Having a brand social video strategy around TikTok is a crucial part of connecting with audiences today.

Dropbox’s head of social media, Susan Chang, has been with the software company since 2014, two years longer than TikTok has been in existence. During her time there, she’s had the chance to craft the social media strategy around the short-form video app from its inception.

“It was just undeniable that TikTok was becoming such a popular way to consume content that we couldn’t not be on it anymore,” said Chang, who occasionally guest stars on her brand’s channel. Dropbox joined just two years ago with a cheeky “let’s go” post. Today, the channel regularly pulls in millions of views on individual videos.

Part of Chang’s strategy was to create videos that felt like they belonged on that platform. “As a team, we needed to be smart about understanding the channel and the audience that was there.”

Ahead of her session at Ragan and PR Daily’s Social Media Conference, Chang shared her best advice for TikTok, including how to be authentic, the evolving role of user generated content and ways to engage beyond videos.

Create videos specifically for the platform

It’s important to understand the audience on TikTok. “You might feel that there are some similarities between [TikTok and other short-form video platforms],” said Chang, “however, the audience is different from the audience that’s on Reels.”

Specifically, TikTok videos need to be tuned into the app’s own unique, self-referential culture. “So much of TikTok is responding to what else is happening on TikTok,” said Chang. “You have to react quickly to the new thing that day.”

When videos are recycled across platforms, they feel inauthentic. “When brands do that, it’s very obvious and people (notice).”

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Don’t ignore the comments section

“The comments section is very special,” said Chang. “Sometimes it’s more interesting and entertaining than the actual video.”

TikTok thrives on engagement between video creators, including through the stitch and duet tools. But the comments section is where engagement can thrive. “You can’t just post (and) leave,” said Chang. “Look at what people are saying, how are people reacting to you. Could you be reacting to their reactions?”

Dropbox’s strategy for the TikTok channel now includes best practices around the comments section and is part of their larger community engagement strategy.

“It’s another way for us to interact with our customers. You’ll see other brands pop up [in the comments] on popular TikTok all the time.”

Build a UGC strategy

UGC has become a critical part of Dropbox’s strategy.

“TikTok is a channel where people love to see someone talking to you and having a conversation with you,” said Chang. With that thought in mind, her team vetted micro influencers who had been previously posting content that felt on brand for Dropbox.

“These (were) real customers using Dropbox, in their actual daily lives, talking about how to use it and why they like it,” said Chang. “Having them say that on our behalf (was) more effective than the Dropbox brand saying (the same thing). When you see an actual customer saying something, it feels much more authentic and it helps you see yourself in that customer.”

As an added bonus, it’s allowed the channel to post more regularly.

“It’s been a great way for us to feature customers (and) also create video content at a much more efficient rate than we previously had been.”

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Followers aren’t everything

“Your executives probably ask you ‘How many followers do you have?’” acknowledged Chang. “It’s one of those key metrics that a lot of brands will track. (But) I don’t feel like followers (are) that important to a channel. Discoverability has nothing to do with number of followers on TikTok.”

TikTok’s discoverability model allows relevant videos to appear on viewer’s For You tab even if a user isn’t following the account — which means any video can go viral.

“We want to know that content we’re publishing is doing well with our audience and that people are watching it,” said Chang. Her key metrics include engagement, as well as ROI on video creation.

“With UGC content, our costs to make each video have come down. That’s also something that we track as a business to make sure that we’re investing (correctly).”

Have fun

The short-form video platform turns 8 years old this September and now boasts over 1 billion monthly active users. A trend Chang has noticed is that increased audience means that more and more public figures or celebrities have joined the platform in earnest. (President Biden’s social team just joined in early February.)

“(The audience on TikTok) love to see the authentic sides of people,” said Chang. “You have to be aware of the beats on the platform on the daily.”

Whether those celebrities can adapt to that platform will be something she’s curious to watch. “You (can’t) only post beautifully produced videos or things (that feel) brand approved.“

Remember: in the end, sometimes you just have to give the audience what they want.

@dropbox Replying to @ch226799000 #Dropbox ♬ Cheers and applause(201652) – おでぃ

Join Chang at Ragan and PR Daily’s Social Media Conference on March 27-29. Chang will speak alongside communications leaders from Alaska Airlines, Hyatt, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Intel, AARP, Wendy’s and more.

The post 5 tips for TikTok brand engagement appeared first on PR Daily.

Last year, Ragan and PR Daily launched the Top Women in Marketing Awards to honor and acknowledge the many accomplishments of trailblazing women marketers who continue to elevate the industry with their many successes. The support and encouragement in the room last October, as we celebrated these women, proved just why events like this are so powerful.

Sue Dietrich, marketing director at Stanley Brand and one of the marketing honorees, gave some advice to her younger self during the event:

“Say yes to opportunities that come to you. Say yes to life. Say yes to people, invite them into your world. And at the same time, don’t burn bridges. You never know, in this industry in particular, when those people are going to come back around.”

[RELATED: Do you know a Top Woman in Marketing? Are you one yourself? Nominate by March 15]

To continue honoring these accomplished women, we’ve rounded up a group of the most inspiring acceptance speeches from the awards. As honorees accepted their awards, they answered one of these questions:

• What is the title of your autobiography?
• What is the happiest moment in your life?
• What is one thing you wish you could tell your younger self?

Take a look at these uplifting moments from the inaugural class of Top Women in Marketing and don’t forget to check out the profiles of all the Top Women honorees.

Do you know someone who should be honored as a Top Women in Marketing? The call for entries for the 2024 Top Women in Marketing Awards is open now. Deadline is March 15, 2024 to entry.

Vanessa Mbonu, vice president of Digital Marketing and Communications for the NAACP, is thankful for all the countless opportunities to succeed, fail and learn.

Beril Gutierrez, director of Social Media & Content at Discover The Palm Beaches, discusses the obstacles she has gotten through and what advice she’d give her younger self.

April Augustine, director of Marketing at “Gaming Laboratories International, reminds her younger self that she deserves to be in every room she’s invited to.

Aliah Davis-McHenry, executive Director of Global Corporate Marketing and Creative at Bristol Myers Squibb, explains the personal meaning behind her awards dress and why it propels her forward as a marketer.

Sue Dietrich, marketing director at Stanley Brand, tells her younger self to say “Yes.” (And no, she can’t get you that sold-out Stanley Cup.)

Sharifah Niles-Lane, SVP and head of Enterprise Social Media and Content Strategy at Citizens, titles her autobiography and shares its connection to her family.

Are you a communications or HR professional? You may also want to check out Ragan’s Top Women in Communications Awards and Top Women in HR Awards.

The post Empowering wisdom: Highlights from inaugural Top Women in Marketing Awards appeared first on PR Daily.

Claire Nance, head of Global Industry Marketing and Communications at Activision Blizzard Media, has made it her mission to dispel the outdated and inaccurate stereotypic image of gamers as teens in basements.

“[I] help brand marketers and advertisers understand the opportunities to activate within the gaming space,” Nance explained. “My role is to help educate the industry on gaming and break down some of the misconceptions about it.”

There’s a lot to educate on: The industry delivered $249 billion in revenue in 2023 and is projected to reach $300 billion by 2026. Recent growth has been driven by mobile games, such as Activision’s Candy Crush. The average age of a gamer? Thirty-five, and 48% of gamers are women. All of that is great news for brands hoping to market to this growing audience.

Ahead of her panel at Ragan and PR Daily’s Social Media Conference, Nance shared how a player-first experience is crucial to authentic and immersive connections, the creative ways brands are incorporating marketing placements in VR and gaming experiences, and the breakthrough she’s hoping for in 2024.

Gaming has long been at the forefront of community building in virtual reality and in virtual spaces, especially in MMORPGs like World of Warcraft. How do you nurture those communities?

Nance: Gaming is a very immersive experience. One of the things that we see especially at Activision Blizzard, is the power and the strength of gaming IP and the fandom [around] titles. [Players] develop a really strong emotional connection because playing makes them feel relaxed or it gives them a sense of achievement or adrenaline and excitement – and it also offers a way to connect.

Community within gaming exists both on the platform and off the platform. In [Call of Duty or World of Warcraft], you have it within the game itself where you jump on with your friends and you’re working together as a team. But you also have connections that happen off platform in communities on Reddit, Twitch, Discord, gaming forums and other places where people want to talk about this thing that they’re passionate about.

And this comes down to this idea around passion. We see that even with a game like Candy Crush, which for the most part is a solo player experience. But a community is still being built around it—it may just not be within the game platform itself.

Talking hypothetically for a moment, do you see Web3 and its potential for a decentralized structure affecting community governance in those spaces?

One of the things about games is that it is often the precursor for future technologies, the first entry point that sets the scene for the future technology. A lot of the examples that folks were giving when they were talking about the metaverse [already existed in] gaming. If you want to start to think about, ‘What will the metaverse look like?’ Or: ‘How should I activate in the metaverse in the future?’ Look at how brands and people are [already] interacting in gaming spaces or virtual worlds.

It’s often raised around e-sports in particular. You mentioned collaborations and partnerships, and in the gaming space there’s opportunities for brands and content creators to participate and interact within VR or virtual spaces.

Absolutely. For brands or anyone that’s interested in getting involved in the gaming space, one of the things we always say is to have a player-first mindset. Everything you do should be a positive experience for the player. What that means is no spammy popup ads or awkward product placement. Any kind of activation in that space needs to be authentic to the environment and ideally additive to the player experience. That can be in-game boosters or awards [in Candy Crush] or advertising opportunities within Call of Duty where there might be actual billboards with real life products that help create a sense of immersion. Having [the player] at the core of the experience is really going to help you guide you, whether it’s on mobile, console, or huge, beautiful, bespoke activations.

You called it player-first, but a positive user experience is global. On to one of the hottest topics: do you see any uses for AI, especially generative AI, in the gaming space?

The current opportunity is around optimization, and how [it can] free up more time, brainpower, thinking energy. Of course, anything that makes it easier, faster, better to create games, because making a popular video game is really difficult, both in terms of the actual development of it, but [also when] introducing new IP. It’s not easy to get folks to feel an attachment [to a new franchise] compared to games that have been around for 10 plus years. The other piece is looking at access, and how can we reduce some of those barriers to entry, whether it’s through access via device or access via gameplay, so that more people are playing.

What is something you’re hoping to see in the coming year?

What excites me most is less [about] the technological developments and enhancements. There’s always lots of exciting things happening in that space. [Instead] it’s what I hope will be a shift in the way we talk and think about gamers, the gaming industry and gaming in general. I think we’re ready [to] have a more sophisticated understanding of who the gaming audience is [and] how powerful and impactful the gaming landscape is.

Join Nance at Ragan and PR Daily’s Social Media Conference on March 27-29. Nance will speak alongside communications leaders from Dropbox, Alaska Airlines, Hyatt, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Wendy’s and more.

The post Breaking misconceptions: Immersive marketing within the $249 billion gaming industry appeared first on PR Daily.

You don’t have to look far to recognize the cultural impact and change women are leading in 2023. Women supporting women-led artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are uplifting entire cities’ economies. The “Barbie” movie has become the highest-grossing film of 2023, as well as the highest-grossing film by a female director of all time, in part fueled by the vast, powerful and relatable marketing campaign that accompanied it.

Women have also faced numerous challenges in the marketing industry this year, especially when striving to rise to the top. Global data provided by LinkedIn shows women account for nearly 42% of the workforce in 2023, yet the share of women in senior leadership positions is at just over 32%, and only 25% in the C-suite. In Ragan’s most recent Salary and Workplace Culture Survey, the average base salary of women is $109,148, which is $9,136 less than their male counterparts. While this is progress over the past, it’s clear that there is still much work to be done to break through barriers and biases that women often encounter.

To support the women who are shattering glass ceilings, leveling playing fields and creating opportunities for those following in their footsteps Ragan has launched the PR Daily Top Women in Marketing Awards. These honorees have impacted the performance, reach and awareness of their organizations and inspired those in their professional circles. They work tirelessly to advance the profession while empowering their teams to do their best work and accelerating growth for their organizations.

Judges selected nearly 100 women in nine categories including Agency Leaders, Social Media Marketers and Data/Analytics Leaders to develop a premier list of women leaders who were honored at an in-person event at New York City’s City Winery on Oct. 26.

Congratulations to all of the honorees of our inaugural Top Women in Marketing awards. Let us all continue to support their great efforts in being leaders and their great efforts in moving the industry forward.

Read about just a few of the impressive professionals who made this year’s list:

Alana Visconti

Marking and Communications Director, Publishing and Distribution Strategy, Nasdaq

Alana Visconti embraces change and fuels innovation in marketing. Although she was recently promoted to her marketing and communications role, Visconti spent two years leading Nasdaq’s social media strategy. In just her first year, she expanded content production by 64%, creating more than 4,300 posts that reached 2 billion users. She positioned Nasdaq as a Web3 trailblazer by holding Nasdaq’s historic bell ceremony in the Metaverse, and by leading the launch of an NFT collection, aligned with the tech conference Silicon Slopes 2022. Today she continues to focus on advancing Nasdaq’s partnerships, strategically exploring emerging trends like AI and leading social content with a purpose, all while seeking opportunities to advance ESG initiatives.

Leadership Advice from Visconti: “Dream big! Seek opportunities that are aligned with you and help to support your dreams. Commit to never stop learning and evolving. Always look for ways to take projects, work streams, or roles to a new level.”

Alejandra Caceres

Director of Social Media, Crumbl Cookies

Under Alejandra Caceres’ leadership, Crumbl Cookies’ social media presence has flourished, boosting brand perception, awareness, partnership excitement and, of course, cookie sales. In just six months, her work led to the brand amassing 3.2 million new followers across 14 social media accounts on nine platforms. Also in that time, she spearheaded more than 15 successful social media campaigns, focusing on alignment with target demographics and team collaboration. Caceras’ approach focuses on tailoring content to specific platforms, ensuring that the brand’s content meets consumers where they are, speaks their language and reflects their preferences for engaging with brand accounts.

Lindsay Morgan

Chief Marketing Officer, Pizza Hut U.S.

In a bid to revitalize Pizza Hut’s image and brand in the U.S., 15-year marketing veteran Lindsay Morgan launched a 360-degree marketing campaign that included messaging aimed at younger audiences, contemporary packaging, new food photography and a push into a new category with the introduction of “Melts,” a folded pizza product intended for a single customer. The new product was accompanied by advertising and social media content focused on empowering the individual: Customers were invited to “go solo” and embrace the “World of Me.” The campaign generated more than two billion media impressions across publications, including the websites for Business Insider, CNN, the New York Post and more, and it helped drive a 5% systemwide sales increase for Q4 of 2022.

Maya Wasserman

Head of Marketing and Director of Marketing Communication, Home Entertainment and Sound, Sony Electronics

With more than 12 years at Sony Electronics, Maya Wasserman is no stranger to launching new products, creative storytelling and digital marketing, but her recent work on the launch of LinkBuds headphones and gaming gear brand INZONE shines for its forward-thinking approach and exploration of new channels. For LinkBuds in particular, she developed a mobile-first campaign that spanned social media and the metaverse and incorporated an augmented reality unboxing experience, as well as partnerships with more than 100 influencers, and rising artist Lucky Daye, who worked with the brand to develop an NFT unlocking prizes and real-life experiences. As a result of her work Sony TIME Magazine’s Best Invention of the Year for LinkBuds and a Washington Post Feature surrounding INZONE.

