Zenzi Communications is working with Chiquita on a PR campaign that promotes Chiquita Banana Sticker Design Contest. The contest that ran between June 21, 2010 and July 18, 2010, invited consumers to visit www.EatAChiquita.com and put their own spin on the company’s iconic brand image. The purpose of the campaign, was: “to encourage consumers to interact with the Chiquita brand and make the brand their own.” – as Judy Chen, Corporate Marketing Group Leader at Chiquita, stated in the official press release. Read the rest here!

Top 10 Tips to Integrate Traditional PR & Digital Marketing

As marketing and PR are changing rapidly with the constant evolution and expansion of the digital ecosystem, success requires integrated efforts that combine the smartest tactics in traditional PR combined with online marketing and SEO practices. The Internet has changed how we receive information, how we interact and engage with each other, with brands and with media. PR is a critical aspect of the marketing mix and there are fundamental shifts in strategy and approach that Zenzi Communications, an integrated marketing and PR agency, works with daily.

First and foremost, it is critical for PR professionals to be knowledgeable in all digital tools, including social media, blogs, mobile apps, SEO and email marketing. PR and online marketing are two areas of expertise that should go hand-in-hand.

Click here to read the rest of Sarah’s article

Consumed

A Design Campaign for Bananas

By ROB WALKER

Published: August 20, 2010

From top: Logo from Chiquita Brands; Timothy Reeder; Andrew Stronge; Heather Bloss.

The featured article on TECH cocktail’s blog today is from Zenzi, by our own Sarah Hardwick.  Keep an eye out for part 2 next week!

This is the first part of a two part post by Sarah Hardwick, Founder & CEO of Zenzi Communications.

Starting a business is challenging enough, let alone managing the ins and outs of PR to successfully promote your product or service. Here are the first 5 easy tips to help you through this process, and get your startup the attention and exposure it deserves!

Get the first 5 tips here!

Would you open your life to the public and agree to be filmed as you confront a major medical challenge?  Would you allow your work to be filmed as a medical professional?  That is exactly what a colon cancer victim, the mother of a toddler experiencing a stroke in the brain, a teen waiting for a heart transplant, one of the first face transplant patients and doctors and nurses did in the eight week series, Boston Med.

They say sometimes life is more surprising than anything you could ever make up.  The result of Boston Med was a captivating glimpse into reality at Mass General, Brigham and Womens and Children’s Hospital that could not get any more dramatic than this. “A welcome respite from the summer stupids,” commented VARIETY.

Full disclosure can be a PR nightmare…

A heart surgery on a newborn gone terribly wrong

A real-life glimpse at the cockiness of a young, privileged doctor

The shortcomings of a doctor in gaining control of an emergency situation

Or, it can be an unbelievable endorsement…

The first breaths of two women waking up, each with a new lung and new outlook on life

Doctors and nurses that give up their social lives and make hard decisions every day to save patients

A man who experiences a terrible disfiguring accident gets a new face and lease on life, with one of the first face transplant operations in the world

All of which was the case in Boston Med.

Greater awareness about…organ transplantation, mesothelioma, heart defects and the tireless work of doctors and nurses.

Janet Pollet, widow of patient, Marvin Pollet, who was featured in Episode 5, wrote the following letter in response to an article debating filming at hospitals:

“We were informed that ABC News film crews would be on the MGH campus and that we may be approached and asked for permission to film the medical treatment. We were also told to feel free to decline filming and not to feel obligated. The disclosure seemed one for awareness and avoiding an unexpected surprise of camera crews inside the hospital. We traveled to Boston with anticipation of receiving treatment and with no expectation of being filmed. Shortly after arriving at MGH my family was asked to consider being filmed by ABC News. After all, Marvin was young, had a rare condition, and a great personality. For nearly two years prior, my husband aggressively sought treatment, answers, and a diagnosis. No matter what his own outcome, Marvin reasoned that allowing filming would hopefully help others in similar situations. We felt if only one person were helped, it would be well worth it. We agreed to the filming and signed the necessary consent forms.

The filming was occasionally awkward but, for the most part, no more distracting than furniture in a room. Dr. Kimberly Parks was Marvin’s cardiologist and is genuinely caring, compassionate, intelligent and professional. Dr. Parks and her colleagues utilized all resources in providing treatment to Marvin and our family. Treatment decisions were made with Marvin’s and/or the family’s consent. MGH personnel at all levels were nothing short of remarkable. I met staff and others in Boston with whom I have kept in touch and will remain life-long friends with…”

Would you be open to full disclosure at the hospital or in your workplace?

