The conference will allow individual PR practitioners to shape the future of PR measurement and communications analytics; discover best practices and trends to ensure stronger professionalism; benefit from the knowledge of internationally renowned speakers – and network with your peers and meet potential new business contacts.

For more information on the 2013 Summit go to http://ameceuropeansummit.org/

Swiss manufacturer Geberit AquaClean chose Denmark to pioneer its entry into Scandinavia. Kragelund’s task was to mount a campaign to introduce the product, get it recognised by Danes within five years and for 30-40% of Danes to have them installed in 30 years. The high tech toilets are shower toilets that clean with water and dry with air.

Aware that the subject of toilet habits is something that isn’t talked about openly Kraglelund knew that it would have to use creativity and innovation to attract the attention of press and the public as shower toilets and bidets are considered to be oddities and taboos in Scandinavia. Less than 5% of the Danish population has a bidet and no one has a shower toilet. Added to this product is high end and the cost is Euro 4,500.

Kragelund’s task was made even harder as the client had banned the use of social media.  Furthermore it was seen as a plumbing product rather than a lifestyle product, which is where Kragelund thought it should be.

To answer the brief the agency made use of combining the facts from international and Danish studies of toilet habits and emphasising that the best source of cleanliness is water. One thing was very sure from the beginning, that  journalists must try the product for themselves in exclusive surroundings so that any prejudices could be overcome.

Business and lifestyle journalists representing newspapers and exclusive design magazines were invited to Paris to try for AquaClean as no installations were available in Denmark. Kragelund worked hard to understand and identify narrow target audiences and came up with themes ranging from “The toilet is our armchair”, “We feel unclean despite strong personal hygiene”, “High tech toilets with fancy features” among others to appeal to a wide spectrum of Danish press.

The introductory press trip was a great success, and exceeded even Kragelund’s ambitions. The outreach of media coverage was estimated to be in excess of 7.02 million (the population of Denmark being 5.6 million). This excluded bloggers, and five of the most relevant and influential bloggers in Denmark covered the launch.

Now the most exclusive hotel in Copenhagen, Hotel D’Angleterre, has installed shower toilets in all of its rooms and Kargelund is continuing with its campaign of inviting journalists to try the shower toilet with the cooperation of the hotel.

Commenting on her win Gitte Hoyer said, “We were up against some of the larger IPRN members and to be honest didn’t think we stood a chance of winning.  It was a huge surprise when we did – and it was made more special because it was our peers that were judging us.”

About six months ago, Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, made a comment in a Google forum thread that links within press releases won’t “benefit your rankings.”

Since then, we showed one case where Google not only discovers the links within typical press releases but uses the anchor text for ranking purposes. Maybe it was one fluke, or maybe that particular case was not fair? In fact, Matt has said this numerous times that press release links don’t count.

The other day, Daniel Tan released another press release, this time on a smaller release site and added the anchor text “leasreepressmm” pointing to the blog of Matt Cutts. His goal was to get Matt’s blog to rank for leasreepressmm ,and guess what, it worked.

A search in Google for [leasreepressmm] returns Matt’s blog as number seven for me right now, only a few days after the press release was posted.

Getting the content model right for today’s media can regularly deliver a live audience of more than 40 credible journalists at a brand event.

As with everything in the modern communications mix, tradition alone counts for little and it is content that drives the day. Recent arguments from PR agencies may well focus on how the media are too busy to leave their desks and come and hear about a product or brand news face to face. Often they are right…but only if they are doing it wrong.

Self centred brand events or product driven agendas in most sectors will fail because they offer nothing that cannot be gleaned instead over the phone, or even online. Little of added value will inspire little desire to leave the office.

But if you think like an editor and offer a session of conversation, opinion and thoughts, then you change the game and the rules that go with it.

Nexus has run a media event strategy for several years on this premise, for businesses ranging from health insurance providers, to yoghurt makers, and from beauty-with-benefits products to over the counter medicine companies. From this experience, four consistent insights shine through to support the ‘think like an editor’ mantra.

1 Media hunger exists for the right story

Over the past three years, more and more journalists have gone ‘freelance’, which aside from making them ‘desk-free’ can mean a fight to get ‘their’ article in. The Daily Mail, for example, has over 50 freelance health journalists pitching health articles in at any one time, even competing against the resident Daily Mail staff. As a result, journalists are hungrier than ever for a good story and will invest time to get it, especially if you allow them to find their own angle (from a well controlled start point).

2 Context and individuality are critical factors

Post Leveson, journalists more than ever need to be sure that their facts and quotes are right. And whilst official spokespeople are often quoted in media releases, journalists prefer to have a tailor-made quote for their articles, delivered as part of a live discussion rather than from a pre-agreed sanitised story. This way they get their own take, with any doubts/queries answered directly, as part of a world that is broader than just the ‘brand’ and more relevant for their specific readers. Think audience need, not about product detail, as the latter flows best from the former

3 Breadth of ingredients delivers breadth of appeal

One size does not fit all. Simple research, data, supposition, opinion, and colourful case studies are all options that can flow from one well managed event and in a timeslot that is packed with value rather than packed with filling for filling’s sake. Our event to launch a new yogurt with added vitamin D and calcium into the UK market delivered a discussion where four key topics were heroed: the challenges of the modern diet, the need for supporting bone health from a younger age, lack of awareness for the importance and need of vitamin D in the UK, and just how much of a challenge bone fractures and osteoporosis are to our society. Good content potential builds anticipation and curiosity and drives the quality attendance level up, and in this case we hosted 40 different press.