Leadership Advice from Wasserman: “Lead with authenticity and lean into your strengths. Find your own leadership style that works. Also, allow your team to fail and foster an environment of curiosity. Build a culture of ‘test and try’ and let them know it is okay to take calculated risks, and fail, as long as there are learnings from your failures.”

Vanessa Mbonu

Vice President of Digital Marketing and Communications, NAACP

At just 28 years old, Vanessa Mbonu has emerged as a leader at the NAACP and a model for other women in marketing. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, before emigrating to Maryland, Mbonu is an advocate for equity and seeks to uplift women’s voices in her impactful work. She co-produced “UNPCKD,” a virtual event series created in partnership with The Webby Awards that addresses critical issues facing communities of color in online spaces and aims to create a more inclusive internet. Her team’s digital marketing strategy expanded viewership of the NAACP annual Image Awards by more than 70% year over year and increased individual donor contributions. Her work has also resulted in an increase in email list subscribers of more than 30%.

Leadership advice from Vanessa: “Nobody knows exactly how to win 100% of the time. But the few people who have mastered the art of failing fast and pivoting graciously typically end up being the most successful.”

Abby Nelson

Senior Marketing and Communications Specialist, Ascension

Ascension, a prominent non-profit and Catholic health system operating across 19 states with 2,600 care sites, is fortunate to have Abby Nelson on its team. Since her arrival in 2019, Nelson swiftly ascended to a role of immense responsibility as senior marketing and communications specialist. She masterminds marketing strategies for crucial lines of business, such as heart and vascular, brain and spine, orthopedics, sports medicine, and oncology. Nelson’s contributions include the creation of Ascension’s first-ever integrated oncology campaign. Titled “With a plan, comes hope,” this campaign personalized the cancer care journey and highlighted Ascension’s patient-centered approach. It not only aligned with recovery metrics but by December 2022, the campaign garnered 145 million impressions, resulting in more than 8,000 patient engagements. Furthermore, Nelson’s expertise extends to cardiovascular care, where she’s spearheaded a comprehensive campaign spanning TV, online video, and paid search. Her campaigns consistently target high-risk patients and contribute significantly to Ascension’s $28 billion healthcare brand. Her skillful execution, innovative strategies, and patient-centric focus make Nelson a standout figure in the world of healthcare marketing.

Adrienne Cadena

CEO, Havas Street

Adrienne Cadena’s two-decade tenure has driven Havas Street’s growth and reputation. Appointed CEO in 2023, she leads diverse capabilities from large-scale events to sampling campaigns. In 2022, as president, Cadena excelled in creative development and led activations for brands such as Nike, PepsiCo, JPMorgan Chase and LEGO. Notable projects include Merrell’s “More Less” wellness pop-up and a multi-sensory lounge for Norwegian Cruise Line, reaching 18,000 attendees and generating 25,000 social media impressions. The “Welcoming Spirit” campaign for Jim Beam welcomed 70,000 guests at 51 events. Beyond campaigns, Cadena champions diversity and inclusion and has innovative projects in the pipeline. She’s a force outside the office, launching “Run the World Athletics” to empower girls and contributes to The Center for PR. With her strategic leadership and passion, Cadena continues to shape Havas Street’s success in creating meaningful brand experiences.

Kelly Higgins

CMO, Doremus+Co

Under Kelly Higgins’ leadership, Doremus+Co thrives, successfully attracting companies facing transformative change, gaining 10 new clients in the last year, including Meta, AMD and J&J. She spearheaded a successful agency rebrand with a playful visual identity, a new website, and the tagline “Good Company for Complex Brands” while her strategic ads during Advertising Week in Manhattan reinforced Doremus+Co as “Your B2B BFF.” She values empathy in business and focuses on the right opportunities, reducing team stress by focusing on the best prospects best for the company. Higgins ensured Doremus+Co’s presence in a vital Interbrand partnership, contributing to a sector report highlighting B2B brand growth. She was also instrumental in getting Doremus+Co President and Chief Creative Officer Paul Hirsch picked for the prestigious role of Jury President for the first-ever B2B Creative Lions award category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2022. She then made sure he was quoted widely on the creativity and momentum B2B brands are showing around the world. With her B2C approach, Doremus+Co has earned industry accolades, cementing Higgins as a top woman in marketing.

Leadership Advice from Higgins: “It’s a real honor to be recognized as a Top Woman in Marketing. This is a tough industry, often made tougher as a woman. But with the right mix of grit, ingenuity and self-confidence, you’d be amazed at what you can accomplish. It’s been a privilege to build my career working with incredibly talented people to help solve big client challenges. And with all the changes on the horizon — in culture, in tech, in my life — I’m excited to continue this journey.”

Rachel Barek

CEO and co-founder, Said Differently

Rachel Barek of Said Differently has taken an innovative approach to her agency model. After departing from a major marketing firm, Barek expanded Said Differently’s freelance network to 3,000 professionals within a year. She introduced a dynamic approach, focusing on shorter, better-matched talent placements, enhancing client satisfaction. Said Differently’s collaboration with Neiman Marcus led to a remarkable mobile app transformation, improving its rating from 2.5 to 4.5 stars in six months. Due to its success, Falfurrias Capital Partners made a significant investment in Said Differently in September 2022, underscoring the agency’s groundbreaking model. As an openly LGBTQ+ CEO, Barek actively mentors emerging leaders and advocates for reshaping the agency landscape to serve talent better and yield superior results. Her trailblazing spirit and industry impact make her a standout figure in marketing.

Leadership Advice from Barek: “For way too long, agency-side talent has been working within a model that was designed by boomer men. This antiquated design dictated their options for work-life balance. Said Differently’s distributed model is all about trusting and empowering our talent to choose their relationship to work. That means working when they want, the way they want, where they want and on the types of projects that give them the greatest professional satisfaction. Our flexible model is great for women, who over-index as working parents and caregivers. It turns out that when you empower talent to be their best, it’s a win-win for both the talent and the client 100% of the time.”

Sue Burkett

Strategic Marketing Leader, Owens Corning

With more than 40 years of experience in the building materials industry, Sue Burkett’s remarkable achievements go beyond qualifications. She’s championed female consumers’ voices in roofing choices, recognizing their unique preferences. Burkett reshaped the roofing industry by introducing vibrant shingle formulations like Merlot and Aged Copper, appealing to women’s design sensibilities. She created the Shingle Color of the Year, with 2023’s Midnight Plum as the market’s sole purple shingle, lauded by homeowners and contractors alike. Under her leadership, Owens Corning Roofing has earned the Women’s Choice Award for six consecutive years, signifying it as America’s Most Recommended roofing products. Burkett’s strategies in a male-dominated industry have revolutionized the roofing conversation, bridging the gap between roofing and design for women. Her dedication and transformative marketing strategies make her a standout in the field.

Check out all the Top Women in Marketing Profiles.

The post Celebrating the women who are revolutionizing marketing today appeared first on PR Daily.

There are many accomplished women in the field of marketing. They demonstrate strong leadership skills and innovation, playing key roles in shaping marketing strategies and campaigns that achieved significant success. As more women shatter glass ceilings to reach executive positions, their careers have inspired others to follow in their footsteps. For all of their accomplishments and contributions, they should be celebrated.

Join PR Daily and your peers on Thursday, Oct. 26 as the red carpet is rolled out for the Top Women in Marketing Awards luncheon at the City Winery in New York City to celebrate the inaugural class of female marketing leaders.

“This event recognizes all of the hard work that marketers are doing for their organizations and clients to get their message and brand out there,” said Brendan Gannon, senior marketing manager of Ragan and PR Daily’s awards programs. “These awards are a well-deserved opportunity to network, learn and celebrate the great work of these honorees.”

Some of the notable individuals recognized this year include:

Abbie Griffith, U.S. head of operations, health at Edelman — Griffith’s tenure at Edelman started in 2005, when she moved to New York City with two suitcases and big dreams. Today Griffith is managing director and the head of U.S. operations for Edelman’s Health, pioneering Black female leadership for the sector and helping people across the agency fulfill their own dreams.

Angelina Franco, director of brand communications U.S. and global moments at Mars Wrigley — Franco’s strategic prowess and adept navigation of the evolving communications landscape have firmly established Mars Wrigley’s brands as culturally significant and socially impactful. One of Angelina’s notable achievements was her role in transforming Skittles’ Pride campaign. Skittles, known for its commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community, turned its packs grayscale as a symbol of solidarity with the community’s rainbow emblem.

Stefanie Zambelli, director of marketing at Applebee’s Grill + Bar — Zambelli wears many hats. Her day-to-day work includes leading marketing efforts for brand campaigns, defining strategy for the brand marketing calendar, working across Applebee’s cross-functional teams, partnering with field marketing teams and more. Zambelli’s notable campaigns in 2022 included the “Top Gun: Maverick” program, in partnership with Paramount Studios and Fandango, that allowed guests to redeem free movie tickets when dining at Applebee’s.

Sharifah Niles-Lane, SVP, head of enterprise social media and content strategy at Citizens — A trailblazer, Niles-Lane foresight has been instrumental in shaping Citizens’ digital strategies. Her advocacy of emerging channels like TikTok, her orchestration of social media activations for immersive experiences, and her leadership in venturing into the metaverse have propelled Citizens into uncharted territories, demonstrating her capacity to anticipate and capitalize on trends.

Come celebrate these women and more. Register now!

We hope to see you there. And make sure to check out our other award programs regularly and bookmark PRDaily.com/awards.

The post Celebrate ladies who redefine success at the Top Women in Marketing awards event appeared first on PR Daily.

Liquid Death has a very, very unconventional way of responding to haters.

The anti-plastic, sometimes controversial canned beverage brand is known for bringing excitement to parched souls brave enough to sip on their drinks.

A company that encourages consumers to “murder your thirst” and “find a death dealer” near them isn’t afraid to get a bit on the dark side when handling negative comments.

“We’re proudly not for everyone, so we get quite a bit of absurd hate comments from internet trolls,” Greg Fass, VP of Marketing at Liquid Death, told PR Daily. “Most brands would want to hide these comments thinking it would persuade people who actually buy their products to turn against them. We think it’s funny to shine a light on these hate comments to show how ridiculous they are, and our fans actually love us more for it.”

They opted to take the outlandish road of course with the release of “Liquid Death’s Greatest Hates Volume 3,” which they announced on X  this summer. The ‘80s-themed album features 10 “sassy songs” based on hate comments the brand received. Song titles include, “This is Very Demonic,” “Worst Name For A Water Company” and “There’s Not Even Alcohol In It.”

The three Liquid Death albums have amassed over 800,000 streams on Spotify alone.

Fass spoke recently about why their ingenious marketing strategy works.

Know your audience

Fass said that it all boils down to knowing what your audience likes and catering to that.

Liquid Death knows that their massive fan base has a penchant for the crass, the supernatural and the sustainable. They build from there.

“We’ve got this massive fan base of super loyal and loving fans of Liquid Death. We’re talking over 6 million on TikTok and Instagram alone,” Fass said. “They love the humor. They love the fact that we’re… bringing death to plastic bottles,” Fass said of the healthy, sustainable product. “We make our fans laugh over how upset people get over us trying to do good in the world.”

Fass said whatever your messaging is, get it out there.

Fass said that everyone gets hate comments. It’s the response that makes all the difference. Liquid Death saw the negativity as an opportunity to connect more deeply with their fans through music.

“Anytime we get an unhinged comment about our brand, we see that as an opportunity to build brand loyalty with the people that do love us,” he said. “I do think it’s taking that contrarian approach to leveraging the negativity that a brand can get online and flipping that into a positive for a brand.”

Understanding the brand and brand voice helped them to be authentically comical in the album.

Find the right material

Fass said that while its huge fan base far outweighs the negative online comments, they still had plenty of material to use for their latest album.

“This doesn’t constitute as an overwhelming sense of backlash,” Fass said of the negative comments. “We are a massive community of people who love our brand,” Fass said, adding that a lot of the negative commenters don’t “see the bigger picture of Liquid Death.”

Fass said that they don’t like to self-promote, so they go for the negative comments from people who don’t get their brand instead of using positive ones.

Fass says to find the comments, his social media team always engages in social listening.

“(They) constantly got a pulse on everything that is being said about the brand, both positive and negative or neutral,” Fass said. “We‘re constantly going through comments on posts. We’re going through every single DM.”

He added that their customer experience team finds emails and text messages and comments, which all help make up the albums.

“It’s all about having a team that’s dedicated to listening to the internet and finding opportunities where others may not,” Fass said. “Mainly, when we find a great one, we meet about it and we try and figure out what we do with it.”

And the more unhinged, the better, he says.

“Every brand is different. We’re very unique, Fass said. “As with most of the entertainment we put out as a brand, we just hope ‘Greatest Hates’ gets people to laugh. If they end up making some healthier, more sustainable choices as well, that’s awesome.”

While not every brand can take their hate comments and turn them into funny parody music wins, Fass said that while cutting through the noise, find ways to connect more meaningfully with your core audience. Whatever that looks like.

“If people truly love your brand, there are going to be some people that truly hate it. It’s a sign that you’re doing something right,” Fass said. “We’re always trying to flip the script and behave more like a character than a brand.”

Sherri Kolade is a writer at PR Daily. When she is not with her family, she enjoys watching old films, reading and building an authentically curated life. This includes, more than occasionally, finding something deliciously fried. Follow her on LinkedIn. Have a great PR story idea? Email her at sherrik@ragan.com.

The post How Liquid Death stays unhinged and on brand even with the haters appeared first on PR Daily.

In a year marked by challenges and rapid shifts in the communications landscape, PR professionals have demonstrated resilience, creativity and unwavering dedication to their craft. Finalists in Ragan’s PR Daily Awards have risen to the occasion, leveraging their expertise to ensure their work and that of their clients got the attention it deserved.

PR professionals have had to rethink every aspect of their work, from media relations to stakeholder engagement. Their dedication to finding innovative solutions, harnessing the power of technology, and maintaining a steadfast commitment to ethical practices has helped their clients weather the storm. Ragan’s PR Daily Awards recognizes these PR professionals, marketers, agencies, brands and campaigns of the past year.

All of these finalists will be celebrated at the upcoming Ragan’s PR Daily Awards ceremony, held in December at the National Press Club in D.C., where the leaders and trailblazers who have shaped the future of public relations will be honored, and category winners will be announced.

Congratulations to all the finalists for their remarkable achievements.

