Working With A Publicist

August 31st, 2010 by Rob Berman 14 comments »

All companies seek favorable attention and mentions in the media.  Companies can directly pay for ads (print or Pay Per Click) or use Public Relations to have stories written about their company.

Working With a Public Relations Professional

Editors, the gatekeepers of the various media are bombarded with Press Releases and other missives.

PR has been used successfully to “get out the message.”  Many companies handle PR in house with someone assigned to the task.  In smaller companies, it may be the owner or a senior manager.  In larger companies, staffers in the Marketing Department or Corporate Office handle these tasks.  Do you need a publicist? It is crucial to understand the responsibilities of the publicist.

Responsibilities of the Publicist

  1. Understand the products and services they are publicizing.
  2. Understand the needs of the media where they are pitching the company.
  3. Identify opportunities for positive media coverage, which capitalizes on the company’s mission and objectives.
  4. Function as counsel with respect to external communications.
  5. Develop communications strategies around key issues.
  6. Promote a positive image of the company.
  7. Create publicity around products and services.
  8. Consider potential crises and create written plans to avoid or mitigate the crisis.
  9. Monitor media mentions of the company and advise management of positive and negative mentions.

10.  Maintain existing and create new relationships with media figures that may be able to help the company.

The Takeaway

Whether your publicist is an internal employee or an external vendor, their effectiveness is multiplied when the business person fully understand the role of the publicist.

Those are my ideas.  Over to you.  Please comment below.

  1. Do you handle your PR in-house or do you contract it out?
  2. Have you recently considered changing from in-house to contracted services or vice versa for your PR needs?
  3. How effective do you feel your PR efforts have been?

If you would like to contact me, you may do so by visiting my LinkedIn page or e-mailing me at rcberman2 (at) yahoo.com.

14 comments »

Posted in Public Relations

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Take Product Add Service: Result Is More Profit

August 24th, 2010 by Rob Berman 16 comments »

Companies have learned that they can add service or convenience to products and raise the price. That higher price includes a larger margin and therefore more profit.

Example 1: Soap – Liquid Soap

Bar soap evolved to liquid soap to save the effort of rubbing the bar of soap.  Liquid soap morphed to foam to make it even easier for kids.  Along the way, pushing down on the dispenser seems to have gotten too difficult for society.  Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, the makers of all things Lysol, has just come out with a battery operated, hands free soap dispenser.

A bar of soap costs about 50 cents.  The Lysol No-Touch Hand Soap System costs $9.99. Refills are about $3.50.  Same result – elimination of germs.  However, it costs about seven times more.

Example 2: Soap – Hand Sanitizer

Companies realized that while bar soap was effective at killing germs it required soap and water.  Wet Naps were created to hand to diners in restaurants to help clean their hands without water.  However, Wet Naps were not eco-friendly.  The package and the Wet Nap went into the trash. Wet Naps is an example of adding service and convenience while increasing the charge to the purchaser.

Consider hand sanitizer.  The gel is rubbed on your hands and then evaporates because it is alcohol based.  Now, there is a multi-use product in a small package that does not create litter or waste (package is recyclable).  The cost per usage is higher than bar soap, which is litter free and kills germs more effectively.  People are paying more for a product that solves the same problem.

The Takeaway

Margins are increased when purchasers value their convenience and efficacy of the product versus the competition.

Over to you.  What do you think?  Please comment below.

  1. Are you more likely to purchase a product that is more convenient?
  2. Do you look to differentiate your products through service benefits?
  3. Have you been able to raise margins by making your products less of a commodity?

If you would like to contact me, you may do so by visiting my LinkedIn page or e-mailing me at rcberman2 (at) yahoo.com.

16 comments »

Posted in Product Development, Strategy

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How Changes in Perception Impact Your Brand

August 17th, 2010 by Rob Berman 21 comments »

Factors like crisis, the environment or changing perceptions can dramatically impact a brand.

Let’s take a look at what happened to some brands that faced changed perceptions.

KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN

Kentucky Fried Chicken was a highly successful franchise selling fried chicken.  The company did not have a crisis like BP or AIG. Rather, the environment around healthy eating changed.  Fried foods were considered less healthy than grilled foods.

Response: They re-branded to KFC.  The acronym name derived directly from the then current name.  They went further and rolled out a lined of grilled chicken.

CALIFORNIA PRUNES

Prunes and prune juice are often associated with senior citizens or aiding bodily digestion.  California prune growers wanted to broaden their market.

Response: The growers went back to how prunes are created.  They are dried plums.  Therefore, they began advertising them as dried plums.  A whole new marketplace for snacks opened up.

