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Public Relations Tips From The Pope, @Pontifex

By on September 25, 2015 in Communications, Feel Good, Social Media

Pope Francis

If you’ve turned on a television or gone online in the past week, you know that Pope Francis is in the United States. As this is his first trip to the U.S., the media and country alike are overjoyed to host the Pope during his visit. Since arriving, Pope Francis has met with President Obama, spoken before Congress and will meet with the United Nations today.

Through his philanthropy, inter-faith outreach and even social media, the “People’s Pope” has already made a huge impact on the world. His connection with the people has only been strengthened by this trip.

With over 23 million Twitter followers, he is currently the most retweeted leader in the world. Known to be straightforward with the general public on Twitter, Pope Francis has helped shape a humble, more accessible and service-oriented image for the Catholic Church. His ability to connect and understand creates a mixture of leadership, engagement and strategy, all important factors for engaging with an audience.

Here are three ways to improve your communication tactics based on Pope Francis’s social strategy via Crenshaw Communications:

  • Show, Don’t Just Tell. Our political and business leaders have mastered the art of speaking a lot while saying very little. They avoid tough questions by “bridging” to robotic message points and are quick to offer a hollow apology when things go bad. But behavior speaks louder than even the most polished tweet or speech. Much of Francis’ reputation is built on true stories about his experience in South America or his small but symbolic rejection of traditional papal luxuries.
  • Speak Plainly. When Francis does speak or write, he uses plain language. To sound the alarm about environmental peril, the Vatican’s statement was larded with bureaucratic terms. But @pontifex’s tweet was more direct. Plain speaking is powerful.

PR Twitter

  • Be Inclusive. Public Relations professionals see clients that fall into the trap of addressing only their own customers, employees and even competitors. Similarly, previous pontiffs have been preaching to the choir – literally – in reaching out to devout Catholics. This Pope includes non-Catholics and lapsed churchgoers in his communications.

Whether your beliefs align with his or not, there are many communication tips to be learned from Pope Francis. He is changing the way world leaders communicate with their audience – the world.

For more information take a look at Crenshaw Communications’ full article here: http://crenshawcomm.com/3-simple-pr-lessons-from-pope-francis/

 

Twitter Chat: A Different Avenue to Engage Your Audience

By on September 3, 2015 in Public Relations, Social Media, Social Media for Business, Twitter for Business

Twitter Chat

Twitter is famous – or infamous—for only allowing its users 140 characters to relay their message. So, why is it that this social media outlet is generally considered the best platform to capture brands’ audiences? The answer lies in Twitter chats, a discussion about an arranged topic. The short messages make it easy for participants to stay involved and interested. The chats create a comfortable atmosphere to connect with a brand, event or product. It can also build advocacy, loyalty and community with participants. Once a topic is chosen that will appeal to followers and future followers, what’s next? Twitter chats can work, but it takes a lot of effort beforehand.

Here are our favorite tips from PR Daily on how to host a successful Twitter chat:

  1. Invite Influential Users

If this is your first time throwing a digital party, it’s best to engage a few well-known tweeters who are experts on your topic. Find and invite some users with big followings who will bring their audience along to your chat and add a respected voice to your topic. Imagine the amount of knowledge available during an effective chat with a number of tweeters who can access real-time, expert advice with the click of a few keys.

  1. Hashtag it

So you have your topic and your special guests.  Now you need a hashtag so your audience can follow along and respond. The hashtag is important so your audience can find the conversation and use it to chime in when they have something of value to add. We’re not sure if you’ve noticed, but there’s quite a bit of activity on Twitter; let’s call it noise. Using a consistent and easy hashtag mean people will notice there’s an organized discussion happening that’s also easy to track.

  1. Go With the Flow, But Have a Plan

Twitter chats are fun, but ensure that you:

  • Promote it.
  • Keep the conversation going
  • Give guests equal time.
  • Don’t ignore your followers
  • Document it

To check out the rest of PR Daily’s tips visit: http://prdaily.com/socialmedia/Articles/19311.aspx.