4 Theatre matters

And it matters both in terms of the storyteller and the storytelling. At the Simplyhealth event we ran recently – which was about the connection between oral health to heart health – we had one of our GP speakers go round before the presentation offering the journalists free blood pressure checks, which grounded the story in reality from the off. And the ‘GP bit’ is incredibly relevant. Media events benefit from a range of speakers from the real-life context that is relevant to the task, through to adding insight and value to the agenda. This is the draw. The feature opportunity. The way in for media to see there is a story canvas rather than a fixed product to get involved with. A panel discussion brings things to life in a way a brand presentation can never do. For the Simplyhealth event we invited quality speakers representing periodontal disease, a heart health specialist who is also a GP, and a women’s health expert.

If we look at our last five press conference 2.0 events we have a guest list comprising media from key influential and mixed media platforms, such as the Daily Mail, The Sun, and the Sunday Times, to Glamour magazine, Reader’s Digest, Best, Woman and NOW magazines, to top influential bloggers, with media attendee numbers ranging from 40 up to 65. As a result, our coverage has not only gone way beyond expectations, but we can see a direct correlation between this media coverage and product sales.

More valuable and less static than product press conferences of the past, more results orientated than a brand led ‘sales pitch’, and more trusted over time by media as a good way to spend their time, this evolution from traditional brand tool to modern story service is a very good thing for those that know how to capitalise on the shift.

And of course who know how to sweat the detail and the small stuff … those are still essential ingredients for success.

Broadgate Mainland will work with Moore Stephens to develop and execute a PR campaign to promote the firm’s expertise in the financial services and insurance communities.

Jon Gibbs, Director of Marketing, Moore Stephens, says: “Our decision to appoint Broadgate Mainland stemmed from their impressive knowledge of the industry and proven success in the financial services arena. The team demonstrated a clear understanding of our aims for media engagement and is well positioned to assist us in achieving our business objectives.”

Roddi Vaughan Thomas, Executive Director at Broadgate Mainland, says: “Moore Stephens has built a strong reputation as one of the leading international accounting and consultancy firms, assisted by the growth of its financial services and insurance practices. We look forward to utilising our experience to help strengthen Moore Stephen’s profile in these key markets.”

The account will be run by Broadgate Mainland’s Mark Knight, Roddi Vaughan Thomas, Alistair Scott and Cara Penkethman.

There is no doubt that some of the questions I get asked about media chicanery at my media training sessions have originated from scenarios taken from a TV production. It always adds some spice to the training, as long as we don’t lose contact with the more mundane realities.

Last week I was asked by a member of a group I was training to name some of the worst mistakes that people make in media interviews. We had already discussed the more positive ways of becoming a corporate media ambassador (Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen) so I was happy to indulge the audience with a brief trawl through a combination of horror stories and simple tips – so they don’t make the same errors.
Names are withheld to ensure that no one is mortally offended and obviously they have never attended one of my courses!

1. Some people are so proud of the bylined articles they have previously written that they bring them to the meeting to show them off to the journalist, even if they are from a rival publication. Rather than being impressed, the journalist soon realises the topic being discussed is not hot off the press.
2. PROs are good at preparing comprehensive background notes to brief their client or colleague on the journalist they are meeting. But placing the note on the table for the journalist to see is not the best idea, especially if it highlights a past disagreement or some recent negative coverage.
3. When asked by the journalist what publications you read, it’s best not to name their principal rival. A bit of homework before the meeting can reduce the chance of causing major offence.
4. Members of The Fourth Estate are generally a collegiate bunch and never take kindly to comments such as, “editorial coverage of the topic has been misinformed and generally poor.” Watch the hackles rise and former rivals standing shoulder to shoulder in defence of their profession.
5. For some unknown reason, even the most experienced media commentators sometimes produce a sales and marketing presentation to brief a journalist. Even worse, they take the journalist through it line by line, repeating numerous corporate mantras, “low-hanging fruit” and “blue-sky thinking”, and quoting specially invented sales acronyms. The journalist usually resorts to a BOHOF moment: back of hand on forehead.
6. Asking the journalist at the start of the meeting what they would like to talk about. The reality is that the journalist has been persuaded to meet you and if you read the briefing note it gives the topics you should cover. Stay in control and start the conversation.
7. The name of the game is that journalists may cancel meetings several times, but the client should try as hard as possible not to postpone more than once. It’s not in your best interest.
8. The meeting is never over until the journalist leaves the building. Don’t let your guard down when you leave the meeting room as the killer question can come when you are taking the lift down to reception. I remember at the end of one interview, when the journalist and interviewee were walking to the lift, the interviewee disclosed that he was glad the journalist hadn’t ask the question about … Surprise, surprise, he then did and the whole story became focused around this point.
The no-nonsense fictional press officers, Malcolm Tucker from The Thick of It , Kaspar Juul from Borgen or The West Wing’s CJ Cregg would have come down like a ton of bricks on any government official who was guilty of making one of these errors. A picture that corporate spokespeople would do well to remember.

