Transcript Pull up a Chair: How to Ensure RePResentation at the Marketing

Pull up a Chair: How to Ensure
rePResentation at the Marketing Table
PRSA Chesapeake Region Conference
June 4, 2015
MODERN MARKETING
Chris McMurry, Sr. VP, Public Relations, MGH
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15 years of PR experience, including 11 at MGH
Strategy/day-to-day lead for “Call 811 before you dig” integrated
marketing communications campaign on national and local level
Strategy consultant for all MGH public relations accounts
Graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public
Communications
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About MGH
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Integrated full-service marketing communications agency based in
Owings Mills, Md., that started as an advertising agency in 1995.
Added PR to services a few years later.
Work was typically “PR only” or “PR as a service in a silo” for client who
used other agency services.
Shift toward more integrated efforts came out of 2008-09 recession and
growth in digital media.
Clients began expecting more ROI and more integrated marketing for
their dollars spent.
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PR’s Role: Past and Present
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In the past:
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C-level executives and even some
top marketing execs once viewed
PR as an independent discipline
that managed:
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Media requests
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Image enhancement
Press conferences/events
Earning “publicity”
Increasing awareness of a product or
service
Crisis communications
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Today:
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Push toward integrating
public relations into
marketing communications.
Management expects
departments to maximize
budgets with smart ideas
that work across disciplines.
PR should help directly drive
sales/conversions.
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The Challenge:
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Top decision maker is typically a Director/VP/SVP of Marketing (CMO)
who may have biases toward marketing disciplines from her/his past.
C-level executives (CEO/COO/CFO) are often guided by CMO’s
viewpoint on marketing.
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The Opportunity:
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PR practitioners must integrate with other marketing
communications disciplines in ways that matter to the “C suite.”
Directly affect online actions by target audience.
Go beyond impressions and media value and measure PR success
using sales/marketing metrics.
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The top three ways
to earn rePResentation at the marketing table
(and gain larger budgets)
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1. Use website analytics to tell your PR
success story
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Web Analytics and PR
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Three layers of PR success:
1. Exposure earned
2. Consumer action taken as a result of the exposure earned
3. Conversion/sales increases around the time that exposure was earned
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Web Analytics and PR
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Three levels of PR success:
1. Exposure earned
2. Consumer action taken as a result of the exposure earned
3. Conversion/sale increases around the time that exposure was earned
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Levels 1 and 3 don’t guarantee attribution of overall organization
success to PR, but often they can be the “go-to” metrics for PR
campaigns.
Level 2 must be considered a top priority to connect PR results with
conversion/sales increases.
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Short Case Study:
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811 and Victor Espinoza
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National association with a small budget collected funds from
members to sponsor.
Goal was to educate general public about free 811 “call before you
dig” service.
Difficult to measure role of PR in driving calls, putting a premium on
being able to measure the 2nd level of PR results.
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Measuring Campaign Effectiveness
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Client made sports marketing decision to sponsor jockey of California
Chrome in 2014 and American Pharoah in 2015.
Sought to maximize reach of marketing effort through PR, primarily
via interviews.
Needed to demonstrate that consumers learned about 811 so they
knew what to do the next time they had a reason to dig.
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Key Results from 2014 Campaign
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More than 45 million people saw
811 on race broadcasts alone, with
hundreds of millions of additional
impressions.
Total website traffic on the three
race days in 2014 was up 200%
compared to the same three days
in 2013 when no sponsorship was
in place.
Race days are top three single days
for Web traffic in site’s history.
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“Next Level Stats” Show the Real Value of PR
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More than 90 percent of visits to
Call811.com were generated by
search engines on Triple Crown
race days in 2014, compared to 65
percent on an average 2014 day.
70 percent of traffic came from
mobile devices, compared to 26
percent on an average 2014 day.
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A Results Story for the “C-Level”
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The integrated 811/Victor Espinoza sponsorship and PR campaign was
positioned as successful to c-level executives at CGA member
companies because it:
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Reached a massive number of consumers (Results layer 1)…
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Which led to increased public education about the 811 message, increasing
the likelihood of an 811 phone call in the future (Results layer 3).
With those impressions leading to a specific action: Searching for more
information about 811 while watching TV coverage of Victor/the races and
seeing the “Call 811” logo (Results layer 2)…
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Bonus Tips for Better Measurement
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Approach online media relations with the mindset of direct response
advertising by providing custom links to reporters for use in their
stories.