How to Evolve as a Public Relations Professional

By on August 11, 2015 in Career Talk, Public Relations, Social Media

Public Relations Professionals

Today, public relations is vital to every brand, industry and individual. The PR profession has progressed into much more than just basic communications; it now includes media relations, planning for crises, media counseling and training, social media and much more. Since PR’s scope is increasing every day, it’s important for PR professionals to hone their skills based on the advancements in technology and PR. PR Daily seemed to agree with us when they shared “5 Ways for PR Pros to Step up Their Game”. Here are the top three that stood out to us:

  • Increase Social Media Skills.

Social media continues to gain popularity every day, so using it to your advantage is important if you want to stay relevant as a PR professional. Use both personal and client social media platforms to post newsworthy articles and communicate with other professionals and brands. Social media is also a great way to gain exposure for your own business and the business of your clients, while always making connections and networking.

  • Get Away from Phones and Computers to make Human Connections.

Online networking is great, but it isn’t everything. Face-to-face connections are still vital to creating personal relationships. Other professionals will see that you are responsible and committed to your work and gaining their trust. It makes clients feel more comfortable as well because they see how much their business means to you

  • Be Nice.

A PR professional’s main job is to be of service to clients. So, being nice goes a long way when it comes to building personal relationships with brands and clients. Business will come easier and more people will respect and trust you if you also treat them with respect.

What are some other ways you stay current in the field of PR? To check out the other tips from PR Daily, visit: http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/19164.aspx

Taking Control of Your Personal Brand

By on July 24, 2015 in Career Talk, Communications, Media, Social Media, Social Media for Business

personal-branding
Building a personal brand, or the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers, has become an important tool in becoming more successful in the age of technology. Due to the quick spread of social media, online profiles have become some of the most effective resources to enhance your career and personal brand, as well as build boundaries between your professional and private life.

Here are our four favorite tips from Forbes on how to control your personal brand on social media in an authentic way:

  1. Embrace your story: Get used to sharing how you landed your dream job, the mistakes you made or where you went to college with others because it will ultimately help you make relationships and market yourself to influencers. Make sure you’re the primary force in telling your story to the rest of the world.
  2. Reach out: Some people go too far in trying to keep their privacy and reputation from being damaged on social media by shrinking their digital presence. When doing this, a digital search of their name means nothing. Be your own advocate and don’t be afraid to market yourself based on who you are, what you do and what you stand for.
  3. Make an impression: Your picture and profile content heavily influence a first impression. Make your profile true to you but remember to always stay professional. Sharing and publishing ideas that can help other people get a better understanding of who you are and what you’re passionate about can also help make lasting impressions on future employers or clients.
  4. Know your limits: When it comes to building a personal brand, the challenge is to portray yourself in the best light as well as being authentic to who you are. Know when posting pictures from last night is a good or bad decision. Understand the boundaries of your personal and professional life by thinking “would I want to explain this to my boss?” before you post it. Everything on social media can be seen by employers so if you are questioning whether or not you should post the picture – don’t do it!

Snapchat: Sharing Stories Between Strangers Around the World

By on July 17, 2015 in Community, Media, Snapchat, Social Media, Social Media for Business

SnapchatStories_Skift

Snapchat, an app that hosts 10 second long user pictures/videos and aggregates content into live stories with a 24-hour shelf life, has grown into a mobile-first visual-based company with 100 million daily active users, 65% of them uploading at least one snap a day.

Over the past few months, Snapchat has increased its viewer base by targeting users based on their location. Users get a look into other people’s daily lives ─ music festivals, sporting events and reactions to breaking news. Snapchat recently made it easier to view content when they launched a Tap to View feature where users only tap their screens to view snaps rather than holding down their screen to view.

As a way to diversify content and broaden their reach, Snapchat launched City Life in April 2015 as a feature that collects moments from various cities. In the span of 24-hours, moments are picked and strung together to show what everyday life is like in that city. Users that select their photos or videos to be included in their city’s story become part of geo-tagged content that Snapchat’s team chooses to display.

The City Life feature can inspire people to consider those cities as future travel destinations by promoting the city and various attractions in the area. To date, Snapchat has featured users’ snaps from over fifty cities in thirty countries including Brazil, Singapore, South Africa and the United States.

Snapchat’s travel features help the world see how users’ are communicating and living their lives. The 10 second moments connect users by allowing them to look into other’s lives and share in their unique experiences, if only briefly. As an outlet for displaying global experiences, Snapchat can be a tool for travel brands to effectively convey travelers to visit their cities, musical festivals and restaurants by wanting to share in locals’ experiences. Using Snapchat’s excessive outreach, users can easily connect to others and see how people like them around the world are living.