The season is currently over, but you can check out past episodes at: http://abc.go.com/shows/boston-med

As a student at USC Annenberg’s School for Communication & Journalism with PR and Communication majors, it was pretty much beat into me by professors and career advisers that getting a job is all about networking, networking, networking.  Thankfully, throughout college, I had access to amazing internship opportunities and a built-in network of alumni ready and willing to help fellow Trojans.  But when I decided to move to San Diego after graduating in 2002, it became an entirely different ball game.  I turned down an offer to continue full-time with the international PR agency in L.A. with which I was interning because I was 100% set on moving to San Diego.  So then began the full-time job search and real world networking in a new market.  It was not easy and took a few months before I found a job but I learned some incredibly valuable lessons along the way that really set me on the right path to develop my career.

I was not excited about the idea of networking – showing up to an event in a room full of people that all seem to know each other somehow or at least know what to say and do was daunting to say the least.  I started with the Public Relations Society of America’s local chapter by attending a luncheon.  For an unemployed recent college graduate, it was a bit of an investment but it really paid off.  I was thankful to find one person I knew that I had met recently through my boyfriend (now my husband) at a biotech industry event, sat next to her, and happened to also sit next to a local agency owner that was looking to hire an account coordinator.  I sent her my resume and the rest was history – that was the start of my PR career in San Diego and my involvement with PRSA.  I have since worked for a few local companies, both in the agency environment and in-house, and three of those jobs were a direct result of my involvement and connections through PRSA.  From meeting a future employer at a luncheon to receiving a referral from the president of the chapter because the employer contacted her for recommendations of strong candidates, PRSA always seems to play a part in making connections happen for me. I LOVE my current job and where I have ended up at this point in my career, have had some amazing experiences along the way, and I largely have PRSA to thank for that.

Serving on the board of directors for the PRSA San Diego-Imperial Counties Chapter is an honor and a privilege, but it also involves a lot of work, often during my free time.  I would not have spent the last 3+ years of my life dedicated to this organization if I did not believe in the work we are doing.  I am so grateful for the network of wonderful people and friends that I have made through PRSA and it is the least I can do to give back and help run the local chapter, along with an incredibly talented group of diverse PR professionals that I serve alongside.  But what I have gotten back from my service far outweighs any sacrifices I have had to make along the way.  Beginning with my involvement on the New Pros Committee in 2004, I have made great friends and watched people that were fellow newbies with me back then move on to high-level positions, and have been able to share the highs and lows of our careers openly throughout the years.

I would encourage anyone in the local PR industry to get involved in PRSA-SDIC in one way or another, and there are so many ways to do so, by attending a luncheon, volunteering at an event, joining a committee, and of course becoming a member.  Volunteering on a committee turned out to be the absolute best way for me to overcome my networking fears, as my network of peers organically grew through real working relationships and friendships.  I have come to learn that is what real networking is all about – not just walking into a room and handing out some business cards, but working with your peers on projects that require you to get to know each other on both personal and professional levels.  Now when I walk into a room of PR professionals, it is a completely different experience because I know most of the people in the room and have more than enough to talk about with them.  I love meeting newcomers and look forward to continuing to expand my network in the future, and hopefully be able to pay it forward and help others in the industry.  I have already had a few remarkable experiences of being able to make connections and help people with their career moves, and it is such an awesome feeling to be able to do that.

I am proud to represent PRSA-SDIC as the chair of the Membership & Volunteer Recruitment Committee, as I have gained so much through my own membership and volunteer projects with this organization, and I will sing the organization’s praises to anyone willing to listen.  Feel free to contact me if you are interested in more information on how to get involved with PRSA at erin.coller@zenzi.com!

JetBlue‘s in the left corner, Steven Slater’s over in the right. The match begins and the people are watching – and definitely cheering — for Slater.

Former flight attendant, Steven Slater, threw a heck of a punch when he cursed out the belligerent passenger and slid down and away from his JetBlue plane and airline career, beer in hand. JetBlue’s immediate reaction? Arresting Slater for endangerment of the public, which is fair enough. However, the next thing you know, the media outlets pick up on this quirky story, Slater makes bail, people are fundraising on behalf of Slater to help pay for his legal fees, loyal customers are claiming they will “never fly JetBlue again”, Slater gains a hefty support group and bam!

