By Aaron Brown, Associate Vice President

Hey, where’ve you been?

It’s been about seven months since my last blog post. Let’s call it a blogcation. Well, an extended blogcation. Maybe a blogaticcal? Regardless, it’s been awhile and here’s why: blogging is hard.

Considering how many of my B2B clients are interested in starting blogs, I’m glad that they haven’t rushed into the decision to move forward because of the time requirements and intellectual investment required to be successful. I’m not the first to say this, but I’ll say it for the first time: blogging isn’t for everyone. Based on my blogaticcal, I’m not even sure it is for me. Yet, similar to my clients, I often have an opinion to share and look for other ways to express it.

If you’re a B2B marketing executive managing a steady stream of knocks on the door inquiring about when the corporate blog is going to appear, I’d like to chat with you. The first thing we’re going to do is have a strategic discussion about the best ways to communicate a point of view and engage with your audiences. Certainly, there are many reasons to consider a corporate blog despite the effort required. Some of these reasons may include establishing a direct and immediate way to connect with audiences, increasing executive visibility and improving your Web site’s organic search engine performance, among others. If we decide that a blog is the most effective tactic, we’ll develop a plan to ensure it’s successful as measured against defined objectives. Conversely, if we decide that the best approach for your business is investing in a thought leadership strategy designed to produce content that your sales teams and channel partners use for their pursuits, that’s fine too. We’ll have a plan that makes an impact with memorable tactics.

My point is this: blogging may be here to stay but it’s not a mandatory tactic for B2B marketing campaigns. The thing that is mandatory is communicating a point of view that motivates discussions, actions and/or reactions.

  photo credit: Selma90

By Marsha Hall, Senior Counselor

What’s In It For Me?

Readers ask this question every time they peruse a news release or scan other documents. In a time-pressed world where information overload runs rampant, readers carefully scrutinize every message they encounter. If we, as writers, do not creatively draw them into our copy and give them a reason to keep reading, they will quickly turn their attention elsewhere.

Demise of the Inverted Pyramid

Those of us who travelled the journalism school route as part of our career preparation recall the sanctity of the inverted pyramid, which squeezed the five w’s and an h (who, what, when, why, where and how) into the first paragraph. The rationale was that space-pressed editors would ultimately slash our copy and time-starved readers would limit their efforts to a few short sentences. It was our responsibility to cram essential details into those early sentences.

During a recent seminar, writing guru Ann Wylie relegated the inverted pyramid to the same historic corner as gas guzzling automobiles and video tapes. She confirmed that readers and editors overwhelmingly prefer news releases that tell a story because stories are more interesting and believable than mere facts and statistics. Stories also provide a platform for a problem/solution/results approach.

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By Nicole Sutton, Account Supervisor

All in a day’s work.

On a recent sunny summer morning, I found myself at Six Flags Great America & Hurricane Harbor in Gurnee, Ill. passing out Pert Plus and shower poufs. My plan? To shower hundreds of people - simultaneously - to mark a new product launch and break some world records.

Sound strange? Maybe it is, but that’s the beauty of it.

This year, Pert Plus (you know, your favorite 2-in-1 shampoo plus conditioner) introduced a line of products specially formulated for guys. We sought to celebrate the launch of Pert Plus for Men with a creative event that would 1) grab media attention, 2) create online buzz and 3) drive product trial and awareness. The event had to be consistent with Pert Plus’ brand messages and highlight Pert Plus for Men products.

The result? The original 2-in-1 attempted a “2-in-1″ world record - that is, two World Records at one time. On July 9, Pert Plus attempted to claim the record for the “World’s Largest Shower” and “The Most People Showering Simultaneously.”

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By Jenny Fuerst, Director, Corporate Communications

News From The Top

Neil Mortine, president of Fahlgren Mortine Public Relations, has been named chairman of Fahlgren, Inc. The move is in conjunction with the announcement that current chairman and CEO Steve Drongowski will step down at the end of the year and remain a consultant to the business. Mortine will be named CEO at that time.

For more details, click through to the news release.

By Julie Russo, Vice President

Geek Is Chic

Two weeks ago, my client, Emerson Network Power, previewed Emerson’s new global data center to the media and analyst community.

As I got ready to make the trip to St. Louis, telling my family and friends where I was going and why, I noticed a familiar refrain, whether verbalized or just manifested in glazed-over eyes: Oh, you’re going to a data center preview. That sounds thrilling.

I was thrilled.

I got to see data center power and cooling equipment UP CLOSE. Does anyone else think the switchgear that switches power between power busses or sends the IT load to generator looks like it could control a large seafaring vessel?

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By Ray Hancart, Associate Vice President

Can’t we all just get along?

Next week starts the MomDot.com-contrived National PR Blackout Challenge. I’ve found myself reflecting on the relationship between PR professionals and “mommy bloggers” - particularly the winding road that leads to this type of blackout or boycott.

On a superficial level, the relationship seems too good to be true. PR professionals exist to encourage word-of-mouth conversations and mom bloggers have a platform (and usually willingness) to drive these conversations. However, dig a little below the surface and you see how it can start to go downhill.

Working with bloggers becomes so mainstream that every practitioner thinks it’s a birthright to bombard bloggers with wave after wave of pitches without any strategy behind the outreach. Inboxes get clogged and moms, who already have a ton going on (and I mean a ton), feel unnecessary pressure. At the same time, traditional journalists are leaning back in their chairs thinking “welcome to the party,” as it’s the same situation they’ve worked in for decades.

So, where do we go from here? Is the blackout challenge the start of a prolonged backlash or just a blip on the radar screen? Judging by a lot of the reaction, including this well-written piece by Liz Gumbinner with BlogHer, it seems the latter is closer to reality. Given how big a gift blogs are to our industry, this is a welcome observation for PR pros.

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By Tony Castillo, Senior Account Specialist

Earning a spot at the table.

In a blog post last month entitled “What PR Cannot Do For Clients,” Todd Defren made the point that “public relations is not sales,” and that “when the prospect gets to the website or picks up the phone or shoots over an email: PR’s work is done.”

While I agree with the spirit of his argument that PR is not going to ultimately close any sales deal, I do think it is worth pointing out just how significantly PR can contribute to the sales process.

Of course, it’s a fine line. As a PR person, I understand the danger of even associating PR with sales. Doing this could quickly lead us down a path where PR is expected to have sales results and - I shudder to think - report directly to sales.

However, a very strong case can be made that, when used properly and strategically, PR can help enhance and bolster sales efforts. We often make this case with our clients.

I work primarily with B to B clients. For them, much of our PR tactics consist of product launches, case studies, webcasts, product casts, YouTube videos, bylined articles and media interviews. With all of these out there in the industry, it can definitely “soften the beachhead” for sales, as Defren states. It also provides them with a number of tools to incorporate. For example, case studies make great leave behinds or can be used as part of an initial outreach to show a prospect how a similar customer is using the product.

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