Humana Adds Healthier Options To Taste of Chicago

By on July 10, 2015 in Clients, Community, Events, Farmer’s Fridge

Humana2

What would a summer in Chicago be without outdoor music festivals, sporting events and the annual Taste of Chicago? The Taste of Chicago is the nation’s premier outdoor food festival showcasing the diversity of Chicago’s dining community. Every summer since 1980, Grant Park along the city’s magnificent lakefront has been home to the world’s largest food festival.

With shifting dietary preferences and the rise in healthy eating, Humana Inc., a health and well-being company, launched Humana Healthier Choices to help festival goers find the healthiest options. This is the first year the program will take place to showcase a group of the healthiest options available at the festival.

All of the restaurants participating in the 2015 Taste of Chicago were invited to submit their menu items for consideration for the Humana Healthier Choices program. For an item to be considered, restaurants submitted nutritional details including calorie count, sodium content, saturated fat and the list of ingredients.

“By expanding Humana Healthier Choices to include vegetarian options and promoting gluten-free alternatives, we’re looking to help a greater population of Taste-goers pursue a healthy eating experience that inspires lifelong well-being,” said Charles Dow, Humana’s Regional President of Senior Products in the Great Lakes. “I encourage everyone to try these delicious, healthy foods and immerse themselves in Humana’s rewards program for a fun, active experience at the Taste of Chicago.”

Here are some of our favorite dishes that are less than 500 calories, 500 mg sodium and 4 g saturated fat. Make sure to check them out at the Taste, going on until July 12th!

  1. Watermelon Hibiscus Gazpacho – Farmer’s Fridge
    Farmer’s Fridge is a healthy kiosk concept that delivers delicious salads and snacks to customers through automated kiosks around the Chicagoland area. Known for their fresh hand-crafted salads, Farmer’s Fridge will debut a limited edition menu created exclusively for this year’s festival. The Watermelon Gazpacho is a bright, refreshing and subtly sweet dish that is finished off with a dollop of raw cashew cream for a savory contrast.
  2. Malnati Salad – Lou Malnati’s
    The oldest family name in Chicago pizza, Lou Malnati’s has a commitment to quality and using the finest and freshest ingredients. They are serving the Malnati Salad that includes romaine lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, mushrooms, Volpi salami bits and gorgonzola cheese and Sweet Vinaigrette and romano cheese.
  3. Doner Kebab – DönerMen
    DönerMen is German Imbiss (street food) that showcases grilled meats and flavor combinations from around the world. DonerMen’s Doner Kebab is a traditional Turkish dish innovated into a fresh, healthy wrap. It’s filled with vertical spit-roasted chicken, cucumber yogurt tzatziki, spicy North African harrissa red pepper sauce, fresh greens, tomato/cucumber shirazi, wild Turkish pickle, thin sliced onion and rolled in hand made Yufka flat bread.

For more information about the Taste of Chicago please visit: http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/taste_of_chicago.html

Compelling Campaign’s Rise to the Top at 2015 Cannes Lion Festival

By on July 2, 2015 in Advertising, Events, Feel Good

girl

After all of the results were announced at the 2015 Cannes Lion Festival last week, people noticed a trend in the winning campaigns – advertisements with empowering messages brought home the most prestigious awards.

The Cannes Lion Festival, a global awards ceremony held for top professionals in the creative communications and advertising industry, had a spike in the number of awards given to the campaigns with a powerful message.

There are over 18 different advertising and media related categories and a top prize, the Grand Prix award, awarded to one campaign in each group. In the PR category, the #LikeAGirl campaign for feminine care brand Always created by ad agency Leo Burnett transformed the negative term “like a girl” into a strong message for women. #LikeAGirl won the award over 1,969 other entries in the PR category.

Other highlights included the LifePaint campaign for Volvo created by ad agency Grey London, Lucky Iron Fish by agency Geometric Global, I Will What I Want for Under Armour created by Droga5 and Red Light App for Vodafone by Y&R Team Red Istanbul which all received a Grand Prix award, the highest honor of the ceremony.

