What makes a great news story?

One of communications 21®’s core capabilities is media relations.  For more than 20 years, we’ve helped B2B and B2C clients make headlines.  So, it’s not surprising that clients and prospects come to us frequently and ask, “Can you get us in the news?”  The answer is usually, “Of course, as long as you have a compelling story to tell.”  But don’t worry if you’re unsure, c21 team members are experts at uncovering media-rich narratives.  Here are the elements we look for to develop great pitches and press releases:

• New – Your company should have something current and fresh to share with your target audiences.  Do you have a new product launch, a new spin on an old way of doing something, or a late-breaking development?
• Timely – Make sure your news is presented to the media in a timely manner.  For example, if your company reduced its carbon footprint this year, holding that information until closer to Earth Day (April 21) will give the story relevancy and timeliness.
• Local – The rise of hyperlocal news has made this element more important than ever.  Your story should be relevant to your locale; and remember, even national media outlets like to see how a piece of news impacts a particular community.
• Human Interest – You might have a great piece of news, but you’ll increase your chances of coverage if you can put a human face to the story.
• Conflict/Controversy – This component often needs some finessing, but if done right, you can position your piece of news as a long-fought victory or a beat-the-odds scenario.
• Odd – That’s right, an unusual piece of news often makes headlines.  Does your organization do something out-of-the-ordinary or quirky?

This list is a classic, textbook means of garnering coverage that every public relations student learns in college.  However, in today’s increasingly social world, I would add the following component:

• Shareable – Your news must be worthy enough to be shared on social media platforms.  The Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project found that six in 10 Americans consume news via the Internet; moreover, 44 percent of consumers like to read news that is “shareable.”

So, now that I let you in on some little PR secrets, here’s a video of c21’s recent media relations successes:

-          Anna Ruth Williams, senior account manager

Pinterest: The Next Big Social Networking Thing?

Pardon my poor grammar, but I just have to know: Where my pinterest users at? You see, I have recently fallen in deep online love with this new-ish social networking site, which bills itself as a Virtual Pinboard. In a nutshell, pinterest makes it extremely easy for users to capture and save website images they like (“pins”) in one location (on their “pinboard”). Let me tell you something, this place is a BONANZA for the visually oriented among us, who may or may not be women. While still an invite-only site, Pinterest has experienced explosive growth in recent months.

So are you pinning? If so, you might want to check out Mashable.com’s 13 Tips and Tricks for Cutting Edge Users.

Happy pinning!
Marlena Reed, vice president, Interactive Services

Holiday Ads: The Naughty and Nice

A recent Advertising Age article lists Best Buy’s holiday commercials as some of this season’s best, but I cringe every time I see one.  These ads are based on the premise that Best Buy, with all of its great gifts, renders Santa Claus useless.  Personally, I’m a big fan of Santa, so any commercial that makes him look bad goes on my naughty list.

With daily news reports on the dreary state of the economy, politics, business, real estate and so on, we could all use a little Santa-style hope and magic.  My holiday plea?  Let Santa do what he does best – spread joy and cheer – and stop turning the holidays into a competition.

So what commercials are on my nice list?  Frankly, no holiday ads are stand outs, but I’m loving this Travelers Insurance Puppy Love spot.

Tell me, which ads are making your holidays merry and bright?

- Renee Spurlin, director

Starbucks Brings Your Coffee to Life

Whether you are a coffee drinker or not, Starbucks has launched a very cool mobile app today that brings its holiday red cups to life. Yes, you read that correctly. Starting today, the holiday red cups come alive with an augmented reality app for smartphones (for both iPhones and Androids!).

Since I’m a green tea drinker myself, I don’t normally frequent Starbucks that often, but I do find myself very curious to try this app out. The app allows you to scan five Starbucks holiday characters on red cups and 47 other in store items, like bags of coffee and displays, and watch as they come to life.

To make it even more interesting, those who activate all five characters can qualify to win an as of right now unnamed prize. If you know me, you know I’m competitive and I like to win, so I just might change up my morning routine and stop in for Starbucks this week to check this out.

What about you? Do you think the augmented app is the wave of the future or a waste of marketing effort and money?

Watch the demonstration video here.

- Telleen Anderson-Lozano

Let’s face it: Vampires can rack up a lot of sexual partners…

Traditional PR is dead – or is it?  I remember hearing stories of publicity stunts like growing a peach tree, or was it a dogwood, in a hothouse to make it bloom first so this particular client could get the first media coverage.  But today, it’s a little different.  If you’re familiar with the CDC’s campaign on zombie preparedness, you should also know Planned Parenthood sent a press release on having sex with a vampire this halloween.

As a loyal fan of True Blood, I found the release to be trendy, timely and hilarious.  Traditional PR – or should I say – effective media relations has always needed smart, even clever thinking to get media pick up and ultimately educate – and today is no different.  There is just a serious amount of competition to cut through the clutter.  I think Planned Parenthood succeeded.  I will think twice before having sex with a vampire – I hope everyone will too!

