Aaron Brown
Associate Vice President
Aaron’s primary area of focus is business-to-business communications with a specialization in material handling and manufacturing industries. In this role, he works with global brands such as Cardinal Health, Crown Equipment, Emerson and Exel on various communications projects including new product introduction, issues management, thought leadership and competitive differentiation. His secondary area of focus is public affairs and community relations through collaborative projects with associations and municipalities. He’s earned numerous awards from the Public Relations Society of America for outstanding public relations campaigns and tactics, including a “Best of Show” honor from the Dayton PRSA chapter. In 2003, Central Ohio PRSA recognized him as the chapter’s “Rising Star.” In his ninth year with Fahlgren Mortine, Aaron is also involved with advancement of the agency’s business-to-business industry group, new business initiatives and staff development.

By Aaron Brown, Associate Vice President

Grammar rules.

I really can’t believe I’m blogging about grammar. I vividly remember sitting in my precision language course at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. I was afraid of grammar. The professor told us, “One day, you’ll be listening to the radio or watching the news and you’ll become frustrated with the bad grammar used.” Seriously? I was used to spelling grammar as grammer. 

But it happened to me. In the nearly 10 years since graduation, I’ve been the annoying guy correcting my friends’ grammar. I find solace knowing that my clients expect it from me. They want their communications to be grammatically correct. Now, if we could just get the lion’s share of the media to feel the same way. 

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By Aaron Brown, Associate Vice President

Spokespeople: it’s time for a tune-up.

There’s no question your business has changed in the past year. You’re probably looking forward to launching that new product or service that had been shelved because of tightened budgets. You’ve got things to say about your business. You want customers, analysts, media, bloggers and maybe even competitors to know how you’re better – and different. 

So before you run to the mountain top to tell the world your story, please know what you’re going to say when you get there. While a seemingly tedious exercise, a thorough messaging and media training update is an important investment. Consider it an update to your corporate and personal global positioning systems. Here are some elements of the update process:

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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 Aaron Brown, Associate Vice President

The details.

I’m wondering this morning what Barack Obama’s speechwriting team is thinking a few hours before he delivers the inaugaral address as the 44th President of the United States. 

Are they reworking paragraphs based on last-minute feedback from the President-Elect? Are they bantering among one another on the context of a specific word? Are they worried about the enormity of the expectations surrounding this speech?

As Americans, we should all have an interest in today’s address. As public relations professionals, we have a responsibility to study and analyze the speech against the principles of effective speechwriting and communication.

While many of us may never collaborate on an address to be delivered by a U.S. President, most of us will work alongside chief executives reporting to key stakeholders, influencers or customers in what are perceived as “big speeches.”

Big is a relative term; however, the small details in constructing a speech remain the same. Here are some of them:

• Clearly State Your Point of View: It’s important to set the tone for your speech up front. Know what you want the audience to remember about your talk and don’t divert from that key message. After the speech is written and rehearsed with confidants, ask them what they heard. If they don’t respond with the key point you intended, then you need keep editing. Check out a behind-the-scenes look at how the Obama team kept editing today’s speech.
  

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By Aaron Brown, Associate Vice President

I’m wrapping up media relations reporting and measurement for the close of a client’s fiscal year. We look at our own results monthly (using a proprietary 10-point analysis scale) and then go in-depth quarterly to compare ourselves against our top three competitors, so I’m not expecting anything too surprising when I look at the year as a whole. Although, I am expecting a really strong finish to the year thanks to my great b2b media relations team that secured several placements that are surely driving some industry discussion.

I’ve found that the Share of Discussion analysis from VMS is a particularly useful and affordable tool for measuring media relations campaigns well beyond clip counts. Using this tool, we’re looking at the value of our coverage and the issues that are generating industry discussion. If we see an area picking up steam, we’re going to be sure to adjust issue-based pitching to capitalize on that topic. If we see a part of the business that isn’t generating much discussion, we’ll look to find out why and see if we can do anything to get some influencers talking.

Ultimately, the impact of media relations is tough to gauge but easy to scrutinize for many organizations. Big results are desired with tiny budgets available to measure success. I’m fortunate to work with a client organization that invests in measurement so we can accurately gauge performance. It’s our responsibility as account managers and media relations experts to not stop with the results reporting; rather, we must strive to deliver a return on the investment in the form of results analysis and campaign adjustments. Check out how Ed Moed of the Measuring Up blog describes his take on this role.

While everyone likes to win (however you measure, just please don’t let it be clip counts), the best campaigns seek learning just as much as, if not more than, winning. If you use this approach, then the scrutiny from executives is welcome as you can talk strategically about your campaign and where you’re headed. That’s the language they speak.

By Aaron Brown, Associate Vice President

I always get excited when clients want their executives to go through a media relations course because it confirms the importance of this strategy in business management. I like that Steven Sonsino of Bloggeron.com notes that one of the top three reasons why CEOs fail is because they “forget the damage media pressure can cause.”