GRAND PRIZE

PR Campaign of the Year

AARP: Lunar New Year

AARP: Mann Family Experience Tour

GOLD PR: Launching a New EVOlution in Vision Correction

Instacart: Instacart Health

Kenvue: Launching Kenvue: A brand-new 135-year-old company

McCormick for French’s Ketchup: French’s Ketchup Ice Pop

Schmidt Public Affairs: Schmidt PA – NOPAIN Act Campaign

Technica Communications: Technica Communications

Wasserman: The Successful Effort to Bring Brittney Griner Home

CAMPAIGNS BY INDUSTRY

Arts, Entertainment and Media Campaign

Fender Musical Instruments Corp.: American Vintage II

Hallmark Media Communications Team: 2022 Countdown to Christmas Media Campaign

LaRue: LaRue

Education Campaign

Bellevue University: Tuesday Takeaways Education Campaign

Bellevue University: Tuesday Takeaways Influencer

NC State College of Veterinary Medicine: Shaping the Future of Veterinary Medicine

The Archer School for Girls: The Archer School for Girls x James Dyson Foundation: Teardown Tuesday

Finance/Banking Campaign

Amplify Credit Union: Amplify Credit Union exceeds metrics following one year of fee-free banking

Citizen Relations: Coast Capital Talk Money to Me

Lincoln Financial Group: Start Asking Advertising Campaign

Food and Beverage Campaign

5WPR: 5WPR x Brewing the American Dream

Almond Board of California: Almond Month 2023

Crowe PR: Crowe PR x Skrewball Whiskey 100ml Can Launch

HelloFresh: Buddy the Elf Spaghetti presented by HelloFresh

Jackson Spalding: A Partnership Powered by Pure Joy: Mendocino Farms X La La Land Kind Café

McCormick for French’s Ketchup: French’s Ketchup Ice Pop

O’Malley Hansen Communications: Old Wisconsin Sausage Celebrates 75 Years

Pizza Hut: Pizza Hut Melts are Not For Sharing

Popeyes: Blackened Chicken Sandwich

Quaker/Cap’n Crunch: Cap’n’s Commute

Hospitality and Tourism Campaign

5WPR: 5WPR x Harvest Hosts Aleblazer

Carnival Cruise Line: Carnival Celebration Christening is the Icing on the Cake of Carnival Cruise Line’s Year-long 50th Birthday Party

Discover The Palm Beaches: The Golden Age of Travel

Hilton: 2023 Global Trends Report

TimeZoneOne: Illinois: The Middle of Everything

Professional Services Campaign

CSAA Insurance Group: Rick Astley PR Campaign

Greentarget Global Group: BRG M&A Disputes Research Report

Retail Campaign

Diffusion PR: As DTC Dies, Burrow Blossoms – Burrow x Diffusion

Diffusion PR: Reframing the Eyewear Game – Eyebuydirect with Diffusion

Old Navy: Old Navy – Price ON-Lock Launch

Sports Campaign

Athelo Group (Athlete/Sports Management + Communications): “Frankie in the Fastlane:” Child Star Frankie Muniz’s Reinvention Into a Pro Racecar Driver

DIAGEO / CÎROC: CÎROC Vodka Celebrates Black Excellence in Sports Media with #CIROCStands Platform During Super Bowl LVII

French/West/Vaughan: Steph Curry’s Underrated Golf Tour: Changing the Future of Golf through Equity, Access and Opportunity

Wasserman: The Successful Effort to Bring Brittney Griner Home

Technology and Information Services Campaign

Diffusion PR: Capturing Content and Competitors – Diffusion and GoPro

Hotwire and Adobe: Hotwire and Adobe Deck the Halls with Record-Breaking Media Results

IW Group: McDonald’s Lunarverse

Peppercomm: Rosenberg Space Habitat

GENERAL CAMPAIGNS

B2B Campaign

Channel V Media: Breaking BreezoMeter into the U.S. Market and Carving a Spot in the Media for Climate Tech

Crenshaw Communications: A Hot Brand In A Small Sector, Chili Piper Makes Its Mark On The World

Jackson Spalding: Agnes Scott College Demonstrates How Businesses Win Through Strategic Partnerships

Mouser Electronics, Inc.: Empowering Innovation Together

O’Malley Hansen Communications: Manna Pro Products Rebrands to Compana Pet Brands

Sage Communications: SpyCloud Brand Awareness and Thought Leadership Campaign

B2C Campaign

CSAA Insurance Group: Rick Astley PR Campaign

Kaspersky: Kaspersky-Parents campaign

Lincoln Financial Group: Start Asking Advertising Campaign

Brand Journalism

Nissan Motor Corporation: Brad Nevin

PepsiCo: PepsiCo’s “People of PepsiCo” series

TD: TD Stories

T-Mobile: Love in the Time of Texting

VCA Animal Hospitals: Sammy and the Landslide

Vizient, Inc.: 2022 in Review: Lessons Learned in Supply Assurance Lead to Increased Collaboration, Ingenuity

Branding Campaign

ECMC Group: ECMC Group Elevates Student Voices with its Question the Quo Campaign

Kenvue: Launching Kenvue: A brand-new 135-year-old company

Cause-Related Marketing Campaign

DIAGEO / CÎROC: CÎROC Vodka Celebrates Black Excellence in Sports Media with #CIROCStands Platform During Super Bowl LVII

DIAGEO North America: Johnnie Walker Red Carpet Strides

French/West/Vaughan: CCA NC Save Our Fisheries Marketing Campaign

Jackson Spalding: L.L.Bean Goes “Off the Grid” for Mental Health Awareness Month

MyWhy Agency: Give Big, Get LIT: Bridging the Gap Between Literacy and Storytelling

Community Relations Campaign

DDC Public Affairs: Build With Strength

GENYOUth: Mission 57: End Student Hunger

Humana: Honoring Senior Athletes at the 2022 National Senior Games: The Humana Game Changers

Mouser Electronics, Inc.: STEM Education – Community Outreach

PepsiCo Juntos Crecemos: PepsiCo Juntos Crecemos x Super Bowl 2023

Prudential Financial: Prudential Emerging Visionaries

Content Marketing Initiatives

Florida Realtors®: + Photofy

Ivanti: Press Reset: A 2023 Cybersecurity Status Report

Dallas ISD: This is Home

Corporate Communications Campaign

BVI Medical: OneBVI

Eaton: Powering what matters: Eaton’s 100 years on the NYSE

FORVIS: The FORVIS Way

GE HealthCare: GE HealthCare Founders Day

Instacart: Instacart Health

Kenvue: Launching Kenvue: A brand-new 135-year old company

Covid-19 Communications Campaign

Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care: COVID-19 Vaccination Under 5 Campaign

TimeZoneONe: All In Illinois ‘On The Fence’ Campaign

VANCE/SIDDALL: Virginia is for Helpers: COVID-19 Ambassadors Program

Crisis Strategy

Dallas ISD: A crisis response to the Robb Elementary School tragedy

University Health: University Health’s Public Relations Response to the Uvalde School Shooting

Wasserman: The Successful Effort to Bring Brittney Griner Home

DE&I Communications

Atrium Health, Now Part of Advocate Health: Atrium Health’s Online Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Calendar

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation: Chesapeake Utilities Corporation Black History Month Commemoration

DIAGEO / CÎROC: CÎROC Vodka Celebrates Black Excellence in Sports Media with #CIROCStands Platform During Super Bowl LVII

Experience Columbus: Accessibility Guide

FTI Strategic Communications: Tailored Brands DE&I Mobilization

Otter PR: Wynne Nowland

TD: TD Stories

Email Communications

Completely KIDS: Circles email

Identity: Email Communications Lead the Launch of Spartan Storage Fund 1

Mouser Electronics, Inc.: Purchasing Resource Library

Employer Branding

BVI Medical: Eyeconic

BVI Medical: OneBVI

Hager Companies: Hager Companies Brand Awareness

Hotwire Global Communications: Trolling Millions of TV Viewers with an Ostentatious Demonstration of Work-Life Balance at Televised MLB Games Before Summing It All Up in Fast Company

Infosys Limited: Forward with Infosys

Infosys Limited: International Women’s Day 2023

Media Profile: 3K Work Away

SPX FLOW: Solution City

ESG Communications

Consolidated Asset Management Services (CAMS): CAMS ESG Program

DDC Public Affairs: Voices for Public Transit

FTI Strategic Communications: Abercrombie & Fitch Materiality Assessment and ESG Goal-setting

Geotab Inc.: Geotab: Unlocking the Power of Data for a Sustainable Future

Hotwire and Delphix: Planting the Foundation for a Sustainability Nonprofit with a Foundational Network of IT Leaders

Infosys Limited: ESG Is An Opportunity

Votorantim Cimentos: 2022 Integrated Report

Event PR or Marketing Campaign

Audible: Audible Sound Studio

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation: RNG Facility Groundbreaking

Cloud Native Computing Foundation: KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2023

French/West/Vaughan: FWV Secures Record-Breaking Media Interest for Global Pet Expo 2023

Green Giant with Gillian Small PR: Green Giant Partners with Corn Kid to Make Corn the Star of the Thanksgiving Table (and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!)

Illinois Office of Tourism: Travelers, start your engines for the Enjoy Illinois 300!

Pizza Hut: World’s Largest Pizza

Prudential: Prudential x Curtain Up!

Stanley and Kaplow Communications: Stanley Brings its Digital Hype to IRL in Partnership with Kaplow Communications

T-Mobile: We’re Not Going to Take It!

Financial Communications/Investor Relations

Citizen Relations: Coast Capital Talk Money to Me

Eaton: Powering what matters: Eaton’s 100 years on the NYSE

Lincoln Financial Group: Start Asking Advertising Campaign

Global PR Campaign

Mouser Electronics, Inc.: Expansion of Global Distribution Center

Sotheby’s International Realty: Sotheby’s International Realty Luxury Outlook Report

Influencer Campaign

CeraVe: CeraVe Cleans Up Cleansing Confusion on Social Media and Shows Consumers How to #CleanseLikeaDerm

Cisco Systems: Cisco Live Amsterdam 2023 Social Media Influencer Program

ECMC Group: Connecting with Gen Z on pathways after high school

French/West/Vaughan: APPA’s Pets Add Life Influencer Campaign Reminds Consumers to “Recharge” with Pets

Hooters of America: Innovative Hooters Offensive Lineman Influencer Campaign Connects Unsung Heroes to Brand Fans

Mars Pet Nutrition: Pedigree Gasolin

Mars Wrigley: Snickers Insurance

McDonald’s USA: McDonald’s Celebrating World Cup “Latinisms” with Marcello Hernández

Westchester County Tourism & Film: Westchester: Beyond the Everyday

Integrated PR & Marketing

Almond Board of California: Almond Month 2023

American Cleaning Institute: Class of Clean: The College Student’s Guide To Cleaning

Bayer Consumer Health: Alka-Seltzer and T-Pain Help Hangover Symptoms Fizzle

CCOMGROUP INC.: Neutrogena’s Make A Splash Campaign

Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages: CCSWB 2023 Hiring Campaign

Harper Muse: Without a Hitch Book Launch

Hilton: Hilton. For the Stay

Narrative: KFC Buckets are Life

The Alzheimer’s Association: Music Moments

Valley Water: Say Yes to Saving Water

Marketing Campaign

Avocados From Mexico: Super Bowl Campaign

French/West/Vaughan: APPA Encourages Consumers to “Recharge” with New Campaign for Pets Add Life

Media Pitch

Aurora Health Care: Dancing Grannies Media Pitch

Baldwin & Obenauf, Inc. (BNO): The Media Pitch Heard Throughout the Industry

Defense Intelligence Agency: DIA Corporate Comms

Northeastern University: “Polly Wants a Video Chat”

United States Postal Service: Power of the Postmaster

Media Relations Campaign

ADP: Leading Labor Market Data

Breakaway Communications: PR 101 to PR 1001 in One Year: Media Relations Win for Phenom

Carnival Cruise Line: Carnival Celebration Christening is the Icing on the Cake of Carnival Cruise Line’s Year-long 50th Birthday Party

City of Hope Orange County: Hope Is Here

Consumer Attorney Public Relations (CAPR): Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC)

Diffusion PR: As DTC Dies, Burrow Blossoms – Burrow x Diffusion

Instacart: Instacart Health

Kenvue: Launching Kenvue: A brand-new 135-year-old company

M Booth: Behr’s 2023 Color of the Year

Marathon Strategies: U.S. Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Fund

Mars Pet Nutrition: Pedigree Gasolin

Palin Communications: Reshaping Australia’s attitude to death, dying and end-of-life planning: Dying to Know Day 2022

Schmidt Public Affairs: Schmidt PA – NOPAIN Act Campaign

Sēd: Bare Zero Proof: Changing the state of sober socializing

Signify: Shining a Spotlight on Philips Hue in 2022

Treble Public Relations: Treble

Mixternal Campaign

DDC Public Affairs: Norton Healthcare Engage

Inova: Safe@Inova – Workplace Safety Awareness Campaign

SPX FLOW: Solution City

Multicultural Campaign

AARP: Lunar New Year

Amazon: Living La Vida Prime Telenovela

H&S: Rémy Martin Mixtape Vol. 3

McDonald’s USA: McDonald’s Celebrating World Cup “Latinisms” with Marcello Hernández

McDonald’s USA: Spotlight Dorado: McDonald’s Empowers Latino Filmmakers

TimeZoneONe: All In Illinois ‘On The Fence’ Campaign

Nonprofit Campaign

Jackson Spalding: Shepherd Center: Pursuing Possible

Palin Communications: Reshaping Australia’s attitude to death, dying and end-of-life planning: Dying to Know Day 2022

Planit: SECU MD Foundation 2023 Scholarship Awards

Segal Communications: Building a PR Toolkit for Community Science Initiatives

Susan Davis International: National Desert Storm Memorial Groundbreaking

The Archer School for Girls: The Archer School for Girls x James Dyson Foundation: Teardown Tuesday

The Home Depot Foundation with Big Red Rooster, MSL, PullSpark and Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis: Operation Surprise 2022

Original Research

BlackBerry Limited: ChatGPT Original Research

City of Houston Housing and Community Development Department: Affordable Housing Research and Report

Fors Marsh: Using Quick-Turn Survey Results to Inform a COVID-19 Public Education Campaign

Ivanti: Press Reset: A 2023 Cybersecurity Status Report

LevLane Advertising: Understanding Consumer Behavior During Inflation: Leveraging Original Research for Successful PR Campaign

Marathon Strategies: Corporate Verdicts Go Thermonuclear

Sotheby’s International Realty: Sotheby’s International Realty Luxury Outlook Report

PR on a Shoestring Budget

H&S: Teletubbies x Christian Cowan Capsule Collection

Luxome: Luxome “Cozies” Up to Tastemakers with Giftable Product Suite

The Archer School for Girls: The Archer School for Girls x James Dyson Foundation: Teardown Tuesday

Pro Bono Campaign

Montieth & Company: Project: Making St. Louis a Second-Chance Destination for Afghan Refugees

Next PR: Brewability Campaign

Product Launch

AXE: Axe Fine Fragrance Collection Launch

Black Tomato: Black Tomato x 007

Bobcat: Bobcat CONEXPO Product Launch

Florida Realtors: + Photofy

GOLD PR: Launching a New EVOlution in Vision Correction

HelloFresh: Buddy the Elf Spaghetti presented by HelloFresh

Kaplow: quip and Kaplow Communications Make a Splash with the Rechargeable Cordless Water Flosser Launch

Pizza Hut: Pizza Hut Melts are Not For Sharing

TEAM LEWIS: Schneider Electric x Life Is On

Unistellar: Unistellar eQuinox 2 Smart Telescope Launch: Leveraging the World’s Most Influential Tech Show to Capitalize on Media Connection and Drum Up Product Interest

