Carson and Company

Direct marketing should be more than mailing a letter, or postcard to perspective customers. We were recently chosen by the Senior Outreach Network (SON) to help them communicate their services to those reaching Medicare age. In this confusing society of medical terms and how to get the benefits, it is good to see that someone like the Senior Outreach Network is there to explain the process. Although the client is local, our publicity and marketing is not limited to Orange County.

Our PR Marketing Strategy is to create a mailer that is geared to the 65+ audiences. The creative marketing is not overdone, meaning that it does not loose the purpose of the mailer. It is creative in layout and uses images that quickly identify the message, and the words are chosen to be creative yet direct. That’s what direct mailers should be. Best of all, the mailers are personalized. These speak directly to the recipient, not “occupant”. We strategically include the name of the person throughout the mailer to make the reader feel and know we are interested in them. This form of using a personalized approach in direct mail marketing is becoming popular, but it is still not used correctly. We believe our smart creative and publicity will make things happen for our new client.

If you would like to discuss how to get creative and still hit your target with a pr marketing strategy that will generate results, call us today. It can be the most rewarding phone call you make this year.

Direct mail is a very competitive. And if you are selling a service, a direct mail campaign needs to stand out and be compelling. You can do traditional mailings using a fancy postcard, or a letter. That is one way, but it will get lost with all the other mailers. If you hire a publicity agency in Orange County, or find a national publicity agency, you might get some very creative shop that wants to develop a mail campaign with a gimmick. For example if you are a financial advisor the public relations agency might mail a small baseball bat in a box with a clever headline that reads “We Hit Home Runs For Our Clients”, or “How NOT to strike out in Retirement”. Although these concepts might win awards at a banquet for publicity Orange County agencies, it isn’t going to bring customers to the client.

You might even try some publicity techniques. Get articles or press releases written about the unique direct mail campaign. But are these really going to get you customers? Maybe, but it isn’t going to make you stand out. So what will? And how do you create a campaign that gets results?

There are several things you can do. One for example is to send prospects and current customers an email video. Yes, a video. This is just one example of being creative in a different and less costly venture than mailing the baseball bat.

I am not against direct mail campaigns. They should be part of your overall campaign. When you include a video with your mail campaign, you now have set your company apart from the masses. Plus, you will have a different perspective by the viewer. No longer do you need to rely on that single sheet to tell your story, but you can tell it on video.

Just remember to keep it short. These are sales tools, not feature films. Your potential customer will watch the video, if short, and will listen if the information is both entertaining and factual. Here are some sites to learn more about sending email videos: Image Mind, if you use Outlook 2003 try this link, Google has a list of many email video companies to consider.

If all else fails, give us a call. We’re here to make great things happen for your company.

Building a brand takes a well planned and coordinated effort by the publicity agency, the pr clients and in most cases the marketing department who develops the pr marketing strategies. But when you need to re-establish a name, that can become a different challenge.

Recently we were contracted to help market the Laura Scudder’s brand. Many of you may not remember this name, but it was one of the best known brands in Snack Foods during the early 50’s through the mid 70’s. Although the original company started in the late 1920’s, it wasn’t really popular until the early 50’s. If you are a PR client who was in business during that era, or publicity agency in Orange County during the 60’s or 70’s then you know the name.

In order to re-build back the name recognition, we began with the logo. Keeping the scrip style type is important. The style that is used today is a modification of what was used in the late 80’s. The publicity it garnered over the years was positive, so it was decided to continue with that font. The images will now include many of the “past” illustrations, such as the Mayflower sailing ship, which was used during the 60’s. Other designs will also be picked up from the era past.

No matter the product, re-branding a name requires the same tactics as it would when building a new brand. The only advantage, the name Laura Scudder’s had a position in the marketplace, we just need to re-ignite that name and image through a publicity effort. The literature we created for the newer items, such as the dry dip mixes capitalized on the freshness and the original illustrations from the packages.

As we progress further with the branding of the Laura Scudder’s name, I’ll keep you posted with the pr marketing strategies and creative we use.

Another great topic is newsletters. They are excellent communicators to keep potential pr clients and customers aware of the products and services offered.

It doesn’t matter if you are a national pr client, or local publicity Orange County agency, newsletters should be included in your web marketing campaign. Newsletters need to be on-going, just like any ad campaign, or publicity campaign. When you start a publicity newsletter for your pr client, or are doing one for your Publicity Orange County Agency, make sure someone is assigned to handle the task.

Writing Tips for Newsletters:

• Tip for the month. No matter the industry, it is easy to develop at least a dozen tips to help pr clients or customers improve their business.
• Have examples of how these tips have helped a pr client or how a publicity campaign has created awareness for your service or products.
• Create a TO-DO list. Make a list of important things that will help a pr client during an interview, or how to prepare a press kit.

If you use your web site as the main vehicle for marketing the newsletter, be sure to capture some information about the company signing up for it. Most important, have someone follow up to the newsletter list every 6 months to make sure that contact is still at the company. Keeping your data current is as important as the information you write.

All pr agencies, whether local in Orange County or national will tell you that one of the best ways to gain publicity and become recognized as an expert is to be a guest speaker.

For example if you are interested in finance, investing or retirement programs, or need legal guidance, you always look to the “speaker” as an expert. More often than not, that person usually gets accounts from those presentations. So if you are a pr client, or a publicity agency in Orange County, it is time to get out there and start speaking. First you do need to get prepared. So what do you do?

As with anything, you need to do your homework. Choose a topic that you have a vast amount knowledge to tell your audience. But before we go too far, here are a few tips on public speaking.

• Practice in front of a mirror. Check to make sure your posture is good. Have good eye contact.
• Do your presentation in front of family, or friends. Ask for criticism.
• Practice, practice what you will say. It is good to be prepared with a speech, and it is best to be comfortable to inject some humor, or “live” comments to keep the speech fresh and entertaining.

Get more tips from other sources like Public Relations 101.

Prepare a list of different topics. Look at your market, or industry. If you have been in your industry for several years, you probably gave a lot of advice to customers or your staff over the years. Some of those pieces of advice can become great topics.

Work with your publicity agency to polish them up. If you do not have a local publicity agency in Orange County, then hire a consultant for a few days. It will be money worth spent. Get some additional points from other pr clients, or other publicity professionals. Getting people to listen will be easy once you are in front of them. So make the best of it and get out there!

Publicity in Orange County doesn’t really get as much recognition for those pr agencies, pr clients as it should. For example, we recently were awarded the complete publicity, marketing and advertising for Azzurro Wheels based in St Charles, Illinois. The company, not being a major consumer product, makes Publicity in Orange County for our company limited to only pr clients that are national in the sense of name recognition, not national in scope.

The new client, which sells to the go-kart industry, manufactures different racing wheels for indoor and outside tracks for go-karts. Not a big impact for the general awareness, but big enough in the karting industry.

We began the campaign by developing a theme “Simply The Finest. Period.” with a new fractional page ad. This is being enhanced with a web marketing plan to get more customers to visit the web site. We also created the company’s web site. In addition, we will be doing press releases, publicity press kits, negotiate pr articles, and will be responsible for all the marketing and advertising materials for the company.

When someone mentions the words “Publicity in Orange County” you think of only a few companies. That’s even true with Ad Agencies. Why? Those few get press becasue they may work with a larger, nationally known branded company.  Yet, many successful publicity and advertising agencies are in Orange County. There are different organizations and clubs that pr clients, pr agencies, and ad agencies can join. One for example is the OC Ad Club. Another, for those in publicity in Orange County you can join the Orange County Public Relations Society of America (OCPRSA).