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Greetings...
Spring has finally sprung in Cincinnati. It literally rained for the entire month of April but the result is that everything is lush and green and bursting with life.
The past few months have been very fruitful as we've begun to see the economy rebound and clients are refocusing on their public relations and marketing plans. We're thrilled to be working with several new companies including: Rookwood Pottery, surprisesbymail.com and the Hope Springs Institute. We'll be sharing more details about our work in this and future newsletters.
Also in May, I gave my first Ignite Cincinnati speech, titled “How to Build a Successful Business By Breaking the Rules.” Ignite Cincinnati is a cross between a Ted talk and Minute-to-Win-It. Each presenter is given just five minutes to present 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds. Trust me, it's harder than it sounds.
 I also got to play cover girl in a photo shoot for The BMW Store for an ad that will appear in the June issue of Cincinnati Magazine. It was a lot of fun but I don't think America's Top Model will be calling any time soon.
Enjoy the sunshine,
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Jill Z McBride
President |
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How Do Journalists Prefer to Field Story Pitches and Releases in the Digital Era
JZMcBride and Associates recently completed two public relations workshops in conjunction with the Cincinnati Business Courier that featured lively and informative media panel discussions, thanks to the participation of an outstanding collection of local journalists. At each workshop, the majority of media panelists identified email as the channel by which they prefer to receive story pitches and press releases. Our workshop results largely reflect the findings from a survey of 2,400 journalists by MyPRGenie. Those findings are as follows:
- 90% of media respondents prefer to field press releases by email
- 62% of media respondents use Facebook in their reporting
- 54% follow and “friend” corporate communications and PR pros on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.
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Here are a few things that
have been keeping us busy:
- Handled media attention surrounding the release of COLLOQUY's 2011 Loyalty Census and Liability research. Almost 150 articles have resulted from the press release and our media pitches, including placement in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
- Secured an interview for COLLOQUY's Kelly Hlavinka with CNBC, Grocery Headquarters, STORES and a nationally syndicated column to discuss findings of COLLOQUY's Liability research.
- Worked with Precima to develop a two-part byline on Retail Change Management. The bylines have been placed in Retail Customer Experience, Creative Match, Marketing Mix and Retail TouchPoints.
- Secured a keynote speech for COLLOQUY's Kelly Hlavinka at the 23rd Annual Card Forum & Expo on April 27th in Miami.
- Confirmed additional speakers from Disney, Starbucks, Caesars, FlyBuys, Facebook, Sears, and Sobeys for the 2011 COLLOQUY Summit.
- Delivered a session titled “How to Build a Successful Business By Breaking the Rules” at Ignite Cincinnati, before 470 people, on May 4th. See the video here.
- Landed a highly positive 3-minute television news story, including an interview with President Chip DeMois, on CBS affiliate WRKC-TV, Cincinnati's leading news station, stemming from our pitch for coverage of Rookwood Pottery's May 14 Open House.
- Secured a co-branded loyalty supplement with MediaPlanet Canada for the Canadian market, with a late-June publication target.
- Secured two of Lisa Biank Fasig's blogs in the top 10 list of best blog posts in Retail Customer Experience.
- Jill featured in a BMW ad to run in the June issue of Cincinnati Magazine. See ad above in Jill's letter.
- Took over social media for Hope Springs Institute, a Retreat Center in Ohio's Southern Appalachian foothills providing peaceful space for mindful, creative and healthy private group retreats.
- Handled media attention surrounding the release of COLLOQUY's second word-of-mouth release, “COLLOQUY Research Shows 20% Decline in Word-of-Mouth Opinion Sharing about Companies and Products since 2008.” The release has been picked up so far in 17 publications, including MediaPost and Direct Marketing International magazine.
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Donald Trump
It could be his shameless self-promotion, his sudden demands for the president's birth certificate or his trophy wives. Chances are it involves his Frank Gehry-inspired hair. But Donald Trump could never gain favor (or credibility) as a presidential candidate.
The real estate tycoon and reality television host made himself excessively visible through April, leading his pre- pre-presidential bid to a low point when he demanded, repeatedly, to see President Barack Obama's birth certificate. The president finally produced it and Trump, despite taking credit, basically got lost in the story. Less than a week later, under President Obama's leadership, Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden. Thunder stolen.
A few days later, a CNN/Opinion Research poll reported that 64 percent of Americans had a negative opinion of Trump, making him the least favorable of any candidate, following Sara Palin. By May 16, Trump dropped out of the race, saying business was his “greatest passion.”
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Bi–Monthly Publication
Vol. 2 Issue 3 |
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Laura Baum, Rabbi
OurJewishCommunity.org
Congrats to Laura Baum, Rabbi at Beth Adam in Cincinnati and founder of OurJewishCommunity.org, the world's first progressive online synagogue. For this Passover season, the ever-creative Laura created two social media applications to get Jews and non-Jews alike involved in the holiday. The first was an Elijah Tracker, like a Santa tracker, that tracked the prophet Elijah as he made stops at more than 70 locations during the week of Passover. The second application allowed users to build their own matzah ball character and dress it up like Mr. Potato Head. Laura's innovations were featured in USA Today and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Bravo Laura!
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Groupon Now
There are few things that we find inconvenient about Groupon, but one thing we do find to be a hassle is printing out the Groupon coupon and finding an occasion to use it. Groupon Now takes these hassles and delivers a way for the user to discover these deals in real time.
Groupon Now is a mobile app used through iPhone or Android that gives customers incentives to seek out deals in their own vicinity. Instead of receiving a single email in your inbox daily, you could access the app, find local deals in your area, click “buy now,” and then have the cashier scan your app barcode at checkout. Currently available in Chicago, it seems like this app will catch on like wildfire, just like the idea of Groupon itself. It has been compared to Foursquare and Facebook Places - however, this app is unique to the local business owner as well. One of the goals of Groupon Now is to increase the flow of business during the slow hours during a day. It is made to be an incentive for Groupon Now users to seek out local deals. |
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