Public Affairs Campaign

AAA – The Auto Club Group: Move Over for Me

Big Communications: Winning ‘Big’ with The Game Plan

Instacart: Instacart Health

Marathon Strategies: Creating Awareness to Protect Millions of Taxpayers From a Tsunami of IRS Tax Forms

Marino PR: Innovation QNS

Raffetto Herman Strategic Communications: CHIPS Campaign: Supporting Intel’s Investment in U.S. Semiconductor Manufacturing & CHIPS and Science Act Passage

Schmidt Public Affairs: Schmidt PA – NOPAIN Act Campaign

Public Service Campaign

Alliance for Automotive Innovation & Forbes Tate Partners: Pediatric Heatstroke Awareness Campaign

iQ 360: Protect Your Pack: Hawaii Department of Health Promotes Bivalent Boosters

Marathon Strategies: Knowledge on the Ballot: Educating and Empowering Voters On Alaska’s North Slope

TimeZoneONe: All In Illinois ‘On The Fence’ Campaign

Re-branding or Re-positioning Campaign

BVI Medical: Website

Grainger: Grainger Business Resource Group Re-Branding

Harris County Resources for Children and Adults: Rebranding

Identity: Rebranding Pentastar Aviation to Soar to New Heights

Kenvue: Launching Kenvue: A brand-new 135-year-old company

Lantheus: Lantheus—A new purpose comes to life

Montieth & Company: Conifer Systems Website and Rebranding

O’Malley Hansen Communications: Manna Pro Products Rebrands to Compana Pet Brands

Social Media Campaign

Cisco: Cisco Live

Dallas ISD: Dallas ISD YouTube

ECMC Group: Connecting with Gen Z on pathways after high school

IW Group: Marvel Studios + Disney

IW Group: McDonald’s Lunarverse

Kenvue: Launching Kenvue: A brand-new 135-year-old company

Mouser Electronics, Inc.: Elevating Instagram Engagement

Novartis Pharmaceuticals with BCW: Telling the Heart Failure Story on TikTok

Storytelling Initiatives

Baldwin & Obenauf, Inc. (BNO): Patient Support and Advocacy Through Storytelling

Cherokee Nation: Anadisgoi: The Official News of the Cherokee Nation

Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages: Recognition Roadtrip: Internal Communications with Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages

TimeZoneONe: All In Illinois ‘On The Fence’ Campaign

Wells Fargo: Doing Gets it Done: Building Trust One Story at a Time

Thought Leadership Communications

Havas Formula: RE/MAX CEO Thought Leadership

Mindgruve: First Horizon Bank Corporate Communications Campaign

Mission Partners: Advancing Social Justice Through Thought Leadership

Prudential: Prudential Pulse

Sēd: Bare Zero Proof: Changing the state of sober socializing

T-Mobile: Project 10Million CEO Thought Leadership Campaign

UC Davis Health: CEO of UC Davis Health

VANCE/SIDDALL: Putting the Crisis in Context: Virginia Doctors Lend their Voices to Public Health

Use of Data and Measurement

Diffusion PR: The Streaming Wars: Phenix x Diffusion Tackle Unfortunate Reality of Streaming Delays from the 2023 Super Bowl

TimeZoneONe: All In Illinois ‘On The Fence’ Campaign

Video Campaign

ASTM International: Why ASTM?

French/West/Vaughan: 2022 Military Limited Edition: We’ve Got Your 6 Campaign

IBS Software: IBS Software’s 25th Anniversary

Takeda: Takeda: Where Science Is

TimeZoneONe: All In Illinois ‘On The Fence’ Campaign

VCA Animal Hospitals: VCA Voice 100

Visual Storytelling Initiatives

DDC Public Affairs: Voices for Public Transit

Mulberry MC: Sofidel Ocean Pollution Infographic

TimeZoneONe: All In Illinois ‘On The Fence’ Campaign

HEALTHCARE PR AND MARKETING

Healthcare Marketing Campaign of Year

Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care: Cold, Flu and COVID Virtual Health Social Media Campaign

Cape Fear Valley Health: Cape Fear Valley Kristin’s Transformation (Bariatric Surgery Campaign)

Jackson Spalding: How One Georgia Peach is Helping 2.7 Million Medicaid Members Stay Informed About Their Health Care Coverage

Healthcare PR Campaign of the Year

American Medical Association: Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians

Biote: Menopause Awareness: Impact in the Workplace

CSL Seqirus and Palin Communications: Raising awareness of influenza in Australia

GOLD PR: Launching a New EVOlution in Vision Correction

Pacira BioSciences, Inc.: Smashing Records with iovera° at the National Senior Games

Raffetto Herman Strategic Communications: Elevating Interim HealthCare’s Jennifer Sheets as the Home Health Industry’s Champion

Schmidt Public Affairs: Schmidt PA – NOPAIN Act Campaign

SGA: Lexie Hearing Captures OTC Hearing Aid Market

UC Davis Health: Cultivating Health Blog

VCA Animal Hospitals: Pet Rehab Week

PEOPLE AND TEAMS

Team of the Year

Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care: Multi-Channel Health Care Communications Experts

City of Hope Orange County: Hope is Here

Curaleaf: Curaleaf’s Marketing Team – Expanding Entry Points for New Cannabis Consumers With Launch of JAMS Edibles Brand

FORVIS, LLP: FORVIS Strategic Communications Team

Sotheby’s International Realty PR Team: Sotheby’s International Realty

PR Agency of the Year

BODEN Agency

CCOMGROUP INC

Comprise

Coyne PR: Better 2gether

Factory PR

French/West/Vaughan

Global Strategy Group

Identity

Luquire: Luquire’s PR Team

PAN Communications: We Move Ideas Together.

ROKK Solutions

Sling & Stone

The Bliss Group

Communicator of the Year

Linda Goldstein: CSAA Insurance Group

Amanda Feich: The Fletcher Group

David Oksman: Samsonite

Nicole Pappas: Clyde Group

Gemma Puglisi: American University

Veronica Rodriguez-Greene: H&S

Rachel Rosenblatt: FTI Consulting

Mustafa Tameez: Outreach Strategists

PR EVENTS (LIVE OR VIRTUAL)

Community Event

919 Marketing: Diapers to Dorms Dash Campaign

AARP: Mann Family Experience Tour

DDC Public Affairs: Norton Healthcare Engage

Narrative: Converse Soundskates

Employee Event

DDC Public Affairs: Norton Healthcare Engage

French/West/Vaughan: French | West | Vaughan Celebrates 25 Years of Client Success

Kenvue: Launching Kenvue: A brand-new 135-year old company

Influencer Event

Cisco Systems: Cisco Live Amsterdam 2023 Social Media Influencer Program

Prudential: The Budgetnista: Black Wealth Aspirations

siggi’s yogurt: siggi’s – less sets you free

Press Event or Media Tour

French/West/Vaughan: Wrangler Taps Long Standing AOR French/West/Vaughan to Celebrate 75th Anniversary with Riveting Western Press Trip

Identity: A Tour Bus Intro to Motown Museum’s Motortown Revue Anniversary Installation

Lightspeed PR/M: American Dream

MSC Cruises: MSC Cruises <3 New York – Brand’s Takeover of the Big Apple

Pollock Communications: Sixth International Scientific Symposium on Tea and Human Health

Prudential: Prudential x Curtain Up!

PODCASTS, PUBLICATIONS AND MORE

Report

Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Impact Report

Children’s Health: Children’s Health Debuts “People Report” to Showcase the Children’s Health Difference for Current and Prospective Employees

Elevate: Elevate 2022 Annual Impact Report

Geotab Inc.: Geotab: Unlocking the Power of Data for a Sustainable Future

Identity: Aimbridge Accelerates: A Report for the ALIS Hospitality Conference

MD Anderson Cancer Center: MD Anderson Cancer Center’s FY22 Annual Report

Newsletter

Completely KIDS: Circles newsletter

Dallas ISD: The Beat

Optum: Monthly Insider

Podcast

DDC Public Affairs: Build With Strength

Novant Health: Podcast: Beating Incurable

Pollock Communications: The Good Clean Nutrition Podcast

Sterling Communications: Own a Podcast, Own the Conversation:  Sterling Communications and Health2047’s So You Want To Transform Healthcare Podcast

The Conference Board: CEO Perspectives

T-Mobile: Mobile Diaries Podcast

VCA Animal Hospitals: VCA Voice Podcast

Print Publication

Cherokee Nation: Anadisgoi: The Official News of the Cherokee Nation

Consult-Master, LEC & Vittore: Anuário ORIGEM LATAM 2022

PRSA: 75 Years of Impact and Influence: People, Places and Moments in Public Relations History

UC Davis Health: Health Magazine

UC Davis Health: UC Davis School of Medicine 2022 Year in Review

Website

BVI Medical: Website

Fors Marsh: We Can Do This Website

Kenvue: Launching Kenvue: A brand-new 135-year-old company

Nissan Motor Corporation: Brad Nevin

Nixon Peabody LLP: Nixon Peabody Digital Transformation

The Conversation: The Conversation

The post Ragan’s PR Daily Awards finalists announced: See the full list appeared first on PR Daily.

PR Daily’s Top Women in Marketing recognizes the trailblazing achievements of the women who have raised the bar for the rest of the marketing world, developing high-performance, relentlessly creative work across advertising and marketing.

Today, we are delighted to announce our 2023 class.

These women develop innovative and impactful creative work, pioneer high-performance strategies for brands, agencies and organizations, and pave the way for other women and underrepresented communities to take up the torch and join in. PR Daily’s 2023 Top Women in Marketing have leveraged their networks, influence and experience to solve today’s most pressing challenges, reach new audiences and empower those whose voices often go unheard.

From top communications leads at agencies to analytics aces, these women have demonstrated the ability to unlock new opportunities and generate impact across diverse domains through cutting-edge tactics and tools. They are leaders, mentors and champions — and the driving force behind positive change in the marketing landscape. We proudly honor their work and accomplishments.

Read on for the full list of 2023 inductees and click here to learn how you can join us for a special awards ceremony on Oct. 26, 2023.

Congratulations to PR Daily’s 2023 Top Women in Marketing

Agency Leaders

Demar Anderson, Senior Vice President, Marketing + Business Development, Allison+Partners

Rachel Barek, CEO and Co-Founder, Said Differently

Kelly Higgins, Chief Marketing Officer, Doremus+Co

Jessica Becker, Managing Partner, US & Canada, Manifest

Kara Brown, Chief Executive Officer, LeadCoverage

Adrienne Cadena, CEO, Havas Street, Havas Formula

Abbie Griffith, U.S. Head of Operations, Health, Edelman

Katherine Hollar Barnard, Managing Partner and CEO, Firesign Marketing

Tatiana Lyons, Managing Director, Klick Health

Rebecca Nunez, CEO, The MRN Agency

Debra Pickett, Founder and Principal Consultant, Page 2 Communications

Laura Smith, Executive Vice President, Client Services, Racepoint Global

René Spellman, Chief Impact Officer, Obsidianworks

Sharon Tallach Vogelpohl, President & CEO, MHP/Team SI

Donna Tobin, Global Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, DDB Worldwide

Heather Torreggiani, Founding Partner, The Scratch Collective

Gabrielle Zucker, Chief Executive Officer, KWT Global

Brand Marketers

Nicole R. Braley, Chief Marketing Officer, Inception Fertility

Lisa Campbell, Chief Marketing Officer, OneTrust

Jenn Carson, Manager, Social Media & Digital Marketing, Krasdale Foods/ Alpha 1 Marketing

Maria Colon, Vice President, Marketing and Customer Experience, De’Longhi America

Erika Constantine, Associate Vice President, Marketing, Discover The Palm Beaches

Maggie Curry, VP Brand Marketing, Kendall-Jackson Winery

Aliah Davis-McHenry, Executive Director Corporate Marketing Corporate Communications, Bristol Myers Squibb

Jennifer Denton, Chief Marketing Officer, SHE Media

Sue Dietrich, Marketing Director, Stanley Brand

Jessica Dixon, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, MIND 24-7

Angelina Franco, Director, Brand Communications U.S. and Global Moments, Mars Wrigley

Linda Goldstein, Chief Marketing Officer, CSAA Insurance Group

Jenna Habayeb, Chief Marketing Officer, IPSY

Julie Hernandez, Vice President, Gout Marketing, Horizon Therapeutics

Kari Herrin, Senior Vice President, Brand Experience, Savannah College of Art and Design

LaQuita Howard, Marketing Manager, League of Women Voters

Helene Imperiale, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Call of Duty Endowment Marketing, Activision Blizzard/Call of Duty Endowment

Joy Jarrett, CMO, Guidehouse

Kathleen Kaag, SVP of Marketing, Loadsmart

Jill Kouri, Chief Marketing Officer, HCLTech

Lauren Mannetti, Vice President, Marketing, GNC

Lindsay Morgan, Chief Marketing Officer, Pizza Hut

Megan Newton, Senior Director of Brand Marketing and Digital Media, San Diego State University

Zahra Nurani, Vice President of Marketing Communications, Burger King

Kaylan Rexer, Chief Marketing Officer, Ilegal Mezcal

Kristin Russel, Chief Marketing Officer, symplr

Deborah Sabo, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Food Lion, LLC

Joanna Scholl, Senior Vice President Marketing, Branding and Digital Content, The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY)

Julie Seman, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, Primerica

Alison Urmini, VP Marketing, Jackson Family Wines

Maya Wasserman, Head of Marketing, Home Entertainment and Sound, Sony Electronics, Sony Electronics

Amber White, VP of Marketing, Phillips Connect

Stefanie Zambelli, Director of Marketing, Applebee’s Grill + Bar

Content Marketers

Marissa Beck, Senior Director, Brand and Content, North America, Mars

Sue Burkett, Strategic Marketing Leader, Owens Corning

Barrie Gruner, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Publicity, Hulu Originals, Hulu

Lainey Johnson, Americas Head of Brand and Media, EY

Sarah Ledger, Assistant Vice President – Marketing and Communications, Cambridge Investment Research, Inc.

Sheila Sarkozi Stevens, Partner Marketing Manager, RepairPal

Kelly Warkentien, Senior Creative Director, Merrell

Erin Weir, Executive Vice President, Marketing Strategy, ABC & General Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company

Data/Analytics Leaders

Leslie Alore, Global Vice President of Growth Marketing, Ivanti

Melissa Hendricks, CMO, Verisk

Melissa Watson, Vice President of Marketing Data Platforms and Analytics, Providence

Marketers to Watch (Age 30 and Under)

Ashley DeJonge, Digital Marketing Associate, Riddell

Sabiha Gire, Assistant Vice President Creative Services, Outreach Strategists

Gia Lee, Co-Founder, NinetyEight

Vanessa Mbonu, Vice President, Digital Marketing and Communications, NAACP

Kerry Mullen, Vice President, Vested

Abby Nelson, Senior Marketing and Communications Specialist, Ascension

Maeli Niebles, Senior Digital Marketing Manager, Native Roots Cannabis Co.