Bellaflora, Austria’s biggest gardening centre, with 500 employees, 26 outlets and an 88 million euro turnover is a new client. Quester has also decided to put its communications needs in the expert hands of Senft & Partner.

Bellaflora Tomatoes

As one of Austria’s biggest specialised traders for building products the company has 24 outlets, 600 employers and turns over 250 million euros. It is part of the CRH group, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

The two accounts that have been reconfirmed are Gauhlhofer, one of the leading producers of windows in Austria with an 82 million euros turnover. The firm has 550 employees.

UK headquartered manufacturer of box-spring beds, Vi-Spring, will continue its working association with Senft & Partner for 2013. The company has 240 employees and a turnover of 41 million euros.

Vi-Spring Majesty

She will manage AKHIA’s fast growing eight-person design team and lead all branding efforts with the overall goal of delivering creative that is as strategically smart as it is visually appealing.

“We are extremely fortunate to have CJ join AKHIA at such an exciting time. She is respected and revered in our industry and allows us to provide companies with a truly integrated and balanced strategy,” said Ben Brugler, AKHIA Executive Vice President. “We have grown by demonstrating that we will do whatever it takes to learn our clients’ business; applying that to a fully integrated voice and vision. We look forward to the impact I know CJ will have on our approach.”

To manage the growth stemming from this new creative direction AKHIA has added five people to its creative team. Nick Phaler joins as senior art director as does Matt Rumer. Linda Fantone becomes an art director while Isabelle Jones joins as a copywriter and concept developer. Brianna Kelly joins as a designer.

Niki Forner was promoted from designer to associate art director, having been with AKHIA since 2009.

Ben Brugler commented, “AKHIA has always been about attracting the best and brightest talent in the area and creating an environment for them to thrive. Our design team is the best I’ve seen. Together our creative team has made an immediate impact on our clients. Combined with our account teams and our reputation for unmatched service, it’s really just the beginning.”

Why a problem?

The problem of the gender-specific holidays lies in the cultural and historical traditions of the country. Russia is a country with a great number of public holidays, as well as various holidays that are celebrated by large groups of its citizens. The end of winter/beginning of spring starts off with two gender-specific holidays, first being the “The Day of the Motherland’s Protector”, held on February 23, and the second — “The International Women’s day”, held on March 8.

The “International Women’s Day” is easily defined: women of all ages are being congratulated by men all over the country. The “Day of the Motherland’s Protector”, however, is historically a holiday which doesn’t target men, but rather all those who are in the military. The military service in Russia is compulsory for all men, but there are a large number of people who avoid it for various reasons (for example, health problems).

This leads to the conflict of an undefined holiday of February 23.

For any company such a gender-specific holiday would normally be an opportunity for congratulating their male or female Clients and Partners, but some men, while receiving a present for February 23, react poorly, complaining, that this holiday has nothing to do with them or their lifestyle.

A lovely solution!

PR Partner found a compromise for this case, basing their theory on their partner-like relationship with all Clients. Instead of dividing their contact base by gender, they declared their love for Clients on February 14, on St. Valentine’s day.

“We love our clients, we really do!” says Inna Alexeeva, CEO of PR Partner: “We decided that we will not differentiate our Clients by gender, like many other companies do. Most of our clients have been with us for many years, and our relationship is now really partner-like.  So on Valentine’s day our partners receive a present from us: something unusual, useful or funny, and always lovely!”

Dmitry Turusin, marketing consultant at PR Partner, adds: “Last year we went with kaleidoscopes in packaging that we decorated with parody proverbs on PR – “Jack of all trades and master of PR”, “Rome was not promoted in a day”, “Two speakers are better than one” and others. This year we presented our Clients honeycakes with our best wishes and received a great number of thanks via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail. We already have ideas on what we will be doing next year, but let it remain a surprise!”

PR Partner presented clients with a box of honeycakes

PR Partner team pays close attention to what presents they make, and there is a separate budget specifically for these presents. Keeping in touch with Clients is critical for any business, especially in B2B.

Inna Alexeeva continued, “Even a trivial present, at a right time can make a big difference. This is why congratulating Clients with the most popular holidays in your country is crucial.”

For several years the company has been working for Dachser Czech Republic – one of the worldwide leading players in the logistics industry and the Dachser has now appointed Crest to continue its good work also in Slovakia.

Dascher truck ready to roll

Ales Langr, Managing Director of Crest Communications said, “Dascher’s customers are mainly both large and medium sized who operate on a national and international level moving freight round the world, whether that be by sea, air or road. Dascher offers its expertise and competence combined with its innovative way of offering tailor-made logistics solutions. Each customer is provided with a bespoke plan of work to guarantee the outstanding quality on which Dascher has built its reputation.”

Crest Communications  work will  encompass media relations including press releases and exclusive interviews as well as event management.