Integrate key words used in news releases and media trained
spokesperson quotes with organization’s SEO goals.
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2. Make your marketing the news story
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Marketing as News
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There’s a belief held by many that people want to block out all
marketing messages.
This just isn’t true. People try to avoid BAD marketing/advertising.
Study in 2014 by an ad agency in San Francisco found:
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78 percent of Americans look forward to Super Bowl ads more than the game.
70 percent seek out ads online before the game.
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Marketing as News
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Super Bowl ads become a story of their own before and after the game
every year.
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Making the “Super Bowl” Model Work for You
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Most ads aren’t Super Bowl ads, but it is possible to earn news coverage
from good advertising and earn respect for the value of PR from the Clevel in the process.
One of the best ways to get true rePResentation is to brainstorm with
other marketers, especially for advertising campaigns.
Key questions to ask when concepting ideas with ad people:
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Can we make news as we produce the ad campaign?
Can we make news leading up to the campaign launch?
Can we extend the reach of the campaign by earning coverage after it launches?
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Short Case Study:
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OLD BAY’s “Summer of Baytriotism”
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Situation: OLD BAY wanted to reconnect with the Baltimore area and
increase sales in this long-time major market for the seasoning.
Strategy: An integrated team at MGH brainstormed together and
recommended that OLD BAY execute a campaign that showcased OLD
BAY’s authentic Baltimore roots.
Key Tactic: The campaign needed a “voice” that represented all of
Baltimore. PR and advertising both recognized the potential to create
news surrounding the search for this voice – The Voice of Baltimore.
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Short Case Study:
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Ocean City’s Advertising/PR Integration
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Situation: Ocean City doesn’t change much year to year, making earning
media coverage on destination enhancements alone a challenge.
Strategy: Create advertising campaigns that have PR and social media
extensions to reinvent/repackage what makes Ocean City great to the
people who love it.
Tactical approach: Creative ingenuity in advertising becomes the news
hook.
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Short Case Study:
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Smyth Jewelers’ Advertising/PR Integration
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Situation: Iconic engagement billboard had been posted for several
years. It was seeming as if Mr. Boh was having commitment issues, since
he and the Utz Girl had yet to “tie the knot.”
Strategy: Complete the story (and promote Smyth as a place to get
wedding bands…not just engagement rings) by having the two Baltimore
icons get married.
Tactical approach: Host a real, live wedding…with just two weeks of
planning time.
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3. Sell your successes
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Merchandising the Work
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Not just for agency-client relationships; also important for in-house PR
staff to management.
It’s natural to just sell work back to your primary day-to-day contacts.
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That’s not enough to guarantee rePResentation at the table in the future.
The budget decision makers are usually higher up than the top marketing person
in an organization.
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Sell your PR successes as high up as you can
until you get your hand slapped
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Tools of the “Sell Back”
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Simple text only mail
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For a single tactical win, such as earning a placement in a strategically important
media outlet
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Includes key data from section 1 of this presentation (why was it so important?)
Designed one-pagers
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For short campaigns
Includes data and images
Allows for integration with sales/new business development/fundraising staff
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Tools of the “Sell Back”
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Video sizzle reels
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Helps to highlight PR’s role in supporting integrated efforts in a dynamic way.
Media relations
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Can be used for short campaigns or full-year recaps.
Pitch business stories about your organization’s/client’s success and attribute
success to the PR/marketing campaign.
Awards
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Awards programs continue to grow, but remember, winning awards is more
about the people who funded the work.
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Awards can provide a news peg for media relations efforts.
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Tone of the “Sell Back”
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Highlights public relations success in the context of full marketing
communications integration and overall organizational goal
achievement (helps avoid territorial battles with others).
Thanks everyone who played a role:
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Key client decision makers if you’re an agency.
Key members of other departments (especially sales, product development, etc.)
to showcase how PR can serve as the center point in promoting the best parts
about an organization.
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In Summary: Ensuring you get rePResentation
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Find shared goals.
Focus on PR goals/measurements that matter most.
Consider and pursue all ways that PR and other forms of marketing can
work together.
Sell back the success of public relations to the C-level until you’re told
not to do so.
Focus on business results when communicating with C-level.
Point to past successes as justification for future PR funding needs.
Integrate to maximize budgets.
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Chris McMurry
MGH
Senior VP, Public Relations Director
410-902-5036
[email protected]
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