Product Marketers

Diana Chan, Chief Marketing Officer, MOLLI Surgical

Corinna Fulton, Vice President, Solutions Marketing, Ivanti

Rachelle Graham, Vice President Marketing/Communications, UPMC Health Plan

Meagan Keane, Director of Product Marketing, Adobe

Elizabeth Magill, VP, Marketing, Cyara

Social Media Marketers

Alejandra Caceres, Director of Social Media, Crumbl Cookies

Beril Gutierrez, Director, Social Media & Content, Discover The Palm Beaches

Jennifer McDonnell, Vice President, Content & Social Media, Reshift Media

Sharifah Niles-Lane, SVP, Head of Enterprise Social Media and Content Strategy, Citizens

Alana Visconti, Director, Social Media, Listings, Nasdaq

Jamie Whalen, Director, Social Media, Ivanti

Team Leaders

Elizabeth Delhagen, Global Head of Communications & Events, Samsung Electronics

Jane Griffin, Regional Vice President, Marketing & Communications, Trinity Health

Marnie Mitchell Keogh, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Magellan Health

Kristi Melani, CMO & GTM Strategy, Telesign

Sukhmani Mohta, Chief Marketing Officer, Display Division, Samsung Electronics America

Erica Morgenstern, Chief Marketing Officer, Virgin Pulse

Kathy Parker, President & Global Chief Marketing Officer, Bacardi – PATRÓN Tequila & Grey Goose Vodka

Ashley Pollard, Senior Director, Marketing and Communications, Ascension

Jennifer Renaud, Chief Marketing Officer, Masonite

Melanie Siewert, Chief Marketing Officer, CellPoint Digital

Rhonda Sloan, Global Head of Sales & Marketing, AIG Travel

Caryn Stancik, Chief Communications & Marketing Officer, Cook County Health

Shoma Thomas, Chief Marketing Officer, WellSky

Katie Townsend, SVP Marketing and Communications, Seattle Kraken

Sarah Wise, Senior Vice President, Brand and Creative Services, AmeriLife

Lisa Wolleon, Executive Vice President, Coyne PR

Tech/Digital Marketers

April Augustine, Director of Marketing, Gaming Laboratories International (GLI)

Shweta Ponnappa, Chief Marketing and Digital Experience Officer, Providence

The post These are PR Daily’s 2023 Top Women in Marketing appeared first on PR Daily.

We’re looking to recognize and celebrate talented communicators like you. Do you have an impressive campaign, project or initiative that captivated and engaged audiences, boosted sales and lifted a brand? Share your success by entering the PR Daily Awards, a prestigious awards program that recognizes the top PR, marketing and social media campaigns worldwide.

The PR Daily Awards shine a spotlight on the increasing influence of communications in all sectors of the marketplace, and we want to celebrate your achievements. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a rising star, we invite you and your team to share your best work with your peers in categories like industry campaigns, video, podcasts, publications, PR events, social media communications, people and teams, general campaigns and much, much more.

Join the growing list of winners and gain recognition alongside industry leaders like L’Oréal, Keurig Dr Pepper, Target, NBCUniversal, Lincoln Financial Group, Lockheed Martin, Ruder Finn, Conde Nast and March of Dimes. So don’t hesitate to submit your entry to the PR Daily Awards today. The deadline to enter is May 12! Let’s honor your achievements and recognize your contributions to the field of communications.

This is THE program for talented communicators like you.

ENTER NOW!

The post Get the recognition you deserve. Enter your campaign in the PR Daily Awards. appeared first on PR Daily.

Although marketing and communications might have similar functions on the surface — namely, telling the organization’s story —they often have widely differing goals. But with the proper structures and planning in place, comms and marketing can align in their aims but also work collaboratively to advance the story of the business. We spoke with Lacey Ehrlich, executive vice president at Golin, and Lisa Fratzke, partner and executive strategist at Fratzke Consulting, about what the comms department can do to strengthen the bond between these two essential functions.

Aligning distinct goals through collaboration

Though marketing and communications functions are increasingly integrated, it’s still common for them to work as independent departments, especially at larger and legacy organizations. But when the two storytelling arms of the business don’t work in sync with one another, the disconnect can lead to outcomes that can negatively impact the bottom line of the business. Fratzke says that this should be the motivation for better collaboration and figuring out where those different goals intersect.

“There are a few ways the two functions can collaborate to build both trust and a mutual sense of accomplishment with one another,” Fratzke said, explaining that marketing can help communications understand the landscape that the company is crafting messages for, while communications can assist marketing in implementing strategies that are consistent with the organization’s comms culture\.

Fratzke added that comms can help the marketing department think about messaging from a reputation management perspective.

“I think that a lot of comms people have been trained to think about messaging and how the words or images will affect internal and external perception — I don’t think marketing has historically always thought the same way,” she said. “If you bring in comms to the marketing process early, they can serve as a sort of risk assessor for marketing initiatives before they go out to the world,”

A trusted partnership rooted in understanding creates a measurable narrative

Though they might have differing metrics for success, in the end, marketing and comms can further align their goals by deepening the knowledge and understanding of the other’s functions help to sow the seeds of collaborative success.

“I liken to it being able to speak the same language,” Ehrlich said. “Each department needs to know what the other is trying to accomplish and how they’re seeking to do it in order to provide the best support possible.”

She added that the understanding needs to cut in both directions in order to create an ecosystem of balance—and once that happens, you can start to shape a measurement narrative.

“Both functions need to know how the other measures success. In communications, we’re about figuring out the messaging and how we can tell the story to the world — marketing can help spread that message to the masses. But without the other, each function of the business isn’t going to be as impactful.”

Avoiding silos through empathy and forming bonds

In the best scenario, marketing and communications have a somewhat symbiotic relationship and talk to one another relatively frequently about initiatives they’re undertaking or future strategy development. But what advice can be given to organizations that haven’t quite figured out how to make the functions work seamlessly with one another?

Fratzke advises against siloing the functions of either department at all costs.

“When one department makes a decision isolated from the other, you’re just increasing the chances for miscommunication,” Fratzke said. “That’s laying the groundwork for confusion, tension, and a lack of progress towards end goals being made on both sides.”

Because a good working relationship between the two comes down to clear, consistent communication, communicators can nurture the relationship by exhibiting a sense of empathy for what marketers is dealing with.  Much of this cross-departmental behavior should be modeled by departmental leadership to ensure it works its way down.

Once that empathy is established, truly creative idea-sharing can occur.

“If marketing and comms are open with one another and share ideas, you’re not just going to plant roots for a positive working relationship,” said Fratzke, “you’re also going to avoid potential fire drills that come with a lack of understanding.”

“One of the best starting points for the two departments to collaborate successfully is to treat one another as humans and valued members of the team beyond their roles. That sort of positive culture is a great first step in making sure marketing and comms have a strong bond and can collaborate for the good of the organization.”

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports, a good pint and ’90s trivia night.

The post Building stronger ties between comms and marketing appeared first on PR Daily.

Come on, Barbie, let’s go, party!   

The highly anticipated “Barbie” movie, set to debut in theaters this July, is already making a huge splash on social media with the help of its colorful, ironic posters that are almost as good as the trailer itself.   

Meet our Barbies and Kens @BarbieTheMovie pic.twitter.com/a93Rt9zLoQ

— Warner Bros. Pictures (@wbpictures) April 4, 2023

The posters show different Barbie variations giving main character energy as the lackluster Kens are humorously relegated to the background with bland descriptions.

“He’s just Ken,” says one poster featuring Ryan Gosling.  

“You’ve got Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken — but they aren’t the only Barbies and Kens in the world! Issa Rae, Dua Lipa, Emma Mackey and more are all playing different versions of Barbie, and their character posters helpfully let you know what they’re up to,” a Mashable article explains.   

Rae plays Barbie as president, Mackey’s Barbie is a Nobel Prize winner in physics and Robbie’s poster notes that “Barbie is everything.”.   

Meet our Barbies and Kens #BarbieTheMovie pic.twitter.com/KO2pwszXNJ

— Barbie Movie (@barbiethemovie) April 4, 2023

On April 4, Warner Bros. Pictures tweeted about the “Barbie” movie and its posters receiving lightning-speed responses from people like Josh Super Mario Bros Movie #BlackLivesMatter: “I love that the #Barbie posters instantly become a viral meme! All of the Barbies & Kens look so fabulous!”   

Why it matters: The engaging “Barbie” posters brought out the kid in all of us with its viral social media launch. This summer movie and poster debut is one that was thoughtfully communicated with the perfect amount of pink flair and self-deprecating humor that will more than likely keep even Barbie haters engaged. The creative designs made everyone want to take part and create their own posters, further sharing the Barbie message on social media and acting as free advertising for the movie.   

How can you get people engaged in your story and spread your message simply because it’s fun, interesting, or useful?   

Dairy farmers seek ways to get milk to Gen Z  

The dairy industry has seen better days. Gen Z and Gen Alpha simply don’t drink milk like previous generations did, though they do still eat cheese, ice cream and other dairy foods. 

The New York Times reported that the love of milk for many youths has grown cold because of the bevy of beverage alternatives available for a health-conscious consumer base who never really saw that much of a need for milk to begin with.   

“We have to reclaim milk’s mojo,” Yin Woon Rani, the chief executive of the Milk Processor Education Program, a marketing and education arm of the dairy industry based in Washington, D.C., told the New York Times.   

A marketing campaign, “Gonna Need Milk,” has high hopes to entice Gen Z and millennials. 

A Facebook post from the “Gonna Need Milk” campaign.

The “Gonna Need Milk” campaign brought on 24-year-old Brooklyn marathoner Yvonne Zapata (who barely drinks milk herself) as an ambassador to a younger generation. It also uses the hashtag #TeamMilk and will sponsor women at three marathons this year across the nation.   

“Milk marketers have also tapped Olympic medalists, women who play football and other sports influencers who swim, climb or play street soccer,” according to the article.   

Why it matters: The milk industry is trying its best to secure its somewhat shaky customer base and recoup those dwindling sales. Being able to connect with core audiences and discover why they don’t like a product can help a company or industry see what changes they need to make in either their marketing strategy or communications rollout. While drinking milk has been little to no priority for Gen Z and even millennials (guilty as charged) you have to admire the dedication and creativity in how the milk industry is looking to come back stronger. We can raise our glasses to that.   

Frito-Lay and Quaker go green   

Frito-Lay and Quaker announced on Tuesday the opening of an industry-leading Greenhouse Learning Center at its R&D headquarters, according to a press release.   

The Learning Center will be a place to field test, measure, and analyze compostable packaging to speed up the “rate of innovation.”    

The facility is part of an effort to achieve a goal to make 100% of packaging recyclable, compostable, biodegradable or reusable by 2025.   

“Our sustainable packaging vision is to build a world where packaging need never becomes waste,” said Denise Lefebvre, senior vice president of R&D for PepsiCo. “We’re actively changing our own compostable snack packaging technologies. By sharing these technologies, we’re inviting the industry to make these changes as well. We are prioritizing, investing in and expediting projects to build a more circular, inclusive economy.”    

The facility is also the first Frito-Lay manufacturing facility to “implement site-wide alternative fuel vehicles” among other “green” features like employee electric vehicle charging stations.   

Why it matters: Consumers are extremely interested in green technology. This facility demonstrates that commitment and will hopefully help them meet an aggressive sustainability goal. The facility will serve a key PR function, perfect for future photo ops, press conferences and other activities that further their green goals.   

Beauty on and off the court  

Female college basketball players are becoming hot new beauty influencers, Boardroom reported.  

They’re becoming all the rage on social media, especially with the Women’s NCAA Tournament gaining new fans and players like Deja Kelly, and Angel Reese gaining prominence.   

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Deja Kelly (@dejakelly)

 “The definition of what it means to be an influencer, especially in the beauty, style, and fashion industry, has evolved over the course of several years from the aspiration of perfection and society’s standards of beauty to a more approachable, relatable aesthetic in an effort to connect with the brand’s audiences,” the article notes.  

Because of these changes, bigger beauty and fashion brands have decided to partner with microinfluencers and “favor social media personalities with a more realistic, wellness-driven, accessible appeal.”  

Sheena Butler-Young, a senior correspondent at The Business of Fashion (BoF), explains the connection with basketball players.  

“As beauty brands look to grow their revenues and impact in this environment, it makes sense to partner with college students — the bulk of whom are part of the Gen Z cohort — and collegiate-level athletes, who in many ways epitomize the idea of health and wellness,” Butler-Young told Boardroom.   

Why it matters: Microinfluencers are a fantastic way to gain dedicated audiences for a small investment in influencer relations funds. You can often gain more creative freedom with these up-and-coming influencers while also reaching new audiences who might have felt left out in the cold by traditional influencers, who often show off a narrow view of beauty.  

Look beyond the obvious. Be creative, break new ground and find new audiences.  

The post ‘Barbie’ movie poster draws excitement, getting Gen Z to drink milk and more   appeared first on PR Daily.

Senior Vice President of Public Relations for Gabriel Marketing Group Michiko Morales has more than 20 years of PR, communications and marketing experience. Morales has managed successful media and analyst relations campaigns and secured coverage in numerous national and international media including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Fortune and more.

Morales, who recently celebrated nine years with GMG, spent the last three years working from her home office in Tokyo, Japan, where she lived a few hours away from her parents. Born and raised in Japan, Morales cherished the experience in her home country, but it was also her biggest career challenge.

We caught up with Morales to get her thoughts on the future of the communications industry.

What book, podcast or other media do you recommend to other comms pros?

Morales: I frequently recommend: “On Writing Well” by William Zinsser and “Start with Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action” by Simon Sinek. I believe “On Writing Well” is essential for all writers. I bought the book more than 25 years ago and still go back to it to remind myself of the essence of good writing. I am also a huge fan of Simon Sinek. His book teaches us WHY is the thing that moves, motivates and inspires people. This simple, yet fundamental notion made us rethink the way we develop our clients’ messaging and PR strategies, too.

[RELATED: Join us in Chicago for our Employee Communications & Culture Conference]

Every day, I read the AP Morning Wire and AP Afternoon Wire and listen to NPR’s Morning Edition and Marketplace. Also, I check the Daily Skimm and Public Relations Today.

What excites you most about the future of communications?

I am excited to see the rising respect for the communications profession. More senior executives, especially C-suites, are realizing the critical role the communications professionals play in building a successful, mission-driven and strong organization. I see that chief communications officers (CCOs) are increasingly invited to be critical members of the executive team. As PR agencies, we are more tightly connected to our clients’ C-suites, and thus can help make a more direct, tangible impact on our clients’ growth.

What’s your favorite tool you use regularly for work?

Slack – It is an essential internal communications/chat tool for our team to move projects forward and get things done. Also, since we have a virtual team spread across the country, Slack provides a casual gathering place for all to chit-chat and share a bit of our personal lives.

What communications challenge keeps you up at night?

I frequently worry about a recession causing CMOs to take a cautious approach to spend on PR and marketing. Market uncertainty can affect everyone’s nerves. We saw this happen in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as some of our clients began worrying about what might happen next. But in the end, most of those clients had a profitable year. We are not only closely monitoring current events, but also keenly listening to our clients about their respective market conditions.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve overcome in your career?