PORK

Similar to Kentucky Fried Chicken’s healthy food challenge, read meat was vilified as being bad for you.  Pork was hurt by the decrease in “meat” sales while chicken was growing since it was not red meat.

Response: Pork was advertised as “the other white meat.” Immediately, sales began to rise and continued to grow.

The Takeaway

Remember the old saying, if you have lemons make lemonade. You can change the paradigm around your brand with innovative thinking.

Those are my ideas.  What do you think?  Please comment below.

  1. What other examples of re-branding can you suggest?
  2. What other reasons should a company re-brand?
  3. Do you feel KFC, Dried Plums and Pork were successful in their re-branding?

If you would like to contact me, you may do so by visiting my LinkedIn page or e-mailing me at rcberman2@yahoo.com.

21 comments »

Posted in Branding

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Branding: How Crisis Impacts Your Brand

August 13th, 2010 by Rob Berman 19 comments »

Brand Identity and Brand Equity are important for the future of a company.  To use a sports analogy –Would you rather be the New York Yankees or the Kansas City Royals?

Let’s take a look at what happened to some brands that have endured a crisis.

BRITISH PETROLEUM (BP)

British Petroleum re-branded itself as BP as it spread throughout the world.  They played off the initials by saying “BP” stood for “Beyond Petroleum.”  After, the debacle in the Gulf of Mexico the stock lost almost 50% of its value.

Expected Response: Best estimate is they may re-brand back to Amoco, which they bought in the US and rebranded to BP.

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP, INC. (AIG)

AIG is portrayed as one of the key actors in the financial crisis.  Whether you believe it to be true or not, the stock became almost worthless.  Today, the Federal Government owns much of the company.  Many of the underlying insurance companies were sound but faced poor prospects because of the parent corporation’s troubles.

Response: They re-branded as Chartis to get away from the negative publicity.

WORLDCOM

Worldcom’s leaders were indicted for their misbehavior and that of their company.  Like AIG their core units were successful but were tarred by the corporate company’s challenges.

Response: Worldcom bought MCI as it bulked up.  MCI was re-branded as Worldcom along the way.  The brand equity was still high with the name MCI.  Therefore, Worldcom re-branded as MCI. Ultimately, Verizon bought the company.

The Takeaway

Your brand is essential to the health of your company.  How your prospective customers view you is encapsulated in how they view your brand.

Those are my ideas.  What do you think?  Please comment below.

  1. Do you have someone who is your brand steward?
  2. Have you modified your brand in the last few years?
  3. Do you feel that brands are more important, less important or the same level of importance as they were five years ago?

If you would like to contact me, you may do so by visiting my LinkedIn page or e-mailing me at rcberman2@yahoo.com.

19 comments »

Posted in Branding

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Let’s Avoid Customer Disappointment

August 4th, 2010 by Rob Berman 14 comments »

The US economy has continued moving away from manufacturing and towards services.  Certain services and manufacturing can be outsourced and off-shored but not all of them. Let’s take a look at a scenario.

New Microwave – That Is Easy

I recently purchased a microwave oven to replace a broken built-in one.  I did not own the home when the prior microwave, face kit and special air-circulating base were installed.  I knew I was limited by the dimensions of the box where the microwave was built-in

I searched online at the General Electric Appliances site for a microwave that had the correct dimensions.  The name of the series for my microwave had changed so I could not find it that way.  I spent significant time trying to discern what was the correct size and model for my needs. » Read more: Let’s Avoid Customer Disappointment

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Posted in Customer Service

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What Are Some Marketing Mistakes That Companies Make?

July 20th, 2010 by Rob Berman 17 comments »

There was a rich discussion recently among members of the Marketing Executives Group on Linked In.  The topic of debate was Top Marketing Mistakes.

Each company should periodically step back and take a look at their marketing activities.  The following list can be utilized as a checklist for activities that should be stopped.  Let’s see how many of these mistakes you have avoided.  In no particular order are 40 mistakes. » Read more: What Are Some Marketing Mistakes That Companies Make?

17 comments »

Posted in Marketing Management

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Intellectual Discipline in Product Development

July 13th, 2010 by Rob Berman No comments »

I was looking through my files recently for ideas for an article or blog post.  I found an old article on intellectual discipline in product development written by Robert J. Thomas in National Underwriter in January of 1996.

Intellectual Discipline

His point is just as relevant today.  He said, “To be on the leading edge in competitive markets, an organization must view new product development as an intellectual discipline that supports a culture of innovation and renewal rather than a project-by-project endeavor.” » Read more: Intellectual Discipline in Product Development

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Posted in Product Development

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