/2010

Love Scott was proud to sponsor the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau (DSMCVB) “Marketing Panel” a couple weeks ago. Our third time sponsoring one of their events, we’ve come to recognize it as a valuable service they provide to their metro partners as a source of marketing/PR education, updating and networking.

After I gave a brief introduction on the importance of research in a solid marketing plan, participants listened as three speaker panels answered questions. I took particular interest in two panels made up of a few of our local media representatives and personalities.

On a broadcast media panel sat:

• Eric Hanson, TV reporter for KCCI

• Van Hardin, radio show host at WHO-AM 1040

• Maxwell Schaeffer, host at KIOA 93.3

• Brooke Bouma, morning co-host at WHO-TV

On a print media panel sat:

• Lynn Hicks, business editor of the Des Moines Register

• Jim Pollock, editor of the Des Moines Business Record

• Polly Clark with Pioneer Communications

• Kendra Williams with Midwest Living.

I listened closely to these panels because, as a PR person, I’m intrigued to hear their takes on how the industry has changed, their pet peeves when receiving information or interviewing, and what helps them report most accurately.

One comment repeated in both panels was on the topic of granting media interviews. A few years back, I did a short stint reporting for a business publication in St. Louis and will never forget times I’d call a business for information or a quote, and nobody would call me back. I wasn’t digging anything up – simply needing accurate information to complete a story…that most often would help promote that company! It astounded me that they would blatantly ignore me, I assume out of some sort of fear. Maybe they’d been burned before by the media – inaccurate information, misquotes, negative story angle, who knows? But every time I was left to think “well, you’re not doing yourselves any favors this way!” Either the story would get scrapped (no free publicity for them) for lack of information, or we’d have to say something ridiculous like “representatives from ‘Company X’ were unavailable for comment.” That is more damaging than no story at all, in my opinion.

Both media panels at the DSMCVB’s event mentioned that companies are doing a disservice to themselves when ignoring opportunities for interviews. Especially when they are associated with a controversial event, an interview is an opportunity to tell their story. Both times the subject came up in the panels, both the TV media reps and the print reps said even if you don’t grant the interview, “the story is going to run anyway”. So basically you have the opportunity to say what YOU want to say, or take a chance that somebody else will say what you wouldn’t want them saying FOR you.

If the idea of speaking to the media scares you, take the time for spokesperson training. Most times, if you’re prepared, it’s actually a positive PR opportunity, not a burden.

What do you think when a company has “no comment”? What are some of the best TV/print interviews you’ve seen or read, even in times of crisis?

Andrea James, President / Director of Public Relations

Love Scott / Meals from the Heartland Win Awards

Tags: "Love Scott & Associates", Andrea James, Award, Centeral Iowa Public Relations Society of America, charity, honor, Meals from the Heartland, Merit Award, Mission Assist, news, non-profit, Prime Awards, pro bono, PRSA, PSA, Public Relations, Public Service Announcement, Video
Posted in Public Relations | 4 Comments 5/06/2010

Meals from the Heartland Collateral We are proud to share the news that Love Scott was awarded two prestigious honors at the Central Iowa Public Relations Society of America Prime Awards last week. We were recognized with a Merit Award for copy used in brochures for the Meals from the Heartland fundraising packet. The packets included a large general brochure and four targeted brochures (for schools, individuals, businesses and churches.) All brochures were produced to encourage donations and volunteerism to help package food for 4 million of the world’s hungry.

We were also presented with a Prime Award, the highest honor in the audiovisual category, for the Meals from the Heartland Public Service Announcement.

Both of these projects were completed by Love Scott on a pro-bono basis. We offered our services to the Meals from the Heartland team based on the outstanding work they do to feed the world’s hungry. We have been so incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to work with this group of people who volunteer their time (LOTS of it), their hearts and their genuine love for people all over the world who need help. We submitted our work to be considered because we are proud of it. But had we not won the PRSA awards, the experience would still have ranked as the highest reward we could ever receive.

How Do You Create Value – Invite To Invoice

Tags: account management, ad agency, add value, advertising agency, Andrea James, communication, customer servive, Des Moines, Iowa, marketing, Pitney Bowes, Public Relations, response, Service, social media, Successful branding, Twitter, Value, value added, West Des Moines
Posted in Public Relations | No Comments 4/23/2010

We had a discussion among the Love Scott staff the other day about how businesses create value. When it comes time to pay a bill, you automatically measure the perceived value of that item against the price before handing over your money. If the value is considered less than the price tag, there are bound to be complications. But creating value is so much more than a product or service – it’s really about the entire experience.

When was the last time you walked away from a business transaction thinking, “WOW! That was worth every penny AND my time!” What was it that made you feel that way? Was it a unique product? Was it outstanding service? Most likely, you were “wowed” through the entire experience – from invitation to invoice. Or in this digital age, from log-on to log-off, because your website is certainly an extension of your brand’s perceived value.

Customer service/relations has changed a lot in the last decade with the emersion of social media in business. I still see ambiguity from business leaders to the idea of getting involved in social media marketing. While there’s definitely been a shift from the idea of social media being a “phase” to a general acceptance of it as a tool that will be around for awhile, many businesses are still not completely understanding the magnitude it can have in terms of hearing the customer, communicating with the customer, and improving customer service.

I faced it head-on a couple weeks ago when I innocently tweeted about trouble I was having with our postage machine. This is what I said:

I didn’t expect anyone to really care or even pay attention. Not five minutes later, I got this response from @PBCares:

It was, in fact, a Pitney Bowes machine, and long story short, there was a repairman in our office within 24 hours. Voila! Without even a phone call, Pitney Bowes made it clear that they noticed, appreciated our business, and valued us as customers. They created very real value. And my response was – WOW. Their Twitter handle is “@PBCares”, and they proved to me that they do.

As a necessary brand-building exercise, we are focusing on how we create value for our customers. From invite to invoice, do we go the extra step to help them understand the way we do things? Can we help them to feel more comfortable, even if it takes us a little out of our own comfort zones? When they get our invoice, do they scratch their heads or do they accept it knowing we created real value equal to the price on the paper?

So, how do you define value? How do you make sure your clients/customers are feeling valued? Put some thought into it and let us know what perceived value your customers should expect. Because at the end of the day, without value, what are you providing to your customers?

Andrea James, President / Public Relations Director

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Posts Tagged ‘Public Relations’

We’re up to Something Good!

At The Heart Of Giving

5.5 Tips For Focused Writing

“The Decision” Made Without Thinking

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

Don’t Let Your Story Get Away From You

Love Scott / Meals from the Heartland Win Awards

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