From the summer of 2019 to this past summer, I had the good fortune of living and working from my home office in Tokyo. I was born and raised in Japan and migrated to the U.S. in 1997, so being back in Japan, living a few hours away from my parents, was like a dream. My husband and our two sons really enjoyed our time there, too. But working in a completely different time zone from my clients and my team in the U.S. was challenging. During those three years, I worked from around 9:30 pm to 2 am, Japan time, every day. Though it was very tough, I felt extremely fortunate that I was able to continue to serve my clients, working side by side with my amazing team. All our clients were very understanding about my time schedule and continued to work with me. I am so grateful to all my clients and my team for their support!

What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

My late grandmother always told me to have “Omoiyari,” a Japanese word that means thoughtfulness or compassion. She also taught me to always put myself in their shoes with compassion. As comms pros, we exercise this often in situations like when we are asked to tackle a tough, urgent client request in a calm manner. Also, in media relations, we must always think from the journalists’ point of view when coming up with a perfect media pitch that compels the journalist to respond.

Isis Simpson-Mersha is a conference producer/ reporter for Ragan. Follow her on LinkedIn.

The post 6 questions with: Gabriel Marketing Group’s Michiko Morales appeared first on PR Daily.

Managing the communications of a consumer-facing company in a highly regulated space comes with challenges, some ethical and many, many procedural. To the genetic testing company 23andMe’s Director of Communications, Andy Kill, working alongside the regulatory teams and legal teams is just part of what he does every day.

“A portion of the product is regulated by the FDA, some of the reports are governed by the FDA, and then there’s other information in the product that falls outside of the FDA’s scope, like the ancestry side of things,” he explained. “We have a drug discovery business as well, which is highly regulated.”

The company was founded in 2006 and provided easy access to genetic testing, which at the time forged new ground for both the FDA and 23andMe and resulted in frequent communications between the FDA and the organization — some which made the news.

“A lot of it is working closely with our regulatory and legal teams and knowing what’s in bounds, what’s out of bounds, and how we can creatively use PR and comms within the confines of that to story tell,” said Kill.

Ahead of his session at PR Daily’s Public Affairs & Speechwriting virtual conference, Kill shares how he stays true to 23andMe’s mission, the storytelling tricks he uses to get coverage in the press, and why his organization leads with science.

Identify and build upon your organization’s purpose

Having a strong mission statement can be a guiding star for companies looking to connect with external audiences.

“The mission of the company is to help people access, understand and benefit from the human genome,” said Kill. “From a communications perspective, [we look at] what we are prioritizing and if it backs up to helping people.”

23andMe stays true to their purpose in several ways; for example, their tests provide information to consumers that helps them identify health risks. The company also builds on their mission statement with work on their FDA-regulated drug discovery business.

“We’re able to find new drug targets based on human genetic information, and potentially develop new medicines that can help people,” said Kill. “That’s the ultimate fulfillment of that mission.”

Not only does a clear mission statement help an organization stand apart in a crowded market, but it also helps the communications team focus on what’s important. “All of our communications ladder up to that mission,” Kill added.

Human stories resonate with customers

When it comes to sharing 23andMe’s mission externally, Kill looks holistically across the company for inspiration. “People find[ing] family and meeting for the first time [are] great visuals for broadcast,” he said. “[Those] customer stories tend to resonate.”

Another area of focus is the research group. “We have over 13 million customers at 23andMe and about 80% volunteered to participate in research,” said Kill. “They’re answering survey questions, and looking at those alongside aggregate anonymized genetic data, we pull out different trends in terms of specific health conditions or genetic risks.”

Any genetic information that is shared by 23andMe meets the most stringent guidelines — a requirement of its regulated nature. “All of that [data] has to be aggregate information. It can’t be any individual level information. It has to be deidentified and it can only come from customers who have elected to participate in research,” said Kill. “[There are] ethical guardrails in place.”

But all that work is worth it when that pitch lands. “Whenever we do studies on common conditions those resonate really well,” said Kill.

Be as transparent as ethically possible

“The strategy is ‘Lead with Science,’” said Kill. That mantra has helped guide 23andMe to success. “The company’s been focused on publishing consistently, not just research, but also publishing on the accuracy of the product through our different FDA authorizations.”

Kill suggests leaning into transparency wherever possible and keeping open lines of communication within the company as well as externally. One of the departments he speaks with: the ethics team.

“We have an in-house research ethics team that we can consult with anytime,” said Kill. While guardrails exist to protect consumer data, having the ethics team on-hand to discuss a potential research story can be handy. For example, during the early days of COVID-19, the team was developing data around the loss of smell and taste phenomena.

Of course, there are still some pieces of misinformation Kill’s team continues to battle against. “It’s often reported that we’re a part of investigations [using] genetics to crack cold cases,” said Kill. That’s false. “23andMe doesn’t participate in law enforcement investigations.”

Join Kill at PR Daily’s Public Affairs & Speechwriting virtual conference on April 4. Kill will speak alongside speechwriters and communications leaders from the U.S. Navy, Edelman, IBM, the U.S. Department of Labor, and more. 

The post Build upon your company’s purpose, transparently and ethically appeared first on PR Daily.

Cheryl Dixon is principal of Perfectly Clear Communications and an adjunct professor at Columbia University.

A recent AdAge post and poll sparked a debate on LinkedIn, in which people questioned the actions of companies that are laying off employees while still spending money on Super Bowl commercials. Nearly a quarter (21%) of the poll respondents said that marketing should be a priority, while 77% said it’s not a good look. This is understandable, given the sensitivity around layoffs and scrutiny of how companies are operating in the aftermath. Microsoft hiring Sting to perform at Davos for its executives as layoffs were announced is not easily perceived as an investment in its future.

One LinkedIn user asked, “How does advertising in the Super Bowl drive revenue? Is the commercial going to have a positive ROI, grow business and allow these companies to hire back some employees?”

I answered, “This is top funnel activity. It leads to revenue.” The questions that followed made it clear that more explanation was needed. What is a marketing funnel? Do these activities = revenue?

First introduced in 1898, the concept of the marketing funnel (also known as a sales funnel) outlines a consumer’s decision-making process before ultimately purchasing a product or service. It helps marketing and communications teams map the relationship of consumers to their product, what stage they are in and guides them on the effort and tactics needed. For example, television commercials will increase awareness, but not necessarily or immediately result in a sales lift.

The funnel also demonstrates the critical role that marketing and communication efforts and activities play in generating sales.

The marketing funnel may have three to seven stages, beginning with Awareness and ending in Conversion or Purchase.

Understanding the funnel through a communications lens.

Awareness: Do consumers know your brand or product exists? The level of awareness is an indication of how easy it will be to attract new consumers. In this stage, communicators will consider activities to create general awareness across a broader public and attract them to the brand.

Interest: Do consumers see how your brand or product fills their need? In this stage, consumers are paying closer attention to, and perhaps engaging with brand messaging.

Consideration: Consumers are doing research about your product and wanting to learn more. Working with influencers to reach a captive audience aligned with your brand will help them deepen interest and move them to evaluation. They need to be informed at this stage.

Evaluation: Consumers are comparing your product against competitors. Does your product meet a consumers’ needs better, at the right price, than its competition? They need to be educated.

Purchase: How was the consumer’s shopping experience? Did the product meet expectations? Do they feel good about their purchase and are likely to purchase again? Recommend it to others?

While communication can impact every step of the marketing funnel, it is the top funnel activity where it is the most critical. There can be no sales without a consumer knowing a product exists, is relevant to them and has a favorable reputation.

Knowing where the consumer is in their journey allows communication professionals to plan accordingly and meet them where they are. And, it helps answer the question, “How does this drive sales?”

The post How communicators fit into the marketing funnel appeared first on PR Daily.

While the battle on the field between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs is the main draw for football fans across America and the world during this Sunday’s Super Bowl, there will be millions of eyes glued to the screen during the action that happens in between timeouts of the game — the commercials. Always a big-budget affair (commercials for this year’s game cost about $7 million for a 30-second television spot), Super Bowl ads often roll out new products to the masses or play on nostalgia and pop culture as part of the promotional strategy.

We spoke with Jamie Gilpin, chief marketing officer at Sprout Social, about what to watch for during this year’s slate of Super Bowl commercials and any larger trends she’s looking at ahead of the big game.

New school ads vs. old school strategies

In recent years, we’ve seen a boom in newer tech products getting advertisements during the big game. A great example of that is last year’s Amazon Echo ad, the most expensive in Super Bowl history, which cost $26 million for 130 seconds of airtime. Although we’ll still see new products and services touted during the game, according to Gilpin, we should look for brands to take an approach that centers on nostalgia and old-school advertising tactics. She pointed to last year’s ads for cryptocurrency, including Coinbase’s ad with a floating QR code box on the screen, as a coming-out party for the digital financial tech (albeit before the more recent collapse of these assets), with changes in strategy in store for Super Bowl LVII.

“This year, we’re seeing a lot of traditional tactics from mainstay big game brands that leverage nostalgic cultural moments. Whether it’s enlisting the help of iconic celebrities, pop-culture throwbacks, or a perceived publicity stunt, brands are showing they’re willing to spend big for a shot at a memorable in-game moment,” Gilpin said.

This trend of leaning toward nostalgia and identifiable cultural icons matches with what we’ve seen previewed ahead of the game, with  Walter White’s return and a Hellmann’s commercial about food waste featuring celebrities with food-related names. Sometimes, sticking with the tried and true proves to be the way to go.

The can’t-miss commercials

It seems that at every Super Bowl party, there are a few commercials that the entire room excitedly waits for and talks about for the rest of the evening once it airs. According to Gilpin, it all comes down to audience engagement, citing an analysis by Sprout Social of Super Bowl ads ahead of the game that revealed some brands leaning into nostalgia are garnering major engagement.

“Engagement is the name of the game when it comes to social media chatter, and we’ve seen two brands, in particular, this year stand out from this standpoint — PopCorners (the Walter White ad) and Rakuten. We conducted a social media conversation analysis of big game ads and found that these two brands have driven nearly 50,000 engagements since January 8, while the average ad is getting a few hundred,” Gilpin said.

She also added that the aforementioned nostalgia and the cultural zeitgeist are playing a big role in the buzz. A great example of this is the upcoming Planters ad with Mr. Peanut, in which he’s subjected to a comedy roast. (Get it? Peanut…roast…I’ll see myself out.)

“What’s interesting is how both brands are leveraging a similar tactic this year — iconic pop cultural throwbacks — with PopCorners paying homage to ‘Breaking Bad’ and Rakuten referencing ‘Clueless,’” Gilpin said. “We’re also seeing celebrities generating strong engagement for brands like Maya Rudolph with M&M’s and Jack Harlow with Doritos. Leveraging celebrity and pop culture are great ways for commercials to have broad appeal, so it’s no surprise to see some of the most talked about ads touting these elements.”

The importance of social

Even though the main advertisements for the game will be spread to the masses over television (and streaming) airwaves, it would be remiss to not mention the impact social media will have on how fans interact with the advertising during the game. Gilpin said that social is a critical component of keeping the conversation about the brands going long after the commercial airs.

“Across the top 10 brand commercials that are driving the most social chatter, there have been nearly 70,000 social engagements, reflecting the excitement and hype we’re seeing leading up to the big game,” she said.

Gilpin added that the brands that want to make the most of their campaigns should not only have social media integration but should also put social at the forefront.

“The big game is a marquee moment for brands to do something memorable and make a statement, but without social media, the game can be just that — a single moment,” Gilpin said.

On top of keeping the momentum rolling after a Super Bowl ad, social can also help generate strong connections with the viewing public, which can in turn create a brand-new customer base.

“Social media is where brands can turn moments into strong connections with their audience. Social allows brands to foster deep, meaningful, 1:1 relationships with their audience that will last far beyond the airing of their big game ad,” Gilpin said.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications and PR Daily. In his spare time, he enjoys Philly sports, a good pint and ’90s trivia night. He will not be watching the commercials during this year’s Super Bowl, as he will be rooting too hard for the Eagles to win to notice any of them. As always, he says, Go Birds.

The post What to watch for during 2023’s Super Bowl commercials appeared first on PR Daily.

The year started with the U.S. stock market roaring back with a surge of optimism as the economy recovered from the worst of COVID-19. CBInsights cited that more unicorns were anointed by the investment community than ever before (150+ in a single quarter!). By Q3, however, unicorn “births” had fallen to small double digits in a quarter. Additionally, the fear of new strains of COVID-19 cropped up, which negatively impacted manufacturing and supply chains. Add that to uncertainty created by the war between Russia and Ukraine and rising interest rates creating a slowdown in home sales, and you have a recipe for turmoil!

As Q4 progresses we are experiencing more turmoil, whether it is the topsy turvy stock market, the scare of a new COVID strain or the constant threat of the aggressive Russian strikes on Ukraine, we have uncertainties we haven’t experienced in many years. Once again, we’re adopting to a new normal as we approach 2023 — particularly in tech marketing.

1. The “measure everything” battle cry will be even louder from CMOs in 2023, especially now that the economy has softened to the point that tech darlings are laying off in response to sluggishness in demand. Advertising equivalency will no longer be accepted by the savviest of CMOs to value public relations results. New solutions are hitting the market now that look at how the media is impacting the business.
2. Engaging content will be where most marketing leaders spend a substantial portion of their marketing dollars. But do not expect that content to be a series of writing projects – the 10Fold survey respondents believe social and digital content, along with video content, will be their top priorities for 2023. What is more, content development will not be strictly inhouse gurus -– most tech companies in the survey suggested that they outsource 50% or more of their content.
3. Large technology companies are beginning to look at small to mid-size marketing and PR agencies for better value service and stronger results. The allure of highly polished agency executives that deliver ethereal sales presentations will significantly lessen as budgets are squeezed and the question of value must be translated to the CEO. As things tighten, marketing agencies (including PR agencies) will have to put focus on becoming operationally efficient, or risk going out of business. Training will take center stage for agencies – with a focus on organizational processes that ensure consistent service delivery with high-quality results.
4. Even now, AI is starting to play a relevant and key role in content development for technology marketing, and that trend will only get stronger as how AI understands and performs the function increases. While knowledge workers will continue to play a key role in content development in 2023, they will review a good portion of what has been proposed by an AI-based application, rather than being responsible for 100% of the content development.
5. Work-from-home will not go away in 2023, instead, marketing and PR agencies will seek to build systems that demonstrate accountability for their staff and work together with measurement systems. Collaboration days and offsites will become the classic substitute for agencies and marketing firms that rely entirely on office-based staff.

The coming year is a tricky one to forecast with a volatile stock market, an on-going international conflict simmering with Russia and Ukraine and the threat of new COVID-19 strains posing real health risk, but with preparation, it is possible to find comfort in adapting to the new normal.

Susan Thomas is CEO at 10Fold Communications.

The post 5 predictions for marketing tech in the year ahead appeared first on PR Daily.

Rebekah Crispin, senior vice president of integrated strategy at TEAM LEWIS, a global comms and PR agency, discusses the importance of micro and macro trends, how to foster strong partnerships and client relationships, and why integration is the foundation to success.

Check out the discussion below:

Megan Maguire, senior vice president of U.S. PR at TEAM LEWIS, also had a discussion with Ragan and PR Daily about how brands should authentically connect with audiences, how to counsel brands as to when to show up and deliver points of view on sensitive topics, and examples of companies that have and continue to “show up” well.