JetBlue is stunned.

Stunned enough, it seems, to robotically go into ordinary protocol. On Twitter, JetBlue is stating that they cannot “comment on ongoing investigations nor on the personal information of our customers or crewmembers”. Nobody from JetBlue has responded to angry rants and statements being made on their own Facebook page. It seems as though they may not realize the scope of people this conflict has affected. This has turned into a media fiasco, and JetBlue’s public image is at risk.

However, PR is not all about image. Ultimately, it’s about helping the client understand, connect with, and engage with people. In this case, Slater’s story seems to be resonating with the frustrations of the common employee – the employee who often wishes that they had the guts (and financial resources) to rebel against their daily grind, the employee who feels overworked, underpaid and unappreciated.

JetBlue is now positioned as Slater’s enemy, and therefore, pitched against the everyday employee and general public. The best thing to do from here is to simply react — to do something to acknowledge the concerns. Whether it be to publicly empathize with Slater, discuss the issue openly, or tweet a news update, they must act quickly.

To be fair, the public is fickle; it was probably tough for JetBlue to distinguish between which problem is worth addressing and which problem will simply blow over. After all, the public’s attention is always fleeting. However, not addressing a popular issue fast enough will often come off as indifferent, calculating, and/or cowardly. The bottom line that it is their PR’s job to get insight during these crisis situations and react appropriately, speedily and gracefully.

The crowd is waiting, JetBlue!

If you have been working in the PR world long enough, you will remember finding the right media contact was akin to searching for buried treasure in the Atlantic – if you’re persistent and a little lucky you may just uncover something of value. Searching for contacts in the old days meant paging through Bacon’s – behemoth books (thousands of pages) with every newspaper, radio and TV station throughout the country and corresponding reporters. The problem with Bacon’s is that it only came out once a year, so if there were any changes to the editorial staff you wouldn’t necessarily find out until you began actively pitching. Not only was it an inefficient use of time, it also put a strain to a certain extent on the reporter/PR relationship by PR practitioners frequently reaching out to the wrong people.

Fast forward to the age of electronic records and email. Eventually the Bacon’s books turned completely electronic which solved the issue of relevancy and up to date record keeping. If a reporter left the publication or changed beats, records could be updated on-the-fly making the task of reaching out to the right people a much smoother process. The ease of use by moving to electronic records, however, brought with it another communication issue – email. Email has made it much easier to quickly pitch a reporter without picking up the phone.

Reporters today are experiencing information overload by receiving hundreds, if not thousands, of new pitches and company information from PR practitioners each day. To get a response an almost “perfect storm” of sorts needs to take place where the reporter is actively looking for sources, gets intrigued by your message, decides to click open and finally responds to discuss.

A new approach to the age old problem of matching reporters to timely and relevant sources will launch on August 9th. Called NewsBasis, this website community aims to connect reporters and publicists by broadcasting sources to reporters actively looking and visa versa. It’s essentially built around the same concept as online dating – i.e. you would only visit if you were searching. Will this approach work? If the site achieves high adoption it will because it fills specific needs for both industries. Excitement has already begun to build sparked by the recent acquisition of a competing site called Help A Reporter Out (HARO) by a large PR software company.

Relationships go through a process – attraction, understanding, commitment and finally, the ‘L’ word.

Loyalty.

30-second commercials. Flashy magazine ads. Rubber bracelets. Subliminal messaging. Applications for just about everything. In the modern day of too-many options and decisions, technological advances and competitive prices, what makes a consumer loyal to a brand? And the better question — what can a public relations agency do to provide a company with enough recognition and promotion to ensure an audience of passionate and dedicated consumers?

There are many answers to that question, but lets focus on one: the ability to engage. There is no longer a “courting” stage; as a company, it will take effort to keep the spark. Effort means keeping on top of the your industry’s pulse, listening and personalizing your product for your target consumers, opening up the discussion within social media channels, and being honest with what you can offer. The overarching theme here is communication.

That’s where PR steps in. PR is like the relationship guru that gives your company innovative ways to shake up your advertising routine and work with you to find ways to communicate to your loyal audience. And if you hit a bump in the road, such as a publicity crisis or a product malfunction, PR is there to help secure your brand and image. PR’s goal is to keep your loyal audience by showing them how engaged and loyal you are to them.

Nobody wants to date someone who won’t listen to them. No long-term potential. After all, who wants to end up like this twosome? The Breakup