I recently put together a media relations course for a client and I decided that the most effective way to get my points across is to use insights straight from the horses’ mouths. Don’t worry, members of the media, you’re Triple Crown-winning horses.

I reached out to a small group of some of my favorite business-to-business trade magazine editors to obtain specific insights from them that would be beneficial to the course. It was a non-scientific survey through Zoomerang, and the questions could probably have been more specific; however, the results did confirm some really good tips, tactics and approaches for media relations. Here are tips and insights from the 10 editors/reporters who responded to the short questionnaire:

• Sixty-percent of the editors say their best executive resources always have an opinion worth sharing. While this shouldn’t come as a surprise, it is a reminder that if you want to see your name in print more than once, you’re going to have to be prepared with relevant insights that warrant intrigue from the editor and his or her readers.
• Seven of the 10 editors prefer executive resources who can connect them with additional relevant and informed sources. It’s always good to have a close group of allies who can reinforce or complement the points you’re making.
• If you want to share marketing-centric messages, buy an ad. This group’s biggest pet peeve about interviews? It’s when the so-called expert provides answers that seem as if they were right from a marketing brochure. Bring a unique perspective that is bigger than your product or service, or don’t bother.
• Get in their Rolodex, get noticed and stay relevant. When these B2B writers sit down to start figuring out how they’re going to fill three pages of content, they don’t look too far for resources - they look to their existing contacts first and then the people they see, meet and interact with at industry events. Only one of them starts with news releases when looking for stories. Blogger Glyn Yarnall goes into some more detail about how media relations is more than just a news release.

I’ll save the rest of the specific insights for the media relations course. If you want some more general tips, check out the Publicity Hound for some good perspectives. In the meantime, be sure to use these tips wisely. I’ve promised this group of respondents that the ROI on their time for the survey will be seen in better interviews!

By Aaron Brown, Associate Vice President

It was great to be back at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Monday night speaking with the Ohio University PRSSA chapter. Thanks to the 60-plus students who came to the meeting and participated in the discussion about key attributes of successful public relations professionals.

I was impressed with the chapter’s familiarity with new social media tools. Yet, the lasting impression I took away was the curiosity of the students about the role these tools are playing and will play in public relations. Chapter Vice President Anastasia Pronin is writing a thesis about the authenticity of blogs. Chapter President Paul Maston has members following PRSSA updates on Twitter. Senior member Aaron Baer shared insights of how he played a role in the social media discussion with key executives at an internationally renowned hospital during his summer internship.

This type of curiousity and experimentation, coupled with excellence in traditional public relations skills such as writing, research and analysis, is exactly what’s needed from successful PR pros and their campaigns. A key portion of the discussion last night was about the importance of new ideas and flexibility in today’s public relations campaigns. Regardless of industry, the target audience will always be on the move - on foot or online. We talked about the many ways to stay one step ahead, and how to bring along corporations that may be just warming up to the new role of strategic public relations in maintaining a dialogue with their customers.

In the past 10 days, I’ve been fortunate to talk with more than 100 future PR practitioners who are diving head first into the profession. If they keep up the pace they’re on now and continue to embrace the lessons PRSSA can bring them, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them leading the PR charge in the years ahead.

By Aaron Brown, Associate Vice President

I was fortunate to spend an hour last night in Ada, Ohio, with about 40 future public relations practitioners from Ohio Northern University. It was their first Public Relations Students Society of America (PRSSA) meeting and they had a great turnout - especially freshmen! Those students really have no idea how far ahead they are in the career game just by participating in PRSSA. I hope the students were able to gain some insights that help them understand the role of PR in our world today.

I always learn a lot about the pulse of the budding professionals from meetings such as this one. Students asked some really good questions, such as how to best prepare for what the PR world has in store for them, or what types of mediums they should be using to get their news. I can understand their intrigue because the definition of public relations, which has always been ambiguous, is becoming only more cloudy with the role of social media and consumer-generated content. I was thrilled to hear that ONU’s new visiting professor, Alisa Agozzino, is teaching a class and doing her dissertation on social media. And yes, each of her students is required to blog!

I’ll look forward to hearing more from this great chapter this year. I expect many of them will be applying for our top-notch Founder’s Award Internship. What will the Ohio University PRSSA chapter have in store when I visit them in 10 days…check back to find out.

By Aaron Brown, Associate Vice President

During the past few months, I’ve come to the conclusion that being a successful account manager is largely dependent on being a CIO – a chief integration officer. In my eyes, successful integration translates into happy clients, solid results and growing budgets.

As the public relations industry continues to navigate through the convergence of many mediums and the extinction of others, it’s imperative that account managers always have an eye on integrating disparate parts of their clients’ total communications package. Carol Cone of Cone PR in Boston highlights the importance of this in relation to cause marketing. Here are some tips that I’ve found successful:

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