Check it out below:

Isis Simpson-Mersha is a conference producer/ reporter for Ragan. Follow her on LinkedIn

The post The art of in-the-moment marketing and strategy with TEAM LEWIS appeared first on PR Daily.

For years, marketers have been forced to prioritize brand or demand, making difficult decisions to shift budgets between the two when new challenges arose.

Brand often lost this tug of war as the urgency of the moment drove marketers to focus on short-term initiatives to fill the sales pipeline and generate revenue.

A recent movement espousing a brand AND demand approach is a step in the right direction, as marketers try to bring greater cohesion between the two disciplines by aligning on campaign timing and messages, for example, but even this approach does not go far enough.

However, more often than not, the art of brand identity and the science of demand optimization are still pursued sequentially, not collaboratively. This is further exacerbated by the ongoing management by different teams with different objectives, strategies and data sets.

What’s needed is a new approach built on a more direct and intentional relationship between brand and demand.

Enter brand TO demand, an emerging perspective anchored in the proposition that brand identity, positioning and awareness must have a direct impact on demand generation —simultaneously cultivating long-term brand affinity while accelerating near-term audience action.

Brand to demand creates cohesive storytelling that informs audiences about not only what a company sells, but who it is, what it stands for and why it matters -– with practical benefits that accumulate over time under a narrative that supports both experience and vision.

This is not just about putting brand and demand on an equal footing. It is about recognizing the direct relationship from brand TO demand — the ability to create experiences that build brand affinity over time, which then supports and drives demand generation over the lifecycle of the customer.

That doesn’t necessarily mean equally dividing budgets between the two, but it does mean calibrating strategies around common insights into six key elements that are essential across all marketing and communications disciplines:

• Identity: how the brand shows up.
• Positioning: the company’s rightful place in the market.
• Category: how the market is defined.
• Competitors: clear perspective on which are emerging, established or evolving.
• Audiences: alignment on priority personas, their beliefs, values and influences.
• Channels: understanding where and how to engage audiences most effectively.

None of these elements are owned by any single marketing or communications team. Taking a brand to demand approach will require a complete mind-shift that spurs new ways of working, everything from sharing data across silos to aligning on objectives and outcomes.

An urgent need in B2B

The timing for this mind-shift is now. The last two years has only accelerated ongoing changes in B2B buying habits: longer sales cycles, more decision-makers, more noise that impedes differentiation, the rise of self-service marketing journeys.

In our experience, fewer and fewer B2B buyers are in serious consideration for any specific product or service at any time, but certainly in the earlier stages of their buyer journey.

In our increasingly volatile business environment, B2B decision-makers are more motivated by the need to stay informed about industry, competitive, and customer trends. They are also less concerned about where that information originates — peers, media, industry influencers are all increasingly seen as more objective sources than companies that have exhibited little motivation beyond landing the next customer.

But we have learned over and over that innovation in and of itself can fail to deliver real value for customers. The technology graveyard is filled with innovations that failed to address a priority business challenge or create long-term resonance to enable additional growth beyond any initial splash.

We all have stories about these solutions that were created in search of a problem.

In that quest for the next big breakthrough, technology companies opt too often to cast a wide net in an attempt to generate leads, build revenue and prove their immediate value. That is a fundamental waste of budget and marketing talent since the vast majority of “buyers” in the marketing funnel are seeking help with category education, or possibly very early evaluation —literally months away from any serious consideration of a specific product or service.

What is sacrificed is the deeper connection that can be made through effective marketing and communication to educate, inspire, and bring out the human aspiration and optimism that has become the bailiwick of consumer brands which often have much less to offer but (somehow) have more to say.

However, we know that strong B2B brands drive enthusiasm throughout the sales funnel, no matter how technical the product or service. Every whitepaper, every social media post, every webinar or event, can elevate new possibilities.

The work that many B2B technology companies perform can be compelling and consequential, but few of them communicate or behave in ways that bring this to light for key stakeholders. After all, brand marketers are rarely forced to appreciate the full sales funnel, and demand marketers are rarely asked to build audience enthusiasm.

Balancing long-term and short-term

Ultimately, committing to the dual value of brand to demand marketing is about managing both as a connected value continuum that multiplies the value of each and drives both long-term brand affinity and short-term demand generation.

What’s the opportunity? To make vision practical and practicality more visionary. This all comes from great storytelling— the ability to engage B2B buyers at the top of the funnel by speaking to their needs, educate them about the potential impact of innovation on those needs, and ultimately to demonstrate the connection between that vision and the products or services.

Because brand building is about creating positive perceptions, associations and experiences for customers, it is inherently a balancing act between rational and emotional benefits — not just having the best product or service, for example, but cultivating positive feelings that elevate the brand in the mind of the customer so they see it as indispensable and become advocates for it.

Products that solve your business problem should also instill a deeply emotional sense of certainty, confidence, and trust that drives long-term brand loyalty, generates greater share of wallet, and helps companies weather crises or competitive threats.

Scott Friedman is head of strategy + planning at Big Valley Marketing. Forest Taylor is head of social + digital at Big Valley Marketing. 

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Competition for consumer eyeballs is as high as it’s ever been for brands. A recent study found that the average person can see up to 10,000(!) advertisements per day, with a proliferation of digital media channels inundating consumers with branded content wherever they go, be it a Google search, social media platform, streaming service or even the gas pump.

Consumers are experiencing decision fatigue. This coupled with ad targeting being more challenging than ever has yielded advertising results reaching all-time lows. When you also consider consumer buying preferences are changing — showing loyalty to brands that align with their values and care about more than the almighty dollar — it’s clear brands must adjust strategy.

Increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can have huge returns on overall profitability. Any brand can spend to get a consumer to buy once (although costs to acquire customers are also reaching an all-time high), but those that invest to build a long-term purchasing relationship are the ones who will win out. Here’s how.

Meet them in their backyard. Digital marketing is a great way to approach hyper-local marketing campaigns but while technology is great for scale, it’s a barrier for making real connections. Yes, ads are often served to consumers based on personal data like demographics or browsing history, but seeing a pop up for coffee while playing a game on your phone doesn’t seem too personal, does it?

Instead, find opportunities to integrate your brand presence directly into the communities in which you’re looking to build customer base and product awareness. Don’t just be in the community, become a part of it. Consider options like sponsorships of charity events, youth sports leagues, educational programs or other community events – anything that enables consumers to see your brand during some of the happiest times they’ll have all week.

While these types of marketing opportunities used to be reserved for small businesses, they offer national brands a great opportunity for direct customer engagement and feedback. What better way for a cereal company looking to increase sales in a certain community than to give out free samples and coupons at a local 4^th of July celebration or Little League Game?

Consumers — especially families — spend the majority of their time within the communities that they live. Bring your marketing efforts directly to their backyards.

Show what you stand for. Survey Monkey recently reported that 78% of consumers claimed to make purchasing decisions based on brand values in the last year, while 55% said they would be more likely to purchase from a company that shares their values. It seems like weekly we see a brand either praised or boycotted for a stance on some sort of public issue. The point? Consumers care not just about what you sell, but also about how you do business and who it impacts.

Brands don’t need to necessarily make a grand showing out of a hot-button cultural issue in order to showcase their values. They can start as simply as getting involved within the communities in which they hope to grow consumer loyalty and do something that makes an impact. The examples of sponsorships for community events from earlier? Not only are they great hyper-local marketing activations but they also showcase to consumers that you care about helping to better their community, not just sell products into it.

Data shows that 64% of consumers prefer to support brands that are known not just for profit, but also for purpose. Brands whose marketing initiatives support the community will see a better return than those that do not.

Measure brand recall. Ultimately, you want to ensure the connection you make with your target consumers results in them remembering your brand at a later date when they are ready to make a purchase – otherwise known as brand recall.

Brand recall is crucial because it can showcase the effectiveness of your marketing. If the consumers you targeted default to your brand, you’ve likely made inroads to building brand loyalty and winning over a long-term customer. A positive brand recall also increases the likelihood of word-of-mouth recommendations, a boon to brands as 50% of Americans make shopping decisions based on what they hear from others.

As outlined above, the goal of brands should not be to just try to reach as many consumers as possible and play a numbers game. Instead, brands should be focusing on making distinct connections with their target audiences, hoping to build a true relationship between brand and shopper that leads to purchase and loyalty over the long term. Make that connection and in turn, you’ll win a consumer for life.

Evan Brandoff is co-founder and CEO of LeagueSide, a community sports sponsorship platform marrying grassroots campaigns and social impact to scale local marketing efforts for brands.

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RuPaul might be the most important name in marketing — and digging into why might help us thrive during this drag race of an economy.

Let’s start with some simple numbers.  If you Google RuPaul and “marketing,” you’ll discover over 21 million hits, ranging from Shantay You Slay: Lessons on Marketing from RuPaul’s Drag Race to RuPaul’s Drag Race is a Marketing Masterclass.

Just for comparison, let’s Google the CMO of another company.  Let’s say… Google!  That’s meta (and no, not the parent company of Facebook).  Conducting a search of Google CMO Lorraine Twohill and the word “marketing” only fetches 19,400 results.  That means “Mama Ru” has outdone one of Forbes Most Influential CMOs by slightly over 1000%.

Just in case you’re more familiar with Lorraine Twohill than RuPaul, a little back story.  RuPaul, born RuPaul Andre Charles, is a 60-year-old drag queen who rose to fame with the 1993 song “Supermodel (You Better Work)” and has clawed her way to international domination over the course of three decades with the reality competition show “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”  Each season, drag queens compete in pun-filled contests.  At the end of each episode, two queens face off to “lip-synch for their lives.”  RuPaul tells the winning queen, “shantay, you stay,” while the loser is told to “sashay away.”

Vox chronicled the show’s impact on the American zeitgeis accordingly: How RuPaul’s Drag Race went from cult favorite to inspirational teenage dream. “From the start, the key to the show’s success — not to mention drag in general — was its unfailing ability to find joy and wit in anything and everything,” journalist Caroline Framke noted for Vox.  “As RuPaul’s guiding mantra puts it: RuPaul’s Drag Race rarely takes life, or itself, very seriously at all.”

By not taking anything serioulsy, the show has catwalked to its 14^th season, plus an All Stars franchise.  International franchises can be seen strutting in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Thailand, Canada, The Netherlands, Italy and France.  But that’s not all.  There are shows planned for the Philippines, Belgium and Sweden.

The show’s international success attracted the attention of The Drum, which bills itself as “a global media platform and biggest marketing website in Europe.”  Lee Beattie, chief executive at John Doe Group, gushed: “Too many brands talk about ‘building communities’ rather than ‘nurturing them,’ but at the heart of the global Drag Race brand has been a simple understanding of how to nurture, leverage and then maintain relevance with a fandom.”

Beattie continues: “By solving a problem for a marginalised community and serving them authentic, universal stories in a new way, Ru Paul’s Drag Race has become a multi-million-pound empire with the kind of fan loyalty that most companies can only dream of. It’s an inspirational example of what magic could happen if more brands were willing to look beyond the same old demographics and take more unconventional routes to market.”

For those wanting a more American analysis (and spelling), consider this July report from Newsweek, which delved into one episode focusing on a key tenet of marketing: branding.

“’Dance Like Drag Queen’ may claim to be a dance challenge, but really it is all about branding,” the article asserted.

And what is branding?

Leave it to drag queen Trinity The Tuck to explain: “You know me as having the best tuck in the business, not because it’s true, but because it’s in my name. And that’s called branding!”

Sure, not worthy of a Harvard Business Review think piece, but I’m at a loss for any other American show of this size that has covered branding as of late.  In fact, I did a search on TVEyes and only discovered local news story about cattle branding.

RuPaul enforces branding throughout the show and in the process has resurrected iconic moments from yesterday.  During each season of the show contestants are told to “read” each other, an expression captured in the movie “Paris is Burning” where drag queens clear the air by telling each other what annoys them about each other.  When RuPaul tees up the segment about reading she asks why it’s important to which the contestants answer “Reading is Fundamental.”  You may remember that tagline from RIF.org, the oldest and largest non-profit children’s literacy organizations in the United States.  But now you can hear “reading is fundamental” shouted in English and in unison, even during Drag Race France.

So to boil it down, what does this mean to marketers and communicators?

In Lessons Taught and Learned Through the Art of Drag Adweek opined: “As marketers, we’ve got to take this cue when developing our own ideas and strategies. Use non-traditional metaphors and be committed to them when developing your concept. Feel the fantasy and invite others into your senses when presenting to colleagues. And most importantly, give yourself permission to be visionary.”

And don’t forget to promote yourself.

Or as RuPaul put it in a tweet: “Marketing yourself is not just for hookers anymore.”

Curtis Sparrer is principal at BoSpar. 

The post RuPaul: The most important name in … marketing? appeared first on PR Daily.

Today, we’ll explore how nostalgia marketing has the potential to impact a brand’s success by looking at some of the top examples.

What is nostalgia marketing?

Generally, nostalgia is defined as a strong longing or immense affection for a past event, experience, object, place or personal connection.

Nostalgia is often triggered by a sensory stimulus, such as a scent, a song, a taste, or a sight; it can also be caused by a conversation, a memory recollection or a similar experience.

Nostalgia marketing takes on that notion and creates a playful campaign referencing a time gone by in order to tap into our collective longing for the past.

Who is the target audience for nostalgia marketing?

Millennials deeply realte to the brimming social media and advertising content that embraces the slogan “Only kids born in the ‘90s will understand.” It makes them feel a part of a special generational cohort that’s united by a longing for a much-coveted time.

TV shows such as “Friends” and “Sex and the City”, comfort foods such as eggs and soldiers and fish fingers, and iconic fashion items such as strappy heeled sandals and denim butterfly tops are hitting just the right spot on the nostalgic spectrum.

Gen Z are also chiming in on the nostalgia trend, and they are really easy to excite. Despite the fact they didn’t live through the decade itself, they are bringing ‘90s culture back into the world through their preferred mode of content sharing – TikTok.

Why does nostalgia marketing work?

Brands like Pepsi, Coca Cola, and Nintendo are riding the nostalgia marketing with full force in a throwback fashion. These brands have had some great success with bringing things back. Nintendo famously brought the Nintendo Classic Mini in 2016. As of June 2018, Nintendo has sold over 3.6 million units worldwide. Apple are known to be one of the most creative brands out there when it comes to marketing. The “Sesame Street” character Cookie Monster was featured in a short commercial showing how fun and accessible Apple is.  But apart from a strong longing for the past, what else is driving nostalgia marketing, and why you need to incorporate it into your brand marketing strategy?

Emotional attachment

Nostalgia is an emotion. We can say it’s bittersweet because we’re daydreaming about a time or experience that have already passed. Nevertheless, this brings us feelings of gratitude for the good memories.

We already know that emotional marketing is very powerful. It deliberately uses persuasive messages to tap into the human emotion, form a connection with the audience, and reach different goals, such as more conversion, brand awareness or customer retention.

Brand authenticity

What is also bringing success to nostalgic brands is authenticity. Since the symbols, products, imagery, and music they use have a long history, the brand is regarded as consistent and authentic.