PRSA|GA Shadow Day comes to c21

On October 6, c21 participated in the Georgia Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America’s Shadow Day by hosting two University of Georgia graduate students. The following are blog entries about their experience in our office and why they love the PR profession.

Small agencies are the place to be

After making our nail-biting trek down 78 from Athens, my classmate, Joy, and I turned onto North Highland Ave into this quiet, little pocket of town (disclaimer: I am not from Atlanta and am continuously amazed at all of the quaint little areas that are nothing like…well 285) with a comfortable mix of new and old, residential and commercial. Now this is the Atlanta I want to experience!

Over the next couple of hours at communications 21, we met each member of the team and learned not only about their clients, but also how each of their skill sets work together to best serve the clients’ needs. There are no silos here—there is a great support system in place and collaboration is key. We experienced this for ourselves when we sat in on a brainstorming session for a new client pitch.

I think the most important attribute of a work environment is a collaborated team; that is the top goal for my next career venture. I need (yes, need) a culture of creative collaboration.   At c21 collaboration was a reoccurring theme mentioned by each team member.  Most of my past professional experience has been in a corporate environment where I was a team of one. This often left me feeling a little isolated when it came to creative strategy. 

I also realized today that while my experience and formal education are in advertising, I don’t think PR is out of the question. Especially an agency like c21 where there is more going on than the stereotypical press release. Email marketing, social media, analytics, event planning, PPC….wait, sign me up!

So like the headline reads—it appears small agencies are the place to be—that was my takeaway from my PRSSA|GA Shadow Day experience at c21. Thanks for a great experience!

-Elizabeth Hagin is a second year graduate student at the University of Georgia and hails from Marion County, Ga.

Gaining a real world PR perspective

As a second year graduate student studying public relations and social media at the University of Georgia’s Grady College, I am happy to have the fantastic opportunity to experience “a day in the life” at c21.  It truly deepened my understanding of the real PR world beyond textbooks and papers.

My undergraduate studies were in telecommunications: video/film production and journalism. After thinking about the different creative processes including films, TV shows commercials, I realized that much of their successes and failures involved more than their quality as a product. It involved many factors including advertising, marketing and absolutely PR. Learning about the effects of PR campaigning is what really made me see the significance of building relationships between consumers and products. What I really like about the PR field is the wide range of responsibilities and duties involved in the job. I feel that PR is fresh and new on a regular basis especially after my visit to c21 today. I would like to pursue my career in agency environment rather than at a corporation because I would like to gain diverse hands-on experience and participation in various accounts.

We ended the day with cupcakes and Q&A!

My adventure today at c21 not only allowed me to have direct conversations with all of the agency’s passionate PR practitioners, but also gave me the opportunity to participate in a brainstorming session for a potential new client! So now, I can easily see the power and importance of PR and the need to pursue it as a career. Although PR can often be a stressful profession, I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem at c21 due to the agency’s friendly and supportive environment. Plus, we had cupcakes!

- Joy Li He recently moved to the United States from China, and is a second year graduate student at the University of Georgia.

Google+ brand pages – will they be worth the wait?

Ever since the search engine giant, Google, launched its new social media platform in June, c21’s clients have been asking, “How do we get on Google+?”

In the profound words of Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre, “Hold up, wait a minute.”

In July, Google+ opened the floodgates for folks like you and me to compartmentalize our friends, family members and coworkers into those now-famous concentric circles; but Google+ hasn’t allowed companies to take advantage of the new site…yet.

Initially, marketers were anxious to leverage the site for both companies and consumers.  A few brands came out of the gate with profiles, like Sesame Street.  Lacking a policy for businesses, Google+ gave the boot to those early adopters, including my childhood friends, Bert and Ernie.

Google’s product managers responded to booming business interest in a post last month, indicating that we will see brand pages by the end of 2011.  In the meantime, they have granted beta brand pages to a few, select companies, like Ford.

While Google+ perfects its brand pages, anticipation is building in marketing departments across the globe – for good reason.  Interactive experts predict that brands will be able to measure consumer interaction on Google+ pages using the widely acclaimed Google Analytics – providing valuable social media ROI.  In addition, it’s expected that Google will give companies greater search engine exposure by highlighting a company’s Google+ page in search results.  Most importantly, Google+ allows users to segment other users through circles, providing marketers with the ability to hyper-target posts, and yes, even Google Ads.

When Google+ finally raises the veil on its brand pages, c21 will provide clients with a full update on how to establish a corporate presence on the social media site and what the new rules mean for pay-per-click advertising and consumer interaction.  Until then, logon to Google+ and add the c21 team to your circles: Sharon, Marlena, Renee, Anna Ruth, Telleen and Karla!

- Anna Ruth