Many of the winning campaigns promoted topics like women empowerment, awareness of various issues such as iron deficiency in Cambodia and safety. According to USA Today, many of these campaigns have made a positive impact towards their cause. The Lucky Fish project for example was proven to have improved the overall iron intake of Cambodians, who are prone to iron deficiency leading to diseases like anemia.

Although the 2015 Cannes Lion Festival has awarded many other campaigns for being innovative and original, the creative communications with the most powerful messages were clearly the most successful in their efforts. Will heartwarming and empowering become the next big thing for PR and advertising?

Contagious Kindness: Kleenex Releases New Advertising Campaign

By on June 19, 2015 in Advertising, Campaigns, Feel Good

someone needs one

Kleenex® just launched “Time for a Change” a new, touching television ad campaign that is spreading thoughtful positive action across the nation. According to an AdAge article, the campaign features people coming to others’ rescue in emotional distress with the tagline “Someone Needs One.” The video shows a boy giving a girl a Kleenex® because she is crying, reassuring her “people think boys are loud and immature and don’t care about feelings, but they’re wrong.”

“This ad draws on insight from a survey that showed 50% of people in the United States say they’ve missed an opportunity to show someone they cared,” said Eric Higgs, general manager of Kleenex® Brand. “Here’s a brand designed to provide care and uplift.” Kleenex® is continuing the trend of contagious kindness with this ad, similar to video ads launched in February to encourage sharing pocket packs with those in need.

“I don’t think care is ever going out of style,” said Higgs. “I think this has the potential to be the spark that makes caring contagious.”

Kleenex® is going further than television ads with the “Someone Needs One” campaign. On Kleenex®’s website, people can also now share a message of care by creating and sending a personal Kleenex® Careboard message spelled with the soft touch of Kleenex® tissues. Kleenex® “will be demonstrating the importance of timely care through a multi-platform commercial program including documentary-style videos featuring compelling, real-life stories of people showing meaningful gestures of care throughout the U.S.”

The broader campaign includes a partnership with Facebook to target video ads based on users’ demographics, stated interests and time of day. The videos capture people’s real-life moments of care and show that the simplest actions at the right time can be the most touching.

Kleenex®’s new ad campaign is helping contagious kindness go viral as well as testing how effective kindness can really be in advertising.

To view Kleenex®’s ad, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LnuWQgL7Wg

Millennials and Money: Embrace the YOLO Mindset with Phroogal

By on May 29, 2015 in Clients, Events

Logo

Most Millennials, or people whose birth years range from the early 1980s to the early 2000s, experienced a Great Recession during a time when they were on the journey toward career development. In result, most Millennials have formed a YOLO mindset, an acronym for you only live once, on how to handle their money. Phroogal, a millennial lifestyle brand, aims to help Millennials embrace a positive YOLO financial mindset by offering advice and empowering Millennials to make better financial decisions in order to live a dream lifestyle. Phroogal strives to teach Millennials that there is no better day than today to start learning about money and making smart financial decisions.

Phroogal is embracing the positive YOLO mindset by hitting the road on a cross- country road trip to get people talking about their financial wellness. The Road to Financial Wellness tour will kick off in Portland, Maine on June 1, 2015 and wrap up in Los Angeles on June 30. The epic 10,000 mile road trip will take the Phroogal team across the country to visit 30 cities in 30 days. The Phroogal team will be hosting events at each stop along the way including financial education workshops, fairs, coffeehouse discussions and impromptu street level discussions. The Road to Financial Wellness events are aimed to start local conversations about money and turn them into a national conversation about financial well-being.

With this new financial mindset and journey underway, here are our top three favorite tips from Phroogal about being financially smart and maintaining a positive financial mindset:

  1. Envision your dream lifestyle. YOLO emphasizes today over tomorrow, but remember tomorrow is just the following day. Retirement is closer than you think as days turn into months and years into decades. So envision your dream lifestyle, prepare, and go for it!
  2. Invest in yourself. Whether you’re dreaming about backpacking around the world or driving a new sports car, it’s going to take some crucial financial planning to make that happen. If you want to have more free time then stop exchanging your time for a paycheck.
  3. Tackle Debt. There is nothing wrong with spending, but overspending leads to debt. When it comes down to it, the longer you wait, the more it costs you. Consider additional ways to make money such as side hustles or freelance work.

To learn more about Phroogal and the Road to Financial Wellness Tour Visit: www.phroogal.com/road.

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