Both millennials and Gen Z favor authentic brands that share their values. This, in return, enhances trust and leads to conversion.

It’s comfortable

According to Krystine Batcho, Le Moyne College professor, psychologist, and researcher of nostalgia, “Nostalgia is a refuge, as people turn to the feelings of comfort, security, and love they enjoyed in their past.”

It brings happy memories from the past, and that’s what comfort is. It comes as no surprise that during the first COVID-19 lockdown, mentions of nostalgic keywords rose from 13 million to 24.4 million, which is an increase of 88%.

Nostalgia marketing is proving to be extremely effective, and the more millennials and Gen Z tap into content creation, the more we are to embrace it. If you’re looking for a bullet-proof marketing strategy, why not try bringing a touch of the old into the new world and see the magic unfold?

 Eleonora Hristova is a copywriter for Dune London.

The post Why you need to embrace nostalgia marketing now appeared first on PR Daily.

Every brand has a story that’s built over time. Brands must create a distinct strategy based on that story to stay competitive in the market and connect with customers. As an important element of a business’ identity, companies can’t afford to ignore their brand or let it get stale.

As a company develops and evolves, it’s common for them to outgrow their branding after it no longer represents the organization or its offerings. To stay relevant, businesses should consider periodically refreshing their brand to reset their corporate identity and brand promise in a way that reflects the company’s evolution and vision for the future.

Though rebranding can be effective, it can also be complicated and carry significant risks. If a rebrand isn’t executed well, the company risks creating confusion among customers and losing market share — not to mention money wasted on an ineffective rebrand.

My company, LumenVox, successfully navigated a rebrand after 20 years in business. Our goal was to reshape the customer journey to communicate our value proposition more effectively and deliver top of funnel leads. With the help of a digital consultant, we improved our site’s UX to guide users through a sales funnel with a clear strategic path that speaks to target audiences.

After navigating the challenges of a company rebranding process, here are five lessons learned that can help you avoid common rebrand pitfalls:

1. Know when it’s time to rebrand.

Timing your company’s rebrand can be challenging.

Some established companies may feel the urge to create a new look and feel while risk-averse organizations may be more hesitant to make a change. Whether you’re chomping at the bit to rebrand or you’re reticent to rock the boat, there are several indicators to bear in mind that can help you understand if the timing is right.

Here are a few business objectives that might signal the need for a brand refresh:

• Expanding to new markets. Your company wants to influence or revitalize customers’ perceptions about a new product or service you’re offering.
• Strengthening market presence. Current performance is weak or stagnant and your organization wants to secure a stronger foothold in the market.
• Appearing more modern and relevant. The look and feel of your brand doesn’t reflect a modern aesthetic—making your company fade into the background.
• Differentiating from competitors. Your existing branding is too similar to your peers and doesn’t stand out from the crowd.
• Reflecting a merger or acquisition. The company needs a new brand to symbolize a recent business combination.
• Managing reputation. After a public incident, your company needs to recover and establish its commitment to doing better.
• Capitalizing on a current trend. Leverage timely trends to signify your position as a modern, forward-looking organization.
• Streamlining your message. You need a consistent brand voice and message after too many employees have made tweaks over the years.

2. Understand your customers.

Before launching the process, take stock of your target market and current customers and their perception of your company. Consider whether you’re already reaching your intended customers or not and how your brand will need to change in order to capture new customer segments or deepen success with current customers.

It’s important to interview current customers and stakeholders as part of this research to learn about what they like and dislike about the current brand and gather their input on your initial ideas. Aim to gather notes about customer sentiment — or the emotions that customers experience when engaging with your brand.

This feedback may help you uncover a deeper understanding of how your brand needs to shift in its next iteration. Be sure to clearly communicate the intention and purpose of the rebrand to counter any possible resistance among these groups.

3. Research and develop a strategic plan.

An extensive learn-and-discover phase can help you shape your overall approach. This should include a deep dive into your top competitors’ brands to understand how they’re similar or different from yours and find out if there are any elements you want to be mindful of as your company changes its branding.

Before sending out an RFP for branding support from an agency, get a clear idea what kind of partner(s) you need and what kind will efficiently help you achieve your goals. For example, are you looking to update your visual identity only? Or do you need perspective on how to transform your customer experience? Answering these questions will help you look for the right partner.

4. Evaluate the overall customer experience.

 In addition to developing new visual elements like a logo, color palettes and design elements, it’s important to be mindful of changes you need to make to the broader customer experience. After all, the ways that customers engage with your company is part of the organization’s overall brand and will shape customers’ perceptions about your business.

Consider whether your company needs to shift its messaging, voice and tone in order to align with the new brand. When reviewing owned channels, look for ways to simplify content and add. Check that messaging is consistent across your company’s website, social media, blog and other public-facing materials. Engage your marketing and customer service teams to find out if you can improve website navigation or if there are any significant customer support trends that indicate a significant pain point that needs to be addressed.

Your overall goal with this exercise should be to ensure you’re demonstrating the value of your company, product or service to the customer. Help them understand why they should choose you over a competitor and create an outstanding customer experience that ensures satisfaction.

5. Roll out with care.

 Your rollout should start internally, with company leaders and employees. Articulate the business benefits of the rebrand, so all staff have a firm understanding of its purpose. The goal should be to manage uncertainty or concerns by bringing your internal stakeholders along on the journey.

Once employees are on board, it’s time to communicate the rebrand externally. Generate excitement by teasing the rebrand through a series of messages over email or social media. Before hitting send on public messages, create an FAQ that can be published on your website or used internally to respond to anticipated questions. If possible, switch over the brand all at once to eliminate confusion and ensure a smooth transition.

You can also tell the story of the rebrand through your company blog, on social media or via your newsletter. This could re-emphasize the purpose of the rebrand, showcase improvements you made based on customer input or share behind-the-scenes looks at the new brand’s development. Depending on how long the company has been in business, you could offer a reflection on previous brand iterations and highlight how rebranding periodically enables the organization to better serve its customers.

Despite the potential risks involved with rebranding, the process can be instrumental in solidifying a company’s future success. Rebranding is ultimately an opportunity for companies to better connect with their customers — a worthwhile investment.

Andrea Mocherman is vice president of marketing and communications at LumenVox where she is responsible for the company’s marketing strategy and initiatives to elevate brand awareness and drive demand for LumenVox’s industry-leading speech and voice biometrics technology.

The post 5 considerations to nail your rebrand appeared first on PR Daily.

The best practices of search engine optimization are always changing, requiring marketers to change their strategy with each new update that Google makes to its algorithms.

Many of these updates can seem esoteric and untranslatable to a lay person. Thankfully, the “State of Search 2022” report from Semrush offers some insights that can inform your content strategy right away.

Let’s take a look.

Embrace these topics holistically to encourage more search traffic

As part of Semrush’s analysis of search traffic increases, the study broke down the top 100,000sites by industry and calculated search traffic by category. It found that, from 2020 to 2021, all search traffic grew by 4%. When broken down by industry, travel and leisure saw the greatest increase in search (20%), followed by food and restaurants (12%), financial services (11%) and logistics (9%). The only search categories that saw a negative trend were online education (-8%) and education (-5%).

Courtesy of Semrush

It’s worth noting that the increased search traffic for these categories aligns with the zeitgeist of 2021— while the world flirted with some return to normalcy, people were searching for travel again, interested in dining out and reassessing their finances.

While trends can offer insight into topics that may be worth folding into your content strategy, it’s important to embrace these categories holistically — any ad hoc attempt to craft content around these categories should not be disingenuous to the core function of what your content is trying to communicate.  Google and other search engines evaluate rankings based on a domain’s entire site architecture, meaning that the best way to engage with trending topics is to integrate them into your entire ecosystem using a tool to determine what keywords you want to rank for.

How many keywords are effective and how long should they be?

As Semrush and other SEO tools became more popular, many marketers engaged in a practice known as “keyword stuffing”, populating their content with as many keywords as they could find. Several years ago, search engines tweaked their keyword crawlers to identify these opportunists and keep their content from floating to page 1 of search results.

The Semrush study referenced the company’s database of 160 million keywords and rankings for U.S.-based website to determine what number of keywords performed best in search. It found that the overwhelming majority (83%) of unique queries contained five words or fewer, with 3-5-word queries comprising 67.1% and 1-2- word queries making up 15.9%.

Courtesy of Semrush

The study also found that over 94% of all searches contained between one and five words, which demonstrates the popularity of what are called “short-tail keywords.” Semrush points out that short-term keywords aren’t always the best phrases to include, however—longer-tail keywords over five words are often more highly targeted to the niche topic your audience is searching for. Because of this, longer-tail keywords can be more likely to generate conversions, or actions that searchers take on your site such as signing up for a consultation, buying a product, etc.

Why your keywords should answer a question

Semrush also points out that 60% of unique search terms seek an answer a specific question or query, what SEO wonks call “informational intent.”

Courtesy of Semrush

“Informational queries, e.g. ‘coffee calories,’ tend to be more nuanced than most, in that the same topic or search intent can be phrased in a number of different ways to trigger specific results,” write the study’s authors. “Commercial and transactional queries tend to rely on other factors without the extra details you might find in informational queries. For example, a parent may search for ‘pants for kids,’ but may be less likely to search for ‘blue pants for an average height 10-year-old.’

“By contrast, most informational pages don’t have the filters you might find on, say, an apparel store’s product category pages, so the user needs to be much more specific with often lengthier queries and more unique keywords. The sheer number of informational keywords becomes clearer when you put the intent categories into the context of market share.”

To recap: think about how your content can include phrases from one to five words, the shorter the better — and do what you can to ensure that the search phrase points to a specific question or need that your content offers a solution to.

Check out more SEO trends in Semrush’s “State of Search 2022” report.

The post These SEO trends can help your content rank higher in search appeared first on PR Daily.

Some brands are looking to get more seriously into the video game space.

With rise of the metaverse and developments like Sony’s plan to deliver in-game ads on its PlayStation games, the online gaming world is getting more and more attention from brand managers.

One brand that is investing in the gaming sector is Grubhub, the food delivery app that sees itself as a natural fit for gamers.

“More than 80% of gamers reported they regularly eat and drink while playing and with Grubhub, they’ll always have thousands of restaurants at their fingertips with food delivered right to their door so they never miss a moment of gameplay,” explains Mandy Cudahy, director of marketing at Grubhub.

That’s why Grubhub chose to sponsor the League Champions Series — the special gathering for professional “League of Legends” players in Houston.

The “League of Legends” community in particular has been a target for Grubhub, as the game franchise created by Riot Games has amassed a fanbase of more than 180 million.

“We started to engage with the community a few years ago and our relationship has grown ever since,” says Cudahy. “We’ve been enhancing the gaming experience for casual fans and elite athletes by delivering more than just food – by delivering connectivity.”

That connectivity comes from more than sponsoring the in-person e-sports championship: Grubhub also offers exclusive online perks and in-game promotions.

Lessons learned 

If your organization does decide to invest in online gaming events and partnerships, what are the best opportunities?

One mistake to avoid is assuming gamers don’t yearn for in-person activities and connection.

“Hot off the heels of the LCS Spring Split, the largest attended LCS event since 2017, we recognize how much this community craves real-life interactions and we’re helping bring them just that as the presenting sponsor,” explains Cudahy.

Also avoid the crime of inauthentic or opportunistic brand engagement.

“We’ve learned that this group can easily spot opportunistic partners and are loyal to brands committed to their craft,” says Cudahy. Working with gaming influencers and offering unique experiences are two ways to avoid being just another marketing message to be ignored.

For brands willing to engage with gamers, the opportunities are only growing, per Cudahy.

“For other brands that want to get involved, I would suggest taking time to understand this community, learning about gamers’ unique habits, and authentically engaging them,” she advises. “Take time to conduct surveys, focus groups, and other practices to deepen your understanding.”

Video games aren’t just for kids and the culture that surrounds them cannot be understood in an afternoon. “Gaming culture is complex and rooted in unique practices and traditions that have emerged from various games, and brands need to find unique opportunities to tap into these nuances,” Cudahy says.

How are you engaging with gaming audiences?

The post How Grubhub is engaging the gaming community appeared first on PR Daily.

Do you hate the sound of those pesky email or text notifications? Or maybe it’s the noise of a text or social media ping that fills you with dread or anxiety.

These constant interruptions don’t just make us feel bad — they’ve actually been shown to negatively affect our cognitive ability and concentration.

Such research has prompted well-being advocates to call for “notification detoxes,” sustained lengths of time where participants undertake the challenge of going interruption-free.

The Guardian interviewed Dr. Aishah Iqbal about her experience with a notification cleanse, and it does sound quite nice:

As Iqbal noticed the effect pop-ups were having on her peace of mind and productivity, she took action. “I turned everything off, and I felt better for it. That was something I could control: the distraction coming from my phone.”

Television ads, pop-up messages on websites and personal device push notifications are all tools communicators might use to reach their audiences. But if people start turning off their notifications or opting out in droves, what happens to your strategy?

Ads, in particular, are suffering, as consumers begin to notice and take action to rectify their notification fatigue. Paul Dyer, CEO of marketing agency Lippe Taylor, calls it a “death spiral.”

In a 2021 interview with PR Daily, Dyer said interruption-averse culture provides a unique opportunity for PR and marketing pros to truly earn their audiences’ attention.

“Advertising is a business that prides itself on being persuasive, and its greatest persuasion was convincing everybody about how effective it was,” he said. “And I think that what’s happened over the last couple of decades is that many people have come to just equate marketing with advertising as if they’re the same thing. They’re not the same thing.”

In essence, instead of bemoaning the loss of attention that pop-ups, commercials and push notifications are receiving, PR pros should look to create messaging that is less intrusive by nature.

Alternatives to mobile pings

One exciting development: Google aims to address this problem with its new “ambient computing” experiment, Little Signals.

From the Little Signals webpage:

Just as everyday objects might find simple ways to inform us — like the moving hands of a clock or the whistle of a kettle — Little Signals consider how to stay up-to-date with digital information while maintaining moments of calm.

The promotional video for the experiment is nearly two minutes of neutrally dressed people moving softly through spaces filled with plants, rain sounds and linen curtains:

What Google is proposing isn’t removing interruptions from people’s lives — it’s changing how companies can do the actual interrupting. Puffs of air or soft knocking sounds are a far cry from your mom’s questionable custom ringtone blaring over your next family gathering, but they still allow Google to get your attention.

The challenge that lies ahead for communicators is creating messaging that is respectful of your audience’s limited time and while still competing for a top spot in the attention economy.

Imagine a text notification that sounds like Morgan Freeman whispering in your ear — it’s soothing, but you definitely can’t ignore it. Or perhaps Enya’s next career will be as a sound stylist for companies looking to integrate soothing music into their marketing push.

In a dystopian, worst-case-scenario, new technology like Little Signals is ripe for abuse. Ever seen the Disney Channel Original Movie “Smart House”? People who are looking for a true notification detox likely won’t be thrilled at the prospect of their entire home being turned into a marketing channel.

Google’s product speaks to the evergreen need to earn audiences’ attention, rather than taking it by force. People have cottoned on to advertising and marketing tactics, and they don’t like them.

The post What the death of notifications could mean for PR pros appeared first on PR Daily.